His greedy eyes devoured the pile of gold exposed to view, and his hands trembled, and a feeling of suffocation came over him, as he strove to put the sack in condition for removal.
This was finally accomplished, but his arms had grown so weak and nerveless that he could not raise it. In striving to do so, he slipped and crushed his little lantern, leaving himself in total darkness.
CHAPTER XIX.
CAPTAIN DILKE'S FATE—A HAPPY WIND-UP.
The days had dragged by on leaden wings to the parents of Jason Dilke. The mother was nearly bereft of reason, but the father, spite of grief for his son and anxiety for his wife, gained in strength day by day.
Every effort to find the boy in the vicinity of Old Orchard and to the southward had been made. Liberal rewards were offered and advertisements inserted in papers far and near.
Jacob, the faithful old servitor, had been continually on the go, but all without success.
And yet the strength of Allan Dilke did not succumb. His face was white and thin, but his eyes shone with a determined light.
"We will hear from Arnold to-morrow," he would say, hopefully, at night. "I know he is doing his utmost."