It seemed quite clear to him now that at some time a richly-laden vessel must have gone to pieces on the rocks, and that it was for him to find and raise the buried treasures, hidden beneath the waves. From this time he devoted all his energies to the task, carefully hiding his find from all, even from his friend. He neglected everything else and spent days and nights on the sea-shore, not casting out fishing nets, but using a drag which he had made on purpose to haul in treasure.
His only reward was poverty, for he had ceased to make money himself and Caspar’s sleepy efforts did not bring in enough to feed the two of them. In searching for riches all the little fortune they possessed was lost. But just as easy-going Caspar had once allowed Will Hawk to provide the money for his maintenance, so he now accepted poverty without complaint, and it was this silent endurance on the part of his friend that spurred Will on to further efforts to amass wealth.
But what made him still more intent on continuing the search was that, whenever he lay down to sleep, it seemed to him that someone whispered a word in his ear. It was always the same, but he never could remember it when he was awake. It is true that there seemed no connection between this circumstance and his present quest, but on a mind like Will’s everything seemed to make an impression, and even this mysterious whispering strengthened him in the belief that he was destined for a great piece of good fortune and that he would one day find a large heap of gold.
One day he was surprised by a storm whilst on the shore where he had found the ball of gold, and the violence of it caused him to take shelter in a neighbouring cave. This cave, which the people called the Cavern of Steenfoll, consisted of a long subterranean passage with two openings to the sea, which afforded the waves free passage to and fro, and there they roared and foamed as they rushed along it.
The cave was only accessible in one spot from the land, and that through a crevice in the roof, but it was seldom that any but reckless boys ventured there, for, in addition to the dangers of the place it was supposed to be haunted.
With great difficulty Will succeeded in letting himself down and took his seat upon a jutting rock about twelve feet from the surface. Here, with the waves roaring beneath his feet and the storm raging above his head, he fell into his usual way of thinking about the sunken ship and what sort of a vessel it could have been, for, in spite of having questioned all the oldest inhabitants on the island, he had been unable to obtain any news of a wreck in that place.
How long he had sat there he did not know himself, but when he at length awoke from his dreams he found that the storm had passed over, and he was just about to climb out of the cave when he heard a voice from the depths which pronounced the word “Carmil-han” quite distinctly.
Will heard a voice from the depths. (P. [331].)
“Why,” cried he, “that is the word I have heard so often in my dreams. What can it mean?”