He brought to the surface an iron chest full of gold pieces. (P. [344].)
With these words Will took up a torch, a flint and steel, and a rope and hastened away. Caspar followed as quickly as he could and found his friend standing by the crevice in the rock leading to the Cavern of Steenfoll. He was making ready to lower himself by the rope into the black depths below.
Finding that all his entreaties to desist availed nothing, Caspar prepared to descend with his friend, but Will bade him remain where he was and hold the rope. With fearful exertions, which only the blindest avarice could have driven him to make, he succeeded in climbing down into the cavern until he reached a portion of projecting rock beneath which the black waves dashed to and fro, crested with white foam. He gazed eagerly into the water and saw something gleaming in the depths. Laying aside his torch, he dived beneath the waves and seized a heavy object, which he brought up to the surface. It was an iron chest full of gold pieces. He told his companion what he had found, but paid no attention to his entreaties to be content with what he had and to re-ascend. Will thought he had but obtained the first fruits of his labours and dived again. A mocking laugh arose from the depths of the sea, and the diver rose no more.
Such was the end of Will Hawk. Caspar went home a changed man. The terrible experiences he had undergone were too much for his weak head and sensitive heart and unsettled his mind. He allowed everything belonging to him to go to rack and ruin, and wandered about day and night, staring before him with unseeing eyes, and pitied but avoided by all.
A fisherman is said to have seen and recognised Will Hawk, one stormy night, amongst the crew of the Carmilhan, close to the shore, and on the same night Caspar Stump disappeared and was never seen again, although he was sought for in every direction.
Folks aver, however, that from that time forward the crew of the Carmilhan appear at certain times in the Cavern of Steenfoll and that both Will Hawk and Caspar Stump are seen with them.
Printed in Bavaria.
Transcriber’s Note
The presence or absence of page numbers in illustration captions are all as printed.