TO EIGHT of ye men who fought wyth me on ye Great Unicorne against ye Spanysh galleon and who made covenant was ye place of ye loote knowne. In all those men dyd I place my trust. One Robert Dafte hath broken hys oath and hath reveled ye secret, for he hath tolde before hys death unto hys wyfe ye place into which we walled ye golde. Therefore it hath become necessarie in tyme to remove ye treasure which we captured from ye Spanysh and from ye Barbarians of Algiers unto a place of safetie from thieves, from conspiratiors, and from ye enemies of oure Quene.
THEREFORE be it known unto ye person who may rede thys my Record that on thys daye above written the whole of what I possess has been removed from ye priest’s hole in ye Manor of Caldecott and concealed in a place more fytting and secure. The knowledge of it now remains only wyth my trusted friends Clement Wollerton and John Ffreeman, the two signatories to ye present document. Be it knowne also therefore that ye secret covenant playced in ye hand of Richard Knutton is now made by me null and voide, although my testamentary disposition of ye golde jewels and all other articles whych I Bartholomew da Schorno, noble of Ferrara, Commendatore of the Order of San Stefano, have treasured shall remain as I have before written; that is to saye that should ye Knights of Saint Stephen not require funds ye golde is to become ye sole and absolute property of ye youngest childe of ye family of Clement Wollerton, of Stybbington, in ye Countie of Huntyngedon, but without any parte or portion to go to ye familie of Richard Knutton, ye last mentioned havyng wickedly and maliciously conspyred wyth ye wyfe of ye saide Robert Dafte to steale and take possession of ye treasure during our absence on ye seas.
AND THEREFORE be it known unto ye person who gains ye secret of thys cipher that I wyth mine owne hand have written thys my record for two purposes. In ye firste playce to make it plaine unto all men that it is my ardent desire to assist ye worke of ye release of Christians in slavery in Barberie, and secondlie to reveale unto ye one who deciphers my record ye place where ye golde wyll be found. Let hym rede and marke well.
FOURE MILES from Stamforde towne on ye great roade into Scotlande and to ye left hande, is Tyckencote Laund. Within thys woode have we buried ye treasure three arms-lengths deepe, and to recover it ye directions whych herewyth I give must be followed closely. Enter ye woode by ye path leading through ye fieldes at ye fourth mylestone from Stamford towne and passe ye lyne of six oakes always facing Empinghame church until ye Three Systers are found. Midway between ye three, at twenty-and-nyne foot-paces from ye south, have we planted an oak sapling and beneath it will be found hydden ye golde of ye Spanyards and ye jewels of ye Corsairs.
(Here followed the roughly-executed plan which consisted of three triangles at unequal distance from each other, and a crude sketch of the tree beneath which the gold was hidden. Across the sketch was an arrow, presumably showing the direction of the sunrise, and a second one with the word “Empinghame” written at its barb.)
LET HE WHO fyndeth thys my wealthe carrie out my written will, taking unto hymselfe one of the chests of monie as hys recompense. But should he not give up ye remainder in full unto ye last descendant of ye Wollertons of Stybbington my curse shall for ever reste upon hym. That what is herein written is true, we who alone knowe ye secret of ye saide treasure and have taken oure oathes to keepe it untyl the golde should be wanted by ye Knightes of Saint Stephen have hereunto sett oure hands and seale on ye daye and yere first above written.
CLEMENT WOLLERTON.
JOHN FFREEMAN.
BARTHOLOMEW DA SCHORNO.
The spot to which the treasure had been secretly removed from that upstairs chamber in Caldecott Manor was now actually revealed to us! But we entertained a horrible suspicion that Bennett and his friends were equally in the possession of the secret. The suggestion that the document sold by the dead man Knutton contained a key to the cipher was, of course, now dismissed; but we were nevertheless filled with fear that the quartette might, by some means or other, have solved the problem, just as we had done.