There was a cheer. The men fell to work with renewed vigor. Presently Gallagher's spade hit something solid. A little scraping showed the top of an iron box.
"I claim that five, sir," cried Gallagher.
I jumped into the hole beside him. With our hands we scraped the dirt away from the sides.
"Heave away," I gave the word.
We lifted the box to the solid ground above. It was very rusty, of a good size, and heavy.
"Let's open it now," cried Jimmie, dancing with enthusiasm.
"Let's not," I vetoed. "We'll take it on board first. Five dollars to the man that finds the second box."
But there was no second box. We worked till dark at the hole. Before we left there was an excavation large enough for the cellar of a house. But not a trace of more treasure did we find.
Blythe had decided it best not to open the treasure before the men, and though the crew was plainly disappointed we stuck to that resolution.
Sam promised the men that they should see it before we reached San Francisco, and that they should appoint two of their number to accompany the treasure to the assay office in that city to determine the value of our find and their share.