"Think no more of that! I will think no more myself once the smart
be past. Think of the freedom thy brother will enjoy; would that
thou couldst share it, sweet sister! I like not faring thus forth
and leaving thee, but for the nonce there be no other way.

"Petronella, I know thou wouldst ask whither I go and what I do.
And that I scarce know myself as yet. But sitting here in the dark
there has come a new purpose, a new thought to my mind. What if I
were to set myself to the discovery of the lost treasure of Trevlyn
Chase?"

The girl started in the darkness, and laid her hand on her
brother's arm.

"Ah, Cuthbert, that lost treasure! Would that thou couldst find it!
But how canst thou hope to do so when so many besides have failed?"

"That is not the fashion in which men think when they mean to
triumph, my sister," said Cuthbert, and she knew by his voice that
he was smiling. "How this thing may be done I know not. Where the
long-lost treasure be hid I know not, nor that I may ever be the
one to light on it. But this I do know, that it is somewhere; that
some hand buried it; that even now some living soul may know the
secret of the hiding place. Petronella, hast thou ever thought of
it? Hast thou ever wondered if our father may know aught of it?"

"Our father! nay, Cuthbert; but he would be the first to show the
place and claim his share of spoil."