there of its being found unless the whole dell was dug up?

A short while back it seemed so much to have found out this dell.
When he had been resolved to search the whole forest through, no
wonder the task had been practically impossible; but when he had
had indications of a confined locality, he had looked upon his work
as well-nigh accomplished, and had come here with a heart full of
high hopes. And now he was confronted by difficulties that appeared
almost as insurmountable as before; for he plainly saw the
hopelessness of attempting single-handed to delve the whole dell
over. Robin would return before the task was more than begun. He
would guess the import, would set a close watch, and would slay the
bold invader of his haunted dell without pity or remorse. Whilst
the only other plan, that of bringing a gang of men to work strong
enough to be a guard to themselves, was simply out of the question
for Cuthbert. He had no money himself. His uncle Martin would
certainly not give him the gold in the box for any such
hare-brained scheme; whilst to appeal to Sir Richard, with nothing
to back his statements but what would be looked upon as old wives'
fables and gipsy delusions, would only be to provoke ridicule and
scorn. The Trevlyns had long given up the treasure as lost beyond
recall. They had no sort of hope of recovering it, and the present
owner of the Chase and his lady were in particular very greatly
averse to any sort of dealings with occult magic and gipsy lore.

Cuthbert had a shrewd notion that there was little enough of magic
in any of the words and dark sayings he had heard. He had been let
just a very little behind the scenes, and had his own opinions on
the subject. His faith in spirits and familiars had been greatly
shaken; but he knew that his story would sound wild and improbable,