We became animated with a new purpose; and the old sailor seized a
shovel and began vigorously to throw more earth from the excavation; but
darkness was falling, and we urged him to wait until the next morning.

"What about the sand already thrown out?" some one exclaimed at this
juncture. The suggestion had hardly been offered before we all bent
forward, and thrust our hands into the pile of wet, black sand lying
about us.

I at once felt something round and suggestive. "Look at this!" I cried.
It was a blackened gold coin! In the darkness we hurriedly sifted the
sand with our fingers; and each one soon found several pieces of money.

With feverish energy, we thus labored until late in the night, meeting
with constant success; and, when we stopped, every one had a precious
pile to carry back to the shore. The coins were all corroded and
misshapen through the action of the salty mud in which they had lain,
and the disturbance caused by the roots of the trees. A few silver coins
were found, but all were in a very worn condition; some being little
more than ragged discs of the thickness of paper. Others, or the remains
of them, crumbled into a black powder at the touch of our fingers. The
gold was in better preservation; and we secured a goodly store of it.

We secreted our treasure in the woods on shore, and early the next
morning returned to our work. I can well remember our exultant feeling
as we set out in our boats. "Boys," Mr. Landstone called out, as we were
sailing over the narrow stretches of water toward the island, "how do
you feel?"

"I feel like--like--" I answered, rising in my seat and lifting my hat