something else that would be novel and profitable?"

"There's where my new conception was coming in. That's the point I was
considering when you interrupted me with Mattie's love affair," Chapman
replied, looking more serious than ever.

"It struck me that we might do something profitable by getting up a
company for the discovery of Kidd's treasure. 'The Great Kidd Discovery
Company' would be a good name, my dear. You must always give a company a
good name. Then you must manage it with tact and prudence. A prodigious
enterprise, my dear. These simple-minded and honest Dutch people would
fall into it like a flock of sheep. They honestly believe Kidd was a
bold pirate, who amassed a great fortune by plundering towns on the
Spanish Main. That, having more gold and silver than he could invest to
advantage, he buried it on the bank of the river, a few leagues above
this place, where he entered into an agreement with the devil to stand
guard over it until he returned. They believe, also, that Hanz
Toodleburg, whose father knew Kidd well, and perhaps had something to do
with his adventures, is the only man now living who possesses the secret
of where that treasure is buried."




CHAPTER XI.

MRS. CHAPMAN CULTIVATES NEW ACQUAINTANCES.


It was spring-time of the year 1824. A new era in the history of the