Then Dora jumped up and dropped the stocking and the thimble (it rolled
away, and we did not find it for days), and said--

'Let's try my way _now_. Besides, I'm the eldest, so it's only fair.
Let's dig for treasure. Not any tiresome divining-rod--but just plain
digging. People who dig for treasure always find it. And then we shall
be rich and we needn't try your ways at all. Some of them are rather
difficult: and I'm certain some of them are wrong--and we must always
remember that wrong things--'

But we told her to shut up and come on, and she did.

I couldn't help wondering as we went down to the garden, why Father had
never thought of digging there for treasure instead of going to his
beastly office every day.



CHAPTER 2
DIGGING FOR TREASURE

I am afraid the last chapter was rather dull. It is always dull in
books when people talk and talk, and don't do anything, but I was
obliged to put it in, or else you wouldn't have understood all the rest.
The best part of books is when things are happening. That is the best
part of real things too. This is why I shall not tell you in this story
about all the days when nothing happened. You will not catch me saying,
'thus the sad days passed slowly by'--or 'the years rolled on their
weary course'--or 'time went on'--because it is silly; of course time
goes on--whether you say so or not. So I shall just tell you the nice,