thought of the snuffbox that he had dropped into his pocket as his
brother handed it to him. He had no doubt that it contained the
instructions as to the treasure. It was of Indian manufacture. He
emptied the snuff from it, but it contained nothing else. He was
convinced that the secret must be hidden there, and after in vain
endeavoring to find a spring, he took a poker and hammered it,
and as it bent a spring gave way, and showed a very shallow false
bottom.

In this was a thin gold coin, evidently of considerable antiquity,
and a small piece of paper, on which was written the word "Masulipatam."
John Thorndyke looked at it in bewilderment; that it was connected
with the secret he felt certain, but alone it was absolutely
useless. Doubtless his brother had intended to give him the key of
the riddle, when he had so desperately striven to speak. After in
vain thinking the matter over he said:

"Well, thank goodness; there is nothing to be done about the matter
for another thirteen or fourteen years; it is of no use worrying
about it now." He went to an old fashioned cabinet, and placed the
coin and piece of paper in a very cunningly devised secret drawer.
The next morning he went out into the garden and dropped the battered
snuffbox into the well, and then dismissed the subject from his
mind.



CHAPTER II