Petaluma High School - Trojans Yearbook (Petaluma, CA)

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collection of antiqu es, so the boys knew their plan would work to perfection. They succeeded in finding a large rock near the shore and in burying the box unnoticed. The next morning they sat on the hillside and slyly watched the two men walking up the beach. Uncle George discovered the corner of the half hidden box. He dug it up in triumph, opened it, read part, and rushed back to the tent, where with the open parchment in his hand he shouted, “Stir up lively, boys! There’s a find! From the great rock to eastward, twelve paces,”he read. “There’s the rock. Get the compass, someone. Bring along the shovel, boys. It’s a pirate’s treasure, sure. No breakfast till we find it.” The boys asked questions as innocently as they possi¬ bly could. Uncle George had already paced off the ground when they arrived with the shovels. “Here’s the spot,” he cried. “All pure sand. The easiest digging in the world. Give me a shovel!” Uncle George began the digging himself. Although he dug quite a hole there was no sign of a treasure. The father took his turn at digging next. The boys almost died with suppressed laughter to see their father digging for the treasure where none had been buried. But they dared make no sign. They took their turn next, and it was a great relief for them to step into the hole, for they had been afraid every minute that they should burst into a fit of laughter. After they had had their turn Uncle George took his again, but their father refused to dig any more. “I’m not used to digging,” he said, “and I’m sore al¬ ready. You had better be cautious too, George, and let the boys dig.” Uncle George laughted at the warning, and worked manfully when his turn came again. But in the midst of it, he dropped the shovel with an expression of pain, and placed both hands on the small of his back. “I’m afraid I have wrenched my weak back,” he groaned. “I should have taken your advice, but it’s too late now.” The boy’s father assisted his brother to the tent, and also informed the boys that they must continue the dig¬ ging. They were greatly dismayed, but they would have been still more dismayed if they could have seen how rapidly Uncle George’s back improved when he was hid¬ den within the tent. The boys dug away, but soon be¬ came very sore and tired. “Do you think we had better own up and get out of it that way?” Ned asked. “Own up!” Roy exclaimed, pushing his shovel viciously into the ground. “I’d dig through to China first.” “So would I,” said Ned. “We may as well make the best of a bad bargain and see it through.” The father and Uncle George watched the daily prog¬ ress and said, “You have done nobly, boys. Don’t be dis¬ couraged if you don’t find anything. You know this loose sand often drifts.” One evening the boys overheard part of a conversation that filled them with alarm. Their father and uncle were evidently accusing the cook of having stolen the treasure. “Ned, do you know, I believe they think the cook has stolen the treasure,” Roy whispered. “I’m afraid they do,” Ned replied. “Since he is sus¬ pected the only decent thing we can do is to own up. I’d rather dig a month than to give ourselves away so, but it is not fair to let someone else suffer on our account.” “That’s what I think,” said Roy. “Let’s go and tell right now.” 26

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uTmtaur? “If we could only find a big rock, it would be the greatest joke I ever heard of. Won’t it be sport to see Uncle George dig?” Of course we can find a rock. You don’t suppose there’s a seashore without a rock near by, do you? Get that paper out and lets look at it once more. We may have a chance to bury it later this evening.” 1 he two boys, Ned and Roy, who were speaking in low tones, were walking some distance behind the covered camp wagon on the way to. their annual place of camp¬ ing. This camping place was near the coast at the edge of a great pine forest, solemn and full of murmuring voices. Pastures filled with birches, which gleamed silvery in the shades of the summer evening, stretched to the one side, while on the other a little river almost hidden by trees leaped and rushed on to the seashore less than half a mile away. Ned opened a small, hardwood box, bound with iron bands. The corners of the box had been tipped with iron, as could be seen in one or two places; but the whole thing was so covered with rust, shells, and sand hardened into stone that it was difficult to tell of what it was made. Plainly, the box had been buried in wet sand on the sea¬ shore for many years. It contained a folded sheet of parchment every bit as old and worn as the box itself. On the center of this parchment three lines were drawn, and beneath this in a half-illegible hand the following di¬ rections were written: “From the Great Rock to the Eastward, twelve paces. To the North, four paces, There Digge.” “Isn’t that great!” Roy exclaimed under his breath. If I found that I d spend half my life looking for the Great Rock;’ and the other half digging. It will set Uncle George crazy.” “I sa w it in that curiosity shop in Broadway a dozen times, but it just struck me when we were getting ready for this trip. There’s the thing to play a little joke on Uncle George with, so I bought it,” answered Ned. “I tell you how we will do it,” said Roy. “We’ll slip out tonight and run down to the beach when the tide is out, and bury it in the sand with one corner sticking out, so they will be sure to find it in the morning. The tide will wash our footprints and all the marks of our digging away.” “That’s it exactly,” Ned whispered. When the boy’s attentions turned to the wagon again they found that they were being watched by their two sisters. They were at a loss as to what to do, but finally decided to tell them their plans, and make the girls prom¬ ise to keep the secret and not even tell their mother. They succeeded, as all were ready to see a joke played on Uncle George. Their father and uncle were riding upon the front seat with the driver. Their uncle was a wealthy man with so little to do that he devoted almost his entire time to the 25

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A minute later both boys were in the tent, eager to con¬ fess all to Uncle George. “Do you admit that you bought that box purposely to trick your Unclet George, who has been so kind to you?” their father asked. “Yes,” Ned answered. “We’re both very sorry, but we think the joke has been rather upon us after all.” “And now you acknowledge it solely to save the cook from the suspicion of stealing the treasure, do you?” “Yes, that is the only reason,” was the answer. “Very well!” their father continued. “Wait a minute, George (for he was about to interrupt), I have a little con¬ fession to make myself, since the boys have acted so hon¬ orably about it. To begin with, the cook has never been suspected of stealing the treasure, because we knew from the start that there was no treasure there. Let me say, boys, it was a poorly managed trick. When your Uncle George found the box in the sand he turned to me and said, “This box and parchment have been for sale in a curiosity shop on Broadway for more than a year. I have seen them there a score of times and examined them, for I thought of buying them. The boys are play¬ ing a trick on us. But leave it to me, we’ll turn the tables on them.” “I intended to keep you digging for at least a week,” their father continued, “to punish your impertinence. But your Uncle George was too kind hearted. The first afternoon he got a rusty iron pot and filled it with sand and covered the top with gold and silver coin, and that night he buried it in the hole, intending to let you find it and so bring your digging to an end. But I went out later and dug it up because I thought you deserved more punishment. Your uncle did not know of my digging it up,and when you did not find it, the inference was made that someone had stolen it. I’m proud that you were manly enough to own up and so exonerate the poor cook.” The boys surely felt as though the tables had been turned upon them, but their Uncle George told them that he thought their father had worked them entirely too hard, and he was going on a real curiosity trip soon and would take them along. E. B., T4.