The Voyage of the Hoppergrass

talking and laughing and discussing. Everyone was awake now, and animated,-if those six little yellow l

ion was formed again for the wharf. The band stayed in the ya

tiny holes. Two wires were soldered on one side of the box, and he connected these by long coils of fine wire with the jars of an electric battery. A little tin tube had been fastened to the bottom of the box so that it stood upright. Into this Mr. Snider poured some po

until the box must have been eight or nine feet below the surface. Then he stood waiting, with the most solemn expression upon his face. Mr. Bowditch stood beside him, hold

found silence. Some of the men had taken out their watches and were keeping count of the time. After "Eight minutes gone!" had tolled forth

rom the "May Queen" had joined the group,-everyone was leaning forward to watch, with faces set and eager. You c

that she almost sobbed, and then choked, and had to be slapped on the back. Everybody crowded around, even closer than before, as Mr. Snider exhibited the box. There was a little mud and gravel inside and th

it! I didn't believe yer

y serious old man kept the box in his hands. He had neither laughed nor

em little bits of du

,-certainly, certai

d two or three, "le

china dish and a bottle of some liquid. They scraped off some of the gilt particles w

"it'll fizzle when I pour this acid onto it

acid into the dish.

fizzle,"

other Snider!" bello

dit

ward Mr. Snider. He had a roll of money in hi

ed of them shares,

've had this fixed up with Harvey Bowditc

ty of 'em," sa

," said another, "that's go

ends," said Mr. Snide

d a bundle of certificates, all printed in bright purple ink, with a picture of Washington, and a big eagle, and a flag at the top. At the bottom was a gre

while and thought it over, and then came back and bought four hundred more shares, giving Mr. Snider five hundred dollars in cash and a check for fifteen hundred. This had such an effect on the others-for Melvin had a reputation for being "closer'n the bark of a tree"-that

e another certif

by the sleeve, and led me up

with us," he said, "perhaps

ad been cruising in. They made me stay here over night,-Mr. Snider

work this f

red a

is in is always a fake. I'm sort of sorry, you know, to see these old roosters getting skinned so badly

y believe i

s been in, but Chick got most of them. Who knows anything about Snider? Now I've seen him, I wouldn't let him hold my coat while I ran across the street and back,-not if there was two cents in the coat that I ever wanted to see again. But they swallow him because Chick does, I guess. And Chick

port just before

u see h

yes.

e him set out on t

ound one corner of the house, as I went around

these gold-boxes or doing some other k

weakly, "he's gone to

time,-"down under the wharf,"-that wa

ed fishy to me, right on the start. Now the easiest way to account for that trick Snider did out there on the wharf is that there's

real gold, and that t

ery snake. It's funny,-you'd think anyone with ordinary common-sense would grab hold of his watch and his small change, and hang on to it-hard, as soon as Br'er Snider hove in sight. But no,-they try to crowd their money onto him... Real gold! Of course it was real,-that's what fetched 'em. They don't stop to think that there's no connection proved between the gold and the sea-water. What got 'em interested at first was old man Chick's reputation for honesty.

ing all the time

aw them down under the wh

did?

both on the platform above the water, what th

ut to me? Let's stroll down there now. Pretend to be talking

en so skilfully made. At last I thought we were on it, so I coughed, and the black-eyed man halted. He had been telling me some story all the time, and now he turned toward me and held out both his hands as if he were measuring the size of a fish or something. Then he pointed out into the bay

ntly. I turned again, and walked toward the end of the wharf. As I did so, the whistle of the steam-boat blew a loud toot, and the people began to crowd on board. I walked on with the rest, getting s

ou would hardly believe how I got left behind. I heard someone say, "Oh, here's the boy wh

un up to the house and see if you can find my grey shawl,-I

and moreover you don't suspect an old person in a black silk dress, with gold spectacles, of laying plots and pla

arf again. But while I had been out of sight of the "May Queen" they had cast off the lines and steamed away. There she was, going merrily, her ster

ding near the stern waving her hands. I held up mine,-empty-to show that I had

d have made the slightest difference if they had. They would not turn the

h the wharf? I did not know, but I was angry with him. I felt sure that he had purposely let the boat

e to be done, however, so I went up the wharf once more, and started along the road. At the turn, just beyond the house, I f

u lost the boat! Well, you ca

" said I, "I'm

ss him. He steppe

I would rather you stayed unt

ed me I could go on the steam- boat,

orry to hear y

of his grasp however, and jumped to the side of the road and tried to pass him in the gutter. He headed me off with two

, "I know all about your game here

again in an instant,

squeaked, "I'll wrin

e by the coat collar hi a second, and in another second I was out of the coat and running back toward the house. I did not wish to go there

I slammed the door and tried to lock it. But the bolt was rusty and it stuck. I gave that up and ran upstairs, two steps at a time. When I reached the landing I ran along the passage toward the rear in order to get to the stairs to the third storey.

t a clear start again for the road across the marsh. He could not have caught me then. The hero of "The Rifle Rangers," for instance, would have planned all that out while he was running up the road with Mr. Snider ten feet behind. But I hadn't planned it. My one idea was to get away fro

oms and closets down below. As soon as he found I was in none of them, up the attic stair he would come. And then he would simply poke about

ut in the semi- darkness. There were other trunks and boxes, old shoes and old umbrellas on the floor, and I stumbled and bumped against all of them. Two or three coats or suits of clothes were swinging from hooks, dangling unpleasantly, like

r lock of the scuttle. It was thick with cob-webs and dust, and for a while it refused to mov

all what happens. Your heart stays right where it always is, but it thumps so loud that you feel as if it could be heard in the next r

gain and tip-toed away. I went to work at the hasp again, and finally I had it

a flat part of the roof,-the highest point in the house. The roof sloped o

so far that I could hardly see the steam-boat herself, was a trail of black smoke f

it closed. But I knew that I was not heavy enough to hold it down. Would he think of the roof? If he did, and if he came up the ladder, of course he would find the scuttle unlocked,

,-it was a ticklish job, but again my rubber- soled shoes stood me in good stea

himneys. At any rate he started down the roof in my direction. The instant that he did so he slipped and came down on the roof with a crash. Several shingles must have come out, and he clawed and scraped at a great rate. I thought-and hoped-that he was

y behind the chimney. I hurried out from my hiding-place and crawled on my hands and knees up the slope of the roof. But when I reached the

was safe from being seen,-anyone on that part of the roof would not be visible from the ground near the house. After cutting for a little while longer I put enough of my hand through the hole to unfasten the hasp. Then I raised the scuttle, with the pleasant sensation that

about like an animal in a cage,-I was going to get down stairs and outdoors

as a door to open. I got it open, and stepped into the passage-way. I could hear nothing. Mr. Snider thought I was safely loc

e back door was open, and so I chose that. I walked quietly out, crossed the back yard, and nearl

yard. Coming through the driveway was the Professor! I suppose that he had just come up from his hiding-place beneath the wharf, for his arms were full of his b

mp of trees. As I did so, I looked back and

hrough this, and came out on a rough ledge of rocks, which ended in a little beach. I had come to the

at, with a skull and cross-bones pirate-fla