After fleeing a short distance they paused, and the maiden
commenced in a solemn voice,--
"Oh! Caesar, was it not dreadful to walk before he had been laid in his
grave! It must have been the money that disturbed him; they say Captain
Kidd walks near the spot where he buried gold in the old war."
"I never t'ink Johnny Birch hab such a big eye!" said the African, his
teeth yet chattering with the fright.
"I'm sure 'twould be a botherment to a living soul to lose so much
money. Harvey will be nothing but an utterly despisable,
poverty-stricken wretch. I wonder who he thinks would even be his
housekeeper!"
"Maybe a spook take away Harvey, too," observed Caesar, moving still
nearer to the side of the maiden. But a new idea had seized the
imagination of the spinster. She thought it not improbable that the
prize had been forsaken in the confusion of the retreat; and after
deliberating and reasoning for some time with Caesar, they determined to
venture back, and ascertain this important fact, and, if possible, learn
what had been the fate of the peddler. Much time was spent in cautiously
approaching the dreaded spot; and as the spinster had sagaciously placed
herself in the line of the retreat of the Skinners, every stone was
examined in the progress in search of abandoned gold.
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