"How, my dear," enquired Mrs. Chapman, "could you put the church on its
feet with such a load of scandal on its back? Could'nt you invent
something else that would be novel and profitable?"
"There's where my new conception was coming in. That's the point I was
considering when you interrupted me with Mattie's love affair," Chapman
replied, looking more serious than ever.
"It struck me that we might do something profitable by getting up a
company for the discovery of Kidd's treasure. 'The Great Kidd Discovery
Company' would be a good name, my dear. You must always give a company a
good name. Then you must manage it with tact and prudence. A prodigious
enterprise, my dear. These simple-minded and honest Dutch people would
fall into it like a flock of sheep. They honestly believe Kidd was a
bold pirate, who amassed a great fortune by plundering towns on the
Spanish Main. That, having more gold and silver than he could invest to
advantage, he buried it on the bank of the river, a few leagues above
this place, where he entered into an agreement with the devil to stand
guard over it until he returned.
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