“Waitabit，“saidMr。Brisher。“Isay，I’dmademyplan。Thatputthekyboshononebit，butitdidn’t’urtthegeneralschemenotabit。
IwentandIfinishedthatrockerynextday，asthoughtherewasn’taSnackintheworld；cementedoverthestones，Idid，dabbeditgreenandeverythink。Iputadabofgreenjusttoshowwheretheboxwas。Theyallcameandlookedatit，andsai’owniceitwas——even’ewasabitsofterliketoseeit，andallhesaidwas，“It’sapityyoucan’talwaysworklikethat，thenyoumightgetsomethingdefinitetodo，“hesays。
“’Yes，’Isays——Icouldn’t’elpit——’Iputalotinthatrockery，’
Isays，likethat。See？’Iputalotinthatrockery’——meaning——“
“Isee，“saidI——forMr。Brisherisapttooverelaboratehisjokes。
“_’E_didn’t，“saidMr。Brisher。“Notthen，anyhow。
“Ar’ever——afterallthatwasover，offIsetforLondon……
OrfIsetforLondon。“
Pause。
“On’yIwasn’tgoingtonoLondon，“saidMr。Brisher，withsuddenanimation，andthrustinghisfaceintomine。“Nofear！WhatdoYOU
think？
“Ididn’tgonofurtherthanColchester——notayard。
“I’dleftthespadejustwhereIcouldfindit。I’dgoteverythingplannedandright。I’iredalittletrapinColchester，andpretendedIwantedtogotoIpswichandstopthenight，andcomebacknextday，andthechapI’ireditfrommademeleavetwosovringsonitrightaway，andoffIset。
“Ididn’tgotonoIpswichneither。
“Midnightthe’orseandtrapwas’itchedbythelittleroadthatranbythecottagewhere’elived——notsixtyyardsoff，itwasn’t——andIwasatitlikeagood’un。Itwasjestthenightforsuchgames——overcast——butatrifletoo’ot，andallroundtheskytherewassummerlightningandpresentlyathunderstorm。Downitcame。
Firstbigdropsinasortoffizzle，then’ail。Ikep’on。Iwhackedatit——Ididn’tdreamtheoldmanwould’ear。Ididn’teventroubletogoquietwiththespade，andthethunderandlightningand’ailseemedtoexcitemelike。Ishouldn’twonderifIwassinging。Igotso’ardatitIcleanforgotthethunderandthe’orseandtrap。I
precioussoongottheboxshowing，andstartedtoliftit“
“Heavy？“Isaid。
“Icouldn’tnomoreliftitthanfly。IWASsick。I’dneverthoughtofthatIgotregularwild——Itellyou，Icursed。Igotsortofoutrageous。Ididn’tthinkofdividingitlikefortheminute，andeventhenIcouldn’t’avetookmoneyaboutlooseinatrap。
Ihoistedoneendsortofwildlike，andoverthewholeshowwentwithatremenjousnoise。Perfecksmashofsilver。Andthenrightontheheelsofthat，Flash！Lightningliketheday！andtherewasthebackdooropenandtheoldmancomingdownthegardenwith’isbloomingoldgun。Hewasn’tnota’undredyardsaway！
“ItellyouIwasthatupset——Ididn’tthinkwhatIwasdoing。
Ineverstopped-noteventofillmypockets。Iwentoverthefencelikeashot，andranlikeoneo’clockforthetrap，cussingandswearingasIwent。IWASinastate……
“Andwillyoubelieveme，whenIgottotheplacewhereI’dleftthe’orseandtrap，they’dgone。Orf！WhenIsawthatI’adn’tacussleftforit。Ijestdancedonthegrass，andwhenI’ddancedenoughIstartedofftoLondon……Iwasdone。“
Mr。Brisherwaspensiveforaninterval。“Iwasdone，“herepeated，verybitterly。
“Well？“Isaid。
“That’sall，“saidMr。Brisher。
“Youdidn’tgoback？“
“Nofear。I’d’adenoughofTHATbloomingtreasure，any’owforabit。
Besides，Ididn’tknowwhatwasdonetochapswhotriedtocollaratreasuretrove。IstartedoffforLondonthereandthen……“
“Andyouneverwentback？“
“Never。“
“ButaboutJane？Didyouwrite？“
“Threetimes，fishinglike。Andnoanswer。We’dpartedinabitofa’uffonaccountof’erbeingjealous。SothatIcouldn’tmakeoutforcertainwhatitmeant。
“Ididn’tknowwhattodo。Ididn’tevenknowwhethertheoldmanknewitwasme。Isortofkep’aneyeopenonpaperstoseewhenhe’dgiveupthattreasuretotheCrown，asIhadn’tadoubt’ewould，considering’owrespectablehe’dalwaysbeen。“
“Anddidhe？“
Mr。Brisherpursedhismouthandmovedhisheadslowlyfromsidetoside。“Not’IM，“hesaid。
“Janewasanicegirl，“hesaid，“athoroughnicegirlmindyou，ifjealous，andthere’snoknowingImightn’t’avegonebackto’erafterabit。Ithoughtifhedidn’tgiveupthetreasureImight’aveasortof’oldon’im……Well，onedayIlooksasusualunderColchester——andthereIsaw’isname。Whatfor，d’yerthink？“
Icouldnotguess。
Mr。Brisher’svoicesanktoawhisper，andoncemorehespokebehindhishand。Hismannerwassuddenlysuffusedwithapositivejoy。
“Issuingcounterfeitcoins，“hesaid。“Counterfeitcoins！“
“Youdon’tmeantosay——？“
“Yes-It。Bad。Quitealongcasetheymadeofit。Buttheygot’im，thoughhedodgedtremenjous。Traced’is’avingpassed，oh！——nearlyadozenbad’arf-crowns。“
“Andyoudidn’t——？“
“Nofear。Anditdidn’tdo’IMmuchgoodtosayitwastreasuretrove。“
MissWinchelseawasgoingtoRome。Thematterhadfilledhermindforamonthormore，andhadoverflowedsoabundantlyintoherconversationthatquiteanumberofpeoplewhowerenotgoingtoRome，andwhowerenotlikelytogotoRome，hadmadeitapersonalgrievanceagainsther。SomeindeedhadattemptedquiteunavailinglytoconvinceherthatRomewasnotnearlysuchadesirableplaceasitwasreportedtobe，andothershadgonesofarastosuggestbehindherbackthatshewasdreadfully“stuckup“about“thatRomeofhers。“AndlittleLilyHardhursthadtoldherfriendMr。BinnsthatsofarasshewasconcernedMissWinchelseamight“gotoheroldRomeandstopthere；SHE(MissLilyHardhurst)wouldn’tgrieve。“
AndthewayinwhichMissWinchelseaputherselfupontermsofpersonaltendernesswithHoraceandBenvenutoCelliniandRaphaelandShelleyandKeats——ifshehadbeenShelley’swidowshecouldnothaveprofessedakeenerinterestinhisgrave——wasamatterofuniversalastonishment。
Herdresswasatriumphoftactfuldiscretion，sensible，butnottoo“touristy“——MissWinchelsea，hadagreatdreadofbeing“touristy“——
andherBaedekerwascarriedinacoverofgreytohideitsglaringred。ShemadeaprimandpleasantlittlefigureontheCharingCrossplatform，inspiteofherswellingpride，whenatlastthegreatdaydawned，andshecouldstartforRome。Thedaywasbright，theChannelpassagewouldbepleasant，andalltheomenspromisedwell。Therewasthegayestsenseofadventureinthisunprecedenteddeparture。
Shewasgoingwithtwofriendswhohadbeenfellow-studentswithheratthetrainingcollege，nicehonestgirlsboth，thoughnotsogoodathistoryandliteratureasMissWinchelsea。Theybothlookeduptoherimmensely，thoughphysicallytheyhadtolookdown，andsheanticipatedsomepleasanttimestobespentin“stirringthemup“
toherownpitchofaestheticandhistoricalenthusiasm。Theyhadsecuredseatsalready，andwelcomedhereffusivelyatthecarriagedoor。IntheinstantcriticismoftheencountershenotedthatFannyhadaslightly“touristy“leatherstrap，andthatHelenhadsuccumbedtoasergejacketwithsidepockets，intowhichherhandswerethrust。
Buttheyweremuchtoohappywiththemselvesandtheexpeditionfortheirfriendtoattemptanyhintatthemomentaboutthesethings。
Assoonasthefirstecstasieswereover——Fanny’senthusiasmwasalittlenoisyandcrude，andconsistedmainlyinemphaticrepetitionsof“JustFANCY！we’regoingtoRome，mydear！——Rome！“——theygavetheirattentiontotheirfellow-travellers。Helenwasanxioustosecureacompartmenttothemselves，and，inordertodiscourageintruders，gotoutandplantedherselffirmlyonthestep。MissWinchelseapeepedoutoverhershoulder，andmadeslylittleremarksabouttheaccumulatingpeopleontheplatform，atwhichFannylaughedgleefully。
TheyweretravellingwithoneofMr。ThomasGunn’sparties——fourteendaysinRomeforfourteenpounds。Theydidnotbelongtothepersonallyconductedpartyofcourse——MissWinchelseahadseentothat——buttheytravelledwithitbecauseoftheconvenienceofthatarrangement。
Thepeopleweretheoddestmixture，andwonderfullyamusing。
Therewasavociferousred-facedpolyglotpersonalconductorinapepper-and-saltsuit，verylonginthearmsandlegsandveryactive。Heshoutedproclamations。Whenhewantedtospeaktopeoplehestretchedoutanarmandheldthemuntilhispurposewasaccomplished。
