Well, it's not. I know where it is. I found it!"
Norine gasped; Johnnie spoke soothingly:
"Don't get excited, old man; you've talked too much to-day."
"Ha!" Esteban fell back upon his pillow. "I haven't any fever. I'm
as sane as ever I was. That treasure exists, and that doubloon
gave me the clue to its whereabouts. Pancho Cueto knew my father,
and HE believed the story. He believed in it so strongly that--
well--that's why he denounced my sister and me as traitors. He dug
up our entire premises, but he didn't find it." Esteban chuckled.
"Don Esteban, my father, was cunning: he could hide things better
than a magpie. It remained for me to discover his trick."
Norine Evans spoke breathlessly. "Oh, glory! Treasure! REAL
treasure! How perfectly exciting! Tell me how you found it, quick!
Johnnie, you remember he raved about a doubloon--"
"He is raving now," O'Reilly declared, with a sharp stare at his
friend.
The girl turned loyally to her patient. "I'll believe you, Mr.
Varona. I always believe everything about buried treasure. The
bigger the treasure the more implicitly I believe in it. I simply
adore pirates and such things; if I were a man I'd be one. Do you
know, I've always been tempted to bury my money and then go look
for it."
"You're making fun of me. What?" Esteban eyed the pair doubtfully.
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