O'Reilly seized a handful and held them close to the candle-flame;
among the number he noted a Spanish doubloon, such as young
Esteban had found.
He tested the weight of the other casks and found them equally
heavy. Knowing little about gold, he did not attempt to estimate
the value of their contents, but he judged they must represent a
fortune. With throbbing pulses he next lifted the lid of the
nearest chest. Within, he discovered several compartments, each
stored with neatly wrapped and labeled packages of varying shapes
and sizes. The writing upon the tags was almost illegible, but the
first article which O'Reilly unwrapped proved to be a goblet of
most beautiful workmanship. Time had long since blackened it to
the appearance of pewter or some base metal, but he saw that it
was of solid silver. Evidently he had uncovered a store of old
Spanish plate.
In one corner of the chest he saw a metal box of the sort in which
valuable papers are kept, and after some effort he managed to
break it open. Turning back the lid, he found first a bundle of
documents bearing imposing scrolls and heavy seals. Despite the
dampness, they were in fairly good condition, and there was enough
left of the writing to identify them beyond all question as the
missing deeds of patent to the Varona lands--those crown grants
for which Dona Isabel had searched so fruitlessly.
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