"Well," continued Billy Brackett, "the mystery is a mystery no longer.
They ceiled this room to provide a safe and very ingenious hiding-place
for their goods; they wished to regain possession of the raft, that
they might recover them. They failed, and so lost them. Now, by the
merest accident, we have found them."
"Do you mean--" began Winn, slowly.
"I mean," said Billy Bracket, "that while we are apparently possessed
of abundant wealth, it is but the shadow of the substance. In other
words, every one of those bills is a counterfeit, and the sooner they
are destroyed the better."
In spite of this disappointing announcement, the desire of the
raftmates to discover the full extent of the "river-traders'" secret
hoard was so great that, having found a candle, they proceeded by its
light to tear off the whole of the interior sheathing of the room.
They found a quantity of the counterfeit money, which Billy Brackett,
sustained by Mr. Manton, insisted upon burning then and there. They
also found, carefully hidden by itself, a package containing exactly
one hundred genuine one-hundred-dollar bills.
"Enough," said Billy Brackett, quietly, "to refund the hundred they got
from Glen and Binney, to repay Major Caspar for the wheat they dumped
overboard, and to make good the loss of the _Whatnot_, which so nearly
broke the heart of our brave old friend Cap'n Cod.
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