wife?" said he. "There is a bright one
low down, and then there is another one a little higher up, and farther
to the right, but it is fainter."

"It would be the bright one, I think," said Mary. And then Abner, his
eyes fixed upon the bright star, commenced to stride. One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven. Turning squarely around to the left he again
made seven paces. And now he beckoned vigorously to Mary to come and
dig.

For about ten minutes they dug, and then they laid bare a great mass of
rock. "This isn't the place," cried Abner. "I must begin again. I did
not look at the right star. I will take the other one."

For the greater part of that night Abner and Mary remained upon the
beach. Abner would put his back against the tree, fix his eyes upon
another star, stride forward seven paces, and then seven to the left,
and he would come upon a little scrubby pine tree. Of course that was
not the place.

The moon soon began to set, and more stars came out, so that Abner had a
greater choice. Again and again he made his measurements, and every time
that he came to the end of his second seven paces, he found that it
would have been impossible for the pirates to make their excavation
there.

There was clearly something wrong. Abner thought that he had not
selected the right star, and Mary thought that his legs were not long
enough. "That pirate captain," quoth she, "had a long and manly stride.
Seven of his paces would go a far greater distance than seven of yours,
Abner."

Abner made his paces a little longer; but although he and his wife kept
up their work until they could see the early dawn, they found no spot
where it would be worth while to dig, and so mournfully they returned to
their home and their empty cellar.

As long as the moonlight lasted, Abner and Mary went to the little beach
at the head of the bay, and made their measurements and their searches
but although they sometimes dug a little here and there, they always
found that they had not struck the place where the pirate's treasure had
been buried.

When at last they gave up their search, and concluded to put their
household goods back into their cellar, they told the tale to some of
the neighbors, and other people went out and dug, not only at the place
which had been designated, but miles up and down the coast, and then the
story was told and retold, and so it has lasted until the present day.

What has been said about the legendary Captain