real Damascus steel! She says she knows it's that because she bought
it there herself, once when she went on a 'round the world' tour. She
says it mayn't be any better than other steel--reckon it isn't, or it
wouldn't have broken that way. I ought not to have taken it but I was
so excited, everybody was, I didn't stop to think. What makes you look
so queer, Mr. Corny? Aunt Betty won't care, or she'll blame me only.
You--you most scare me!"

Indeed, her companion was looking very "queer," as she said. His eyes
were glittering, his face was pale, his lips nervously working, and he
was rapidly enlarging the hole her knife had made by using his bare
hands.

Dorothy sprang to a little distance and then watched, fascinated. A
suspicion of the truth set her own eyes shining and now she was
scarcely surprised when the man stood up, holding a muddy box in his
hand, and shouting in hilarious delight:

"Found! Found! After all, that old yarn was true! It's the 'buried
treasure', as sure as I'm alive! Hurra!"

Away he sped carrying the big box above his head and summoning all his
fellow searchers to join him at the house-boat and behold.

Half-dazed by this success Dorothy picked up the discarded fragments
of the paper cutter, and followed him. But even as she did so she
wondered:

"Odd! That he can carry it so, on the very tips of his fingers, and so
high up! I thought 'buried treasure' was always gold, and a box full
of gold would be terrible heavy. Even two, three hundred dollars that
Mr. Ford let me lift, out in California, weighed a lot!"

But she shared to the full the excitement of all the company who now
threw down their own tools to follow Corny with his joyous shouts:

"Come on! Come on, all! The 'treasure' is found!"

CHAPTER XVI.

WHEN THE MONKEYS' CAGE WAS CLEANED.

It was an eager company gathered in the big saloon of the Water Lily.
No time had been lost by all these seekers after the "buried treasure"
in obeying Farmer Corny's summons to follow him; and having arrived at
the boat, found the Colonel, his daughter, and grandchild already
there.

The Colonel's proud introduction of his newly restored family found a
warm welcome at Aunt Betty's hands, and she and the younger matron,
members both of "first families," were friends at once. As for little
Eunice, who had always shrunk from the presence of strangers, there
was no shrinking now. Her grandfather had set her down upon the floor,
while