beside it.

"Ah! he is here," said Bax, kneeling down.

Guy knelt beside him, and assisted to raise their old friend, who lay
extended on the grave. Bax moved him so as to get from beneath the
shadow of the stone, and called him gently by name, but he did not
answer. When the moonlight next moment fell on his countenance, the
reason of his silence was sufficiently obvious.

Old Jeph was dead!

With tender care they lifted the body in their arms and bore it to the
cottage, where they laid it on the bed, and, sitting down beside it,
conversed for some time in low sad tones.

"Bax," said Guy, pulling the sealed packet from his breast-pocket, "had
you not better open this? It may perhaps contain some instructions
having reference to his last resting-place."

"True," replied Bax, breaking the seals. "Dear old Jeph, it is sad to
lose you in this sudden way, without a parting word or blessing. What
have we here?" he continued, unrolling several pieces of brown paper.
"It feels like a key."

As he spoke a small letter dropt from the folds of the brown paper, with
an old-fashioned key tied to it by a piece of twine. Opening the letter
he read as follows:--

"DEAR BAX,--When you get this I shall be where the wicked cease from
troubling, and the weary are at rest. There is a hide in the
north-west corner of my room in the old house, between the beam and
the wall. The key that is enclosed herewith will open it. I used to
hide baccy there in my smugglin' days, but since I left off that I've
never used it. There you will find a bag of gold. How much is in it
I know not. It was placed there by an old mate of mine more than
forty years ago. He was a great man for the guinea trade that was
carried on with France in the time of Boney's wars. I never rightly
myself understood that business. I'm told that Boney tried to get all
the gold out o' this country, by payin' three shillings more than each
guinea was worth for it, but that seems unreasonable to me.
Hows'ever, although I never could rightly understand it, there is no
doubt that some of our lads were consarned in smugglin' guineas across
the channel, and two or three of 'em made a good thing of it. My mate
was one o' the lucky ones. One night he came home with a bag o' gold
and tumbled it out on the table before me. I had my suspicions that
he had not come honestly by it, so would have nothin' to do with it.
When I tol