poured down his face and arms, his muscles ached, blisters were
beginning to form on his hands. Heedless of all, he dug on. He had
settled into the rhythm of it now, and nothing could distract him.

"Tell you what's a good thing for seasickness," said the Sea Monster
slyly. "You take a--" Pretending not to hear, the Phoenix stood first
on one leg and then on the other and stared into the sky. David dug
tirelessly.

Suddenly the spade grated on something solid, and they all jumped.
David shouted "Here it is!" and shoveled up sand frantically. The
Phoenix danced around the hole, also shouting. Even the Sea Monster
arched its neck to get a better view. They could see a brass ring,
crusted with verdigris, fastened to a partly-exposed piece of wood.
The sand flew. Now they could see studded strips of metal bound to the
wood, and a rusty padlock. And in a few minutes a whole chest, with
slanting sides and a curved lid and tarnished brass hinges, was
uncovered. David threw the spade on the beach, seized the brass
handle, and tugged. It came off in his hand.

[Illustration]

"Here, let me," said the Sea Monster. David got out of the hole, and
the Sea Monster worked one flipper carefully under the chest. "Look
out," it said, and heaved its flipper up. The chest shot into the air,
tumbled down end over end, and split wide open on the beach.

David gasped. A dazzling, sparkling heap spilled out on the sand.
There were heaps of gold and silver coins, the silver black with
tarnish but the gold still bright. There were pearls, rubies,
diamonds, beryls, emeralds, opals, sapphires, amethysts. And
bracelets, necklaces, pendants, sunbursts, brooches, rings, pins,
combs, buckles, lockets, buttons, crucifixes. And carved pieces of
jade and ivory and coral and jet. And coronets, crowns, tiaras, arm
bands. And jeweled daggers, picture frames, vases, silver knives and
forks and spoons, sugar bowls, platters, goblets.

For an hour they examined the treasure. David fairly wallowed in it,
exclaiming "Look at this one!" or "Oh, how beautiful!" or just
"Golly!" The Phoenix muttered such things as "King's ransom" and
"Wealth of the Indies." The Sea Monster was not interested in the
treasure, but kept glancing nervously out to sea.

At last the Phoenix said, "Well, my boy, I think we had better make
our choice. Three or four coins should do it."

The Sea Monster gave a relieved sigh. "Let's get the rest of it
underground right away. You