by the fire, and looking first at Mattie and then at her mother, he
said: "I have good news to tell you. The storm has prevented Gusher from
getting here to-night. But the Kidd Discovery Company matter is settled,
and will be a great success. No need of inventing a new religion now.
Hanz has got his head full of the project. Has made all his Dutch
neighbors believe there is a fortune in it for them all. We go on an
expedition up the river to-morrow night, in search of the d----l's
sounding-rock. That's the place where Kidd buried his treasure, you see.
These honest old Dutchmen firmly believe that Kidd had an understanding
with the devil when he buried it there. Just show them how to start an
enterprise and make money, and they are as ready to make it as
anybody."

CHAPTER XVI.

A NIGHT EXPEDITION.

The wind and the cold had moderated, and a heavy grey mist hung over the
Tappan Zee on the following night. Hollow, echoing sounds came over and
through the mist clouds, and re-echoed up the mountain. The scene was
one common at that season of the year; still there was something strange
and mysterious in the very atmosphere that composed it. Gloom hung over
everything, and touched a melancholy chord in one's feelings. Curious
figures, dim and indistinct, seemed to move and dance up and down, and
thread their way through the curtain of mist, like phantoms in winding
sheets. They were but delusions, betraying the eye. But there is a
reality now; a steamer is seen cutting her way through the deep gloom,
and throwing a long trail of light high up over the grey mist and
reflecting curiously in the heavens.

Two stalworth men were seen walking down the road that night about eight
o'clock, dressed in a style common to boatmen. One carried a pair of
oars over his shoulder; the other had a well-filled haversack slung
across his, and a crowbar in his right hand. They halted on reaching
Bright's inn, and having stacked the oars and the bar against the little
porch, entered, and were greeted by a number of friends already
refreshing themselves at the counter. The appearance of these men--for
they were known to be the best boatmen on the Tappan Zee--greatly
surprised Bright and the gossips who were enjoying his ale around a
little table. One and then another invited them to drink, but they
refused, saying they had merely dropped in to light their pipes and look
for the men who were to join them. Various questions were now put