"I didn't think it out at the time. I didn't evolve my theory until after I had fled. Naturally, I wasn't able to get back."
"But suppose somebody finds it?" Norine was aghast at the thought.
"Not much chance of that. The treasure has lain there for a generation, and the story itself is almost forgotten." Esteban turned triumphantly to O'Reilly, saying, "Now then, do you think I'm so crazy?"
O'Reilly didn't have it in his heart to say exactly what he really thought. The circumstances of the discovery of the coin were odd enough, certainly, but it seemed to him that they were capable of several explanations. If, indeed, there had ever been a doubloon and if Esteban had found it in the dead hand of his stepmother, that, in O'Reilly's opinion, by no means proved the existence of the mythical Varona hoard, nor did it solve the secret of its whereabouts. What he more than half suspected was that some favored fancy had formed lodgment in Esteban's brain.
"It's an interesting theory," he admitted. "Anyhow, there is no danger of the treasure being uncovered very soon. Cueto had a good look and made himself ridiculous. You'll have ample chance to do likewise when the war is over."
"You must help me find it," said Esteban. "We shall all share the fortune equally, you two, Rosa and I."
"WE? Why should WE share in it?" Norine asked.
"I owe it to you. Didn't O'Reilly rescue me from a dungeon? Haven't you nursed me back to health? Don't I owe my life to you both?"
"Nonsense! I, for one, sha'n't take a dollar of it," the girl declared. "All I want to do is help dig. If you'll just promise to let me do that--"
"I promise. And you shall have one-fourth of everything."
"No! No!"
"Oh, but you MUST. I insist. Nursing is a poorly paid profession. Wouldn't you like to be rich?"
"Profession! Poorly paid?" Norine sputtered, angrily. "As if I'd take pay!"
"As if I would accept a great service and forget it, like some miserable beggar!" Esteban replied, stiffly.
O'Reilly laughed out. "Don't let's quarrel over the spoil until we get it," said he. "That's the way with all treasure-hunters. They invariably fall out and go to fighting. To avoid bloodshed, I'll agree to sell my interest cheap, for cash. Come! What will you bid? Start it low. Do I hear a dollar bid? A dollar! A dollar! A dollar! My share of the famous Varona fortune going for a dollar!"
"There! He doesn't believe a word of it," Esteban said.
Norine gave an impatient shrug. "Some people wouldn't believe they were alive unless they saw their breath on a looking-glass. Goodness! How I hate a sneering skeptic, a wet blanket."