The Argosy — page 158: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

350 : THE ARGOSY. ing the opening with the boards which Tom Sawder had contributed to the enterprise. After he had waited some time, he was confident that the villain had left the bag for the time, and he thought he would venture to light another match. By the aid of this light he saw the bag. A cord was attached to it, not simply to the handles, but several half hitches were passed around it, and rigged so that the bearing came on one end. ‘This was doubtless done so that the bag should descend endwise, and thus encounter fewer impediments in its downward passage. It had come down safely, and rested on the platform. ‘The other end of the line must have been concealed near the top of the shaft. Andy had only the privilege of guessing why Poddy had made this dis- position of the booty. Probably he distrusted his companions, and thought it advisable to put the money out of their reach. He had taken pains to send Tom Sawder out of the grotto, as Andy had heard for himself, and this proved that the hoodlum had not secured the confidence of his employer. Suddenly Andy’s blood was chilled, and he started up from his seat in the boat. What if the robber should change his mind and suspect that his treasure was not safe where he had deposited it? What if he should con- clude to bury it? What if any unexpected movement in Montoban or any other event should compel him to recover the bag? Andy was appalled at the thought, and he decided to put it out of the power of Poddy to reclaim the bag. But it was hardly safe todoso. ‘The possessor of so vast a sum of money was likely to pull the cord a dozen times a day to assure himself that the bag was still where he had placed it. Yet at any risk Andy felt that he could not leave the treasure subject to the caprice of the robber. He worked for half an hour untying the fasten- ings of the bag, for Poddy had done his work in the most thorough manner, though his knots were not nautically correct. But the cord was removed, and the bag placed in the bottom of the boat. Poddy was sure to handle that line many times, and at the first pull he would realize that the treasure was gone. ‘Then he would descend the shaft himself, if there was space enough to permit him to do so. He was sure to work for a week or a month till he discovered what had become of the bag. Andy saw that he could not perfectly protect himself in the face of such a contingency, but he could do something to remove the peril farther away from him. He lifted the bag several times, and obtained the best idea he could of its weight. Then from the loose rocks on the platform he selected one of about the same number of pounds. To this he attached the cord securely, and left it where the bag had been. This would answer for Poddy to experiment pon quite as well as the bag full of bank notes. Having done all he could do to fortify his position as custodian of the entire funds of two banks, Andy dropped into the seat in the stern of the tender. He was perfectly satisfied with himself and everybody else. He did not even find any mental fault with Poddy, who had certainly played into his hands in the most accommodating manner, though he had done it - Eomichbooks.co