80 History of Gutta-Percha Willie.

 

retorted Sandy —to which question Willie at-
tempted no reply.

It was now serious work to get the stones up, for
Sandy’s head only was above the level of the
ground ; it was all he could do to lift some of the
larger ones out of the hole, and Willie saw that he
must contrive to give him some help. He ran
therefore to the house, and brought a rope which
he had seen lying about. One end of it Sandy
tied round whatever stone was too heavy for him,
and Willie, laying hold of the other, lifted along
with him. They got on faster now, and in a few
minutes Sandy exclaimed—

“ Here it is at last!”

“The treasure?” cried Willie. “ Oh, jolly !*

Sandy burst out laughing, and shouted—

“ The water !”

“Bother the water!” growled Willie. “But go
on, Sandy; the iron chest may be at the bottom
of the water, you know.”

“All very well for you up there!” retorted
Sandy. “But though I can get the stones out, I
can’t get the water out. And I’ve no notion of
diving where there’s pretty sure to be nothing to
dive for. Besides, a body can’t dive in a stone
pipe like this. I should want weights to sink me,
and I mightn’t get them off in time. I want my
breakfast dreadful, Willie.”

So saying, he scrambled up the side of the well,