He commenced at this spot, and, after a few moments' labor,
his pick-ax struck upon something hard, which, on clearing away the
earth, he discovered to be a wooden lid of a box. Satisfied that he
was right, Humphrey now worked hard, and in a few minutes he had
cleared away sufficiently to be able to lift out the box and place it
on the turf. He was about to examine it, when he perceived, at about
five hundred yards' distance, three men coming toward him. "They have
discovered me," thought Humphrey; "and I must be off as soon as I
can." He ran to Billy, who was close to him, and bringing the cart to
where the box lay, he lifted it in. As he was getting in himself, with
the reins in his hands, he perceived that the three men were running
toward him as fast as they could, and that they all had guns in their
hands. They were not more than a hundred and fifty yards from him when
Humphrey set off, putting Billy to a full trot.
The three men, observing this, called out to Humphrey to stop, or they
would fire; but Humphrey's only reply was giving a lash to Billy,
which set him off at a gallop. The men immediately fired, and the
bullets whistled past Humphrey without doing any harm. Humphrey looked
round, and finding that he had increased his distance, pulled up the
pony, and went at a more moderate pace.
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