h drew it from its hiding
place into the centre of the pit. It was securely locked with two huge
padlocks.

We concluded we would hoist it out of its bed and examine it at our
leisure above ground. To compass this we had to erect a kind of tripod
of three long pieces of deal, which had evidently at some time been
top-sail yards of some vessel probably wrecked on rocky Jethou. From
this we suspended a block and fall, and soon had our iron chest safely
above ground.

About this time an unaccountable feeling seized us both; I know not what
it was, but it appeared to us that we were doing something wrong,
violating the grave of the dead man near us, or something of the kind.

We seemed to feel that the bones should again be buried as quickly as
possible, for fear someone should see us at our task. Why this feeling
came over us I know not, but it did, so we fastened the rope attached to
the block round the waist of the grinning skeleton, and commenced to
lower him into his last home again; but he saved us further trouble by
breaking in two just above the hips and falling into the bottom of the
well-like hole. We quickly covered him with old clothes and hid him from
view.

It was a work of some difficulty to get the iron chest to the house, but
this we accomplished at last with the donkey's help, and having brought
in the other goods, we cleared up for the day, completely tired out.

At nine o'clock, an hour after supper, we retired to bed, each of us
fancying we should have our rest stopped by hideous dreams; but we were
mistaken, for we slept like the dead in the pit till six o'clock, when
we arose much refreshed by our long night's rest.

It was raining fast, and as the drops pattered on the window pane, they
seemed like tears for the poor fellow lying unburied in the hole
yonder; but we let him lie unburied, as we knew he was past all harm
from catarrh or rheumatism, and every other ailment of this world.

We did not go out all day, but devoted our time to examining the great
find. The keys (as we suspected) which depended from the neck of the
skeleton, belonged to the iron chest; but as they were rusty, we had to
clean the wards with oil and ashes, but even then we could not shoot the
bolts in the locks, as probably they were rusty. There was but one way
left, and that was to raise the lid by force; but even this we did in a
gentle manner by filing through the hinges and finishing with a few taps
from a heavy ham