any
of two others, who at first affected to be strangers. It soon became
apparent, however, that these men had met Hanz and Chapman here by
appointment. And it was also apparent that they were engaged in the same
business of searching for Kidd's treasure. One was an ill-favored,
talkative little man, who wore spectacles and the shabbiest of clothing,
and seemed to pride himself in a bushy red beard and hair. In short, he
was about as dilapidated a specimen of rejected humanity as Nature in
one of her wildest freaks could have produced. Indeed, I may as well
inform the reader that this person was Warren Holbrook, who, since his
departure from Nyack, had been enlightening the people of this
neighborhood by preaching the gospel of the "great advanced ideas," and
in that way picking up enough to keep the wolf from the door, though it
would not put clothes on his back.

Holbrook declared that the world had not used him well generally; but he
never thought of looking into himself for the cause. He was willing,
however, to relinquish the gospel of the advanced ideas for a business
that would put money in his pocket and clothes on his back. Here he was,
then, engaged in the business of getting up the great Kidd Discovery
Company, by which every man who invested in it was to make a fortune.

The other was a slender, well-formed young man, perhaps twenty-five or
six years old, of dark olive complexion, and black, oily hair that
curled all over his head. His large black eyes were full of softness and
were well set under beautifully arched-brows. There was, indeed, a
moorish cast about his features, which were prominent and well lined;
and when he spoke, which he did with a foreign accentation, he disclosed
a row of white, polished teeth, every one set with perfect regularity.
His hands, too, were soft and delicate, and on each of his little
fingers he wore a large seal ring. He wore, also, a heavy gold
neck-chain, and his dress was of plain black, made in the latest style
and in great good taste. Romantic young girls just out in society might
have been excused for selecting just such a man as a model lover.

The young man I have described above so neatly dressed, was Philo
Gusher, of the great accommodating house of Topman and Gusher,
extensively engaged in making discoveries and fortunes for all persons
kind enough to honor them with their investments.

The boatmen found these men in a room at the farm-house, seated around a