o mould in sand--little,
long, golden bars being the most convenient shape in which we could
carry our gold.

I knew even then that it was a great pity to destroy what were equally
valuable as curiosities as for their intrinsic worth as precious metal;
but any attempt to dispose of them would have meant confiscation, and
such a treasure was not to be introduced to the notice of strangers with
impunity.

My uncle joined with me in lamenting the difficulties of the case, and
that we should be under the necessity of melting the cups and plates
down; but he urged me to do it as soon as possible, and we soon set to
work, carrying on our metal fusing in secret by the help of a crucible
and a great deal of saltpetre, which soon helped to bring the heat to a
pitch where the gold would melt like so much lead, and then by the help
of a strong handle the pot was lifted out and its glowing contents
poured forth into the moulds.

The ingots we thus cast had to be filed and the rough projections taken
off, the dust and scraps being remelted down with the other portion.

It was a tremendous task, though. The plates we managed pretty easily,
but the discs had to be cut up first by means of a great hammer and a
cold chisel, and the progress we made upon some days was very small.

The cups, too, were very difficult to manage; and Tom and I used to work
exceedingly hard, hammering and breaking the gold into small pieces that
would go into the melting-pot. Sometimes our fingers were quite sore
with the hammering and filing.

Still we kept on making progress, nervous progress, lest people should
find out what we were about; and by slow degrees we added ingot to
ingot--little, bright, yellow bar after bar--to one heap, and bar after
bar of silver to another heap, which were kept buried under a stone in
the floor of one of the rooms.

Over and over again we hesitated before breaking up some
beautifully-worked cup, though without exception these had been battered
and flattened, perhaps three hundred years ago, for the convenience of
carriage and hiding from the Spaniards, who had gone west with such a
thirst for gold. Several of the best cups were almost flat, the tough,
soft metal having evidently been driven in with blows from stones.

We did not get through our task without alarms; for now and then some
kindly-disposed person would call, and then we were obliged to hurriedly
conceal our work, smothering the fire, and this perhap