topped rowing; but
he set his teeth when his shoe touched the box of gold at his feet and
ordered the men to row on. There was an explosion and the vessel
disappeared. On reaching shore the treasure was buried at the foot of a
large oak.

This story was repeated by the nurse, but she was ignorant, she had no
proofs, so it was not generally believed; yet there was a perceptible
difference in the treatment of Dane by his neighbors, and among the
superstitious negroes it was declared that he had sold himself to the
devil. If he had, was it an air from hell that sounded in his ears when
he was alone?--the "Ave Maria" of a sinning but repentant woman. The
coldness and suspicion were more than he could stand. Besides, who could
tell? Evidence might be found against him. He would dig up his treasure
and fly the country. It was a year from the night when he had fired his
ship. Going out after dark, that none might see him, he stole to the tree
and began to dig. Presently a red light grew through the air, and looking
up he saw a flaming vessel advancing over the sea. It stopped, and he
could see men clambering into a boat at its side. They rowed toward him
with such miraculous speed that the ocean seemed to steam with a blue
light as they advanced. He stood like a stone, for now he could see the
faces of the rowers, and every one was the face of a corpse--a corpse
that had been left on board of that vessel and had been in the bottom of
the sea for the last twelvemonth. They sprang on shore and rushed upon
him. Next morning Dane's body was found beneath the oak with his hands
filled with gems and gold.

THE UNDER LAND

When the Chatas looked into the still depths of Bayou Lacombe, Louisiana,
they said that the reflection of the sky was the empyrean of the Under
Land, whither all good souls were sure to go after death. Their chief,
Opaleeta, having fallen into this bayou, was so long beneath the water
that he was dead when his fellows found him, but by working over him for
hours, and through resort to prayers and incantations of medicine men,
his life returned and he stood on his feet once more. Then he grieved
that his friends had brought him back, for he had been at the gates of
the Under Land, where the air is blithe and balmy, and so nourishing that
people live on it; where it is never winter; where the sun shines
brightly, but never withers and parches; and where stars dance to the
swing of the breezes. There no whit