The Deering mansion was crowded with many objects of value in the way of plate, pictures and antique carvings, of which his father had been a tireless collector. Upon looking over the books of the plantation one day, Tom discovered that there was also about four thousand pounds in gold in the house, his father having drawn all his money out of the banks at the first sign of trouble between the colony and Great Britain. This was a very large sum and its possession troubled the boy not a little. The money was locked up in a heavy oaken chest in his father’s private room; and when the news reached him that Sir Henry Clinton was in the outer roadstead, he set about finding a hiding-place for it, his judgment telling him that the city was in danger. He and Cole opened the chest one night; the broad gold pieces, mostly Spanish, were tied up in stout bags. “If the enemy storm and demolish Fort Moultrie,” said Tom, as he looked reflectively at the bags, “they will be very keen after hard money to pay off their men and obtain fresh supplies. So they would not hesitate a moment in seizing upon this if they chanced upon it.” The hiding-place must be a secret known only to themselves; the slaves upon the plantation could be trusted to the last one; but if the dragoons of Tarleton suspected the presence of treasure upon the place, they would terrorize the negroes by threats of torture and compel them to tell where it was hidden. Some distance from the house, in the middle of an orchard, was an old well, the waters of which were used in dry weather to keep the young trees in good condition. As a small boy Tom had often lowered himself into its dark depths in a spirit of exploration; and now, as he cast his mind about for a safe place to conceal the gold, the well occurred to him. “I have it, Cole,” exclaimed he, cheerfully. “The old well in the orchard is the place; about half-way down, a large stone fell out a long time ago, and behind the bed where the stone lay we can dig out a hole large enough to contain all the money.” Cole nodded delightedly; in his opinion it was just the thing. So out they went, at a side door at the upper end of the house to prepare the hiding-place. Cole carried a long rope, for Tom decided not to trust his weight to the well rope, which was old and very likely rotten; they also had a masked lantern, a short iron bar and a small spade. “We must be careful and not be seen,” said Tom, as they picked their way through the garden. “The Tories are drawing in close, at the expectation of a British victory; and if one of them saw us prowling about in the darkness he would suspect something at once.”