After looking about a little Larry found the fallen wall. He recalled that, as he had stooped down behind it he had seen, over the top, the spire of a church. And he recalled that the three men were in a direct line between the stone and the church steeple. “Then if I walk out in a straight line from the stone, toward the church, I ought to come across the place,” said Larry to himself. Taking an observation from behind the stone he located the church spire. Then, walking as straight as possible, he passed out from the fallen wall. “It ought to be about here,” he said. As he spoke his foot sank down into a soft spot in the ground. Larry lighted the candle and flashed his lantern on the place. “I’ll bet this is it,” he remarked. “Anyway, I’ll mark it.” He had prepared a short stake with a piece of white cloth on it as a guide, and this he stuck in the earth. Then he hurried from the lot to go to school. Illustration: AT THE BOTTOM HE COULD SEE, IN THE DIM LIGHT OF THE LANTERN, A SMALL BLACK BOX _From Office Boy to Reporter_ Page 228 It would have been better for Larry’s lessons if he had not been thinking so much of what was buried in the lot. He did not pay proper attention to what was going on in the class. When he answered questions with statements such as that Columbus was President of the United States, that Balboa discovered the Hudson River and that New York was the capital of Indian Territory, the teacher remarked: “Well, Larry, I guess you are still dreaming. You had better wake up.” The class laughed and Larry with an effort took his mind from what he was about to do. Then he made a better record in his studies for that evening. When school was dismissed Larry did not stop, as he sometimes was in the habit of doing, to chat with his acquaintances. He hurried off to the lot. As he approached it he took a careful observation. There was no one in the big field, which seemed dark, gloomy, and lonesome to the boy. He had half a mind to give the whole thing up. He was afraid he would discover nothing and would have his trouble for his pains. Then, too, he thought, if there should be something buried there, and the men came along and discovered him, they might harm him. “Well, there’s nothing like trying,” he reasoned. Then he crawled under the fence, got his spade and lantern, and walked to where he had placed the marking stake. It had not been disturbed. Larry lighted the candle in the lantern, and, placing it where it would throw an illumination on the spot to be dug up, and would not be likely to be seen from the street, the boy stuck the spade into the ground. It was not easy digging, and before he had gone down two feet his back began to ache. The men had packed the lower layers of dirt in quite hard, and there were many small stones encountered.