“I saw ’em purty plain, fer they passed close to me,” he answered. “They was both tall, easy over six feet, an’ husky! An’ once, when one feller was holdin’ a flashlight an’ the other feller was stooped down, draggin’ at the box they’d finally found. I saw that the stooped-over feller had light hair. I guess that was about all, exceptin’ it was a big, long, narrer box they got out an’ drug away, an’ it was heavy; an’ thev must o’ been big fellers because they lifted it an’ carried it as soon as they struck the creek ag’in on thar way back. I guess that’s all.” The sheriff put his hands on his hips. “A fine howdy-do!” he remarked savagely. “Gosh knows what them birds dug up from under this bridge! Buried treasure, likely, or mebbe a body! But more probably gold, or some other kind o’ loot--mebbe smuggled stuff from the border--an’ they didn’t leave a blamed clew either! A nice mess, folks, I’ll say! Shorty, what do yuh make o’ it all?” Shorty stared around blankly. “I dunno,” he said, “it looks kinda funny, doesn’t it?” The “buried box” mystery forthwith became the great sensation of the San Luis Valley. There were all kinds of rumors afloat instantly, of course, and everybody had his or her pet explanation of the mystery. There were many who thought that a body had been exhumed from beneath the end of the bridge. There were as many others who firmly believed that a fortune in smuggled jewels or contraband narcotics from the border had been dug up and carried away. And there were many odd explanations, too. “I maintains that it was Injun treasure,” insisted old Grandpa McMeel hotly, “an’ I blame myself fer not goin’ right down thar when I saw them two ruffians workin’ thar an’ stretchin’ ’em out cold with my cane! I could o’ done it, too, ef I had jus’ been sure I saw ’em like I thought! I had them two toddies up to Pappy Stewart’s house just afore an’--an’--waal, I weren’t sure I did see them two fellers thar----” “I could ’a’ reached out an’ poked a stick at ’em an’ made ’em put up their hands!” said Fred Speers. “I was that close to ’em, but my gal friend was scared to death! An’ I didn’t dare take no chances! O ’course, I could o’ licked ’em both in a rough-an’-tumble fight, big as thev was; but waal--it weren’t no time or place to start a lot o’ cussin’ an’ trouble.” Sheriff Cook was worried. As soon as he got back to the office, trailed by the sad-looking Manuel Perez, he slumped into a chair and sighed in despair. “Ef it ain’t one thing it’s another, with this job, Manuel,” he explained. “Did yuh notice whar that feller Shorty disappeared to?” “He say he look fer clews,” answered Perez. “Oh,” said the sheriff. “Yes, I remember, so he did. Waal, I looked an’ thar wasn’t any, Perez. What do yuh think about it, eh? Somebody had somethin’ valuable hid thar?”