Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed. [Illustration: He looked hastily and angrily round. There stood Anne, with a lamp in her hand. _Frontispiece._] The Hidden Treasure Or Found at Last BY LUCY ELLEN GUERNSEY _AUTHOR OF_ _"LADY BETTY'S GOVERNESS," "THE FOSTER-SISTERS," "WINIFRED," ETC._ NEW EDITION LONDON JOHN F. SHAW AND CO. 48 PATERNOSTER ROW CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE GOLD MEDAL II. THE SHEPHERD III. THE SHEPHERD'S TALE IV. SEED BY THE WAYSIDE V. THE CHRISTIAN BROTHER VI. A FALL AND A NEW FRIEND VII. FATHER JOHN AT HOME VIII. JACK GOES HOME FOR A VISIT IX. A JOURNEY X. HOME GOSSIP XI. NEW PROJECTS XII. AN EXPLANATION XIII. "THEY THAT SOW IN TEARS." XIV. ANNE AT HOME XV. MARY BRENT'S LODGER XVI. JACK'S ERRAND XVII. HOLFORD AGAIN XVIII. CONFIDENCES XIX. A SORROWFUL PARTING XX. THE BREAKING OF THE STORM XXI. ANNE XXII. THE TRIAL XXIII. A FRIEND IN NEED XXIV. CONCLUSION THE HIDDEN TREASURE CHAPTER I. THE GOLD MEDAL. It was growing toward evening on a mild day of early spring in the year 1527. The sun, which had been hidden all day, peeped out of a rent in the curtain of gray cloud, and did his best to make beautiful the town of Bridgewater, by gilding the tops of the houses and the tall tower of the beautiful church of St. Mary, lighting up the boats and vessels in the river, and sending his rays on all sorts of frolicsome errands through the streets and alleys of the sober old town. In pursuance of these errands, a set of bright beams found out and entered the shop of John Lucas, the well-known master baker in Bridge Street, and finding therein abundance of well-scoured boards, bright earthenware and burnished pewter, did so disport themselves, that at last they attracted the attention of Master Lucas himself, who was knitting his brows over certain crabbed-looking accounts, apparently trying to extract some meaning from them, by the help of a huge pair of horn spectacles. The moment Master Lucas raised his head, the aforesaid frolicsome beams at once forsook, as it seemed, all their former playthings, to dance about his portly person, light up his gray hair, and make little mimic suns in his eyes and glasses. And certainly they might have gone a long way, and have seen nothing pleasanter than the old man's face.