"Three hundred thousand livres! there are, then, three hundred thousand livres," exclaimed Perez in amazement, as he realized that this immense sum lay in real gold and silver coin before his eyes. "Oh, reverend, right reverend and worthy fellows of the crafty Ignatius! you are indeed cunning foxes! a hundred to one your trick was not discovered, for who but a Jesuit could have imagined it, and who could have guessed that the coffin contained _money_? And so these bags of gold are your _holy remains_, and I too, old sea shark as I am, to be humbugged like a land lubber, with your procession and your mummery--but I am deceived no longer, my eyes are opened; and by my patron saint, trick for trick my pious masters--bones you shall have, and burn me for a heretic, if you get any thing better than bones;" and he began to untie and examine the contents of the money-bags. "Let me consider" said he, "I want some bones, and where the devil shall I find them?" He was on his knees, his body bent over the box, with his hands in the open gold-bags. His agitated countenance expressed with energy the mingled emotions, of desire to keep the rich booty all to himself, and of fear that in some mysterious manner it might elude his grasp--but he must, he _must_ have it. "A lucky thought strikes me," said he; "what a fool I am to give myself any trouble about it. What says my bill of lading? '_Received from the Reverend Father Antonio, a coffin containing bones, said to be those of Saint Escarpacio._' A coffin containing bones, said to be those, &c.--very good, and have I seen the bones, _said_ to be delivered to me, and _said_ to be the saint's bones? certainly not, and the coffin might contain--any thing else--_the said coffin containing_--what you please--how should I know? _said to be the bones of Saint Escarpacio_," &c. &c. In short, Captain Perez began noiselessly and methodically to empty the box of its bags of gold and piles of silver, taking care to stow the treasure away in a chest, to which he alone had access. He then filled the box with whatever was at hand, bits of rusty iron, lead, stones, shells, old junk, hay, &c., substituting as nearly as possible pound for pound in weight if not in value, conscientiously adding some bones which were far removed from _canonisation_, and at last carefully screwing down the lid, the right reverend father Antonio himself, had he been on board, could not have discovered that the coffin had been touched by mortal hand. In about a month the vessel arrived at the port of Cadiz. The quarantine for some unexplained reason was much shorter than usual, and had hardly expired, when a venerable Jesuit was the first person who stood before the captain, a few minutes only after he had taken possession of his lodgings on shore. "I would speak with Captain Perez," said the Jesuit, gravely.