"Go ahead," urged Andy, as the narrator paused to take breath. "Well, that hired man looked at me queer, and just laughed." "What about?" inquired Phil. "He said it was funny, but about the time war broke out he one day met old Bram and his son carrying a bag and a spade. He asked them where they were going. Greg Bram told him to bury a dog, and chuckled as if he had made a smart joke. Well, the hired man watched them, and saw them bury the bag in a thicket. He thought no more of it until the day he was discharged by Bram. The old man asked him to get a certain spade. It was broken by accident, and that was what Bram abused him for. Bram got another spade. The hired man watched him. He dug up the bag, and buried it in a new spot. I asked the man where." "Did he tell you?" inquired Andy in rapt tones. "He did, and I dug up that bag day before yesterday. Then I came here." "Why?" spoke Phil. "Because in it I found nearly five thousand pounds in notes and gold. Now, I'm not stealing anybody's money, but I brought that bag right with me. It's outside on the steps now. I'm taking it to the owners." "Who are the owners, Mr. Berks?" inquired Ralph Post. "Mr. Warrington, for one. In the bag were papers, and contracts and deeds. They show that Jasper Bram owes John Warrington over four thousand pounds." "Yes," said Phil's father, considerably moved, "that is true, but he stole the proofs of it from me." "Then there is a document there about one Burt Noble," continued the old veteran. "It shows that his father left a thousand pounds with Jasper Bram years ago, to provide for his son. The father, it seems, got into some trouble that made him flee from New England. In the bag are recent letters in which the father begs of Bram to send him some word of his son. They have no date and no signature, but they seem to come from Mr. Noble, who has joined the continental army somewhere in the south, but does not come to New England on account of his old troubles." "Then my father is alive!" said Burt Noble, arising to his feet in fervid emotion. "Oh, this is what my heart longed for! It shall be the aim of my life to find him!" "And we will help you, Burt," declared Phil, as he placed a brotherly arm across the shoulder of the brave young spy who had been to him so loyal a friend. The bag was brought in and investigated. Its contents were found to be just as old Silas had described. "I shall keep this money and these papers," said Mr. Warrington. "I shall go about it in a legal way to prove that this money belongs rightfully to me, except the share that is the property of Burt Noble." "Oh, how happy everything has turned out," said Mrs. Warrington, earnestly. "Yes," added Phil, "but it is only an encouragement to go right on in the path we have chosen." "Exactly," nodded Andy. "The war has only just commenced."