"Yes, you and Mun Bun can do that," said Mrs. Bunker.
The warm sun was drying out the beach, and when George came back with his shovel he and Laddie and Russ began three holes in a row, each one trying to make his the deepest. Mun Bun and Margy, each of whom had a small shovel, also began to dig, though, of course, they could not expect to dig as fast as the boys, nor make as deep holes.
"I"ll sit on the sand and watch you," said Mrs. Bunker.
"Maybe we"ll find a treasure," suggested Russ.
"What treasure?" asked George.
"Oh, before we came down here, when we were at our Aunt Jo"s in Boston,"
Russ explained, "we knew a boy named Sammie Brown. His father dug up some treasure on a desert island once. We thought maybe we could dig up some here."
"But we didn"t--not yet," added Laddie.
"And I don"t guess we ever will," said Russ. "Only we make believe, lots of times, that we"re going to."
The three boys dug away and Mun Bun and Margy did the same, only more slowly. Then along came Rose and Violet.
"What are you doing?" Violet asked, getting in her question first, as usual.
"Digging holes," answered Russ.
"Seeing who can make the biggest," added George. "Mine"s deeper than yours!" he said to Russ.
"Yes, but mine"s going to be bigger. I"m going to make a hole big enough so I can stand down in it and dig. I"m going to make a regular well."
"I guess I will, too," decided George.
"So"ll I," said Laddie.
"Well, if you come to water, don"t fall in," advised Mrs. Bunker with a laugh.
"You go get a shovel and dig, too," called Russ to Rose.
"No, I don"t want to," said his sister. "I"ll watch you."
My, how the sand was flying on the beach now! Russ, Laddie and George were all digging as fast as they could with their shovels, each one trying to make the biggest hole. Mun Bun and Margy dug also, but, though they made a lot of sand fly, they did not always dig in the same place.
Instead of keeping to one hole they made three or four. But they had just as much fun.
Suddenly Laddie, who had made a hole in which he could stand, it being so deep that he was half hidden from sight in it, uttered a cry.
"What"s the matter?" asked his mother. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Did you dig up a Sallie Growler?" asked Vi.
"Maybe it"s a crab," said Mun Bun, and he dropped his shovel and started for his mother.
"No, nothing like that," said Laddie. "Only--oh, goody--I guess I"ve found the treasure!" he shouted.
"Treasure!" cried Russ. "What do you mean?"
"I guess I"ve found some gold in my hole!" went on Laddie. "Come and look! It shines like anything!"
Russ and George leaped out of the holes they were digging and ran toward Laddie. Mrs. Bunker got up and hurried down the beach. Mun Bun and Margy followed. Rose and Violet went too.
"Where is it?" asked Russ, stooping over the edge of his brother"s hole.
"Where"s the treasure?"
"There," answered Laddie, pointing to something shining in the sand. It did glitter brightly and it was not buried very deeply, being near the top of the hole, but on the far edge, where Laddie had not done much digging.
"It is gold!" cried George. "Whoop! Maybe that boy you knew was right, and there is pirate"s treasure here!"
Mrs. Bunker bent down and looked at what Laddie had uncovered. Then she took a stick and began carefully to dig around it.
"Here, take my shovel," offered Laddie.
"No, I don"t want to scratch it, if it is what I think," said his mother. "I had better dig with the stick."
She went on scratching away the sand. As she did so the piece of shiny thing became larger. It sparkled more brightly in the sun.
"Is it treasure?" asked Laddie eagerly. "Did I find some gold treasure?"
"Yes, I think you did, Son," said Mrs. Bunker. "It is gold and it is a treasure."
"Did the pirates hide it?" demanded Russ.
"No, I think not," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "I think Rose lost it."
"Rose lost it!" cried the two Bunker boys. "What?"
"Yes, it is her locket that she dropped when we first came here and never could find," went on Mrs. Bunker. "Laddie, you have found it. You have discovered the golden treasure--Rose"s locket!"
Having dug away the sand in which it was imbedded, Mrs. Bunker lifted up a dangling gold chain to which was fastened the gold locket.
"Oh, it is mine!" cried Rose. "Oh, how glad I am to get it back again!
Oh, Laddie, how glad I am!"
Her mother handed the little girl her long-lost locket. It was not a bit hurt from having been buried in the sand, for true gold does not tarnish in clean sand. And the ornament was as good as ever. Rose clasped it about her neck and looked very happy.
"How did it get in my hole?" asked Laddie.
"It didn"t," said his mother. "You happened to dig in just the place where Rose dropped her locket and you uncovered it. Or this may not have been the exact place where it fell. Perhaps the sands shifted and carried the locket with them. That is why we could not find it before.
But now we have it back."
"It was like finding real treasure," said Russ.
"I wish we"d find some more," said George. "I"m going to dig a big hole."
But, though he scooped out more sand, he found no more gold, nor did Russ, though they found some pretty sh.e.l.ls.