Ben looked about him in vain to find a suitable hiding-place in the
immediate neighborhood of the cabin. If there had been a large flat
rock under which he could have placed the gold pieces, that would
have suited him; but there was absolutely nothing of the kind in
sight.
So Ben wandered away, hardly knowing whither his steps were carrying
him, till he must have been at least a quarter of a mile distant
from the cabin.
Here his attention was attracted by a tree of larger circumference
than any he had seen nearer, which showed the ravages of time. The
bark was partly worn away, and, approaching nearer, Ben saw that it
had begun to decay from within. There was an aperture about a foot
above the ground through which he could readily thrust his hand.
"That's the very thing!" exclaimed Ben, his eyes lighting up with
pleasure. "Nobody would ever think of looking for money there. Here
I can hide our gold, and to-morrow, when we set out on our journey,
we can take this tree on our way."
Ben took from his pockets the gold which belonged to Bradley and
himself, and wrapping them securely in a paper which he happened to
have with him, he thrust the whole into the cavity in the tree.
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