singing or whistling. Dan thought he would be happy too, if he could
only have so many fine things to call his own, but he could see no
way to get them, and that made him angry. He hated Don and Bert so
heartily that he could never look at them without wishing that some
evil might befall them. He threatened to steal their horses, shoot
their dogs, sink their boats, and do a host of other desperate
things, believing that in this way he could render the two happy
brothers as miserable as he was himself.

Godfrey and Dan lived in a most unenviable frame of mind for a year
or more, and then the former one day happened to think of the barrel
which old Jordan had told him was hidden in the potato-patch. He
spoke of it while the family were at dinner, and announced that he
and Dan would begin the work of unearthing the BURIED TREASURE that
very night. If they didn't find it the first time they tried, they
would go the next night; and they would keep on digging until they
obtained possession of it, if they had to dig up the whole state of
Mississippi. Dan almost went wild over the news. He and his father
spent a few minutes in building air-castles, and then Godfrey, who
felt as rich as though he already had the money in his possession,
hurried down to the landing, entered the store there and called for a
plug of tobacco, which the merchant refused to give him until he
showed that he had twenty-five cents to pay for it.

Although Dan and his father had great expectations, which they
believed would very soon be realized, they did not neglect to pay
attention to small matters, and to pick up any stray dollars that
chanced to fall in their way. David was a famous dog-breaker, and Don
Gordon had offered him ten dollars to train a pointer for him. The
offer was made in the presence of Dan and his father, and the former