The box came to the top and Mr. Snider had it at last in his hands.  He disconnected the wires of the battery, unwound the cord which tied the box, and lifted the cover.  One woman drew in her breath so quickly that she almost sobbed, and then choked, and had to be slapped on the back.  Everybody crowded around, even closer than before, as Mr. Snider exhibited the box.  There was a little mud and gravel inside and this they rinsed away very carefully with a cup and basin of water.  Sticking to the tin tube were two or three dozen glittering golden grains!  The box was passed about, and everyone looked at the gold in silence.

“Well, I snum!  Yer’ve done it!  I didn’t believe yer could, but yer’ve done it!”

This remark, from a man in front, made most of the people laugh.  One very serious old man kept the box in his hands.  He had neither laughed nor smiled when the man in front spoke, but he looked earnestly at Mr. Snider.

“Just let me test them little bits of dust, will yer, Mister?”

“Test them?  Oh, yes,—­certainly, certainly.  By all means.”

“That’s right,” said two or three, “let Melvin test ’em.”

After giving the box to someone else to hold, Melvin fished out of his pocket a little china dish and a bottle of some liquid.  They scraped off some of the gilt particles with a pocket knife, and put them in the dish.  Melvin had his bottle poised above them.

“If it aint genyewine,” said he, solemnly, “it’ll fizzle when I pour this acid onto it, but if it is genyewine, it won’t fizzle.”

Then he poured the acid into the dish.  There was a pause.

“It don’t fizzle,” said he.

“Three cheers for Brother Snider!” bellowed the Hon. J. Harvey Bowditch.

The old man who had made the test advanced toward Mr. Snider.  He had a roll of money in his hand, and I saw a hundred dollar bill on top.

“I’ll take a hundred of them shares, Mister,” said he.

“I come first here,” said another man, “I’ve had this fixed up with Harvey Bowditch ever since we come.  Gimme fifty shares.”

“I’ll take fifty of ’em,” said another man.

“Here’s twenty-five dollars,” said another, “that’s good for five shares, aint it?”

“Just one moment, friends,” said Mr. Snider, “just one moment.”

They got a stool from the “May Queen,” and a little table.  Mr. Snider sat down at the table, with Mr. Bowditch and Deacon Chick hovering near.  They produced a bundle of certificates, all printed in bright purple ink, with a picture of Washington, and a big eagle, and a flag at the top.  At the bottom was a great gold seal, with two red ribbons fluttering from it.  Mr. Snider filled in the names with a fountain pen, and the number of shares that each man purchased.