Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/69

 steep and rocky, when he discovered a large chest, which had apparently been long under water, firmly fixed between two rocks. He tried to move it, but without success; he then told his discovery to several other boys, who were as good swimmers as himself, and they went together with a strong rope, which they managed to pass round the chest, and while those above pulled at the rope, those who were in the water did their best to get it out of the nook where it was so firmly wedged in; but all their efforts were unsuccessful, and they were obliged to return home without their prize. On reaching the settlement, they told their friends what they had been doing, and on the next day a party of about five-and-twenty men and boys started off, armed with ropes, crowbars, and axes; for they were determined that, if they could not bring the chest ashore, they would break it up, and bring its contents, whatever they were, to dry land. They agreed that the contents should, if worth anything, be shared among the members of the party: the boy who first found the chest was to have a double share, and those who had been