If we should ask our garrulous guide why this treasure had not been dug
up by the people of the place, he would probably shake his head and
declare that personally he knew nothing about it, but that it was
generally believed that it was there, and he had heard that there had
been people who had tried to find it, but if they did find any they
never said anything about it, and it was his opinion that if Captain
Kidd ever put any gold or silver or precious stones under the ground on
that part of the coast these treasures were all there yet.
Further questioning would probably develop the fact that there was a
certain superstition which prevented a great many people from
interfering with the possible deposits which Captain Kidd had made in
their neighborhood, and although few persons would be able to define
exactly the foundation of the superstition, it was generally supposed
that most of the pirates' treasures were guarded by pirate ghosts. In
that case, of course, timid individuals would be deterred from going
out by themselves at night,--for that was the proper time to dig for
buried treasure,--and as it would not have been easy to get together a
number of men each brave enough to give the others courage, many of the
spots reputed to be the repositories of buried treasure have never been
disturbed.
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