The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1940-12-13

Inc oOg paved the ground eX-
citedly. Signs of digging and holes
always stirred Homer. He clawed
and dug like wild animal. Reggie
watched him thoughtfully, a vague
plan forming in his mind. He made
another survey Of the orchard men,
tally listing the old and dead wine
saps. Then be called Homer and set
him to work.
Bones" he said, scratching with
q stick where he wanted Homer to
excavate And the dirt flew in all
directions from under Homer's feet.
After the dog had gone about so far
into the earth Reggie filled the hole
up. Then they started for another
tree.
If the great detective had not
come down with a feverish sore
throat Homer would have met his
fate sooner. But Reggie cried and
Homer was spared a few days long
er. When he was able to get out
again they started off for Howe's or
chard, Homer running ahead and
barking like dog who is we'll
pleased with himself.
Reggie paused. thunderstruck, al
most as soon as he vaulted the or
chard fence. Homer waited, bark
ing and wagging his tail as he sur
veyed his handiwork During the
four days that Reggie had been laid
up Homer had been busy digging
holes and Howe's orchard looked
like a graveyard after an epidemic.
Hole after hole lay before them with
mounds of red clay at the brink.
Good night" said the great de-
tective, sitting down weakly.
Voices came down the road, one
angry, the other placating. Mr..
Howe and papa came around the
corner. Papa had q shovel and Mr..
Howe carried q cane that swung
threateningly.
81 see Homer's been up to his
old tricks again" said papa grimly.
Homer thinks he's an Egyptolo-
gist," added papa to Mr.. Howe, try
ing to make a joke.
But Mr.. Howe sputtered angrily.
He could not see anything funny
about the thing. His orchard was
ruined. He had noticed the holes
last night and had set a man in the
woods to watch, supposing some of
the townspeople were looking for the
treasure.
"And we caught your dog red
handed, this afternoon" he said.
Homer's tail had gradually
stopped wagging. His head dropped
and he craWled meekly on his stom-
ach. He rolled over and sat up on
his launches, going through his few
clumsy tricks as though he suspect
ed he was nearing the end of his
rope.
They started to fill up the holes,
papa and Reggie. Mr.. Howe stood
around and pulled like the old wind
bag he was.
You ought to get rid of that fool
dog, McWhortle," he said.
Il intend to-, said papa, wiping
the sweat from his face.
Suddenly Reggie caught sight of
something dark and hard-looking at
the bottom of hole He leaped in
and worked feverishly with his
hands. Papa pulled him out and
started working around the thing
with the shovel and soon the three
of them were tugging and putting in
an attempt to lug the box over to
Howe's place. A chisel pried the
rusty lid off and Reggie stared Curl
ously at the buried treasure.
Treasure! Old knives and forks
and spoons, black with age. Heavy
dark coins and old bracelets and
pins and things. They called that
stuff treasure! II it had been gold
and diamonds and rubies there
might have been some excuse for
old Mrs. Howe hopping around as
though hornet had bit her.
"And this dear little boy found
it?" she asked, drawing Reggie to
her bosom. He pushed her off. She
smelled like drug store. Enough
to knock fella over backwards.
Homer found it." answered the
great detective. Hes a great ex-
cavationer. He's been digging for a
week"
That's great dog you've got
there, McWhortle," said Mr. Howe,
beaming. Have you ever traced
his pedigree?"
I'm going to-" said papa, pat
ting Homer on the head proudly.
Mrs. McWhortle and ! have al
ways thought Homer was remark
able animal"