Chapter 20
Individual cries blended into a general shout and developed into a roar from the crowd as the mass of gold began to shake.
Every eye was gazing in the same direction. What was happening? Had they been the victims of an hallucination, or had the meteor really stirred? If so, what was the cause? Perhaps the soil was yielding a little, which might bring about the ultimate fall of the treasure into the sea.
“It would be a singular ending to this affair which has so excited the world,” observed Miss Arcadia Walker.
“There might be a worse one,” replied Mr. Seth Stanfort.
“It would be the best,” said Francis Gordon. No, they were not mistaken. The bolide continued to slip slowly down towards the sea. Undoubtedly the ground was giving way. If this movement were not checked, the sp
