Sackett's Land (1974) by Louis - Sackett's 0 L'amour Page A

work I would never have been where the gold was. It did not come to me. I went to it.
    "I shall be out of the way for two, maybe three days," I suggested.
    He glanced at me, and I said, "It is a venture in antiquities, and may come to nothing."
    "Luck to you, then. Be in touch with me when you return. I will arrange the meeting for then."
    When he had gone, I met with Jublain and Corvino. "I shall need a horse," I said.
    "A horse is easy," Corvino said. "Why not three?"
    "What I do may come to nothing."
    Jublain shrugged. "Much of what any of us do comes to nothing, yet I notice that whatever you do has at least an intelligence."
    Quietly, I explained. "Do not think of treasure," I warned. "It may be some simple thing. A pot, a Roman sword, an inscription. We may waste our time."
    "If you go alone," Jublain said, "you'll fall into trouble. We shall ride with you."
    We took only the food we needed, and digging tools. The latter we wrapped in a cloak and we rode swiftly. Out of town and long into the countryside, then into the deep woods.
    Suddenly Jublain said, "We are followed, Barnabas."
    Glancing back I saw a lone horseman upon a hill. He was sitting very still, seeming to scan the country.
    "Just a chance rider," I suggested.
    "Who turns when we turn? Who stops when we stop?"
    "All right then, be prepared."
    Our horses were good, but I had no mind to trust to speed. I had walked through this country before this. The road ahead dipped low between a barn and a walled field. Beyond was a sunken road, a road that branched three ways. Between two of these roads was a brook.
    Swiftly we dipped into the sunken road. We took the middle one and, coming to the brook, went into the water and rode swiftly to the other road and into the woods. Turning from the road we rode into the forest, weaving among the trees, splashing through a marsh and soon came upon another trail.
    We went back, then, by devious lanes used only by farmers, into the deeper forest.
    Though I was sure I could ride right to the spot, it took me some time to find it. We dismounted and looked about. It was Corvino whose quick eyes made contact.
    "There!" he said. "Where the mound is! That is probably all tumbled rock underneath. See? It is not a natural mound, that one."
    Jublain had not moved. Suddenly he looked over at me. "It is wrong ... this," he said quietly. "It is very wrong."
    We looked at him, and he flushed a little. "You'll think me a fool," he said, "but if there is anything here, if there are old things, they lie as they have fallen ... where they fell, when they fell."
    Neither of us knew what he was talking about. "Is it because you fear the ghosts?" Corvino wondered.
    Jublain shook his head. "I know nothing of such things," he said, "I should be the last to speak, but your Society ... If this place were opened with care, if every thing were taken out and its position marked, could one not tell how the object was used? You spoke of pots ... for the kitchen? Or for perfumes or powder or such things? If things are moved, how will they ever find out?"
    We stared at him, and I, for one, saw his point at last. It irritated me, because I began to feel he was right. I did not know exactly why, but ...
    "You spoke of history, of these things being a part of history. If we take them all apart, then who will know how they once fitted?"
    "Ifwe don't, someone else will," I grumbled.
    "I think that remark has excused more sins than any other," Jublain commented.
    I stared at him, irritated. "Since when did you become so sanctimonious? You have killed, looted. You've lived by the sword."
    He shrugged. "A good point, and I'm caught upon it. I am a soldier, have on occasion been a brigand, but nonetheless--"
    "Dig!" I said, "I came not this way for nothing."
    Corvino had crossed the hollow where I had fallen on my first discovery. "A corner was here, I think. Let us try."
    Nobody said more, and we all dug, but reluctantly, I think.
    We found broken stone, another