It might have been taken as a natural inference that the rusty weapon belonged to some British vessel of war, or was a trophy of American valour; but not so did the wiseacres decide. It was gravely j^ronounced to be a relic of Captain Kidd! Then a speculator worked up the idea and interested a number of people of the class that the j)roverb mentions as being soon parted from their money, and a company was formed with $22,000 capital to explore for the wealth that everybody at once knew must be lying there. People talked of the auger that had bored through the deck of the sunken ship and brought up silver with it. To be sure, no one had seen the silver, but the auger was probably not denied to any seeker after conviction. The work went on merrily for some time, but after a while funds ran low and faith began to waver, and the pumping station no longer pumped. Well, after all, was it any more silly than to be duped into subscribing to a compan}^ that engaged to make gold out of sea-water? From the veracious chronicle of the adventures of that delightful son of Manhattan, Dolph Heyliger, as told by Washington Irving, we get an invaluable treasure of goblin lore. The Dunderberg is particularly mentioned as being the haunt of unearthly creatures whose instinct for mischief was calculated to keep the toiling sons of the river in perpetual disquiet.

322 The Hudson River

It is certain that strange things have been seen in these highlands in storms. The captains of the river craft talk of a little bulbous-bottomed Dutch goblin, in trunk-hose and sugar-loafed hat, with a speaking-trumpet in his hand, which they say keeps about the Dunderberg. They declare that they have heard him, in stormy weather, in the midst of the turmoil, giving orders in Low Dutch for the piping up of a fresh gust of wind, or the rattling off of another thunder-clap.