Free The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl

even, he thought, be able to slip the spoons into his
pocket if he got the chance.

    He didn't get the chance.

    Perhaps Ford had polished them so well that a little flash of reflected light
from the silver caught the doctor's eye. Who knows? The fact remains that
Fawcett saw them. The moment he saw them, he pounced like a tiger.

    "Great heavens alive!" he cried. "What are these?"

    "Pewter," Ford said, sweating more than ever. "Just
a couple of old pewter spoons."

    "Pewter?" cried Fawcett, turning one of the spoons over in his
fingers. "Pewter! You call this pewter ?"

    "That's right," Ford said. "It's pewter."

    "You know what this is?" Fawcett said, his voice going high with
excitement. "Shall I tell you what this really is?"

    "You don't have to tell me," Ford said, truculent. "I know what
it is. It's old pewter. And quite nice, too."

    Fawcett was reading the inscription in Roman letters on the scoop of the spoon.
" Papittedo !" he cried.

    "What's that mean?" Ford asked him.

    Pawcett picked up the other spoon. " Pascentia ," he said. "Beautiful! These are the
names of Roman children! And these spoons, my friend, are made of solid silver! Solid Roman silver!"

    "Not possible," Ford said.

    "They're magnificent!" Fawcett cried out, going into raptures.
"They're perfect! They're unbelievable! Where on earth did you find them?
It's most important to know where you found them! Was there anything
else?" Fawcett was hopping about all over the room.

    "Well. . ." Ford said, licking dry lips.

    "You must report them at once!" Fawcett cried. "They're Treasure
Trove! The British Museum is going to want these and that's for certain! How
long have you had them?"

    "Just a little while," Ford told him.

    "And who found them?" Fawcett asked, looking straight at him.
"Did you find them yourself or did you get them from somebody else? This
is vital! The finder will be able to tell us all about it!"

    Ford felt the walls of the room closing in on him and he didn't quite know what
to do.

    "Come on, man! Surely you know where you got them! Every detail will have
to come out when you hand them in. Promise me you'll go to the police with them
at once?"

    "Well. . ." Ford said.

    "If you don't, then I'm afraid I shall be forced to report it
myself," Fawcett told him. "It's my duty."

    The game was up now and Ford knew it. A thousand questions would be asked. How
did you find it ? When did you find it? What were you
doing? Where was the exact spot? Whose land were you ploughing ?
And sooner or later, inevitably, the name of Gordon Butcher would have to come
into it. It was unavoidable. And then, when Butcher was questioned, he would
remember the size of the hoard and tell them all about it.

    So the game was up. And the only thing to do at this point was to unlock the
doors of the big sideboard and show the entire hoard to Dr Fawcett.

    Ford's excuse for keeping it all and not turning it in would have to be that he
thought it was pewter. So long as he stuck to that, he told himself, they
couldn't do anything to him.

    Dr Fawcett would probably have a heart-attack when he saw what there was in
that cupboard.

    "There is actually quite a bit more of it," Ford said.

    "Where?" cried Fawcett, spinning round. "Where, man, where? Lead
me to it!"

    "I really thought it was pewter," Ford said, moving slowly and very
reluctantly forward to the oak sideboard. "Otherwise I would naturally
have reported it at once."

    He bent down and unlocked the lower doors of the sideboard. He opened the
doors.

    And then Dr Hugh Alderson Fawcett very nearly did have a heart-attack. He flung
himself on his knees. He gasped. He choked. He began spluttering like an old
kettle. He reached out for the great silver dish. He took it. He held it in
shaking hands and his face went as white as snow. He didn't speak. He couldn't.
He was literally and physically and mentally struck absolutely dumb by the
sight of the treasure.

    The interesting part of the story ends here. The