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[1]
Getting Started with
NativeScript

Explore the possibility of building truly native,

cross-platform mobile applications using your
JavaScript skill—NativeScript!

Nathanael J. Anderson

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Getting Started with NativeScript

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in
critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy
of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is
sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt
Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the
companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals.
However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: January 2016

Production reference: 1220116

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78588-865-6
www.packtpub.com
 Credits

Author Project Coordinator

Nathanael J. Anderson Shipra Chawhan

Reviewer Proofreader
TJ VanToll Safis Editing

Commissioning Editor Indexer

Veena Pagare Monica Ajmera Mehta

Acquisition Editor Production Coordinator

Prachi Bisht Conidon Miranda

Content Development Editor Cover Work

Mehvash Fatima Conidon Miranda

Technical Editor
Abhishek R. Kotian

Copy Editor
Lauren Harkins
 Foreword
Are you tired of writing the same mobile app from scratch for iOS, Android and
Windows? Yes? Then, you should be glad you found NativeScript!

Owing to the mobile platforms diversification, it is clear that to build a successful

mobile application, you should make it available on all of the major mobile
marketplaces, namely, Apple AppStore, Google PlayStore, and Microsoft Windows
Store. This created a need for companies and developers to publish native apps
that are available on all three major mobile stores without compromising on the
native user experience. The problem, however, is that these three operating systems
are very different and companies need to implement three different applications
for these stores. Essentially, your company has to write and maintain multiple
implementations for the same problem. Teams write (and have to support) the
same apps multiple times. There is a good chance that bugs reported on one
platform also exist on the others but remain unnoticed. Apps that are meant to
behave identically on all platforms may exhibit subtle differences due to their
differing implementations. Also, shipping new features at the same time on all
platforms is difficult. This is neither optimal, nor very productive and requires a
significant investment to gain the knowledge of three different operating systems,
languages, IDEs, APIs, and marketplaces. There has got to be a better way. Enter
NativeScript—a framework using the native platform APIs, rendering and layout
capabilities to deliver ultimate user experience and will allow developers to reuse
their coding skills, eliminating the need to learn new languages and IDEs.

The NativeScript framework enables developers to use the pure JavaScript language
to build native mobile applications running on all major mobile platforms—Apple
iOS, Google Android, and Windows Universal. The application's UI stack is built
on the native platform rendering and layout engine using native UI components,
and because of that, no compromises with the User Experience of the applications
are made. It is also worth mentioning that a full native API access is provided
using JavaScript.
This book has everything you need to get started with NativeScript. It starts with
the fundamentals, such as the project structure, the command-line interface, how
to use basic UI element, how to use third-party native components, and finally,
how to target different platforms with NativeScript.

The author, Nathanael Anderson, is one of the faces of NativeScript. He has a deep
understanding of how the framework operates from inside out and is the best person
who can teach you how to use it.

"I'm confident that by reading this book, you will be able to quickly get into
NativeScript and start building your next cross-platform native mobile
application."

Valio Stoychev
Product Manager NativeScript at Telerik
 About the Author

Nathanael J. Anderson has been developing software for over 20 years in a wide
range of industries, including areas of games, time management, imaging, service,
printing, accounting, land management, security, web, and even (believe it or not)
some successful government projects. He is currently a contract developer for master
technology and can create a solution for several types of applications (native, web,
mobile, and hybrid) running on any operating system.

As a senior developer engineer, he can work, tune, and secure everything from
your backend servers to the final destination of the data on your desktop or
mobile devices. By understanding the entire infrastructure, including the real and
virtualized hardware, he can completely eliminate different types of issues in all
parts of a framework.

Currently, he has multiple highly rated cross-platform plugins for NativeScript,

and he works heavily in the NativeScript community by providing things such as
bleeding edge build servers to build knightly code. He has also provided multiple
patches and features to the main NativeScript project.
 About the Reviewer

TJ VanToll is a senior developer advocate for Telerik, a jQuery team member,

and the author of jQuery UI in Action. He has over a decade of web development
experience—specializing in performance and the mobile Web. He speaks about
his research and experiences at conferences around the world and has written for
publications such as Smashing Magazine, HTML5 Rocks, and MSDN Magazine. You
can follow him on Twitter at @tjvantoll and on GitHub at tjvantoll.
 www.PacktPub.com

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 Table of Contents
Preface vii
Chapter 1: Introduction to NativeScript 1
NativeScript 1
Telerik's NativeScript 2
Other competitors 2
NativeScript uniqueness 2
NativeScript is easy 3
NativeScript and TypeScript 4
What is TypeScript? 4
TypeScript's use in NativeScript 4
Choosing a development language 5
Common modules 5
Installing NativeScript 6
Prerequisites 6
node.js 6
iOS 6
Android 7
Installation 7
Installation help 8
The NativeScript command line 8
NativeScript commands 8
Creating your first application 10
Creating the application in easy steps 11
Running the app 12
Summary 13
Chapter 2: The Project Structure 15
Project directory overview 15
The root folder 17
The app folder 18
[i]
Table of Contents

The lib folder 18

The hooks folder 18
The node_modules folder 19
The tns-core-modules folder 19
The platforms folder 20
The platforms/android folder 20
The platforms/iOS folder 22
The app folder 24
The .gradle folder 24
The App_Resources folder 24
The fonts folder 25
The app folder files 25
The package.json file 25
License 25
App.js 26
App.css 27
Application page 27
The main-page.js file 27
The main-page.css file 28
The main-page.xml file 28
The main-view-model.js file 29
Foundational components 31
Application component 31
Frame component 32
Page component 32
Creating a second page 33
Creating additional files and pages 34
Creating settings.js 34
Navigating to another page 35
Running the application 36
Viewing our screen 36
Summary 37
Chapter 3: Declarative UI, Styling, and Events 39
Declarative UI 39
XML parser 40
Page, StackLayout, label, and more 41
<Page ...> node 41
<StackLayout ...> node 42
<Label ...> node 42
<Button ...> node 45
Second <Label...> node 46
Declarative UI and components 46
Visual components 47

[ ii ]
 Table of Contents

Using the Declarative UI for our settings page 47

Our settings.xml file 47
Binding and event system 49
Event system 50
Binding 51
Styling the UI 52
What is CSS? 52
Why use CSS? 53
How to use CSS 53
Configuring your CSS Rules 54
Existing CSS properties 56
Exploring app.css 58
Trying CSS out and styling our application 60
Styling on your own 61
Summary 62
Chapter 4: Building a Featured Application 63
Layouts 63
StackLayout 64
WrapLayout 64
AbsoluteLayout 65
DockLayout 66
GridLayout 66
Building our featured application 68
Nonvisual components 69
Dialogs 72
Alert dialog 73
Confirm dialog 73
Prompt dialog 74
Login dialog 74
Action dialog 75
Promises 75
The settings screen Declarative UI 76
GridLayouts 76
Building the main screen 79
JavaScript code 79
Declarative UI 82
Main page Declarative UI 83
Main page body 83
ScrollViews 84
More about bindings 84
Repeaters 84
Main-body footer 85

[ iii ]
Table of Contents

The main-page.css file 87

Application CSS 89
Fonts 90
Icons 91
Communication with the server 91
Trying out our application 95
The server 95
Setting up your own server 96
Trying crossCommunicator out. 97
Summary 98
Chapter 5: Installing Third-Party Components 99
Places to find third-party components 99
The Telerik plugin site 100
npmjs.com 100
The NativeScript unofficial plugin list 100
How to install a third-party plugin component 100
Installing the vibration plugin 101
Installing the webSockets plugin 101
Installing the Telerik SideDrawer plugin 101
Using third-party components 102
Using the vibration plugin 102
Using Websockets 102
Using Telerik's side drawer 108
Easily using the components 110
Useful third-party components 110
Summary 110
Chapter 6: Platform Differences 111
Android and iOS differences 111
The soft keyboard 112
The Page.loaded event 112
Code differences 113
Platform classes 114
Declarative UI 115
Declarative UI properties 116
Declarative UI platform qualifiers 116
Platform- and device-specific files 117

[ iv ]
 Table of Contents

Screen size differences 117

Fonts 118
Our own custom resource folders 118
Compiled application resources on iOS 119
Compiled application resources on Android 121
Device differences 123
Summary 124
Chapter 7: Testing and Deploying Your App 125
Testing your application 126
Test frameworks 126
Local testing of your code 128
Unit testing on the device 131
Installing the test framework 132
Writing tests 132
Running tests 133
Testing your app on a device or emulator 134
Understanding the call stack 136
Android call stack 136
iOS call stack 138
Debugging your application 139
Publishing your application 140
Publishing to iOS 141
Summary 141
Index 143

[v]
 Preface
Welcome to Getting Started with NativeScript. In this book, we are going to go on
an awesome journey of building cross-platform applications in JavaScript. We will
cover everything from how NativeScript works, to how to test, debug, and finally
deploy your application. Over the course of this book, we are going to explore how
to build a full-featured, cross-platform messaging platform. The application will
work the same on all NativeScript-supported platforms. With your ability to develop
in JavaScript and the insights provided in this book, you will be releasing your own
cool applications in no time.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to NativeScript, will teach you about NativeScript and how to
install and build your first NativeScript application.

Chapter 2, The Project Structure, provides an overview of what all the different files
and folders are used for, and we will build and switch to a second screen for our
application here.

Chapter 3, Declarative UI, Styling, and Events, works through how to create screens
using the Declarative UI, style them and then how to create and respond to events.

Chapter 4, Building a Featured Application, helps you to actually sit down and
build a full-featured, cross-device messaging application using just the standard
NativeScript components.

Chapter 5, Installing Third-Party Components, delves into how to install several

different types of third-party components to enhance our cool communication
application.

[ vii ]
Preface

Chapter 6, Platform Differences, looks at how to deal with the differences between iOS
and Android and the differences in the actual physical characteristics of the devices
even on the same platform.

Chapter 7, Testing and Deploying Your App, looks at how to use several different types
of testing frameworks, how to debug your application, and finally, how to actually
deploy your application.

What you need for this book

NativeScript is an open source project; as such, it uses technologies that can be freely
downloaded from the Internet. You need to download and install a recent version
of Node from http://nodejs.org. You also need a text editor so that you can edit
your source code. If you are developing for Android, you need to download and
install Java 7, Gradle 2.3, and the Android SDK. For iOS, you need to install Xcode
6.2 or a later version.

Who this book is for

If you are already a JavaScript developer and you want to finally build native
cross-platform applications for iOS and Android using your skills, then this book
is just for you!

Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between
different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an
explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text are shown as follows: "which a require statement would load
into your code."

A block of code is set as follows:

{
"name": "tns-template-hello-world",
"main": "app.js",
"version": "1.5.0",
... more json documentation fields...
}

[ viii ]
 Preface

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the
relevant lines or items are set in bold:
{
"nativescript": {
"id": "org.nativescript.crossCommunicator",
"tns-android": {
"version": "1.5.0"
},

Any command-line input is written as follows:

nativescript run ios --emulator

New terms and important words are shown in bold or italics. Words that you see
on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this:
"You can probably guess that the Label will still say Tap the button."

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about
this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for
us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to [email protected],

and mention the book title via the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing
or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to
help you to get the most from your purchase.

[ ix ]
Preface

Downloading the example code

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[x]
 Introduction to NativeScript
In this chapter, we are going to introduce you to Telerik's NativeScript, and discuss
how NativeScript is totally unique in the cross-platform mobile device market, and
how it is radically revolutionary for mobile JavaScript development. We will also
walk you through the prerequisites of how to install the NativeScript command-
line tool. Once the NativeScript tool is installed, we will walk you through the basic
usage of the tool and briefly describe the most common parameters. Finally, we wrap
up the chapter by creating and running our first NativeScript application.

In this chapter, we will be covering the following topics:

• What is NativeScript?
• NativeScript and TypeScript
• Common modules
• Installing NativeScript
• The NativeScript command line
• Creating your first application

NativeScript
If you are looking at this book, maybe you want to know why you should use
NativeScript and what sets it apart from the crowded competition. Why shouldn't
you use any of the other cross-platform tools? Let us dig in, and I'll explain why
NativeScript is the answer to the best way of executing cross-platform mobile
development.

[1]
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
exactly three hundred and sixty-five. He spoke of the drive along the
shore, of a place called Gold River, where there was excellent
fishing, and finally mentioned a place which he called Aspot-ogon.
Upon this theme he grew more enthusiastic than ever. Aspotogon,
he said, was the highest mountain on the Atlantic coast of Nova
Scotia, and the approach to it afforded a view of the most
remarkable scenery in the whole bay. This approach lay through a
narrow inlet which ran to the base of the mountain, and was called
Deep Cove. It was bordered by precipices, for a long way, on either
side, and was a wild and romantic spot. It terminated in a circular
basin, on one side of which was a deep declivity, by which they
could find the shortest ascent to the summit of Aspotogon; and, in
addition to this, they could find fishing and bathing to their hearts’
content.
In all this, however, there was no mention made of any island like
the one which they wished to find. He mentioned, indeed, the
names of several islands, in a casual sort of way, but made no
allusion to any legends of the buccaneers. The only reference which
he made to treasure, was on the name of that fishing stream which
he had described to them. This was Gold River; and the name
excited their attention. Bart asked what the name had reference to;
and the landlord replied, that it arose from the color of its water.
This commonplace derivation of such a name disgusted and
disappointed them all, for they hoped to hear of a different origin,
and one more in accordance with their present purpose.
The landlord dwelt to a great extent on Aspotogon and Deep
Cove, and finally offered to go there with them, if they felt inclined
to make a visit to the place. Though the boys were still as eager as
ever about the Island of the Buccaneers, yet they were by no means
indifferent to the charms of a romantic place like this, nor at all
disinclined to roam about the bay farther. The offer of the landlord
was also an additional inducement, and they thought that in the
intimacy of shipboard they might manage to get something more
direct out of him, and learn from him all that there was to be learnt
about any existing legends current among the people, such as the
governor of Sable Island had mentioned. It was arranged, therefore,
that they should go on the following day.
After dinner the boys started off in different directions. Bruce in a
boat, Arthur along the shore, Tom and Phil over the hills, while Bart
and Pat sauntered about the wharves, catching star-fish, sea-
urchins, and jelly-fish, of which there were myriads. Towards
evening they returned to the inn, and found the landlord seated on
the steps. They seated themselves too, and gradually fell into a
conversation.
“This bay must have been a great place in old times,” said Bart,
trying to feel his way as easily as possible towards the subject of the
buccaneers.
The landlord shook his head with solemn emphasis.
“Tre—mendous!” he slowly ejaculated.
“Such a capital place for hiding from any ship that might be
chasing!” said Bart; “so many islands! Why, if a ship once got in
here, she could never be found.”
“Best dodging-place in the world,” said the landlord. “Lots of
islands, lots of harbors, and deep water too, everywhere.”
“The old French day’s must have been pretty exciting hereabouts,”
continued Bart, making a fresh advance. “The English and French
used to have it hot and heavy; and I dare say this bay had its share
of the fun.”
“Of course, of course,” said the landlord; “and before that too,
long before; and worse goings on than fair, stand-up fights. There’s
been queer doings in these waters.”
To these words the landlord gave emphasis by a significant shake
of his head, which spoke unutterable things, and drove Bart and Pat
wild with curiosity.
 “What do you mean?” asked Bart.
The landlord looked at him solemnly for a few moments, and then
asked,—
“Did you ever happen to hear of Captain Kidd?”
“Captain Kidd?” repeated Bart, in innocent wonder, “Captain Kidd?
Hear of him? Of course I’ve heard of him. Everybody knows about
him.”
“Well, if that man’s ghost don’t haunt this bay, then I’m a nigger.”
“Haunt this bay? What do you mean? What had Captain Kidd to do
with this bay? He was hanged at London.”
“He had a precious lot to do with this bay,” said the landlord,
positively.
“Why, I don’t see how that could be,” said Bart, trying to get the
landlord excited by contradiction. “I don’t see how he ever could
have been here. His story’s a simple enough one; soon told. I’ve
heard it often. How he went from New York to London well
recommended, and got a commission from the British government to
command a ship, for the purpose of putting down pirates in India
and the East. But this didn’t suit him quite; so he turned pirate
himself. Most of his piracies took place in the East, though. It’s true
he returned to America, and made a great panic; but he was
captured and sent to England, where he was tried and executed.
That was in 1699. I remember the date very well. So I don’t see
how he could have done much about here.”
Bart spoke very volubly, and seemed to have the Life of Captain
Kidd at his tongue’s end. The landlord listened very attentively. But
Bart’s words, instead of shaking his own convictions, only served, as
Bart had hoped and intended, to strengthen and confirm them. As
Bart spoke, he raised himself up out of the lounging attitude in
which he had been sitting, looked full in Bart’s face, and as he
ceased,—
 “Very well. Grant all that,” said the landlord, with a comprehensive
sweep of his hand, which seemed to concede every single statement
that Bart had made, in the fullest and frankest manner. “Grant—all—
that—every word of it. I don’t doubt it at all—not me. Very well. Now
mark me. Captain Kidd did really, and truly, and actually, flourish
about here, in this here bay—for he’s left behind him the most—un—
mis—tak—able in—di—ca—tions. I’ve seen ’em myself, with my own
eyes. I’ve handled ‘em myself, and with my own hands. And besides,
that there pirate must have been about over the coast of America a
good deal more than you give him credit for, or he wouldn’t have left
a name behind, from one end of America to the other; and, at any
rate, he must have been here, or else he wouldn’t have left behind
what he has left, and what I’ve seen with my own eyes.”
“I didn’t know,” said Bart, “that he had left any traces of himself
here. What are they? What kind of traces?”
“What kind of traces?” said the landlord. “Traces that beat
everything in the way of traces that any pirate ever made. What do
you say, for instance, to a pit so deep that nobody’s ever been able
to get to the bottom of it?”
“A pit? What sort of a pit?” asked Bart, full of excitement.
“What do you say to his filling that pit with oaken chests,
crammed full of gold and silver ingots, and gold candlesticks,
plundered from Catholic churches, and precious stones, such as
diamonds, rubies, and emeralds—beyond all counting?”
“Gold! silver! precious stones!” repeated Bart, who was so
overcome by this astounding information, that he could only utter
these words.
“What do you say to his taking the prisoners that had dug his
hole, and filled it, and killing them all, to keep his secret?”
“Killing his prisoners!”
 “What do you say,” continued the landlord, enjoying with keenest
relish the evident excitement of Bart,—“what do you say to his
contriving the most extraordinary plans ever heard of to prevent
anybody ever getting at that treasure,—by making the hole, in the
first place, far down under the level of the sea,—by building a drain,
so as to let in the sea water; and then, after killing the prisoners,
filling up the hole to the very top? What do you say to all that?”.
“Why, I never heard of this in all my life! How do you know it? Tell
me, now. Tell me all about it. Where is the place? Is it here—in this
bay?”
“Of course it is. I’ve said as much,” replied the landlord.
“But you didn’t mention it this morning.”
“No, because you only wanted to hear about fine scenery. This
place isn’t particularly remarkable for that. It’s a little island, not
more than three miles from here, up that way to the right. It’s called
Oak Island, because Captain Kidd planted it with acorns, so as to
know it when he came back. Well, since his day, the acorns have
grown to be oaks—some of them pretty big—though being near the
sea, they haven’t grown so big as they would have done if they had
been planted farther inland.”
“Oak Island!” repeated Bart, in a tone which expressed the most
profound interest,—“Oak Island!”
“That’s the place,” said the landlord. “I wonder you ain’t heard of
Oak Island before.”
“Never,” said Bart; “that is, I’ve heard the name mentioned; but
never knew that Captain Kidd had anything to do with it.”
“That’s just what he had,” said the landlord. “Everybody in these
parts can tell you all about it. People have been full of it ever since
Chester was settled. I’ve heard it all my life.”
“But if there’s money there, why don’t they get it?” asked Bart.
 “Because they can’t!”
“Can’t?”
“No, can’t. Captain Kidd knowed what he was about, and he made
his arrangements so that, from that day to this, nobody’s ever been
able to get down to the bottom of that money-hole, and, in my
humble opinion, never will.”
“Why not? I don’t understand.”
“Well,” said the landlord, “it’s a long story; but as I’ve got nothing
to do just now, I don’t mind telling you about it.”
So saying, the landlord settled himself into an easy, lounging
attitude, and began the story of Oak Island.
 VII.
The wonderful Story of Oak Island.—The Circle in the Forest.—
Digging for Gold.—Exciting Discoveries.—Far down in the Depths of
the Earth.—The Treasure touched at last.—The Treasure snatched
away.—A new Search, and its Results.—Boring through the Chest of
Gold.—A Company.—A new Pit made.—The Drain.—New Efforts.—The
Coffer Dam.—New Companies.—Captain Kidd too much for them.
||I BELIEVE.” said the landlord, “there’s always been a talk, among
the people around here, that Captain Kidd used this place as a kind
of headquarters; and this idea seems to me to have come down
from old settlers who might have been here in his own day,—French
and others,—though Chester wasn’t actually settled till long after his
time. At any rate, there it was, and everybody used always to
believe that Captain Kidd hid his money somewhere in this bay. Well,
nothing very particular happened till some sixty years ago, when a
man, on visiting Oak Island, just by chance saw something which
seemed to him very curious.
“The island was overgrown with oaks and other trees intermixed.
Now, right in the midst of these trees, he came to a queer-looking
place. It was circular, and about fifteen feet in diameter. Trees grew
all around it. Just on this circular spot, however, nothing grew at all,
not even moss or ferns. It looked as if it had been cursed, or
blasted. The trees were all around it—some oak and some maple;
but among them was one,—pine or spruce, I don’t know which,—
and this one looked a good deal older than the others. One of the
boughs of this old pine tree projected right over the blasted circular
spot in a very singular fashion, and on this the man noticed
something that looked like very queer growth for a pine tree. He
climbed up, and found that it was a pulley, which was so rotten that
it might have been hanging there a hundred years. It was fastened
to the bough by a chain, and this was so rusty that it broke in his
hands. This pulley and rusty chain the man removed and took with
him.
“Of course, as you may imagine, he was a good deal struck by the
appearance of things. He had always heard that Captain Kidd had
once frequented Mahone Bay, and had buried treasure somewhere
about; and here he had discovered this blasted spot with a pulley
over it, in the very midst of the woods on a lonely island—a place
that looked as though no one had ever been there but himself since
that pulley was last used. Of course he asked himself what the
meaning of all this was; and to him it seemed most likely that the
circular space marked some pit in the ground, and that the pulley
had been used to lower things down into this pit.
“Well, he went home, and didn’t say anything about it to a living
soul, except his son, a young man, whom he wanted to help him. He
determined to examine deeper, and after talking it over with his son,
he was more determined than ever. So the very next day they began
their preparations, taking over picks, and spades, and ropes, and
provisions, and everything that could be needed for their purpose.
“They went to work and dug away for a little distance, when they
came to something hard. It was a stone hewn,—not very smooth,—a
kind of sandstone, and on this they saw some marks that looked like
strange letters. They were ignorant men, but they knew the
alphabet, and they knew that this was no kind of English letters at
all; but it seemed to them that they might be letters of some strange
alphabet. They took this stone away, and it’s been preserved ever
since, and it’s there yet on the island, built into the wall of a cottage
there for safe keeping. I’ve seen it myself dozens of times. That’s
what I mean when I say I’ve seen the traces of Captain Kidd, for it’s
my solemn conviction that he cut that inscription on the stone in
some foreign letters, or perhaps in some secret cipher.
“After taking out that stone, they went on digging harder than
ever, and about two feet down they came to a sort of wooden
flooring. The wood was in good preservation, and consisted of large
logs, a dozen feet long, laid across side by side, and rough-hewed
about six inches square. They thought that they had come to the
money-hole now, for sure, and pulled up the logs quick enough,
you’d better believe; but they didn’t know what was before them.
After taking up the beams, they found they had to dig deeper; and
so they went on digging away deeper and deeper. It took a long
time, for they had to stay up the earth as they dug down, to prevent
it from falling in, and they soon found that the job was a bigger one
than they had bargained for; but what they had already found
excited them, and cheered them on day after day.
“Of course they couldn’t do this all in one day. One day’s work
couldn’t take them far into that hole, though they worked like
beavers. Well, they dug on this way, and at last, about five or six
feet farther down,—some say ten; but it don’t make any difference,
—they found another flooring just like the first, only the logs were
smaller. These they took up, and then went on digging as before,
day after day. They now found bits of things that looked favorable;
they found cocoa husks, and West India grass, and bits of cane, all
of which showed that the people who worked here must have had
something to do with the West Indies and the Spanish Main. These
things never grew in Nova Scotia. They had been brought here by
the men that made the hole, and had got mixed up with the earth
that they shovelled in. They also found shavings or chips made with
tools. Well, about the same distance down that the second flooring
had been from the first, they found a third flooring, which was just
like the second.
“At this third flooring there was a fresh disappointment, just as
there had been at the other two; but the very fact that there was
this flooring encouraged them to go on, and so they continued to
dig. After a time they came to another flooring, and continuing on,
they came to another, and yet another; and at every place they had
the same disappointment and encouragement. All the way they
found the same signs, that the soil had once been turned up by
people who had dealings with the Spanish Main, for the cocoa-nut
husks and the West India grasses were mixed with the soil all the
way. All the time they had to keep staying up the sides, and the
deeper they went, the more careful they had to be, for the soil
seemed loose and dangerous just here.
“Well, they worked this way for about three months, and at last
had got ever so far down—I have heard some say that they got
down as much as a hundred feet, and that would be about seventy
feet below the level of the sea at low tide, for the island is only a
small one, and doesn’t rise more than twenty-five feet at the highest
point. All the way down they had found the signs continuing,
showing that diggers had been here before, and that the soil had
been turned up. This it was that led them on to such a depth.
“Well, now it was down at this depth that they touched the
treasure. It was evening, and quite dark down there. They had been
digging all day, and were about to just knock off. The son, before
going, took his crowbar, and drove it with all his might into the
ground. It was soft, loose, and gravelly just here, and the iron sank
for about a foot into the soil, and struck something hard. Their
attention was attracted by this at once, and they tried it again and
again. Each time it struck something hard. It seemed like wood. At
one or two places it seemed like metal. They tried this a good many
times, until at length they became convinced that this was a wooden
box with iron hoops or fastenings, and that this box contained the
treasure for which they were searching. But by this time it was too
late to do any more. To get at that chest would require a good day’s
work. To hoist it up would not be possible. They saw that they would
have to break or cut into it as it lay, and empty it of its contents.
They were also worn out with their long day’s work, and in addition
to this, they did not feel comfortable down in that particular place
after dark. So, for all these reasons, they concluded to postpone the
completion of their work till the following day. After all, there was no
reason why they shouldn’t. No one could come and take it. It would
be there unmoved till they might want to remove it themselves. And
so the long and the short of it is, they went up, and went off to
sleep in the hut where they lived.
“That night they slept soundly, and waked a little later than usual
on the following day. They at once rushed to the money-hole; they
did this the moment they waked, without waiting for breakfast, or
taking anything to eat. They both felt anxious, for everything was at
stake, and the sleep of both, though sound, had been marked by
unpleasant and harassing dreams.
“Well, they reached the place, and there an awful sight met them
—a sight that meant ruination to their hopes, and to all the hard
work that they’d put forth in that place. The hole was gone; the
earth had all fallen in; the stays had all given way: and there was
nothing there now but a basin-shaped hollow, and bits of board
projecting. What was worse, it was all mixed with water, and so soft,
that in attempting to walk into it, they sank up to their knees in the
mud. And that was the end of this first digging after Kidd’s treasure;
for though they tried to dig again, they found it impossible on
account of the water. It seemed to come straight from the sea, and
they couldn’t do anything at all. So they had to give up at last, and
go home.
“Now, some people think that the staying wasn’t strong enough,
and the sides caved in on that account; others, again, talk about
Kidd’s ghost baffling these diggers; but, from what was discovered
afterwards, I feel perfectly sure that they themselves somehow let in
the water of the sea into the hole by a drain or channel underground
that Kidd himself had made. I think those knocks on the chest with
the crowbar loosened some stopper, and the water poured in at
once. It was this rush of sea water that destroyed everything, and
made the hole cave in altogether. As to the drain, that was a
contrivance of Kidd’s to prevent the treasure from being dug up by
outsiders. He had it made underground from the shore of the island
at low-water mark to the bottom of the money-hole. He himself, or
any one in the secret, would know how to dig and get the treasure;
but any one who didn’t know the secret would be sure to do
something that would let in the sea water. And that’s just what these
first diggers did.
“Well, after this nothing was done for a long time. These two,
father and son, went home, and for a while they kept the whole
business a secret; but after some years the old man died, and the
son married, and so the whole story leaked out, till everybody knew
all about it. Everybody went then to see the place, and the story
soon got to be as well known as the alphabet all over the bay; and I
won’t swear but that some additions were made to the story as it
passed from mouth to mouth, for that would only be natural, after
all; but at any rate, that story lived, and people didn’t forget the
treasure on Oak Island. And so time passed, and the son died at
last, and the grandson grew up, and this one thought that he would
make a dash at the treasure. This was as much as forty years after
the first digging. He went with a few friends, and they tried to dig,
but couldn’t. The money-hole remained as it had been left by the
first diggers,—all sand, and gravel, and water,—more like a
quicksand than anything else. They put a pump in it, and set it to
work, but couldn’t do anything that way. So they gave it up.
“Well, these operations got known everywhere, and the whole
story came up again. A lot of men formed themselves into a
company, the grandson was one of them. They bought the island,
and resolved to go to work on a grand scale. They rigged a pump
which was worked by a horse in a very peculiar fashion, and had a
hoisting apparatus worked by another horse to lift up the dirt. They
got a lot of wood on the place for stayings to the hole, and went to
work. Before they began, they bored down for a hundred and twenty
feet. On taking out the auger, they saw on the lowest part scraps of
wood, then bright scrapings that looked like gold, then wood again.
And this showed that the auger had gone clean through the chest,
and had brought back signs of the chest itself, and of the treasure
inside. This created the greatest excitement, and the company went
to work as eagerly and as industriously as the original diggers. Well,
they kept at it, and dug, and hoisted, and pumped for a whole
summer; but it was no go. As fast as they pumped, the water
poured in, and faster too; and in fact, they couldn’t make the
slightest impression on the water in the money-hole, do what they
would. So they gave up.
“Well, after this, another company started. The new company
bought out from the old all its rights, and started on a new plan.
Many of the old company belonged to the new one, and these had
learned by experience the impossibility of doing anything by digging
in the money-hole itself. The new plan consisted in digging a new
hole altogether. In the operations of the old company they had
discovered that though the money-hole was all sand and gravel, yet
all around it the soil was a hard blue clay, quite impervious to water,
and very easy to work in. They thought by digging alongside the
money-hole, as near as the clay would allow, they might go down to
the same depth, and then tunnel along at the bottom till they
reached the treasure chest. So they went to work about thirty feet
away from the money-hole, digging in the clay. They had no trouble
in digging. The soil was free from stones, firm clay, impervious to
water, and they made first-rate progress to a certain extent. They
got down about a hundred feet, and then ventured to tunnel
towards the money-hole. They worked very carefully, for it was
rather dangerous, as they were under the level of the sea, and were
therefore exposed to a rush of water at any false movement that
they might make. But in spite of all their care, they failed at last; for
one day they went up to dinner, and on going back again, they
found the new hole filled with water to within thirty feet or so of the
top. It was a sore disappointment, and they could only console
themselves by the thought that they had been so fortunate as to
have left the hole at that particular time. They tried to pump out the
water, and made some faint efforts to continue their work, but it was
no use. The failure had been too great, and this attempt broke
down.
“Well, they now concluded that there was a drain, the same one I
spoke of a while ago,—reaching from the shore of the island at low-
water mark, or beneath it, down to the bottom of the money-hole,
and that they had somehow broken into this drain, the waters of
which had poured into the new hole, and flooded it. This discovery
created fresh excitement: and as this company gave up, a new one
was formed, which bought out all previous rights, and on the
following summer proceeded to make a fresh attempt. Each one of
these companies which had been bought out still retained, however,
a claim on the profits that might be made; sometimes twenty per
cent, and sometimes ten per cent, of the treasure. The new
company, even if it had succeeded, could only have received about
one fifth, or perhaps one fourth, of the treasure, the rest being all
forfeited, or mortgaged, so to speak, to the old companies. Still the
new company had many members who belonged to the old
companies, and who still stuck to the enterprise through thick and
thin, so that their undertaking, under such circumstances, is not so
surprising, after all.
“This new company, using the experience and discoveries of the
preceding ones, went on a new principle. The idea now was, that,
first of all, the drain should be discovered, and the supply of water
intercepted. If this were done, they would be able to get to the
bottom of the original money-hole itself without any trouble. So they
set to work, and explored the whole shore of the island. They found
one place where at low tide there was a great bubbling in the water,
and this they took for the place where the drain began. Here they
built a coffer dam, and then tried to find the drain itself. On the
shore they met with no success; so they dug pits at intervals along a
line stretching from the coffer dam to the money-hole. The soil in all
these places consisted of that same tenacious blue clay which I have
already mentioned. I don’t know how many of these were dug, but
there were several, at any rate. Now, whenever they attempted to
strike the drain, the water was invariably too much for them, and
rushed in, giving them nothing to do but to fly as fast as they could.
In other places they were afraid to venture too near the drain. The
end of it was, that this last company was as unsuccessful as the
others, though it had spent ten times as much as any of them.”
 VIII.
The Toilers of the Sea.—New Efforts to find the Plunder of the
Spanish Main.—Modern Science versus Captain Kidd.—The Landlord’s
Faith.—Scoffers and Mockers at the Money-hole.—Objections
considered.—The Timber Floorings.—The Stone, with its mysterious
Inscription.—The Gravel pit, with its Surroundings of blue Clay.—The
Drain from the Sea to the Money-hole.
||SO, you see,” said the landlord, “how all these efforts to get at
the treasure have failed; and it is not difficult to see the reason,
either. For, you see, as I have already said, the money-hole has been
all filled in with sand and gravel, and there is a drain, or channel,
connecting with the sea, which lets in the sea water; so, the
moment any one undertakes to touch the money-hole, he has to
contend with the sea itself, and there hasn’t, thus far, been force
enough put forth there to do that. The money-hole is something
peculiar. All around it the soil is this blue clay. No doubt the soil
where this was first dug was blue clay also; but, after burying the
treasure, Kidd, for his own crafty purposes, filled it up with this
gravel. No doubt his idea was, that the sea water should affect it the
more thoroughly, and make it like a great quicksand. The pumps
they set up there did no more good than if they were so many toys.
“Well, the failure of the last company has been followed by a
pause, partly on account of discouragement, but still more from the
determination, on the part of a few, to begin again on a grand scale;
on a scale, indeed, so grand, that it will take some time to make all
the preparations. Some of the leaders in the previous undertakings
are at the head of this new movement, and have already done very
much towards putting it into life and action. This new plan is to get
up a regular joint stock company, with a thousand shares, each
worth a hundred dollars, or thereabouts. It will be a regular
company; the shares will be sold in the market, and the stockholdors
will stand in the same relation to this business as they would to a
coal mine, or any other ordinary undertaking. They’ll have a
president, a board of directors, and a superintendent of the mining
works. It is proposed to employ a regular engineer to survey the
ground, and design the best mode of going to work; to put up a
steam engine of sufficient power to pump out the money-hole, and
keep a large force of men at work, night and day, in separate
detachments. The idea is, to do it up as fast as possible, and get at
it once for all, or fail utterly.
“Now, this company is already started, and about a quarter of the
stock has been taken up. I shouldn’t be surprised to see them set to
work next year, or the year after, at the farthest. The thing is bound
to go on. Besides those who believe that the treasure is here, there
are ever so many who wish to see the mystery cleared op,
irrespective of any treasure. These men are going into the new
company almost as extensively as those who believe in the money.
Then, again, there are ever so many people about the country who
have heard about it for the first time, and are taking shares just as
they would buy tickets in a lottery; not because they expect to make
anything, exactly, but because they are willing to run the risk, and
take their chance.
“This sort of thing, of course, has a far different prospect from
what the old companies had. It puts the whole plan on a different
footing. It makes it, in fact, a thoroughly legitimate business, and
sets on as sound a basis as if it was an iron or coal mining company.
A real, practical engineer—a man who is a practical geologist also—
could tell more about Oak Island in one walk round it, than the other
workers found out in years. He could find out the real place where
the sea water enters; whether there is one only, or more than one.
When once that is found out, and stopped, the rest is easy. But, if
they can’t stop it, why, then, let the steam pump go to work, and I
don’t think the money-hole would be flooded much longer. Then,
again, the plan of having two gangs to work night and day, so as to
have no stoppage in the operations, will be a most important thing.
And so, what with modern science, and steam, and continuous work
of large gangs, oven old Kidd himself ’ll find his match.
“The fact is the gold is there—the treasure of Captain Kidd—
brought here by him, and buried in that hole. I no more doubt that
than I doubt my own existence. If that hole had never been
touched, and people went to work now at the fresh ground, I believe
the treasure would be got at. Why, the first diggers almost got it,
though there were only two of them. The gold is there—there’s not
the slightest doubt of that—a treasure beyond all estimate—worth
millions on millions, no doubt—gold and silver ingots—the plunder of
Spanish cathedrals and Spanish galleons—diamonds and rubies—and
all that. Millions? Why, it’s equal in value to the revenue of a great
nation. There it is; and all it wants is for people to go to work in the
right way; not in a pettifogging, mean, peddling fashion, but in a
large-handed, bold, vigorous way. That’s the thing that ’ll fetch up
the plunder of the Spanish Main! I’ve sometimes heard people say
that there was once a great confederacy of pirates that made this
buy their headquarters, and that Captain Kidd was the last and
greatest of the brotherhood. Until his time the plunder had been
kept in a safe place, but in a place where it could be got at; but that
he, being the last of the brotherhood, determined to fix up some
safer place, and so he arranged this place—the hole and the drain;
and if that’s so, we have here not merely the plunder of Captain Kidd
himself, but of all the pirates, for no one knows how long a time—
centuries, I dare say.”
To all this extraordinary story the boys had listened with the
deepest attention. The landlord’s announcement of his own belief in
it was to them very impressive, and his extravagant conclusion did
not seem at all extravagant to them. It jibed perfectly with what
they had heard from the governor of Sable Island. They were most
profoundly impressed, and the treasure island seemed to them more
attractive than ever. The landlord’s mind seemed to be filled with a
vision of inconceivable treasure, and by long familiarity with the
thought, it seemed quite natural to him to speak so glibly about
gold, and silver, and precious stones, and all the rest that went to
make up the plunder of the Spanish Main.
Bart and Pat were not critical; none of the boys were. This remark
has already been made in connection with the story of the governor
of Sable Inland. Had they been critical, they could have picked
various holes in this narrative, and asked questions to which it would
have been difficult for the landlord, or any other believer in Kidd’s
treasure, to give any sufficient answer. They might have asked how
it was that the tradition about the early diggers had been so minute,
and why it was that no competent scholar or archeologist had been
found who might decipher the inscription on the stone. They might
have asked how it was that the so-called “drain” had been
discovered, and also how it was that Kidd’s so-called “place” was
known so accurately. But they were not at all critically inclined, and
the questions which they did ask were of a totally different kind.
They did ask questions, of course; and the questions referred to
the chief points in the landlord’s story. They had much to ask about
the first discovery, the size of the island, the appearance of the
blasted circular spot, of the tree and the projecting bough; about the
pulley and its chain; about the log floorings, their number, their
distance apart, and their probable use in a money-hole; about the
West Indian grass, the cocoa-nut husks, and the sugar-cane, which
were the signs of some connection with the Spanish Main; about the
shavings and chips of wood; about the gravelly soil, contrasting with
the blue clay around it; about the eventful moment when the first
diggers touched the money-box with the crowbar, and the
destruction of their work during the night. They asked also, very
minutely, about the stone with the inscription, its kind and its size,
and why it should have been inserted into the chimney of a hut;
about the drain, its size, and whether it was built of wood, or brick,
or stone; and about the nature of the signs brought up by the anger
when they bored through the money-box.
 All these questions showed how close had been the attention with
which they had listened. To every one of them, without exception,
the land-lord responded in the most unhesitating and the most
comprehensive manner. It was evident that he had turned over
every point in his mind that they now suggested; that he was
familiar with every objection, and was armed and equipped at all
points with facts and arguments to sustain his theory.
That there were plenty of objections to that theory became
evident from the landlord’s own very frequent allusions to them, and
it seemed, by the way in which he spoke of them, as though he
himself had often and often done battle with scornful or sceptical
opponents.
“For my own part,” said the landlord, “I don’t think much of any of
these objections. Objections are easy enough to make. You can
make them to anything you like—or don’t like. The truest things in
the world meet with lots of unbelievers, who offer objections. Now, I
know this whole story to be true, and I don’t value the objections a
rush.
“Ono objection, for instance, is, that the story of the first diggers
had been exaggerated in every particular. In passing from mouth to
mouth, they say, each one has added to it, and that all the little
circumstances that I have mentioned have been either thrown in to
make up a story, or colored so as to favor a belief in the money-
hole. Now, as to that, all I can say is, that the two men always told a
straight story, without any additions, and the younger one lived
down to my time, and so could easily be referred to by any ono. He
always made the same statement.
“A great objection is, that two men could never have dug down so
far, and stayed up the sides of the pit, as the story said they did. It
has been asserted that they couldn’t have dug down more than
twenty or thirty feet, and that they probably got down that far when
they came to the water, which prevented them from going any
farther. To which I answer, not only that two men could have dug a
hundred feet, but that they have done so, over and over, on the
same ground, for in the holes made since, it isn’t possible for more
than two to work at the same time. The shafts are only about six
feet long by three wide, and in that space there isn’t room for more
than two, of course.
“When I find some who don’t believe in Kidd’s treasure, and ask
them what could have been there, they make various answers; but
the favorite one is, that it was some sort of a signal-station. But,
unfortunately, Oak Inland it the last place about here that one could
think of for such a purpose as that. Still, that is what they urge, and
they say that the timber floorings were probably intended as a
foundation. When I ask them why there were so many timber
floorings, they quietly deny the fact They say that there might have
been one or two such floorings, to the depth of perhaps ten feet, or
so, but won’t believe any more. When I point to the testimony of the
surviving one of the first diggers, they deny the value of it, and say
that it is only the exaggeration of an old man, who has been telling
the same tall story for years, till it has grown to its present
dimensions. And when people choose to argue in that style, and
reject the best sort of evidence that there can be, why, of course,
thero’s no end of all discussion. They set out with a blind prejudice,
deny plain facts, or explain them away in the most fanciful manner,
and then turn round and ridicule those who believe in what is as
plain as day.”
The landlord was silent for a moment, overcome by a kind of mild
indignation at the sceptic of whom he spoke, after which he
proceeded.
“Then there’s that stone with the mysterious inscription. It’s been
seen by hundreds. No one has ever been found yet who can make
out what it means. As I said before, it is either some foreign
language, or else, as is quite probable, it is some secret cipher,
known only to Kidd himself—perhaps used by the great pirate
confederacy. It shows, more than anything else, that this hole was
dug by Captain Kidd, and that his treasure is there. Now, how do
you suppose they get over that?”
And with this question the landlord looked earnestly and solemnly
at the two boys.
The two boys couldn’t imagine how anybody could get over it;
though Bart could not help wondering a little how it came that, if the
inscription could not be deciphered, the landlord should nevertheless
know so well that it referred to Captain Kidd.
“I’ll tell you,” said the landlord, “the way they get over it. They
have the impudence to say that it isn’t an inscription at all. Actually,
because no one can decipher it, they say it ain’t an inscription. They
say it’s only some accidental scratches! Now, I allow,” continued the
landlord, “that the marks are rather faint, and irregular; but how any
man can look at them, and say that they’re not an inscription—how
any man can look at them and say that they’re accidental scratches
—is a thing that makes me fairly dumb with amazement.”
“Well, then there are other things, too,” continued the landlord,
“which they handle in the same manner. One of the strangest things
about this whole story is the fact that the soil in the money-hole is
different from that of the rest of the island, being sand and gravel;
whereas the rest of the island, as I told you, is blue clay. It’s just as
if a hole was dug in the blue clay, and then filled in with sand and
gravel brought from somewhere else. Well, how do you think they
got over this?”
Again the landlord looked inquiringly at the two buys.
Again the two hoys gave it up.
“Why,” said the landlord, “they get over it in the usual fashion.
They say it isn’t a fact that the island is blue clay, but that there’s
streaks and patches of gravel all over it, and the two men hit upon a
place where the soil was sandy and gravelly. That’s the way they get
over that point; and I’d like to ask any man if that’s fair; if that’s
honest; if that’s decent. Yet that’s the way they talk—when they can
go to the island, and see wherever fresh boles have been dug, the
blue clay is turned up. But when I point out that, they say, ‘O, that’s
because the holes are all dug on that one side of the island where
the blue clay is.’
“Then, again, there’s the drain,” continued the landlord. “Now, if
any one thing is an established foot, next to the buried money—it’s
Kidd’s drain. It’s been broken into time after time. It’s flooded hole
after hole. Yet, in the face of this, they say that there isn’t any drain
at all; that there’s merely some loose soil on the island, or some
subterranean passage, made by nature, through which the sea
water passes, and that the bottom of the so-called money-hole has
been connected with this. Some say, that as the island is small, the
sea water trickles through the soil, in some places, all the way
across. So, of course, these men, shutting their eyes obstinately to
hard facts, laugh at the very idea of a drain. And that’s the sort of
objections that we have to meet!” concluded the landlord, with a
snort of contempt.
“Is any one working on Oak Island now,” asked Bart, after a
pause.
“Well, no, not just now. There isn’t a soul on the island. Since the
last company gave up, no one has touched the works—except,
occasionally, some visitors. Everything is standing there—the pumps,
the hoisting tackle, and all that. You’ll see the holes all about; and
the money-hole can easily be known, for it is a hollow in the ground,
shaped like a bowl, close by the largest pump, with a deep hole
beside it, full of water; for, unfortunately, they struck the drain too
soon, and of course the water rushed upon them.”
At this point the landlord recollected some business that he had to
attend to, and rising to his feet, he slowly sauntered away.
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