Moonfleet · Chapter
III: A Discovery explained
John Trenchard, while sitting on an altar-tomb in the churchyard, discovers a hole that leads into the Mohune vault.
What happens
John Trenchard, while sitting on an altar-tomb in the churchyard, discovers a hole that leads into the Mohune vault. Inside, he finds not Blackbeard's diamond but a hidden cellar of smuggled liquor casks. He realizes the smugglers, including Elzevir Block and Ratsey, have been using the vault as a storehouse and that the strange noises heard in church were caused by casks knocking together during the flood. As he explores, the clock strikes midnight and he hears voices approaching.
Themes in this chapter
Smuggling and Lawlessness
John discovers the Mohune vault is a hidden cellar for smuggled liquor, revealing the secret operations of the contraband trade.
Greed and Its Consequences
John's initial desire for Blackbeard's diamond leads him into the vault, where he finds only casks and is left disappointed.
Characters to notice
- John Trenchard
Discovers the smuggler's vault beneath the church and deduces the source of the strange noises.
- Elzevir Block
Implied to be involved in the smuggling operation using the vault.
- Ratsey
Implied to be involved in the smuggling operation; had previously tried to scare John with tales of Blackbeard.
- Grace Maskew
Mentioned in John's daydream about marrying her and living happily.
- Mr. Maskew
Mentioned as a wealthy man John hopes to surpass.
- Aunt Jane
Mentioned in John's thoughts about buying her a silk gown.
Key passages
“What should I not be able to do with such wealth? I would buy a nag for Mr. Glennie, a new boat for Ratsey, and a silk gown for Aunt Jane, in spite of her being so hard with me as on this night. And thus I would make myself the greatest man in Moonfleet, richer even than Mr. Maskew, and build a stone house in the sea-meadows with a good prospect of the sea, and marry Grace Maskew and live happily, and fish.”
John fantasizes about using the diamond's wealth to buy gifts for his friends and aunt, surpass Mr. Maskew in status, build a seaside house, and marry Grace Maskew.
Reveals John's youthful dreams and motivations driven by the promise of treasure.
“Here indeed was a discovery, and instead of picking up at the end of the passage a little brass or silver casket, which had only to be opened to show Blackbeard's diamond gleaming inside, I had stumbled on the Mohunes' vault, and found it to be nothing but a cellar of gentlemen of the contraband, for surely good liquor would never be stored in so shy a place if it ever had paid the excise.”
John realizes the vault is not a treasure chamber but a secret storage for smuggled alcohol, disappointing his hopes for the diamond.
Highlights the contrast between John's expectations and the reality of the smugglers' operations.
“So it was the casks, and not the coffins, that had been knocking one against another; and I was pleased with myself, remembering how I had reasoned that coffin-wood could never give that booming sound.”
John deduces that the mysterious noises heard in church were caused by the casks shifting during the flood, not by supernatural forces.
Demonstrates John's logical reasoning and demystifies the earlier eerie events.