Back at the mine, the other treasure hunters have found a "treasure chest." Actually, it's a beat-up-looking suitcase that's about the size of a short stack of laptops. They haul it out before opening it up, and discover that it's full of money. If by "full of money" you mean "barely containing enough buffalo nickels to cover the bottom." Still, the kids are pretty excited as they count them up and conclude that there are 375 of them. $18.75, in other words. Guylan says that they can double everyone's salary. Which is correct, as long as you maintain the current class system when "doubling." Good thing he heeded that warning about making the rich richer; the fact that his team happens to be in the Upper Class is, I'm sure, mere coincidence. Anjay doesn't think that's the right move, and Laurel agrees in an interview that the town would just blow it all "on stupid, stupid things." So Guylan comes up with the idea of just taking the money to the dry goods store and using it to buy stuff for the town. The rest of the Council agrees that that's the way to go. Zach interviews, "I think that choice in a democracy is everything, but it's still important for the smarter people to make the right choice." No word on who he means by that, but I have a theory.

Breakfast appears to be wrapping up in the mess hall when the members of the Council enter wordlessly, loaded down with loot that they bought from the store. A couple of guitars are the most visible items. I know $18.75 in pioneer currency is probably about $600.00 in 2007 money, but it still looks like they must have gotten some good bargains. To all of the suspicious-looking kids, Zach makes the announcement about the Journal, and the treasure. He says that they didn't want it all to get spent on candy and soda. There's a pause while the editors show the kids looking stone-faced, and play some portentous music, and stick in an interview with Laurel about how nervous she was. And Zach finishes his announcement, saying that they used the money to buy "everything that the town could use together." And the whole room erupts in cheers. Those sneaky editors. They actually had us thinking that the kids would fail to realize that with a large collective fund, a government entity can improve their lives more effectively than they could for themselves with a small share of the cash divided among each of them. Who could be that immature, anyway? The Council starts passing out stuff, including baseball equipment and the guitars.