Treasure!
The narration has three hidden meanings: understanding, describing, judging. The girl says: “there is something in here we cannot find.” The narrator describes. Telling is a way of knowing. But children cannot use language to express what is in their minds adequately. The three children are constantly describing what they are doing. They hang on to their definition of the treasure, and by making stories about it, try to make the time more bearable.
“And if I ever stop talking it will be because there is nothing more to be said, even though all has not been said, even though nothing has been said.”
― Samuel Beckett, Malone Dies