Some people in the village recognized him, and the report soon spread to New York that the pirate Kidd was lurking about the coast.

A sloop of war was sent out to capture his vessel, and finding that it was impossible to remain in the vicinity where he had been discovered, Kidd sailed northward and entered Long Island Sound.
Here the shrewd and anxious pirate began to act the part of the watch dog who has been killing sheep.

In every way he endeavored to assume the appearance of innocence and to conceal every sign of misbehavior.

He wrote to Sir George Bellomont that he should have called upon him in order to report his proceedings and hand over his profits, were it not for the wicked and malicious reports which had been circulated about him.
It was during this period of suspense, when the returned pirate did not know what was likely to happen, that it is supposed, by the believers in the hidden treasures of Kidd, that he buried his coin and bullion and his jewels, some in one place and some in another, so that if he were captured his riches would not be taken with him.

Among the wild stories which were believed at that time, and for long years after, was one to the effect that Captain Kidd's ship was chased up the Hudson River by a man-of-war, and that the pirates, finding they could not get away, sank their ship and fled to the shore with all the gold and silver they could carry, which they afterwards buried at the foot of Dunderbergh Mountain.
A great deal of rocky soil has been turned over at different times in search of these treasures, but no discoveries of hidden coin have yet been reported.