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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2855fa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53515 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53515) diff --git a/old/53515-0.txt b/old/53515-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 601f3c8..0000000 --- a/old/53515-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7492 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd's Message, -by Van Powell - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd's Message - - -Author: Van Powell - - - -Release Date: November 12, 2016 [eBook #53515] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY BOYS AND CAPTAIN -KIDD'S MESSAGE*** - - -E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 53515-h.htm or 53515-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53515/53515-h/53515-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53515/53515-h.zip) - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -[Illustration: The inert colored man was lifted over the gun-wale. -(_Page 200_)] - - -THE MYSTERY BOYS AND CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE - -by - -VAN POWELL - -Author of -“The Mystery Boys Series,” etc. - -[Illustration: Series Logo] - - - - - - - -A. L. Burt Company -Publishers -New York Chicago -Printed in U. S. A. - - - * * * * * * - - THE MYSTERY BOYS - THRILLING STORIES IN FAR DISTANT LANDS - By VAN POWELL - - The Mystery Boys and the Inca Gold - The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd’s Message - The Mystery Boys and the Secret of the Golden Sun - The Mystery Boys and the Chinese Jewels - The Mystery Boys and the Hindu Treasure - - * * * * * * - -Copyright, 1931 -By A. L. Burt Company - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. Nicky and the Voodoo Woman 5 - II. One Half of a Cipher 13 - III. A “Mystery Boy” Meeting 22 - IV. Captain Kidd’s Ghost 30 - V. “Nothing Shall Stop Us!” 39 - VI. On the Way to the Keys 49 - VII. An Uncanny Summons 57 - VIII. Crocodile Key 68 - IX. Black Caesar’s Buccaneers 78 - X. Sam Shows His True Colors 86 - XI. One Mystery Is Solved 94 - XII. Modern Pirates 102 - XIII. The Mystery Boys Decide 110 - XIV. The Chase 121 - XV. Disaster! 129 - XVI. Captain Nicky Takes Command 137 - XVII. A Parley and a Plan 144 - XVIII. A Surprise! 155 - XIX. Captain Kidd’s Message 162 - XX. Nicky Changes a Word! 168 - XXI. In the Bottom of the Dipper! 176 - XXII. Gold—Gold—Gold 186 - XXIII. Marooned 195 - XXIV. “A Needle in a Haystack” 203 - XXV. In the Everglades 214 - XXVI. Nicky Does Some Scouting 223 - XXVII. In the Enemy’s Hands 232 - XXVIII. Two in the Toils 238 - XXIX. One Last Hope! 248 - XXX. Cliff Plays His Part 254 - XXXI. Nicky Is a Hero! 264 - XXXII. How Voodoo Brought Success 274 - - - - - THE MYSTERY BOYS AND - CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE - - - - - CHAPTER I - NICKY AND THE VOODOO WOMAN - - -“What is the matter with that colored boy?” whispered Nicky Lane to his -comrades, Tom and Cliff, “Look! He stares up at the sun and then he -watches us as if he expects something to happen.” - -Cliff and Tom lifted their heads from the shallow pit in which they were -digging. A glance toward the top rail of the fence around the field -showed them a black-faced boy of about ten, perched there. As they -stared at him he looked away. - -“He’s only curious to know what we are doing,” Tom declared. - -“All these Jamaica colored folks are,” Cliff added. “They can’t -understand why we want to find old relics.” - -“But why does he look up at the sun?” Nicky persisted. “See! He’s doing -it now.” - -The boy gave a glance toward the sun, about two hours high, and then -resumed his intent stare toward the trench. Nicky leaned on his spade -handle and glowered back. - -“Do you suppose he expects us to be sun-struck?” Cliff suggested. “Only -it isn’t hot enough yet, and we’re not working hard.” - -“I don’t know,” Tom declared, “but I wish I did. He seems to be -fidgeting and nervous.” - -“I’m going to find out!” exclaimed Nicky. Of the trio of chums he was -the most excitable and impulsive. As he dropped his spade and strode -toward the fence, its occupant tumbled off; scrambling to his feet he -ran out of sight around the side of an old, ramshackle cabin in a corner -of the enclosure. - -“That’s a funny one,” Cliff observed when Nicky returned. - -They discussed the strange actions of the colored boy for a moment but -since there was no explanation they went back to work. - -Nicky Lane was on a holiday with his two bosom companions. The Amadale -Military Academy, which they all attended, had been closed because there -was an epidemic of “flu” in the suburb of a mid-Western city in which -the school was located. - -Most of the students had gone to their homes. Cliff Gray lived with his -Aunt Lucy in the very suburb most affected by the epidemic; Tom and -Nicky were boarding there also. Cliff’s father, whom the boys had helped -to rescue from detention among some Incas of Peru, in an old hidden Inca -city among the Andes, was, at this time, exploring and studying in the -island of Jamaica, among the West Indies. He was a great scholar and a -student of old civilizations and was writing some chapters of a book on -the Carib Indians, the original inhabitants of the islands when Columbus -discovered them. - -Cliff’s Aunt Lucy thought it would be wise for Cliff to join his father, -to be well away from danger of infection; because the three chums were -inseparable, consent was easily secured for Tom and Nicky to go with -him. The three friends had been residing on a plantation in the heart of -the island for nearly a week. There, with Cliff’s father and a young -man, Clarence Neale, who was securing Carib relics for a great Museum of -Indian History in New York, they tried to help out by searching for -Carib pottery and ornaments. Jamaica had a great lure for them, for -Nicky, a “pirate bug,” called Jamaica “Pirates’ Paradise!” - -This interest was not due to any desire on Nicky’s part to be a wild, -fierce seadog, sailing from some port with letters of marque, to pillage -unprotected ships. The days for such things lay far in the past and -although Nicky was excitable and impulsive he was, at heart, a very -steady, sincere boy, a true American living up to the ideals of all that -American boyhood means. - -But in Nicky’s family there was an old paper which was a direct message -to one of his ancestors from no less a person than the alleged pirate, -Captain Kidd! - -Naturally Nicky, scarcely more than fourteen, was elated when he knew -that he was permitted to accompany Cliff Gray, with their comrade, Tom, -slightly older than either, to the island which had once been governed -by a reformed pirate, in the heart of the West Indies where once piracy -had flourished. - -They found very little more than legends and old tales to whet their -interest. Piracy had given place to commerce on the seas, as sailing -ships had surrendered to steam. And so, instead of digging for buried -treasure, on the sixth morning of their visit, they had found themselves -digging carefully in a corner of an uncultivated field, to unearth -broken bits of earthenware, possibly some small ornaments, or other -relics of the Caribs who once roamed the island. - -Digging early to avoid the mid-day heat during which everybody was quiet -and inactive, they had discovered the unaccountable interest of the -colored boy and when he had scuttled away they returned to their work -wondering a little about it. - -“When we rescued your father from the Incas and got some of their gold -the whole business started with a mystery, Cliff.” Tom referred to an -adventure during the previous summer in which they had explored a hidden -city in Peru and gone through many exciting escapades. - -“Wouldn’t it be odd if that boy started up a new mystery?” Nicky -suggested. “We’re right in the heart of mystery land. Voodoo—piracy in -the past—and—and everything!” - -“Look—but don’t let him see you!” Cliff nudged his comrades. “By the -right side of that old cabin—there’s our ‘boy-friend!’” - -Sure enough, the ebony face protruded around the old shack that stood in -the field, not far from their trench. - -“Listen, fellows,” whispered Nicky, “there is something queer about -this. How can we get hold of him and make him tell us what he expects is -going to happen. He’s just looked up at the sun again!” - -“You pretend to chase him,” Tom advised. “When he disappears and is out -of sight I will go the other way and head him off.” - -Nicky promptly started toward the boy, who ran away around the cabin. -Tom lost no time in taking a direction around the other side of the -shack. There was a shrill yell of fear and the sound of a scuffle, and -back came Nicky and Tom, almost dragging a terrified colored boy. - -Cliff joined them close to the cabin. - -“Now,” said Nicky, “we’re not going to hurt you. But you tell us what -made you look at the sun and then watch us!” - -The boy was silent. Suddenly he began to wriggle and to struggle and all -three took hold of him. They did not intend to harm him but his actions -had their curiosity fully aroused. - -“Here! White boys! Let that colored boy alone, do you hear!” - -A shrill, cracked voice came from the cabin. The three white chums -hesitated, looking at one another and then at the cabin. - -In its doorway stood an old, bent woman, who seemed to be all skin and -bones. Her face looked like crinkled, black parchment, dry and wrinkled. -Her hands were skinny and had long nails and clawlike fingers. She -leaned on a stick and made them all think of pictures of witches they -had seen. Her eyes blazed at them. - -A little frightened by the old crone’s evident fury, they let go of the -boy who scuttled past the woman into the shack. - -“We didn’t hurt him,” Nicky said defiantly. “He was—” and he told her -how the boy had acted. “We wanted to know why he did it,” he ended. - -The woman scowled at them. - -“You know very quick,” she said in her shrill, cracked tones. “You go -away or sun make you very sick in the head!” - -“Ho!” cried Nicky, “will it? Who says so?” - -“Sh-h-h!” Tom nudged him. “Don’t you remember what Cliff’s father told -us about Voodoo on these islands?” - -“Yes, I do,” Nicky answered under his breath. “But I’m not afraid! Why -does she want us to go away? What is there in this field that she -doesn’t want us to see?” - -“It’s Voodoo, I tell you!” Tom urged. “These old Voodoo witches can -enchant people.” - -“Do you really believe that?” demanded Nicky. The old woman was fumbling -and tugging at an old bag, dirty and of some queer animal or reptile -skin, as he spoke. - -“Well—” Tom hesitated, “I know they say it’s only the effect on ignorant -minds that makes Voodoo hurt people.” - -“Well, it can’t hurt me!” declared Nicky, “And, as I say—why would she -want to ‘voodoo’ us—white fellows and strangers?” - -“I think Nicky’s right,” Cliff declared. “She must have some reason.” - -“Listen,” whispered Nicky, excitedly, “one of you run and bring Mr. Gray -or the other man—Mr. Neale. Let’s get to the bottom of this. I’ll give -you any odds you like that she is trying to drive us away because -something’s hidden in this field—maybe—maybe——” - -“Treasure!” gasped Cliff and ran like a deer for the older members of -their party. Treasure! - - - - - CHAPTER II - ONE HALF OF A CIPHER - - -That the old crone was very much “worked up” was easily to be seen. Tom -and Nicky, watching uneasily, saw her fumble in her old bag and draw out -with her bony fingers three queer objects. - -These were small figures, made rudely of clay or mud. Tom and Nicky -started and stared at them. They were made in the shape of small human -figures, with heads a little larger than peas, and with dented places to -mark out the arms and legs. - -“What do you think those things are?” Tom whispered. “I don’t like this. -Remember what Mr. Neale said about this woman?” - -“Yes,” Nicky answered softly. “He said Ma’am Sib is a Voodoo woman and -that the colored people are afraid of her. But I’m not! I want to see -what she is going to do.” - -That was quickly seen. She laid the little objects in a row on the -doorsill; all of them had their tiny heads pointed out from the shade of -the roof, so that the heads were in the sunshine. - -She scowled at Nicky and Tom, then muttered under her breath and glanced -up toward the sun, then back at the boys. - -“I know it’s just imagination,” Tom told his chum, “but I feel sort of -queer——” - -Nicky made a practical suggestion. - -“I think she’s trying to scare us away by making us believe that she has -bewitched us or something,” he said, “It’s something that the sun will -do to us. If you’re uneasy, go and stay in the cabin shade at the side.” - -Tom looked sheepish and uncomfortable, but after hesitating for a while -his fears overcame his good sense and he went out of sight. - -Nicky did not follow; instead, he made an unexpected move. - -Quick as a flash he leaped forward, bent and made a scooping movement of -his fingers. When he dodged back out of reach of the irate old woman’s -cane, his hand was closed over the mud images. - -“I’ll keep these,” he said, trembling a little with natural uncertainty -as to the outcome of his bravado. - -“Here comes Cliff with Mr. Neale!” called Tom from beside the cabin, -while the colored boy poked his head out through the door and made his -eyes roll in his excitement. - -Cliff and the young archaelogist were climbing the fence. They hurried -over and confronted the woman. - -“What does this mean, Ma’am Sib?” asked Clarence Neale quietly. He -showed no anger, only curiosity. The old woman looked up at the tall, -clean-cut young fellow, not much more than twenty-two or so, and -frowned. - -“White boys not to dig! I order them to go yesterday. They come back! -I—” she made a gesture toward Nicky who unclosed his hand. The moisture -of his palm was already breaking up the shape of the figures. - -“Cliff’s father told us about the Egyptians doing this like this,” Nicky -said. “They used to make little images of wax, he said, and put spells -on them to injure the magicians’ enemies—then when they stuck pins in -the wax, or burned it, the enemies were supposed to suffer with pain. -But I didn’t know they did that sort of thing in Jamaica.” - -“Sometimes,” Mr. Neale admitted. “But why did you come back to dig when -Ma’am Sib ordered you away?” - -“It isn’t her field,” Cliff answered. “I asked father. And, besides, -there is another trench started. See! Over there.” He pointed to the -digging that had been done at a point closer to the cabin.” - -“Can they really hurt you—these voodoo people?” Tom asked. “I began to -feel sort of uneasy——” - -Mr. Neale spoke quietly in reply. “The boy was told to do as he did so -as to suggest an idea to you,” he explained. “You see, all sorts of -magic depend on our being afraid. We are afraid of things we do not -understand. Because we don’t understand them we think ‘maybe they do -have power to hurt us.’” - -“It’s just the same as if I came to Tom some morning and looked at him -as if something was wrong, and then asked him what’s the matter,” Cliff -said. “He’d wonder and then begin to think that something was wrong and -he would begin to feel sick, if he kept thinking about it long enough.” - -“Exactly,” Mr. Neale replied. “Voodoo depends on ignorance and fear. -Because people are ignorant and afraid, their own minds work against -them. Tom let himself imagine there was danger——” - -“I knew it,” Tom said, shamefacedly, “but it got the best of me.” - -“But why did she do it?” demanded Nicky. “Not just because we didn’t -obey her and stop digging——” - -“I claim there must be something hidden here that she knows about and -she tried, the way she is used to doing, to drive us away,” Cliff -declared. - -“There isn’t anything buried here that I have heard about,” Clarence -Neale responded. He turned to the woman, “Ma’m Sib, what induced you to -try to frighten these friends of mine?” - -“Perhaps I can help you?” inquired a voice behind them. So absorbed had -they all been in the discussion that they had not noticed the arrival of -a slender colored fellow of nineteen. He stood just back of them, -smiling pleasantly. He was as black as ebony, with perfect, white teeth -which showed in strong contrast when he gave his good-natured smile. He -spoke without the Southern Negro’s dialect, as is the custom of all the -Jamaica inhabitants whose speech is often of the very best English, with -only a few colloquial bits of dialect. - -Mr. Neale turned. He recognized the grandson of old Ma’am Sib. - -“Your grandmother has been voodooing my young assistants, Sam,” he said -pleasantly. “They were digging and she must have thought that voodoo was -easier than the natural way—to come and ask me to keep them away.” - -The young Negro shrugged his shoulders. He had been sent to a school in -the United States and he was better educated than was his ancient -grandmother. - -“No harm is done, anyhow, sar,” he replied. “I ask you to forgive.” - -“Done!” answered the white man, “but I am curious to know just what is -so important that she should take that sort of measure to drive off our -digging comrades.” - -“She thought that there was something buried here,” explained the -colored fellow. “She knew that I have been doing some exploring in my -spare time. But I found what I was looking for—and I was so disappointed -that I did not even bother to tell her, sar.” - -“Disappointed?” - -“Yes, sar. There is an old legend in our family and my grandmother had -told me and I was searching for a letter. When Captain William Kidd -traded between New York and these islands, before he was really a -pirate, he was much friends with our Governor. In those days the -Governor was kind to pirates. He let them come into harbor and he did -not give them to the law for punishing.” - -Nicky and his friends became alert. Nicky thought of the old paper so -carefully preserved by his family, although no one thought it would ever -amount to anything. Cliff and Tom were intensely interested because this -was becoming a living story, linking the present with the old, piratical -days and their natural love of adventure was whetted by the suave words -of the colored man. - -“You may not know about Captain Kidd,” Sam continued. Nicky knew a great -deal but he remained silent, listening eagerly. “He was really not as -bad as the story books have made him. He was not one of the terrible -pirates. But he did wrong and finally he was made a prisoner in America, -and was kept in prison until he could be sent to England to be tried.” - -He became very earnest and they all drew closer. - -“While he was in prison he sent a letter to his friend, the Governor of -Jamaica, who had a house not far from this place. That was the owner of -this field and his family holds it yet. We are descendants of old family -servants of that Governor. Well, sar, the letter came one day and the -Governor began to brag about finding great treasure soon; one of my race -who was his body-servant thought the letter must tell about the treasure -and so he stole it. But he became disgusted and buried the despatch box. -I do not know why. At least, I did not know why until I dug it up last -night!” - -They were all tense with suspense as he reached into his pocket and -pulled out a folded paper. Holding his hands around it until he made -sure that it was the right one, his eyes rolling with the colored race’s -love for being the center of the interest, he slowly opened the paper, -holding it down low so that they could all see the surface. - -It was dirty and brown with age and the ink on it was faint and faded to -a faint brownish tint. - -They all craned their necks. - -What they saw was disappointing, as Sam had said. There were three -small, irregular shaped circles toward the top of the paper, in such a -relation to one another that if a line had been drawn between each pair -so as to connect them, they would have been at the points of a triangle. - -At one side, and a little lower down, was the regulation, old-fashioned -representation of a compass to show direction. - -Further down, there was part of a word which they made out to be “per.” -Still further down, was a mass of tiny dots and marks, too faint to be -given any meaning, they were not in the form of letters, but were just -like the blotches that break out on the skin during measles-here, there -and everywhere. But at the left side they went right to the edge of the -paper, and there was a very dim line starting there and running a little -way in among the blotches. - -Just beneath was a nautical bearing: “25—30—13 N.” - -“You can see,” said Sam, his finger running along the left hand edge, -“this paper is torn off. It is only half of a cipher, sar.” - -Mr. Neale, Cliff and Tom nodded. - -“So it is of no good.” said Sam, but he returned it to his pocket. “It -may come that the other half will be found. I hope so.” - -Then he turned and looked, with surprise, toward Nicky. - -“Can it be,” muttered Sam, “that Ma’am Sib’s voodoo has worked, after -all?” - -Nicky was turning somersaults and rolling about like a boy who has gone -mad! - - - - - CHAPTER III - A “MYSTERY BOYS” MEETING - - -Watching Nicky’s contortions, Ma’am Sib began to see pictures in her -mind of herself in jail and she became more afraid than she had made the -boys. - -She knew that the open practice of voodoo was against all laws and she -had not really meant to do any more than frighten the boys off. But -Nicky’s actions caused her to dread the consequences to herself. But Tom -and Cliff, understanding their comrade, had different thoughts. When Tom -looked at Cliff he saw the latter calmly but determinedly scratching his -left ear. Tom instantly folded his arms! - -Tom hastened to Nicky and grabbed his chum between two somersaults. - -“Cliff’s calling for a council,” he whispered. Nicky became at once a -very sober and quietly normal young fellow. - -The three chums were the sole members of a secret order which they named -from the fact that each of them had a mystery in his life; so their -secret order was called “The Mystery Boys.” - -Nicky, to begin with, had in his family the supposed message from the -former pirate, William Kidd. Tom’s mystery had to do with the fact that -his sister had never been located after an attack on a Mexican mine by -bandits; after which no trace of the girl, living there with her father, -the mine superintendent, had ever been found. Cliff had solved his -mystery the summer before; his father, studying Inca civilization, had -been held prisoner by Incas of the old Peruvian race, in a city hidden -among the Andes; a letter had reached Cliff, and he, with Tom and Nicky -and a history instructor from Amadale, and with “Quipu Bill” whom they -had met in Peru, had discovered and rescued the old scholar and had -secured some Inca gold at the same time. - -The purpose of the secret order was to be able to exchange ideas in the -presence of other people who were not members of the clique, without the -outsiders knowing about it. The Mystery Boys had made up their order for -the purpose of helping one another in every way, but in secret. Their -motto was “Seeing All, I see nothing; Knowing All, I know nothing; -Telling All, I tell nothing!” - -In order to have help in rescuing Cliff’s father, the order had added -the young history instructor, a Mr. Whitley, and “Quipu Bill,” but after -the thrilling adventures among the Incas, wherein the secret signals of -the order had served the members in many “tight” places, Bill went off -to a ranch in the West, and the instructor returned to his classes; both -retained membership, but not actively. - -Cliff’s signal to Tom had been a call for a secret communication, and -Tom, folding his arms in sign of agreement, quickly urged Nicky to -silence. Cliff understood Nicky’s wild capering. - -Nicky, very sober, came up with Tom to rejoin the group. - -“I was just cutting up,” he said. “I was letting off steam because it -struck me as funny that Ma’am Sib went to all that trouble to scare us -away from a map or a cipher that had already been found and that wasn’t -any use anyhow!” - -Mr. Neale accepted the explanation; it seemed a natural action that -Nicky had indulged in, thus explained. Ma’am Sib was greatly upset and -began to beg them not to pay any attention to her “spell.” Its effects -were all removed, she declared. They agreed and as it was clear that -young Sam was eager to have them cause no trouble for his grandmother, -the boys and their older friend forgave the old voodoo woman and hurried -away. - -Mr. Neale returned to his conference with some colored men who were -excavating near the plantation house where the white people had their -headquarters. Tom, Cliff and Nicky could hardly wait to get off by -themselves. As soon as they succeeded, Nicky turned to his companions. - -“I saw you signal to me to say nothing,” Nicky told Cliff. “It was all I -could do to hold in.” - -“I know it,” Cliff replied. “You ‘go off the handle’ easy, anyhow. I -guessed what made you get so excited, and I didn’t want you to talk -until we had had a meeting of our Order.” - -“Nicky’s ‘message’ from Captain Kidd has something to do with it,” Tom -guessed. - -“Something?” Nicky said. “Everything! Why, that half of the cipher would -fit in with a half that my uncle has!” - -“Honestly?” cried Tom. “Hooray! We’re off again for adventure!” - -“Not yet,” Cliff counseled. “There are some things to decide. First of -all, half the cipher is in New York—or with Nicky’s uncle.” - -“Don’t worry about that,” Nicky laughed. “I got him to let me take a -tracing of it. I held the paper against a lamp shade and traced over it. -Here’s the ‘other half of the cipher!’ See what you make of it.” - -He dragged a leather billfold from his coat pocket and extracted a -neatly folded paper. The others stared at it. - -“Was the original torn down on the side where this jagged line shows?” -demanded Tom. - -“Yep!” responded Nicky, “and you see it’s on the side opposite to where -Sam’s paper is ripped away. I think they’d just fit together!” - -“So do I,” Cliff agreed. “But even if you have this half, there are -things to consider; but let’s see if we can remember the other piece and -sketch it on this envelope,” he drew a letter from his pocket. -“Here—here’s a pencil!” - -They got to work. On the sketch Nicky had already made there were -several dots at one side, toward the top. Below them was the word “Dip” -and under that were more of the little straggley blotches with a faint -line starting at the left hand side and close to a small cross marked -“Reck.” - -“That word ought to be ‘wreck’ I think,” Nicky suggested. They nodded. -“And here, you see, is a nautical direction—but I don’t think it’s the -same as on the other paper.” - -“It isn’t!” Cliff stated. “The other was some degrees North Latitude, -but this is West Longitude. Now—what was the set of figures on the other -map?” - -Nicky shook his head. - -“I recall—let’s see—was it thirty degrees and twelve minutes——” - -“You’re away off,” Tom broke in. “It was twenty-five degrees and twelve -minutes and thirty seconds.” - -“No,” Cliff argued. “It was—no, it couldn’t have been twelve degrees -North—that would be in South America, I think—anyway, if I recall my -map, it wouldn’t be where the pirates used to go.” - -“I wish we could remember it,” Nicky said. “Then we could go and get the -treasure.” - -“Maybe,” Cliff hesitated. “Maybe not. It would be like stealing to take -any treasure by using the part of the map we don’t own.” - -“But Sam doesn’t own it by right!” Nicky urged. “It was sent to the -Governor of Jamaica and stolen from him. Then Sam found it.” - -“But there must be part of the Governor’s family still alive,” Tom said, -agreeing with Cliff’s attitude, “and if Captain Kidd sent the map in two -parts so that both his friends would be sure to share in his treasure, -we have no right to take the other fellow’s share!” - -“That’s so,” Nicky agreed. “Anyhow, Sam has no right to it either.” - -“But he has part of the map!” Tom reminded Nicky. - -“What ought we to do?” Nicky questioned. - -“I guess it’s a case for older heads to decide,” Tom suggested. “Cliff’s -father——” - -“Yes, we can ask him,” Nicky agreed. “How about letting Mr. Neale know -about it?” - -“I like him,” Cliff asserted. “He’s honest and he knows a whole lot -about these islands. And he could help us a lot. My father could advise -us but he wouldn’t want to go on any adventure; he had enough of that -with the Incas.” - -“Then there is Nicky’s uncle, who has the real map,” Tom reminded his -chums. “How about him?” - -“Let’s tell Cliff’s father first,” Nicky urged. “Then we can do as he -says.” - -It was agreed that this was the best way out. They found the old scholar -sorting some broken bits of pottery. These had been taken out of old -mounds of refuse, centuries old, where the Carib Indians had thrown -their cast off and broken utensils. Mr. Gray, by reason of his wide -experience with such things, and with the help of the young -archaeologist, had become proficient at the art of piecing the broken -bits into their original places so that many valuable objects were -rebuilt, or, at least, reassembled. - -After he had heard their story, Mr. Gray deliberated for a while and -then he gave them his opinion. - -The boys admitted its soundness and decided to act upon it that very -evening! - - - - - CHAPTER IV - CAPTAIN’S KIDD’S GHOST - - -Seated around the supper table in the plantation house, the chums could -hardly contain their impatience while the colored servant removed the -dishes. The abrupt twilight had passed into deep, dark night. A kerosene -lamp on the table threw weird shadows on the wall and left uncanny -mysteries in the dusky corners. - -The table, moved near the window to get the cooler evening breeze during -the meal, was finally cleared. - -“Do you feel funny?” asked Tom, looking around the room. “Maybe it’s on -account of that voodoo stuff this morning, but for some reason I feel -kinda nervous.” - -“It’s just your mind—your imagination,” laughed Cliff. - -Mr. Gray quietly told Clarence Neale why the boys had decided to act on -his advice, to initiate the young collector into their mystic order. -They had half of a cipher, he explained, and there was reason to believe -that Sam had the other half. Then, in order to carry on a search, if -they agreed that it was advisable, the young fellows would require a -cool, older head to guide them, and perhaps a stout arm to help them. “I -can carry on your work here, Clarence,” Mr. Gray finished his -explanation. “If you want to try your hand at a different sort of -digging.” - -“If it’s a choice between potsherds”—he referred to the bits of pottery -which were thus named—“or treasure, count me in for adventure every -time!” - -Using a watch charm of Cliff’s which his father had made from an ancient -Egyptian scarab, or sacred beetle, suitably mounted, Nicky gave Clarence -Neale the oath of allegiance, which also served as their motto. Clarence -Neale with his face serious and with a sincere manner, took the vow. - -“I see what it means,” he added. “Seeing All—that you show me—I see -nothing that I let others know I see; Knowing All—all of your plans—I -know nothing, if anybody asks me; Telling All—that is, letting you know -everything I know—I tell nothing, of our plans or mysteries, to any -outsider.” - -“That’s it exactly,” Nicky exclaimed. “I knew you would be the right -sort. Now, we will postpone the initiations and secret signs until -tomorrow when we have more time. Now we want to tell you about our map.” - -He drew out his copy and the drawing of Sam’s half which Cliff had made -from memory. They all bent over them on the table. - -“I am very glad that you have taken me into your councils,” Clarence -Neale declared. “I know something about this section. It is very easy to -see that it is some part of the Florida coral archipelago, what we used -to call Ten Thousand Islands, stretching up along the Gulf coast from -down toward Cape Sable. I used to fish in those waters.” - -The chums were delighted. Here was a real mate and a fine aide. - -“Just how did this half come into your family’s possession?” asked the -young man. - -“Well,” Nicky explained, “you see, Captain William Kidd was supposed to -be a mighty pirate and a fearful one. History and story books don’t -agree, there. I’ve studied a lot about him because I am pretty much a -‘bug’ about him, on account of this map.” - -“Well,” smiled Mr. Neale, “I don’t blame you. I know a bit of the old -fellow’s true history too. He was in the regular trade for quite a -while, and ran from these Islands to New York with his ship, and he was -as honest as any, I guess. That must be the time that he made friends -with the Jamaica governor.” - -“Yes,” Nicky took up the talk. “He traded with the West Indies during -King William’s War, and it was after that time that the citizens of -Antigua gave him a bark of the same name. And in 1690 he got a -commission from the English—what do you guess for?” - -“To despoil and break up pirate bands,” exclaimed Cliff. “You’ve told -us, Nicky—but go ahead. Tell us again. It’s interesting, and especially -right now.” - -“Why, you could imagine we were in the cabin of a ship, right now,” -broke in Tom, “all except the windows. Look at the heavy timbers of the -room, and the oil lamp and—s-sh-h-h! What’s that?” - -They all stared at him. Tom’s eyes had become round with fear. He was -usually of a very level headed type, and not likely to get himself -upset; but the voodoo had preyed upon his imagination and this, with the -excitement of the treasure map’s discovery, had made him more sensitive -to excitement than usual. - -He stared through the open window. They all turned their eyes that way. - -“What is it, Tom?” demanded Nicky in a hoarse whisper. - -“I thought I saw a face—in the shadows—outside the window,” Tom said -shakily. - -Nicky was up and out of the room like a flash. Cliff, losing no time, -raced in the other direction. They went scuttling around the house, from -front and back, meeting under the dining room window. - -“Nobody here—not a sign!” called Cliff reassuringly. - -“Nobody in sight,” Nicky agreed. “Tom, who was it—what did the face look -like?” - -“I don’t know,” quavered Tom. “It looked like—it was white—it was like -a—ghost!” - -“Pull yourself together,” said Mr. Gray quietly. “There aren’t any -ghosts. Your imagination is keyed up. Perhaps you saw some bird fly past -with the light on its wings and your excitement made you see the rest.” - -“Come in, boys,” called Clarence Neale, “I am sure there was no occasion -for fright.” - -The two searchers returned. - -“Brace up, Tom,” said Cliff, not unkindly. “Nobody was running away and -nobody was in sight. You don’t want us to think that you really believe -in ghosts!” - -“No,” said Tom, sheepishly, “I don’t. I said it looked like one.” - -“Well,” laughed Mr. Neale, “we have ‘sort of interrupted’ Captain Kidd, -haven’t we?” - -“Maybe it was his ghost!” grinned Nicky. “I hadn’t thought of that.” - -Mr. Neale and Cliff’s father gave warning shakes of their heads and -Nicky apologized for joking at Tom’s expense. - -“The poor old fellow wasn’t so bad—there’s no reason for his ghost to -walk, even if there was such a chance,” Mr. Neale said. “You know he -sailed off in the _Adventure Galley_ to execute his commission, but -pirates were few and far between, and he sailed around the Cape of Good -Hope. You know, that real and terrible pirate, Thomas Tew, was one of -those he was sent to capture or to punish—but he never found him. His -crew became mutinous because there was so little to do and it was during -a fight that Kidd struck his gunner, William Moore, and killed him. It -was really for that act that the man was captured when he finally -returned to America, and he was sent eventually to England to be tried -for the killing of Moore, rather than for piracy, although he did do a -little ‘pirating’ on his voyages.” - -“It was while he was in prison,” Nicky took up the story, “he sent for -one of my ancestors, a New York merchant, and told him about the -treasure. He said—it’s all preserved in writing in my family—he said -that while cruising in the Gulf, during his trading and before he got -his commission from England as a privateersman, he was blown by a heavy -wind quite near what we call the Florida Keys. When the weather calmed -there was a signal flying from a coral rock and the Captain took off -onto his ship several castaways from a wreck. They told him they had -been on a Spanish treasure ship, transporting gold and silver bars from -the Spanish settlements in Central America when the hurricane wrecked -their ship. Captain Kidd said he had looked for the treasure but there -was no sign of any, and so he thought they were telling falsehoods.” - -“Then why did he draw a map—if that was what the map was about!” Cliff -interrupted. - -“The man he had saved—one of the survivors—gave him the map when he was -injured by a sabre wound and was dying. He said the men had managed to -swim ashore to some of the smaller Keys when the ship ran onto some -needle-like coral and began to break up. But they got a couple of boats -overside too, and when it was calmer, and the ship was breaking apart -and falling away into the water, they got many chests of the treasure -into the boats and rowed along into the keys and hid the chests on an -island that was in the map.” - -“I see,” said Mr. Neale. “Probably, by that time, some of the other -members of the crew had gone back and found the chests.” - -“Maybe,” Nicky said. “You see, when the ancestor was given the map, he -took a passage on a ship to come and find the Jamaica governor, but his -ship was besieged by pirates and he was taken by them—and it was years -before he got off their ship and back to civilization—that’s a story by -itself, but I can’t stop to tell it to you now. Anyhow, he got back, but -he had no more taste for the sea and when he died he passed on his map -and the story, but nobody else ever tried until my uncle got the paper. -He made a trip down here and found out just what Sam told us—that the -governor’s paper had been stolen. So, of course, he gave it up.” - -“Now, what do you propose to do?” asked Clarence Neale. - -“Mr. Gray thinks we ought to talk to Sam and offer to share with him -fairly for the use of his part of the map. He’s on his way here, or -ought to be. I left word with Ma’am Sib to tell him to come.” - -“Perhaps he hasn’t returned to get the message,” Mr. Gray said. - -“Or,” said Nicky, unable to resist a little malicious prod at Tom’s -fears, “or maybe the ghost got him!” - -Before Tom could make a reply they heard the patter of swift feet racing -along the path to the house; a voice cried out, shrill and excited, -“Help—masters—help! De ghost——!” - -With a common impulse they all leaped to their feet. In their excitement -not one of them stopped to catch up the map. They moved closer together, -Tom clutching Nicky’s arm and staring wide-eyed at the door. - -Into their midst scampered the ten-year-old colored boy of the morning -experience. His face was ashy colored under his dusky skin, and his eyes -rolled wildly. - -“Masters—masters!” he panted. “Save me—” He lifted a finger, and pointed -it shakingly toward the doorway. They all stared in that direction, and -even Cliff felt the hair prickling on his head. - -“There—there! It’s chased me—it’s coming—” the boy gasped. - -Clarence Neale leaped past the frightened child, and on a sudden impulse -Nicky, feeling a strange hunch, swung part way around toward the table. -He meant to reach for the map, forgotten in the instant of excitement. - -In his turn he gave a gasping cry. - -Their map was gone! - - - - - CHAPTER V - “NOTHING SHALL STOP US!” - - -Nicky wasted no time going around through the door. He scrambled to the -windowsill and leaped out into the darkness. Springing clear of the -bushes which were planted close to the house, he landed on his feet and -looked hurriedly about him. - -Nothing was to be seen! - -As soon as his eyes became used to the dark he strained them in every -direction. But there was nothing to reward his eager eyes. - -Finally, after poking around in the brush just beyond the clearing in -which the house stood, he returned to his friends. The colored boy was -recovering slowly from the effects of his terror. Tom, too, had regained -some of his usual steadiness, though he seemed to be much more excited -than either of his chums. The older men had discovered the absence of -the map but had thought that Nicky took it. - -“No!” he panted, still laboring under his excitement and his exertions -in running from one dump of brush to another, “it was gone when I looked -around before I jumped through the window.” - -“But where did it go?” demanded Cliff. - -“That’s the puzzle,” replied Clarence Neale. - -“De ghos’ done taken it!” gasped the small colored boy. - -“Nothing of the sort! There aren’t any ghosts!” declared Mr. Gray. - -The boy stared. “Yes, they is!” he retorted. “I seen it! It was white! -It——” - -“Where did you see it?” Nicky asked quickly. - -“By de window, sar!” - -“Was it looking in?” - -“It was comin’ to’ds”—toward, he meant—“to’ds me!” - -“What is all this?” a new voice spoke. The owner of the plantation, a -rough, stocky Englishman with a bronzed face, stood in the doorway. He -had been out on another of his many properties for several days and had, -apparently, come back in time to discover the excitement without -understanding its meaning. - -Mr. Gray explained the boy’s fright without mentioning the loss of the -map. Nicky, about to speak, saw Cliff make a gesture which unmistakably -was the Mystery Boys’ signal for silence; he closed his lips and waited. - -“These colored people are afraid of shadows,” said the plantation owner. -“Run along home, boy. Nothing will hurt you!” - -“No, sar, Mister Coleson, sar, I dassent go in de dark alone!” - -“The natives of this island are full of legends and stories about -ghosts,” Mr. Coleson explained to the group. “Why, I have even heard -them declare that the ghosts and spirits of the old pirates appear at -times. Joe, my overseer, here on the plantation, says he once heard -where treasure was hidden and he decided to try to get it. But when he -got near the place his superstitions got the best of him. The way he -tells about it, he saw pirates, in red bandana head cloths, with -glittering cutlasses, and smoking pistols, stalking toward him. -Naturally, being a coward, he ran. Of course,” he added, “I’m only -telling you what he said. Personally, I think the fellow built it all up -in his mind!” - -“Oh—sar!” broke in the colored boy. “No! I see dem, too! I see Cap’n -Kidd in my dream, de odder night. He come and he say ‘Boo!’ an’ wake me -up!” - -Clarence Neale laughed. - -“That shows how easy it is to believe in ghosts if you hear about them -and think about them all your life!” he told Tom. “This lad even dreams -about them.” - -“Captain Kidd, eh?” repeated the Englishman, laughing and then becoming -half serious. “Well, if there’s any truth in superstition, the old boy -must be watching over some of his treasure that is threatened!” He -winked toward Clarence Neale, but neither Tom nor the colored boy saw it -and both thought he was quite serious. - -“Don’t, sar—please, don’t!” begged the boy, beginning to snivel. “He say -‘Boo’ at me. Den I mus’ have see him, tonight again!” - -“Well,” said the Englishman, “I’ll leave you people to argue with this -little scare-cat! I’m tired and I think I will turn in!” - -He said goodnight and went to the quarters he occupied. - -“Wasn’t Sam to come here?” asked Mr. Gray. - -“Yes, he was—” began Cliff; he paused, and glanced at Nicky. The latter -opened his eyes wider as the thought struck him too. - -Could Sam have had anything to do with the “ghost business?” Sam had -half a map; he saw Nicky, earlier, displaying his excitement when the -map was shown. Maybe he had become suspicious, followed them, overheard -something; perhaps he had even listened at the window. - -They discussed the strange disappearance of their map, stated their -suspicions, brought up the question of Sam’s possible guilt. - -The colored boy, not understanding, stood with his eyes rolling, afraid -to depart. - -“There is an easy way to settle the question, and, at the same time to -dispose of this boy’s fears,” suggested Clarence Neale. “I will walk -home with him!” - -That seemed to be the best course and so Mr. Neale, reassuring their -dusky charge, put a hand on his shoulder and gently urged him from the -room. - -“I don’t care much for this situation,” said Mr. Gray. “It seems to me -that some human agency is at work, trying to frighten you lads. I assure -you that there is no ghost. Whatever Tom may have seen, and whatever the -boy saw, there is a human being behind it. And no ghostly hands took -your paper!” - -“I think that way too,” Nicky declared, and Cliff nodded his agreement. -Tom also gave a rather lame assent. - -“Anyhow,” stated Nicky, practically, “if there was a ghost—if Captain -Kidd did watch!—he sent part of the map to my own ancestor. He wouldn’t -want to scare us! If he scared anybody, or took a map from anywhere, he -would go after the colored fellow, Sam. His half of the cipher wasn’t -rightfully his, the way mine is.” - -“But there is no ghost,” repeated Mr. Gray. “If you ever get the true -facts you will see that some person is at the bottom of this.” - -“Sam, most likely!” declared Tom, entering into the spirit of the -discussion and reassuring himself. - -“No,” said Mr. Neale, coming in, his arm around the shoulders of the -colored man they had just named, “no—Sam isn’t at the bottom of it.” - -They looked at Sam. He was weak and shaken, and slumped down in a chair, -rather limp and groggy. - -“I found Sam out by the gate,” Mr. Neale explained. “He had been knocked -out, actually, by a blow. He was on his way here, he managed to tell me. -He thought he saw something light-colored near the house and he stopped -by the gate. But whatever—whoever—it was, disappeared behind the house -and he stood a moment wondering. Then he heard the voice in the house, -here, and wondered whether to come in or to wait. Before he guessed what -was happening, some one was behind him and struck him. That is all he -remembered.” - -“No ghost did that!” exclaimed Nicky. - -“I don’t—know,” Sam said, weakly. “They tell, on the island, that ghosts -have terrible power. I never did believe much in it, but—I don’t -know—now!” - -“Well, I do know!” declared Mr. Neale defiantly. “Your part of the map -is gone, of course!” - -“Yes, sar—yes——” - -“Of course! Does that seem like the work of a ghost?” - -“It might be!” Sam said uncertainly. He drank the water Nicky had -brought him, and seemed to be pulling himself together, but his age-old -instinct of fear was beginning to triumph over his education. - -“At any rate,” Mr. Gray summed up, “whatever and whoever did these -things, the result amounts to this: neither Sam nor we have any clue to -the treasure——” - -“You wouldn’t let that stop you, would you?” demanded Nicky. - -“I wouldn’t, if Father would let us go on,” Cliff stated. - -“Nor I,” agreed Clarence Neale. “We can remember the map closely -enough—we know the longitude—we could even cable Nicky’s uncle and get -the original if necessary——” - -“But we don’t remember the latitude on Sam’s half,” said Cliff. “Unless -Sam does——” - -“When he gets over his bump—it won’t be serious—he will be able to help. -Anyway, we know in a general way that the place is somewhere in the -Florida Keys, about twenty-five degrees and some minutes of North -latitude and we all recall the longitude—and one-half of the map had the -phrase ‘dip’ and the other ‘per’—put them together and they mean -‘Dipper.’” Mr. Neale sketched on a bit of envelope the picture of the -constellation know as “The Dipper.” - -“There!” he said, triumphantly. “Doesn’t that show you the same little -marks that were on the two maps?” - -Nicky, Cliff, Tom and Mr. Gray nodded. - -“Well, then, we can find that set of islands,” declared Mr. Neale, “and, -if Mr. Gray would carry on my work here, I, for one, would vote to go -ahead!” - -“Here too!” cried Nicky. - -“Same for me!” stated Cliff, giving his father an imploring look. - -“I’m with you,” Tom chimed in, not as aggressively, but with his will -power overcoming his uncertainty. - -“I’d go if you would let me,” said Sam, while Mr. Gray bandaged a lump -on his head after it had been disinfected and washed. “I know where I -could get a sloop with a little engine to kick it along if the wind -failed——” - -“That would be fine!” exclaimed Nicky. “I vote we take Sam in!” - -“Share and share alike!” cried Cliff eagerly. “That is, our part of -whatever we find! Of course we’d give some to the governor’s family if -we can find them.” - -“We’d have to keep it secret—our plan!” said Nicky, earnestly. “We’d -have to pretend to be going——” - -“To cruise for Carib relics on smaller islands!” broke in Clarence -Neale, as excited as his younger companions. - -“Fine!” agreed Nicky. “Is the sloop big enough, Sam? Where is it? What’s -it like? Is it seaworthy for a cruise like this?” - -Sam said “yes” and described the one-masted, thirty-foot boat with its -heavy duty motor. “Maybe close quarters to sleep in,” he said, “but she -has shorely got a good name for treasure hunting!” - -“What?” demanded all three chums in unison. - -“The _Treasure Belle_——” - -“Oh!” cried Nicky. “With a name like that we simply must get her! Mr. -Gray, you can’t refuse us permission.” - -Three eager youths pleaded. The older man, counseled and reassured by -Clarence Neale, finally agreed. - -“Hooray!” Nicky exulted. “Treasure bent in the _Treasure Belle_! Nothing -can stop us!” - -Tom, a little silent, hoped that nothing could! - - - - - CHAPTER VI - ON THE WAY TO THE KEYS - - -The _Treasure Belle_, when they inspected her with Sam and Mr. Neale, -disappointed the chums. She lay, careening to one side, in a place on -the shore of a small ship basin. Her hull, originally painted white, was -a mixture of grays and browns, streaked and dirty. Her cabin, when they -crawled into it, was musty and cramped, up in the bow, with no head room -and with its bunks both narrow and uninviting. - -“Quite a difference between her name and her looks,” smiled Clarence -Neale. Nicky nodded and Cliff, standing on deck, pointed toward a -cluster of boats moored in deeper water. - -“Why can’t we charter a boat like that one?” said Cliff, indicating a -fairly trim looking cruising launch, about thirty feet long, with a -raised cabin whose windows had neat little drapings at each side, whose -paint showed little wear. Where the _Treasure Belle_ had no bright work, -her hardware being discolored and rusting, the other craft showed signs -of constant attention. - -“That’s a private boat, and not for hire, sar,” explained Sam. “She -belong to a white man. He use her for run to Cuba. I hear it told he is -a politician of Cuba, and he stay here because he is not so well liked -in his island. But they say he run there by night for some reason and -keep that boat only for that.” - -“Maybe he would charter her to us if he didn’t need her,” urged Nicky. -“She’d be a lot nicer.” - -Sam, at Mr. Neale’s suggestion, took them to the office of the ship -basin owners but they got no encouragement. The _El Libertad_ was not -for hire or charter. He gave the party the address of her owner readily -enough but without enthusiasm. - -When Mr. Neale returned from an interview with Senor Ortiga, he shook -his head. - -“_El Libertad_ is not to be ours,” he said. “Senor Ortiga told me that -he is having the engine overhauled and is waiting for parts—even if he -would let us have her, which he did not seem inclined to do, it would be -a month before she would be ready, he said.” - -“This _Treasure Belle_ look poorly,” Sam said. “But she is Bahama built, -sar, and she’s sturdy, and seaworthy.” - -“She looks like a tub with a sail,” said Tom. - -“Yes, sar, but she has very light draught,” Sam urged. “She can go in -channels between the cays, and if she get aground her hull is strong and -not easy to break. That _Libertad_ is very thin hulled, and draws eight -inches more water.” - -“Well, we can’t have her, anyway,” Nicky decided. “We’ll have to make -the best of this one and let the name make up for the drawbacks.” - -“My cousin own her,” Sam stated. “I have not told him why we charter -her, and for the cruise to get relics that I say we use her for, he let -her go very cheap, sar.” - -They made the necessary arrangements with Sam’s cousin and work was -started on the sloop. She was close to thirty-two feet in length, wide -in her beam and squatty looking, but her engine, though a heavy duty -make and not very fast, was in perfect trim. Her canvas was also neat -and complete. - -While the paint was scrubbed and the dirty interior of the cabin made -presentable and as comfortable as possible, Sam, who was a good sailor -and knew the sloop well, gave Nicky, Tom and Cliff many lessons in rope -splicing, handling the sails, and, without actual practice in steering -he explained the method of holding a small craft on her course. Sam was -the only addition to the party, as, with Mr. Neale, who was sufficiently -good at navigation to handle a small boat on the comparatively -landlocked course they would take, it was felt that the boys would make -a sufficient crew, standing watch-and-watch. - -Few supplies were put aboard. They did not want people to suppose they -were going to be on a desolate series of coral reefs for their cruise; -to buy much food would arouse curiosity, because they could get fresh -supplies on any of the islands of the Bahamas or the Virgin Islands they -were hinting that they would visit. - -On a bright, clear morning Cliff bade goodbye to his father, the others -shook hands with Mr. Gray, and with the _Treasure Belle’s_ engine -thudding away without a skip, they maneuvered the sloop out of the small -basin and laid a course for Cuba, steering for the Eastern end of the -island rather than to their true course toward the Western end, so as to -make it seem that they were bound toward the Eastern group of islands, -after touching on the large island for some work Mr. Neale pretended -must be done there to verify some reports of Carib relics to be found in -the jungles. - -But by noon, with the jib and mainsail spread to the steady breeze, they -shifted the tiller and brought the _Treasure Belle_ around again on a -course that would enable them to round the Western nose of Cuba and then -sail Northeast to the coral islets which clustered in a long fringe -along the Florida Gulf coast, at its lower portion. - -“Without a map we will have to take some chances,” Mr. Neale told Nicky, -Tom and Cliff. “But we can come pretty close to a guess at the point -where we must anchor.” - -“Where our half of the map showed the crossmarked ‘reck,’” Nicky -asserted. - -“Yes,” agreed Mr. Neale. “We will hunt for a spot where there could be a -set of conditions like those we know.” - -“You mean that there must be needles of coral deep enough for a Spanish -galleon to have gone aground and broken up,” Cliff suggested. “Then two -islands with a channel deep enough between for a heavy boat to use.” - -“Right,” nodded the captain of the vessel, for that post had been given -to their older comrade. The Mystery Boys had given Mr. Neale his -initiation into the secret gestures with which they could communicate -without letting outsiders guess that they were doing so. - -“Then we will work in through the keys with the light-draft, -glass-bottomed boat we are towing,” the captain went on. “If we fail to -find islands in a formation like the Great Dipper, we can work North and -South alternately until we do.” - -“And then, the treasure!” exulted Nicky. - -“I’m not so sure,” Cliff said. “Centuries have passed since it was put -there. The map didn’t show whether the treasure was buried or not.” - -“I don’t see how it could have been,” Tom declared. “That coral is too -hard to dig in. They’d have had to blast to get a place deep enough to -bury it. I imagine they just lowered the chests into the water, maybe in -a little cove or where there was a hole deep enough to conceal the -chests.” - -“We will have to see,” Mr. Neale agreed. “First we must find our Great -Dipper.” - -They made the end of Cuba without any difficulty, rounded it and set the -tiller for the new course, sailing more slowly as they lost the direct -force of the steady breeze and had to keep rather close-hauled. They did -not use the engine, preferring not to employ it any more than was -essential. It might help them off if they ran onto a reef, and they -proposed to save their supply of gasoline for such an emergency. - -At last, under a glorious sunset, with its rose and coral, its great, -vivid bands of green and vivid gold lighting up a few fleecy clouds near -the horizon, they sighted the low, long cluster of islets. - -Not a thing had occurred during the trip to cause uneasiness. Sam had -been both courteous and respectful, without being servile. Like most -Jamaica colored people he felt himself to be the equal of the race of -lighter color, as far as education and morality could be compared. In -the matter of his color of skin he felt, with justice, that the teaching -of the Bible, and of the United States Constitution, that all men are -equal, in the sense of all being created by the same Great Creator, was -a true teaching. - -Being sensible boys, Nicky, Tom and Cliff made no distinction in the -matter of Sam’s color. As long as he preserved the same habits of -decency as they did, as long as he “acted white,” as Nicky put it, they -were too finely bred to treat him like an ignorant heathen, as so many -rather ignorant people do in their relations with men of dark, or yellow -skin. They looked at the intelligence and the inner man, and not alone -at the tint of the skin. - -Sam felt the decent attitude and responded. He never tried to be above -his station but he acted as an equal wherever his education enabled him -to do so, and accepted gracefully the superiority of Mr. Neale’s -training, Nicky’s deftness with a fish spear, Nicky’s eyes having been -quickened and trained by archery and other sports. Tom’s superior speed -as a runner had been proved on the beach before they sailed, as had -Cliff’s supremacy in wrestling. But there was no color line drawn, and -that made the cruise more pleasanter. - -“The Keys!” cried Nicky from the bow. - -They all lined up around the mast, and, just before the twilight and its -afterglow left the long reach of islets looking like ghostly shapes on -the water, they cast anchor. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - AN UNCANNY SUMMONS - - -The spot where the _Treasure Belle_ came to anchor was just at the -lowermost point of the archipelago of coral islets. The solid land which -had Cape Sable for its most Southern tip had been passed and lay to -their left, while the first of the Keys was dimly visible as they looked -off in the opposite direction. - -A council was being held on the decked-over top of the stuffy cabin. Sam -was not there. He had taken the dinghy, with its glass bottom, and was -just out of earshot toward the inner bay, fishing to secure their -morning meal. - -“I have been thinking a great deal about our next course,” Mr. Neale -stated. “One reason that I anchored just here is this: It is a deep -enough channel between the mainland and the Key for us to navigate the -_Belle_ without danger of grounding or running onto a coral ‘needle.’ My -intention has been to sail along the outer side of the archipelago; but -I wonder, now, what you think of trying the inside channel, between the -mainland and the Keys.” - -“We’d miss the place where the wreck was marked, if we go the inside -way,” objected Nicky. - -“True,” admitted the captain, “but, on the on the other hand, fellows, -we would come to a point opposite where we think that should be, and -we’d work outward from the inner channel.” - -“But we’d miss the route we marked down, from memory, the way it was on -our half of the map. That took in at least two of the Dipper islands,” -Cliff reminded him. - -“Here is my reason for wanting to do something else,” Mr. Neale said -quietly. “If we go the outer way there may not be a safe anchorage in -case of a storm. You will remember that the old galleon was supposed to -have been wrecked on ‘needles’ and I can assure you that those sharp, -coral spikes are no pleasant thing to have under your hull in any sea -that lifts the sloop and drops her down hard.” - -“I know another good reason,” Tom chimed in. “We don’t suspect Sam of -having anything to do with stealing our map—because he was hit on the -head and his map was taken——” - -“So he says!” corrected Nicky. “We haven’t any proof, and he’s the only -one we can think of who would have had any reason——” - -“But we don’t actually suspect him,” Tom insisted. “He hasn’t made a -suspicions move or done a wrong thing since we started out. But what I -meant to say was: We don’t suspect him, but we do know that somebody has -the maps—both halves, probably.” - -“I see what you are driving at,” Cliff declared. “If somebody else is -after the treasure, we would be right in sight if we anchored in the -outer place; and we’d be a sort of ‘marker’ for them.” - -“That was my idea, also,” said Mr. Neale. “And if Sam did have anything -to do with the loss of our map, a change in our plans may cause him to -betray some emotion. We can’t suspect him, but we can’t exonerate him, -either.” - -“Not yet,” agreed Nicky, and Tom and Cliff shook their heads. - -“I vote for the inside channel,” Nicky added. - -“So do I!” - -“I do, too,” Cliff completed the vote. - -“Then, tomorrow, we will pilot the _Belle_ through by using the dinghy -ahead to look out for coral,” Mr. Neale said. - -“Let’s not mention it to Sam in the dark,” Nicky urged. “His face will -show his feelings better in the morning and we will surprise him.” It -was agreed to take Nicky’s way. - -“Look—over there!” Tom said under his breath; he clutched Cliff’s arm, -and pointed. They all turned. - -“Do you mean on that little Key—where the single tree is—that bluish -light!” Nicky demanded. - -“Yes! Isn’t it queer? See—Mr. Neale! It’s—it’s moving!” - -Tom’s clutch on Cliff’s arm tightened. - -On the small expanse of coral at some distance, countless years had -spread a thin upper covering of mold and dust until enough earth was -deposited to support a small, stunted palm tree. As the four looked a -strange, bluish radiance, seeming to be on the ground itself, showed the -lower part of the tree trunk in relief against its faint glow. - -The light seemed to move about within a narrow radius. - -“It can hardly be phosphorus,” stated Mr. Neale, keeping his voice low -and his words calm to prevent any growth of superstitious fear. - -“What is it, then?” whispered Tom. - -“Sam may be over there,” Nicky gave the logical explanation. But as he -spoke they heard the swish of Sam’s oar and the grate of the dinghy -coming alongside on the port side. - -“Don’t say a word,” cautioned Cliff. “See if he mentions it.” - -Sam did mention the light, and at once! - -“I don’t like that, sar,” he said to Mr. Neale, as he paid out the -dinghy line and looped it over a stern cleat of the sloop. “I tell you, -sar, I was educated not to believe in ghosts, sar, but we are right in -the place where all the pirates hid gold and laid in wait for ships. If -not the English and Spanish and French, then the Bahama buccaneers and -the ones that started up their trade from Cuba before they were wiped -out for all time.” - -“Nonsense!” said Mr. Neale, rather sharply. “Pull up that dinghy, Nicky. -Want to come along? We’ll see what it’s all about, eh?” - -“No, sar—don’t you!” exclaimed Sam. - -Tom also whispered to Nicky. The latter, rather surprised at his -formerly cool chum, who had kept his head admirably during their -adventures among the Incas, was about to make a retort that would shame -Tom, but he shut his lips, for once controlling his impulses. - -“There is nothing to fear,” declared the captain and Nicky echoed his -words stoutly, as did Cliff. Nicky and Mr. Neale rowed away. - -It was a short row to the islet, although they proceeded slowly because -of the darkness and the proximity of coral under the water. The light -disappeared before they reached the island. They could see quite plainly -in the starlight that there was nothing on the small coral Key except -the palm tree. - -“Strange,” observed Mr. Neale. - -“Maybe it was just some odd reflection of light from a star on the -coral,” Nicky said. “Only—it moved!” - -“Perhaps our imagination helped,” Mr. Neale said, and that was the -explanation he insisted upon when they returned to the _Treasure Belle_. -The others accepted it, Cliff calmly, Tom rather silently. Only Sam -objected. - -“No star, sar!” he declared. “We would still see the light—and no star -is blue. But——” - -He drew closer to the little riding light which was on the mast and -which they used as their only illumination that evening. “Back in my -island there is a story, sar, that when a treasure is in danger ghosts -appear to scare people away and when a treasure is not being guarded by -ghosts there is a light hovering over the spot where it is buried!” - -“Well, that is great!” declared Nicky eagerly. “All we have to do then -is to go there tomorrow and get the treasure!” - -Although neither Tom nor Sam fully agreed that there was nothing to -menace their personal welfare, they retired with the others. Sam curled -up, as usual, in the cockpit, and the three chums laid themselves on the -roof of the cabin, on blankets, their air pillows inflated and under -their heads. - -They did not discuss the matter of the light. It did not appear again -and Nicky and Cliff dropped off to sleep. Tom, lying awake, battling -with himself mentally, trying to make his common sense defeat his -instinctive apprehension, started and almost thrust Cliff over the low -rail with the violence of his motion. - -From somewhere about the hull of their sloop came three distinct taps! -Rap! Rap! Rap! - -“What was that?” whispered Tom. - -Mr. Neale, seated near the tiller, half dozing, answered, as Cliff and -Nicky stirred and came awake. - -“Probably drifting wood or possibly we are almost on a coral reef—or the -anchor cable may have rubbed and made the noise. There is not a -thing!——” - -“Look!” gasped Nicky—“Look! In the water! Light—bluish light, moving -away.” - -Everyone was fully awake and staring in every direction. Cliff located -Nicky’s indicating finger, followed the direction, saw a swirl of -phosphorescence in the water. - -“Maybe a shark!” he declared, “a shark came up to investigate us, -looking for food, I’ll bet!” - -“That was it!” declared Mr. Neale. “Go back to sleep.” - -“There’s the light again!” Tom quavered. Even Cliff and Nicky felt -chilling prickles run up and down their spines at Tom’s tone. Sam looked -and slumped down, hiding his face in the cockpit. - -“Hit’s—hit’s—ghos’es!” he shuddered, forgetting his educated diction in -his terror. - -“Mr. Neale, let’s go and see—” begged Nicky. - -“Let me go too?” urged Cliff, “Nicky went last time.” - -“Wait till mornin’—please, sar, wait!” pleaded Sam. “Doan’ leave us here -for the ghos’es to git us, sar!” - -“Now—right now, we go!” stated Nicky. “We’ll settle this thing once and -for all. If you aren’t strong enough to fight off a ghost, Sam, I’m -sorry for you.” - -He had the dinghy alongside. Cliff and Mr. Neale clambered in and held -the rail of the sloop until Nicky slipped into the dinghy’s bow. Tom, -knowing the small boat had its full complement of passengers, and -realizing that his own timidity had made him an enforced companion of a -terrified Negro on the sloop, strove to drive away his fear. - -“Can you whistle, sar?” urged Sam. “Dey says whistlin’ keeps off -ghos’es!” - -“Then you try, too,” ordered Tom. - -Both puckered their lips and essayed a shrill whistle. It came out each -a quavery, hissing failure that the ones in the boat, pushing away from -the sloop, peered and chuckled. - -“Get yourself a tin whistle,” laughed Cliff, and even Tom had to chuckle -at his own tremulous muscles. - -It seemed as though the dinghy was away a long time; the queer light -shone for awhile but suddenly vanished. - -After a wait there came a hail. - -“What do you think we found?” called Nicky, excitedly. - -Tom couldn’t guess. When they all assembled and the riding lantern was -hauled down to show their discovery better, Tom gasped. - -“Right where the light had been, we found this!” stated Nicky, showing a -rusted, broken and almost completely disintegrated old can, such as -vegetables are preserved in. From it he drew an old, torn slip of some -sort of thin leather or parchment. Time seemed to have eaten into it, or -else the washing of the water had rotted it. - -Nevertheless, faint, distinguishable marks were on it. - -“Why, it’s a message or something!” exclaimed Tom. - -“Dat’s what the light was for,” said Sam, his teeth chattering. “It -marked where the can was, sars.” - -“Well, it did us a good turn,” Nicky stated joyfully. “Read it, will -you, Mr. Neale?” - -Their captain put the parchment very close to the light. - -They almost held their breath, waiting in a thrill of eagerness. - -“I declare!” he cried, “it looks as old as the can—and yet—and yet—this -is a message to us!” - -“It is?” shouted Nicky. - -“Listen!” He bent closer, holding the dim lettering almost against the -lantern globe. - -“This is what it says. ‘Treasure—found—long ago. Dig under tallest of -three trees on Crocodile Key in Card Bay for more!” - -“Hooray!” Nicky exulted, “one treasure gone and another to be found!” - -“Where did it come from?” Cliff asked. “I know how we found it, but I -mean, how did it get there?” - -“Maybe it was left here for some buccaneers who knew about the other -treasure,” Tom hazarded a guess. - -“I know the answer,” Nicky cried, “this isn’t meant for us. There may -have been a treasure hidden on that key; somebody got it and either took -it where this says, or else knew of another one and left this word for -the ones who would come for the original one.” - -“But—the light!—” began Tom. - -“Well,” laughed Nicky, “if ghosts want to be as friendly as to light a -beacon, I’m their friend! Thank you, ghosties!” - -“Sh-h-h!” whispered Sam. “Please, sar—don’t!” - -“But they did us a favor,” said Nicky. “They gave us a much better -‘lead’ than the one we had. I say it again.” - -He faced the little key and cupping his hands, sent out a hail. - -“Ghosties—thank you!” - -Even Nicky was electrified in the next instant. - -From somewhere—they could not say where—came a sephulchral, gurgling -answer. - -“You—welcome!” - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - CROCODILE KEY - - -Like a jackrabbit, Sam, in two moves, dived into the cabin. His first -jump took him from the deck to the cockpit; his body hardly landed, -facing astern, before he doubled on himself, snakelike, and shot himself -through the narrow door. - -Tom was on the point of following; but his fear of his comrades’ -laughter was greater even than his dread of the unknown. Sam’s comical -appearance brought a shout of laughter from Cliff and Nicky; even Mr. -Neale was compelled to chuckle. Tom, therefore, mastered his impulse and -remained on the cabin roof. - -“Now what do you suppose that was?” Cliff wondered, after they relieved -the tension of the momentary start of instinctive terror by a good laugh -at Sam. - -“I must give it up,” answered Mr. Neale, “but I am inclined to look for -some human agency before I admit any supernatural cause.” - -“It—it didn’t sound like—anything human!” Tom said with a shiver. - -“Have you heard so many ghosts that you know what they sound like?” -asked Nicky with a chuckle. Tom shook his head. - -“I don’t feel much like investigating in the dark,” Cliff went on. - -“I don’t see what there is to investigate,” Nicky added. - -“I’ll take the dinghy in the morning and look for some evidences of -human causes,” declared Mr. Neale. “Perhaps a Seminole Indian may be -around here, fishing—or something. Or some white resident of the -mainland, with a sense of humor, is playing a joke on us.” - -“This message doesn’t seem like a joke,” Nicky defended. “It looks real -to me. See how rusted the old can is—why, it’s almost like paper—and the -parchment is awfully old.” He indicated, by the dim lantern, how frail -the edge of the sheet was by tearing it. - -“I think it’s real,” Cliff agreed. “Don’t you, Mr. Neale?” - -Their captain and mentor hesitated. - -“There are several strange points to consider by daylight,” he -commented. “If we had found it by chance I should consider it genuine; -but the light—and the ghostly voice—those make me suspicious.” - -“But—look!” argued Nicky, “it gives a definite place, and tells about a -landmark to show where to dig for treasure. Our map wasn’t even clear -about the channel or where the treasure was hidden.” - -“However,” Mr. Neale said, “it came to you in a logical way. The new one -did not. I cannot account for that bluish light but it is surely not -supernatural.” - -“I’ve heard of very old things, decomposing, giving off light,” Cliff -declared. Mr. Neale nodded and since there was really nothing to be -gained by any long argument, they finally became calm enough to lie down -again, Mr. Neale agreeing to stay awake and watch until dawn. - -Not much sleep was possible; nevertheless they all dozed some, and their -dreams were, to say the least, thrilling. - -However, as is usual with any form of terror of supernatural things, the -coming of the sunshine dispelled their timidity. True it was that the -coral showed no footprints and the water told no story of the previous -night’s incidents. They remained unexplainable. - -Sam served a breakfast of fish, with bacon and some turtle eggs he had -found the evening before, and during the meal their procedure was -discussed. - -Nicky, Cliff and Tom were for giving up their indefinite search, among a -multitude of islets, and trying for the new treasure trove, and Sam -agreed with them with the words, “Anywhere, sar—anywhere but hereabouts! -It’s bad lucky, so it is!” - -Mr. Neale, outvoted, gave in. - -“I hunted crocodiles for the Museum of Natural History one winter,” he -stated, “I did not secure a really successful specimen—all I got was a -giant turtle head, and part of the skeleton of some great snake; the -crocodiles were too shy to be caught or even shot.” - -“Don’t you mean alligators?” asked Tom, who knew some natural history. - -“No,” replied Mr. Neale. “Mostly the saurians of Florida are of the -alligator family; but in some southerly parts of the Florida bays there -are to be found certain species that are different from the alligators -and more closely allied with the crocodile species. I really believe it -would do us no harm to delay our search here for a while. There is -delightful fishing and a great deal of fun—good bathing, sponge fishing, -crawfish catching and so on—to be had. - -“Card Bay,” he went on, “is a curious slip in the parchment; it is -really Card Sound—a sheet of water about six miles by two and a half. -But possibly when this parchment was put where we found it—if it is -genuine—the names were different.” - -Up came the anchor and instead of running into Whitewater Bay to go up -the channel—if they could find one—inside the islets, they swung the -_Treasure Belle’s_ bow southward, and ran slowly down to round the land -of the nose named Cape Sable, and then beat easterly along the coast, -finding snug harbors behind keys or in some of the many small bays, to -lie to during the nights. - -The trip was fairly uneventful. - -There was one time when they thought they would not find the right -channel and almost went aground in a narrow passage between two -mangrove-covered points. Rather heavy wind made steering hard as they -rounded Southeast Cape, the lowest part of the Florida mainland, even -before that; but Sam was a good man at the tiller and they had little to -fear, being quick and alert to obey his quiet commands to haul on the -ropes, to swing the mainsail or to take an additional reef in their -canvas. - -They skirted the shore of lower Matecumbe, and stared interestedly at -Indian Key. - -“That is where the Seminole Indians killed a Doctor Perrine,” Mr. Neale -explained. “During the Seminole War that happened. His children hid in a -turtle pen. They escaped. Really, it was a miracle!” - -It was a high island of about ten acres, and in the plentiful water -around it they ran quite close to its high banks in passing. - -That evening they anchored after running between two points where the -draught was very slight and only by judging the color of the water were -they able to starboard, or port, the helm a trifle, moving slowly, to -avoid the shoal or the more dangerous coral itself. - -They anchored just before sunset and so beautifully clear was the water -that the sponges growing on the bottom were plainly visible, in the -cross light, as Tom and Nicky rowed the glass bottomed dinghy slowly -around on the smooth water. - -“Isn’t this great” exclaimed Nicky. “See those sponges! How many kinds -do you know, Tom?” - -“Well, I know them by name, but not by sight,” Tom responded. “I have -read that the marketable kinds are the yellow, the sheeps-wool, the -gras—and I think one is called the glove. But there are more kinds that -aren’t any good to sell, and they have to be recognized or else you’d -get a lot that aren’t salable. There is the loggerhead, for one, I -remember—and the potato sponge. And there are some that are spiny, and -they hurt your hands if you grab them.” - -“They don’t look like what we see in the stores,” Nicky commented. “They -are sort of the same shapes, but they are black, and Mr. Neale says they -feel like india-rubber to touch and they are smooth, with little craters -or holes in the top—look! There’s a beauty. Is that a salable one, Tom?” - -Tom peered down through the boat’s transparent bottom. - -“I’ll bet it’s a sheeps-wool one,” he declared. - -Nicky stood up and began to fling off his clothes. - -“I’m going to dive for it!” he exclaimed. Tom, fired by his enthusiasm, -and with the spirit of rivalry, began to “shuck” his clothes. It became -a race toward nakedness—with no one but their comrades to observe, they -often plunged into the limpid, translucent water in nature’s swimming -suit. Cliff, observing them from the sloop, began to emulate their hasty -disrobing. But Sam put a stop to their plan. - -“Why?” demanded Cliff, rather warmly. “We’re not afraid of sharks!” - -“No, sar,” called Sam, “but you are liable to dive crooked or if your -foot slips you may go in backwards—and a cut from that sharp coral isn’t -to be chanced, sar.” He showed Cliff a deep scar under his wooly hair, -and Cliff, alarmed, called for his comrades to desist—until daylight, at -least. They agreed reluctantly, and, looking down more carefully Nicky -confided to Tom that he was glad they had. Overlooked in their -excitement, they were able in calm study to observe a long, arrow-like -frond of coral extending upward at an angle so close to the sponge that -it must have been struck by any but a most expert diver. - -Green turtle, cooked by broiling beside a good beach fire, as the -Indians did it—a tasty meat, and equally good when made into a sort of -stew of the whole creature’s flesh, was eked out by a four pound -crawfish caught by Nicky from a veritable crawling mass of these -lobster-like shellfish in their bay. Corn-pone, or cornbread made the -southern way and baked in ashes, a process learned by Tom during a -summer camp, in the South, made a fine dinner that night and they ate -the more lustily for the realization of their narrow escape earlier in -the evening. “It doesn’t pay to leap before you look!” declared Nicky as -the chums settled down to sleep that night. - -After rather eventless days, during which they passed many bays, inlets, -keys and reefs, they sighted Key Largo, one of the most fertile of the -few larger Florida Keys, beat along its shore, ran along past Whaleback -Key, and finally slipped to the end of what the natives call Barnes’ -Sound, and through Jewfish Creek, a narrow and deceptive passage -connecting the larger sheet of water with what the natives call Little -Card Sound, although the Geodetic Survey charts give different names to -both major and minor waters. - -The opening of Jewfish Creek was deceptive because mangrove trees grew -so closely that it looked like an impassable place until Mr. Neale, who -had used it previously during his crocodile hunting expedition, took -command and piloted them through cleverly. - -“Little Card Sound!” exclaimed Nicky—with considerable eagerness. -“Now—where is Crocodile Key?” - -“I never heard of it,” Mr. Neale replied. “But——” - -“Yonder—yonder!” cried Sam, extending his arm toward a point on the -distant shoreline. “That may not be a key, sar—but there shorely are -three trees in a row!” - -“So they are!” agreed the captain, jamming over the tiller as the sloop -heeled in the breeze and swung her bow toward the trees. - -“But they are on the shore—not on a key,” objected Tom. - -“Coral may have closed a channel during the years,” Mr. Neale explained. -“Then earth covered it. That is, granting that our message is genuine.” - -“The trees prove it!” Nicky cried. “Now, all we have to do is to wait -till tomorrow and then——” - -“Dig for treasure!” cried Tom and Cliff, together. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - BLACK CAESAR’S BUCCANEERS - - -Once the anchor was dropped and the sails furled, and everything made -ship-shape for an indefinite stay, the chums lost no time in tumbling -into their dinghy and rowing the several hundred yards to shore. - -They wanted to inspect the small inlet opposite which they had anchored, -and, before the light faded, to get an idea of what sort of a place lay -beneath those three sentinels standing their silent guard over the -treasure buried so long ago. - -The mouth of the inlet was dark and gloomy when they reached it and Tom, -using the oars, let them trail in the water until the snub-nosed boat -lost way. - -“It looks pretty spooky in there,” he said. - -“Oh, pshaw!” exclaimed Nicky, “pull, Tom. There aren’t any spooks!” - -“But there are snakes—and plenty of them,” Cliff came to the rescue of -the oarsman. “Mr. Neale warned us, and it’s getting close to sunset. We -might not see them—the snakes!” - -Nicky gave in and they drifted close in to the narrow waterway. The -shore was heavily matted with a jungle of undergrowth, above which the -larger growth, some small mahogany, mangrove and other trees towered. - -“This may be just a lagoon, not an inlet. If it’s a—er—like a strait, -you know,” Nicky urged, “then’s there may be water enough on the far -side to make this a key. In that case—we’ve got the very place mentioned -in the message!” - -“We’d better wait till morning to make sure,” Cliff said, and after many -speculations as to which side of the trees the treasure lay under—the -message had not said—they rowed back to the sloop. - -“There’s another boat—I think it’s making for the _Treasure Belle_,” -said Cliff. Looking across the small distance, the others saw a rowboat -coming from around a point, making at leisurely speed for the spot they -had their bow pointed toward. - -“I wonder who they are?” Nicky speculated. - -“I guess they wonder that about us,” Tom hinted. - -They were aboard when the other small craft slipped alongside. In the -rowboat was a tall, rangy, and very thin and hawk-faced white man and a -plumb, grinning darkey of the true southern type, ready to break into a -guffaw at the slightest joke; he was quite a contrast to the Jamaican, -Sam. Although Sam had a pleasant smile, his face never broke out, as -Nicky put it, “like the sun bu’sting through a cloud,” as did that of -the darkey whom his white companion called “Pomp’” to shorten his real -name, which was Pompey. - -“Howdy, strangers,” greeted the white man as their boat grated and came -to rest at the side of the sloop. “Right pretty name your boat’s -got—_Treasure Belle_. Reckon maybe you named her that a-purpose. Reckon -maybe you come here-’bouts to make her live up to hit!” - -“Come aboard, won’t you?” Mr. Neale responded. “We’re glad to have -company and get acquainted.” The white man clambered to the cockpit and -produced a corncob pipe, filling it languidly as he lay sprawled on a -long cushion at the side of the engine. - -“I’m Nelse Carford,” he explained and introductions were exchanged. “I -got me a right nice little piece of ground up beyond the point. You-all -mus’ come to visit me. Here for the night—or on special business?” It -struck Nicky and his comrades that he eyed them all closely as he asked -the question. - -“Thank you—we would be glad to visit you soon, if we remain.” Mr. Neale -took it upon himself to be the spokesman. “We are just sailing around -among the bays and the keys, giving the boys a bit of fun—an epidemic of -‘flu’ closed their school this December.” - -“I see,” nodded Nelse, apparently better pleased than before. “I thought -it mought—” his word for “might”—“mought be you was after some treasure, -seeing what the craft is named.” - -Nicky opened his mouth, but Cliff kicked his shin gently and Nicky -subsided. But Nelse had caught his expression. - -“I reckon it mought be your aim to git some if it was right handy -though, hey?” he grinned. Pompey, in the rowboat, holding to a rail -alongside the cockpit, guffawed, “Sho’ nuff!” he chuckled. “White boys -sho’ nuff do dat!” - -“Would you blame us?” Cliff demanded with a grin. - -“’Course not,” Nelse answered. “Hits right natural. And you’re ’most -what mought be said to be in the pirates’ an’ wreckers’ haunts, too. Not -fur away to what they call Black Caesar’s Creek—they do say that old -pirate was a terror. An’ all around—just beyond, is a regular ships’ -graveyard—why you kin right near see ribs and rudder posts, an’ bits of -keel sticking up, from here. Not quite, but you near-’bout kin see ’em. -They’s just away yonder.” He gestured in the general direction of the -lower neck of Biscayne Bay and the Fowney Rocks light. - -“Tell us,” said Nicky, before Cliff could warn him again, “is that -called Crocodile Key?” He indicated the land at their bow. - -Nelse started. He almost dropped his pipe. Then he straightened. Nicky -felt eyes that were suddenly very piercing, boring at him in the -deepening twilight. - -“How come you ast that?” demanded Nelse. - -Mr. Neale took things in hand before Nicky could commit himself further. - -“Somebody told them there was such a place nearby, and I had a notion -I’d try for a croc’ if that is so,” he declared. - -Nelse sat up straight and bent forward while Pomp’ in his boat subdued a -cackle of laughter and became very serious, an expression that made his -plump face look ludicrously like a monkey’s. - -“Listen!” ordered Nelse, sharply, “for your own sakes, keep away f’om -that place yonder—’specially at nights!” - -“Why?” said Tom, his voice beginning to get weak. - -“Because!” declared Nelse, “they say that Black Caesar buried some -treasure there one time. And——” - -“All the more reason—” began Nicky. - -Nelse silenced him with a curt shake of the head. - -“And—” he took up his talk, “Black Caesar was the meanest and most -brutal pirate that ever lived! They say, if anybody comes to try to git -his treasure, him and his mates appears—ghos’s, you know! An’ woe betide -them what they puts their spell on!” - -Sam had retired, shuddering and groaning, to the cabin. Pomp’ began to -look over his shoulder. “Mas’ Nelse,” he quavered, “come on, suh—don’ -talk no moah ’bout dat! Le’s git on home—please!” - -Nelse nodded. “You see, I reckon,” he said. “Ever’body here-’bouts -believes hit.” - -“Have you ever seen the pirates—are they real or spooks?” asked Nicky. - -“Comin’ home, late, one night, bein’ becalmed in a sail boat—I see ’em. -Loading chests o’ treasure in the moonlight! Bet you I never want to see -’em no more! No, suh!” Pomp’ gasped. - -“And,” added Nelse to his servant’s tale, “next day after Pomp’ told -me—he was near-’bout scared out o’ his clo’es—I took me a rifle an’ went -onto that land ’side o’ the inlet, there—where you see that bit o’ rock -under the mangrove—an’—an’—they had been some man there, it looked like -he had been tryin’ to locate somethin’ and started to dig for -it—but—he—won’t—never—dig—no mo’!” - -The three chums shuddered in spite of themselves. - -“Hurt?” asked Mr. Neale. - -“Beyond hurtin’—” said Nelse solemnly. He refused an invitation to stay -for supper, complied with Pomp’s pleading and tumbled into his boat. - -“If I was you,” he said in farewell, “an’ had any idea o’ tryin’ for -what I reckon may be hid on that strip o’ land—I’d up sail an’ away -quick’s the wind ’ud take me!” - -“Yes, sar!” mumbled Sam in the cabin. - -“But whatever you do,” called Nelse, “if there is any spooks—doan’ try -for to bother ’em none—they’s more to them ha’nts—” his word for ghosts -“—than most folks knows, I reckon!” - -“Well, you won’t get me there,” declared Tom. - -The slow, idle evening gave them plenty of time to recount their -feelings and to argue to and fro about ghosts, spooks, ha’nts, and -buccaneers’ apparitions in particular. Sam, refusing to come forth even -to cook supper, took no part. He crouched in a corner, muttering some -charm or spell of protection taught him by Ma’am Sib, no doubt, till -Cliff called, “Oh, Sam—shut up!” - -“All that talks doesn’t scare me,” Nicky declared, “nor Sam, either, -even with his witch-charms. I’d sort of like to see——” - -That very second he had his wish! - - - - - CHAPTER X - SAM SHOWS HIS TRUE COLORS - - -On shore a queer light appeared. It was queer in more ways than one. It -was of a peculiar green, an uncanny green; it was not the light of a -lantern, shining all around; it seemed like a small window lighted up -with an uncanny glow—and it was where no window could be. The light -seemed to be moving, very slowly, when Cliff discovered it and without a -word directed his comrades’ attention toward it. - -While they stared, the light came slowly closer to the shore—and yet it -did not seem to be carried—it glided along almost imperceptibly. - -Tom, with a nervous clutch on Mr. Neale’s arm, indicated the open water -of the Sound. Across it a boat was moving, slowly, steadily, toward -them. - -Yet, although it came steadily along and they could see the men as dim, -ghostly shapes, the oars made no sound as the forms in the boat plied -them—bend! straighten!—bend! straighten! - -The light had stopped moving and seemed to hang, a queer window of -illumination, above the water on which its gleam was reflected faintly. -The boat came toward them. In its bow a figure stood—and what a figure! -In the dim star-gleam it seemed gigantic. Not a sound accompanied the -slow progress of the strange craft. - -“He’s got something in his hand!” gasped Nicky. - -The man, as the boat came to within thirty feet of the sloop, raised his -arm. - -“It’s a sword—” whispered Tom. - -“No! A cutlass!” Cliff breathed. - -The ghostly figure, its head tied up in some sort of cloth, its face a -white blur under the white head covering, made a menacing gesture, as of -one thrusting at them, with the implement in his hand. - -Then he lifted the cutlass and with it pointed away toward the passage -between the mangroves where they had come into the Sound. - -“Go away, or you will suffer!” his gestures seemed to say. - -His boat, still without a sound, like a wraith on the water, swung away -toward the light. - -Hardly breathing, the chums watched. - -“Boat, ahoy!” called Mr. Neale. - -There was no response. Like a craft of dreams the boat moved off and -they saw it progress steadily to shore. - -The light, green and gruesome, seemed to grow larger and brighter, and -it turned slightly so that it lighted up the shelving bit of sand at the -mouth of the inlet. - -Onto this small beach, with no sound that could be heard, the boat-load -of wraith-like figures debarked. - -They seemed to be all white, like ghosts, in sheets or some sort of -glimmeringly pale garments. They bent toward the boat in the glow that -made them seem like luminous, greenish shapes of evil. - -“Look!” breathed Tom, “they’re lifting a chest!” - -They were! A chest or box of treasure was being shifted to the sand. -Several others followed, still without answer to Mr. Neale’s repeated -hail. - -Sam, who had refused to leave his retreat in the stuffy cabin, began to -whimper. Through a port-hole, at their captain’s hail, he had stolen one -glance. It was enough! - -Tom, too, was demoralized; but he dared not speak; only by the shaking -of his hand on Nicky’s arm did his terror show. - -On shore there seemed to be a ghostly argument—suddenly, in the greenish -glow, knives flashed out, were lifted, were plunged into action! Yet no -sound of a fight came across the water. - -Figures dropped! Forms strove, hand in hand, knives upraised and driven -downward! - -And at one side, a little above the rest, and sharply silhouetted as a -tall form in white, stood the one who must be the leader, his cutlass -held ready, but making no move. - -And then, all but one of the contending silent figures was down! The -survivor of the battle turned and rushed toward his chief—the glow -disappeared and the silence, the darkness, closed down more eerily than -ever! - -“Where are they—what are they doing?” gasped Nicky. - -Mr. Neale was drawing in on the line that secured the dinghy. - -“I’m going to see,” he said. - -For once there were no volunteers for the investigation! - -Tom begged his chief not to go, but Mr. Neale, with a word of -encouragement, assuring them that he felt that the strange scene had -more than supernatural explanation, rowed away. - -The wait seemed interminable. They heard his oars squeal in the -rowlocks, saw the dinghy reach the shore and lose way; then there was a -silence and an absence of movement. They could not make out what Mr. -Neale was doing. - -“I wish I’d gone along, now,” Nicky said. - -“I ought to have gone, too—he might need help.” Cliff seconded his -chum’s tardy return of courage. - -But the dinghy was returning! - -“It’s queer,” Mr. Neale said when he had transferred himself to the -cockpit, “I couldn’t find a thing!” - -“Couldn’t find—no boat—nothing?” quavered Tom. - -“Not a thing!” - -There was not much sleep that night and they were all glad to see the -sky begin to turn gray, then lighter, in the East, as dawn came. - -Sam came out sullenly to prepare breakfast. Their supplies were very low -for they had laid in only a small store, to keep up their pretence of -cruising among islands where food was plentiful. At several points of -the shore they had secured yams, corn flour and other necessities, but -the meal, with a lean larder and a morose, intimidated cook, yielded -little zest or nourishment for even such good appetites as the Mystery -Boys usually possessed. - -“I’m going to suggest that you fellows go ashore,” Mr. Neale said. “I’ll -set you on the beach—and be careful about snakes! Then I’ll take the -dinghy and go around the point to see that chap we met last night. There -is more behind this than we see just now.” - -“Don’t you think?—” began Tom. - -“I think a good deal,” the captain replied, “but ghosts are the very -last explanation I will accept!” - -He put Nicky and Cliff on the bank of the inlet, noting that by daylight -the sand and undergrowth was trampled and muddied. - -“No ghosts did all this,” he said. “There is a human agency at work and -I want to find out why all this trouble was taken—to scare us.” - -He went back to the sloop, ordered Sam to pull himself together, and -took Tom aboard the dinghy. When he landed the third of the comrades Mr. -Neale, repeating his warning about snakes, bade them reconnoiter and -find all the signs they could, against his return. Then he rowed off -toward the point around which Nelse had said he had a plantation. - -“Funny Nelse didn’t come back this morning,” Cliff observed. - -“Maybe he is in the scheme—whatever it is—to scare us,” Nicky mused. -“Remember how anxious he was at first, till we said why we are here—and -then how emphatic he was about danger?” - -They did. As they looked about there were plenty of signs to show that -human agencies and not ghosts had produced the strange scene the night -before. - -Not only was the ground trampled, but on one mangrove root that bent -upward and curved into a sort of prong, they discovered a strip of cloth -that looked like part of a bed sheet. - -But there was no sign of the chests of treasure! - -“It’s a queer thing!” Nicky declared. His chums agreed. - -“Say!” exclaimed Tom suddenly, pointing toward the sloop, “what’s Sam -doing? Look—he’s hoisting the mainsail!” - -Sam was doing exactly that. - -“Ahoy—Sam!” hailed Nicky through cupped hands. - -Sam did not answer. - -“Sam! Sam!” shouted all three. They saw the colored man turn and look -toward them. Then he picked up a small megaphone that was part of the -boat’s equipment and roared at them. - -“I’m going away from here, sars! Yes, sar! Going from here!” - -“He’s been scared almost crazy!” declared Cliff, “but he can’t go -away——” - -“——And leave us—and Mr. Neale!” cried Tom. - -Nicky began kicking off his shoes. As he doffed coat and cap, his chums -followed his example. Together they plunged into the water and swam -lustily toward the _Treasure Belle_. - -It was a race against Sam’s swift movements. - -The sail was up. The anchor came in with a groan of its chain. Cliff, a -few strokes in the lead, redoubled his efforts. - -The _Treasure Belle_ began to move through the water, taking a puff of -wind in the early morning gusts. - -Nicky and Cliff desisted from their effort. Tom, desperate, seemed -fairly to race toward the stem of the moving slope—but her pace -accelerated. She stood away toward the neck through which she would -apparently head out toward Biscayne Bay and the open water. - -From the stern Sam waved a hand in farewell! - - - - - CHAPTER XI - ONE MYSTERY IS SOLVED - - -Swimming dejectedly back to their small bit of beach the chums took off -their soaked clothes and hung them in the sun to dry. - -“Well, here we are!” observed Nicky ruefully. - -“Well, here we are!” mimicked Cliff. “Don’t you like it? I thought you -were fond of mystery and adventure!” - -“Whether I am or not, I’m getting it!” Nicky admitted. “But this was -more than I bargained for.” - -“Same here,” exclaimed Tom. - -“I see,” Cliff grinned at them. “You two are—sort of—arm-chair -adventurers. You like to have the thrills without the hardships. Just -look at us!” he declared. “We couldn’t be deeper in adventure if we -tried to dig our way in! Right in the midst of treasure-land! Stranded -and deserted on the edge of an awful swamp—isn’t the Big Cypress Swamp -north of us? Surely it is! Without food! Drenched and helpless. What -more could you ask?” - -“I see what you are aiming at,” Nicky grinned back. “We must take it as -it comes and make the best of it.” - -“That’s it,” Cliff agreed. “You know we’re not so badly off. Mr. Neale -will come rowing along in the dinghy and then we’ll all crowd in and be -rescued—what a story we’ll have to tell our grandchildren.” - -They were compelled to laugh at his tone and his ludicrous words. It -made them all feel better. - -Meanwhile, Mr. Neale had reached Nelse’s place and been greeted by Pomp’ -who assured him that he was welcome to wait until Mars’ Nelse came back -with his canoe—having gone “off yonder,” Pomp’ said with a vague wave of -his hand toward the Sound. - -Waiting on the rude little dock, Mr. Neale caught sight of the _Treasure -Belle_ standing away for an opening into bigger water. - -It astonished him and rendered him helpless to act! He knew that he -could not hope to overtake her with his dinghy, and Pomp’ assured him -that there was no faster boat within reach. - -“I ’spect dat black man f’om Jamaica done got de skeer under his wool -and run off wif de white chill’un,” he observed. - -“No—he’s gone alone,” Mr. Neale stated. “I left the boys on the shore by -the inlet.” - -He leaped in to the dinghy and began to row down the shore line; it was -no time to wait for Nelse. He must see whether the boys were where he -had left them or if they had managed to return, by swimming, before Sam -got the boat under headway. - -He was forced to conclude that they were either voluntarily going with -Sam or that they were under some compulsion on the sloop. - -Certainly they were not on the shore! - -He beached the dinghy and sat in it, considering. Where were his -charges? Why had they let Sam get away if they had reached the sloop? - -As a matter of fact, the chums were having an adventure they had not -counted on. - -Hardly had they decided to wait for their chief when a thought had -struck Nicky. “If we were detectives, now,” he mused, “we could find out -what all this mystery is concealing.” - -“Well, we have nothing better to do,” Tom suggested. “Let’s try our hand -at ‘detecting!’” - -“Good idea!” Cliff agreed. “First off, that boat, last night, didn’t -come back into the Sound. And there’s signs enough that real people were -here. Where did they go? Where did they take the boat? And what did they -do with the chests?” - -“That’s easy!” Nicky declared. “They went up this little river, and they -either put the chests back in their own boat or in another one, that had -that funny light on it.” - -“But where did they go, then,” demanded Tom. - -“Up the inlet, I said,” Nicky retorted. “We can’t get through the -mangroves and the tangle of brush, but a boat—or boats—could go up as -far as that bend yonder.” - -“I wonder what’s beyond the bend,” reflected Tom. - -“Let’s see—while our clothes dry!” Nicky urged, slipping into the water. - -“No—wait!” called Cliff. “Look out for water snakes!” - -“Or—crocodiles!” added Tom. - -“I will,” laughed Nicky, turning and swimming slowly up the inlet. - -They watched him anxiously. He waved an arm reassuringly and in a -hundred easy strokes was at the point where the inlet turned out of -their sight. - -“Don’t go around there by yourself!” called Cliff. - -“It’s just the same, around the bend,” Nicky said as he trod water for -an instant. Then he swam out of their sight. - -“Nicky!” called Tom anxiously. - -There was a moment of silence, then a faint answer came. The place -seemed suddenly to be spooky and queer. - -Of a sudden there was a sharp, low cry, and then silence. - -Tom and Cliff looked at each other. - -“Nicky!” shrilled Tom. - -They strained their ears. - -There was no answer! - -With one accord, never pausing to think of personal danger, knowing that -Nicky was not the sort to play a joke, that if he failed to answer their -hail he must be in peril, they slipped into the water and used their -utmost effort to reach the bend. - -Hardly had they left the tiny beach when a Seminole Indian, with an -almost expressionless face, emerged from a clump of heavy bushes through -which he had been calmly, stolidly observing them for a half hour. - -That was why, when Mr. Neale arrived ten minutes later, no clothes hung -in the sun to furnish a clue to the presence of the boys. - -As the two chums reached the bend and could see around it they suspended -their strokes and stared! - -Nicky was not in danger at all! - -But he was evidently too stupefied by what he was regarding to have -heard their call; or, perhaps the dense growth had dulled the sound. At -any rate, they paddled hastily forward until they could climb out beside -their comrade. - -“Why didn’t you answer?” demanded Cliff, his anxiety shifting to a -natural anger at the fright Nicky had given them. - -“Oh! Golly! I guess I was too surprised to hear you!” - -Nicky lifted an arm and waved it at the scene before them. - -On the shore a light canoe of cedar, hollowed out of the virgin wood as -the Seminoles create their water craft, lay upturned. - -Beyond that there was a spot cleared in the heavy brush growth, and -there were piled cases and crates, perhaps fifty of them! - -It did not require the stenciled black letters at the visible ends of -certain cases to indicate the truth to the chums. An old ship’s lantern -of the sort used at the starboard and port sides, with a screen of green -glass over its front indicated where the previous night’s uncanny glow -had come from. But the cases themselves told more. - -“Rum runners!” gasped Nicky. - -“We ought to have guessed,” Cliff said. “Nelse is one of them. That’s -why he tried to scare us away. This is a nest of them. I suppose they -can run up from the islands—especially Cuba—get their large boat hidden -from the Government patrol on some dark night, in among the keys, and -then ferry the cases over here in smaller boats.” - -“But what good does that do them?” Tom wondered. “How do they get the -cases to market?” - -“I guess the Seminole Indians, or maybe half-breeds, work with them. It -must be the Seminoles because they know the waterways in the Big Cypress -Swamp and the Everglades, and I don’t think many white men do—they -didn’t up to recently, anyhow, according to a book on exploration I -read.” Nicky made the statement excitedly. - -“Even if we never find any treasure,” he added, “there must be a big -reward for breaking up trade like this. It’s wicked. It’s against the -law and the Constitution, and even if there wasn’t any reward we will -have to try some way to get word to the Government boats.” - -There was a slight stir in the grass and scrub behind and to the left of -them. - -When, with one accord, they turned, a Seminole Indian faced them. - -“Hello!” said Nicky, a little uneasily. - -The man made no immediate reply. Instead, he lifted an arm and beckoned, -then pointed toward a narrow trail beyond the clearing. - -Nicky looked at Cliff, and both consulted Tom with their eyes. They all -read a common intention; they would swing about and rush to the inlet -and swim back to the shore. - -The Indian divined their purpose; with a snakelike movement he stepped -to a point preventing the move. His hand touched something bright and -sinister at his belt. - -“Se-lof-ka-chop-kaw!” he said, Seminole dialect for “My knife is long!” -He partly unsheathed the weapon. - -Silently the chums took the trail, their captor following close. - -And two hundred yards away Mr. Neale sat by the shore, wondering! - - - - - CHAPTER XII - MODERN PIRATES - - -Picking up the bundles of their clothes, the Seminole herded the chums -along the trail; its limestone-coral hurt their tender, bare feet while -they had hard work to avoid the deep, searing gashes which saw grass -makes. - -They came after a few minutes to a small open glade, almost bare of -soil; here the Indian made a sharp, guttural sound. They turned. - -Gesturing to them to sit, he said “A-pok-es-chay,” or “All sit down!” -They read the gesture but not the words. However, because of their -condition they preferred to stand. After he tossed their clothes to the -ground the Indian signed for them to spread the garments to dry again -and then, turning, he walked swiftly out of sight. - -“This is a nice fix,” said Tom. “What will Mr. Neale do when he sees the -sloop gone and doesn’t find us?” - -“He will think Sam has made off with us—or that Tom has been so scared -that he helped Sam,” Nicky declared. - -As a point of truth, Mr. Neale at almost that moment gave up his waiting -vigil, and with dejected shoulders bent to the oars for a long, grilling -pull across the Sound. His purpose was to try to reach some revenue -guards or others who could help him to overtake the _Treasure Belle_. - -They were not to meet their chief again for some time! - -They dressed when their clothes were dried. The first effort they made -to retrace the way down the trail was met by the appearance of the -Seminole; he was on guard if not always visible. - -Seated, dejectedly idle, the chums waited. A brief exploration by Cliff -toward the side of the trail they had not traversed yielded no way of -escape. It ended at another water path, this one going off from what -might be a transfer and landing dock, off toward the North. - -“That’s where the Indians come with their own canoes,” Cliff told his -companions. - -“But where do they take the liquor?” Nicky wondered. “Up at the north of -the Everglades there isn’t anything much.” - -“Just the place to load trucks, I suppose,” Cliff surmised. - -The afternoon dragged. They were not fed and no offer was made by the -Seminole to converse. He seemed not to understand Nicky’s attempt to -address him in English, but shook his head, waved the youth back and -touched his belt significantly. - -Night came and still they were in their uncomfortably hard position, and -growing very hungry indeed. - -“If he means to starve us, why I’m going to make a break as soon as it -gets pitchy dark,” Nicky whispered. - -But as soon as it got pitchy dark there came a peculiar call from the -dock where Indians were supposed to arrive, and the young adventurers -soon found themselves the center of a small group of the Indians, one -about their own age, but not at all approachable. With the green-glassed -ship’s lantern to show them, their captor made an explanation in his -guttural dialect and then left the younger member of the party on watch -while, with the others, began transferring the cases from the further -end of the trail to the dock, and thence, the chums inferred, to canoes. - -Cliff tried to establish conversation with their young guard. - -“No-chit-pay-lon-es-chay!” he said. They did not comprehend that he -ordered them to lie down and sleep, and kept eagerly arguing that they -were hungry, pointing to their open mouths, in the dim light, and -rubbing their stomachs. - -“So-toke-kee-aw-mun-chee!” he said, holding out his hand, palm up. He -meant, “Give me money,” but they had none and so the negotiations were -suspended. - -Finally, when, as Nicky declared, their backbones were shaking hands -with their stomachs, a new voice was heard on the trail. - -Preceded by their earlier captor, bearing the lantern, whose queer light -he threw full in the chums’ faces, there came a squatty, burly, ape-like -white man, with a jutting jaw, sharp, mean eyes, but with a quirk of a -smile at one side of his twisted mouth. - -“Ho!” he said, in a deep rumble, “thought you cleared out this morning. -Saw the craft up anchor!” - -He made a gesture that sent the Indian away; the lantern, set down as he -left, gave the scene a weird green light. - -“Well, my lads,” began the man, “how’d you come to stay here, when the -sloop sailed?” - -Nicky told him about their colored man and his terror of the ghostly -boat the night before. - -“Ho-ho-ho!” laughed their new acquaintance. “Scared him, did it? We -aimed to scare the whole passel of you—we went to enough trouble.” - -“Why did you want to scare us?” demanded Nicky eagerly. - -The other did not answer. He seemed to be deep in thought. - -“When are you going to feed us?” demanded Tom, more practically. Fearful -though he might be in face of the unknown, he was no coward when face to -face with a situation he could understand. And hunger was such a -situation. - -“No eats! Hum—well—” The man rubbed a stubby, brownish beard, -reflectively. “We can’t starve you—we aimed to drive you away, but that -didn’t work—still, no use to starve you till we know all we want to——” - -He made a sign, as if he had decided on his course. - -“Go ahead, back down the trail,” he ordered. Nicky, Tom and Cliff lost -no time in complying. - -Following, with the light, he directed them to the inlet where most of -the cases were now being carried away. He spoke rapidly to the Seminole -who seemed to be the leader of the Indian faction, gave him some coins, -and then ordered the three chums into his boat—the same one, for all -they knew, which they had seen the night before. - -“Now I see how they got away after scaring us,” whispered Tom as the -crew of four stoutly-built white men used their oars as paddles, working -the boat further along the inlet until they came to a point where they -made still another turn and went down another narrow stream toward the -Sound. - -“Just ‘ring-around-a-rosy,’” Cliff declared. “That makes the spot those -three trees are on an island—a key—after all!” - -“But we’ll get no chance at any treasure, there,” said Nicky dejectedly. - -Apparently the nearest of the crew thought this was important enough to -call to the attention of his captain. He turned and repeated Nicky’s -words, with a guffaw. - -“Treasure, hey?” cried the bearded white man. “Who told you there was -treasure there?” - -“Why—” Nicky stammered, hesitated, then decided that it could make no -difference anyway whether he told it all or not—with Mr. Neale -unaccounted for, with Sam and his sloop gone, with their own selves -captive, what chance had they for treasure? They’d be lucky, he thought, -to be set ashore, marooned like old-time sailors—and spared a worse -fate! - -He told of finding the old can on the islet. - -“Hum-m-m!” mused the man, clearing his throat. “Maybe you won’t find a -treasure—but, anyhow, you’ll get a square meal—then, we’ll see!” - -“Where are you taking us?” demanded Nicky, once more brave. - -“Why, to our floating palace. Maybe—who knows—maybe it’ll turn out to be -a treasure hunt, after all. In that case the boys’ll welcome it for a -change from hi-jacking!” - -“Hi—hi—” Cliff gasped. - -“Hi—jacking, he said,” Tom explained. - -“I know it,” Cliff shivered, “and that makes it worse.” - -“Worse than being in the hands of rum-runners?” - -“Worse! I’d say so! Hi-jackers are pirates if ever anybody was. The -rum-runners bring contraband, and illegal liquor, into the States -against the law. But the hi-jackers are men who hold up their boats and -trucks and steal from them.” - -“I hadn’t heard about them,” said Nicky. - -“Well,” said Cliff under his breath as their boat scudded over the -waters of the Sound toward a small island near the upper end, “well, it -would be bad enough to be caught by people who break the law; but the -ones who prey on them are about the roughest and toughest people in the -world. They are modern pirates and no mistake!” - -“Well,” said Nicky, shrugging his shoulders, “we’ll get through somehow, -and anyway—we eat!” - -Behind the island they found a trim, beautifully built, low, rakish -craft. She was a power boat, about sixty feet long—a little more, -perhaps. She lay low in the water and was of such a dull color that she -could scarcely be seen in the dark. - -They touched her side at a hanging ladder. - -“Up you go!” said the man, under his breath. Then, to someone at the -rail, “Here’s three young recroots, Don Ortiga!” - -“Don—” Nicky gulped. “What’s the matter?” whispered Tom. - -“Ortiga—” Nicky returned, “that’s the name of the man who owned that -other speed boat, back in Jamaica! Now—I wonder——” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - THE MYSTERY BOYS DECIDE - - -“What do you wonder?” asked Tom, when the chums were herded into the -small forecastle in the bow, vacant at the moment. - -“The man who owned that boat, back in Jamaica—the _El Libertad_—was -named Senor Ortiga,” Nicky answered. “I wonder if this one is the same -fellow.” - -“But this isn’t the _Libertad_,” Tom objected. “It’s a bigger boat and -it isn’t white.” - -“And that fellow called this man ‘Don’ and not ‘Senor,’” Cliff added. -“They may be relatives. Mr. Neale saw the man in Jamaica—he would know. -I wonder where he is!” - -As he expressed this wondering about their chief, the latter was holding -a conference with a Government Revenue Officer in the tiny cabin of a -very swift little revenue cutter which was cruising among the reefs and -keys, in search of the very hi-jackers and rum-runners among whom the -chums were quartered. - -The revenue cutter was on patrol duty, but so far its quarry had, by -virtue of a system of signals from allies on shore, eluded capture; with -its gray hull, its absence of lights, its quiet and speedy engines, the -light-draught craft had been able to slip into hiding while its cargo -was transferred to shore, whence the Indians in the extensive gang would -convey it in their canoes to a northern point in Florida where trucks -could receive the cases of illicit liquor. - -“I wish there was some way for us to capture these fellows,” said Tom. -Now that he knew that there was nothing ghostly or unnatural about the -band, he was his usual, cool, calm self. Nicky and Cliff echoed his -wish, in low tones. But they had no time for speculation or planning. -The ape-like man appeared in the forecastle companionway and beckoned -abruptly. - -They followed him along a narrow deck to the dark cabin and went in. -After passing through heavy sacking, double-thick, which served to block -the passage of the least rays of light to the outer world, they found -themselves in a long, quite roomy cabin, with a small electric dome -light giving enough light to show the heavy black curtains tightly -fastened over the circular ports, or windows. Well furnished with -several easy chairs of rattan, with bunks that folded into the woodwork -of the side walls and left a cushioned seat for use when they were not -open, and with a veritable arsenal of automatic revolvers, rifles and -knives of many shapes on the shelves of a cupboard at one end, the cabin -looked both comfortable and dangerous. - -A tall, slender man was replacing some weapon in the cupboard. - -He turned as the chums entered; their guide stood blocking the doorway -behind them. - -The occupant of the cabin was of a Spanish type, with dark skin and -sharp, black eyes, as black as his smoothly brushed hair. His movements -were abrupt and nervous and his voice, when he spoke was curt and rather -high in pitch, though kept at a low level of volume. - -“Sit!” said the tall man, motioning toward the wall benches; the chums -obeyed while the tall one dropped into a rattan chair and regarded them -steadily. - -“You came here to get buried treasure,” said the man in the chair. “Who -told you there was treasure here?” - -Nicky became the spokesman and related the story; he told how they had -been cruising toward the Ten Thousand Island Archipelago. - -“For why?” demanded their inquisitor sharply. - -Nicky was about to open his lips; his eye caught a gesture of Tom’s. -While leaning forward, chin on hand, elbow on knee, as if listening -alertly, Tom was scratching his left ear absently. Cliff was folding his -arms. - -It was the secret sign-manual of their order—the Mystery Boys—by which -Tom signified a call for a communication by gesture and Cliff, by -folding his arms, indicated his agreement. Nicky folded his arms at the -same instant, and then saw Tom grasp his coat lapel in his left hand. - -That sign meant the third section of their secret oath—“Telling all, I -tell nothing!” - -Nicky clasped his hands on his knees, a sign that he agreed. - -It all took place without apparent meaning and in a very brief time so -that, although he made a sign of impatience, the tall man and his -companion, leaning against the wall by the companionway, seemed to -discern no hidden meaning in Nicky’s delayed answer. - -“Come! Answer! Why were you among the islands?” - -“I was trying to figure out why we were there,” Nicky replied, a candid -look on his face. “You see, we had the ‘flu’ back at our school and we -went to Jamaica to join this boy’s father—” he made a gesture toward -Cliff and continued. “A young fellow was helping Cliff’s father collect -old relics of the Indians and he brought us up to those islands in a -sloop with a colored pilot—just for a lark on our part. I think he meant -to get a canoe and maybe take us with him up the Harney River to the -edge of the Everglades—or into them, to collect some things from the -Seminoles.” - -That was a part of Mr. Neale’s plan, if they did not find the treasure, -or, perhaps, even if they did; so Nicky told the truth, though not all -of it. Cliff unclasped his hands as if signifying that Nicky had done -well. - -“Si—yes, that is reasonable,” commented the tall man. “What then?” - -Tom made no gesture, which Nicky correctly judged to mean that as long -as he had told the man by the companionway about the can and the -parchment he might as well repeat the story. - -He did. - -“Does that agree, Tew, with what they told you?” - -At the name, Tew, Nicky started a little. In the early days of piracy, -as his studies had told him, one of the most notorious of the old sea -barons, Thomas Tew, had made piratical history; could this man be a -descendant? Could he be filled with the same daring and ferocity? - -“It agrees, cap’n,” responded Tew. Don Ortiga leaned back, tapping the -arm of his chair nervously while he thought. - -The chums sat in silence, their three pairs of arms folded in sign that -they were still in secret communion and waiting. After a long silence -during which he considered them shrewdly, the Spaniard spoke. - -“I do not believe it! Do you, Tew?” - -“Sounds ‘fishy’ to me,” answered the apelike fellow. “First of all, them -three trees on that little key ain’t more’n fifty years old. And my -folks, and Nelse’s folks, has lived about these waters for more time’n -that and there ain’t been no treasure buried that I ever heard of—not in -the last fifty years!” - -“So! Again, Tew,” the Don ignored his young captives in the intentness -of some point he was trying to make, “again, a tin can would have rusted -away and crumbled, or sank into the soil. You know that most of those -islets are not really built up from the coral foundation. They are -mostly thickly matted vegetation, roots and so on, with a thin covering -of soil; if you stamp hard on many of them you can shake them.” - -“I know that,” agreed Tew. “Besides, from what these fellows claim, -there was a funny light and something knocked on their boat—if you was -to ask my opinion, cap’n, I’d say I think these lubbers is makin’ it up -out o’ the whole cloth!” - -“We are not!” defended Nicky sharply. - -Don Ortiga regarded him steadily for a while, then nodded. - -“What was the message on the paper?” he asked suddenly. - -There was no help for it. All three chums realized that. If Nicky -hesitated their captors would be certain that he was inventing a -message. Then there was no telling what might happen to them! The men -who had them as captives were hi-jackers, the lowest form of seafaring -marauders. One of them had a name indicating descent from the old pirate -stock. The truth—and the truth quickly—seemed to be the only course open -to Nicky. - -His glance toward his friends showed them with both hands in coat -pockets—“Tell the truth!” that meant. - -“This is the message,” Nicky declared without delay, all that swift -querying and decision having occupied only the time it took for him to -understand the question, a split second. - -“This is the message,” he declared, “‘Treasure found long ago. Dig under -tallest of three trees on Crocodile Key for more.’” - -Tew rushed close to his captain. - -“Crocodile Key!” he almost shouted; then he lowered his voice. “Nobody -knew that name but us—” he stopped, his face working with what the chums -took to be anger and surprise. - -“Yes—yes—somebody did!” he gasped. “Cap’n—your brother——” - -Nicky exchanged glances with his comrades. In their eyes he read the -same thought that was in his mind. They had given these men some clue -that proved to them that the message was a false lead and—more—had told -them who prepared it! Don Ortiga had a brother. That must be the Senor -Ortiga—or might be, Nicky thought. If the message was a false lead, then -it had been deliberately placed where they found it, to mislead them. -Yes, and not only that, but deliberate methods of making it seem -supernaturally discovered had been used—the light and the raps on the -hull of their sloop! - -“Yes,” Don Ortiga was saying, “my brother—Rodriguez—these boys say they -were in Jamaica—that is where he gets the rum he brings to the keys in -_El Libertad_.” - -The whole mystery was beginning to become as clear to the chums as it -seemed to their captors. - -“These fellows say they left Jamaica to go to the archipelago,” Tew took -up the reasoning. “For pleasure? For relics? My eye! No! They knowed -somewhat about a treasure—and so did your brother.” - -“But he didn’t—” Nicky cried incautiously in his excitement, and then -stopped, too late. - -“There was a treasure!” Tew exulted, and his eyes took on a bright -avaricious glitter. “Cap’n, these boys know somewhat about a treasure on -them islands. Recall? Ships has been wrecked there—in the old days there -was a story about a Spanish——” - -“I know,” broke in the Don, bending forward, making jerky, excited -movements of his fingers and with snapping eyes. “A ship laden with gold -bars! It was never discovered—the gold! The ship broke up, and parts of -it were picked up in the Gulf of Mexico.” - -In spite of themselves, at this verification of the old map and message -of Captain Kidd, the chums took fire from their companions. - -“Senor Ortiga must have knowed about it—or learned that these lads did,” -Tew went on, never questioning the chums, taking it for granted that his -logic was sound. “He must of saw them sail in a slow sloop—he had a fast -cruiser. He beat them to the islands and took a chance he could send -them somewhere else while he searched. He picked our place—But why? -They’d discover us. He’d know that!” - -Don Ortiga sprang from his chair; his hands were clenched, his eyes -sparkled with an angry light. - -“He sent them here because he has a grudge for us ever since we bought a -faster boat and a bigger one and took his trade away from him!” he cried -in a fury, but remembering to keep his tones fairly low. - -“Well,” began Tew, after a moment, “here’s how I tote it up! We can get -more out of a chest of treasure than we can from a hold full of rum, and -with no fightin’. These lads must know where the gold is—we don’t! So we -can use them! At the same time we can get revenge on your brother for -sendin’ them where they might of found out about our racket and told the -revenue men——” - -The chums saw what was coming; their arms were folded again and they -were waiting, trembling a little with the excitement. What decision must -they make? What decision could they make? Was there any way out? They -could see none! - -“Put it up to ’em!” urged Tew. “Will you ‘throw in’ with us, takin’ a -small share, or will we put them in the hold till we get what they -know—we have ways!” he added with a meaning glare, “and when we get the -treasure we’ll—well, whatever you decide, Cap’n—I know you can think up -some pretty interestin’ ways to get rid of folks we don’t need——” - -Nicky made a gesture; his right hand rubbed his nose, from his eye to -his lips, as if removing a smudge; Cliff and Tom answered his sign, -“Shall we say ‘yes’?” by nodding. - -“What’s your say?” demanded Ortiga. “Tell all or——” - -Nicky stood up. - -“Share-and-share-alike!” he demanded with a defiant effort that seemed -to please Tew. Don Ortiga nodded, “Share-and-share!” - -“Deal out our cutlasses an’ bandanas,” said Nicky with affected -ferocity. “We’re with you till the last man walks the plank!” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - THE CHASE - - -Although Nicky had put a brave face on a bad situation, all three chums -realized how grave was their danger. Their word had been accepted -without question and they were given the freedom of the ship, after its -crew had been summoned to the cabin and a vote taken. Only one member, -the engineer, put in a word of dissent to Don Ortiga’s suggestion that -they start at once for the archipelago. - -“There’s that revenue cutter,” he reminded his mates. - -“Her!” said Tew, sneeringly. “Ain’t we got plenty of ways to show her -our heels?” - -Nicky and his fellows wondered what these ways might be. They were to -discover at least one of them. - -They were given a plentiful meal in the cabin; the hi-jackers fared -well, evidently, for the meal comprised fresh eggs, four apiece, fresh -milk, since none of them cared much for coffee, white bread, corn pone -as a second choice, and rice pudding. - -The cook was an affable, smiling colored man from Miami, the flourishing -tourist resort in Florida, who found his share of illicit gain more -alluring than the wages of an honest chef in a hotel. - -Besides the cook and Don Ortiga and his first mate, Tew, there were four -deck hands who also rowed the boat with muffled oars and padded -oarlocks, and who helped to load and unload what they carried; also -there was the engineer and Nelse. The latter, they found out later, was -only aboard for a certain purpose, not one of the crew. - -While they noted the precision machinery for driving the boat, and saw -the novel way in which the exhaust was deadened by being run through a -large pipe through a sheathed channel in the hull, into a specially -devised muffler which completely broke up the explosive force of the -spent gases and silenced their noise, the chums marveled at the pains -that had been taken to make a once innocent pleasure yacht into a craft -suited for breaking its country’s laws. - -Nicky reiterated his wish that they could do something to bring the -lawbreakers to justice, but Tom, again cautious, urged him not even to -think of it just then. - -Mr. Neale, their chief in the beginning of the expedition, had -overhauled Sam’s sloop with the aid of the revenue cutter’s men, had -learned Sam’s side of the story, found Sam contrite but afraid to -return, had discovered that the United States men could take no action -against the Jamaican, and let Sam go his way rejoicing. The revenue -cutter then returned toward the keys in order to land Mr. Neale at a -base from which he could carry on his search for the missing boys. - -But the cutter did not get there that night. - -Nicky, Tom and Cliff stood on the foredeck of the hi-jackers’ ship as -the anchor was quietly drawn up and the engines began turning over, -their twin-four cylinders thudding with little outward noise. - -“Here we go!” Nicky whispered. “Off on our first piratical cruise.” - -“Off to be shot,” Cliff corrected, “if that revenue cutter they spoke -about ever see us.” - -“They wouldn’t shoot us,” Nicky protested. - -“They wouldn’t mean to,” Tom agreed. “But they will chase—and this boat -will run. That means a shot across the bows and more if we don’t ‘heave -to’—which this crew won’t do if they can see a chance to escape.” - -“What are they ‘advertising’ for, then?” demanded Cliff. His comrades -stared at him; for answer to their unspoken question he pointed upward. - -Looking toward the tip of the short spar that served for a signal mast -and for the radio aerial for the small receiving set with which the -cabin was equipped, capable of tuning-in short wave stations and the -Navy broadcasts of weather, signals, and so forth, they all saw a small -electric bulb glowing finely into the dark night. - -“Well—I’ll be—switched!” gasped Tom. “Now why should they show a light?” - -“It’s the law—” began Nicky, but he stopped, realizing that these men, -all of whom were silent but fierce-looking, obeyed no law as to lights -or other rules of the seaways. - -The lookout just forward of their group was staring toward the horizon -as they nosed gently forward out of a small strait between a key and a -section of the bay shore. He turned and made some sort of signal with a -tiny, blinking flashlight in his cupped hands. - -Instantly the wheel went hard over, the vessel swung in a long curve and -began to straighten her wake as speed increased on a straightaway run -down the shore. - -“I see her,” Nicky whispered, directing his chum’s gaze. “There’s a boat -and she’s heading for us.” - -Far off across the water there came a dull report. At the same instant -Nelse came on deck, gazed for a moment, said “Couldn’t be better!” to -Don Ortiga, and walked aft rapidly, while the captain stood watching -him. Nicky left the group, took the other side of the cabin and slipped -along the deck. To his amazement Nelse was dropping into a small boat -that was towing. A deckhand pushed a long, slim pole, with something at -its tip, into the small boat. - -Nelse lifted the pole which looked like a rather long fishing pole, and -seemed to be stepping its butt in a place in his forward thwart. - -Forward Tom and Cliff watched with straining eyes, as did the Don. -Another vivid, but distant flash was followed by a dull report and there -came a faint “plash-thunk!” in the water far ahead. - -At the same moment a sailor loped forward. - -“All clear, sir,” he muttered. - -Don Ortiga turned, lifted a hand. Tom, his eye cocked aloft, saw that -their masthead light disappeared instantly. He turned to see if Cliff -had noticed it, and then saw what Nicky, at the stern, had already -guessed. - -Nelse’s boat was a decoy. His stout pole once firmly stepped his ty-line -was dropped off the cruiser’s stem, and as the masthead light winked out -he, in some fashion—it was too dark for Nicky to see how—completed an -electrical circuit to a small, similar light on his pole, so that, if -the cutter missed the light for an instant she would pick it up again -and yet it would be the decoy and not the real ship she would thereafter -pursue. - -“But what will happen to Nelse?” Nicky wondered when he rejoined his -friends and gave them his information. - -“He will row into some little inlet, unship his pole, maybe pull his -boat up on shore and hide.” - -Don Ortiga furnished the information. - -“But haven’t they seen us?” demanded Nicky. - -“We are low and gray and hard to see. It remains to be learned,” the -captain replied. He watched for an interval while their boat with only -her propeller thrash to carry a message of her direction, held on -swiftly. - -The ruse had failed. They could see the cutter holding a course -slantwise to their own! They must have been seen in spite of the -camouflaging color. - -Tew was with Ortiga. - -“There’s a chance—in the channel to port!” he grunted. - -“Take it!” - -Then began the most breathless and thrilling half hour or more that the -chums had ever been through. - -Swinging sharply on her heel, so to speak, their lithe greyhound doubled -back into a narrow lip between two clumps of cocoanut or mangrove, it -was too dark to see which they were; it seemed as though she were -running smash into the land but there was a way that opened thinly -before her scudding bow. - -Once the keel groaned and rasped on coral, and once a bough was snapped -on a tree leaning far over the water by the short mast. - -Then they were in open water. Would the cutter know where they went? -Would she follow? - -They squared away and ran, full speed, down the Sound, and with keel -almost aground, shoved—literally grated their way—over a bar and into -the outer waters again. - -And the cutter had not followed! - -She had done better! Anticipating some such double-back among the -waterways, she had eased her way and lay beyond the reef. With a word of -muttered anger, the captain rushed for the pilot house in the forward -end of the cabin. - -The small cannon on the revenue cutter spoke with its sharp bark but the -phantom cruiser did not heave to. Instead her engines fairly shook her -hull in their race for freedom. - -Fast as she was the revenue cutter was not fast enough to overtake the -other. Her gun spoke, but at a distant range and on a bad target—the -tail of a flying ship without lights is no easy thing to hit in the -dark! - -The cutter dropped back slowly and then, sure that they were no longer -in sight of her watchful crew, the hi-jackers flung their tiller hard -a-starboard, heeled with the swerve and their speed, heard the grate of -coral on one side, and—were again in a hidden cove! - - - - - CHAPTER XV - DISASTER! - - -Clearly the churns saw that, although the hi-jackers had escaped for a -time, they were really trapped. The _Senorita_, their cruiser, if she -lay where she was until dawn, must be discovered. - -Within the Sound, reached with such daring and risk, there was no -safety, now that Uncle Sam’s watchdog had their scent, so to speak. - -But, with the perversity which Nature seems sometimes to show, the -elements played a card in favor of the evil-doers. Heavy rain squalls -came up, and the wind blew the water in sheets that made a perfect -screen for a slipping, silent gray shape. - -Captain Ortiga took quick advantage of his fortune. The gray _Senorita_ -nosed out into Little Card Sound, crossed its end, skirting the shore, -and, again at the outlet, nosed quietly, slowly out toward freedom. In -the downpour it was unlikely that they could be sighted and the -propeller thrash would be deadened by the wind and waves. - -“I have a scheme,” whispered Nicky, as the chums stood at the bow, -straining their eyes hopefully into the downpour, themselves heedless of -the rain that stung their faces. Tew, with surprising kindliness, had -loaned them oil-skins from the “slop chest” or supply reserve. - -“What is your plan?” queried Tom, lips close to Nicky’s ear. - -Three heads drew together. - -“I was in the little steerman’s cubby at the front of the cabin, just -now,” Nicky said. “I saw the place where the electric buttons are set. -They control the electric lights.” - -“I see what you mean,” Cliff broke in. “You want to get in there and -work the electric lights.” - -“Yes. Then the cutter will see us.” - -Tom raised an objection. “If she chases us again,” he declared, “she -will fire until she hits us.” - -“That’s right,” Cliff agreed. “This time she won’t give up until she -captures—or sinks us!” - -“It’s a risk, I know,” Nicky admitted. “She won’t know we are on board -and she will have a right to sink these fellows. But it would be one way -to help to capture——” - -Tom spoke practically. - -“What good will it do us to have this boat sunk?” he asked. “In this -rough water we wouldn’t have a chance to be picked up, maybe.” - -“I guess it is too dangerous,” Nicky admitted. - -“Better wait,” Cliff suggested. “We will get our chance. The right must -win or there wouldn’t be any justice in the world!” - -They watched eagerly for any sign of the cutter but Captain Ortiga stood -well out from land before he swung west. The chums saw that the chances -for the cutter to discover them were remote and went back into the cabin -where they were assigned to berths. - -But if the weather had seemed to aid the wrong side, there was another -card to be played and it came as a surprise. - -Instead of lying-to, close to land, the cutter had stood out to the -deeper channels also! - -There came a warning call from the man on watch on top of the cabin, -echoed by the one at the bows. “Hard a-port!” was the call, “something -ahead!” - -The boys dashed again to the deck. - -They quickly discerned the dim shape toward which the _Senorita_ had -been directly advancing. - -Had they, too, been sighted? - -The _Senorita_ swerved from her course, and made almost a right angle to -her former course, though, of course, on a wide curve! - -That swung them in toward land, again, for it was the safer way. Then, -on a quartering line, partly on the true path and partly drawing toward -land, they held steadily on. - -There came across the water a vivid flash, but the wind swept away the -cutter’s voice as her cannon spoke. - -“Full speed ahead!” was the order to the engineer. - -The _Senorita_ trembled and strove, and behind her the cutter, her -headway increasing, again took up the chase. - -“But she’s behind us now, and she may have to turn around—I couldn’t see -which was her bow, she was so far away,” Cliff said. - -“I’m half afraid we’ll show her our heels,” Tom whispered. “And I’m half -glad. If we can get to an island or close enough to swim to one, they -can sink her and welcome!” - -Nicky agreed. - -From the stem they watched the chase. Several shots were fired at them, -but they could guess, by the diminishing light of each succeeding flash, -that they were drawing away from the cutter. - -“But she won’t give up,” Nicky proclaimed. “She will hang on like a -bulldog.” - -“I wonder why Don Ortiga doesn’t give up the run for the archipelago and -stand out to sea?” Tom said. - -Captain Ortiga had a different plan. He knew that the Government boat -would never give up, and he wished to use that very point for his own -advantage. He planned to make the other boat very sure that he would -continue along the Cape Sable coastline. He wished them to follow. - -Therefore, to the chums’ amazement, he caused the mast light to be -switched on, and even reduced their speed a little, so that the cutter -would pursue, but would be just out of dangerous range. - -“Why is he doing this?” Nicky wondered. “Let’s find out! We’re part of -his crew, aren’t we? He ought to tell us.” - -Cliff laughed at Nicky’s assumption that they were real hi-jackers, but -the trio trooped into the cabin. They found Mate Tew there, going over -some of the weapons in the arsenal. - -“Well, my hearties!” Tew explained, “it’s this way. Don Ortiga’s got a -grudge ag’inst them Government snoopers! He hates ’em!” - -Don Ortiga, Nicky mused, seemed to have a grudge against almost -everybody—the government men, his brother—who else? - -“He’s going to lure them where he can—do—what he plans—” He did not make -the plan clear but the chums felt that it was a very serious danger into -which their countrymen, pursuing their duty, were being led. - -“We’ll run up along them islands,” Tew went on, “to the mouth o’ the -Shark River. O’ course it ain’t rightly the mouth o’ the river, out -there in them islands—it’s just a channel through ’em opposite the -Shark—that’s about fifteen miles back, at the mainland edge.” - -“What good will that do?” Nicky inquired earnestly. - -“Well, we’ll have the _Senorita_ well in the mouth o’ the river, come -dawn! Then we lands, see? Then we waits. O’ course they’ll run up along -the islands and if they miss us, well an’ good—but if they turn and come -into the inner channel and spot us, they’ll put a crew onto the deserted -_Senorita_, and keep some on their cutter—and then—we’ll spring a little -surprise!” - -There was little sleep for the excited chums during that night. It was -quiet enough, and uneventful; but they were so excited and “worked up” -that they could not stop discussing the situation long enough to fall -asleep. - -They made good progress and when the sound of running feet and low -orders came, they all rose from their bunks and ran on deck. - -“You’re sure you know the channel?” Tew was asking, as they came up to -him and Captain Ortiga. - -“Yes,” replied the latter, shortly. “You stand by to pass the word -quickly to the man at the wheel.” - -The first faint dawn light was visible in the East. Ahead were dim -blotches on the water; to the right lay many other gloomy shapes. There -seemed to be a wider space off the bow at one point. The order was -given, the vessel swung her course toward the break and, still at good -speed, bore on. - -The dim islets closed in on each side. - -“Starboard a point,” called the captain from the bows, his eyes probing -the dark, just faintly glimmering water, “starboard a point!” - -“Starboard a point!” relayed Tew. - -“Starboard a point it is!” the helmsman, at his little wheel, drew down -the spokes to the side. - -“Port—port two points!” - -“Port—two points!” - -“Port two it is!” - -“Hard a-port! Hard a-port—quick!” - -“Hard a-port—quick!” - -There came a shout of dismay, a call from the pilot. - -“Tiller rope’s broken!” - -“Stop the engines—hard a-starboard—hard over—reverse her!” - -There were shouts, cries, dismayed questions, a jangle of a bell. - -The whole fabric of the vessel seemed to shudder as if in the grip of an -earthquake. The engines had not been stopped and reversed in time. The -captain shouted and at the same instant there was a rasping rending -sound—a sickening sound—a tearing, grinding, splintering as the ship -tore her side on coral—and stopped, settling gently on her side! - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - CAPTAIN NICKY TAKES COMMAND - - -There was every kind of excitement on the _Senorita_! Men rushed this -way and that; they came together in excited groups, spoke quickly -together, separated. - -“The cutter’ll be on us any minute!” said a deckhand. - -“This is no place to stand ’em off!” grunted another. - -“Great captain, dat Don!” grumbled the cook. “Know de channel! Huh! Look -whah we’s at!” - -“Lower the tender!” called Tew. “We’ll get away. Grab what you can!” - -“Bettah we do dat!” agreed the cook. “Ashore we gits tuh hide; heah dey -kin shell us out-a de watah!” - -Tom gripped Nicky’s arm. “Come on!” he cried, “let’s get there so they -won’t forget and leave us!” - -“No!” urged Nicky. “Wait—come on with me!” - -“What for?” demanded Cliff. “Where are you going?” - -“Come on!” Nicky demanded of his chums. “We don’t want to go.” - -“Don’t want to go—” began Cliff. Then he followed Nicky. - -The self-appointed leader went hastily down into the forecastle. His two -comrades followed, wonderingly. - -“I don’t see—” began Cliff. - -“Look at it this way,” begged Nicky. “If we go with them we are in their -hands, aren’t we? When the cutter has come and gone, without finding -anything but the wrecked boat, these men will want to make us tell them -where the treasure is supposed to be. Then they’ll desert us!” - -“That’s good common sense,” agreed Cliff. - -“Yes, it is,” Tom nodded. - -“Let them go in the tender,” Nicky pursued his argument. “Then we can -take possession of this boat, and when the cutter comes we can signal, -and then—isn’t there some reward for claiming salvage on a boat, some -way?” - -“You’re going to get a treasure out of this adventure somehow, aren’t -you?” laughed Tom. “I never saw such a money-grabbing fellow!” - -“Whether I do—we do—or not,” Nicky defended, “we are safer here than -with those hi-jackers. If the cutter doesn’t come, we have all the food -and things—maybe the arsenal. We can stand them off and——” - -“Instead of them making us toe the mark, we can make them do it!” Cliff -cried, fired by Nicky’s eagerness. - -“That’s it!” Tom agreed. “Nicky has the right idea!” - -The tender, which was used with muffled oars according to need, had by -that time been lowered over the slanting side of the _Senorita_. - -“But suppose she sinks!” a new thought came to Cliff. - -“The channels can’t be very deep, even at the deepest, between these -islands,” Nicky asserted. “I think she has settled onto the rock now. If -she starts down we can almost jump onto that island—and we won’t be as -badly off as in the hands of hi-jackers!” - -Gathering most of their weapons and some supplies and dropping them into -the boat, the crew hurriedly rowed away on the course toward the distant -mainland and the mouth of the Shark River where they could hide for a -time. - -Tom, Cliff and Nicky assured that the ship was completely deserted -except for themselves, came on deck and from the points of vantage -watched the departure without disclosing themselves. - -The cutter, in the meantime, had pursued to the best of her speed during -most of the night, but when the _Senorita_ rounded the western end of -Cape Sable and was, for the time, out of sight of her pursuer, a man on -the cutter sighted what he took to be her lights again. - -They were not, however. A coasting schooner, of the old type, blown -somewhat off her course, had hove in sight. - -Naturally, not being aware of the true facts, and supposing that the -quarry had doubled on her course to escape them, believing that her -masthead light—which the schooner’s light, from the rear, closely -duplicated, was that of the _Senorita_, the cutter changed her course. - -By dawn she overhauled the schooner, saw her mistake and lay to, her -commander and Mr. Neale and the others completely baffled. - -Had they been pursing that schooner all the while? - -At the same time Nicky was delivering an oration, on the silent, -stricken _Senorita_. - -“Now, fellows,” he said, “we have to organize. We’re the captain, and -crew, and cook and cabin boy, all in three. Which is which? If the -cutter doesn’t come, we have to make plans. Those men will come back. -They may not be able to use this boat again but they will want to find -out what we know about the treasure before they leave—and they may do -something to us after we’ve told. We ‘signed on’ in a way as -pirates—hi-jackers.” - -“And, sure enough, we are hi-jackers!” exclaimed Cliff. “We’ve taken a -whole ship!” - -“That’s so!” said Tom. “Well, I move that the Mystery Boys nominate the -acting chief for this year of their order as Captain in this emergency.” - -“Second the motion!” cried Cliff. - -“All in favor!” grinned Nicky. “But Tom has the cooler head and you, -Cliff, know more than I do.” - -“Aye—just the same—you’re elected!” laughed Cliff. - -“I’ll volunteer to cook,” Tom offered. - -“Then I’m crew and cabin boy,” chuckled Cliff. - -“What are your orders, cap’n?” asked Tom with assumed deference, -touching his forelock in approved nautical fashion. - -“Of course we all are captain, really,” Nicky stated. “But just while -we’re in no danger, I’d say we ought to see what weapons the men left, -and where the food is and how badly broken the hull is.” - -“That’s one job for each of us,” Cliff agreed. “I’ll round up the -artillery. Tom will cook, so that leaves the captain the rightful duty -of estimating damage to his ship!” - -“Then we may try to repair her,” grinned Nicky, “and sail, and sail the -seven seas, and spread our sails to every breeze and take our captives -as we please——” - -“Only we have no sails!” Cliff reminded him. - -“Well, then, we’ll gaily man our ocean rover and swiftly turn her -engines over and if we’re chased—if we’re chased——” - -“We’ll run for cover!” suggested Tom, chuckling. - -“‘Rover’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘cover’ but let it go at that!” - -Then, with the spirit of youth and daring alert in their strange -situation, they departed for their several tasks. - -Over a plentiful breakfast, helping to make up for the fast of the long -day on the island, they compared notes. There was a long rent in the -vessel’s side, below waterline, Nicky reported, not easily to be -repaired even if they could float the ship at all. Plenty of canned food -and some fresh supplies, Tom stated. Five automatic pistols, two rifles -and a small signaling cannon was Cliff’s list of weapons. “So far, so -good,” said Nicky. “What next?” - -From a little beyond the ship came a hail. - -The chums became tense. - -“You’re captain,” his chums told Nicky. “Go and parley!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - A PARLEY AND A PLAN - - -“Ahoy, _Senorita_!” came the second hail. Nicky scrambled from his -wicker chair and started for the companion door; Tom looked at Cliff and -then, catching his eye, glanced at the arsenal. Cliff nodded. - -“I don’t know if the rifles are loaded,” Tom commented, picking one up -and breaking the breach—with a shake of his head closing it. “They -aren’t. But they may come in handy.” They carried the weapons as they -came on deck. - -Nicky had taken a position beside the little wheelhouse, watching the -tender, manned by Tew and one sailor, come around the islet close to -which their boat was careened against the coral. - -“Hello!” hailed Tew, catching sight of Nicky. “You boys got lost in the -shuffle! Thought you was overboard maybe. We’ll take you off. We are -hidin’ on a good island—we can climb the trees and be safe when the -cutter comes.” - -Cliff and Tom ranged up beside Nicky. - -“We’re not going, are we?” whispered Cliff. Nicky shook his head. - -“Stay away!” he called. “We aren’t going to leave here.” - -Cliff and Tom, rifles held in a menacing position, ranged up beside -Nicky. The sailor stopped rowing, allowing the tender to drift about -fifteen feet from the _Senorita_. Tew muttered some unpleasant word. - -“You don’t want to be there when the revenue men come,” he said. “If you -do, we don’t mean you to be!” - -He spoke to the sailor, but in face of two rifles, the man said -something under his breath and Tew nodded. - -“Look here!” Tew called, “if they get you you’ll tell where we are! That -won’t do! Come—be sensible—we’ll get you one way or another. Come -decent, and we won’t harm you—but come you will!” - -“Is that so?” exclaimed Nicky defiantly. “Well we won’t! You’d better go -away!” - -Tew and the sailor held a short conference. At Tew’s gesture the sailor -poised the oars, while Tew tugged at a weapon in his belt. Tom leaped up -onto the cabin roof, to have a better place from which to pretend to -cover the sailor, but an inspiration came to him and he acted upon that -instead. - -Pretending to glance by accident toward the larger expanse of the open -Gulf he dropped the rifle, and waved his arm, then dragged out a -handkerchief and waved that wildly. - -“Here she comes!” he shouted. “Cutter—ahoy!” - -With a common fear Tew snatched up a second pair of oars as the sailor, -with a mighty heave on one oar, began to swing his tender in a circle; -then both began to row away around the islet with all their strength, -while Nicky and Tom, seeing Cliff’s deception, and knowing that it had -succeeded because the men thought they could see from the cabin top what -was invisible on the water line, leaped up beside their comrade and -began to hail and to wave their arms. - -The tender was quickly out of their sight, and yet they kept up their -shouting, until, at a sign from Cliff, they desisted. - -“Well, that’s over—for the time!” Cliff said thankfully. - -“But we’re worse off than ever,” Tom added. “They’ll watch——” - -“No they won’t!” Nicky argued. “They’ll hide. We are not so badly off. -We can load the guns and if we have to we can shoot over their heads -when they come back after us!” - -“But they have guns, too,” objected Cliff. - -“Well,” Nicky proposed, “let’s fix the cabin so we can take refuge -there, barricade it. There’s all the food for a long siege, and we can -command the doors from those portholes.” - -Tom caught their arms, and with a swift whisper and a nod toward a -moving figure on the islet, caused them to begin to wave their hands and -to beckon, all looking out toward the Gulf. - -Tom had espied a creeping figure, low on the ground. Tew, with some -purpose in his mind, had landed on the islet and crept across to the -side nearest the stranded vessel. Cliff covered him and called softly, -“Stay where you are, Mr. Tew!” - -The figure on the ground flattened and stopped. - -“I won’t hurt you—I wa’n’t goin’ to hurt you!” he called softly. “How -clost are they?” - -“About half a mile off the coast,” Nicky answered, hoping his untruth -would be forgiven under the circumstances. - -“I just wanted to warn you—if you let them take you off, don’t say -nothing about us—and then no harm’ll come to you. But if any of us gets -nabbed—we’ll take care not all are—we’ll hunt you down if it takes all -our lives!” - -“All right!” called Tom quickly, neither agreeing nor refusing. - -Tew waited a moment, then seemed to decide that he had better not stay -there since they had discovered him and he could not watch. He crept -back out of sight at the far side of the islet, behind its small, -tangled trees and bushes, and the chums turned again to their plan. - -“One of you go down and see if the cabin doors can be fastened,” Nicky -urged. “Tom—you go! Cliff, can’t that skylight on top of the cabin be -battened down?” - -“Yes—there’s a covering—but——” - -“I know it won’t help once they get on top—but having it fastened would -make it take longer to get to us. And we’d have the light switches and -could light the mast light if they come at night.” - -Tom returned to the deck. - -“Either of you got a screw driver blade on your jackknife?” he asked. “I -closed the cabin door, but the lock sticks and when I wrenched at the -knob to open it again, the screw was loose that holds the knob to the -shackle, and it just turned in my hand and I had to screw in the threads -with my finger nail to get it to turn at all.” - -“I have one,” said Cliff, but as he produced his knife he went on, “but -I’d like to have you listen to a different plan.” - -“All right,” agreed Nicky and Tom. - -“The trouble with the cabin is that they can come at it from the after -deck, at the blank rear bulkhead back of the engines, and we can’t cover -the decks.” - -“That’s so,” Nicky conceded. - -“So I think we ought to do some other way,” Cliff urged. “And I wish -you’d tell me what you think of this: Suppose we take it for granted -that they won’t come back for at least an hour—they will scatter and -hide because they don’t know but that the cutter may be coming. In that -time we can swim over to that island with the heavy trees, after we’ve -dumped the guns into the water and flung things around to make them -think the cutter’s men have searched a little.” - -“That’s a corker!” exclaimed Nicky. “Much better than my plan. They will -think the cutter took us off and we were too scared to tell where they -were, and then they won’t come back or bother us any more.” - -“That’s my idea,” Cliff nodded. - -They lost no time carrying it out. Tossing a good deal of dunnage out of -cupboards, to simulate the result of a hurried search for liquor or -evidence, and dropping the rifles overboard where they showed on the -clear bed of coral, as they supposed the officers would do, the chums, -carefully making certain by shinning up the short mast that no boat was -within immediate range, leaped over the side. - -The deeper channel was not wide; they made for an island on the far -side, and there, wading up through the ooze covered bed-stone, they got -on fairly firm ground and selected good spots in which to lie in case of -need for hiding. - -Then, by turns, they took up a watch toward the Gulf, alternating with a -look once in a while toward the channel and the wrecked boat. - -But for some reason the hi-jackers did not return. All day the chums -watched, but without result. - -“They must have decided that we went away, or they are afraid that a -rowboat might be cruising among the islets,” Cliff said. “I wish we had -brought something to eat!” - -“I thought of it,” Tom said, “but I guessed that they would come back -before night and then leave us alone. And no cutter has shown itself. -Well—shall we swim back before dark?” - -“No,” counseled Cliff, “let’s wait. They may come back after dark.” - -Night closed down clear and with the stars very bright it was possible -to watch easily. And, about eight o’clock, Tom, on guard, whispered to -attract his comrades. They all made out the tender creeping quietly -toward the careening hulk across the channel from them. - -“If only we could get their boat—” Cliff mused. - -“Well, maybe we can!” exclaimed Nicky. “Let’s swim back closer and see -what we can see!” - -“But if they discover us—” objected Tom. - -“They aren’t looking for us, I feel sure,” Cliff said. “They won’t be -watching the water in this direction. They are getting their food and -things, it is most likely.” - -Going carefully, using a stroke that sent them through the water with -little sound, they soon came close enough to see clearly the situation. -One man sat, apparently waiting, in the tender, at the forward quarter; -the chums held their breath and let themselves sink to the lowest point -they could, till their feet touched the bottom, when they discovered -him. But, either because he was half asleep, or from confidence that -there was no one around, he sat slumped in the stern, and did not appear -to notice anything unusual. - -Treading water, catching finally the low rail where it almost dipped -into the limpid water, at the shore side of the listing boat, Nicky, -Cliff and Tom drew close together. - -There was no one on deck. From the cabin came sounds of voices. - -“I’m going to see—” whispered Cliff, and he began to climb up cautiously -onto the deck. Nicky and Tom followed his example, but remained at the -rail as he made a peremptory gesture to them to “stay back!” - -Cliff crept closer to the cabin and when no one appeared and his courage -rose, he became bolder and slipped on his wet feet to the cabin doorway. -He listened a moment and then crept back to his chums and whispered -rapidly. - -Taking Cliff’s screwdriver-bladed knife, Tom went to the rearward door, -into the engine room, and with the knife removed the screw from its -knob, leaving the inner side of the door with no means of opening it. -Then he “stood by,” watching, listening. - -In the bows, hiding his face, using as gruff an imitation of Tew’s voice -as he could, Cliff hailed the man in the boat in a low tone. “Come into -the cabin, you,” he said. Then he hurried away. - -Presently those in the cabin—Don Ortiga, Tew, their sailors and the -cook, were surprised to see the boatman appear in their midst. - -Before they could question him or get his inquiry as to what they -wanted, the door behind him slammed as did the engine room door. - -There was confusion, then oaths, then excited stamping; of course the -time it took them to discover that they were trapped was not long; nor -did it take overlong to get the knob back onto the door after an excited -hand wrenched it away. But the time was enough. - -When the infuriated members of the hi-jacker band finally raced up the -deck toward their tender, they found the dipped end of a rope as a -memento. - -The Mystery Boys, well away and out of sight around the island, were -rowing the captured tender with all their strength. - -“We can’t——claim salvage!” panted Nicky. “But we are out of the grip of -those men—and we have a boat—we’re free men again!” - -“And there’s a light—a boat or something, up the coast,” cried Tom. -“Nicky, pull hard on your port oar—you too, Cliff.” - -“Right-o!” they answered with a will, pulling the tender on a swinging -curve. “We’ll pull for it. It may be the cutter!” - -It was stationary, and not very far away; but as they neared it they saw -that it was not the cutter. - -It was another cabin boat, lying, apparently, at anchor. - -Cautioning his chums not to hail until they knew whether it was a -suitable craft for their rescue, they drew slowly closer. - -From the vessel came a gruff hail. - -“I’ve got you covered!” it cried. “Two of you put your hands up, and one -pull your boat up alongside till we have a look!” - -“Out of the frying pan—” breathed Cliff! He and Tom elevated their hands -and Nicky, with reluctant strokes, drew close to the bow. Tom discerned -a name in glimmering gold against white paint. - -“Fellows,” he whimpered, “it’s that boat we saw in Jamaica!” - -It was—_El Libertad_! - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - A SURPRISE! - - -“That’s a nice way to welcome mariners!” exclaimed Cliff as they came -alongside; the colored man on deck merely grunted. - -“Pass your line!” he said. - -When they clambered onto the small aft deck they saw that their new -captor was a large, heavy, but lithe-looking negro. - -“I wanted you to go away, before,” he said, more pleasantly. “When I saw -you this time I wouldn’t take chances on letting you go!” - -“What do you mean by that?” Nicky demanded. - -“Oh!” replied the man, “it’s this way: we got the maps back in Jamaica, -and got _El Libertad_ ready. When you tried to hire her Senor Ortiga let -your chief think she was laid up waiting for machinery—but before you -were ten miles away we started for the archipelago.” - -“Then I suppose it was one of your crowd who tried to scare us with the -blue light and rapping on the sloop,” cried Nicky. - -“It was me,” he answered, not very grammatically. “I used a blue ship’s -flare we had on the boat, burned in a box so you only saw the light and -not the flame. Then I swam out under water and hit the sloop and then -coaxed you back to the island with another flare.” - -“So it was you who put the message there,” Tom exclaimed, feeling -somewhat ashamed of his terror of the past, now that a perfectly natural -explanation made it all seem so easy to understand. - -“I put it there, but Cap’n Ortiga, he planned it—with the man who got -the maps.” - -“And who was that?” demanded Nicky. - -“You’ll see,” declared the colored man. “Come this way!” - -He led them into the cabin, a much smaller one than on the _Senorita_, -since the _Libertad_ was a narrower, shorter vessel. - -Under the ceiling electric dome two men sat at a table, playing some -game of cards. The man facing them was of Spanish type, not as tall or -as excitable as his brother, but clearly related to the hi-jacker they -had just before their escape been able to imprison in his own cabin. - -He looked up and as the man whose back was toward them did so and made a -half turn on his folding seat, all three boys started and their jaws -dropped. - -“Mr. Coleson!” gasped Nicky. - -It was Mr. Coleson all right—the owner of the plantation where they had -stayed in Jamaica. - -“Hello, young fellows!” he replied briskly, swinging further around in -his chair. “So you came back!” - -They were still speechless with surprise. - -“I’m rather glad you did,” Mr. Coleson went on. “Did you find any -treasure?” He turned a grinning face to wink at Senor Ortiga who frowned -heavily at the boys. - -Nicky shook his head. “You know right well we didn’t!” he declared. “You -sent us away to have a clear field here.” - -“Nevertheless I gather that there is treasure buried in such spots,” -said Mr. Coleson. “You might have found some.” - -“We found something else, though,” said Nicky, fixing a meaning look -upon the Spaniard. - -“Liquor! Of course!” Rodriguez Ortiga agreed shortly. “How did it happen -that my beloved brother didn’t put an end to you—I rather expected that -he would!” - -Tom was caressing his left ear rather hurriedly; Nicky, lips half open, -suddenly recognized the sign of their secret call for a council, or for -silence, and folded his arms. - -Cliff took up the answer to Ortiga. - -“Your brother,” he said, meaningly, “has a better use for us!” - -Ortiga leaned back, scowling, looking sharply at the trio. - -“Just what does that mean?” he demanded. - -“You’ll see!” Cliff said. Ortiga pursued the inquiry but with Cliff the -others remained stubbornly silent. They saw that Cliff’s plan, for some -reason they did not yet grasp, was to puzzle the two men. Nicky, to get -away from the subject, turned on the estate owner. - -“How did you come to be on this boat?” he asked. - -Mr. Coleson, smiling a little, answered readily. “Quite simple. You see, -I have the maps!” - -“How’d you get them?” Tom broke in. - -“Equally simple, my lad. I was not far away when I observed your little -difficulty with the voodoo woman, and being curious, half intending to -interfere, I came closer, just beyond the heavy fringe of brush near the -cabin. From there I overheard enough of your talk with Sam to become -interested. I followed you three and since you held your supposedly -secret meeting quite close to my own windows I overheard some more.” - -The trio of chums felt sheepish. For once their mysteries had been -carelessly pursued; they had talked openly instead of by signs, as they -all recalled clearly on looking back upon that day of many excitements. - -“Knowing the island superstitions, it was easy to frighten the child—the -little negro boy—I merely held a handkerchief over my face as I crouched -by the dining room window, watching for a chance to get the map you were -discussing. My white suit accomplished the rest.” - -He had worn a light suit, as did most of the people of Jamaica, the -youths recollected. - -“I was sorry to have to strike Sam, but I saw that your part of the -chart was insufficient and so I took the balance from Sam.” - -“It’s all very easy to see, now that you explain it,” said Nicky, -ruefully recalling that they had attached some ghostly importance to -perfectly ordinary causes. Nicky also recalled that Mr. Coleson had, -himself, that night, mentioned the ghosts—for his own purpose, it now -became clear! - -“I suppose you climbed into a window after you got our map,” said Tom, -vowing mentally never to accept a single ghostly bit of evidence again -as long as he lived. - -“I did better than that,” replied Mr. Coleson, appearing to take a grim -delight in explaining how easily he had hoodwinked them. “I merely -crouched beside the white part of the house, back of the shrubbery. You -looked all about except right behind you, that time!” - -“But see here!” cut in Ortiga, “what is it that my brother has use for -you for?” - -Again the chums became silent; actually, there was no answer but they -pretended mystifying knowledge, in a way paying back the debt they owed -Mr. Coleson and the colored man for the blue light and old tin can. - -“Well, it doesn’t matter—now that we shall use you first!” - -“Use us?” cried Nicky. “Use us for what?” - -In his turn Ortiga smiled enigmatically. - -Mr. Coleson spoke. “You see, boys,” he said, “we have the maps, and we -have cruised among the islands for days—but we haven’t located the -Dipper Islands—and, of course, no treasure is found. You must have the -clue we lack. We will share with you after you help us to find the -treasure.” - -“Supposing we won’t help?” inquired Nicky defiantly. “It’s ours by -right. And, suppose we don’t even know a clue?” - -“In the first case, we will find ways to make you tell,” snapped Senor -Ortiga, with a clenching fist crumpling the hand of cards he held. “In -the latter case—we won’t believe you!” - -Nicky turned with helpless dismay to his two chums. They still had their -arms folded. - -“Say nothing!” was the sign Tom made and Nicky nodded. - -“I suppose my brother has learned from you about the treasure,” said -Ortiga, rising. “That is what he would use you for. Well—we will be just -a little ahead of him—as usual!” - -For once, as they sprawled on the cushioned side seats which had to -serve as bunks, the three comrades admitted to their own secret selves, -although not to each other, that there seemed to be no way out of this -dilemma. For once their self-reliance was a very small spark, indeed! - -“But the right always wins out somehow,” Nicky consoled himself. “If it -didn’t then the world would have been smashed up long ago!” - -Then, a little braced by his trust, he dozed. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE - - -When they awoke the three comrades found their clothes, soaked by their -swim the night before, dry enough to put on. There was very little -conversation during breakfast, but immediately after the meal Senor -Ortiga drew from his pocket the two halves of Captain Kidd’s map, laid -them on the folding table and summoned the boys to his side. - -There were the two halves of the real map, together for the first time -in Nicky’s sight. - -The two halves fitted exactly when Mr. Coleson held them together. They -showed the complete sign of the Dipper, with small islands indicating a -very close resemblance to the real constellation of the heavens, as the -chums saw it at night. Beneath them, the two separated syllables formed, -as they had inferred, the name Dipper. - -The faint line, zigzagging among the small and irregular dots below, ran -from the wreck to a point at what was the eastward of the reproduced -constellation; but the line ended without pointing to any particular -islet. - -“There’s your map,” Mr. Coleson said. “Now, lads, you can see that it -means very little. It shows the point where the wreck occurred many -years ago. It shows a channel that must have been used by the castaways -in transferring the treasure.” - -“But,” Don Ortiga broke in, irritably, “we have located the islands that -make the Dipper—they lie inward about half way between the Gulf side and -the inside channel. And we have dug every one of them over, torn roots -apart, plumbed with leads and grappled with hooks——” - -“And all we’ve got for our work,” Mr. Coleson growled, “is the ache in -our backs.” - -“There is nothing on the chart to indicate where the treasure was put,” -Ortiga commented. “Unless you know something about it that we do not -see.” - -“Do you?” demanded Mr. Coleson. - -His look penetrated the eager interest of the boys and he thought he saw -something in Nicky’s expression that meant more than it showed. - -“You—Nicky, aren’t you?—you know something,” he declared. “Now, what is -it?” - -Cliff and Tom also saw a strange expression in Nicky’s eyes. - -As a matter of fact, Nicky had just recollected a part of his family’s -legend that had not come into his mind before for the reason that it was -not written down anywhere and had been told to him only once by his -uncle. - -Nicky, glancing at his two young companions, wanted to smile. Both were -making vigorous efforts to make him realize that they were signaling; -each scratched a left ear almost wildly. It was the call for a secret -communication. - -Nicky folded his arms and stood, pretending to pore over the map, his -brows knitted. He was watching for the next sign, although he already -sensed what it would be. - -His guess was correct. Cliff was making the sign to call for the part of -their oath that said “Telling All, I tell nothing!” - -Nicky, deliberately, grinned at his chums. - -Turning to Mr. Coleson Nicky made a flat statement. - -“Yes,” he said, “I do know something!” Everyone bent forward. Ortiga and -Mr. Coleson had eager, intent faces; Cliff and Tom were anxious and -worried. With the key to a treasure in his grasp, was this impulsive -comrade going to “tell All,” or “tell nothing?” - -Nicky grinned, a little maliciously, it seemed to Cliff. - -“Mr. Coleson,” he said, “you’ve got us ‘in your power.’ It’s no use to -try to fib to you.” - -“You’d better not!” snapped Senor Ortiga, while the colored man, -listening in the after cockpit, rolled his eyes and shook his head and -Mr. Coleson bored Nicky with piercing eyes. - -“I’ve got to save my friends and myself,” Nicky declared. “If you will -promise——” - -“Oh! Certainly!” broke in Senor Ortiga, impatiently. “You will get what -is coming to you! Let us have the secret!” - -Nicky’s chums were so far forgetting their usual poise that they shook -their heads vigorously, but Nicky seemed not to notice. - -“When Captain Kidd was in prison, as my family remembers the story, he -sent for one of my grandparents—great-great-great, I guess it was! And -he said——” - -“Yes! Yes! What?” - -“He said, ‘Here is half a map, and I am giving it to you——’” - -“Never mind all that!” rasped Mr. Coleson. “Get to the point!” - -Nicky nodded. - -“Look!” he said, and traced the faint line with his finger. They -followed his movement in fascinated eagerness. “You see, it finally runs -around the top of the islands, the North part, and then straight as an -arrow, points South!” - -“Yes. We see that!” - -“Well, the message Captain Kidd gave was, as well as I can repeat it—‘At -the end of the line, in the lowest part of the Dipper!’” - -“‘At the end of the line, in the lowest part of the Dipper!’” Ortiga -repeated. He snatched the map and pulled it closer. He studied it. - -“The line points South,” Nicky said, “so I suppose Captain Kidd meant to -dig or search down at the part that is the lowest part on the chart. -That would be—” He fished out a stubby bit of pencil and placed its tip -on the Westernmost of the lowest islands, drew a slim line from it to -the one opposite, at the East, prolonged the line until it was at a -point below the end of the faint line already on the chart. Then he made -dots to prolong that one until they met. - -“That’s it!” exclaimed Senor Ortiga, leaping up in such excitement that -he threw over his chair and almost upset the table. “We did not think of -that place. We dug all the islands, but this is far better.” - -“Come—Jim, get the boat ready! We will go at once!” cried Mr. Coleson. - -“As for you fellows,” said Senor Ortiga, “we can’t take you; we can’t -trust you with the _Libertad_. So we will tie you until we return!” - -In spite of vigorous protests, the powerful men quickly overcame -opposition, bound ropes around the boys’ arms and legs, knotted them, -dropped the helpless bundles unceremoniously on the cabin floor, and -hurried to climb into their own rowboat and the tender which had brought -the chums. The quick orders, followed by a rythmic plash of oars and -voices dying away gradually in the distance was the story their ears -told. - -“You’re a nice one!” said Cliff, sourly. - -“Why?” said Nicky, wrenching futilely at his well-trussed arms. - -“After we’d signalled, and all,” Tom cut in. “Tell all, and tell -nothing—oh, yes! Then you tell all!” - -“What would you have done?” demanded Nicky. - -“Gave them a false direction!” - -“Would you?” asked Nicky and worked again on his bonds. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - NICKY CHANGES A WORD! - - -Cramped and aching in every muscle, the chums struggled uselessly -throughout a long and irksome day. The ropes were tied too securely to -be loosened; they would not stretch. - -It was almost twilight when they heard the returning sweep of oars and -the grate of the boats alongside. - -“Jim, see if those lads are still safe, and let them stretch a bit,” -came a voice the chums recognized as that of Mr. Coleson. Jim, the -colored Jamaican, came into the cabin with leisurely slowness and they -saw, from his downcast face, the answer to a question in the minds of at -least two cramped prisoners. - -He was frowning and his whole bearing was dejected. They had found no -treasure! - -This was borne out by the faces of the white men when they came in and -dropped heavily onto the cushioned side seats. “Look here,” said Senor -Ortiga, morosely, fixing Nicky with a cold glare, “are you sure you -remembered that message correctly?” - -“I’m sure,” said Nicky, rubbing his arms and legs to get the blood into -circulation again, still seated on the cabin flooring. - -“Well, then,” said Mr. Coleson, “it’s all a myth, or someone has been -ahead of us.” - -“Repeat that message,” commanded Ortiga, not convinced. - -Nicky, looking him in the eyes, did so. “‘At the end of the line, in the -lowest part of the Dipper,’” he stated. - -“And you say that’s the truth?” - -“It’s the truth——” - -“The whole truth?” - -“Yes—and ‘nothing but the truth!’” - -“Well, we searched the bottom where those lines join, and then we rowed -over to the two islands, went over them again, and then searched the -bottom between them—that’s the ‘lowest part of the islands,’ too,” -stated Mr. Coleson. - -Neither Nicky, Cliff nor Tom cared much. Their bodies were too sore, too -tired from staying in one position, too full of aches, to enable them to -give much thought to treasure. - -Almost nothing was said as Jim prepared supper, for which the chums were -waiting as eagerly as their weary bodies allowed. A low-voiced -conference was held between the white men, but it was not until the meal -was ended, Cliff lifting his cup with cramped arm and hand, Tom feeling -his feet prickle as circulation fed the life fluid to them, Nicky -feeling as though he had been trussed up for years, that Senor Ortiga -delivered the result of the conference. - -“We noticed that the tender you came in was marked from the _Senorita_,” -he stated to Tom. “We rowed down the inner channel a way, wondering how -you came to be in it!” - -“We found the wreck,” added Mr. Coleson. - -“Again my dear brother failed to get ahead of me!” snapped the Spaniard, -glowering. “But that is aside from the point, which is that we are -through here.” - -“Then you’ll take us back to Jamaica with you?” asked Cliff. - -Ortiga shook his head. - -“You have the tender,” he replied. “We will put some food in it and let -you use it to get to wherever you want to go. Do you suppose we want to -get mixed up with the American Government for tying up its younger -citizens? Not we! But we won’t set you adrift or maroon you. We’ll let -you have the tender and some food.” - -It was almost half an hour later that Cliff, Tom and Nicky, seated in -the tender, with a few days’ supply of canned foods in her bottom, saw -the anchor of _El Libertad_ come up, heard the pulsing throb of her -single, four-cylinder speed motor, and watched her swing in a graceful -curve into the wide waters of the Gulf and lay a course Southward. - -“There she goes,” said Cliff morosely. “Now we’d better lay to, on some -island for the night, and then start rowing for civilization.” - -“I half wonder if they found the treasure, after all,” said Tom, “and -just acted the way they did to ‘steer us off’ and wait till we get -away.” - -“No,” said Nicky. - -“No?——” - -“No. At least, if they did, I’ll bet the treasure was moved up to a new -place.” - -“What do you mean?” demanded Cliff sharply. - -“You see,” said Nicky, “I did tell the truth—the whole thing and nothing -else except the truth. But——” - -He grinned at his chums in the dull light. “I saw your signals, even -though I would have done what I did without them.” - -If they had suddenly been touched by a “live” electric wire the other -two could not have jumped more, or assumed more interested and amazed -expressions. - -“Tell us what you mean!” cried Tom. - -“Well,” said Nicky, enjoying their suspense, “I told them exactly what -Captain Kidd was reported to have said—except for one word that I -changed. It didn’t change the real meaning, but I had a sort of flash of -something inside, whatever it was, and I thought maybe if I changed that -one word I could fool them—lead them on a false scent, and still tell -the truth.” - -“What word was it you changed?” cried Tom, and Cliff echoed the question -in slightly different words but with no less eagerness. - -“Repeat the message!” demanded Nicky. Cliff spoke. - -“‘At the end of the line, in the lowest part of——’” - -“Wait,” commanded Nicky. “What did you say after ‘in’?” - -“The lowest part,” replied Cliff. - -“And what is ‘the lowest part’ of a dipper?” - -Tom saw it first. - -“The bottom!” he almost yelled. - -“That’s it,” nodded Nicky. “The way I remembered it said ‘in the bottom -of the dipper.’ So I changed the word to ‘lowest part’ so I could make -it seem that the two islands at the lowest part of the sketch were the -ones it meant.” - -“Then it was easy to draw the lines,” Tom agreed. “Nicky—I’m ashamed of -myself for being angry and for not trusting you!” He made the admission -manfully, and extended his hand. “I ask your pardon!” - -“You ought to!” declared Nicky, but he grinned to take the sting out of -his words. - -Cliff was not behind Tom by more than a sentence. He, too, told his chum -how sorry he was that he did not trust him. Nicky was glad to grip hands -with both and to forget their former distrust. - -“I didn’t pretend to notice because I wanted you both to act as though -you were mad at me. It would make them believe I was telling the truth, -I thought,” he explained. - -“Let’s row in and see what the real ‘in the bottom of the Dipper’ looks -like,” he added. “I’m nearly wild to see the real treasure spot, even if -we can’t locate anything there.” - -But Cliff counseled caution. - -“Those fellows aren’t quite out of sight yet,” he declared, “and they -might be watching. If we pretend to row along the same way they are -going, until it gets dark, they will believe we have given up too.” - -“That’s good sense,” Tom agreed. “When it’s so dark they can’t see us, -even if they come back, we can swing in and camp out on some island. -Then, if they get soft-hearted and return to pick us up, they won’t -suspect anything.” - -This was agreed to and they rowed along easily for about an hour. There -was no sign, strain their eyes as they might, that the _Libertad_ was -anywhere else than on the first leg of her journey to Jamaica, so they -pulled to the shore of an islet that had a small grove of cocoanut or -mangrove trees—it was too dark to know which—and, though their couch was -not very dry and rather too full of matted roots for comfort, the -expectation of the morning’s find, and their own athletic training, -enabled them to make the best of what they had. - -Sunrise found Nicky awake and alert. He shook his comrades. - -“Up—up, daisy, the sun is in the sky!” he cried, “and we—we, daisy, for -treasure we shall try!” - -“That’s good sense but terrible poetry!” laughed Cliff. - -“I don’t care,” Nicky replied, “Tom, cook up some ham, and a rasher of -bacon, and about twenty eggs and some cocoa.” - -“Where do you expect me to get them?” demanded his chum, laughing. - -“Charge them!” Nicky exulted. “Charge them at the nearest store. Our -credit ought to be good. By noon we’ll have gold enough to pay the -National Debt!” - -“Hooray!” responded Cliff, “gold—gold—gold!” - -And by eight o’clock they were in the tender. - -“Treasure bound!” Nicky grinned. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - IN THE BOTTOM OF THE DIPPER! - - -First of all, of course, it was necessary for Tom, Cliff and Nicky to -discover the key islands which formed the Dipper. This was not easy, -because the channels between the islets were, in many places, too -shallow for even their light-draught boat to navigate. - -They had no definite idea just where to locate the Dipper, except that -the charts had shown it, and the white men had mentioned it as being -about midway between the inner and the outer boundaries of the -archipelago. - -Many trials they made before they found a channel that ran far into the -crowded outcroppings which showed above the shallow water. - -Every time they would locate what seemed to be a straight and a deep -waterway, it would shoal up at one end and they would have to make a -detour, sometimes of several islands, to find water they could use. - -“I declare!” said Nicky, “it makes me think of a day my New York cousins -took me for an automobile ride on Long Island. They were repairing -roads, and every fork or crossroad we came to, it seemed, they had a -sign, ‘Detour!’” - -“And now we ‘detour!’ again,” laughed Cliff, piloting from the bow, “to -the left, this time, Tom—Nicky—easy!” - -They turned into a new channel, and so, time after time, even retracing -their course occasionally to get back to deeper water, they made slow -progress. - -No delay daunted them; no shoal “made their pluck run aground,” as Nicky -explained it. To the continual detouring was added the handicap of the -difficulty they had in recognizing what would look like the Dipper -constellation from above. “If we had an airplane, now,” Tom argued, “we -could spy it in a second.” - -“Right, again—pull slowly,” Cliff cut in; and so the morning wore on and -they began to feel as though they had rowed half way around most of the -archipelago. - -But the longest way ’round is said to be the shortest way through, and -the chums found it so. - -“Look!” exclaimed Cliff, from the bow, “back water, fellows! And look -ahead. I believe we’ve found it!” Tom and Nicky swung on the seat and -stared over their shoulders. Hard as it was to be sure, because other -islands, a little closer or further away complicated the general -pattern, they felt that, at last, they saw the Dipper. - -“But there’s an island almost in line with two of the lower ones that -wasn’t on the map,” objected Tom. - -“That’s so,” said Cliff, ruefully. - -“Anyway, here’s a good channel, and we’re going South again—back toward -where we started,” Nicky argued. “Let’s——” - -“Back water! Back water!” ordered Cliff. But they had given a swift -impetus to the small craft as Nicky and Tom bent to the oars and with a -dull grating sound the bow up-ended a little, as it ran onto a shelf of -the bedrock limestone, into which the coral formed itself. - -Tom and Nicky narrowly escaped toppling over backward and Cliff saved -himself from a plunge onto the shoal only by gripping the thwart with -both hands as the boat stopped sharply. - -“Well—here we are!” said Nicky, settling himself. “Come aft, Cliff, so -we can lighten her bow and maybe we can pole off and back out—it’s too -narrow a channel to turn around in!” - -Cliff stood up to do as his chum counseled; but he remained standing, -his eyes fixed, his body becoming tense. - -“What’s the matter?” cried Nicky. “See anything?” asked Tom. - -Cliff lifted a hand, pointing dramatically. - -“Come here Nicky—Tom!” he urged. “Easy, so as not to tip the boat! Do -you know what? That is the Dipper, and we have run aground right where -the line would show we ought to stop in the chart—and yonder is ‘the -bottom of the Dipper!’” - -Excitedly his fellows scrambled over the intervening seat and crouched -at his side. - -“That’s right, I do believe!” agreed Nicky. “The reason the line stopped -is because the channel stopped. This is where they must have come to a -standstill in the old boat—those castaways!” - -“Yes,” added Cliff, “they couldn’t go any further. And the bottom is -level here. We could climb out and walk along it.” - -“It’s just the place to unload chests of treasure,” Tom agreed. “If only -there was some place to hide it in——” - -“What about that?” cried Nicky, pointing straight ahead. “There on that -islet that’s really at the bottom of the Dipper.” - -“But it said ‘in’ not ‘at’ the bottom of the Dipper,” reminded Tom. -Nicky nodded, scrambling out into the shallow water. Cliff followed, and -Tom delayed only long enough to draw the nose of their tender far enough -onto the shelf of limestone to prevent any chance of a slight current -drifting it out of easy reach while they walked along carefully on the -coral bed, avoiding jutting prongs and dodging the menacing little -spaces into which a foot could slip so as to twist an ankle. - -“We’re in the bottom of the Dipper, at least,” Cliff declared after a -few minutes of cautious wading. - -“I don’t see anything to write home about,” Tom said morosely, wincing -from the pain of a slightly twisted foot. “All our trouble—for what?” - -“Stand here a minute,” urged Nicky. “Let’s think. Now, fellows, you know -that the treasure wasn’t buried yesterday. Maybe the whole top of the -archipelago has changed since the castaways’ day. But this looks like -the place they told Captain Kidd about, and unless some one else has -taken it away, their treasure ought to be here, if we just know how to -locate it!” - -“That’s the trouble,” said Cliff, “how?” - -“It’s no use,” called Tom, who had moved a little beyond his two -companions, at the side of the tiny islet. “Some one has been here -already!” - -They moved up to his position and observed with dejected eyes the signs -of a previous visit by others; roots were chopped in half; the signs -were very fresh. At one place, very close to the edge of the small, -root-matted surface, a hole had been chopped completely through the -mass. Further into the brush there were signs of another such spot. - -“That settles it,” Cliff grumbled. “Some one has beaten us.” - -“Look out, Cliff,” cried Nicky, just behind his friend. “Don’t step -back. Here’s another channel—right at the bottom of the Dipper part—it -runs along what is the bottom, between the islands.” - -“It’s only a hole, maybe——” - -“No, it’s a channel,” persisted Nicky. “See—yonder, the color of the -water looks different from the shoals. It runs——” - -“It only goes to the lower island,” declared Tom, studying the water, -and gently lowering himself, testing till his foot found the bottom. -“It’s only about three feet deep, and—” he waded carefully away, and -then returned. “It stops just by the other island, the South one. But -there’s another channel beyond a reef there.” - -“Then whoever came here didn’t use a boat,” Nicky suggested. “My guess -is that those men waded up to here yesterday, and dug or chopped until -they were sure they couldn’t find anything.” - -“How do you know they didn’t come from where our boat is?” - -“Because,” Nicky explained, “the chopped places are all on the outside -part, nearest the gully—it isn’t really a boat channel, it’s only a -gully.” - -“Well, that doesn’t help us any,” Tom was still dejected and the more so -because of his slightly injured foot. “I move we give up.” - -But Nicky had climbed up onto the low, small islet, and, his body -sprawled over the rooted, matted growth, was poking and probing. - -“Yes,” he said, after a moment, “I guess we might as well. If there is -any treasure, it’s too well hidden to discover. I say we might as well -wade back to the boat and get some lunch.” - -“Then we had better find our way out before dark—it took all morning to -get in here,” Cliff suggested. Nicky, as nearly erect as the small, -tough roots under foot would make it safe to be, began to push and work -his way straight across the islet. Only his head and shoulders appeared -above the low, young growths. - -“I hate to give up,” he said, as his comrades started to pick their way -back along the bed of the reef. “This island may not have been here at -all when the—” His words ceased. There came a crackling and rending of -wood. Nicky cried out! - -Cliff, turning, saw Nicky disappearing! - -Forgetting his ankle, with a cry, Tom, who also swung about, scrambled -and plunged toward Nicky. - -The latter was almost out of sight, near the edge of the islet, -prevented from going lower by two roots, over which he had with quick -presence of mind flung his arms. - -“I—I fell—through!” he gasped as his chums made their way to the edge of -the islet. “It’s a hole under the roots! Be careful, fellows, don’t slip -or break through; the coral may be thin over it. It may spread further -around than you think!” - -With all the caution that their fear for Nicky permitted his comrades -got close. The reef held. - -“Listen,” cried Nicky, breathlessly, “I’m not hurt. Fellows—” He made a -beckoning motion with his head, “I’ve—we’ve—found it!” - -“The treasure?” - -“The treasure! I’m sure of it. I fell through—and I can just touch -something—like bricks—with my shoes!” - -They had to go around the islet and approach Nicky from behind. The -surface of the thin coating of land, held up and bound together only by -its interwoven roots, was shaky enough, but they did not break through, -and finally, by dint of much tugging, heaving and puffing, they drew -Nicky back far enough so that he could scramble free and sprawl, -gasping, half-laughing, on the surface by the jagged hole he had just -left. Cautiously Cliff protruded his head. - -“I see something!” he whispered, as if some one might hear—— - -“The island wasn’t as big or as high,” Tom said, peering too, “when the -castaways brought the chests here. They buried them—they must have used -picks to break a place in the coral.” - -“Then they must have covered it over with boards and pulled the roots -and earth over it—or else the wind and the birds have brought seeds and -the islet has grown over the place,” Nicky added. “The boards were so -rotted and the roots were so weak that my weight broke through!” - -Like three active puppies digging a hole for bones, the chums pushed and -scraped, tugged and tore at the roots; the weaker ones gave way and soon -they had quite a goodly sized opening uncovered. - -“There’s something down there!” gasped Cliff. “Gold bars, maybe! The -chests must have been thrown away.” - -“Now the puzzle is—how can we get close enough to tell?” Nicky said, in -an eager voice; he was none the worse for his experience. - -“Could one of us make a dive?” Tom speculated. All three were on their -knees, heedless of the sharp coral bits, peering intently through limpid -water into a mysteriously dark depression. - -“I could almost touch bottom; where I was,” Nicky exclaimed. “Tom, you -hold one arm, Cliff, you brace and hold the other. I’ll let myself -down——” - -“Don’t bother,” came a sharp voice, unexpectedly, from behind them. - -They looked up, startled, dismayed. Quickly their eyes took in the -scene. Just back of their own tender lay the boat of _El Libertad_. -Quietly it must have been sculled up, while their attention was focused -on Nicky and his find. Close behind them, smiling in a half sneering -way, was Mr. Coleson, with Senor Ortiga beside him. - -“We thought you might have misled us,” Mr. Coleson said. “We took the -logical step to give you a free hand, and here you have exercised it—for -which we are very—very grateful.” - -“As for the treasure,” added Senor Ortiga, “never mind diving for it. -Here comes Jim.” - -“No, never mind,” added Mr. Coleson. “We will attend to it!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - GOLD—GOLD—GOLD - - -“What are we going to do about these lads?” asked Mr. Coleson as the -colored man, Jim, went back to the boat for several spades and an axe. - -“They will help—won’t you?” said Senor Ortiga with a pleasant look that -surprised the chums. “Just because they fibbed to us we can’t tie them -up again! It was perfectly natural for them to want all the treasure for -themselves. We felt the same way!” - -“So we did,” replied Mr. Coleson. “After we roped them up for a whole -day I can’t say that I blame them. Very well. Here is Jim. Let us clear -away the roots and see what we have.” - -Under the changed attitude of the white men, Nicky, Tom and Cliff fell -to with a will. The axe helped, the spades were very useful; eager hands -made the work seem a delight. After all, there would be probably be -plenty of gold—or whatever it might be—for each to have a good share. - -When they had cleared away a good portion of the earth and the matted -undergrowth clinging to the crumbly soil, they saw, as soon as the mud -they had created was settled, a fairly wide, and not very deep fissure -in the coral beneath. - -Probably, they decided, the castaways, in the days they had been there, -had taken advantage of a naturally formed depression in the limestone -formation, perhaps had widened it somewhat with picks. - -At any rate, when the moiled water had cleared, they beheld a mass of -metallic bars, thrown in, helter-skelter. - -Mr. Coleson, being the tallest, lowered himself onto the top of the mass -and found that his chin was just above water. By taking a deep breath, -holding it, and plunging, naked as he was, beneath the surface, he could -get down, for a brief time to the hoard of metal. - -After his first plunge he came up, and sputtering till he rid his -nostrils of water, he held up above the water a bar, which Senor Ortiga -almost snatched from him in his excitement. - -They all crowded around to look. - -Ortiga scraped the dirt and slime, accumulated partly from their recent -digging, from the bar and gave an exultant cry. - -One and all they echoed it. - -“Gold—gold—gold!” shrilled Nicky. - -Down again plunged Mr. Coleson, to emerge above the surface with a -second bar which was eagerly grasped by Tom. It weighed, he guessed, -about ten pounds, and was, when examined, what appeared to be pure gold -of very fine quality, not very large, for gold is heavy metal. - -“The Spaniards used to melt down the Inca images and ornaments,” Cliff -recalled. “Then they would ship them to Spain in galleons. There must be -a lot of this gold—isn’t there, Mr. Coleson?” - -“Yes—a lot!” he answered. - -All resentment vanished from the hearts of these strangely united -enemies under the impulse of a common gold madness. Mr. Coleson dived -under, several times, bringing up bars similar to those already found. -Then it was decided that they had better take what they had, go to the -_Libertad_, and wait till daylight for full boatloads. - -“People have been lost in these islands—among the twisting, blind -channels,” observed Mr. Coleson. “We laid down markers on the islands as -we came in, each time, and we had better row out before it gets too dark -to see them.” - -So they all returned to _El Libertad_ and spent an excited evening, -hardly daring to sleep for fear they would wake up to discover that -their treasure was only dream-gold. But it was solid, in the morning -light, gleaming with its yellow luster when they scraped the surface. -They had found a treasure for which men might easily struggle and -battle, kill and be killed. - -The next few days were full of hard work; nevertheless, it was work that -brought no complaints. - -The recovery of the golden bars was necessarily somewhat slow because -only one man could work in the pit at a time. Mr. Coleson, Jim and Senor -Ortiga took turns, but most of the diving fell to Mr. Coleson, for as -they brought up more bars the level of the bottom fell lower by their -removal, and the shorter people were totally under water when they tried -to secure the bars, and had to dive, grab a bar, thrust themselves -upward and be caught by those who waited. - -But, one late afternoon they had exhausted the contents of the hole as -far as gold was concerned. There were several large objects, presumably -golden placques or perhaps they were silver; but they were too heavy to -be dislodged, much less to be lifted to the surface. - -All of the company agreed that it was hardly worth while to try for them -any longer, and the white men, with Jim, began to pick their way over to -the two boats, both filled with their last load of wealth. But Nicky -motioned to his chums to delay for a moment. - -“Mr. Coleson had a despatch box of some kind almost at the surface, just -a little while ago,” he told them. “Let’s make a try to get it again. He -dropped it because he said it probably contained only papers.” - -“What do we want with papers?” argued Tom. “We can come back some time -and get it.” - -“It may have the log of the old ship in it, or papers about the cruise,” -Nicky argued. “Cliff’s father would like them more, I think, than the -gold. He could write a whole history about the Spanish times in America -from them, maybe.” - -Cliff, being the oldest and strongest, decided to do the diving. -Divesting himself of clothing which he hung on the remaining bushes on -the rim of the islet they had not disturbed, he plunged. - -On his first rise he clutched an ancient ornament, something like part -of a figure of a god, but it was of some stone, not of gold; he was -about to throw it aside but Nicky took it. “It might be a relic, like -those we found in the Carib diggings,” he suggested. - -Cliff made several tries, and finally brought up an old, and very much -rusted bronze box, of very curious workmanship, with a handle at each -end. It was badly eaten away by oxide and Cliff urged Tom, who took it, -to handle it with care. Then Cliff was helped up onto the water-covered -bedrock and reached for his clothes. - -“Why—” Nicky, turning toward the boats, gasped. “What are they doing?” - -“They’re putting gold from our boat into theirs!” - -As Tom made the exclamation he started toward the distant boats; the two -white men and the colored Jim were loading up their boat. - -“What are you doing that for?” cried Tom. - -He, as well as his slightly injured foot would allow, hastened over the -coral. Cliff, his clothes carried in a rough, quickly snatched bundle, -ran too. Nicky scrambled ahead of him. - -But before they could get to the boats they saw Jim take the oars out of -their boat, climb into his own, and thrust it rapidly backward—there was -no depth to turn it around—down the channel. - -“We’ll leave these oars on the island at the bend,” called Senor Ortiga. -“We don’t want to leave you here to starve. Swim down or push your boat -ahead of you and swim till you get the oars; then follow the markers; -we’ll leave them, too. We don’t want to desert you, but we must. By the -time you get out we can be safely away!” - -Nicky and Cliff fought their way over the coral as fast as they could, -stumbling into crevasses, almost falling as their incautious feet struck -rises; but they saw that it was wasted effort. - -They returned, to assist Tom. - -Once the three were in their boat, far down the channel they saw the -other boat turn and disappear around a bend. - -“It will be dark, before we get there,” cried Tom, and he began to -shudder and to forecast dire difficulties, but Cliff bade him, rather -sharply, to stop. - -“Remember what the teacher said, last term, about being afraid?” Nicky -reminded Tom. “He said that when we became afraid we deadened our common -sense and made pictures of dangers that wouldn’t exist at all unless we -thought they did. He said it wasn’t what was dangerous that hurts us, -but what we thought might happen. So—Tom—snap out of it!” He spoke -rather curtly and slangily, to impress Tom the more quickly. Tom saw the -sense in the rebuke and reminder and grinned sheepishly. - -Meanwhile, a hand on the stern thwart, Cliff was thrusting with his -feet, swimming, and pushing the boat ahead at a slow rate. - -They finally reached the distant island and found the oars. - -“Had we better stay here till daylight?” questioned Cliff. - -“No,” Nicky declared. “They have our gold, and they mustn’t get away. -They have a heavy load and they may get stuck in the channel for their -greediness. We can see the papers they stuck on sticks to mark the -channel. Let’s get on as far as we can.” - -Tom agreed with him, not especially caring to stay amid the spooky, -silent islets all night. - -They had hard work in the swiftly closing darkness, hut by using their -eyes sharply and by going ahead slowly, as their escaping enemies must -also do, they finally saw clear water ahead. - -“Hooray!” cried Nicky. “I think I see them still in the rowboat! Pull -hard, Cliff and Tom, we can get there before they get away!” - -But as he said it there came a hail, sharp and eager from the shore of -the island at the mouth of the channel. - -“Help! Help!” - -Tom and Cliff held their oars, surprised, listening. - -“Boat ahoy! Help!” - -“Somebody’s on that island!” Nicky declared. Mechanically responding to -a call for aid, Tom and Cliff swung the tender’s nose toward the island. -Their way took them very close. - -“Boys—Master Cliff—Master Tom—Master Nicky! It’s Sam!” - -The figure they could discern against the trees waved its arms. - -“Quick, pull in close,” cried the tall figure, wading into the water to -meet them. “My boat’s gone. Take me in. We can git to the other boat -before they get away! Hurry, please, sars!” - -It was only an instant before he had caught the approaching gunwale and -was tumbling in. “Now,” he cried, “give way, sars!” - -“Sam!” cried Nicky, at the bow, pumping the black hand. “I never was so -glad to see anybody in my life. Grab those oars! We’ll get them yet!” - -But they were fated to act otherwise. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - MAROONED - - -After a quick handclasp with the other two, Sam counseled delay. “Better -to tell me what has happened to you,” he said. “There are men hiding on -that ship, waiting till the men in the boat get all their dunnage on -board——” - -“Dunnage!” interrupted Nicky. “Sam—it’s gold!” - -Sam’s eyes rolled with excitement. - -“They went and found it!” he gasped. - -“We did, and they took it away from us,” Tom explained. - -“Who’s hiding?” Cliff asked. - -Sam suggested that they had better tell him their story first, and he -laid on the oars and listened as they gave him a brief history of their -adventures. - -In his turn he told them his story. - -“When I got my head full of crazy scares,” he said, “I left you on -Crocodile Key, and sailed for the open water. Later on a revenue cutter -overhauled me. Mr. Neale was with the men.” - -“Then he was all right?” Nicky asked. - -“Yes,” Sam replied, “all right, and mad. When he found out what I’d went -and done he gave me an awful talking to, and then they turned the cutter -about and went back to look for you.” - -After that, Sam explained, his conscience bothered him, but he decided -that the boys must be all right, and so held on his course toward -Jamaica. But during the late afternoon clouds gathered, wind came up, -rain squalls blew over and his work was cut out for him. - -“I judged it was a ‘judgment’ on me from On High,” Sam declared. “I had -more’n I could do, handling the sails to get them down, and all I could -do I couldn’t get them reefed quick enough——” - -“And you lost your boat?” broke in Nicky. - -“No, sar,” Sam replied. “Wait—let me tell you. I had to run before the -wind and when daylight came and the wind dropped I was so wore out with -a sight at the tiller that I just fell down and slept. I let the -_Treasure Belle_ drift.” - -When he had awakened, he went on, he did not know where he was, but from -the direction in which the wind had blown, he guessed that he must be -well into the Gulf of Mexico. He trimmed his sails and with the old, -heavy-duty engine for a kicker, he set a course Eastward. It brought -him, in time, within sight of what he discovered to be the lower end of -the Ten Thousand Island archipelago, almost opposite to the wrecked -_Senorita_. - -“I saw somebody making a signal with a flag, and the flag at the -masthead was upside down—a sign of distress,” Sam pursued his story, “I -ran close in and found out that the _Senorita_ was a wreck.” - -“We were on it when it happened—but we told you. Go on,” said Tom. Sam -finished quickly. - -“There was a colored cook, a Spaniard, a man named Tew, and some sailors -and the engineer,” Sam concluded. “They offered me money to take them -aboard the _Treasure Belle_. I did, but instead of going back around -Cape Sable, they took me and tied me up and threw me in the little -cabin. They talked about capturing a boat or something and the first -thing I knew, they had passed the _Libertad_, here, and went on beyond -during the night. That was at night—last night. They hauled the -_Treasure Belle_ out of sight between two islands, a little North of -here. There they laid quiet all today. One man swam off from my sloop -and came back and they all talked. Towards evening they started the -engine, came down, hauled alongside and got on board the _Libertad_. -They had untied me and told me to swim onto one of the islands and -stay—or starve, for all they cared. Then they held guns on me until I -swam to the Key. They said if I warned anybody I saw, they’d pepper me -full of lead. So I hid, and when I saw two white men and a Negro rowing -towards _Libertad_, I didn’t dare to say anything. But nothing happened -to them, and when I saw your boat I guessed it was safe to hail, because -the men on the _Libertad_ must be hiding and couldn’t hurt me. And so I -found you.” - -“And I’m glad of it,” said Tom. - -“I’m right sorry sars, for what I done, and I’ll try to make it up to -you,” Sam said. - -“It’s all right,” Nicky stated. “We won’t hold it against you. But you -didn’t say what happened to your sloop.” - -“They put two sailors into her and sailed her away down the coast,” Sam -replied. “To tell somebody something about bringing up some cases or -something like that. I couldn’t hear much. They talked about lots of -things—Indians and sharks and—oh, lots!” - -“But why don’t we row to the _Libertad_?” demanded Nicky. - -As he spoke the reason became apparent. Jim, in the boat, handed up onto -the deck to the white men the last bars of gold. - -“Come aboard,” was presumably his order; the chums and Sam were too far -away to hear. They did see sudden flashes, hear a subdued commotion, -hear splashes in the water. Guns were being fired, and people were -shouting. - -Almost immediately, before the shots died down, in fact, they heard the -roar of _El Libertad’s_ motor, saw her swing to her anchor, and, as it -lifted from the coral, turned in a wide sweep, while shots flashed their -spurts of flame through the darkness from her stern. - -Then she swung onto a Northerly course and disappeared swiftly beyond an -island at the Northern side of the channel. - -“They’ve shot those men who took our gold,” Nicky declared. “Sam, and -Cliff, row there, quick! We ought to try to pick them up—maybe they’re -badly hurt.” Sam and Tom dipped their oars with a will. - -Cliff having donned his clothes, of course, before he took the oars as -they rowed out from the treasure islet, took the tender’s light tiller -from the floor where it lay while they navigated the shoal water, -shipped it and its attached rudder, and steered so that the rowers could -put more force into their strokes and thus cover the water more quickly. - -They soon reached the spot, and saw several figures struggling with a -third. - -Sam and Nicky hailed. An answer came, “Jim, here, was knocked overside -when he tried to scramble onto our ship. Help us get him to shore. His -head hit the coral, we think! They sank the rowboat.” - -They pulled close and with some difficulty the inert colored man was -lifted over the gunwale and dropped into the tender’s bottom. Then Mr. -Coleson, with a smarting flesh wound in his arm, and Ortiga, who was too -busy expressing an unfavorable opinion of his renegade brother to -examine his hurts, seemed to have escaped with a scratched hand. - -They began to row toward the island but Nicky made a suggestion. - -“Let’s pull for the wrecked _Senorita_,” he urged. “There’s most likely -to be a medicine kit on board her, and food as well.” - -It took quite a while to get back down the shore line to the point -almost opposite the Shark River where the _Senorita_ had grounded; but -when they got there Nicky’s prophecy proved to be correct and Senor -Ortiga, when the surgical and medicinal appliances were brought, made an -examination of Jim, and then dressed a rather bad scalp wound, bringing -its edges together with surgical thread after washing it with -antiseptics. - -Jim came to himself before the bandaging was completed. Though weak and -a little bit uncertain in speech, he was in no way permanently injured -in his brain. Rest would restore his usual vigor and help nature to heal -his hurt. - -Weary and discouraged, because there was nothing to be done toward the -recovery of their lost treasure, the chums, after a midnight meal, threw -themselves onto bunks in the engine room, preferring these to more -comfortable wall berths with the two white men who had done them so mean -a turn. - -Sam elected to stay with his own companions, and Jim was put in the -forecastle to be alone while he rested. - -“I certainly am grateful to you for saving us, just now,” said Mr. -Coleson as they separated for the night. - -“After the way he acted, he ought to be,” Nicky confided to his -comrades, when they were alone. - -They slept peacefully, thoroughly wearied by hard work and worn down by -the nerve tension of the last few days. - -It was Sam who shook them awake. - -“That man, Coleson, wasn’t so grateful, after all,” he said when the -chums had rubbed some sleep out of their eyes in the early dawn. “The -tender is gone. The two white men—gone too!” - -“The ungrateful—” began Nicky. But what would calling names do for them? -Certainly it wouldn’t help any. - -“We are not on an island, and we’ve got food,” Nicky observed, -recovering his usual trust in the eventual justice of life. “But we are -marooned! And yet—and yet, I’ll say it again—we’ll come out best in the -long run. You wait and see!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - “A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK” - - -To say that Clarence Neale, the leader at the start of the Mystery Boys’ -adventure, was worried would be a tame statement of the truth. Clarence -Neale was more than that. He felt that without intending to do so he had -shirked a responsibility. - -Mr. Gray, the scholar and writer, had entrusted Cliff to his care on an -adventure that promised to be merely a cruise; Nicky Lane, and Tom, had -come under his protection without permission from their relatives; and -not one of them was with him, nor was their whereabouts known to him. - -No wonder the young archaeologist, himself not too far from boyhood to -recall what dangers its headstrong impulses lead to, dreaded many dire -things. - -Two things he knew definitely. The boys were not on Crocodile Key, nor -did any boatman or native in Little Card Sound or on its shores know a -thing about them. The second point he was sure about was that they were -not on Sam’s sloop. He had overhauled that in the government cutter and -made sure. - -Where were they? - -A lieutenant in charge of the patrol had set him ashore where a -government sub-station of the patrol service enabled him to use the -telephone, to communicate with other stations. Not a sign of the boys -resulted from his several calls. - -“No word?” asked the young lieutenant later in the afternoon. - -Mr. Neale shook his head dejectedly, climbing aboard the cutter. - -“I can’t see anything to explain it except that the lads must have gone -inland, and become lost,” he asserted. Lieutenant Sommerlee discounted -such a suggestion. The outcrop of coral on which they landed while he -went to interview Nelse and Pompey, was cut off by water too deep to -wade; they would hardly dare swim to the further shore; it was swampy as -could be seen from Crocodile Key if they took pains to look, he -declared. - -“I suggest that you come aboard again,” Lieutenant Sommerlee invited, -holding to his own idea, without stating it, that the boys had been -taken off the key by some fisherman. “I have word that a band of -hi-jackers is somewhere around and I have to watch for them; we can -easily hail the different natives as we pass up and down the coast and -see which one rescued the boys.” - -Clarence Neale accepted the invitation and was on board the cutter when, -that night, she pursued, and lost touch with, the _Senorita_. - -It was Lieutenant Sommerlee’s notion that the _Senorita_, if it was she, -had turned tail and run for her home port in Cuba. He was ready to give -up the search for her, and the more so because of a growing intensity of -interest in the boys. - -Naturally, not knowing they were on the _Senorita_, or that she had gone -into the archipelago, neither Mr. Neale nor the lieutenant thought of -such a thing as looking for the adventuresome trio in those waters. It -seemed almost certain that they must have hailed some small boat, and on -being taken aboard, had found no means of communicating their plight, or -of getting back. - -But as day followed day, the idea had to be given up. There was no spot -that the cutter had not touched, where the boys could possibly be. -Unless they had been taken off on a coasting sloop—but none had been -seen in Little Card Sound, nor would it have excuse for being there. Of -course the few who knew the truth about the _Senorita_ and her hiding -place on the day that the boys had been missed, kept their mouths -tightly closed. - -“I cannot imagine what has become of them,” Mr. Neale said, with anxiety -in his voice and deep wrinkles of worry on his forehead. - -“Oh, they’ll turn up, as boys do, and usually safe and sound,” the -lieutenant said. - -One of their men sighted a sail and gave her position. Lieutenant -Sommerlee gave orders; the helm was shifted and a course was laid to -intercept the vessel, not because the boys might be on it, but to hail -it and see if any news had been picked up somewhere. - -As they came within better sighting distance, Lieutenant Sommerlee -handed Mr. Neale his binoculars. - -“Didn’t you say Sam’s sloop we overhauled was going back to Jamaica?” he -asked. Clarence Neale nodded. “I told Sam he was discharged, as far as -our party was concerned,” he acknowledged. - -“Look!” ordered the lieutenant. Mr. Neale lifted and focused the -glasses. - -“Great—guns!” he cried. “That’s the _Treasure Belle_, now, as sure as I -live!” - -They lost no time in laying alongside and hailing. - -But Sam did not answer. Instead one of two men spoke through the -deepening twilight. - -“Sam—why he’s sick in the cabin. We’re taking him to a doctor!” - -“Sam—sick,” Mr. Neale said to the cutter’s officer, “but we left him on -the way to Jamaica the afternoon before the squall. How did these men -get on his boat?—and——” - -“And why are they bound Eastward along the coast when he ought to be -nearly to Jamaica by now—here, heave to!” - -The sail came down with a run—the men were careless sloopmen or very -ignorant of a single-masted boat and her handling. The cutter swung in a -circle and ranged up beside the sloop. - -It was practically dark, for the twilight is short in the season, and -the men sat with their heads well covered. But if this was a ruse to -escape detection of their identity it failed. Lieutenant Sommerlee -motioned to a patrol member, and the man caught the rail of the -_Treasure Belle_ and clung so that the boats lay sides-to. - -The lieutenant stepped across the rails, and made his way to the cabin. -At the same instant the two men stood up, but before they could carry -out their intention—which might have been to plunge over the side and -take chances of swimming away and escaping in the dark—the young officer -had his pistol trained, drawing it as he whirled. - -“Throw up your hands!” he snapped, “and sit down again!” - -“Sam,” called Mr. Neale, clambering into the cockpit of his old sloop, -“where are you?” - -“Ain’t no one there,” said one of the men. “Lieutenant, will you promise -us a fair break if we tell you the truth?” - -“Yellow-livered, of course,” he said. “I guessed you would try that.” He -went close, called for a flashlight and trained it on the two anxious -sailors. “Ho! You—‘Runty’—you, too—‘Jack O’ the Keys.’ What are you -doing in this sloop? Where is Sam—but I may as well tell you that you -are under arrest right now, and if you expect any leniency, which I -won’t promise at this moment, you had better say what’s on your minds.” - -Then they told him. He, and Clarence Neale, learned of the escape of the -_Senorita_, as well as of Nelse’s part in that, and in the hi-jacker’s -plans, in which Nelse figured as a receiver for their stolen cargoes, -since he owned Crocodile Key; they also learned of the wreck, of the -boys’ ruse, and escape, and of the latest escapade, as far as the men -knew it. - -Full speed for the archipelago, was the present order, after the two -sailors had been handcuffed and two of the cutter’s crew took over the -_Treasure Belle_, to sail her to the patrol base until Sam could claim -her. - -“It looks as though there’s a fire up yonder,” said Lieutenant -Sommerlee, as the cutter doubled the Westermost nose of Florida, “See -the light in the sky?” - -“I hope the boys aren’t in any danger!” cried Clarence Neale. - -None of the crew, neither Mr. Neale, the lieutenant, nor Uncle Sam’s -sailors, could resist a cheer of delight when they got close enough to -see that the fire was merely a great heap of wood, on a small islet near -the channel to Shark River. - -They sent up a rocket at the first verification of this fact, and urged -their speedy engine to its fullest power as rockets began to burst in -the sky, blue, green and red flares showed and a dull boom from a -signaling cannon floated across the water to them. - -It seemed an age, but was not so very long, before the chums were -leaping, skylarking, dancing, standing on their heads, slapping one -another on the back, adding a slap or so for delighted Sam. - -They had collected wood, cut parts from the wrecked vessel, made a -signal fire on the islet, and kept it burning all day, and into the -night, since the discovery that they were marooned, that morning. The -purpose was to create a smoke smudge during the day, and a light at -night, with the certainty that some coasting vessel or other ship must -see it and come closer to investigate. - -The rockets and colored flares were the signal stores of the _Senorita_, -used more as fireworks for the celebration than with any other purpose, -for the signal rocket of the cutter had been read by Sam as the patrol’s -own signal. - -“Thank Heaven you boys are safe!” cried Mr. Neale for the tenth time, -pumping Nicky’s hand again and again, sharing fist-cuffs impartially -between the shoulderblades of Cliff and Tom in his elation. - -“And thank Lieutenant Sommerlee too,” said Cliff. They did. - -“But now,” said Nicky, soberly, “what to do about the gold!” - -They had, of course, told all their adventures. - -“Now that you are all right,” Lieutenant Sommerlee said, “I feel that we -shall have to let the gold wait. What I am interested in is not gold -but—hi-jackers!” - -“And pirates,” added Cliff. “Don’t forget they are in a stolen boat—the -_Libertad_ belongs to one Ortiga, and the other one has it.” - -“But, Lieutenant,” protested Nicky, “if you get the hi-jackers we’ll get -the gold. They have it!” - -“That is true,” agreed the officer. “At the moment I am puzzled about -the course through which we can secure either men or gold.” - -Nicky jumped up eagerly. - -“When the _Senorita_ was running away,” he reminded his chums, “remember -that Tew told us they would hide up in Shark River?” - -“I do,” agreed Cliff. - -“And Sam, when they took his sloop, thought the men said something to -the two on her about bringing liquor cases or cases of liquor, and -something was said about sharks——” - -“That’s so!” Sam exclaimed. - -“I believe they’ve gone into Shark River—” Nicky declared. - -“But we are at the mouth of the channel into Shark River,” objected Tom. -“And they captured the _Libertad_ North of this place, and turned North -again from there.” - -“They may have doubled back; Nicky defended his idea. - -“I think there is a more likely solution,” suggested the lieutenant. -“They went to the channel at the opening of the Harney River, above; -there they could go back into the inner channel—above Whitewater Bay, -and down that, again, to the landward entry into the Shark.” - -Plans were discussed, ideas proposed, until far into the night. In all -that the chums proposed, they figured; in those their elders discussed, -they did not. - -But because of the crew’s depletion by the departure on the sloop of two -of her fighting patrols, and because neither Sam nor Mr. Neale was an -expert with a rifle or pistol, the more vigorous plans for pursuit and -capture had to be shelved in favor of more adroit measures. - -And so it came about that a plan partially suggested by Nicky and -elaborated by the lieutenant, in which the boys must figure, was the one -to be adopted. - -And again the Mystery Boys were adventure bound. - -“But,” said Cliff, as a new thought struck him, “those hi-jackers must -have seen our lights—we made plenty of excitement.” - -“Yes,” agreed Tom. “They may have seen them—then, they will either turn -and run across the Gulf, or somewhere else, or they will unload the -treasure in Shark River and hide it in the Everglades.” - -“Once it’s hidden there, any effort to find it would be like looking for -a needle in a hay-stack!” declared Mr. Neale. - -“Then let’s hurry!” cried Nicky, and from that instant all was activity -on the stranded _Senorita_. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - IN THE EVERGLADES - - -In order to see how Nicky’s plan was, the picture that he had in his -mind must be understood. This was Nicky’s mind picture: - -The hi-jackers, after capturing Sam’s sloop, had sent her, with two men -aboard, to make contact with their Little Card Sound headquarters. Nelse -was there and from what he had heard and pieced together, Nicky supposed -that the two men on the _Treasure Belle_ would find Nelse, and have him -go, or send Seminole Indians, across the inland waterways, to take to -the hi-jackers some liquor cases in which to conceal the treasure bars. - -When they captured the _Libertad_, the hi-jackers had left three men -floundering in the water; for all they knew or cared, these men might -have been wounded. The _Libertad’s_ own boat had been sunk by bullet -holes during the fight, which was why the boys had been left without a -boat when Senor Ortiga and Mr. Coleson had fled the _Senorita_ in the -tender. - -Under such conditions the hi-jackers had started North in _El Libertad_, -the night previous to that on which the cutter arrived. - -They would hardly go to the shores of the Southern States bordering the -Gulf of Mexico, Nicky decided, because they would be afraid of having -the gold discovered: it was in bars and had been loaded into the -_Libertad_ without any provision for its concealment and transportation -later on. - -The hi-jackers would probably go, Nicky argued, into the inner channel -of the archipelago and then lay up in the Shark River, that small stream -having its source at the edge of the Everglades. It was the most -Southerly place they could get close to the Everglades, and the -Seminoles, bringing the cases to put the treasure in would come up the -inland way through part of Big Cypress Swamp, along the rim of the -Everglades, and meet them. That was the only way Nicky could see for the -hi-jackers to do, because they had no small boat and could not go any -closer to the shallow water of the Florida swamp than the draught of _El -Libertad_ would permit. - -They could not have had enough gasoline in the tanks to risk a very long -voyage; that was the reason he did not think they would try to get to -the Southern States and risk themselves in strange waters with no way to -carry the gold from the vessel to their Northern headquarters, wherever -that might be. - -With all of this the older heads of the party agreed. - -Their first plan, then, was to get the _Libertad_ pocketed and -surrounded; this they must do before the treasure could be hidden. - -Without a small boat it was not probable that the hi-jackers could get -into the Everglades, but they might know the Seminoles and might be able -to get hold of a canoe. - -A day, and a good part of the night before had passed since they went -away in the _Libertad_, but Lieutenant Sommerlee and Mr. Neale decided -that they had probably gone into the Shark River and laid up. They had -no reason to be afraid: they left the _Libertad’s_ owners in the water; -they left three boys and a Negro in another rowboat. There was not much -danger, from their way of looking at it, in anything that these people -could do. - -If they had seen the signal smoke of the day or the fire and the rockets -and lights at night, it would be too late for them to run out in the -_Libertad_; and, unless they had already hidden the treasure, they could -not very easily do so in the darkness. They would be more apt to believe -themselves well hidden, and would not make any move before daylight, -because they would be waiting for their two men in the sloop to get -Southeast and bring help from inland. They did not know, of course, that -the men had been captured. - -First of all, Sam and a patrol sailor went over the side of the -_Senorita_, in the dark, with ropes under their arms and fastened to the -rail. They searched about on the reef at the side of the ship where -Nicky and his chums had thrown the rifles and pistols. Lieutenant -Sommerlee did not think that these had been in the water long enough to -be severely damaged or made useless; he wanted them for a purpose. - -Sam and his companion by dint of much searching brought up both -submerged rifles and several pistols. - -They were set to work cleaning and drying and oiling them at once. - -“Cliff,” ordered Lieutenant Sommerlee, taking command, “you—with Sam and -Jim and one of my sailors, will stay on the _Senorita_. Jim has had a -night and a day to rest in and he is pretty strong again. You four are -the guardians of this Shark River channel.” - -“If they try to run out past us we must try to prevent that,” Cliff -agreed. - -“Yes,” nodded the commander. “My boatswain, Jack, will be with you and, -for the sake of discipline, you must all obey his orders. He has a cool -head and is a fine shot. Four of you ought to be able to block this -channel if the hi-jackers try to run out here.” - -“We will!” agreed Cliff, feeling the importance of his share in the -blockade. - -“The rest of us will start at once in the cutter,” the lieutenant -continued. “We will tow our own light dory, and when we reach the inner -mouth of the Harney River, Mr. Neale, Nicky, and one of my men who has -been into the Everglades, will drop off in the dory and go up the Harney -River as fast as they can by night. By submerging a flashlight in the -water, training its beam on the bottom, and rowing carefully they can -get almost to the head of the stream, where it has its source at the rim -of the Everglades. From there, as soon as dawn comes, my man will direct -the course South along the rim of the Everglades to the nearest point he -sees fit to the Shark River. The Harney starts a few miles North of the -Shark, at the rimrock, and by sending the boat there, we can block the -Everglades side and stop any Indians who may come there from Big -Cypress.” - -“And we will stop them, never fear!” declared Nicky stoutly. - -“I know that you will,” said the lieutenant with a smile. “The cutter -will proceed carefully down the inner channel. I will be in command, and -will lie-to close to the bank, not far from the Shark. Unless the -hi-jackers rush out I will do nothing until we are all in position. We -shall need some signals.” - -“Have you any smoke-rockets on the cutter?” asked Nicky. “They would -make enough light to be seen at night, and smoke to see by day.” - -“We have,” answered a sailor. “Plenty of them.” - -“Then we will take four,” Nicky suggested. “How will we use them?” - -“One at night will call for help. One right after the other at night -will call urgently for help. Do not use them for any other purpose -tonight, and I will be watching the sky over the ’Glades.” - -“All right, sir,” said Nicky in proper nautical deference. “Then, when -we get into place at the inside end of the Shark, shall we signal?” - -“No,” replied the lieutenant. “But if you see that there is no boat in -the Shark River at all, send up a rocket, wait a minute and then send up -a second. Watch for the same signal in reply; if you do not get it, -repeat with your other two rockets. If the boat is there, make no signal -unless the men are escaping. In that case, send up three rockets in -quick succession, as fast as you can.” - -“How shall we be able to set them up?” asked Mr. Neale. - -“You will find clumps of tall saw-grass almost everywhere; it is from -four to eight or nine feet high, and you must be careful not to let its -sharp edges gash you, but it is strong enough to support a rocket in an -upright position while you set and light it.” - -Hasty repetition by each member of the party of plans in which they must -participate, the arranging of signals from the cutter, and of others -from the _Senorita_, completed the arrangements. - -Cliff, with Jim, Sam and the boatswain, Jack, busily getting the -recovered arsenal into good shape again, saw the cutter disappear into -the gloom. - -The run up the channel into the Harney River was without event, and -since Lieutenant Sommerlee had cruised in those waters, making a chart -for the U. S. Geodetic Survey, he knew the safest way, and finally, with -tense, thrilling nerves, Nicky dropped into the light dory with Mr. -Neale and a sailor called Brownie because his last name was Brown and he -was a short, fat, jolly little man. With whispered directions from the -cutter’s commander, they pushed off and with Mr. Neale at the oars and -Nicky in the stem, Brownie being at the bow to give the course up the -rapidly narrowing stream, they slipped into a darkness that seemed to -close down about them like a curtain. - -By following the lieutenant’s directions they made steady progress as -far as their boat dared go in the dark, feeling-out the channel with the -tip of their flashlight under water so they could see the coral bottom -of the river. Finally they stopped, tied to a heavy root and got such -sleep as they could, curled up on their hard seats. - -At about four-thirty, before dawn cut through the heavy tangle of trees, -intertwined overhead, Brownie awoke his companions and they ate their -hardtack, and picked the bones of a chicken from the cutter’s recent -purchases, cooked the night before on the _Senorita_; this they washed -down with cocoa from tin cups, cocoa hot out of a thermos bottle. - -The hot liquid helped to drive away the night chill, and Nicky declared -that he felt fit for anything. - -“That’s good,” chuckled Brownie. “We’re going to have to stand in -shallow water and walk in it, too. We must drag our dory up over the -rock bed here at the rim of the Everglades.” - -In spite of the cold of the water, fed by the overflow from the -Everglades which, themselves, are renewed by many streams that spout out -cold and clear, from holes in the limestone, they dragged and tugged and -laughed softly as they slipped, until, when the dory was over the rim, -and into fairly good water, they were quite warm from their exertions. - -“Here we are!” said Brownie softly, with a wave of his hand. “Here we -are—in the Everglades!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - NICKY DOES SOME SCOUTING - - -“While we rest,” Brownie said to Nicky, “take a good look around. -There’s not so many white boys who get to see the Everglades. It’s a -sight worth seeing, just at daybreak!” - -It was. Nicky stared about, and turned in surprise. - -“Why, I thought,” he said, amazed. “I thought the ’Glades were all -swamps. They’re not, at all!” - -“Many a one has the wrong idea,” retorted Brownie affably. “In truth, -the ’Glades are just flat bedrock, mostly, under a couple of feet of -water, and with a very thin soil that the grass hangs onto. Down -South’ard, you see, where the trees are, that’s Big Cypress. That’s all -swamp, I admit, and bad to get into. This would be as bad if you got -lost in it, and that wouldn’t be so hard, would it?” - -Mr. Neale agreed with him, while Nicky, standing upright on the forward -thwart, forgot his wet feet in the beauty and strangeness of the scene -before him. - -At the Eastern edge of the ’Glades, the sun was rising, casting its -slanting, golden rays across a great expanse of grass, and more grass, -and yet more grass. - -That grass was no such growth as is usually understood by the name. It -was tall, some clumps of it reaching up as high as ten feet. There were -several kinds, but most predominant was the terrible saw-grass. Its -stiff uprightness, and its rasping, cutting edges would make of it, -Nicky decided, a formidable barrier for anyone who tried to go through -it. - -Brownie agreed with his voiced idea. - -“I went with another lieutenant across the ’Glades, back a couple of -winters ago,” he said. “It took us months. It’s not so many miles, but, -as you can easily see, the grass grows in big clumps, and it is so high -that you can’t spy ahead and find the channels. There are channels, but -they are a good deal like the ones you tell about in those Ten Thousand -Islands. Some of them run into blind ends and shoal up; others are -blocked by the saw grass—and if anybody wants the job of trying to hack -a way through some of these clumps of saw grass, they aren’t named -Brownie.” - -Nicky, and Mr. Neale, could readily see how difficult it would be to cut -a way through: the edges of the blades could inflict such deep gashes in -the hands that only by the most careful work could one cut at them, and -then only in heavy gloves which would, in a short time, be cut through. -Even boots, Brownie said, were not thick enough to withstand much work -in passing through the grass. - -“In places,” he added, “we had to wade and push our canoes—we had two -specially built canoes, and we made a survey while we crossed. The grass -tears at leather and rubber boots and in almost no time it gets through. -Look across! See, about half way, there is a long clump of grass—almost -like land! Well, it’s just grass, and it is so long and so thick that it -took us a couple of weeks, going South, to get down around it. In -covering five miles straight across we made more than forty miles of -travel. You see, we’d go fifty feet and run into a dead end, or into a -bend that took us to grass; then we’d have to go back and search out -another way. Back and forth, around and back, through and back, we went. -I tell you, it was no lark!” - -They were rested, and with water enough to float their dory, they turned -her prow toward the distant line of trees which marked the Big Cypress -Swamp and sculled carefully, winding along the comparatively open way at -the edge of the rim of the ’Glades. - -The Everglades are really a sort of inland sea, very shallow and thickly -studded with clumps of the terrible, high grass. Around the table land -of the shallow sea, which rises gradually toward its center line, -something like a low crest of a long underwater hill, there is a rim of -somewhat higher rock which keeps the water in. - -The water seems to be replenished by streams or springs coming up -through fissures in the rock; its drainage is to the open sea and the -bays inside the outer reefs, through rivers like the Shark and the -Harney on the West side, and the Miami on the Eastern slope. - -Sculling carefully, and keeping a sharp lookout, the trio in the -light-draught dory progressed steadily as the sun rose higher. It was -still very early. - -“I doubt if the hi-jackers are awake yet,” said Brownie. “They probably -feel that they are well hid.” - -“What’s that—ahead?” queried Nicky, standing, carefully balanced, in the -stern. He sat down and helped Mr. Neale to steady their craft while -Brownie rose at the bow and spied over the grass at one side. - -“I swan!” exclaimed Brownie under his breath, turning to his companions. -“It’s—a boat.” - -He turned and stared, under his cupped hand. - -“I can make out—why! It’s the _Senorita_, printed on the bow.” - -“The _Senorita_!” exclaimed Nicky softly. “That’s the tender we had -taken away by Mr. Coleson and Don Ortiga’s brother—the one they called -Senor Ortiga.” - -“Then they must have rowed in at the Harney yesterday, and come around -behind the Shark,” stated Mr. Neale. “I wonder what they intended to -do?” - -“Oh, I’m not worrying about what they intended,” Brownie answered, “I’m -anxious about what they’re doing now—what has happened to them. We ought -to know. It might upset our plans.” - -“There’s nobody in the boat, or in sight,” Nicky whispered as they very -slowly worked the dory closer. The empty tender lay with its nose to the -rock and heavy fringe of underbrush, grass and small trees at the -’Glades’ rim. - -“I know what!” Brownie said, when they were quite dose. “That boat is -moored to a root on the rim-line. It’s about opposite an old Indian -trail, too. A trail leads down beside the Shark. You can’t hardly make -out the mouth where the water escapes from the ’Glades, the trees and -brush is so thick. But it’s there, and the Indians have a sort of -portage, about opposite where the tender lays.” - -“We ought to do some scouting,” suggested Nicky. “Let me!” - -Mr. Neale objected. Brownie, also, said that he had better do it. - -“You’re too stout,” Nicky urged, “and Mr. Neale is not a woodsman. I’ve -spent two summers in the woods, one up in Maine and one out in the -Sierras. I can go quietly and come back without letting anyone know I’m -around.” - -He pleaded so eagerly and the danger seemed so slight, if he kept his -head, as he promised to do, that they finally agreed, and he was allowed -to land on the damp, matted growth at the nose of the dory as she swung -close to the tender. Nicky listened carefully to instructions from -Brownie and warning from Mr. Neale. - -“And be especially watchful about snakes,” Brownie said. “There aren’t -so many in the ’Glades, but in the heavy growth there are plenty. But if -you keep your eyes open—and here!—take this pistol, in case of need!—you -can generally avoid them. If you fire three times, quickly, we will come -to help you. If you fire at a snake, we’ll come, too, of course, but the -three shots is to show that it is help you need, of any kind.” - -The trail was almost blind, being little used, and Nicky was hard put to -it to discover his way sometimes; but Brownie had told him where to look -for Indian signs on the trees and lower tangle, and what sort of ground -to avoid, and he made a fairly quiet and very slow progress. - -Almost so suddenly as to be a total surprise, he came to the end of the -trail. Thick brush and heavy tangle of every sort of vine and creeper -was just ahead; but through it his quick eyes discerned the glint of sun -on rippled water, and the white reflection of a boat’s bow! - -There, moored close to shore, so that one could step from it to the -heavy roots at the edge, lay the _Libertad_! - -Nicky stayed where he was and looked and strained his ears. He moved -cautiously to one side and got a better view. He could see the forward -deck, and there crouched the two Ortiga brothers, the one they called -the Senor and the other, the Don. - -Their voices were low, but they came clearly to Nicky. - -“Let’s call a truce,” Senor Ortiga was saying. “You and I have fought -and won, back and forth, times without number. Now there is enough gold -in this boat to make us rich—and more back in the islands. Let’s bury -the hatchet!” - -“It is buried, amigo,” his brother agreed. “Now I suggest that we also -bury the treasure, out in the ’Glades, and disappear for a while.” - -“That would do but for one thing. We can’t trust our men. If they know -where it is buried they will come back and steal it—or you——” - -“Yes,” snarled the other suddenly angry again. “Or I—or you! Bury the -hatchet! Oh, yes!” - -“Our original plan—your plan—is best, after all,” said the other -brother. “We will wait until the Seminoles come and pack the treasure in -cases when it is divided—then it will be ‘each man for himself!’” - -“I will go back to the rimrock and see if there is any sign of the -Indians,” said Senor Ortiga, rising. Nicky looked about quickly. He must -get back and warn his companions so they could, all three, hide before -the Senor arrived. - -And as Nicky turned, his blood turned to ice in his veins. - -Lying along a low bough, not ten feet from the ground, with its steady, -unblinking, bright, beady eyes fixed on him, lay a moccasin, a large -specimen of the ’Glades snake family! - -Instinctively, and with the impulsiveness that characterized his -movement at many close corners in life, Nicky lifted the pistol and -fired! - -As his finger pressed the trigger he realized that, in the old adage, -“the fat was in the fire.” - -He had upset all their careful plans! - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - IN THE ENEMY’S HANDS - - -It was not the bullet from Nicky’s pistol that did damage—it missed the -moccasin by a good foot; but the sound, pounding through the still -morning air, warned and wakened the hi-jackers. - -Nicky did not dare risk a run past the snake which, in spite of the -pistol shot, had not moved, except to lift its head angrily. - -From the position by the boats Mr. Neale and Brownie heard the -reverberating thud of the exploding powder. “He’s in trouble,” said Mr. -Neale. “But he isn’t calling for help!” answered Brownie. They listened, -but no further sound came. “Guess he got it,” said Brownie. - -But then their ears were assailed by a triple succession of sharp -explosions. This time it was the summons, without chance of mistake! - -Breaking through the tangle, heedless of cuts and scratches, the sailor -and the young collector of relics fought their way along the faint -trail. - -Nicky had aimed the pistol at the snake, even as he pressed the trigger -in the call for aid; but his hand shook so that he made no effect on the -reptile which, alarmed by the sound, slipped in a long, sinuous curve to -the trunk of the tree. Nicky drew a long breath. But at the same instant -that he heard the crash of bodies in the trail, he heard, behind him, -feet thudding up from the waterside. - -Turning, he lifted the pistol desperately in the faces of the two Ortiga -brothers; but they were too close. As one knocked the weapon high in the -air it exploded its fifth cartridge. - -At the sound the men on the path beyond sight of Nicky gave a hail; at -the same instant stout, powerful arms closed around Nicky, his opened -lips were rudely smothered in a coarse hand and he felt himself, -struggling, kicking, trying to bite, propelled toward the water. - -“Fling him in and let’s get away!” cried Don Ortiga. - -“No,” panted his brother, with a wicked word as Nicky teeth closed on -his flesh and he snatched his hand free. “Make him a hostage! Hold him. -Here—ahoy, the ship! Give a hand!” - -Nicky tore and fought but against two powerful men. His fourteen years, -his athletic prowess, were little help to him. His strength was in no -way equal to theirs. From the _Libertad_ came excited voices. - -From the trail broke cries and the sound of Brownie’s automatic barking -as he caught sight of the men; but Mr. Neale stayed his hand, catching a -view of Nicky in the group. - -Before they could get there and intervene, Nicky had been flung to -willing hands, had been thrust back into the cabin, an engineer was -rocking the flywheel of _El Libertad_, her motor took hold with a roar -and a tremble of the hull, Don Ortiga and his brother had thrown -themselves onto the bow deck, clinging to the rail, and then scrambling -down out of range, and, backing down stream, _El Libertad_ was beyond -the leap of Brownie which fell short and sent him plunging down onto the -coral bottom. - -Mr. Neale shouted to Nicky; he was helpless, having no weapon. Nicky -could not answer; he was surrounded, his mouth was being tied securely -with a handkerchief rudely thrust between his lips. - -_El Libertad_ backed slowly but surely down the stream. - -From the bank Brownie, sputtering and soaked, hailed. - -“_Libertad_—ahoy!” he cried. “Stop or we’ll sink you!” - -“With what—your fat?” cried a lusty sailor with a roar of laughter. “If -you shoot you’ll hit your boy—see, here he is!” - -Screening behind Nicky, whose bound form they lifted into view, the evil -sailors sent a defiant guffaw back to the men on the bank. - -“Get the rockets!” panted Mr. Neale, tearing back along the trail, “the -cutter won’t know what’s happened. Send up rockets!” - -Brownie dashed back with him, and while Mr. Neale was fumbling to set -the rockets, and dropping a packet of matches into the water in his -helpless eagerness, Brownie was tugging at the light dory with all his -strength, trying to shove it over the rimrock into the shoals at the -head of the Shark; his idea was to row down after the vessel and so to -be on hand if any help could be rendered. Mr. Neale had to ask for -matches; but finally the fuses hissed and rockets roared up from the -heavy roots into which their sticks had been thrust, to break into puffs -of white, heavy smoke—the warning of attack! - -On the _Libertad_ a hasty conference was held. Nicky was not invited to -attend the conferees, but was bound quickly and thrown unceremoniously -into a corner of the cabin floor, to await their further need for his -protecting body. - -Whispers, gruff laughs, sharp negatives to suggested action, were all -that Nicky could catch. Finally, however, he heard Don Ortiga order the -engineer to put on full speed astern, and back went the white boat down -the Shark, a man at her stem to call the channel to the tillerman. - -“We’ll use him as a blind, say he’s been hurt and we want to deliver him -up,” Nicky overheard a man confide to the engineer who was necessarily -absent from the conference. “That will hold their fire.” - -“Whose fire?” asked the engineer, wiping gasoline from the lower edge of -the carbureter, which seemed to be leaking. - -“The cutter must be laying outside,” the sailor declared. “One man on -the shore was in uniform. They must have tried to surround us. Lucky for -us, the lad fell into our hands!” - -“Yes,” said the engineer coarsely laughing. “If they offer to hurt us we -can shoot him—or whatever we like!” - -At the head of the Shark River Mr. Neale was helping with the dory; its -keel grated and rubbed, offering resistance. They lifted and bumped it -along until it seemed safe to leap in; but the added weight plumped it -down onto the coral again and they had to tumble out and push once more. -Then Mr. Neale leaped in, Brownie gave a shove and fell onto the stern -on his chest, and clambered aboard. They caught the oars and gave way -with insane eagerness. - -On the _Libertad_ Nicky lay in his corner. - -“Let us go—if they don’t—we’ve got him——” - -“Sort of tight corner,” Nicky said to himself, and with all the cunning -at his command he kept his face impassive to the chance sight of a -passing sailor while, under him, cramped as they were, he tugged -fiercely at the hurriedly made knots, his jaws aching from the wedge of -soiled linen crushed between his teeth, his body bent toward one -end—liberation! - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - TWO IN THE TOILS - - -Early in the morning Tom, on board the cutter with Mr. Sommerlee, his -engineer and two of the patrol, decided that a brisk bit of exercise -would be just about the finest appetizer he could desire. - -There had been no signs at all of any excitement, although Tom had taken -his turn with the others at watch while the cutter lay anchored a -stone’s throw beyond the mouth of the Shark River. - -While Lieutenant Sommerlee got the dry-alcohol stove lit up for their -hot cocoa and fried eggs, Tom saw no harm in a brisk swim to the mouth -of the river and back. Accordingly, while the sun was giving Nicky his -first view of the ’Glades, Tom lowered himself from the cutter’s stern, -not caring to risk a dive in the poor light, and struck out gaily for -shore, wondering, as he swam, how Nicky’s party was getting along, back -there beyond the heavy growth that fringed the inner channels. - -Crawling out on a root, Tom slapped the early morning chill of the water -out of his body, and rested before returning to the cutter. - -He wondered, as he lolled on the roots, whether _El Libertad_ was -actually hiding in the river or not. He half wished that he had asked -Mr. Sommerlee for permission to swim up the river a ways; it might help -them to discover the truth; they had no small boat and would not wish to -risk having the cutter discovered before the landing party had its -position and gave a signal. - -“I think I’ll swim up the river a few strokes,” Tom decided. “Nicky swam -a ways in Crocodile Creek and we discovered the liquor stores; it won’t -hurt me to do a hundred yards and back.” - -Accordingly he slipped down into the limpid stream, and against a slight -current that did not tire him at all, he pulled his lithe, muscular -young body along steadily. But when he lifted his head to glance ahead -he saw nothing; nothing, that is, but water and low-clustered tree roots -on the banks, tall grass, and leaves meeting in a heavy tangle along the -banks and, far beyond him, meeting overhead. The _Libertad_ was too -close in, behind a tangle of weed and grass, to be visible from his low -point of vantage in the water. - -Suddenly his ears were assailed by a distant thud—like a shot! - -Tom listened. There was the deep silence of the morning over all of -Nature. “Perhaps an Indian is out hunting—or a white man has just shot -his breakfast,” Tom mused, and deciding that he had gone far enough he -swung lazily, and then set off with brisk strokes. - -Then he beached and stood up on a ledge of sandy coral reef. The three -signal shots bore their triple crash through the woods, followed by -Nicky’s final shot. - -“That sounds more like fighting than hunting,” mused Tom. “I wonder if -our land party has made contact! I guess I had better go back to the -cutter and see if they have noticed any rocket signals.” - -He turned and began to swim back. - -He had gone further than he had intended to, however, and he felt pretty -well tired out by the time he came back to the river mouth; so, deciding -to rest and to hail the cutter and ask for information, he drew himself -up on the root. - -He saw a flurry of activity on the cutter; quite clearly he had been -totally forgotten in some new excitement. The motor was running and -Lieutenant Sommerlee, eyes fixed on the far reaches of the river was -maneuvering, backing and turning to bring the cutter broadside to the -channel. Tom turned to look back up the stream he had recently swam in, -and saw, afar, the white spot that would soon become _El Libertad_, -backing out because she could not turn in the channel. - -Mentally, Tom summed up the situation quickly; if he tried to swim out -to the cutter he would interfere with the lieutenant’s plans, and -perhaps be in the line of fire if the white vessel continued to -approach. He would surely be in line of fire from her stern if he tried -to swim to the cutter. - -Yet, naked and white against the dark foliage, he would be just as much -of a target, and quite as noticeable, on his root. - -Hastily, but warily, remembering saw-tooth grass and snakes as very real -menaces to unshod feet and an unprotected body, Tom melted into a -thicket of heavy creeper and leaves, and with his eyes peering through -his green lattice, he saw the white boat crawl out into view. - -Then he saw something more. Nicky, still gagged and bound, was up on the -after deck, held there by the arm of a man who cleverly kept as much of -his person below the coaming of the after cockpit as he could. - -Tom compressed his lips to hold back his first impulse to call out. - -How had Nicky gotten into that predicament? What was he doing in the -hands of the enemy? He was prompted to shout to Nicky; then sober second -thought told him that this might endanger Nicky, and it would certainly -draw attention to himself, not very desirable to a white-skinned boy, -minus his clothes, and menaced by a pack of men evil enough to treat his -chum so rudely. - -Tom held his position and watched. - -Evidently it was the intention of the hi-jackers to have Nicky -discovered and recognized by the crew of the cutter. Such was, in fact, -their aim. Mr. Coleson, compelled to expose a portion of his arms in -order to keep Nicky in view, did not like his place nor the rough -treatment the boy had received. While he had, it is true, helped to tie -the boys on a previous occasion, and had then deserted them in their -tender, and, later, with Senor Ortiga, had stolen the tender in order to -chase the hi-jackers, he had not in any of this actually intended any -violence toward his youthful captives or—as they later became—rescuers! - -It irked him, and went against his sense of decency, weak though that -was, to have Don Ortiga cold-bloodedly crouch beside the engine with a -pistol in his hand, holding it trained on Nicky, and, as Mr. Coleson -made no doubt, ready to fire with deadly aim. - -Tom, on the shore, took in Nicky’s plight. Being elevated above the -water edge, he was able to see downward beyond the coaming of the cabin -sides, and he observed Don Ortiga’s position and its menace. - -Still he held his lips pressed together. A warning would do no good; -silence could do no harm. - -From the _Libertad_ the hoarse hail of Senor Ortiga came across the -water. The _Libertad_ had lost way and drifted very slowly stern-first -out of the mouth of the river. Those in the cutter caught the hail also, -and the hand Lieutenant Sommerlee had partly raised to call for full -speed across the oncoming stem, was suspended in midair. - -“There’s a gun trained on this boy,” cried the younger Ortiga. “We have -his life in our hands. We mean to get free and if you stop us or fire or -try any tricks, the boy pays for it!” - -The position into which the _Libertad_ had drifted was stern-out, so -that the cutter was on her quarter, and to the side farthest from Tom’s -hiding place. - -In that position, totally unsuspicious of his presence, no one on _El -Libertad_ was paying attention to his side of the river mouth. - -Two ideas, two courses of action, sprang into Tom’s mind. The first was -this: he recalled that when the trio had lain, tied hand and foot on the -floor of the _Libertad’s_ cabin, the drip-drip of the gasoline from a -leaky carbureter gasket had become very noticeable. - -He recalled that Mr. Coleson had mentioned it to Senor Ortiga, that -night when they had returned from their fruitless hunt, and said he must -fix it. The idea Tom had was that if he could manage to get on board, -unobserved, and loosen the carbureter or destroy it, the white boat -would be powerless to escape. But the men were all congregated at the -stern, all except the steersman, up in the cubby where the wheel was -located, at the forward end of the cabin. - -The second idea grew from the first: in the bow was the main gasoline -tank; a pipe line of copper ran along, close under the edge of the cabin -flooring, and up forward there was a petcock in the line, so that the -flow of what Mr. Coleson, in his English fashion, called “petrol” could -be cut off in case of a break in the line. “Now,” decided Tom, “if I -could get aboard and turn that cock without my action being discovered, -the engine would stop as soon as it sucked the compression tank -dry—about a tenth of a mile. Then they’d have to surrender or be starved -out, and we could signal for help, and certainly pick them off. Maybe, -with Cliff, I could plan to get Nicky free first! I’m going to try it!” - -Tom made as little noise as he possibly could, climbing out of his -retreat; if he was discovered, he must be shot! - -But they were all busy listening to some plea or argument from the -lieutenant. Tom made his dip into the water without apparently -attracting the least bit of notice. - -He waded softly, as far as he could, then with deft, quiet strokes, drew -steadily, if slowly, closer—closer—closer! - -If only they all kept out of range below the cockpit and cabin coaming! -Evidently, in spite of the danger to Nicky, none of the desperate crew -cared for a chance shot from the cutter. They stayed low. - -Tom reached the side of the almost inert white hull; with only a slight -drift taking her gradually past the cutter, she was evidently being -permitted to lie still until the drift got her out of the way of the -cutter, or far enough into open water so that she could be turned and -steered in a forward run. - -Tom, huddled close under the hull, holding to the loop of the anchor -rope which hung down, listened. As he came on he noticed that the cutter -was edging up, and that Nicky had been dragged off of the after deck. -Tom believed that he knew why. They had threatened to do something to -Nicky in order to stop the cutter from edging up. - -A shrill cry from the _Libertad_, right over his head, made Tom almost -let go of his rope; then he realized that to him it did not sound like -Nicky’s voice! They were frightening the lieutenant with a falsified -noise, the cry of a falsetto voice among the crew. - -He could not see, clinging under the hull, but he guessed that the ruse -had succeeded; he guessed, also; that, if ever, now was his moment to -act. - -_El Libertad_ had drifted at least a boat’s-length back from the river -mouth; probably most of her crew would be looking toward the cutter -which must, by the changed position, be off her forward beam. Tom lifted -his hand until he could loosen it from the rope without letting the -cable slap the side, then dropped back into the water, pulled alongside -the hull toward the stern, and there reached up and caught the rail with -one hand. - -Would he be seen? - -Slowly he drew the other hand to the rail. Nothing happened. He suppled -his muscles and then with all their aid working in the slow, upward -pull, he drew his eyes level with the deck. - -They were all forward, intent on something—Nicky or the cutter! - -Tom pulled himself up higher, made an effort, and by ill fortune, on the -instant of success, slipped on the wet rail, and plumped down in a heap -in the cockpit, aft. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - ONE LAST HOPE! - - -Nicky, held, as he was, between two pairs of strong arms, with Mr. -Coleson on one side of him and Tew on the other, saw that Lieutenant -Sommerlee, with his two patrols in the cutter, was “in a fix.” It was -plainly to be seen that the naval man did not dare to open fire, because -of the threat to Nicky; nor did he dare to approach. - -The lieutenant had prolonged the parley, making offers and trying, by -threat, by pleading, by persuasion, to induce the desperate crew of _El -Libertad_ to see reason, to give themselves up. - -Nicky had somewhat loosened the rope around his wrists, but he did not -let this be known because he knew that he could not make his escape and -he wanted to save his strength for a surprise at a more advantageous -time. - -Tom, flopping his wet, naked body onto the after deck and tumbling -unceremoniously into the cockpit, turned every man’s attention in that -direction. - -“So help me!” shouted Tew, “it’s a mermaid—no, a merman—what’s come -floppin’ aboard.” He released one of Nicky’s arms and crawled aft. Don -Ortiga still kept Nicky covered with his weapon, a menacing glow in his -eyes. All of the crew crouched because they did not want to risk the -chance of an unexpected shot from the cutter. Crawling to where the -engineer was rocking the flywheel, getting the engine to start again, -Tew confronted Tom. - -“What brought you aboard?” he demanded. - -“I came to be with my chum!” declared Tom. “If you’ll let me get Mr. -Coleson’s jumper out of the engine locker, I’ll thank you.” Tew nodded -and Tom secured the jumper with which to cover his body. - -Lieutenant Sommerlee saw the naked body land on _El Libertad_ and -realized that it was Tom’s, but did not see why the boy had deliberately -gone into danger. - -However, as attention seemed to be distracted from him he seized the -opportunity to make a sign to the man at the cutter’s engine and that -sailor, with careful hand, advanced his throttle, so that the engine got -more gas and picked up. The cutter began to nose in to closer quarters -with the white boat. - -At the same time Senor Ortiga drew a weapon and pointed it toward Tom. - -“You come forward,” he commanded. “Tew—or somebody—tie him up.” - -“All right, if you think I can do any harm,” said Tom quietly, “but take -that handkerchief out of Nicky’s mouth. What can he do by talking that -can hurt you? It’s simply cruelty to gag him!” - -“Take it out!” snapped Don Ortiga. “We don’t intend to be cruel, but you -fellows are interfering with us and we are going to use you to cover our -escape—then we will see what to do with you later.” - -“All right,” agreed Tom, pretending to extend his arms toward Tew. - -“Keep away!” shouted Senor Ortiga to the cutter. - -But she had headway and was coming on. Lieutenant Sommerlee had decided -that he must risk the possibility of harm to the boys—he held that they -would hesitate a long moment before they would stain their hands with a -crime against life. - -In that he was right, because the most hardened criminals are really -cowards and, unless maddened or morally perverted, they will be more -afraid of death than of imprisonment, and will weigh their chances of -escape to the last instant before actually committing a major crime. - -Nicky, seeing that his chance might have come, suddenly wrenched his -shoulder out of the grip of the sailor, at the same instant giving the -sailor a thrust with his hands, and ripping them free of the rope. The -sailor staggered, being off balance in his crouching position; he -cannoned against Don Ortiga. - -Tom, fastening the strap of the jumper he had donned, saw Nicky’s move, -and, being upright, saw Lieutenant Sommerlee rise in the cutter and take -aim at one of the men. - -With a catlike leap he sprang against Tew, knocking him off his feet -against the engineer; the two men clutched one another for support. - -Tom, his plan of action made sure, had seen a wrench lying on the floor. -For this he reached; he got it in his hand and arose. He turned toward -the engine. The wrench rose in the air and came down with all Tom’s -force, sidewise, toward the carbureter. - -But Tew had divined his purpose and with a superhuman effort caught the -swinging arm and by his superior strength diverted the blow enough so -that it clanged harmlessly against the water-cooling outer casing of the -motor. - -Tom, seeing the futility of his blow, released the wrench. - -As he sprang back there came a report from the cutter. - -But at the same instant Don Ortiga fired back, crying -“Down—flat—everybody!” They all crouched. - -“Jump—Nicky!” cried Tom. “Jump overboard.” - -Nicky leaped onto the cushioned side seat and tried to elude the -gripping hands. Tom, on his end of the cabin floor, made a similar -effort. The engine roared as contact was made, and the _Libertad_, -gathering headway, swung her nose and made straight for the cutter. - -Lieutenant Sommerlee and his two men were firing, but while woodwork in -the cabin window sashes flew in splinters, they had to fire carefully so -as not to touch the two boys. - -Tom and Nicky were struggling, each caught by the legs. They strove -manfully against the heavy odds, but while the men dared not show their -heads, or expose their bodies to the fire from the cutter, they could -drag at the boys in safety. - -The uneven struggle lasted only a moment and the boys were lying, -pinioned, panting, helpless on the cabin floor. - -The _Libertad_, veering suddenly, made a sweeping curve, turning aside -from the cutter. In the position which the cutter was faced, coming -head-on, she had to pass astern of the _Libertad_ before her men could -control the tiller and turn her rudder. - -Nicky and Tom, lying on the floor, could not see; but they heard the -foul words of the _Libertad’s_ crew and saw the flashes of their -weapons. Directed against the three in the cutter, their superior fire -was a menace that Lieutenant Sommerlee could not overcome; before he -could, under the circumstances, get the cutter around, _El Libertad_ was -racing, full speed, for the channel that led outward. The cutter came -on, but the _Libertad_ had the headway and the advantage of her straight -course while the cutter had to swing in a wide circle before she could -take full advantage of her speed. - -“You boys will be sorry for what you tried,” grated Don Ortiga. - -“We’re sorry now,” said Tom shortly. “We are sorry that we tried to get -away.” - -“Yes,” panted Nicky, “we ought to have succeeded.” - -He turned his head toward Tom, his lips shaped words, but only Tom, -reading his lips, got the message. - -“There’s only one hope,” Nicky’s lips formed, “Cliff!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - CLIFF PLAYS HIS PART - - -Cliff, on board the stranded _Senorita_, with Sam and Jim and the naval -patrol sailor, Jack, knew nothing of the exciting events that had just -occurred. - -Nor did he guess that an escaping white boat full of desperate men was -laying its course to pass his station. - -Tom’s effort to destroy the carbureter had drawn the attention of the -crew to the engineer’s repeated assertions that the leaky old carbureter -was wasting gas, and that they ought to be sure they had enough to run -the channel and escape. - -“But where can we get any more?” said Senor Ortiga. - -“On the wrecked _Senorita_, of course,” snapped his brother. “Her tanks -are almost full.” - -“But with the cutter coming, how can we stop for gas?” demanded Tew. - -“Easy,” said a sailor, and revealed a plan. - -Of all that Cliff was ignorant. He, with Sam, Jim and the sailor, had -stood watch-and-watch through the night and up into the day. - -But nothing had altered the monotony. - -But excitement was coming, and coming fast! - -Nicky and Tom had been unceremoniously roped and flung into the open -cockpit aft of the engine compartment. The cockpit was a low step higher -than the cabin flooring, but its coaming and sides were so high that all -the two chums could see was the sky and, when they ran close to an -islet, the tops of the trees where these grew near the water. - -The cutter had been delayed for a moment to pick up Mr. Neale and -Brownie, who had rowed with all their might and had sighted the cutter -in time to hail her and to be taken aboard. Lieutenant Sommerlee wanted -Brownie, a good shot, and Mr. Neale would be able to play a part if -hand-to-hand fighting came about. - -He sent Brownie forward and bade him scan the water closely as they put -full speed on to chase the _Libertad_, long since passed out of view -beyond the first island of the archipelago. - -“I suspect they will try to do something to delay us,” the lieutenant -said. “They may drop something in the channel, for there is one place -where it is very narrow and quite shallow, and almost any large -object—an anchor, sticking up on the coral, would crush our bow planks -at the speed we’re making.” - -Brownie kept a sharp watch, and soon discovered, as they approached the -narrowest and shallower part of the channel, something dark on the -bottom. - -“Cliff and Jack and the colored men will stop them I hope,” said the -commander as they slowed and drew near to the submerged danger. - -“They will, if they can do it,” Brownie said. He dropped over the bow -and discovered that his commander had foreseen exactly what had been -done; the _Libertad’s_ anchor had been cut loose, and, with some spare -engine parts, had been flung from the white boat’s stern into the -channel with the hope that the cutter would run onto them and be -entirely disabled, before they were noticed. - -While the damage was averted, it took time to lift the heavy metal under -the water, and to displace it. - -Meanwhile Cliff sat on the slanting deck of the _Senorita_, with Jack -and Sam, while Jim hung close above them on the top of the cabin, his -eyes fixed on the distances of the channel. - -“What will you do if they come in daylight?” Cliff looked up at him to -ask. - -“Shoot at the waterline and let the water in,” said Jack. - -“But they’ll shoot back,” objected Cliff. - -“That’s the chance we have to take,” Jack answered. - -“We might load up the signal cannon with some slugs, or something,” -suggested Jim. He had begged Cliff’s pardon for his part in the tying-up -and other maltreatment aboard the _Senorita_; Jim was not a bad being at -heart; he had been employed by Senor Ortiga and Mr. Coleson and had only -done their bidding, with no animosity or cruelty in his actions. Cliff -had readily forgiven him. Jim, thus made happy, was just as determined -to help the side of right and justice as he had been, before, to earn -his pay honestly, as he saw honesty and his duty to his employers. - -“The cannon wouldn’t carry the slugs any distance,” said Sam. - -“But they’d have to pass within three feet of us,” said Jim. - -He pointed overside to the channel, where the deep water was at the side -of the wrecked vessel. “This boat ran onto coral because her tiller rope -broke, remember! There’s plenty of water, and they can pass us, but -they’ll have to steer close.” - -Cliff nodded. - -“If you fellows won’t think I’m bossy,” he said, modestly, “and if Jack -won’t be mad and think I want to be the leader, I’d like to say -something.” - -“Go ahead,” said Jack. “Always open to good ideas, buddy!” - -Cliff expounded a plan: his first idea was that to fire at the vessel, -if she ever came, would bring about firing in response. If they could in -some way lure some of the hi-jackers onto the _Senorita_, without their -own numbers being endangered, several of them might board the other boat -and destroy her steering gear, or even capture her. - -Jack liked the plan better than he did his own. - -“I’m for it,” he said. “If you can get them to stop—if they come out at -all, and if they get past the cutter, which I don’t see how they can!” - -“Jim, they know, is on board,” Cliff said. “My plan would be for Sam, -and you, Jack, and me, to hide behind the cabin where they couldn’t see -us, and have Jim hail them, if they come close enough and slow up enough -to let him jump aboard—and they might not. But if they didn’t, Jim could -be up forward on the cabin, and keep their attention on that end of the -boat, and when they come abreast maybe one or more of us could run -around the after end of the cabin and jump aboard.” - -“Pretty wild chance,” commented Sam. “But it’s better than risking our -necks standing up to be shot at—we’d have at least the chance of -surprising them, and if we got aboard——” - -“There’s a rocket!” cried Jack. “And another—” They all scrambled onto -the cabin and stared toward the distant coast. Three puffs of smoke hung -in the air, low over the trees. - -“Nicky’s signal—or the cutter’s,” Cliff cried. “Be ready for—for -anything!” - -The wait was tedious. Their nerves were taunt and their voices when they -spoke briefly were rather shrill and shaky. They did not know what was -happening or what might happen. Would they be called on, really, to try -to stop a band of hi-jackers? It seemed very easy when they discussed it -in calm security; but with those signals shredding into nothing in the -air, the reality and seriousness of their position came home to them -all. - -The time seemed endless, but finally Jim, alone on the cabin roof, -whispered down, without moving enough to disclose the fact to his -oncoming adversaries, “here she comes—_El Libertad_—and a-hummin’.” - -“How many on her? Who can you see?” asked Cliff, tensely. - -The white craft came ahead at her full speed. After a brief wait Jim -answered Cliff. “I see my old boss, Senor Ortiga,” he said, “and Marse -Coleson! And some other men—why, it’s the men who used to be in business -with my boss, only they turned hi-jackers. Yes, sar, there’s Don Ortiga, -the brother—and Tew—and all o’ them, the very ones we sent you to with -that message in the can.” - -“I know,” said Cliff. “Never mind, now—hail them, aren’t they near -enough?” Being under the cabin wall for concealment he was not able to -see. - -“Now they are,” said Jim softly and sent a hail across the water. - -“Take me off, stop and take me off—Master Coleson, it’s Jim!” he -shouted. There was no answer. The white boat, as he reported in low -tones, between hails, was slowing up, and coming closer, losing -way—stopping. Jim, to carry out his part, sprang down from the cabin. - -Cliff, Sam and Jack crouched; they were no longer able to tell what was -happening, but they knew that Jim would call out “Bless you for saving -me!” if he got aboard and then they could act quickly, knowing that the -boat would be opposite their end of the cabin. - -Instead, another voice came, loud and clear. - -“We’ll see about taking you off; we’re stopping! We need gas.” - -“How’d you get gas?” asked Jim, from the deck rail. “You ain’t got no -way to pump it from one tank to the other!” - -“Yes we have,” called the voice. Cliff thought it sounded like Tew. “We -got a hose rigged to our bilge pump, and we’ll pump with that.” - -The white boat scraped along the _Senorita’s_ tilted side, and men -swarmed over onto her deck; the crouching three heard their boots -scrabble, thud and clump about. They were forward, and Jim had run along -the forward end of the craft to continue his talk. The after end of the -_Senorita_ was, therefore, beyond the after rail of the shorter boat. - -Cliff inched his way around the aft side of the cabin until he could -peer forward, taking a big chance, but feeling that he must see. - -Jack, and Sam, creeping close behind him, waited in suspense. - -Cliff took a swift peep and ducked back. - -“They’re stretching a hose to the _Senorita’s_ forward tank,” he -breathed. “There are some men on the _Senorita_, and—let me look again!” - -He protruded his head again, and then he thought he heard a low whistle. - -Cliff turned, looking down toward the stern of the white vessel. - -There, trussed up like two turkeys, in the cockpit of the _Libertad_, -lay Tom and Nicky, the latter grinning a little sheepishly. - -Cliff turned to his companions. His voice came in swift, whispered -words. Jack nodded. - -“We’ll do it!” he answered, hoarsely. “Inch as close as you can and -we’ll be behind you. You take the cockpit, and free your chums. I’ll -race forward, shooting, call Jim to help, and try to prevent the others -from getting off our wreck. Sam, you shoot—in the air, in the -water—anywhere; but shoot, load again and shoot—holler and try to scare -them if you can’t hit them!” - -“All right,” said Sam. Cliff inched along the deck. He was in plain -view, now, from forward on the _Senorita_, or from the _Libertad_. - -But the trio in the cabin of the latter vessel were deep in -conversation, and the men were busy with the hose. - -“Start your bilge pump!” called a sailor. Tew, on the white boat, bent -and engaged a clutch; there was a heavy grind of gearing and the slow -pulsation of a pump. - -“Now!” whispered Cliff, and dashed for the rail. - -“Look out—we’re caught!” yelled a man, on guard atop the _Senorita’s_ -cabin, watching for the cutter. He fired at Cliff, but Sam, reaching a -black arm over the cabin studding, yanked his leg, threw him off -balance, and spoiled aim. Shooting, yelling, Jack charged up narrow -deck, Sam at his heels. - -Cliff leaped and landed beside Nicky! - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI - NICKY IS A HERO! - - -Things happened so fast and so thick that no one could have told a story -of all that went on. Cliff, landing on all fours, beside Nicky, was up -on his knees in an instant, tugging his knife from his pocket, ripping -open its blade. - -He slashed at Nicky’s rope, and loosened it; again he slashed and then, -at a warning cry from Tom, he looked over his shoulder, but too late. - -Nicky, frantically tugging to loosen the cut rope, saw Tew coming but -was as helpless as Tom. - -Cliff dropped his knife and tried to get up, to turn, to ward off the -blow. Tew, his face working in a rage, his whole, muscular frame behind -his stout arm, drove a fist at Cliff’s head. Cliff instinctively threw -up his arm. The fist crashed against it, flung him by its force against -the cockpit thwart, and Cliff felt sick and faint, struggled to rise, -saw the world turn black, big and little pinwheels whirl before his -eyes, and sank in a heap. - -Tew turned, and raced back to his engine. Nicky, his whole being burning -with a fire of fury, tore at his rope and began to loosen it. - -On the _Senorita_, the man atop her cabin was firing at Sam and Jack but -they, under the shelter of the cabin, were crouched low, scampering up -the deck, loading their pistols. - -The men forward with the hose, taken by surprise, without their weapons -in their hands, scattered, several leaping into the water and making for -the islet close at hand. - -Jim had already leaped into the forward cabin of the _Libertad_, and -with his pistol aimed toward the deck of the vessel just above, was -warning off those who wanted to leap down. They stopped, not daring to -leap. - -Nicky got his arms free, threw the rope impatiently off and bent over -Cliff. His chum lay inert, stunned by the shock as his head had struck -the wood in his fall. - -Nicky turned, to look for the knife, to free Tom. - -On the cabin top the man on watch gave over firing and shouted a hoarse -warning! - -“The cutter!” he roared, “she’s coming!” - -Full speed up the channel came Lieutenant Sommerlee’s craft, with -Brownie, the lieutenant and the two sailors forward, Mr. Neale at the -tiller, aft. - -The men on the _Senorita_ leaped to the water, Jack and Sam coming from -concealment, standing erect, ordering them to surrender and firing at -their heads as they scrambled for the islet and cover on the farther -shore. - -In the cabin of the _Libertad_ the two men, Mr. Coleson and Don Ortiga, -called to Senor Ortiga, who was on the deck of the _Senorita_, and at -the same time a rifle ball, from the man on the cabin, aimed quickly at -Jim, cut into the flesh of the colored man’s arm and he dropped his -weapon. - -Without an instant’s hesitation, Senor Ortiga leaped upon him, landed in -the cabin, bent double, knocking Jim aside, and began to reach for the -wheel, as Tew, leaping for the spark lever, advanced the spark, and at -the same time threw the gear lever out of mesh with the bilge pump and -into the gear with the engine propeller shaft. - -As the engine took the spark and began to roar, Mr. Coleson, his face -white, leaped past Tew to get to the cabin windows and thus to jump out -into the channel and take his chance on swimming clear. - -Nicky made a lunge past Tew, to stop Mr. Coleson, but his foot caught on -the hose, still connected loosely to the bilge pump, and tore it free. -There came the gurgle of the gas still in it, as it flowed over the -floor in a trickling, spreading pool. - -Nicky missed his catch, and saw Mr. Coleson leap free and plunge -overside into the channel. - -From the cutter came hails and shots. - -On the _Senorita_ Sam and Jack had captured one man, and were firing at -the islet. - -Nicky felt himself caught by the nape of the neck as he tried to recover -his balance. With his face white with rage, Don Ortiga brought Nicky -upright and sent him, with the full force of his strong arms, toward the -forward cabin. Then, as Nicky sprawled in a heap, Don Ortiga turned on -his brother, just arising to face him. - -“This is your fault!” he grated. “If you hadn’t come in and left your -boat to be discovered——” - -“Be still!” cried his brother. “Where is the gold—we must get it -away—some of it!” - -“It is safe!” growled Don Ortiga. - -“Then let’s go away from this spot!” - -“I shall go. You shall stay. Here and now we settle an old score,” cried -Don Ortiga. Nicky saw him unsheathe a knife, and at the same instant -Senor Ortiga, seeing his danger, leaped to grip the arm holding the -knife. - -Nicky, rushing past Tew, who was steering the craft, its momentum -increasing with every turn of the propeller, tried to trip Don Ortiga, -but the other man leaped aside, thrust at him with a foot, and at that -instant Senor Ortiga caught the wrist of his hand holding the knife and -a battle ensued that made Nicky gasp. - -Amid the shouts and the shots from the cutter, amid the cries of men -being caught or being fired at in the water, with the craft making -steady way under Tew’s guidance, those two brothers strove and strained, -fighting wordlessly for the possession of that knife. - -Nicky was held spellbound for an instant. - -Then, with a cruel trick, Don Ortiga lifted a knee and caught the -brother he hated in a vital spot and Senor Ortiga, with a groan, relaxed -his hold on the knife. - -Don Ortiga stepped back, his face a mask of hate and fury. - -His brother began to recover, for the blow had not been delivered with -enough force to be permanently damaging. - -“And now, as I said, we settle old scores!” hissed Don Ortiga. - -With a hand that shook he extracted a cigarette from a case in his -pocket, staring in meditation on his evil plan while his brother, -groaning and white, gained his balance. - -Don Ortiga scraped a match roughly against its box, lit his cigarette -and then, flicking his match carelessly, loosed it. - -Nicky cried out shrilly. - -“The gas!” yelled Nicky. “Get away! The gas!” - -Senor Ortiga sensed the danger, and so did his brother. Both acted; the -Don leaped back to the cockpit and began to scramble to its side, his -brother trying to crawl out of the window. - -It all happened in a fraction of a second—the match was in the air, the -men were escaping, Nicky was leaping back toward Tew for he saw what was -coming. - -Tew, as the match landed, yelled in terror and began to climb from the -cabin to the forward deck and there leaped into the water. - -As he did so there was a flash, a roar and a seething, boiling pool of -flaming gasoline covered the cabin floor around the engine! - -Nicky, whose first instinctive impulse had been self-preservation, -instantly thought of his chums in the cockpit—of Tom, bound—of Cliff, -perhaps still insensible. - -The men were being rounded up, by shouting navy men and those who -helped. But of this, of the effort of Mr. Coleson to escape, of his -capture, of the capture of the Don and of his brother, Nicky knew -nothing. - -His whole mind was fixed on one purpose. - -He must get through a lake of seething flame to his chums! - -The cockpit was a bare few inches above the floor level of the engine -compartment, and so the gasoline had not spread; but the flame was -licking the sides of the cabin, flaring through the windows, and, fanned -by the speed of the vessel’s movement, bellied out aft over the boys. - -Nicky was almost thrown off his feet as the _Libertad_ thrust her nose, -unguided by human hand, against the side of the coral, and with a jolt -stopped. - -Nicky gained his equilibrium and leaped for the foredeck; there he -climbed swiftly atop the low cabin and began to run along its length. - -As he ran he shouted wildly to Lieutenant Sommerlee and Mr. Neale. - -They heard him and the cutter swung her nose toward the beached vessel -with its cabin blazing. - -Nicky saw flames leap up through the windows and lick at the roof and -blow over it in the light breeze. It was hot to his feet, still he went -on, a handkerchief over his face, crouching low as he ran. - -He stopped, at the after end, for a sheet of flame was bellying out. But -it subsided, and taking what might be his last chance, he leaped onto -all-fours beside Tom. - -Cliff was moaning, stirring. Nicky shouted again to those in the cutter -and Mr. Neale leaned far over the bow, to reach the white stern at the -very first instant. - -With seething flame behind him, threatening to belch out over him at any -instant, with the cockpit edge beginning to burst into flame, Nicky -found Cliff’s knife and sawed Tom’s bonds. Then, cutting down the ropes -between his legs so he could stand and work, Nicky let Tom help his own -final escape while he tugged and worked to get Cliff in his arms. - -“Be still,” urged Nicky. “It’s all right!” - -Sam and Jack had seen the fire occur; with a common impulse they had -leaped into the _Senorita’s_ cabin to get the patent fire extinguishers -always kept in an engine room. With these they leaped back to the deck -and alongside the flaming cabin as Nicky crossed it. - -Turning the extinguishers upside down to break their containers and -allow the chemicals to fuse and mix and create pressure and a spouting -flow of watery gas, they turned the short nozzles onto the cockpit and -cabin. There was the roar and hiss of chemicals meeting their flaring -enemy. - -There came a great puff of smoke and flame, but Nicky, just in time, on -the edge of the cockpit, with Cliff in his arms, leaped! - -He struck the water, and began to swim, holding Cliff’s head up! - -Tom, freeing himself at the same time, sprang into the water and paddled -to his chums. - -The cutter came alongside and they were drawn from the water. - -And then, with a violent roar as the fire found the gas line and fresh -fuel, the fire blazed up again. - -“The tank—the aft tank!” cried Jim, leaping from the cabin floor where -he had, with his hurt arm, been trying to get the _Libertad’s_ -extinguisher into play. “The tank! Get away!” - -He leaped into the water and swam off, and at the same time, with a -glorious feeling that some High Power had held back the end until all -were safely away, Nicky, in the cutter, saw _El Libertad’s_ stern burst -into a mass of fire, sparks and rending wooden splinters. - -Her stern, literally blown to bits, sank, blazing and hissing, into the -channel, leaving her still blazing with her nose on the coral. - -There was nothing to do about it. - -“But the treasure—” gasped Cliff, who had come to himself somewhat, with -a good sized bruise on his temple. “It will all be melted.” - -“Let it melt!” cried Nicky. “As long as you and Tom are safe!” - -And, with no further word than a tight grip of Cliff’s hand, Nicky -watched wordlessly the blazing pyre of all their seeking. - -“The gold won’t burn,” Lieutenant Sommerlee consoled the boys. - -“And there is more in the coral ‘safe,’” said Mr. Neale. - -They laid off all that day, watched the embers sink down to the water’s -edge, saw the last spark die, and then plumbed the wreckage for the -treasure, hoping that in a state of molten yellow blocks it would be -brought up. But no golden bars were there, nor could a single glint of -melted metal be discovered, though Sam, Jim and Brownie dived with a -will and almost tore the charred insides out of the _Libertad_. - -“Where can it be?” mused Mr. Neale. - -They questioned their captives, but all were silent. With a fierce -grimace of hate Don Ortiga told them they would never find it. - -But Nicky held on firmly to hope! - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII - HOW VOODOO BROUGHT SUCCESS - - -Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, looking with their lordly heads over the wide -expanse of a sunlit sea, discerned a white sail. That was no unusual -sight to them; but this particular sail seemed, in some way, to be more -important than the rest. - -It was. Under its wide, unreefed expanse, three youths, a colored and a -white man watched eagerly for the closer signs of the island’s harbor at -Kingston. - -In time they landed, and, after a while, they had secured a conveyance -and were whirling out through the lazy streets, noticing with delight -the familiar sights, the indolent colored people on the streets and in -the shops, the family “flitting” or moving, its colored woman heading -the procession with the dining room table balanced on her head, its legs -sticking aloft, the family stuff piled within its upturned top; while -the children bore their respective loads and the man of the family, as -usual, stalked along behind—carrying nothing! - -“It’s great to see the cactus again!” grinned Nicky, noting the great -plants by the wayside when they left the city and rose into higher -ground, seeing cactus plants many feet high, sometimes making a -veritable forest with their close-set ranks. - -In time Mr. Gray, Cliff’s father, greeted them on the old plantation. -They had cabled from Florida before sailing back in Sam’s _Treasure -Belle_. - -Many were the greetings exchanged, and long were the tales that had to -be told. Nelse and the hi-jackers were in prison. - -“Mr. Coleson was let go free,” Nicky explained. “I guess the naval -patrol did not want to get into any trouble with the British—or the -authorities in Jamaica.” - -“It would have brought about complications,” said Mr. Neale. “I -understand that Mr. Coleson won’t return to Jamaica.” - -“He cabled me,” said Mr. Gray. “He asked me if I wanted to buy this -plantation.” - -“Will you?” Cliff asked his father, the scholar who wrote many books -about ancient civilizations. - -“No, sar,” broke in Sam, smiling his bright smile. “But Sam will.” - -“So that’s how you will spend your share of the treasure?” asked Nicky. - -“Part of it,” agreed Sam. - -“But you haven’t yet told me how you discovered it,” Mr. Gray said. “You -stopped at the point where you failed to bring it up from the burned -vessel.” - -“Well,” said Nicky, “we ‘worked’ a little voodoo, sort of, didn’t we, -fellows?” Tom and Cliff nodded. - -“You see, if the treasure wasn’t in the burned boat somebody must have -hidden it,” Cliff took up the explanation. “Nicky suggested that we make -an experiment. He thought that as long as Don Ortiga declared, up and -down, he knew nothing about it, and Senor Ortiga and Mr. Coleson said -the same, it might be that somebody else had hidden it during the night. -Mr. Coleson, who was sorry for what he had done, tried to help us, and -we believed his statement.” - -“Yes,” said Tom. “So Nicky got Sam and Jim, the colored boys, and made -them tell all they knew, or guessed, about voodoo.” - -“He certainly was clever, sar,” broke in Sam. “He found out that we had -heard of people ‘divining’ from tricks, and that night we had a voodoo -affair on the after deck of the _Senorita_.” - -“Yes,” Cliff took up the tale, “Nicky got Lieutenant Sommerlee to get -the sailors and Tew together on the deck, then he and Sam and Jim put on -a regular show, making believe they were going to find out who knew -about it. They had a smoky fire, and took bits of hair off the heads of -the sailors and burned them. Tew acted as though he was afraid of it -all—he was superstitious. So he refused to give us his hair and then -Sam, here, pretended to slip up behind him and snip some off with a -knife. And that made Tew nervous, but what we really burned was some of -the other sailors’ hair—only Tew didn’t know that. Then Sam leaped up -and pointed to Tew, and said: ‘You know, sar,’ and Tew broke down and -showed by his face that he did. - -“And do you know where it was?” demanded Nicky, unable to repress -himself any longer. “He had waited till they were all asleep, the night -before they were caught, and he had dropped the bars, one at a time, -into a pool beside the boat. We found them there. - -“And Lieutenant Sommerlee took us around to Miami, and we stayed there -several days, unloaded the gold bars, had the bank assay and value them, -and deposited—oh, a heap for everybody!” - -“And of course the hi-jackers were sent to prison,” Tom added. - -“Has anyone been found belonging to the old Governor’s family who should -rightfully share in our find?” asked Mr. Neale. - -“Yes,” said Mr. Gray. “An old, widowed lady, and she will be very glad -of the money for she is poor.” - -The boys were glad for her, and unselfishly voted to add a little from -their plenty to help the lady. Later she refused to take more than a -fair part, for that, she said, would keep her in easy circumstances for -the rest of her life. - -While the boys were adding details of their adventure and discussing -what they might do with some of the gold, and Mr. Neale and Mr. Gray -were comparing notes on the gold figures and silver placques of a looted -Inca city which had been secured later from the treasure key, a knock -came at the door and Ma’am Sib, the old voodoo woman, came in with a -goggle-eyed boy of dark skin and about ten years old. - -“Who sen for Ma’am Sib?” she demanded in her high, querulous tones. “Did -you, white sirs?” - -“We did,” Nicky stated. “We, the three members of a secret order as -powerful as any in the world.” - -She looked at him sharply to see if he was joking or trying to make her -feel ridiculous. Oddly enough, Nicky was really serious. - -“This won’t be a lecture, Ma’am Sib,” Cliff added. “But we want to show -you something about voodoo that even you won’t guess about. If you can -tell us how it’s done, we’ll be glad.” - -She looked at him curiously. - -Nicky, very serious, nodded to Tom who rose and walked slowly over to -the window. - -“It’s just a roundabout way to do her a favor,” Mr. Neale whispered to -the mystified father Cliff was winking at. “There’s no harm.” - -Tom was unostentatiously moving aside the curtain on a small chest of -shelves in which various relics were stored. - -Cliff came close to Ma’am Sib. - -“Ever see anything like this before?” he asked. He laid on the table -before the shriveled old crone a small, rude figure, cut out of stone, -very much discolored, with its legs broken off, and having a hideous -face and arms that stuck down without any hands to finish them off. - -The old woman stared. - -“Why—why—let me see! I know that—I seem to remember——” - -“Oh, no,” laughed Nicky. “Don’t strain your memory, Ma’am Sib. That is -one of the ancient Gods of an old Central American tribe. We got hold of -it—well, never mind,” he did not wish to say they had found it in the -despatch box with treasure, recovered later from the locker of the -burned _Libertad_, and that they supposed the Spanish Inquisitors had -taken it from the Indians. “It’s a powerful god.” - -“I—I seem to see—” began the crone, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. - -“Oh, no, you’re not as old as this god,” Cliff told her. “But it has -strange powers and we are going to show them to you.” She shivered and -drew back but Nicky smiled gaily at her. - -“It won’t hurt you,” he said. “Now you stand it up in front of you—prop -it against this book! Now, make a circle in the air in front of it, and -then draw a circle around it with your index finger on your left hand, -and then say—‘Abacca-abbaca-brab!’ three times and see what happens—it -won’t hurt.” - -The woman looked at Sam. He was grinning, but he nodded for her to do -it. She hesitated and then, taking some bits of queer stuff from a bag -she had, muttering some charm to protect herself from evil, she made the -circles and muttered the words of Nicky’s fol-de-rol. - -There came a thump, and a small bar of gold fell onto the table. Tom had -flung it adroitly, of course, but she fixed her eyes and stared as if -she would pop her eyes out. - -“How—how—” she stammered. - -“Want to know how it was done?” demanded Nicky. - -“I’ll give you this gold if you tell me,” she said. - -“I see,” began Tom. - -“I know,” said Nicky. - -“I’ll tell—” began Cliff. But suddenly all three saw that Mr. Neale, -whom they had long before taught their secret signs, was making a sign -which they all interpreted to mean, “Seeing All, I see nothing; Knowing -All, I know nothing; Telling All, I tell nothing,” the oath of the -Mystery Boys. Nicky grinned and nodded. - -“This is it,” he said. “Once you made three clay figures of us and stuck -their heads in the sun; they brought us good luck so we brought this god -to give you some of it.” - -And that was all she ever found out. - - - THE END - - - Mystery and Adventure Series for Boys - - [Illustration: The Mystery of Lake Retreat] - -Here’s a Series of thrilling, exciting mystery stories by some of the -best-known authors for Boys in this Country. Each volume is a separate -story in itself; independent of any other volume in the Series. - - Handsome Cloth Binding _Attractive Colored Jackets_ - PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH - POSTAGE 10c. EXTRA - - TOM BLAKE’S MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURE. By Milton Richards - BARRY DARE AND THE MYSTERIOUS BOX. By Gardner Hunting - THE BLACK SKIMMER. By Philip Hart - WRECK OF THE DAUNTLESS. By Philip Hart - THE VALDMERE MYSTERY. By Milton Richards - THE FLIGHT OF THE MYSTIC OWLS. By Philip Hart - THE SECRET OF THE ARMOR ROOM. By Capwell Wyckoff - ADVENTURES OF A PATRIOT. By Philip Hart - DONALD PRICE’S VICTORY. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D. - IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER. By Capwell Wyckoff - THE MYSTERY AT LAKE RETREAT. By Capwell Wyckoff - THE STRANGE TEEPEE. By Philip Hart - THE MYSTERY OF EAGLE LAKE. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D. - - _Thrills and Adventure Aplenty!_ - - - The Mystery Boys Series - - By VAN POWELL - - [Illustration: The Mystery Boys and the Inca Gold] - -Here are five great, red-blooded stories for Boys. Each volume is a -story in itself and entirely independent of any other volume in the -Series. If you like mystery and adventure in large doses, read THE -MYSTERY BOYS SERIES. - - Handsome Cloth Binding _Attractive Colored Jackets_ - PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH - POSTAGE 10c. EXTRA - - THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE INCA GOLD - THE MYSTERY BOYS AND CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE - THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN SUN - THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE CHINESE JEWELS - THE MYSTERY BOYS AND THE HINDU TREASURE - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - New York Chicago - - [Illustration: Endpapers] - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - ---Silently corrected obvious typographical errors. - ---Left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY BOYS AND CAPTAIN KIDD'S -MESSAGE*** - - -******* This file should be named 53515-0.txt or 53515-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/3/5/1/53515 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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} - hr.full { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; - max-width: 80%; } - -</style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd's Message, -by Van Powell</h1> -<p class="pg">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p class="pg">Title: The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd's Message</p> -<p class="pg">Author: Van Powell</p> -<p class="pg">Release Date: November 12, 2016 [eBook #53515]</p> -<p class="pg">Language: English</p> -<p class="pg">Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p class="pg">***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERY BOYS AND CAPTAIN KIDD'S MESSAGE***</p> -<p> </p> -<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div id="cover" class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="The Mystery Boys And Captain Kidd’s Message" width="500" height="742" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img id="insidecov" src="images/icover.jpg" alt="The Mystery Boys And Captain Kidd’s Message" width="500" height="726" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/p1.jpg" alt="The inert colored man was lifted over the gun-wale. (Page 200)" width="500" height="794" /> -<p class="caption">The inert colored man was lifted over the gun-wale.<br />(<i><a href="#Page_200">Page 200</a></i>)</p> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<h1>THE MYSTERY BOYS -<br /><span class="smaller">AND</span> -<br /><span class="small">CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE</span></h1> -<p class="center">By VAN POWELL</p> -<p class="center small"><span class="sc">Author</span> <i>of</i> -<br />“The Mystery Boys Series,” etc.</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/p2.jpg" alt="Series Logo" width="234" height="314" /> -</div> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="large">A. L. BURT COMPANY</span> -<br /><i>PUBLISHERS</i> -<br />New York <span class="hst">Chicago</span> -<br /><span class="smaller">Printed in U. S. A.</span></p> -</div> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="large">THE MYSTERY BOYS</span> -<br />THRILLING STORIES IN FAR DISTANT LANDS -<br /><span class="large">By VAN POWELL</span></p> -<dl class="undent"><dt>The Mystery Boys and the Inca Gold</dt> -<dt>The Mystery Boys and Captain Kidd’s Message</dt> -<dt>The Mystery Boys and the Secret of the Golden Sun</dt> -<dt>The Mystery Boys and the Chinese Jewels</dt> -<dt>The Mystery Boys and the Hindu Treasure</dt></dl> -<p class="csmaller">Copyright, 1931 -<br />By A. L. BURT COMPANY</p> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> -<dl class="toc"> -<dt class="jr"><span class="jl"><span class="small">CHAPTER</span></span> <span class="small">PAGE</span></dt> -<dt><a href="#c1"><span class="cn">I. </span>Nicky and the Voodoo Woman</a> 5</dt> -<dt><a href="#c2"><span class="cn">II. </span>One Half of a Cipher</a> 13</dt> -<dt><a href="#c3"><span class="cn">III. </span>A “Mystery Boy” Meeting</a> 22</dt> -<dt><a href="#c4"><span class="cn">IV. </span>Captain Kidd’s Ghost</a> 30</dt> -<dt><a href="#c5"><span class="cn">V. </span>“Nothing Shall Stop Us!”</a> 39</dt> -<dt><a href="#c6"><span class="cn">VI. </span>On the Way to the Keys</a> 49</dt> -<dt><a href="#c7"><span class="cn">VII. </span>An Uncanny Summons</a> 57</dt> -<dt><a href="#c8"><span class="cn">VIII. </span>Crocodile Key</a> 68</dt> -<dt><a href="#c9"><span class="cn">IX. </span>Black Caesar’s Buccaneers</a> 78</dt> -<dt><a href="#c10"><span class="cn">X. </span>Sam Shows His True Colors</a> 86</dt> -<dt><a href="#c11"><span class="cn">XI. </span>One Mystery Is Solved</a> 94</dt> -<dt><a href="#c12"><span class="cn">XII. </span>Modern Pirates</a> 102</dt> -<dt><a href="#c13"><span class="cn">XIII. </span>The Mystery Boys Decide</a> 110</dt> -<dt><a href="#c14"><span class="cn">XIV. </span>The Chase</a> 121</dt> -<dt><a href="#c15"><span class="cn">XV. </span>Disaster!</a> 129</dt> -<dt><a href="#c16"><span class="cn">XVI. </span>Captain Nicky Takes Command</a> 137</dt> -<dt><a href="#c17"><span class="cn">XVII. </span>A Parley and a Plan</a> 144</dt> -<dt><a href="#c18"><span class="cn">XVIII. </span>A Surprise!</a> 155</dt> -<dt><a href="#c19"><span class="cn">XIX. </span>Captain Kidd’s Message</a> 162</dt> -<dt><a href="#c20"><span class="cn">XX. </span>Nicky Changes a Word!</a> 168</dt> -<dt><a href="#c21"><span class="cn">XXI. </span>In the Bottom of the Dipper!</a> 176</dt> -<dt><a href="#c22"><span class="cn">XXII. </span>Gold—Gold—Gold</a> 186</dt> -<dt><a href="#c23"><span class="cn">XXIII. </span>Marooned</a> 195</dt> -<dt><a href="#c24"><span class="cn">XXIV. </span>“A Needle in a Haystack”</a> 203</dt> -<dt><a href="#c25"><span class="cn">XXV. </span>In the Everglades</a> 214</dt> -<dt><a href="#c26"><span class="cn">XXVI. </span>Nicky Does Some Scouting</a> 223</dt> -<dt><a href="#c27"><span class="cn">XXVII. </span>In the Enemy’s Hands</a> 232</dt> -<dt><a href="#c28"><span class="cn">XXVIII. </span>Two in the Toils</a> 238</dt> -<dt><a href="#c29"><span class="cn">XXIX. </span>One Last Hope!</a> 248</dt> -<dt><a href="#c30"><span class="cn">XXX. </span>Cliff Plays His Part</a> 254</dt> -<dt><a href="#c31"><span class="cn">XXXI. </span>Nicky Is a Hero!</a> 264</dt> -<dt><a href="#c32"><span class="cn">XXXII. </span>How Voodoo Brought Success</a> 274</dt> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_5">5</div> -<h1 title="">THE MYSTERY BOYS AND -<br />CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE</h1> -<h2 id="c1">CHAPTER I -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">NICKY AND THE VOODOO WOMAN</span></span></h2> -<p>“What is the matter with that colored boy?” -whispered Nicky Lane to his comrades, Tom -and Cliff, “Look! He stares up at the sun and -then he watches us as if he expects something -to happen.”</p> -<p>Cliff and Tom lifted their heads from the -shallow pit in which they were digging. A -glance toward the top rail of the fence around -the field showed them a black-faced boy of -about ten, perched there. As they stared at -him he looked away.</p> -<p>“He’s only curious to know what we are doing,” -Tom declared.</p> -<p>“All these Jamaica colored folks are,” Cliff -added. “They can’t understand why we want -to find old relics.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_6">6</div> -<p>“But why does he look up at the sun?” Nicky -persisted. “See! He’s doing it now.”</p> -<p>The boy gave a glance toward the sun, about -two hours high, and then resumed his intent -stare toward the trench. Nicky leaned on his -spade handle and glowered back.</p> -<p>“Do you suppose he expects us to be sun-struck?” -Cliff suggested. “Only it isn’t hot -enough yet, and we’re not working hard.”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” Tom declared, “but I wish I -did. He seems to be fidgeting and nervous.”</p> -<p>“I’m going to find out!” exclaimed Nicky. -Of the trio of chums he was the most excitable -and impulsive. As he dropped his spade and -strode toward the fence, its occupant tumbled -off; scrambling to his feet he ran out of sight -around the side of an old, ramshackle cabin in a -corner of the enclosure.</p> -<p>“That’s a funny one,” Cliff observed when -Nicky returned.</p> -<p>They discussed the strange actions of the -colored boy for a moment but since there was -no explanation they went back to work.</p> -<p>Nicky Lane was on a holiday with his two -bosom companions. The Amadale Military -Academy, which they all attended, had been -closed because there was an epidemic of “flu” -in the suburb of a mid-Western city in which -the school was located.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_7">7</div> -<p>Most of the students had gone to their homes. -Cliff Gray lived with his Aunt Lucy in the very -suburb most affected by the epidemic; Tom and -Nicky were boarding there also. Cliff’s father, -whom the boys had helped to rescue from detention -among some Incas of Peru, in an old hidden -Inca city among the Andes, was, at this -time, exploring and studying in the island of -Jamaica, among the West Indies. He was a -great scholar and a student of old civilizations -and was writing some chapters of a book on -the Carib Indians, the original inhabitants of -the islands when Columbus discovered them.</p> -<p>Cliff’s Aunt Lucy thought it would be wise -for Cliff to join his father, to be well away -from danger of infection; because the three -chums were inseparable, consent was easily secured -for Tom and Nicky to go with him. The -three friends had been residing on a plantation -in the heart of the island for nearly a week. -There, with Cliff’s father and a young man, -Clarence Neale, who was securing Carib relics -for a great Museum of Indian History in New -York, they tried to help out by searching for -Carib pottery and ornaments. Jamaica had a -great lure for them, for Nicky, a “pirate bug,” -called Jamaica “Pirates’ Paradise!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_8">8</div> -<p>This interest was not due to any desire on -Nicky’s part to be a wild, fierce seadog, sailing -from some port with letters of marque, to -pillage unprotected ships. The days for such -things lay far in the past and although Nicky -was excitable and impulsive he was, at heart, a -very steady, sincere boy, a true American living -up to the ideals of all that American boyhood -means.</p> -<p>But in Nicky’s family there was an old paper -which was a direct message to one of his ancestors -from no less a person than the alleged -pirate, Captain Kidd!</p> -<p>Naturally Nicky, scarcely more than fourteen, -was elated when he knew that he was permitted -to accompany Cliff Gray, with their comrade, -Tom, slightly older than either, to the -island which had once been governed by a reformed -pirate, in the heart of the West Indies -where once piracy had flourished.</p> -<p>They found very little more than legends and -old tales to whet their interest. Piracy had -given place to commerce on the seas, as sailing -ships had surrendered to steam. And so, instead -of digging for buried treasure, on the sixth -morning of their visit, they had found themselves -digging carefully in a corner of an uncultivated -field, to unearth broken bits of earthenware, -possibly some small ornaments, or other -relics of the Caribs who once roamed the island.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_9">9</div> -<p>Digging early to avoid the mid-day heat during -which everybody was quiet and inactive, -they had discovered the unaccountable interest -of the colored boy and when he had scuttled -away they returned to their work wondering a -little about it.</p> -<p>“When we rescued your father from the Incas -and got some of their gold the whole business -started with a mystery, Cliff.” Tom referred -to an adventure during the previous summer -in which they had explored a hidden city in -Peru and gone through many exciting escapades.</p> -<p>“Wouldn’t it be odd if that boy started up a -new mystery?” Nicky suggested. “We’re right -in the heart of mystery land. Voodoo—piracy -in the past—and—and everything!”</p> -<p>“Look—but don’t let him see you!” Cliff -nudged his comrades. “By the right side of -that old cabin—there’s our ‘boy-friend!’”</p> -<p>Sure enough, the ebony face protruded -around the old shack that stood in the field, not -far from their trench.</p> -<p>“Listen, fellows,” whispered Nicky, “there is -something queer about this. How can we get -hold of him and make him tell us what he expects -is going to happen. He’s just looked up -at the sun again!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_10">10</div> -<p>“You pretend to chase him,” Tom advised. -“When he disappears and is out of sight I will -go the other way and head him off.”</p> -<p>Nicky promptly started toward the boy, who -ran away around the cabin. Tom lost no time -in taking a direction around the other side of -the shack. There was a shrill yell of fear and -the sound of a scuffle, and back came Nicky and -Tom, almost dragging a terrified colored boy.</p> -<p>Cliff joined them close to the cabin.</p> -<p>“Now,” said Nicky, “we’re not going to hurt -you. But you tell us what made you look at -the sun and then watch us!”</p> -<p>The boy was silent. Suddenly he began to -wriggle and to struggle and all three took hold -of him. They did not intend to harm him but -his actions had their curiosity fully aroused.</p> -<p>“Here! White boys! Let that colored boy -alone, do you hear!”</p> -<p>A shrill, cracked voice came from the cabin. -The three white chums hesitated, looking at one -another and then at the cabin.</p> -<p>In its doorway stood an old, bent woman, -who seemed to be all skin and bones. Her face -looked like crinkled, black parchment, dry and -wrinkled. Her hands were skinny and had long -nails and clawlike fingers. She leaned on a stick -and made them all think of pictures of witches -they had seen. Her eyes blazed at them.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_11">11</div> -<p>A little frightened by the old crone’s evident -fury, they let go of the boy who scuttled past -the woman into the shack.</p> -<p>“We didn’t hurt him,” Nicky said defiantly. -“He was—” and he told her how the boy had -acted. “We wanted to know why he did it,” -he ended.</p> -<p>The woman scowled at them.</p> -<p>“You know very quick,” she said in her shrill, -cracked tones. “You go away or sun make you -very sick in the head!”</p> -<p>“Ho!” cried Nicky, “will it? Who says so?”</p> -<p>“Sh-h-h!” Tom nudged him. “Don’t you remember -what Cliff’s father told us about Voodoo -on these islands?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I do,” Nicky answered under his breath. -“But I’m not afraid! Why does she want us -to go away? What is there in this field that -she doesn’t want us to see?”</p> -<p>“It’s Voodoo, I tell you!” Tom urged. “These -old Voodoo witches can enchant people.”</p> -<p>“Do you really believe that?” demanded -Nicky. The old woman was fumbling and tugging -at an old bag, dirty and of some queer -animal or reptile skin, as he spoke.</p> -<p>“Well—” Tom hesitated, “I know they say -it’s only the effect on ignorant minds that makes -Voodoo hurt people.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_12">12</div> -<p>“Well, it can’t hurt me!” declared Nicky, -“And, as I say—why would she want to ‘voodoo’ -us—white fellows and strangers?”</p> -<p>“I think Nicky’s right,” Cliff declared. “She -must have some reason.”</p> -<p>“Listen,” whispered Nicky, excitedly, “one of -you run and bring Mr. Gray or the other man—Mr. -Neale. Let’s get to the bottom of this. -I’ll give you any odds you like that she is trying -to drive us away because something’s -hidden in this field—maybe—maybe——”</p> -<p>“Treasure!” gasped Cliff and ran like a deer -for the older members of their party. Treasure!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_13">13</div> -<h2 id="c2">CHAPTER II -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">ONE HALF OF A CIPHER</span></span></h2> -<p>That the old crone was very much “worked -up” was easily to be seen. Tom and -Nicky, watching uneasily, saw her fumble in -her old bag and draw out with her bony fingers -three queer objects.</p> -<p>These were small figures, made rudely of -clay or mud. Tom and Nicky started and stared -at them. They were made in the shape of small -human figures, with heads a little larger than -peas, and with dented places to mark out the -arms and legs.</p> -<p>“What do you think those things are?” Tom -whispered. “I don’t like this. Remember what -Mr. Neale said about this woman?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” Nicky answered softly. “He said -Ma’am Sib is a Voodoo woman and that the -colored people are afraid of her. But I’m not! -I want to see what she is going to do.”</p> -<p>That was quickly seen. She laid the little -objects in a row on the doorsill; all of them -had their tiny heads pointed out from the shade -of the roof, so that the heads were in the sunshine.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div> -<p>She scowled at Nicky and Tom, then muttered -under her breath and glanced up toward -the sun, then back at the boys.</p> -<p>“I know it’s just imagination,” Tom told his -chum, “but I feel sort of queer——”</p> -<p>Nicky made a practical suggestion.</p> -<p>“I think she’s trying to scare us away by -making us believe that she has bewitched us or -something,” he said, “It’s something that the -sun will do to us. If you’re uneasy, go and -stay in the cabin shade at the side.”</p> -<p>Tom looked sheepish and uncomfortable, but -after hesitating for a while his fears overcame -his good sense and he went out of sight.</p> -<p>Nicky did not follow; instead, he made an -unexpected move.</p> -<p>Quick as a flash he leaped forward, bent and -made a scooping movement of his fingers. -When he dodged back out of reach of the irate -old woman’s cane, his hand was closed over the -mud images.</p> -<p>“I’ll keep these,” he said, trembling a little -with natural uncertainty as to the outcome of -his bravado.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div> -<p>“Here comes Cliff with Mr. Neale!” called -Tom from beside the cabin, while the colored -boy poked his head out through the door and -made his eyes roll in his excitement.</p> -<p>Cliff and the young archaelogist were climbing -the fence. They hurried over and confronted -the woman.</p> -<p>“What does this mean, Ma’am Sib?” asked -Clarence Neale quietly. He showed no anger, -only curiosity. The old woman looked up at -the tall, clean-cut young fellow, not much more -than twenty-two or so, and frowned.</p> -<p>“White boys not to dig! I order them to go -yesterday. They come back! I—” she made a -gesture toward Nicky who unclosed his hand. -The moisture of his palm was already breaking -up the shape of the figures.</p> -<p>“Cliff’s father told us about the Egyptians -doing this like this,” Nicky said. “They used -to make little images of wax, he said, and put -spells on them to injure the magicians’ enemies—then -when they stuck pins in the wax, or -burned it, the enemies were supposed to suffer -with pain. But I didn’t know they did that -sort of thing in Jamaica.”</p> -<p>“Sometimes,” Mr. Neale admitted. “But -why did you come back to dig when Ma’am -Sib ordered you away?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div> -<p>“It isn’t her field,” Cliff answered. “I asked -father. And, besides, there is another trench -started. See! Over there.” He pointed to -the digging that had been done at a point closer -to the cabin.”</p> -<p>“Can they really hurt you—these voodoo -people?” Tom asked. “I began to feel sort of -uneasy——”</p> -<p>Mr. Neale spoke quietly in reply. “The boy -was told to do as he did so as to suggest an -idea to you,” he explained. “You see, all sorts -of magic depend on our being afraid. We are -afraid of things we do not understand. Because -we don’t understand them we think ‘maybe -they do have power to hurt us.’”</p> -<p>“It’s just the same as if I came to Tom -some morning and looked at him as if something -was wrong, and then asked him what’s -the matter,” Cliff said. “He’d wonder and then -begin to think that something was wrong and -he would begin to feel sick, if he kept thinking -about it long enough.”</p> -<p>“Exactly,” Mr. Neale replied. “Voodoo depends -on ignorance and fear. Because people -are ignorant and afraid, their own minds work -against them. Tom let himself imagine there -was danger——”</p> -<p>“I knew it,” Tom said, shamefacedly, “but -it got the best of me.”</p> -<p>“But why did she do it?” demanded Nicky. -“Not just because we didn’t obey her and stop -digging——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div> -<p>“I claim there must be something hidden -here that she knows about and she tried, the -way she is used to doing, to drive us away,” -Cliff declared.</p> -<p>“There isn’t anything buried here that I -have heard about,” Clarence Neale responded. -He turned to the woman, “Ma’m Sib, what induced -you to try to frighten these friends of -mine?”</p> -<p>“Perhaps I can help you?” inquired a voice -behind them. So absorbed had they all been -in the discussion that they had not noticed the -arrival of a slender colored fellow of nineteen. -He stood just back of them, smiling pleasantly. -He was as black as ebony, with perfect, white -teeth which showed in strong contrast when he -gave his good-natured smile. He spoke without -the Southern Negro’s dialect, as is the custom -of all the Jamaica inhabitants whose speech is -often of the very best English, with only a -few colloquial bits of dialect.</p> -<p>Mr. Neale turned. He recognized the grandson -of old Ma’am Sib.</p> -<p>“Your grandmother has been voodooing my -young assistants, Sam,” he said pleasantly. -“They were digging and she must have thought -that voodoo was easier than the natural way—to -come and ask me to keep them away.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div> -<p>The young Negro shrugged his shoulders. -He had been sent to a school in the United -States and he was better educated than was -his ancient grandmother.</p> -<p>“No harm is done, anyhow, sar,” he replied. -“I ask you to forgive.”</p> -<p>“Done!” answered the white man, “but I am -curious to know just what is so important that -she should take that sort of measure to drive off -our digging comrades.”</p> -<p>“She thought that there was something -buried here,” explained the colored fellow. -“She knew that I have been doing some exploring -in my spare time. But I found what I was -looking for—and I was so disappointed that I -did not even bother to tell her, sar.”</p> -<p>“Disappointed?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sar. There is an old legend in our -family and my grandmother had told me and -I was searching for a letter. When Captain -William Kidd traded between New York and -these islands, before he was really a pirate, he -was much friends with our Governor. In those -days the Governor was kind to pirates. He -let them come into harbor and he did not give -them to the law for punishing.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div> -<p>Nicky and his friends became alert. Nicky -thought of the old paper so carefully preserved -by his family, although no one thought it would -ever amount to anything. Cliff and Tom were -intensely interested because this was becoming -a living story, linking the present with the old, -piratical days and their natural love of adventure -was whetted by the suave words of the -colored man.</p> -<p>“You may not know about Captain Kidd,” -Sam continued. Nicky knew a great deal but -he remained silent, listening eagerly. “He was -really not as bad as the story books have made -him. He was not one of the terrible pirates. -But he did wrong and finally he was made a -prisoner in America, and was kept in prison -until he could be sent to England to be tried.”</p> -<p>He became very earnest and they all drew -closer.</p> -<p>“While he was in prison he sent a letter to -his friend, the Governor of Jamaica, who had -a house not far from this place. That was the -owner of this field and his family holds it yet. -We are descendants of old family servants of -that Governor. Well, sar, the letter came one -day and the Governor began to brag about finding -great treasure soon; one of my race who -was his body-servant thought the letter must -tell about the treasure and so he stole it. But -he became disgusted and buried the despatch -box. I do not know why. At least, I did not -know why until I dug it up last night!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div> -<p>They were all tense with suspense as he -reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded -paper. Holding his hands around it until he -made sure that it was the right one, his eyes -rolling with the colored race’s love for being -the center of the interest, he slowly opened the -paper, holding it down low so that they could -all see the surface.</p> -<p>It was dirty and brown with age and the ink -on it was faint and faded to a faint brownish -tint.</p> -<p>They all craned their necks.</p> -<p>What they saw was disappointing, as Sam -had said. There were three small, irregular -shaped circles toward the top of the paper, in -such a relation to one another that if a line had -been drawn between each pair so as to connect -them, they would have been at the points of -a triangle.</p> -<p>At one side, and a little lower down, was -the regulation, old-fashioned representation of -a compass to show direction.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div> -<p>Further down, there was part of a word -which they made out to be “per.” Still further -down, was a mass of tiny dots and marks, too -faint to be given any meaning, they were not -in the form of letters, but were just like the -blotches that break out on the skin during -measles-here, there and everywhere. But at -the left side they went right to the edge of the -paper, and there was a very dim line starting -there and running a little way in among the -blotches.</p> -<p>Just beneath was a nautical bearing: “25—30—13 N.”</p> -<p>“You can see,” said Sam, his finger running -along the left hand edge, “this paper is torn -off. It is only half of a cipher, sar.”</p> -<p>Mr. Neale, Cliff and Tom nodded.</p> -<p>“So it is of no good.” said Sam, but he returned -it to his pocket. “It may come that the -other half will be found. I hope so.”</p> -<p>Then he turned and looked, with surprise, -toward Nicky.</p> -<p>“Can it be,” muttered Sam, “that Ma’am -Sib’s voodoo has worked, after all?”</p> -<p>Nicky was turning somersaults and rolling -about like a boy who has gone mad!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div> -<h2 id="c3">CHAPTER III -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">A “MYSTERY BOYS” MEETING</span></span></h2> -<p>Watching Nicky’s contortions, Ma’am Sib -began to see pictures in her mind of herself -in jail and she became more afraid than she -had made the boys.</p> -<p>She knew that the open practice of voodoo -was against all laws and she had not really -meant to do any more than frighten the boys -off. But Nicky’s actions caused her to dread -the consequences to herself. But Tom and Cliff, -understanding their comrade, had different -thoughts. When Tom looked at Cliff he saw -the latter calmly but determinedly scratching -his left ear. Tom instantly folded his arms!</p> -<p>Tom hastened to Nicky and grabbed his chum -between two somersaults.</p> -<p>“Cliff’s calling for a council,” he whispered. -Nicky became at once a very sober and quietly -normal young fellow.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div> -<p>The three chums were the sole members of -a secret order which they named from the fact -that each of them had a mystery in his life; -so their secret order was called “The Mystery -Boys.”</p> -<p>Nicky, to begin with, had in his family the -supposed message from the former pirate, -William Kidd. Tom’s mystery had to do with -the fact that his sister had never been located -after an attack on a Mexican mine by bandits; -after which no trace of the girl, living there -with her father, the mine superintendent, had -ever been found. Cliff had solved his mystery -the summer before; his father, studying Inca -civilization, had been held prisoner by Incas -of the old Peruvian race, in a city hidden -among the Andes; a letter had reached Cliff, -and he, with Tom and Nicky and a history instructor -from Amadale, and with “Quipu Bill” -whom they had met in Peru, had discovered -and rescued the old scholar and had secured -some Inca gold at the same time.</p> -<p>The purpose of the secret order was to be -able to exchange ideas in the presence of other -people who were not members of the clique, -without the outsiders knowing about it. The -Mystery Boys had made up their order for the -purpose of helping one another in every way, -but in secret. Their motto was “Seeing All, -I see nothing; Knowing All, I know nothing; -Telling All, I tell nothing!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div> -<p>In order to have help in rescuing Cliff’s -father, the order had added the young history -instructor, a Mr. Whitley, and “Quipu Bill,” but -after the thrilling adventures among the Incas, -wherein the secret signals of the order had -served the members in many “tight” places, -Bill went off to a ranch in the West, and the -instructor returned to his classes; both retained -membership, but not actively.</p> -<p>Cliff’s signal to Tom had been a call for a -secret communication, and Tom, folding his -arms in sign of agreement, quickly urged Nicky -to silence. Cliff understood Nicky’s wild -capering.</p> -<p>Nicky, very sober, came up with Tom to rejoin -the group.</p> -<p>“I was just cutting up,” he said. “I was -letting off steam because it struck me as funny -that Ma’am Sib went to all that trouble to scare -us away from a map or a cipher that had already -been found and that wasn’t any use anyhow!”</p> -<p>Mr. Neale accepted the explanation; it -seemed a natural action that Nicky had indulged -in, thus explained. Ma’am Sib was -greatly upset and began to beg them not to pay -any attention to her “spell.” Its effects were -all removed, she declared. They agreed and as -it was clear that young Sam was eager to have -them cause no trouble for his grandmother, -the boys and their older friend forgave the old -voodoo woman and hurried away.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div> -<p>Mr. Neale returned to his conference with -some colored men who were excavating near -the plantation house where the white people -had their headquarters. Tom, Cliff and Nicky -could hardly wait to get off by themselves. As -soon as they succeeded, Nicky turned to his -companions.</p> -<p>“I saw you signal to me to say nothing,” -Nicky told Cliff. “It was all I could do to hold -in.”</p> -<p>“I know it,” Cliff replied. “You ‘go off the -handle’ easy, anyhow. I guessed what made -you get so excited, and I didn’t want you to -talk until we had had a meeting of our Order.”</p> -<p>“Nicky’s ‘message’ from Captain Kidd has -something to do with it,” Tom guessed.</p> -<p>“Something?” Nicky said. “Everything! Why, -that half of the cipher would fit in with a half -that my uncle has!”</p> -<p>“Honestly?” cried Tom. “Hooray! We’re -off again for adventure!”</p> -<p>“Not yet,” Cliff counseled. “There are some -things to decide. First of all, half the cipher -is in New York—or with Nicky’s uncle.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div> -<p>“Don’t worry about that,” Nicky laughed. “I -got him to let me take a tracing of it. I held -the paper against a lamp shade and traced over -it. Here’s the ‘other half of the cipher!’ See -what you make of it.”</p> -<p>He dragged a leather billfold from his coat -pocket and extracted a neatly folded paper. -The others stared at it.</p> -<p>“Was the original torn down on the side -where this jagged line shows?” demanded Tom.</p> -<p>“Yep!” responded Nicky, “and you see it’s -on the side opposite to where Sam’s paper is -ripped away. I think they’d just fit together!”</p> -<p>“So do I,” Cliff agreed. “But even if you -have this half, there are things to consider; -but let’s see if we can remember the other piece -and sketch it on this envelope,” he drew a letter -from his pocket. “Here—here’s a pencil!”</p> -<p>They got to work. On the sketch Nicky had -already made there were several dots at one -side, toward the top. Below them was the -word “Dip” and under that were more of the -little straggley blotches with a faint line starting -at the left hand side and close to a small -cross marked “Reck.”</p> -<p>“That word ought to be ‘wreck’ I think,” -Nicky suggested. They nodded. “And here, -you see, is a nautical direction—but I don’t -think it’s the same as on the other paper.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div> -<p>“It isn’t!” Cliff stated. “The other was some -degrees North Latitude, but this is West Longitude. -Now—what was the set of figures on -the other map?”</p> -<p>Nicky shook his head.</p> -<p>“I recall—let’s see—was it thirty degrees -and twelve minutes——”</p> -<p>“You’re away off,” Tom broke in. “It was -twenty-five degrees and twelve minutes and -thirty seconds.”</p> -<p>“No,” Cliff argued. “It was—no, it couldn’t -have been twelve degrees North—that would -be in South America, I think—anyway, if I recall -my map, it wouldn’t be where the pirates -used to go.”</p> -<p>“I wish we could remember it,” Nicky said. -“Then we could go and get the treasure.”</p> -<p>“Maybe,” Cliff hesitated. “Maybe not. It -would be like stealing to take any treasure by -using the part of the map we don’t own.”</p> -<p>“But Sam doesn’t own it by right!” Nicky -urged. “It was sent to the Governor of Jamaica -and stolen from him. Then Sam found -it.”</p> -<p>“But there must be part of the Governor’s -family still alive,” Tom said, agreeing with -Cliff’s attitude, “and if Captain Kidd sent the -map in two parts so that both his friends would -be sure to share in his treasure, we have no -right to take the other fellow’s share!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_28">28</div> -<p>“That’s so,” Nicky agreed. “Anyhow, Sam -has no right to it either.”</p> -<p>“But he has part of the map!” Tom reminded -Nicky.</p> -<p>“What ought we to do?” Nicky questioned.</p> -<p>“I guess it’s a case for older heads to decide,” -Tom suggested. “Cliff’s father——”</p> -<p>“Yes, we can ask him,” Nicky agreed. “How -about letting Mr. Neale know about it?”</p> -<p>“I like him,” Cliff asserted. “He’s honest -and he knows a whole lot about these islands. -And he could help us a lot. My father could -advise us but he wouldn’t want to go on any -adventure; he had enough of that with the -Incas.”</p> -<p>“Then there is Nicky’s uncle, who has the -real map,” Tom reminded his chums. “How -about him?”</p> -<p>“Let’s tell Cliff’s father first,” Nicky urged. -“Then we can do as he says.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_29">29</div> -<p>It was agreed that this was the best way -out. They found the old scholar sorting some -broken bits of pottery. These had been taken -out of old mounds of refuse, centuries old, -where the Carib Indians had thrown their cast -off and broken utensils. Mr. Gray, by reason -of his wide experience with such things, and -with the help of the young archaeologist, had -become proficient at the art of piecing the -broken bits into their original places so that -many valuable objects were rebuilt, or, at least, -reassembled.</p> -<p>After he had heard their story, Mr. Gray -deliberated for a while and then he gave them -his opinion.</p> -<p>The boys admitted its soundness and decided -to act upon it that very evening!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_30">30</div> -<h2 id="c4">CHAPTER IV -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">CAPTAIN’S KIDD’S GHOST</span></span></h2> -<p>Seated around the supper table in the plantation -house, the chums could hardly contain -their impatience while the colored servant removed -the dishes. The abrupt twilight had -passed into deep, dark night. A kerosene lamp -on the table threw weird shadows on the wall -and left uncanny mysteries in the dusky corners.</p> -<p>The table, moved near the window to get -the cooler evening breeze during the meal, was -finally cleared.</p> -<p>“Do you feel funny?” asked Tom, looking -around the room. “Maybe it’s on account of -that voodoo stuff this morning, but for some -reason I feel kinda nervous.”</p> -<p>“It’s just your mind—your imagination,” -laughed Cliff.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_31">31</div> -<p>Mr. Gray quietly told Clarence Neale why -the boys had decided to act on his advice, to -initiate the young collector into their mystic -order. They had half of a cipher, he explained, -and there was reason to believe that Sam had -the other half. Then, in order to carry on a -search, if they agreed that it was advisable, the -young fellows would require a cool, older head -to guide them, and perhaps a stout arm to help -them. “I can carry on your work here, Clarence,” -Mr. Gray finished his explanation. “If -you want to try your hand at a different sort -of digging.”</p> -<p>“If it’s a choice between potsherds”—he referred -to the bits of pottery which were thus -named—“or treasure, count me in for adventure -every time!”</p> -<p>Using a watch charm of Cliff’s which -his father had made from an ancient Egyptian -scarab, or sacred beetle, suitably mounted, -Nicky gave Clarence Neale the oath of allegiance, -which also served as their motto. Clarence -Neale with his face serious and with a -sincere manner, took the vow.</p> -<p>“I see what it means,” he added. “Seeing -All—that you show me—I see nothing that I let -others know I see; Knowing All—all of your -plans—I know nothing, if anybody asks me; -Telling All—that is, letting you know everything -I know—I tell nothing, of our plans or -mysteries, to any outsider.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div> -<p>“That’s it exactly,” Nicky exclaimed. “I -knew you would be the right sort. Now, we -will postpone the initiations and secret signs -until tomorrow when we have more time. Now -we want to tell you about our map.”</p> -<p>He drew out his copy and the drawing of -Sam’s half which Cliff had made from memory. -They all bent over them on the table.</p> -<p>“I am very glad that you have taken me -into your councils,” Clarence Neale declared. -“I know something about this section. It is -very easy to see that it is some part of the -Florida coral archipelago, what we used to call -Ten Thousand Islands, stretching up along the -Gulf coast from down toward Cape Sable. I -used to fish in those waters.”</p> -<p>The chums were delighted. Here was a real -mate and a fine aide.</p> -<p>“Just how did this half come into your -family’s possession?” asked the young man.</p> -<p>“Well,” Nicky explained, “you see, Captain -William Kidd was supposed to be a mighty -pirate and a fearful one. History and story -books don’t agree, there. I’ve studied a lot -about him because I am pretty much a ‘bug’ -about him, on account of this map.”</p> -<p>“Well,” smiled Mr. Neale, “I don’t blame -you. I know a bit of the old fellow’s true -history too. He was in the regular trade for -quite a while, and ran from these Islands to -New York with his ship, and he was as honest -as any, I guess. That must be the time that -he made friends with the Jamaica governor.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div> -<p>“Yes,” Nicky took up the talk. “He traded -with the West Indies during King William’s -War, and it was after that time that the citizens -of Antigua gave him a bark of the same name. -And in 1690 he got a commission from the -English—what do you guess for?”</p> -<p>“To despoil and break up pirate bands,” exclaimed -Cliff. “You’ve told us, Nicky—but go -ahead. Tell us again. It’s interesting, and -especially right now.”</p> -<p>“Why, you could imagine we were in the -cabin of a ship, right now,” broke in Tom, “all -except the windows. Look at the heavy timbers -of the room, and the oil lamp and—s-sh-h-h! -What’s that?”</p> -<p>They all stared at him. Tom’s eyes had -become round with fear. He was usually of -a very level headed type, and not likely to get -himself upset; but the voodoo had preyed upon -his imagination and this, with the excitement -of the treasure map’s discovery, had made him -more sensitive to excitement than usual.</p> -<p>He stared through the open window. They -all turned their eyes that way.</p> -<p>“What is it, Tom?” demanded Nicky in a -hoarse whisper.</p> -<p>“I thought I saw a face—in the shadows—outside -the window,” Tom said shakily.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_34">34</div> -<p>Nicky was up and out of the room like a -flash. Cliff, losing no time, raced in the other -direction. They went scuttling around the -house, from front and back, meeting under the -dining room window.</p> -<p>“Nobody here—not a sign!” called Cliff reassuringly.</p> -<p>“Nobody in sight,” Nicky agreed. “Tom, -who was it—what did the face look like?”</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” quavered Tom. “It looked -like—it was white—it was like a—ghost!”</p> -<p>“Pull yourself together,” said Mr. Gray -quietly. “There aren’t any ghosts. Your -imagination is keyed up. Perhaps you saw -some bird fly past with the light on its wings -and your excitement made you see the rest.”</p> -<p>“Come in, boys,” called Clarence Neale, “I -am sure there was no occasion for fright.”</p> -<p>The two searchers returned.</p> -<p>“Brace up, Tom,” said Cliff, not unkindly. -“Nobody was running away and nobody was -in sight. You don’t want us to think that you -really believe in ghosts!”</p> -<p>“No,” said Tom, sheepishly, “I don’t. I said -it looked like one.”</p> -<p>“Well,” laughed Mr. Neale, “we have ‘sort -of interrupted’ Captain Kidd, haven’t we?”</p> -<p>“Maybe it was his ghost!” grinned Nicky. “I -hadn’t thought of that.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_35">35</div> -<p>Mr. Neale and Cliff’s father gave warning -shakes of their heads and Nicky apologized for -joking at Tom’s expense.</p> -<p>“The poor old fellow wasn’t so bad—there’s -no reason for his ghost to walk, even if there -was such a chance,” Mr. Neale said. “You -know he sailed off in the <i>Adventure Galley</i> to -execute his commission, but pirates were few -and far between, and he sailed around the Cape -of Good Hope. You know, that real and terrible -pirate, Thomas Tew, was one of those he -was sent to capture or to punish—but he never -found him. His crew became mutinous because -there was so little to do and it was during a -fight that Kidd struck his gunner, William -Moore, and killed him. It was really for that -act that the man was captured when he finally -returned to America, and he was sent eventually -to England to be tried for the killing of -Moore, rather than for piracy, although he did -do a little ‘pirating’ on his voyages.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_36">36</div> -<p>“It was while he was in prison,” Nicky took -up the story, “he sent for one of my ancestors, -a New York merchant, and told him about the -treasure. He said—it’s all preserved in writing -in my family—he said that while cruising in -the Gulf, during his trading and before he got -his commission from England as a privateersman, -he was blown by a heavy wind quite near -what we call the Florida Keys. When the -weather calmed there was a signal flying from -a coral rock and the Captain took off onto his -ship several castaways from a wreck. They -told him they had been on a Spanish treasure -ship, transporting gold and silver bars from -the Spanish settlements in Central America -when the hurricane wrecked their ship. Captain -Kidd said he had looked for the treasure -but there was no sign of any, and so he thought -they were telling falsehoods.”</p> -<p>“Then why did he draw a map—if that was -what the map was about!” Cliff interrupted.</p> -<p>“The man he had saved—one of the survivors—gave -him the map when he was injured by -a sabre wound and was dying. He said the -men had managed to swim ashore to some of -the smaller Keys when the ship ran onto some -needle-like coral and began to break up. But -they got a couple of boats overside too, and -when it was calmer, and the ship was breaking -apart and falling away into the water, they got -many chests of the treasure into the boats and -rowed along into the keys and hid the chests on -an island that was in the map.”</p> -<p>“I see,” said Mr. Neale. “Probably, by that -time, some of the other members of the crew -had gone back and found the chests.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div> -<p>“Maybe,” Nicky said. “You see, when the -ancestor was given the map, he took a passage -on a ship to come and find the Jamaica governor, -but his ship was besieged by pirates and -he was taken by them—and it was years before -he got off their ship and back to civilization—that’s -a story by itself, but I can’t stop to tell -it to you now. Anyhow, he got back, but he had -no more taste for the sea and when he died he -passed on his map and the story, but nobody -else ever tried until my uncle got the paper. -He made a trip down here and found out just -what Sam told us—that the governor’s paper -had been stolen. So, of course, he gave it up.”</p> -<p>“Now, what do you propose to do?” asked -Clarence Neale.</p> -<p>“Mr. Gray thinks we ought to talk to Sam -and offer to share with him fairly for the use -of his part of the map. He’s on his way here, -or ought to be. I left word with Ma’am Sib -to tell him to come.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps he hasn’t returned to get the message,” -Mr. Gray said.</p> -<p>“Or,” said Nicky, unable to resist a little -malicious prod at Tom’s fears, “or maybe the -ghost got him!”</p> -<p>Before Tom could make a reply they heard -the patter of swift feet racing along the path -to the house; a voice cried out, shrill and excited, -“Help—masters—help! De ghost——!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_38">38</div> -<p>With a common impulse they all leaped to -their feet. In their excitement not one of them -stopped to catch up the map. They moved -closer together, Tom clutching Nicky’s arm and -staring wide-eyed at the door.</p> -<p>Into their midst scampered the ten-year-old -colored boy of the morning experience. His -face was ashy colored under his dusky skin, and -his eyes rolled wildly.</p> -<p>“Masters—masters!” he panted. “Save -me—” He lifted a finger, and pointed it -shakingly toward the doorway. They all stared -in that direction, and even Cliff felt the hair -prickling on his head.</p> -<p>“There—there! It’s chased me—it’s coming—” -the boy gasped.</p> -<p>Clarence Neale leaped past the frightened -child, and on a sudden impulse Nicky, feeling -a strange hunch, swung part way around -toward the table. He meant to reach for the -map, forgotten in the instant of excitement.</p> -<p>In his turn he gave a gasping cry.</p> -<p>Their map was gone!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_39">39</div> -<h2 id="c5">CHAPTER V -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">“NOTHING SHALL STOP US!”</span></span></h2> -<p>Nicky wasted no time going around through -the door. He scrambled to the windowsill and -leaped out into the darkness. Springing clear -of the bushes which were planted close to the -house, he landed on his feet and looked hurriedly -about him.</p> -<p>Nothing was to be seen!</p> -<p>As soon as his eyes became used to the dark -he strained them in every direction. But there -was nothing to reward his eager eyes.</p> -<p>Finally, after poking around in the brush -just beyond the clearing in which the house -stood, he returned to his friends. The colored -boy was recovering slowly from the effects of -his terror. Tom, too, had regained some of his -usual steadiness, though he seemed to be much -more excited than either of his chums. The -older men had discovered the absence of the -map but had thought that Nicky took it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_40">40</div> -<p>“No!” he panted, still laboring under his excitement -and his exertions in running from one -dump of brush to another, “it was gone when -I looked around before I jumped through the -window.”</p> -<p>“But where did it go?” demanded Cliff.</p> -<p>“That’s the puzzle,” replied Clarence Neale.</p> -<p>“De ghos’ done taken it!” gasped the small -colored boy.</p> -<p>“Nothing of the sort! There aren’t any -ghosts!” declared Mr. Gray.</p> -<p>The boy stared. “Yes, they is!” he retorted. -“I seen it! It was white! It——”</p> -<p>“Where did you see it?” Nicky asked quickly.</p> -<p>“By de window, sar!”</p> -<p>“Was it looking in?”</p> -<p>“It was comin’ to’ds”—toward, he meant—“to’ds -me!”</p> -<p>“What is all this?” a new voice spoke. The -owner of the plantation, a rough, stocky Englishman -with a bronzed face, stood in the doorway. -He had been out on another of his many -properties for several days and had, apparently, -come back in time to discover the -excitement without understanding its meaning.</p> -<p>Mr. Gray explained the boy’s fright without -mentioning the loss of the map. Nicky, about -to speak, saw Cliff make a gesture which unmistakably -was the Mystery Boys’ signal for -silence; he closed his lips and waited.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_41">41</div> -<p>“These colored people are afraid of shadows,” -said the plantation owner. “Run along -home, boy. Nothing will hurt you!”</p> -<p>“No, sar, Mister Coleson, sar, I dassent go -in de dark alone!”</p> -<p>“The natives of this island are full of legends -and stories about ghosts,” Mr. Coleson explained -to the group. “Why, I have even heard -them declare that the ghosts and spirits of the -old pirates appear at times. Joe, my overseer, -here on the plantation, says he once heard -where treasure was hidden and he decided to -try to get it. But when he got near the place -his superstitions got the best of him. The way -he tells about it, he saw pirates, in red bandana -head cloths, with glittering cutlasses, and -smoking pistols, stalking toward him. Naturally, -being a coward, he ran. Of course,” he -added, “I’m only telling you what he said. -Personally, I think the fellow built it all up -in his mind!”</p> -<p>“Oh—sar!” broke in the colored boy. “No! -I see dem, too! I see Cap’n Kidd in my dream, -de odder night. He come and he say ‘Boo!’ an’ -wake me up!”</p> -<p>Clarence Neale laughed.</p> -<p>“That shows how easy it is to believe in -ghosts if you hear about them and think about -them all your life!” he told Tom. “This lad -even dreams about them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div> -<p>“Captain Kidd, eh?” repeated the Englishman, -laughing and then becoming half serious. -“Well, if there’s any truth in superstition, the -old boy must be watching over some of his -treasure that is threatened!” He winked toward -Clarence Neale, but neither Tom nor the -colored boy saw it and both thought he was -quite serious.</p> -<p>“Don’t, sar—please, don’t!” begged the boy, -beginning to snivel. “He say ‘Boo’ at me. Den -I mus’ have see him, tonight again!”</p> -<p>“Well,” said the Englishman, “I’ll leave you -people to argue with this little scare-cat! I’m -tired and I think I will turn in!”</p> -<p>He said goodnight and went to the quarters -he occupied.</p> -<p>“Wasn’t Sam to come here?” asked Mr. -Gray.</p> -<p>“Yes, he was—” began Cliff; he paused, and -glanced at Nicky. The latter opened his eyes -wider as the thought struck him too.</p> -<p>Could Sam have had anything to do with the -“ghost business?” Sam had half a map; he -saw Nicky, earlier, displaying his excitement -when the map was shown. Maybe he had become -suspicious, followed them, overheard -something; perhaps he had even listened at the -window.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div> -<p>They discussed the strange disappearance of -their map, stated their suspicions, brought up -the question of Sam’s possible guilt.</p> -<p>The colored boy, not understanding, stood -with his eyes rolling, afraid to depart.</p> -<p>“There is an easy way to settle the question, -and, at the same time to dispose of this -boy’s fears,” suggested Clarence Neale. “I -will walk home with him!”</p> -<p>That seemed to be the best course and so Mr. -Neale, reassuring their dusky charge, put a -hand on his shoulder and gently urged him -from the room.</p> -<p>“I don’t care much for this situation,” said -Mr. Gray. “It seems to me that some human -agency is at work, trying to frighten you lads. -I assure you that there is no ghost. Whatever -Tom may have seen, and whatever the boy saw, -there is a human being behind it. And no -ghostly hands took your paper!”</p> -<p>“I think that way too,” Nicky declared, and -Cliff nodded his agreement. Tom also gave a -rather lame assent.</p> -<p>“Anyhow,” stated Nicky, practically, “if -there was a ghost—if Captain Kidd did watch!—he -sent part of the map to my own ancestor. -He wouldn’t want to scare us! If he scared -anybody, or took a map from anywhere, he -would go after the colored fellow, Sam. His -half of the cipher wasn’t rightfully his, the way -mine is.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_44">44</div> -<p>“But there is no ghost,” repeated Mr. Gray. -“If you ever get the true facts you will see that -some person is at the bottom of this.”</p> -<p>“Sam, most likely!” declared Tom, entering -into the spirit of the discussion and reassuring -himself.</p> -<p>“No,” said Mr. Neale, coming in, his arm -around the shoulders of the colored man they -had just named, “no—Sam isn’t at the bottom -of it.”</p> -<p>They looked at Sam. He was weak and -shaken, and slumped down in a chair, rather -limp and groggy.</p> -<p>“I found Sam out by the gate,” Mr. Neale -explained. “He had been knocked out, actually, -by a blow. He was on his way here, he managed -to tell me. He thought he saw something light-colored -near the house and he stopped by the -gate. But whatever—whoever—it was, disappeared -behind the house and he stood a moment -wondering. Then he heard the voice in the -house, here, and wondered whether to come in -or to wait. Before he guessed what was happening, -some one was behind him and struck -him. That is all he remembered.”</p> -<p>“No ghost did that!” exclaimed Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_45">45</div> -<p>“I don’t—know,” Sam said, weakly. “They -tell, on the island, that ghosts have terrible -power. I never did believe much in it, but—I -don’t know—now!”</p> -<p>“Well, I do know!” declared Mr. Neale defiantly. -“Your part of the map is gone, of -course!”</p> -<p>“Yes, sar—yes——”</p> -<p>“Of course! Does that seem like the work -of a ghost?”</p> -<p>“It might be!” Sam said uncertainly. He -drank the water Nicky had brought him, and -seemed to be pulling himself together, but his -age-old instinct of fear was beginning to -triumph over his education.</p> -<p>“At any rate,” Mr. Gray summed up, “whatever -and whoever did these things, the result -amounts to this: neither Sam nor we have any -clue to the treasure——”</p> -<p>“You wouldn’t let that stop you, would you?” -demanded Nicky.</p> -<p>“I wouldn’t, if Father would let us go on,” -Cliff stated.</p> -<p>“Nor I,” agreed Clarence Neale. “We can -remember the map closely enough—we know -the longitude—we could even cable Nicky’s -uncle and get the original if necessary——”</p> -<p>“But we don’t remember the latitude on -Sam’s half,” said Cliff. “Unless Sam does——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div> -<p>“When he gets over his bump—it won’t be -serious—he will be able to help. Anyway, we -know in a general way that the place is somewhere -in the Florida Keys, about twenty-five -degrees and some minutes of North latitude -and we all recall the longitude—and one-half -of the map had the phrase ‘dip’ and the other -‘per’—put them together and they mean ‘Dipper.’” -Mr. Neale sketched on a bit of envelope -the picture of the constellation know as “The -Dipper.”</p> -<p>“There!” he said, triumphantly. “Doesn’t -that show you the same little marks that were -on the two maps?”</p> -<p>Nicky, Cliff, Tom and Mr. Gray nodded.</p> -<p>“Well, then, we can find that set of islands,” -declared Mr. Neale, “and, if Mr. Gray would -carry on my work here, I, for one, would vote -to go ahead!”</p> -<p>“Here too!” cried Nicky.</p> -<p>“Same for me!” stated Cliff, giving his -father an imploring look.</p> -<p>“I’m with you,” Tom chimed in, not as aggressively, -but with his will power overcoming -his uncertainty.</p> -<p>“I’d go if you would let me,” said Sam, while -Mr. Gray bandaged a lump on his head after -it had been disinfected and washed. “I know -where I could get a sloop with a little engine -to kick it along if the wind failed——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_47">47</div> -<p>“That would be fine!” exclaimed Nicky. “I -vote we take Sam in!”</p> -<p>“Share and share alike!” cried Cliff eagerly. -“That is, our part of whatever we find! Of -course we’d give some to the governor’s family -if we can find them.”</p> -<p>“We’d have to keep it secret—our plan!” -said Nicky, earnestly. “We’d have to pretend -to be going——”</p> -<p>“To cruise for Carib relics on smaller -islands!” broke in Clarence Neale, as excited as -his younger companions.</p> -<p>“Fine!” agreed Nicky. “Is the sloop big -enough, Sam? Where is it? What’s it like? -Is it seaworthy for a cruise like this?”</p> -<p>Sam said “yes” and described the one-masted, -thirty-foot boat with its heavy duty -motor. “Maybe close quarters to sleep in,” -he said, “but she has shorely got a good name -for treasure hunting!”</p> -<p>“What?” demanded all three chums in unison.</p> -<p>“The <i>Treasure Belle</i>——”</p> -<p>“Oh!” cried Nicky. “With a name like that -we simply must get her! Mr. Gray, you can’t -refuse us permission.”</p> -<p>Three eager youths pleaded. The older man, -counseled and reassured by Clarence Neale, -finally agreed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_48">48</div> -<p>“Hooray!” Nicky exulted. “Treasure bent -in the <i>Treasure Belle</i>! Nothing can stop us!”</p> -<p>Tom, a little silent, hoped that nothing -could!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div> -<h2 id="c6">CHAPTER VI -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">ON THE WAY TO THE KEYS</span></span></h2> -<p>The <i>Treasure Belle</i>, when they inspected her -with Sam and Mr. Neale, disappointed the -chums. She lay, careening to one side, in a -place on the shore of a small ship basin. Her -hull, originally painted white, was a mixture of -grays and browns, streaked and dirty. Her -cabin, when they crawled into it, was musty and -cramped, up in the bow, with no head room -and with its bunks both narrow and uninviting.</p> -<p>“Quite a difference between her name and -her looks,” smiled Clarence Neale. Nicky -nodded and Cliff, standing on deck, pointed -toward a cluster of boats moored in deeper -water.</p> -<p>“Why can’t we charter a boat like that one?” -said Cliff, indicating a fairly trim looking -cruising launch, about thirty feet long, with a -raised cabin whose windows had neat little -drapings at each side, whose paint showed little -wear. Where the <i>Treasure Belle</i> had no bright -work, her hardware being discolored and rusting, -the other craft showed signs of constant -attention.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div> -<p>“That’s a private boat, and not for hire, sar,” -explained Sam. “She belong to a white man. -He use her for run to Cuba. I hear it told he -is a politician of Cuba, and he stay here because -he is not so well liked in his island. But they -say he run there by night for some reason and -keep that boat only for that.”</p> -<p>“Maybe he would charter her to us if he -didn’t need her,” urged Nicky. “She’d be a -lot nicer.”</p> -<p>Sam, at Mr. Neale’s suggestion, took them to -the office of the ship basin owners but they got -no encouragement. The <i>El Libertad</i> was not -for hire or charter. He gave the party the -address of her owner readily enough but without -enthusiasm.</p> -<p>When Mr. Neale returned from an interview -with Senor Ortiga, he shook his head.</p> -<p>“<i>El Libertad</i> is not to be ours,” he said. -“Senor Ortiga told me that he is having the -engine overhauled and is waiting for parts—even -if he would let us have her, which he did -not seem inclined to do, it would be a month -before she would be ready, he said.”</p> -<p>“This <i>Treasure Belle</i> look poorly,” Sam said. -“But she is Bahama built, sar, and she’s sturdy, -and seaworthy.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_51">51</div> -<p>“She looks like a tub with a sail,” said Tom.</p> -<p>“Yes, sar, but she has very light draught,” -Sam urged. “She can go in channels between -the cays, and if she get aground her hull is -strong and not easy to break. That <i>Libertad</i> is -very thin hulled, and draws eight inches more -water.”</p> -<p>“Well, we can’t have her, anyway,” Nicky -decided. “We’ll have to make the best of this -one and let the name make up for the drawbacks.”</p> -<p>“My cousin own her,” Sam stated. “I have -not told him why we charter her, and for the -cruise to get relics that I say we use her for, -he let her go very cheap, sar.”</p> -<p>They made the necessary arrangements with -Sam’s cousin and work was started on the -sloop. She was close to thirty-two feet in length, -wide in her beam and squatty looking, but her -engine, though a heavy duty make and not very -fast, was in perfect trim. Her canvas was also -neat and complete.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_52">52</div> -<p>While the paint was scrubbed and the dirty -interior of the cabin made presentable and as -comfortable as possible, Sam, who was a good -sailor and knew the sloop well, gave Nicky, -Tom and Cliff many lessons in rope splicing, -handling the sails, and, without actual practice -in steering he explained the method of holding -a small craft on her course. Sam was the only -addition to the party, as, with Mr. Neale, who -was sufficiently good at navigation to handle a -small boat on the comparatively landlocked -course they would take, it was felt that the -boys would make a sufficient crew, standing -watch-and-watch.</p> -<p>Few supplies were put aboard. They did not -want people to suppose they were going to be -on a desolate series of coral reefs for their -cruise; to buy much food would arouse curiosity, -because they could get fresh supplies on -any of the islands of the Bahamas or the Virgin -Islands they were hinting that they would visit.</p> -<p>On a bright, clear morning Cliff bade goodbye -to his father, the others shook hands with -Mr. Gray, and with the <i>Treasure Belle’s</i> engine -thudding away without a skip, they maneuvered -the sloop out of the small basin and laid a -course for Cuba, steering for the Eastern end -of the island rather than to their true course -toward the Western end, so as to make it seem -that they were bound toward the Eastern group -of islands, after touching on the large island -for some work Mr. Neale pretended must be -done there to verify some reports of Carib -relics to be found in the jungles.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_53">53</div> -<p>But by noon, with the jib and mainsail spread -to the steady breeze, they shifted the tiller and -brought the <i>Treasure Belle</i> around again on a -course that would enable them to round the -Western nose of Cuba and then sail Northeast -to the coral islets which clustered in a long -fringe along the Florida Gulf coast, at its lower -portion.</p> -<p>“Without a map we will have to take some -chances,” Mr. Neale told Nicky, Tom and Cliff. -“But we can come pretty close to a guess at -the point where we must anchor.”</p> -<p>“Where our half of the map showed the -crossmarked ‘reck,’” Nicky asserted.</p> -<p>“Yes,” agreed Mr. Neale. “We will hunt for -a spot where there could be a set of conditions -like those we know.”</p> -<p>“You mean that there must be needles of -coral deep enough for a Spanish galleon to -have gone aground and broken up,” Cliff suggested. -“Then two islands with a channel deep -enough between for a heavy boat to use.”</p> -<p>“Right,” nodded the captain of the vessel, -for that post had been given to their older comrade. -The Mystery Boys had given Mr. Neale -his initiation into the secret gestures with -which they could communicate without letting -outsiders guess that they were doing so.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div> -<p>“Then we will work in through the keys with -the light-draft, glass-bottomed boat we are towing,” -the captain went on. “If we fail to find -islands in a formation like the Great Dipper, -we can work North and South alternately until -we do.”</p> -<p>“And then, the treasure!” exulted Nicky.</p> -<p>“I’m not so sure,” Cliff said. “Centuries -have passed since it was put there. The map -didn’t show whether the treasure was buried -or not.”</p> -<p>“I don’t see how it could have been,” Tom -declared. “That coral is too hard to dig in. -They’d have had to blast to get a place deep -enough to bury it. I imagine they just lowered -the chests into the water, maybe in a little cove -or where there was a hole deep enough to conceal -the chests.”</p> -<p>“We will have to see,” Mr. Neale agreed. -“First we must find our Great Dipper.”</p> -<p>They made the end of Cuba without any -difficulty, rounded it and set the tiller for the -new course, sailing more slowly as they lost the -direct force of the steady breeze and had to -keep rather close-hauled. They did not use -the engine, preferring not to employ it any -more than was essential. It might help them -off if they ran onto a reef, and they proposed -to save their supply of gasoline for such an -emergency.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_55">55</div> -<p>At last, under a glorious sunset, with its rose -and coral, its great, vivid bands of green and -vivid gold lighting up a few fleecy clouds near -the horizon, they sighted the low, long cluster -of islets.</p> -<p>Not a thing had occurred during the trip to -cause uneasiness. Sam had been both courteous -and respectful, without being servile. Like -most Jamaica colored people he felt himself to -be the equal of the race of lighter color, as far -as education and morality could be compared. -In the matter of his color of skin he felt, with -justice, that the teaching of the Bible, and of -the United States Constitution, that all men are -equal, in the sense of all being created by the -same Great Creator, was a true teaching.</p> -<p>Being sensible boys, Nicky, Tom and Cliff -made no distinction in the matter of Sam’s -color. As long as he preserved the same habits -of decency as they did, as long as he “acted -white,” as Nicky put it, they were too finely -bred to treat him like an ignorant heathen, as -so many rather ignorant people do in their -relations with men of dark, or yellow skin. -They looked at the intelligence and the inner -man, and not alone at the tint of the skin.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div> -<p>Sam felt the decent attitude and responded. -He never tried to be above his station but he -acted as an equal wherever his education enabled -him to do so, and accepted gracefully the -superiority of Mr. Neale’s training, Nicky’s -deftness with a fish spear, Nicky’s eyes having -been quickened and trained by archery and -other sports. Tom’s superior speed as a runner -had been proved on the beach before they -sailed, as had Cliff’s supremacy in wrestling. -But there was no color line drawn, and that -made the cruise more pleasanter.</p> -<p>“The Keys!” cried Nicky from the bow.</p> -<p>They all lined up around the mast, and, just -before the twilight and its afterglow left the -long reach of islets looking like ghostly shapes -on the water, they cast anchor.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_57">57</div> -<h2 id="c7">CHAPTER VII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">AN UNCANNY SUMMONS</span></span></h2> -<p>The spot where the <i>Treasure Belle</i> came to -anchor was just at the lowermost point of the -archipelago of coral islets. The solid land -which had Cape Sable for its most Southern -tip had been passed and lay to their left, while -the first of the Keys was dimly visible as they -looked off in the opposite direction.</p> -<p>A council was being held on the decked-over -top of the stuffy cabin. Sam was not there. He -had taken the dinghy, with its glass bottom, -and was just out of earshot toward the inner -bay, fishing to secure their morning meal.</p> -<p>“I have been thinking a great deal about our -next course,” Mr. Neale stated. “One reason -that I anchored just here is this: It is a deep -enough channel between the mainland and the -Key for us to navigate the <i>Belle</i> without -danger of grounding or running onto a coral -‘needle.’ My intention has been to sail along -the outer side of the archipelago; but I wonder, -now, what you think of trying the inside channel, -between the mainland and the Keys.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div> -<p>“We’d miss the place where the wreck was -marked, if we go the inside way,” objected -Nicky.</p> -<p>“True,” admitted the captain, “but, on the -on the other hand, fellows, we would come to a -point opposite where we think that should be, -and we’d work outward from the inner channel.”</p> -<p>“But we’d miss the route we marked down, -from memory, the way it was on our half of -the map. That took in at least two of the -Dipper islands,” Cliff reminded him.</p> -<p>“Here is my reason for wanting to do something -else,” Mr. Neale said quietly. “If we go -the outer way there may not be a safe anchorage -in case of a storm. You will remember -that the old galleon was supposed to have been -wrecked on ‘needles’ and I can assure you that -those sharp, coral spikes are no pleasant thing -to have under your hull in any sea that lifts the -sloop and drops her down hard.”</p> -<p>“I know another good reason,” Tom chimed -in. “We don’t suspect Sam of having anything -to do with stealing our map—because he -was hit on the head and his map was taken——”</p> -<p>“So he says!” corrected Nicky. “We haven’t -any proof, and he’s the only one we can think -of who would have had any reason——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div> -<p>“But we don’t actually suspect him,” Tom -insisted. “He hasn’t made a suspicions move -or done a wrong thing since we started out. But -what I meant to say was: We don’t suspect -him, but we do know that somebody has the -maps—both halves, probably.”</p> -<p>“I see what you are driving at,” Cliff declared. -“If somebody else is after the treasure, -we would be right in sight if we anchored in -the outer place; and we’d be a sort of ‘marker’ -for them.”</p> -<p>“That was my idea, also,” said Mr. Neale. -“And if Sam did have anything to do with the -loss of our map, a change in our plans may -cause him to betray some emotion. We can’t -suspect him, but we can’t exonerate him, -either.”</p> -<p>“Not yet,” agreed Nicky, and Tom and Cliff -shook their heads.</p> -<p>“I vote for the inside channel,” Nicky added.</p> -<p>“So do I!”</p> -<p>“I do, too,” Cliff completed the vote.</p> -<p>“Then, tomorrow, we will pilot the <i>Belle</i> -through by using the dinghy ahead to look out -for coral,” Mr. Neale said.</p> -<p>“Let’s not mention it to Sam in the dark,” -Nicky urged. “His face will show his feelings -better in the morning and we will surprise -him.” It was agreed to take Nicky’s way.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div> -<p>“Look—over there!” Tom said under his -breath; he clutched Cliff’s arm, and pointed. -They all turned.</p> -<p>“Do you mean on that little Key—where the -single tree is—that bluish light!” Nicky demanded.</p> -<p>“Yes! Isn’t it queer? See—Mr. Neale! It’s—it’s -moving!”</p> -<p>Tom’s clutch on Cliff’s arm tightened.</p> -<p>On the small expanse of coral at some distance, -countless years had spread a thin upper -covering of mold and dust until enough earth -was deposited to support a small, stunted palm -tree. As the four looked a strange, bluish -radiance, seeming to be on the ground itself, -showed the lower part of the tree trunk in relief -against its faint glow.</p> -<p>The light seemed to move about within a narrow -radius.</p> -<p>“It can hardly be phosphorus,” stated Mr. -Neale, keeping his voice low and his words calm -to prevent any growth of superstitious fear.</p> -<p>“What is it, then?” whispered Tom.</p> -<p>“Sam may be over there,” Nicky gave the -logical explanation. But as he spoke they -heard the swish of Sam’s oar and the grate of -the dinghy coming alongside on the port side.</p> -<p>“Don’t say a word,” cautioned Cliff. “See -if he mentions it.”</p> -<p>Sam did mention the light, and at once!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_61">61</div> -<p>“I don’t like that, sar,” he said to Mr. Neale, -as he paid out the dinghy line and looped it -over a stern cleat of the sloop. “I tell you, sar, -I was educated not to believe in ghosts, sar, -but we are right in the place where all the -pirates hid gold and laid in wait for ships. If -not the English and Spanish and French, then -the Bahama buccaneers and the ones that -started up their trade from Cuba before they -were wiped out for all time.”</p> -<p>“Nonsense!” said Mr. Neale, rather sharply. -“Pull up that dinghy, Nicky. Want to come -along? We’ll see what it’s all about, eh?”</p> -<p>“No, sar—don’t you!” exclaimed Sam.</p> -<p>Tom also whispered to Nicky. The latter, -rather surprised at his formerly cool chum, -who had kept his head admirably during their -adventures among the Incas, was about to make -a retort that would shame Tom, but he shut his -lips, for once controlling his impulses.</p> -<p>“There is nothing to fear,” declared the captain -and Nicky echoed his words stoutly, as did -Cliff. Nicky and Mr. Neale rowed away.</p> -<p>It was a short row to the islet, although they -proceeded slowly because of the darkness and -the proximity of coral under the water. The -light disappeared before they reached the -island. They could see quite plainly in the starlight -that there was nothing on the small coral -Key except the palm tree.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div> -<p>“Strange,” observed Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>“Maybe it was just some odd reflection of -light from a star on the coral,” Nicky said. -“Only—it moved!”</p> -<p>“Perhaps our imagination helped,” Mr. -Neale said, and that was the explanation he -insisted upon when they returned to the <i>Treasure -Belle</i>. The others accepted it, Cliff calmly, -Tom rather silently. Only Sam objected.</p> -<p>“No star, sar!” he declared. “We would still -see the light—and no star is blue. But——”</p> -<p>He drew closer to the little riding light which -was on the mast and which they used as their -only illumination that evening. “Back in my -island there is a story, sar, that when a treasure -is in danger ghosts appear to scare people -away and when a treasure is not being guarded -by ghosts there is a light hovering over the spot -where it is buried!”</p> -<p>“Well, that is great!” declared Nicky eagerly. -“All we have to do then is to go there tomorrow -and get the treasure!”</p> -<p>Although neither Tom nor Sam fully agreed -that there was nothing to menace their personal -welfare, they retired with the others. Sam -curled up, as usual, in the cockpit, and the three -chums laid themselves on the roof of the cabin, -on blankets, their air pillows inflated and under -their heads.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_63">63</div> -<p>They did not discuss the matter of the light. -It did not appear again and Nicky and Cliff -dropped off to sleep. Tom, lying awake, battling -with himself mentally, trying to make his -common sense defeat his instinctive apprehension, -started and almost thrust Cliff over the -low rail with the violence of his motion.</p> -<p>From somewhere about the hull of their sloop -came three distinct taps! Rap! Rap! Rap!</p> -<p>“What was that?” whispered Tom.</p> -<p>Mr. Neale, seated near the tiller, half dozing, -answered, as Cliff and Nicky stirred and -came awake.</p> -<p>“Probably drifting wood or possibly we are -almost on a coral reef—or the anchor cable may -have rubbed and made the noise. There is not -a thing!——”</p> -<p>“Look!” gasped Nicky—“Look! In the -water! Light—bluish light, moving away.”</p> -<p>Everyone was fully awake and staring in -every direction. Cliff located Nicky’s indicating -finger, followed the direction, saw a swirl -of phosphorescence in the water.</p> -<p>“Maybe a shark!” he declared, “a shark came -up to investigate us, looking for food, I’ll bet!”</p> -<p>“That was it!” declared Mr. Neale. “Go back -to sleep.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_64">64</div> -<p>“There’s the light again!” Tom quavered. -Even Cliff and Nicky felt chilling prickles run -up and down their spines at Tom’s tone. Sam -looked and slumped down, hiding his face in -the cockpit.</p> -<p>“Hit’s—hit’s—ghos’es!” he shuddered, forgetting -his educated diction in his terror.</p> -<p>“Mr. Neale, let’s go and see—” begged Nicky.</p> -<p>“Let me go too?” urged Cliff, “Nicky went -last time.”</p> -<p>“Wait till mornin’—please, sar, wait!” -pleaded Sam. “Doan’ leave us here for the -ghos’es to git us, sar!”</p> -<p>“Now—right now, we go!” stated Nicky. -“We’ll settle this thing once and for all. If -you aren’t strong enough to fight off a ghost, -Sam, I’m sorry for you.”</p> -<p>He had the dinghy alongside. Cliff and Mr. -Neale clambered in and held the rail of the -sloop until Nicky slipped into the dinghy’s bow. -Tom, knowing the small boat had its full complement -of passengers, and realizing that his -own timidity had made him an enforced companion -of a terrified Negro on the sloop, strove -to drive away his fear.</p> -<p>“Can you whistle, sar?” urged Sam. “Dey -says whistlin’ keeps off ghos’es!”</p> -<p>“Then you try, too,” ordered Tom.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_65">65</div> -<p>Both puckered their lips and essayed a shrill -whistle. It came out each a quavery, hissing -failure that the ones in the boat, pushing away -from the sloop, peered and chuckled.</p> -<p>“Get yourself a tin whistle,” laughed Cliff, -and even Tom had to chuckle at his own tremulous -muscles.</p> -<p>It seemed as though the dinghy was away a -long time; the queer light shone for awhile but -suddenly vanished.</p> -<p>After a wait there came a hail.</p> -<p>“What do you think we found?” called Nicky, -excitedly.</p> -<p>Tom couldn’t guess. When they all assembled -and the riding lantern was hauled down -to show their discovery better, Tom gasped.</p> -<p>“Right where the light had been, we found -this!” stated Nicky, showing a rusted, broken -and almost completely disintegrated old can, -such as vegetables are preserved in. From it -he drew an old, torn slip of some sort of thin -leather or parchment. Time seemed to have -eaten into it, or else the washing of the water -had rotted it.</p> -<p>Nevertheless, faint, distinguishable marks -were on it.</p> -<p>“Why, it’s a message or something!” exclaimed -Tom.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div> -<p>“Dat’s what the light was for,” said Sam, -his teeth chattering. “It marked where the can -was, sars.”</p> -<p>“Well, it did us a good turn,” Nicky stated -joyfully. “Read it, will you, Mr. Neale?”</p> -<p>Their captain put the parchment very close -to the light.</p> -<p>They almost held their breath, waiting in a -thrill of eagerness.</p> -<p>“I declare!” he cried, “it looks as old as the -can—and yet—and yet—this is a message to -us!”</p> -<p>“It is?” shouted Nicky.</p> -<p>“Listen!” He bent closer, holding the dim -lettering almost against the lantern globe.</p> -<p>“This is what it says. ‘Treasure—found—long -ago. Dig under tallest of three trees on -Crocodile Key in Card Bay for more!”</p> -<p>“Hooray!” Nicky exulted, “one treasure gone -and another to be found!”</p> -<p>“Where did it come from?” Cliff asked. “I -know how we found it, but I mean, how did it -get there?”</p> -<p>“Maybe it was left here for some buccaneers -who knew about the other treasure,” Tom hazarded -a guess.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div> -<p>“I know the answer,” Nicky cried, “this isn’t -meant for us. There may have been a treasure -hidden on that key; somebody got it and either -took it where this says, or else knew of another -one and left this word for the ones who would -come for the original one.”</p> -<p>“But—the light!—” began Tom.</p> -<p>“Well,” laughed Nicky, “if ghosts want to be -as friendly as to light a beacon, I’m their -friend! Thank you, ghosties!”</p> -<p>“Sh-h-h!” whispered Sam. “Please, sar—don’t!”</p> -<p>“But they did us a favor,” said Nicky. “They -gave us a much better ‘lead’ than the one we -had. I say it again.”</p> -<p>He faced the little key and cupping his hands, -sent out a hail.</p> -<p>“Ghosties—thank you!”</p> -<p>Even Nicky was electrified in the next instant.</p> -<p>From somewhere—they could not say where—came -a sephulchral, gurgling answer.</p> -<p>“You—welcome!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div> -<h2 id="c8">CHAPTER VIII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">CROCODILE KEY</span></span></h2> -<p>Like a jackrabbit, Sam, in two moves, dived -into the cabin. His first jump took him from -the deck to the cockpit; his body hardly landed, -facing astern, before he doubled on himself, -snakelike, and shot himself through the narrow -door.</p> -<p>Tom was on the point of following; but his -fear of his comrades’ laughter was greater even -than his dread of the unknown. Sam’s comical -appearance brought a shout of laughter from -Cliff and Nicky; even Mr. Neale was compelled -to chuckle. Tom, therefore, mastered his impulse -and remained on the cabin roof.</p> -<p>“Now what do you suppose that was?” Cliff -wondered, after they relieved the tension of the -momentary start of instinctive terror by a good -laugh at Sam.</p> -<p>“I must give it up,” answered Mr. Neale, -“but I am inclined to look for some human -agency before I admit any supernatural cause.”</p> -<p>“It—it didn’t sound like—anything human!” -Tom said with a shiver.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div> -<p>“Have you heard so many ghosts that you -know what they sound like?” asked Nicky with -a chuckle. Tom shook his head.</p> -<p>“I don’t feel much like investigating in the -dark,” Cliff went on.</p> -<p>“I don’t see what there is to investigate,” -Nicky added.</p> -<p>“I’ll take the dinghy in the morning and look -for some evidences of human causes,” declared -Mr. Neale. “Perhaps a Seminole Indian may -be around here, fishing—or something. Or some -white resident of the mainland, with a sense -of humor, is playing a joke on us.”</p> -<p>“This message doesn’t seem like a joke,” -Nicky defended. “It looks real to me. See how -rusted the old can is—why, it’s almost like -paper—and the parchment is awfully old.” He -indicated, by the dim lantern, how frail the -edge of the sheet was by tearing it.</p> -<p>“I think it’s real,” Cliff agreed. “Don’t you, -Mr. Neale?”</p> -<p>Their captain and mentor hesitated.</p> -<p>“There are several strange points to consider -by daylight,” he commented. “If we had -found it by chance I should consider it genuine; -but the light—and the ghostly voice—those -make me suspicious.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div> -<p>“But—look!” argued Nicky, “it gives a definite -place, and tells about a landmark to show -where to dig for treasure. Our map wasn’t even -clear about the channel or where the treasure -was hidden.”</p> -<p>“However,” Mr. Neale said, “it came to you -in a logical way. The new one did not. I cannot -account for that bluish light but it is surely -not supernatural.”</p> -<p>“I’ve heard of very old things, decomposing, -giving off light,” Cliff declared. Mr. Neale -nodded and since there was really nothing to be -gained by any long argument, they finally became -calm enough to lie down again, Mr. Neale -agreeing to stay awake and watch until dawn.</p> -<p>Not much sleep was possible; nevertheless -they all dozed some, and their dreams were, to -say the least, thrilling.</p> -<p>However, as is usual with any form of terror -of supernatural things, the coming of the sunshine -dispelled their timidity. True it was that -the coral showed no footprints and the water -told no story of the previous night’s incidents. -They remained unexplainable.</p> -<p>Sam served a breakfast of fish, with bacon -and some turtle eggs he had found the evening -before, and during the meal their procedure -was discussed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div> -<p>Nicky, Cliff and Tom were for giving up their -indefinite search, among a multitude of islets, -and trying for the new treasure trove, and Sam -agreed with them with the words, “Anywhere, -sar—anywhere but hereabouts! It’s bad lucky, -so it is!”</p> -<p>Mr. Neale, outvoted, gave in.</p> -<p>“I hunted crocodiles for the Museum of -Natural History one winter,” he stated, “I did -not secure a really successful specimen—all I -got was a giant turtle head, and part of the -skeleton of some great snake; the crocodiles -were too shy to be caught or even shot.”</p> -<p>“Don’t you mean alligators?” asked Tom, -who knew some natural history.</p> -<p>“No,” replied Mr. Neale. “Mostly the saurians -of Florida are of the alligator family; but in -some southerly parts of the Florida bays there -are to be found certain species that are different -from the alligators and more closely allied -with the crocodile species. I really believe -it would do us no harm to delay our search -here for a while. There is delightful fishing -and a great deal of fun—good bathing, sponge -fishing, crawfish catching and so on—to be had.</p> -<p>“Card Bay,” he went on, “is a curious slip -in the parchment; it is really Card Sound—a -sheet of water about six miles by two and a -half. But possibly when this parchment was -put where we found it—if it is genuine—the -names were different.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div> -<p>Up came the anchor and instead of running -into Whitewater Bay to go up the channel—if -they could find one—inside the islets, they -swung the <i>Treasure Belle’s</i> bow southward, -and ran slowly down to round the land of the -nose named Cape Sable, and then beat easterly -along the coast, finding snug harbors behind -keys or in some of the many small bays, to lie -to during the nights.</p> -<p>The trip was fairly uneventful.</p> -<p>There was one time when they thought they -would not find the right channel and almost -went aground in a narrow passage between -two mangrove-covered points. Rather heavy -wind made steering hard as they rounded -Southeast Cape, the lowest part of the Florida -mainland, even before that; but Sam was a -good man at the tiller and they had little to -fear, being quick and alert to obey his quiet -commands to haul on the ropes, to swing the -mainsail or to take an additional reef in their -canvas.</p> -<p>They skirted the shore of lower Matecumbe, -and stared interestedly at Indian Key.</p> -<p>“That is where the Seminole Indians killed -a Doctor Perrine,” Mr. Neale explained. “During -the Seminole War that happened. His children -hid in a turtle pen. They escaped. Really, -it was a miracle!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<p>It was a high island of about ten acres, and -in the plentiful water around it they ran quite -close to its high banks in passing.</p> -<p>That evening they anchored after running -between two points where the draught was very -slight and only by judging the color of the -water were they able to starboard, or port, the -helm a trifle, moving slowly, to avoid the shoal -or the more dangerous coral itself.</p> -<p>They anchored just before sunset and so -beautifully clear was the water that the sponges -growing on the bottom were plainly visible, in -the cross light, as Tom and Nicky rowed the -glass bottomed dinghy slowly around on the -smooth water.</p> -<p>“Isn’t this great” exclaimed Nicky. “See -those sponges! How many kinds do you know, -Tom?”</p> -<p>“Well, I know them by name, but not by -sight,” Tom responded. “I have read that the -marketable kinds are the yellow, the sheeps-wool, -the gras—and I think one is called the -glove. But there are more kinds that aren’t -any good to sell, and they have to be recognized -or else you’d get a lot that aren’t salable. There -is the loggerhead, for one, I remember—and -the potato sponge. And there are some that -are spiny, and they hurt your hands if you -grab them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div> -<p>“They don’t look like what we see in the -stores,” Nicky commented. “They are sort of -the same shapes, but they are black, and Mr. -Neale says they feel like india-rubber to touch -and they are smooth, with little craters or holes -in the top—look! There’s a beauty. Is that -a salable one, Tom?”</p> -<p>Tom peered down through the boat’s transparent -bottom.</p> -<p>“I’ll bet it’s a sheeps-wool one,” he declared.</p> -<p>Nicky stood up and began to fling off his -clothes.</p> -<p>“I’m going to dive for it!” he exclaimed. -Tom, fired by his enthusiasm, and with the -spirit of rivalry, began to “shuck” his clothes. -It became a race toward nakedness—with no -one but their comrades to observe, they often -plunged into the limpid, translucent water in -nature’s swimming suit. Cliff, observing them -from the sloop, began to emulate their hasty -disrobing. But Sam put a stop to their plan.</p> -<p>“Why?” demanded Cliff, rather warmly. -“We’re not afraid of sharks!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div> -<p>“No, sar,” called Sam, “but you are liable -to dive crooked or if your foot slips you may -go in backwards—and a cut from that sharp -coral isn’t to be chanced, sar.” He showed Cliff -a deep scar under his wooly hair, and Cliff, -alarmed, called for his comrades to desist—until -daylight, at least. They agreed reluctantly, -and, looking down more carefully Nicky confided -to Tom that he was glad they had. Overlooked -in their excitement, they were able in -calm study to observe a long, arrow-like frond -of coral extending upward at an angle so close -to the sponge that it must have been struck by -any but a most expert diver.</p> -<p>Green turtle, cooked by broiling beside a -good beach fire, as the Indians did it—a tasty -meat, and equally good when made into a sort -of stew of the whole creature’s flesh, was eked -out by a four pound crawfish caught by Nicky -from a veritable crawling mass of these lobster-like -shellfish in their bay. Corn-pone, or -cornbread made the southern way and baked -in ashes, a process learned by Tom during a -summer camp, in the South, made a fine dinner -that night and they ate the more lustily for the -realization of their narrow escape earlier in the -evening. “It doesn’t pay to leap before you -look!” declared Nicky as the chums settled -down to sleep that night.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div> -<p>After rather eventless days, during which -they passed many bays, inlets, keys and reefs, -they sighted Key Largo, one of the most fertile -of the few larger Florida Keys, beat along -its shore, ran along past Whaleback Key, and -finally slipped to the end of what the natives -call Barnes’ Sound, and through Jewfish Creek, -a narrow and deceptive passage connecting the -larger sheet of water with what the natives -call Little Card Sound, although the Geodetic -Survey charts give different names to both -major and minor waters.</p> -<p>The opening of Jewfish Creek was deceptive -because mangrove trees grew so closely that it -looked like an impassable place until Mr. Neale, -who had used it previously during his crocodile -hunting expedition, took command and piloted -them through cleverly.</p> -<p>“Little Card Sound!” exclaimed Nicky—with -considerable eagerness. “Now—where is Crocodile -Key?”</p> -<p>“I never heard of it,” Mr. Neale replied. -“But——”</p> -<p>“Yonder—yonder!” cried Sam, extending his -arm toward a point on the distant shoreline. -“That may not be a key, sar—but there shorely -are three trees in a row!”</p> -<p>“So they are!” agreed the captain, jamming -over the tiller as the sloop heeled in the breeze -and swung her bow toward the trees.</p> -<p>“But they are on the shore—not on a key,” -objected Tom.</p> -<p>“Coral may have closed a channel during the -years,” Mr. Neale explained. “Then earth covered -it. That is, granting that our message is -genuine.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div> -<p>“The trees prove it!” Nicky cried. “Now, all -we have to do is to wait till tomorrow and -then——”</p> -<p>“Dig for treasure!” cried Tom and Cliff, together.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_78">78</div> -<h2 id="c9">CHAPTER IX -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">BLACK CAESAR’S BUCCANEERS</span></span></h2> -<p>Once the anchor was dropped and the sails -furled, and everything made ship-shape for an -indefinite stay, the chums lost no time in tumbling -into their dinghy and rowing the several -hundred yards to shore.</p> -<p>They wanted to inspect the small inlet opposite -which they had anchored, and, before the -light faded, to get an idea of what sort of a -place lay beneath those three sentinels standing -their silent guard over the treasure buried -so long ago.</p> -<p>The mouth of the inlet was dark and gloomy -when they reached it and Tom, using the oars, -let them trail in the water until the snub-nosed -boat lost way.</p> -<p>“It looks pretty spooky in there,” he said.</p> -<p>“Oh, pshaw!” exclaimed Nicky, “pull, Tom. -There aren’t any spooks!”</p> -<p>“But there are snakes—and plenty of them,” -Cliff came to the rescue of the oarsman. “Mr. -Neale warned us, and it’s getting close to sunset. -We might not see them—the snakes!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<p>Nicky gave in and they drifted close in to the -narrow waterway. The shore was heavily -matted with a jungle of undergrowth, above -which the larger growth, some small mahogany, -mangrove and other trees towered.</p> -<p>“This may be just a lagoon, not an inlet. If -it’s a—er—like a strait, you know,” Nicky -urged, “then’s there may be water enough on -the far side to make this a key. In that case—we’ve -got the very place mentioned in the message!”</p> -<p>“We’d better wait till morning to make sure,” -Cliff said, and after many speculations as to -which side of the trees the treasure lay under—the -message had not said—they rowed back to -the sloop.</p> -<p>“There’s another boat—I think it’s making -for the <i>Treasure Belle</i>,” said Cliff. Looking -across the small distance, the others saw a rowboat -coming from around a point, making at -leisurely speed for the spot they had their bow -pointed toward.</p> -<p>“I wonder who they are?” Nicky speculated.</p> -<p>“I guess they wonder that about us,” Tom -hinted.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div> -<p>They were aboard when the other small craft -slipped alongside. In the rowboat was a tall, -rangy, and very thin and hawk-faced white -man and a plumb, grinning darkey of the true -southern type, ready to break into a guffaw at -the slightest joke; he was quite a contrast to -the Jamaican, Sam. Although Sam had a pleasant -smile, his face never broke out, as Nicky -put it, “like the sun bu’sting through a cloud,” -as did that of the darkey whom his white companion -called “Pomp’” to shorten his real -name, which was Pompey.</p> -<p>“Howdy, strangers,” greeted the white man -as their boat grated and came to rest at the -side of the sloop. “Right pretty name your -boat’s got—<i>Treasure Belle</i>. Reckon maybe you -named her that a-purpose. Reckon maybe you -come here-’bouts to make her live up to hit!”</p> -<p>“Come aboard, won’t you?” Mr. Neale responded. -“We’re glad to have company and -get acquainted.” The white man clambered to -the cockpit and produced a corncob pipe, filling -it languidly as he lay sprawled on a long -cushion at the side of the engine.</p> -<p>“I’m Nelse Carford,” he explained and introductions -were exchanged. “I got me a right -nice little piece of ground up beyond the point. -You-all mus’ come to visit me. Here for the -night—or on special business?” It struck Nicky -and his comrades that he eyed them all closely -as he asked the question.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div> -<p>“Thank you—we would be glad to visit you -soon, if we remain.” Mr. Neale took it upon -himself to be the spokesman. “We are just sailing -around among the bays and the keys, giving -the boys a bit of fun—an epidemic of ‘flu’ -closed their school this December.”</p> -<p>“I see,” nodded Nelse, apparently better -pleased than before. “I thought it mought—” -his word for “might”—“mought be you was -after some treasure, seeing what the craft is -named.”</p> -<p>Nicky opened his mouth, but Cliff kicked his -shin gently and Nicky subsided. But Nelse had -caught his expression.</p> -<p>“I reckon it mought be your aim to git some -if it was right handy though, hey?” he grinned. -Pompey, in the rowboat, holding to a rail alongside -the cockpit, guffawed, “Sho’ nuff!” he -chuckled. “White boys sho’ nuff do dat!”</p> -<p>“Would you blame us?” Cliff demanded with -a grin.</p> -<p>“’Course not,” Nelse answered. “Hits right -natural. And you’re ’most what mought be said -to be in the pirates’ an’ wreckers’ haunts, too. -Not fur away to what they call Black Caesar’s -Creek—they do say that old pirate was a terror. -An’ all around—just beyond, is a regular ships’ -graveyard—why you kin right near see ribs -and rudder posts, an’ bits of keel sticking up, -from here. Not quite, but you near-’bout kin -see ’em. They’s just away yonder.” He gestured -in the general direction of the lower neck -of Biscayne Bay and the Fowney Rocks light.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div> -<p>“Tell us,” said Nicky, before Cliff could warn -him again, “is that called Crocodile Key?” He -indicated the land at their bow.</p> -<p>Nelse started. He almost dropped his pipe. -Then he straightened. Nicky felt eyes that were -suddenly very piercing, boring at him in the -deepening twilight.</p> -<p>“How come you ast that?” demanded Nelse.</p> -<p>Mr. Neale took things in hand before Nicky -could commit himself further.</p> -<p>“Somebody told them there was such a place -nearby, and I had a notion I’d try for a croc’ -if that is so,” he declared.</p> -<p>Nelse sat up straight and bent forward while -Pomp’ in his boat subdued a cackle of laughter -and became very serious, an expression that -made his plump face look ludicrously like a -monkey’s.</p> -<p>“Listen!” ordered Nelse, sharply, “for your -own sakes, keep away f’om that place yonder—’specially -at nights!”</p> -<p>“Why?” said Tom, his voice beginning to get -weak.</p> -<p>“Because!” declared Nelse, “they say that -Black Caesar buried some treasure there one -time. And——”</p> -<p>“All the more reason—” began Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div> -<p>Nelse silenced him with a curt shake of the -head.</p> -<p>“And—” he took up his talk, “Black Caesar -was the meanest and most brutal pirate that -ever lived! They say, if anybody comes to try -to git his treasure, him and his mates appears—ghos’s, -you know! An’ woe betide them what -they puts their spell on!”</p> -<p>Sam had retired, shuddering and groaning, -to the cabin. Pomp’ began to look over his -shoulder. “Mas’ Nelse,” he quavered, “come -on, suh—don’ talk no moah ’bout dat! Le’s git -on home—please!”</p> -<p>Nelse nodded. “You see, I reckon,” he said. -“Ever’body here-’bouts believes hit.”</p> -<p>“Have you ever seen the pirates—are they -real or spooks?” asked Nicky.</p> -<p>“Comin’ home, late, one night, bein’ becalmed -in a sail boat—I see ’em. Loading -chests o’ treasure in the moonlight! Bet you -I never want to see ’em no more! No, suh!” -Pomp’ gasped.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_84">84</div> -<p>“And,” added Nelse to his servant’s tale, -“next day after Pomp’ told me—he was near-’bout -scared out o’ his clo’es—I took me a -rifle an’ went onto that land ’side o’ the inlet, -there—where you see that bit o’ rock under the -mangrove—an’—an’—they had been some man -there, it looked like he had been tryin’ to locate -somethin’ and started to dig for it—but—he—won’t—never—dig—no -mo’!”</p> -<p>The three chums shuddered in spite of themselves.</p> -<p>“Hurt?” asked Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>“Beyond hurtin’—” said Nelse solemnly. He -refused an invitation to stay for supper, complied -with Pomp’s pleading and tumbled into -his boat.</p> -<p>“If I was you,” he said in farewell, “an’ had -any idea o’ tryin’ for what I reckon may be -hid on that strip o’ land—I’d up sail an’ away -quick’s the wind ’ud take me!”</p> -<p>“Yes, sar!” mumbled Sam in the cabin.</p> -<p>“But whatever you do,” called Nelse, “if -there is any spooks—doan’ try for to bother -’em none—they’s more to them ha’nts—” his -word for ghosts “—than most folks knows, I -reckon!”</p> -<p>“Well, you won’t get me there,” declared -Tom.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_85">85</div> -<p>The slow, idle evening gave them plenty of -time to recount their feelings and to argue to -and fro about ghosts, spooks, ha’nts, and buccaneers’ -apparitions in particular. Sam, refusing -to come forth even to cook supper, took no -part. He crouched in a corner, muttering some -charm or spell of protection taught him by -Ma’am Sib, no doubt, till Cliff called, “Oh, Sam—shut -up!”</p> -<p>“All that talks doesn’t scare me,” Nicky declared, -“nor Sam, either, even with his witch-charms. -I’d sort of like to see——”</p> -<p>That very second he had his wish!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div> -<h2 id="c10">CHAPTER X -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">SAM SHOWS HIS TRUE COLORS</span></span></h2> -<p>On shore a queer light appeared. It was -queer in more ways than one. It was of a -peculiar green, an uncanny green; it was not -the light of a lantern, shining all around; it -seemed like a small window lighted up with an -uncanny glow—and it was where no window -could be. The light seemed to be moving, very -slowly, when Cliff discovered it and without a -word directed his comrades’ attention toward -it.</p> -<p>While they stared, the light came slowly -closer to the shore—and yet it did not seem to -be carried—it glided along almost imperceptibly.</p> -<p>Tom, with a nervous clutch on Mr. Neale’s -arm, indicated the open water of the Sound. -Across it a boat was moving, slowly, steadily, -toward them.</p> -<p>Yet, although it came steadily along and they -could see the men as dim, ghostly shapes, the -oars made no sound as the forms in the boat -plied them—bend! straighten!—bend! straighten!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div> -<p>The light had stopped moving and seemed -to hang, a queer window of illumination, above -the water on which its gleam was reflected -faintly. The boat came toward them. In its -bow a figure stood—and what a figure! In the -dim star-gleam it seemed gigantic. Not a sound -accompanied the slow progress of the strange -craft.</p> -<p>“He’s got something in his hand!” gasped -Nicky.</p> -<p>The man, as the boat came to within thirty -feet of the sloop, raised his arm.</p> -<p>“It’s a sword—” whispered Tom.</p> -<p>“No! A cutlass!” Cliff breathed.</p> -<p>The ghostly figure, its head tied up in some -sort of cloth, its face a white blur under the -white head covering, made a menacing gesture, -as of one thrusting at them, with the implement -in his hand.</p> -<p>Then he lifted the cutlass and with it pointed -away toward the passage between the mangroves -where they had come into the Sound.</p> -<p>“Go away, or you will suffer!” his gestures -seemed to say.</p> -<p>His boat, still without a sound, like a wraith -on the water, swung away toward the light.</p> -<p>Hardly breathing, the chums watched.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div> -<p>“Boat, ahoy!” called Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>There was no response. Like a craft of -dreams the boat moved off and they saw it progress -steadily to shore.</p> -<p>The light, green and gruesome, seemed to -grow larger and brighter, and it turned slightly -so that it lighted up the shelving bit of sand -at the mouth of the inlet.</p> -<p>Onto this small beach, with no sound that -could be heard, the boat-load of wraith-like -figures debarked.</p> -<p>They seemed to be all white, like ghosts, in -sheets or some sort of glimmeringly pale garments. -They bent toward the boat in the glow -that made them seem like luminous, greenish -shapes of evil.</p> -<p>“Look!” breathed Tom, “they’re lifting a -chest!”</p> -<p>They were! A chest or box of treasure was -being shifted to the sand. Several others followed, -still without answer to Mr. Neale’s repeated -hail.</p> -<p>Sam, who had refused to leave his retreat in -the stuffy cabin, began to whimper. Through a -port-hole, at their captain’s hail, he had stolen -one glance. It was enough!</p> -<p>Tom, too, was demoralized; but he dared not -speak; only by the shaking of his hand on -Nicky’s arm did his terror show.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div> -<p>On shore there seemed to be a ghostly argument—suddenly, -in the greenish glow, knives -flashed out, were lifted, were plunged into action! -Yet no sound of a fight came across the -water.</p> -<p>Figures dropped! Forms strove, hand in -hand, knives upraised and driven downward!</p> -<p>And at one side, a little above the rest, and -sharply silhouetted as a tall form in white, -stood the one who must be the leader, his cutlass -held ready, but making no move.</p> -<p>And then, all but one of the contending silent -figures was down! The survivor of the battle -turned and rushed toward his chief—the glow -disappeared and the silence, the darkness, -closed down more eerily than ever!</p> -<p>“Where are they—what are they doing?” -gasped Nicky.</p> -<p>Mr. Neale was drawing in on the line that -secured the dinghy.</p> -<p>“I’m going to see,” he said.</p> -<p>For once there were no volunteers for the -investigation!</p> -<p>Tom begged his chief not to go, but Mr. -Neale, with a word of encouragement, assuring -them that he felt that the strange scene had -more than supernatural explanation, rowed -away.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div> -<p>The wait seemed interminable. They heard -his oars squeal in the rowlocks, saw the dinghy -reach the shore and lose way; then there was -a silence and an absence of movement. They -could not make out what Mr. Neale was doing.</p> -<p>“I wish I’d gone along, now,” Nicky said.</p> -<p>“I ought to have gone, too—he might need -help.” Cliff seconded his chum’s tardy return -of courage.</p> -<p>But the dinghy was returning!</p> -<p>“It’s queer,” Mr. Neale said when he had -transferred himself to the cockpit, “I couldn’t -find a thing!”</p> -<p>“Couldn’t find—no boat—nothing?” quavered -Tom.</p> -<p>“Not a thing!”</p> -<p>There was not much sleep that night and -they were all glad to see the sky begin to turn -gray, then lighter, in the East, as dawn came.</p> -<p>Sam came out sullenly to prepare breakfast. -Their supplies were very low for they had laid -in only a small store, to keep up their pretence -of cruising among islands where food was plentiful. -At several points of the shore they had -secured yams, corn flour and other necessities, -but the meal, with a lean larder and a morose, -intimidated cook, yielded little zest or nourishment -for even such good appetites as the Mystery -Boys usually possessed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<p>“I’m going to suggest that you fellows go -ashore,” Mr. Neale said. “I’ll set you on the -beach—and be careful about snakes! Then I’ll -take the dinghy and go around the point to see -that chap we met last night. There is more -behind this than we see just now.”</p> -<p>“Don’t you think?—” began Tom.</p> -<p>“I think a good deal,” the captain replied, -“but ghosts are the very last explanation I will -accept!”</p> -<p>He put Nicky and Cliff on the bank of the -inlet, noting that by daylight the sand and undergrowth -was trampled and muddied.</p> -<p>“No ghosts did all this,” he said. “There -is a human agency at work and I want to find -out why all this trouble was taken—to scare -us.”</p> -<p>He went back to the sloop, ordered Sam to -pull himself together, and took Tom aboard the -dinghy. When he landed the third of the comrades -Mr. Neale, repeating his warning about -snakes, bade them reconnoiter and find all the -signs they could, against his return. Then he -rowed off toward the point around which Nelse -had said he had a plantation.</p> -<p>“Funny Nelse didn’t come back this morning,” -Cliff observed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_92">92</div> -<p>“Maybe he is in the scheme—whatever it is—to -scare us,” Nicky mused. “Remember how -anxious he was at first, till we said why we -are here—and then how emphatic he was about -danger?”</p> -<p>They did. As they looked about there were -plenty of signs to show that human agencies -and not ghosts had produced the strange scene -the night before.</p> -<p>Not only was the ground trampled, but on -one mangrove root that bent upward and -curved into a sort of prong, they discovered a -strip of cloth that looked like part of a bed -sheet.</p> -<p>But there was no sign of the chests of treasure!</p> -<p>“It’s a queer thing!” Nicky declared. His -chums agreed.</p> -<p>“Say!” exclaimed Tom suddenly, pointing -toward the sloop, “what’s Sam doing? Look—he’s -hoisting the mainsail!”</p> -<p>Sam was doing exactly that.</p> -<p>“Ahoy—Sam!” hailed Nicky through cupped -hands.</p> -<p>Sam did not answer.</p> -<p>“Sam! Sam!” shouted all three. They saw -the colored man turn and look toward them. -Then he picked up a small megaphone that was -part of the boat’s equipment and roared at -them.</p> -<p>“I’m going away from here, sars! Yes, sar! -Going from here!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div> -<p>“He’s been scared almost crazy!” declared -Cliff, “but he can’t go away——”</p> -<p>“——And leave us—and Mr. Neale!” cried -Tom.</p> -<p>Nicky began kicking off his shoes. As he -doffed coat and cap, his chums followed his example. -Together they plunged into the water -and swam lustily toward the <i>Treasure Belle</i>.</p> -<p>It was a race against Sam’s swift movements.</p> -<p>The sail was up. The anchor came in with a -groan of its chain. Cliff, a few strokes in the -lead, redoubled his efforts.</p> -<p>The <i>Treasure Belle</i> began to move through -the water, taking a puff of wind in the early -morning gusts.</p> -<p>Nicky and Cliff desisted from their effort. -Tom, desperate, seemed fairly to race toward -the stem of the moving slope—but her pace accelerated. -She stood away toward the neck -through which she would apparently head out -toward Biscayne Bay and the open water.</p> -<p>From the stern Sam waved a hand in farewell!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_94">94</div> -<h2 id="c11">CHAPTER XI -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">ONE MYSTERY IS SOLVED</span></span></h2> -<p>Swimming dejectedly back to their small bit -of beach the chums took off their soaked clothes -and hung them in the sun to dry.</p> -<p>“Well, here we are!” observed Nicky ruefully.</p> -<p>“Well, here we are!” mimicked Cliff. “Don’t -you like it? I thought you were fond of mystery -and adventure!”</p> -<p>“Whether I am or not, I’m getting it!” Nicky -admitted. “But this was more than I bargained -for.”</p> -<p>“Same here,” exclaimed Tom.</p> -<p>“I see,” Cliff grinned at them. “You two are—sort -of—arm-chair adventurers. You like to -have the thrills without the hardships. Just -look at us!” he declared. “We couldn’t be -deeper in adventure if we tried to dig our way -in! Right in the midst of treasure-land! -Stranded and deserted on the edge of an awful -swamp—isn’t the Big Cypress Swamp north of -us? Surely it is! Without food! Drenched -and helpless. What more could you ask?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div> -<p>“I see what you are aiming at,” Nicky -grinned back. “We must take it as it comes -and make the best of it.”</p> -<p>“That’s it,” Cliff agreed. “You know we’re -not so badly off. Mr. Neale will come rowing -along in the dinghy and then we’ll all crowd in -and be rescued—what a story we’ll have to tell -our grandchildren.”</p> -<p>They were compelled to laugh at his tone -and his ludicrous words. It made them all feel -better.</p> -<p>Meanwhile, Mr. Neale had reached Nelse’s -place and been greeted by Pomp’ who assured -him that he was welcome to wait until Mars’ -Nelse came back with his canoe—having gone -“off yonder,” Pomp’ said with a vague wave of -his hand toward the Sound.</p> -<p>Waiting on the rude little dock, Mr. Neale -caught sight of the <i>Treasure Belle</i> standing -away for an opening into bigger water.</p> -<p>It astonished him and rendered him helpless -to act! He knew that he could not hope to -overtake her with his dinghy, and Pomp’ assured -him that there was no faster boat within -reach.</p> -<p>“I ’spect dat black man f’om Jamaica done -got de skeer under his wool and run off wif -de white chill’un,” he observed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_96">96</div> -<p>“No—he’s gone alone,” Mr. Neale stated. “I -left the boys on the shore by the inlet.”</p> -<p>He leaped in to the dinghy and began to row -down the shore line; it was no time to wait for -Nelse. He must see whether the boys were -where he had left them or if they had managed -to return, by swimming, before Sam got the -boat under headway.</p> -<p>He was forced to conclude that they were -either voluntarily going with Sam or that they -were under some compulsion on the sloop.</p> -<p>Certainly they were not on the shore!</p> -<p>He beached the dinghy and sat in it, considering. -Where were his charges? Why had -they let Sam get away if they had reached the -sloop?</p> -<p>As a matter of fact, the chums were having -an adventure they had not counted on.</p> -<p>Hardly had they decided to wait for their -chief when a thought had struck Nicky. “If we -were detectives, now,” he mused, “we could find -out what all this mystery is concealing.”</p> -<p>“Well, we have nothing better to do,” Tom -suggested. “Let’s try our hand at ‘detecting!’”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_97">97</div> -<p>“Good idea!” Cliff agreed. “First off, that -boat, last night, didn’t come back into the -Sound. And there’s signs enough that real -people were here. Where did they go? Where -did they take the boat? And what did they do -with the chests?”</p> -<p>“That’s easy!” Nicky declared. “They went -up this little river, and they either put the -chests back in their own boat or in another one, -that had that funny light on it.”</p> -<p>“But where did they go, then,” demanded -Tom.</p> -<p>“Up the inlet, I said,” Nicky retorted. “We -can’t get through the mangroves and the tangle -of brush, but a boat—or boats—could go up as -far as that bend yonder.”</p> -<p>“I wonder what’s beyond the bend,” reflected -Tom.</p> -<p>“Let’s see—while our clothes dry!” Nicky -urged, slipping into the water.</p> -<p>“No—wait!” called Cliff. “Look out for -water snakes!”</p> -<p>“Or—crocodiles!” added Tom.</p> -<p>“I will,” laughed Nicky, turning and swimming -slowly up the inlet.</p> -<p>They watched him anxiously. He waved an -arm reassuringly and in a hundred easy strokes -was at the point where the inlet turned out of -their sight.</p> -<p>“Don’t go around there by yourself!” called -Cliff.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_98">98</div> -<p>“It’s just the same, around the bend,” Nicky -said as he trod water for an instant. Then he -swam out of their sight.</p> -<p>“Nicky!” called Tom anxiously.</p> -<p>There was a moment of silence, then a faint -answer came. The place seemed suddenly to be -spooky and queer.</p> -<p>Of a sudden there was a sharp, low cry, and -then silence.</p> -<p>Tom and Cliff looked at each other.</p> -<p>“Nicky!” shrilled Tom.</p> -<p>They strained their ears.</p> -<p>There was no answer!</p> -<p>With one accord, never pausing to think of -personal danger, knowing that Nicky was not -the sort to play a joke, that if he failed to answer -their hail he must be in peril, they slipped -into the water and used their utmost effort to -reach the bend.</p> -<p>Hardly had they left the tiny beach when a -Seminole Indian, with an almost expressionless -face, emerged from a clump of heavy bushes -through which he had been calmly, stolidly observing -them for a half hour.</p> -<p>That was why, when Mr. Neale arrived ten -minutes later, no clothes hung in the sun to furnish -a clue to the presence of the boys.</p> -<p>As the two chums reached the bend and could -see around it they suspended their strokes and -stared!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_99">99</div> -<p>Nicky was not in danger at all!</p> -<p>But he was evidently too stupefied by what -he was regarding to have heard their call; or, -perhaps the dense growth had dulled the sound. -At any rate, they paddled hastily forward until -they could climb out beside their comrade.</p> -<p>“Why didn’t you answer?” demanded Cliff, -his anxiety shifting to a natural anger at the -fright Nicky had given them.</p> -<p>“Oh! Golly! I guess I was too surprised to -hear you!”</p> -<p>Nicky lifted an arm and waved it at the -scene before them.</p> -<p>On the shore a light canoe of cedar, hollowed -out of the virgin wood as the Seminoles create -their water craft, lay upturned.</p> -<p>Beyond that there was a spot cleared in the -heavy brush growth, and there were piled cases -and crates, perhaps fifty of them!</p> -<p>It did not require the stenciled black letters -at the visible ends of certain cases to indicate -the truth to the chums. An old ship’s lantern -of the sort used at the starboard and port sides, -with a screen of green glass over its front indicated -where the previous night’s uncanny -glow had come from. But the cases themselves -told more.</p> -<p>“Rum runners!” gasped Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_100">100</div> -<p>“We ought to have guessed,” Cliff said. -“Nelse is one of them. That’s why he tried -to scare us away. This is a nest of them. I -suppose they can run up from the islands—especially -Cuba—get their large boat hidden -from the Government patrol on some dark -night, in among the keys, and then ferry the -cases over here in smaller boats.”</p> -<p>“But what good does that do them?” Tom -wondered. “How do they get the cases to -market?”</p> -<p>“I guess the Seminole Indians, or maybe half-breeds, -work with them. It must be the Seminoles -because they know the waterways in the -Big Cypress Swamp and the Everglades, and -I don’t think many white men do—they -didn’t up to recently, anyhow, according to a -book on exploration I read.” Nicky made the -statement excitedly.</p> -<p>“Even if we never find any treasure,” he -added, “there must be a big reward for breaking -up trade like this. It’s wicked. It’s against -the law and the Constitution, and even if there -wasn’t any reward we will have to try some -way to get word to the Government boats.”</p> -<p>There was a slight stir in the grass and scrub -behind and to the left of them.</p> -<p>When, with one accord, they turned, a Seminole -Indian faced them.</p> -<p>“Hello!” said Nicky, a little uneasily.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<p>The man made no immediate reply. Instead, -he lifted an arm and beckoned, then pointed -toward a narrow trail beyond the clearing.</p> -<p>Nicky looked at Cliff, and both consulted -Tom with their eyes. They all read a common -intention; they would swing about and rush to -the inlet and swim back to the shore.</p> -<p>The Indian divined their purpose; with a -snakelike movement he stepped to a point preventing -the move. His hand touched something -bright and sinister at his belt.</p> -<p>“Se-lof-ka-chop-kaw!” he said, Seminole dialect -for “My knife is long!” He partly unsheathed -the weapon.</p> -<p>Silently the chums took the trail, their captor -following close.</p> -<p>And two hundred yards away Mr. Neale sat -by the shore, wondering!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_102">102</div> -<h2 id="c12">CHAPTER XII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">MODERN PIRATES</span></span></h2> -<p>Picking up the bundles of their clothes, the -Seminole herded the chums along the trail; its -limestone-coral hurt their tender, bare feet -while they had hard work to avoid the deep, -searing gashes which saw grass makes.</p> -<p>They came after a few minutes to a small -open glade, almost bare of soil; here the Indian -made a sharp, guttural sound. They turned.</p> -<p>Gesturing to them to sit, he said “A-pok-es-chay,” -or “All sit down!” They read the gesture -but not the words. However, because of their -condition they preferred to stand. After he -tossed their clothes to the ground the Indian -signed for them to spread the garments to dry -again and then, turning, he walked swiftly out -of sight.</p> -<p>“This is a nice fix,” said Tom. “What will -Mr. Neale do when he sees the sloop gone and -doesn’t find us?”</p> -<p>“He will think Sam has made off with us—or -that Tom has been so scared that he helped -Sam,” Nicky declared.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_103">103</div> -<p>As a point of truth, Mr. Neale at almost that -moment gave up his waiting vigil, and with dejected -shoulders bent to the oars for a long, -grilling pull across the Sound. His purpose -was to try to reach some revenue guards or -others who could help him to overtake the -<i>Treasure Belle</i>.</p> -<p>They were not to meet their chief again for -some time!</p> -<p>They dressed when their clothes were dried. -The first effort they made to retrace the way -down the trail was met by the appearance of -the Seminole; he was on guard if not always -visible.</p> -<p>Seated, dejectedly idle, the chums waited. A -brief exploration by Cliff toward the side of the -trail they had not traversed yielded no way of -escape. It ended at another water path, this -one going off from what might be a transfer -and landing dock, off toward the North.</p> -<p>“That’s where the Indians come with their -own canoes,” Cliff told his companions.</p> -<p>“But where do they take the liquor?” Nicky -wondered. “Up at the north of the Everglades -there isn’t anything much.”</p> -<p>“Just the place to load trucks, I suppose,” -Cliff surmised.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div> -<p>The afternoon dragged. They were not fed -and no offer was made by the Seminole to converse. -He seemed not to understand Nicky’s -attempt to address him in English, but shook -his head, waved the youth back and touched his -belt significantly.</p> -<p>Night came and still they were in their uncomfortably -hard position, and growing very -hungry indeed.</p> -<p>“If he means to starve us, why I’m going to -make a break as soon as it gets pitchy dark,” -Nicky whispered.</p> -<p>But as soon as it got pitchy dark there came -a peculiar call from the dock where Indians -were supposed to arrive, and the young adventurers -soon found themselves the center of a -small group of the Indians, one about their own -age, but not at all approachable. With the -green-glassed ship’s lantern to show them, their -captor made an explanation in his guttural dialect -and then left the younger member of the -party on watch while, with the others, began -transferring the cases from the further end of -the trail to the dock, and thence, the chums inferred, -to canoes.</p> -<p>Cliff tried to establish conversation with -their young guard.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_105">105</div> -<p>“No-chit-pay-lon-es-chay!” he said. They did -not comprehend that he ordered them to lie -down and sleep, and kept eagerly arguing that -they were hungry, pointing to their open -mouths, in the dim light, and rubbing their -stomachs.</p> -<p>“So-toke-kee-aw-mun-chee!” he said, holding -out his hand, palm up. He meant, “Give me -money,” but they had none and so the negotiations -were suspended.</p> -<p>Finally, when, as Nicky declared, their backbones -were shaking hands with their stomachs, -a new voice was heard on the trail.</p> -<p>Preceded by their earlier captor, bearing the -lantern, whose queer light he threw full in the -chums’ faces, there came a squatty, burly, ape-like -white man, with a jutting jaw, sharp, mean -eyes, but with a quirk of a smile at one side of -his twisted mouth.</p> -<p>“Ho!” he said, in a deep rumble, “thought -you cleared out this morning. Saw the craft up -anchor!”</p> -<p>He made a gesture that sent the Indian -away; the lantern, set down as he left, gave the -scene a weird green light.</p> -<p>“Well, my lads,” began the man, “how’d you -come to stay here, when the sloop sailed?”</p> -<p>Nicky told him about their colored man and -his terror of the ghostly boat the night before.</p> -<p>“Ho-ho-ho!” laughed their new acquaintance. -“Scared him, did it? We aimed to scare the -whole passel of you—we went to enough -trouble.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_106">106</div> -<p>“Why did you want to scare us?” demanded -Nicky eagerly.</p> -<p>The other did not answer. He seemed to be -deep in thought.</p> -<p>“When are you going to feed us?” demanded -Tom, more practically. Fearful though he -might be in face of the unknown, he was no -coward when face to face with a situation he -could understand. And hunger was such a situation.</p> -<p>“No eats! Hum—well—” The man rubbed -a stubby, brownish beard, reflectively. “We -can’t starve you—we aimed to drive you away, -but that didn’t work—still, no use to starve you -till we know all we want to——”</p> -<p>He made a sign, as if he had decided on his -course.</p> -<p>“Go ahead, back down the trail,” he ordered. -Nicky, Tom and Cliff lost no time in complying.</p> -<p>Following, with the light, he directed them -to the inlet where most of the cases were now -being carried away. He spoke rapidly to the -Seminole who seemed to be the leader of the -Indian faction, gave him some coins, and then -ordered the three chums into his boat—the -same one, for all they knew, which they had -seen the night before.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div> -<p>“Now I see how they got away after scaring -us,” whispered Tom as the crew of four -stoutly-built white men used their oars as paddles, -working the boat further along the inlet -until they came to a point where they made -still another turn and went down another narrow -stream toward the Sound.</p> -<p>“Just ‘ring-around-a-rosy,’” Cliff declared. -“That makes the spot those three trees are on -an island—a key—after all!”</p> -<p>“But we’ll get no chance at any treasure, -there,” said Nicky dejectedly.</p> -<p>Apparently the nearest of the crew thought -this was important enough to call to the attention -of his captain. He turned and repeated -Nicky’s words, with a guffaw.</p> -<p>“Treasure, hey?” cried the bearded white -man. “Who told you there was treasure there?”</p> -<p>“Why—” Nicky stammered, hesitated, then -decided that it could make no difference anyway -whether he told it all or not—with Mr. -Neale unaccounted for, with Sam and his sloop -gone, with their own selves captive, what -chance had they for treasure? They’d be lucky, -he thought, to be set ashore, marooned like old-time -sailors—and spared a worse fate!</p> -<p>He told of finding the old can on the islet.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_108">108</div> -<p>“Hum-m-m!” mused the man, clearing his -throat. “Maybe you won’t find a treasure—but, -anyhow, you’ll get a square meal—then, -we’ll see!”</p> -<p>“Where are you taking us?” demanded Nicky, -once more brave.</p> -<p>“Why, to our floating palace. Maybe—who -knows—maybe it’ll turn out to be a treasure -hunt, after all. In that case the boys’ll welcome -it for a change from hi-jacking!”</p> -<p>“Hi—hi—” Cliff gasped.</p> -<p>“Hi—jacking, he said,” Tom explained.</p> -<p>“I know it,” Cliff shivered, “and that makes -it worse.”</p> -<p>“Worse than being in the hands of rum-runners?”</p> -<p>“Worse! I’d say so! Hi-jackers are pirates -if ever anybody was. The rum-runners bring -contraband, and illegal liquor, into the States -against the law. But the hi-jackers are men -who hold up their boats and trucks and steal -from them.”</p> -<p>“I hadn’t heard about them,” said Nicky.</p> -<p>“Well,” said Cliff under his breath as their -boat scudded over the waters of the Sound -toward a small island near the upper end, “well, -it would be bad enough to be caught by people -who break the law; but the ones who prey on -them are about the roughest and toughest -people in the world. They are modern pirates -and no mistake!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_109">109</div> -<p>“Well,” said Nicky, shrugging his shoulders, -“we’ll get through somehow, and anyway—we -eat!”</p> -<p>Behind the island they found a trim, beautifully -built, low, rakish craft. She was a power -boat, about sixty feet long—a little more, perhaps. -She lay low in the water and was of -such a dull color that she could scarcely be seen -in the dark.</p> -<p>They touched her side at a hanging ladder.</p> -<p>“Up you go!” said the man, under his breath. -Then, to someone at the rail, “Here’s three -young recroots, Don Ortiga!”</p> -<p>“Don—” Nicky gulped. “What’s the matter?” -whispered Tom.</p> -<p>“Ortiga—” Nicky returned, “that’s the name -of the man who owned that other speed boat, -back in Jamaica! Now—I wonder——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_110">110</div> -<h2 id="c13">CHAPTER XIII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">THE MYSTERY BOYS DECIDE</span></span></h2> -<p>“What do you wonder?” asked Tom, when -the chums were herded into the small forecastle -in the bow, vacant at the moment.</p> -<p>“The man who owned that boat, back in Jamaica—the -<i>El Libertad</i>—was named Senor Ortiga,” -Nicky answered. “I wonder if this one -is the same fellow.”</p> -<p>“But this isn’t the <i>Libertad</i>,” Tom objected. -“It’s a bigger boat and it isn’t white.”</p> -<p>“And that fellow called this man ‘Don’ and -not ‘Senor,’” Cliff added. “They may be relatives. -Mr. Neale saw the man in Jamaica—he -would know. I wonder where he is!”</p> -<p>As he expressed this wondering about their -chief, the latter was holding a conference with -a Government Revenue Officer in the tiny cabin -of a very swift little revenue cutter which was -cruising among the reefs and keys, in search -of the very hi-jackers and rum-runners among -whom the chums were quartered.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_111">111</div> -<p>The revenue cutter was on patrol duty, but -so far its quarry had, by virtue of a system of -signals from allies on shore, eluded capture; -with its gray hull, its absence of lights, its quiet -and speedy engines, the light-draught craft had -been able to slip into hiding while its cargo -was transferred to shore, whence the Indians -in the extensive gang would convey it in their -canoes to a northern point in Florida where -trucks could receive the cases of illicit liquor.</p> -<p>“I wish there was some way for us to capture -these fellows,” said Tom. Now that he -knew that there was nothing ghostly or unnatural -about the band, he was his usual, cool, -calm self. Nicky and Cliff echoed his wish, in -low tones. But they had no time for speculation -or planning. The ape-like man appeared -in the forecastle companionway and beckoned -abruptly.</p> -<p>They followed him along a narrow deck to -the dark cabin and went in. After passing -through heavy sacking, double-thick, which -served to block the passage of the least rays -of light to the outer world, they found themselves -in a long, quite roomy cabin, with a small -electric dome light giving enough light to show -the heavy black curtains tightly fastened over -the circular ports, or windows. Well furnished -with several easy chairs of rattan, with bunks -that folded into the woodwork of the side walls -and left a cushioned seat for use when they -were not open, and with a veritable arsenal of -automatic revolvers, rifles and knives of many -shapes on the shelves of a cupboard at one -end, the cabin looked both comfortable and dangerous.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_112">112</div> -<p>A tall, slender man was replacing some -weapon in the cupboard.</p> -<p>He turned as the chums entered; their guide -stood blocking the doorway behind them.</p> -<p>The occupant of the cabin was of a Spanish -type, with dark skin and sharp, black eyes, as -black as his smoothly brushed hair. His movements -were abrupt and nervous and his voice, -when he spoke was curt and rather high in -pitch, though kept at a low level of volume.</p> -<p>“Sit!” said the tall man, motioning toward -the wall benches; the chums obeyed while the -tall one dropped into a rattan chair and regarded -them steadily.</p> -<p>“You came here to get buried treasure,” said -the man in the chair. “Who told you there was -treasure here?”</p> -<p>Nicky became the spokesman and related the -story; he told how they had been cruising toward -the Ten Thousand Island Archipelago.</p> -<p>“For why?” demanded their inquisitor -sharply.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_113">113</div> -<p>Nicky was about to open his lips; his eye -caught a gesture of Tom’s. While leaning forward, -chin on hand, elbow on knee, as if listening -alertly, Tom was scratching his left ear absently. -Cliff was folding his arms.</p> -<p>It was the secret sign-manual of their order—the -Mystery Boys—by which Tom signified -a call for a communication by gesture and Cliff, -by folding his arms, indicated his agreement. -Nicky folded his arms at the same instant, and -then saw Tom grasp his coat lapel in his left -hand.</p> -<p>That sign meant the third section of their -secret oath—“Telling all, I tell nothing!”</p> -<p>Nicky clasped his hands on his knees, a sign -that he agreed.</p> -<p>It all took place without apparent meaning -and in a very brief time so that, although he -made a sign of impatience, the tall man and his -companion, leaning against the wall by the companionway, -seemed to discern no hidden meaning -in Nicky’s delayed answer.</p> -<p>“Come! Answer! Why were you among the -islands?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_114">114</div> -<p>“I was trying to figure out why we were -there,” Nicky replied, a candid look on his face. -“You see, we had the ‘flu’ back at our school -and we went to Jamaica to join this boy’s -father—” he made a gesture toward Cliff and -continued. “A young fellow was helping Cliff’s -father collect old relics of the Indians and he -brought us up to those islands in a sloop with -a colored pilot—just for a lark on our part. -I think he meant to get a canoe and maybe take -us with him up the Harney River to the edge -of the Everglades—or into them, to collect some -things from the Seminoles.”</p> -<p>That was a part of Mr. Neale’s plan, if they -did not find the treasure, or, perhaps, even if -they did; so Nicky told the truth, though not -all of it. Cliff unclasped his hands as if signifying -that Nicky had done well.</p> -<p>“Si—yes, that is reasonable,” commented the -tall man. “What then?”</p> -<p>Tom made no gesture, which Nicky correctly -judged to mean that as long as he had told the -man by the companionway about the can and -the parchment he might as well repeat the -story.</p> -<p>He did.</p> -<p>“Does that agree, Tew, with what they told -you?”</p> -<p>At the name, Tew, Nicky started a little. In -the early days of piracy, as his studies had told -him, one of the most notorious of the old sea -barons, Thomas Tew, had made piratical history; -could this man be a descendant? Could -he be filled with the same daring and ferocity?</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_115">115</div> -<p>“It agrees, cap’n,” responded Tew. Don Ortiga -leaned back, tapping the arm of his chair -nervously while he thought.</p> -<p>The chums sat in silence, their three pairs of -arms folded in sign that they were still in secret -communion and waiting. After a long silence -during which he considered them shrewdly, the -Spaniard spoke.</p> -<p>“I do not believe it! Do you, Tew?”</p> -<p>“Sounds ‘fishy’ to me,” answered the apelike -fellow. “First of all, them three trees on that -little key ain’t more’n fifty years old. And my -folks, and Nelse’s folks, has lived about these -waters for more time’n that and there ain’t -been no treasure buried that I ever heard of—not -in the last fifty years!”</p> -<p>“So! Again, Tew,” the Don ignored his -young captives in the intentness of some point -he was trying to make, “again, a tin can would -have rusted away and crumbled, or sank into -the soil. You know that most of those islets -are not really built up from the coral foundation. -They are mostly thickly matted vegetation, -roots and so on, with a thin covering of soil; -if you stamp hard on many of them you can -shake them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_116">116</div> -<p>“I know that,” agreed Tew. “Besides, from -what these fellows claim, there was a funny -light and something knocked on their boat—if -you was to ask my opinion, cap’n, I’d say I -think these lubbers is makin’ it up out o’ the -whole cloth!”</p> -<p>“We are not!” defended Nicky sharply.</p> -<p>Don Ortiga regarded him steadily for a while, -then nodded.</p> -<p>“What was the message on the paper?” he -asked suddenly.</p> -<p>There was no help for it. All three chums -realized that. If Nicky hesitated their captors -would be certain that he was inventing a message. -Then there was no telling what might happen -to them! The men who had them as captives -were hi-jackers, the lowest form of seafaring -marauders. One of them had a name indicating -descent from the old pirate stock. The -truth—and the truth quickly—seemed to be the -only course open to Nicky.</p> -<p>His glance toward his friends showed them -with both hands in coat pockets—“Tell the -truth!” that meant.</p> -<p>“This is the message,” Nicky declared without -delay, all that swift querying and decision -having occupied only the time it took for him -to understand the question, a split second.</p> -<p>“This is the message,” he declared, “‘Treasure -found long ago. Dig under tallest of three -trees on Crocodile Key for more.’”</p> -<p>Tew rushed close to his captain.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_117">117</div> -<p>“Crocodile Key!” he almost shouted; then he -lowered his voice. “Nobody knew that name but -us—” he stopped, his face working with what -the chums took to be anger and surprise.</p> -<p>“Yes—yes—somebody did!” he gasped. -“Cap’n—your brother——”</p> -<p>Nicky exchanged glances with his comrades. -In their eyes he read the same thought that -was in his mind. They had given these men -some clue that proved to them that the message -was a false lead and—more—had told -them who prepared it! Don Ortiga had a -brother. That must be the Senor Ortiga—or -might be, Nicky thought. If the message was -a false lead, then it had been deliberately placed -where they found it, to mislead them. Yes, -and not only that, but deliberate methods of -making it seem supernaturally discovered had -been used—the light and the raps on the hull -of their sloop!</p> -<p>“Yes,” Don Ortiga was saying, “my brother—Rodriguez—these -boys say they were in Jamaica—that -is where he gets the rum he brings -to the keys in <i>El Libertad</i>.”</p> -<p>The whole mystery was beginning to become -as clear to the chums as it seemed to their captors.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_118">118</div> -<p>“These fellows say they left Jamaica to go -to the archipelago,” Tew took up the reasoning. -“For pleasure? For relics? My eye! -No! They knowed somewhat about a treasure—and -so did your brother.”</p> -<p>“But he didn’t—” Nicky cried incautiously in -his excitement, and then stopped, too late.</p> -<p>“There was a treasure!” Tew exulted, and -his eyes took on a bright avaricious glitter. -“Cap’n, these boys know somewhat about a -treasure on them islands. Recall? Ships has -been wrecked there—in the old days there was -a story about a Spanish——”</p> -<p>“I know,” broke in the Don, bending forward, -making jerky, excited movements of his fingers -and with snapping eyes. “A ship laden with -gold bars! It was never discovered—the gold! -The ship broke up, and parts of it were picked -up in the Gulf of Mexico.”</p> -<p>In spite of themselves, at this verification of -the old map and message of Captain Kidd, the -chums took fire from their companions.</p> -<p>“Senor Ortiga must have knowed about it—or -learned that these lads did,” Tew went on, -never questioning the chums, taking it for -granted that his logic was sound. “He must -of saw them sail in a slow sloop—he had -a fast cruiser. He beat them to the islands and -took a chance he could send them somewhere -else while he searched. He picked our place—But -why? They’d discover us. He’d know -that!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_119">119</div> -<p>Don Ortiga sprang from his chair; his hands -were clenched, his eyes sparkled with an angry -light.</p> -<p>“He sent them here because he has a grudge -for us ever since we bought a faster boat and -a bigger one and took his trade away from -him!” he cried in a fury, but remembering to -keep his tones fairly low.</p> -<p>“Well,” began Tew, after a moment, “here’s -how I tote it up! We can get more out of a -chest of treasure than we can from a hold full -of rum, and with no fightin’. These lads must -know where the gold is—we don’t! So we can -use them! At the same time we can get revenge -on your brother for sendin’ them where they -might of found out about our racket and told -the revenue men——”</p> -<p>The chums saw what was coming; their arms -were folded again and they were waiting, trembling -a little with the excitement. What decision -must they make? What decision could they -make? Was there any way out? They could -see none!</p> -<p>“Put it up to ’em!” urged Tew. “Will you -‘throw in’ with us, takin’ a small share, or will -we put them in the hold till we get what they -know—we have ways!” he added with a meaning -glare, “and when we get the treasure we’ll—well, -whatever you decide, Cap’n—I know -you can think up some pretty interestin’ ways -to get rid of folks we don’t need——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_120">120</div> -<p>Nicky made a gesture; his right hand rubbed -his nose, from his eye to his lips, as if removing -a smudge; Cliff and Tom answered his sign, -“Shall we say ‘yes’?” by nodding.</p> -<p>“What’s your say?” demanded Ortiga. “Tell -all or——”</p> -<p>Nicky stood up.</p> -<p>“Share-and-share-alike!” he demanded with -a defiant effort that seemed to please Tew. Don -Ortiga nodded, “Share-and-share!”</p> -<p>“Deal out our cutlasses an’ bandanas,” said -Nicky with affected ferocity. “We’re with you -till the last man walks the plank!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_121">121</div> -<h2 id="c14">CHAPTER XIV -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">THE CHASE</span></span></h2> -<p>Although Nicky had put a brave face on a -bad situation, all three chums realized how grave -was their danger. Their word had been accepted -without question and they were given -the freedom of the ship, after its crew had been -summoned to the cabin and a vote taken. Only -one member, the engineer, put in a word of dissent -to Don Ortiga’s suggestion that they start -at once for the archipelago.</p> -<p>“There’s that revenue cutter,” he reminded -his mates.</p> -<p>“Her!” said Tew, sneeringly. “Ain’t we got -plenty of ways to show her our heels?”</p> -<p>Nicky and his fellows wondered what these -ways might be. They were to discover at least -one of them.</p> -<p>They were given a plentiful meal in the cabin; -the hi-jackers fared well, evidently, for the meal -comprised fresh eggs, four apiece, fresh milk, -since none of them cared much for coffee, -white bread, corn pone as a second choice, and -rice pudding.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_122">122</div> -<p>The cook was an affable, smiling colored man -from Miami, the flourishing tourist resort in -Florida, who found his share of illicit gain more -alluring than the wages of an honest chef in a -hotel.</p> -<p>Besides the cook and Don Ortiga and his first -mate, Tew, there were four deck hands who -also rowed the boat with muffled oars and -padded oarlocks, and who helped to load and -unload what they carried; also there was the -engineer and Nelse. The latter, they found out -later, was only aboard for a certain purpose, -not one of the crew.</p> -<p>While they noted the precision machinery for -driving the boat, and saw the novel way in which -the exhaust was deadened by being run through -a large pipe through a sheathed channel in the -hull, into a specially devised muffler which completely -broke up the explosive force of the spent -gases and silenced their noise, the chums marveled -at the pains that had been taken to make -a once innocent pleasure yacht into a craft -suited for breaking its country’s laws.</p> -<p>Nicky reiterated his wish that they could do -something to bring the lawbreakers to justice, -but Tom, again cautious, urged him not even to -think of it just then.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_123">123</div> -<p>Mr. Neale, their chief in the beginning of the -expedition, had overhauled Sam’s sloop with -the aid of the revenue cutter’s men, had learned -Sam’s side of the story, found Sam contrite but -afraid to return, had discovered that the -United States men could take no action against -the Jamaican, and let Sam go his way rejoicing. -The revenue cutter then returned toward -the keys in order to land Mr. Neale at a -base from which he could carry on his search -for the missing boys.</p> -<p>But the cutter did not get there that night.</p> -<p>Nicky, Tom and Cliff stood on the foredeck -of the hi-jackers’ ship as the anchor was quietly -drawn up and the engines began turning over, -their twin-four cylinders thudding with little -outward noise.</p> -<p>“Here we go!” Nicky whispered. “Off on our -first piratical cruise.”</p> -<p>“Off to be shot,” Cliff corrected, “if that revenue -cutter they spoke about ever see us.”</p> -<p>“They wouldn’t shoot us,” Nicky protested.</p> -<p>“They wouldn’t mean to,” Tom agreed. “But -they will chase—and this boat will run. That -means a shot across the bows and more if we -don’t ‘heave to’—which this crew won’t do if -they can see a chance to escape.”</p> -<p>“What are they ‘advertising’ for, then?” demanded -Cliff. His comrades stared at him; for -answer to their unspoken question he pointed -upward.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_124">124</div> -<p>Looking toward the tip of the short spar -that served for a signal mast and for the radio -aerial for the small receiving set with which -the cabin was equipped, capable of tuning-in -short wave stations and the Navy broadcasts of -weather, signals, and so forth, they all saw a -small electric bulb glowing finely into the dark -night.</p> -<p>“Well—I’ll be—switched!” gasped Tom. -“Now why should they show a light?”</p> -<p>“It’s the law—” began Nicky, but he stopped, -realizing that these men, all of whom were silent -but fierce-looking, obeyed no law as to -lights or other rules of the seaways.</p> -<p>The lookout just forward of their group was -staring toward the horizon as they nosed gently -forward out of a small strait between a key -and a section of the bay shore. He turned and -made some sort of signal with a tiny, blinking -flashlight in his cupped hands.</p> -<p>Instantly the wheel went hard over, the vessel -swung in a long curve and began to -straighten her wake as speed increased on a -straightaway run down the shore.</p> -<p>“I see her,” Nicky whispered, directing his -chum’s gaze. “There’s a boat and she’s heading -for us.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_125">125</div> -<p>Far off across the water there came a dull -report. At the same instant Nelse came on -deck, gazed for a moment, said “Couldn’t be -better!” to Don Ortiga, and walked aft rapidly, -while the captain stood watching him. Nicky -left the group, took the other side of the cabin -and slipped along the deck. To his amazement -Nelse was dropping into a small boat that was -towing. A deckhand pushed a long, slim pole, -with something at its tip, into the small boat.</p> -<p>Nelse lifted the pole which looked like a -rather long fishing pole, and seemed to be stepping -its butt in a place in his forward thwart.</p> -<p>Forward Tom and Cliff watched with straining -eyes, as did the Don. Another vivid, but -distant flash was followed by a dull report and -there came a faint “plash-thunk!” in the water -far ahead.</p> -<p>At the same moment a sailor loped forward.</p> -<p>“All clear, sir,” he muttered.</p> -<p>Don Ortiga turned, lifted a hand. Tom, his -eye cocked aloft, saw that their masthead light -disappeared instantly. He turned to see if Cliff -had noticed it, and then saw what Nicky, at the -stern, had already guessed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_126">126</div> -<p>Nelse’s boat was a decoy. His stout pole -once firmly stepped his ty-line was dropped off -the cruiser’s stem, and as the masthead light -winked out he, in some fashion—it was too -dark for Nicky to see how—completed an electrical -circuit to a small, similar light on his -pole, so that, if the cutter missed the light for -an instant she would pick it up again and yet -it would be the decoy and not the real ship she -would thereafter pursue.</p> -<p>“But what will happen to Nelse?” Nicky wondered -when he rejoined his friends and gave -them his information.</p> -<p>“He will row into some little inlet, unship his -pole, maybe pull his boat up on shore and hide.”</p> -<p>Don Ortiga furnished the information.</p> -<p>“But haven’t they seen us?” demanded Nicky.</p> -<p>“We are low and gray and hard to see. It -remains to be learned,” the captain replied. He -watched for an interval while their boat with -only her propeller thrash to carry a message of -her direction, held on swiftly.</p> -<p>The ruse had failed. They could see the cutter -holding a course slantwise to their own! They -must have been seen in spite of the camouflaging -color.</p> -<p>Tew was with Ortiga.</p> -<p>“There’s a chance—in the channel to port!” -he grunted.</p> -<p>“Take it!”</p> -<p>Then began the most breathless and thrilling -half hour or more that the chums had ever been -through.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_127">127</div> -<p>Swinging sharply on her heel, so to speak, -their lithe greyhound doubled back into a narrow -lip between two clumps of cocoanut or mangrove, -it was too dark to see which they were; -it seemed as though she were running smash -into the land but there was a way that opened -thinly before her scudding bow.</p> -<p>Once the keel groaned and rasped on coral, -and once a bough was snapped on a tree leaning -far over the water by the short mast.</p> -<p>Then they were in open water. Would the -cutter know where they went? Would she follow?</p> -<p>They squared away and ran, full speed, down -the Sound, and with keel almost aground, -shoved—literally grated their way—over a bar -and into the outer waters again.</p> -<p>And the cutter had not followed!</p> -<p>She had done better! Anticipating some such -double-back among the waterways, she had -eased her way and lay beyond the reef. With -a word of muttered anger, the captain rushed -for the pilot house in the forward end of the -cabin.</p> -<p>The small cannon on the revenue cutter -spoke with its sharp bark but the phantom -cruiser did not heave to. Instead her engines -fairly shook her hull in their race for freedom.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_128">128</div> -<p>Fast as she was the revenue cutter was not -fast enough to overtake the other. Her gun -spoke, but at a distant range and on a bad target—the -tail of a flying ship without lights is -no easy thing to hit in the dark!</p> -<p>The cutter dropped back slowly and then, -sure that they were no longer in sight of her -watchful crew, the hi-jackers flung their tiller -hard a-starboard, heeled with the swerve and -their speed, heard the grate of coral on one -side, and—were again in a hidden cove!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_129">129</div> -<h2 id="c15">CHAPTER XV -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">DISASTER!</span></span></h2> -<p>Clearly the churns saw that, although the -hi-jackers had escaped for a time, they were -really trapped. The <i>Senorita</i>, their cruiser, if -she lay where she was until dawn, must be discovered.</p> -<p>Within the Sound, reached with such daring -and risk, there was no safety, now that -Uncle Sam’s watchdog had their scent, so to -speak.</p> -<p>But, with the perversity which Nature seems -sometimes to show, the elements played a card -in favor of the evil-doers. Heavy rain squalls -came up, and the wind blew the water in sheets -that made a perfect screen for a slipping, silent -gray shape.</p> -<p>Captain Ortiga took quick advantage of his -fortune. The gray <i>Senorita</i> nosed out into -Little Card Sound, crossed its end, skirting the -shore, and, again at the outlet, nosed quietly, -slowly out toward freedom. In the downpour -it was unlikely that they could be sighted and -the propeller thrash would be deadened by the -wind and waves.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_130">130</div> -<p>“I have a scheme,” whispered Nicky, as the -chums stood at the bow, straining their eyes -hopefully into the downpour, themselves heedless -of the rain that stung their faces. Tew, -with surprising kindliness, had loaned them oil-skins -from the “slop chest” or supply reserve.</p> -<p>“What is your plan?” queried Tom, lips close -to Nicky’s ear.</p> -<p>Three heads drew together.</p> -<p>“I was in the little steerman’s cubby at the -front of the cabin, just now,” Nicky said. “I -saw the place where the electric buttons are -set. They control the electric lights.”</p> -<p>“I see what you mean,” Cliff broke in. “You -want to get in there and work the electric -lights.”</p> -<p>“Yes. Then the cutter will see us.”</p> -<p>Tom raised an objection. “If she chases us -again,” he declared, “she will fire until she hits -us.”</p> -<p>“That’s right,” Cliff agreed. “This time she -won’t give up until she captures—or sinks us!”</p> -<p>“It’s a risk, I know,” Nicky admitted. “She -won’t know we are on board and she will have -a right to sink these fellows. But it would be -one way to help to capture——”</p> -<p>Tom spoke practically.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_131">131</div> -<p>“What good will it do us to have this boat -sunk?” he asked. “In this rough water we -wouldn’t have a chance to be picked up, maybe.”</p> -<p>“I guess it is too dangerous,” Nicky admitted.</p> -<p>“Better wait,” Cliff suggested. “We will get -our chance. The right must win or there -wouldn’t be any justice in the world!”</p> -<p>They watched eagerly for any sign of the -cutter but Captain Ortiga stood well out from -land before he swung west. The chums saw -that the chances for the cutter to discover them -were remote and went back into the cabin -where they were assigned to berths.</p> -<p>But if the weather had seemed to aid the -wrong side, there was another card to be played -and it came as a surprise.</p> -<p>Instead of lying-to, close to land, the cutter -had stood out to the deeper channels also!</p> -<p>There came a warning call from the man on -watch on top of the cabin, echoed by the one -at the bows. “Hard a-port!” was the call, “something -ahead!”</p> -<p>The boys dashed again to the deck.</p> -<p>They quickly discerned the dim shape toward -which the <i>Senorita</i> had been directly advancing.</p> -<p>Had they, too, been sighted?</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_132">132</div> -<p>The <i>Senorita</i> swerved from her course, and -made almost a right angle to her former course, -though, of course, on a wide curve!</p> -<p>That swung them in toward land, again, for -it was the safer way. Then, on a quartering -line, partly on the true path and partly drawing -toward land, they held steadily on.</p> -<p>There came across the water a vivid flash, -but the wind swept away the cutter’s voice as -her cannon spoke.</p> -<p>“Full speed ahead!” was the order to the engineer.</p> -<p>The <i>Senorita</i> trembled and strove, and behind -her the cutter, her headway increasing, -again took up the chase.</p> -<p>“But she’s behind us now, and she may have -to turn around—I couldn’t see which was her -bow, she was so far away,” Cliff said.</p> -<p>“I’m half afraid we’ll show her our heels,” -Tom whispered. “And I’m half glad. If we -can get to an island or close enough to swim -to one, they can sink her and welcome!”</p> -<p>Nicky agreed.</p> -<p>From the stem they watched the chase. Several -shots were fired at them, but they could -guess, by the diminishing light of each succeeding -flash, that they were drawing away -from the cutter.</p> -<p>“But she won’t give up,” Nicky proclaimed. -“She will hang on like a bulldog.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_133">133</div> -<p>“I wonder why Don Ortiga doesn’t give up -the run for the archipelago and stand out to -sea?” Tom said.</p> -<p>Captain Ortiga had a different plan. He -knew that the Government boat would never -give up, and he wished to use that very point -for his own advantage. He planned to make -the other boat very sure that he would continue -along the Cape Sable coastline. He wished -them to follow.</p> -<p>Therefore, to the chums’ amazement, he -caused the mast light to be switched on, and -even reduced their speed a little, so that the -cutter would pursue, but would be just out of -dangerous range.</p> -<p>“Why is he doing this?” Nicky wondered. -“Let’s find out! We’re part of his crew, aren’t -we? He ought to tell us.”</p> -<p>Cliff laughed at Nicky’s assumption that they -were real hi-jackers, but the trio trooped into -the cabin. They found Mate Tew there, going -over some of the weapons in the arsenal.</p> -<p>“Well, my hearties!” Tew explained, “it’s -this way. Don Ortiga’s got a grudge ag’inst -them Government snoopers! He hates ’em!”</p> -<p>Don Ortiga, Nicky mused, seemed to have a -grudge against almost everybody—the government -men, his brother—who else?</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_134">134</div> -<p>“He’s going to lure them where he can—do—what -he plans—” He did not make the plan -clear but the chums felt that it was a very serious -danger into which their countrymen, pursuing -their duty, were being led.</p> -<p>“We’ll run up along them islands,” Tew went -on, “to the mouth o’ the Shark River. O’ -course it ain’t rightly the mouth o’ the river, -out there in them islands—it’s just a channel -through ’em opposite the Shark—that’s about -fifteen miles back, at the mainland edge.”</p> -<p>“What good will that do?” Nicky inquired -earnestly.</p> -<p>“Well, we’ll have the <i>Senorita</i> well in the -mouth o’ the river, come dawn! Then we lands, -see? Then we waits. O’ course they’ll run up -along the islands and if they miss us, well an’ -good—but if they turn and come into the inner -channel and spot us, they’ll put a crew onto the -deserted <i>Senorita</i>, and keep some on their cutter—and -then—we’ll spring a little surprise!”</p> -<p>There was little sleep for the excited chums -during that night. It was quiet enough, and -uneventful; but they were so excited and -“worked up” that they could not stop discussing -the situation long enough to fall asleep.</p> -<p>They made good progress and when the -sound of running feet and low orders came, -they all rose from their bunks and ran on deck.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_135">135</div> -<p>“You’re sure you know the channel?” Tew -was asking, as they came up to him and Captain -Ortiga.</p> -<p>“Yes,” replied the latter, shortly. “You -stand by to pass the word quickly to the man -at the wheel.”</p> -<p>The first faint dawn light was visible in the -East. Ahead were dim blotches on the water; -to the right lay many other gloomy shapes. -There seemed to be a wider space off the bow -at one point. The order was given, the vessel -swung her course toward the break and, still at -good speed, bore on.</p> -<p>The dim islets closed in on each side.</p> -<p>“Starboard a point,” called the captain from -the bows, his eyes probing the dark, just -faintly glimmering water, “starboard a point!”</p> -<p>“Starboard a point!” relayed Tew.</p> -<p>“Starboard a point it is!” the helmsman, at -his little wheel, drew down the spokes to the -side.</p> -<p>“Port—port two points!”</p> -<p>“Port—two points!”</p> -<p>“Port two it is!”</p> -<p>“Hard a-port! Hard a-port—quick!”</p> -<p>“Hard a-port—quick!”</p> -<p>There came a shout of dismay, a call from the -pilot.</p> -<p>“Tiller rope’s broken!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div> -<p>“Stop the engines—hard a-starboard—hard -over—reverse her!”</p> -<p>There were shouts, cries, dismayed questions, -a jangle of a bell.</p> -<p>The whole fabric of the vessel seemed to -shudder as if in the grip of an earthquake. The -engines had not been stopped and reversed in -time. The captain shouted and at the same instant -there was a rasping rending sound—a -sickening sound—a tearing, grinding, splintering -as the ship tore her side on coral—and -stopped, settling gently on her side!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_137">137</div> -<h2 id="c16">CHAPTER XVI -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">CAPTAIN NICKY TAKES COMMAND</span></span></h2> -<p>There was every kind of excitement on the -<i>Senorita</i>! Men rushed this way and that; they -came together in excited groups, spoke quickly -together, separated.</p> -<p>“The cutter’ll be on us any minute!” said a -deckhand.</p> -<p>“This is no place to stand ’em off!” grunted -another.</p> -<p>“Great captain, dat Don!” grumbled the cook. -“Know de channel! Huh! Look whah we’s at!”</p> -<p>“Lower the tender!” called Tew. “We’ll get -away. Grab what you can!”</p> -<p>“Bettah we do dat!” agreed the cook. -“Ashore we gits tuh hide; heah dey kin shell us -out-a de watah!”</p> -<p>Tom gripped Nicky’s arm. “Come on!” he -cried, “let’s get there so they won’t forget and -leave us!”</p> -<p>“No!” urged Nicky. “Wait—come on with -me!”</p> -<p>“What for?” demanded Cliff. “Where are -you going?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div> -<p>“Come on!” Nicky demanded of his chums. -“We don’t want to go.”</p> -<p>“Don’t want to go—” began Cliff. Then he -followed Nicky.</p> -<p>The self-appointed leader went hastily down -into the forecastle. His two comrades followed, -wonderingly.</p> -<p>“I don’t see—” began Cliff.</p> -<p>“Look at it this way,” begged Nicky. “If we -go with them we are in their hands, aren’t we? -When the cutter has come and gone, without -finding anything but the wrecked boat, these -men will want to make us tell them where the -treasure is supposed to be. Then they’ll desert -us!”</p> -<p>“That’s good common sense,” agreed Cliff.</p> -<p>“Yes, it is,” Tom nodded.</p> -<p>“Let them go in the tender,” Nicky pursued -his argument. “Then we can take possession -of this boat, and when the cutter comes we can -signal, and then—isn’t there some reward for -claiming salvage on a boat, some way?”</p> -<p>“You’re going to get a treasure out of this -adventure somehow, aren’t you?” laughed Tom. -“I never saw such a money-grabbing fellow!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_139">139</div> -<p>“Whether I do—we do—or not,” Nicky defended, -“we are safer here than with those hi-jackers. -If the cutter doesn’t come, we have -all the food and things—maybe the arsenal. -We can stand them off and——”</p> -<p>“Instead of them making us toe the mark, -we can make them do it!” Cliff cried, fired by -Nicky’s eagerness.</p> -<p>“That’s it!” Tom agreed. “Nicky has the -right idea!”</p> -<p>The tender, which was used with muffled -oars according to need, had by that time been -lowered over the slanting side of the <i>Senorita</i>.</p> -<p>“But suppose she sinks!” a new thought came -to Cliff.</p> -<p>“The channels can’t be very deep, even at the -deepest, between these islands,” Nicky asserted. -“I think she has settled onto the rock now. If -she starts down we can almost jump onto that -island—and we won’t be as badly off as in the -hands of hi-jackers!”</p> -<p>Gathering most of their weapons and some -supplies and dropping them into the boat, the -crew hurriedly rowed away on the course toward -the distant mainland and the mouth of -the Shark River where they could hide for a -time.</p> -<p>Tom, Cliff and Nicky assured that the ship -was completely deserted except for themselves, -came on deck and from the points of vantage -watched the departure without disclosing themselves.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_140">140</div> -<p>The cutter, in the meantime, had pursued to -the best of her speed during most of the night, -but when the <i>Senorita</i> rounded the western end -of Cape Sable and was, for the time, out of -sight of her pursuer, a man on the cutter -sighted what he took to be her lights again.</p> -<p>They were not, however. A coasting schooner, -of the old type, blown somewhat off her course, -had hove in sight.</p> -<p>Naturally, not being aware of the true facts, -and supposing that the quarry had doubled on -her course to escape them, believing that her -masthead light—which the schooner’s light, -from the rear, closely duplicated, was that of -the <i>Senorita</i>, the cutter changed her course.</p> -<p>By dawn she overhauled the schooner, saw -her mistake and lay to, her commander and Mr. -Neale and the others completely baffled.</p> -<p>Had they been pursing that schooner all the -while?</p> -<p>At the same time Nicky was delivering an -oration, on the silent, stricken <i>Senorita</i>.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_141">141</div> -<p>“Now, fellows,” he said, “we have to organize. -We’re the captain, and crew, and cook -and cabin boy, all in three. Which is which? -If the cutter doesn’t come, we have to make -plans. Those men will come back. They may -not be able to use this boat again but they will -want to find out what we know about the treasure -before they leave—and they may do something -to us after we’ve told. We ‘signed on’ -in a way as pirates—hi-jackers.”</p> -<p>“And, sure enough, we are hi-jackers!” exclaimed -Cliff. “We’ve taken a whole ship!”</p> -<p>“That’s so!” said Tom. “Well, I move that -the Mystery Boys nominate the acting chief for -this year of their order as Captain in this -emergency.”</p> -<p>“Second the motion!” cried Cliff.</p> -<p>“All in favor!” grinned Nicky. “But Tom -has the cooler head and you, Cliff, know more -than I do.”</p> -<p>“Aye—just the same—you’re elected!” -laughed Cliff.</p> -<p>“I’ll volunteer to cook,” Tom offered.</p> -<p>“Then I’m crew and cabin boy,” chuckled -Cliff.</p> -<p>“What are your orders, cap’n?” asked Tom -with assumed deference, touching his forelock -in approved nautical fashion.</p> -<p>“Of course we all are captain, really,” Nicky -stated. “But just while we’re in no danger, -I’d say we ought to see what weapons the men -left, and where the food is and how badly -broken the hull is.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_142">142</div> -<p>“That’s one job for each of us,” Cliff agreed. -“I’ll round up the artillery. Tom will cook, so -that leaves the captain the rightful duty of estimating -damage to his ship!”</p> -<p>“Then we may try to repair her,” grinned -Nicky, “and sail, and sail the seven seas, and -spread our sails to every breeze and take our -captives as we please——”</p> -<p>“Only we have no sails!” Cliff reminded him.</p> -<p>“Well, then, we’ll gaily man our ocean rover -and swiftly turn her engines over and if we’re -chased—if we’re chased——”</p> -<p>“We’ll run for cover!” suggested Tom, chuckling.</p> -<p>“‘Rover’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘cover’ but let -it go at that!”</p> -<p>Then, with the spirit of youth and daring -alert in their strange situation, they departed -for their several tasks.</p> -<p>Over a plentiful breakfast, helping to make -up for the fast of the long day on the island, -they compared notes. There was a long rent -in the vessel’s side, below waterline, Nicky reported, -not easily to be repaired even if they -could float the ship at all. Plenty of canned -food and some fresh supplies, Tom stated. Five -automatic pistols, two rifles and a small signaling -cannon was Cliff’s list of weapons. “So -far, so good,” said Nicky. “What next?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div> -<p>From a little beyond the ship came a hail.</p> -<p>The chums became tense.</p> -<p>“You’re captain,” his chums told Nicky. “Go -and parley!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_144">144</div> -<h2 id="c17">CHAPTER XVII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">A PARLEY AND A PLAN</span></span></h2> -<p>“Ahoy, <i>Senorita</i>!” came the second hail. -Nicky scrambled from his wicker chair and -started for the companion door; Tom looked at -Cliff and then, catching his eye, glanced at the -arsenal. Cliff nodded.</p> -<p>“I don’t know if the rifles are loaded,” Tom -commented, picking one up and breaking the -breach—with a shake of his head closing it. -“They aren’t. But they may come in handy.” -They carried the weapons as they came on deck.</p> -<p>Nicky had taken a position beside the little -wheelhouse, watching the tender, manned by -Tew and one sailor, come around the islet close -to which their boat was careened against the -coral.</p> -<p>“Hello!” hailed Tew, catching sight of Nicky. -“You boys got lost in the shuffle! Thought you -was overboard maybe. We’ll take you off. We -are hidin’ on a good island—we can climb the -trees and be safe when the cutter comes.”</p> -<p>Cliff and Tom ranged up beside Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_145">145</div> -<p>“We’re not going, are we?” whispered Cliff. -Nicky shook his head.</p> -<p>“Stay away!” he called. “We aren’t going -to leave here.”</p> -<p>Cliff and Tom, rifles held in a menacing position, -ranged up beside Nicky. The sailor -stopped rowing, allowing the tender to drift -about fifteen feet from the <i>Senorita</i>. Tew muttered -some unpleasant word.</p> -<p>“You don’t want to be there when the revenue -men come,” he said. “If you do, we don’t -mean you to be!”</p> -<p>He spoke to the sailor, but in face of two -rifles, the man said something under his breath -and Tew nodded.</p> -<p>“Look here!” Tew called, “if they get you -you’ll tell where we are! That won’t do! Come—be -sensible—we’ll get you one way or another. -Come decent, and we won’t harm you—but -come you will!”</p> -<p>“Is that so?” exclaimed Nicky defiantly. -“Well we won’t! You’d better go away!”</p> -<p>Tew and the sailor held a short conference. -At Tew’s gesture the sailor poised the oars, -while Tew tugged at a weapon in his belt. Tom -leaped up onto the cabin roof, to have a better -place from which to pretend to cover the sailor, -but an inspiration came to him and he acted -upon that instead.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_146">146</div> -<p>Pretending to glance by accident toward the -larger expanse of the open Gulf he dropped the -rifle, and waved his arm, then dragged out a -handkerchief and waved that wildly.</p> -<p>“Here she comes!” he shouted. “Cutter—ahoy!”</p> -<p>With a common fear Tew snatched up a -second pair of oars as the sailor, with a mighty -heave on one oar, began to swing his tender in -a circle; then both began to row away around -the islet with all their strength, while Nicky -and Tom, seeing Cliff’s deception, and knowing -that it had succeeded because the men thought -they could see from the cabin top what was invisible -on the water line, leaped up beside their -comrade and began to hail and to wave their -arms.</p> -<p>The tender was quickly out of their sight, -and yet they kept up their shouting, until, at -a sign from Cliff, they desisted.</p> -<p>“Well, that’s over—for the time!” Cliff said -thankfully.</p> -<p>“But we’re worse off than ever,” Tom added. -“They’ll watch——”</p> -<p>“No they won’t!” Nicky argued. “They’ll -hide. We are not so badly off. We can load -the guns and if we have to we can shoot over -their heads when they come back after us!”</p> -<p>“But they have guns, too,” objected Cliff.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_147">147</div> -<p>“Well,” Nicky proposed, “let’s fix the cabin -so we can take refuge there, barricade it. -There’s all the food for a long siege, and we -can command the doors from those portholes.”</p> -<p>Tom caught their arms, and with a swift -whisper and a nod toward a moving figure on -the islet, caused them to begin to wave their -hands and to beckon, all looking out toward the -Gulf.</p> -<p>Tom had espied a creeping figure, low on the -ground. Tew, with some purpose in his mind, -had landed on the islet and crept across to the -side nearest the stranded vessel. Cliff covered -him and called softly, “Stay where you are, -Mr. Tew!”</p> -<p>The figure on the ground flattened and -stopped.</p> -<p>“I won’t hurt you—I wa’n’t goin’ to hurt -you!” he called softly. “How clost are they?”</p> -<p>“About half a mile off the coast,” Nicky answered, -hoping his untruth would be forgiven -under the circumstances.</p> -<p>“I just wanted to warn you—if you let them -take you off, don’t say nothing about us—and -then no harm’ll come to you. But if any of -us gets nabbed—we’ll take care not all are—we’ll -hunt you down if it takes all our lives!”</p> -<p>“All right!” called Tom quickly, neither -agreeing nor refusing.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_148">148</div> -<p>Tew waited a moment, then seemed to decide -that he had better not stay there since they -had discovered him and he could not watch. -He crept back out of sight at the far side of -the islet, behind its small, tangled trees and -bushes, and the chums turned again to their -plan.</p> -<p>“One of you go down and see if the cabin -doors can be fastened,” Nicky urged. “Tom—you -go! Cliff, can’t that skylight on top of the -cabin be battened down?”</p> -<p>“Yes—there’s a covering—but——”</p> -<p>“I know it won’t help once they get on top—but -having it fastened would make it take -longer to get to us. And we’d have the light -switches and could light the mast light if they -come at night.”</p> -<p>Tom returned to the deck.</p> -<p>“Either of you got a screw driver blade on -your jackknife?” he asked. “I closed the cabin -door, but the lock sticks and when I wrenched -at the knob to open it again, the screw was -loose that holds the knob to the shackle, and -it just turned in my hand and I had to screw -in the threads with my finger nail to get it to -turn at all.”</p> -<p>“I have one,” said Cliff, but as he produced -his knife he went on, “but I’d like to have you -listen to a different plan.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_149">149</div> -<p>“All right,” agreed Nicky and Tom.</p> -<p>“The trouble with the cabin is that they can -come at it from the after deck, at the blank -rear bulkhead back of the engines, and we can’t -cover the decks.”</p> -<p>“That’s so,” Nicky conceded.</p> -<p>“So I think we ought to do some other way,” -Cliff urged. “And I wish you’d tell me what -you think of this: Suppose we take it for -granted that they won’t come back for at least -an hour—they will scatter and hide because -they don’t know but that the cutter may be -coming. In that time we can swim over to that -island with the heavy trees, after we’ve dumped -the guns into the water and flung things around -to make them think the cutter’s men have -searched a little.”</p> -<p>“That’s a corker!” exclaimed Nicky. “Much -better than my plan. They will think the cutter -took us off and we were too scared to tell where -they were, and then they won’t come back or -bother us any more.”</p> -<p>“That’s my idea,” Cliff nodded.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_150">150</div> -<p>They lost no time carrying it out. Tossing -a good deal of dunnage out of cupboards, to -simulate the result of a hurried search for -liquor or evidence, and dropping the rifles overboard -where they showed on the clear bed of -coral, as they supposed the officers would do, -the chums, carefully making certain by shinning -up the short mast that no boat was within -immediate range, leaped over the side.</p> -<p>The deeper channel was not wide; they made -for an island on the far side, and there, wading -up through the ooze covered bed-stone, they -got on fairly firm ground and selected good -spots in which to lie in case of need for hiding.</p> -<p>Then, by turns, they took up a watch toward -the Gulf, alternating with a look once in a while -toward the channel and the wrecked boat.</p> -<p>But for some reason the hi-jackers did not -return. All day the chums watched, but without -result.</p> -<p>“They must have decided that we went away, -or they are afraid that a rowboat might be -cruising among the islets,” Cliff said. “I wish -we had brought something to eat!”</p> -<p>“I thought of it,” Tom said, “but I guessed -that they would come back before night and -then leave us alone. And no cutter has shown -itself. Well—shall we swim back before dark?”</p> -<p>“No,” counseled Cliff, “let’s wait. They may -come back after dark.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_151">151</div> -<p>Night closed down clear and with the stars -very bright it was possible to watch easily. -And, about eight o’clock, Tom, on guard, whispered -to attract his comrades. They all made -out the tender creeping quietly toward the careening -hulk across the channel from them.</p> -<p>“If only we could get their boat—” Cliff -mused.</p> -<p>“Well, maybe we can!” exclaimed Nicky. -“Let’s swim back closer and see what we can -see!”</p> -<p>“But if they discover us—” objected Tom.</p> -<p>“They aren’t looking for us, I feel sure,” -Cliff said. “They won’t be watching the water -in this direction. They are getting their food -and things, it is most likely.”</p> -<p>Going carefully, using a stroke that sent -them through the water with little sound, they -soon came close enough to see clearly the situation. -One man sat, apparently waiting, in the -tender, at the forward quarter; the chums held -their breath and let themselves sink to the lowest -point they could, till their feet touched the -bottom, when they discovered him. But, either -because he was half asleep, or from confidence -that there was no one around, he sat slumped -in the stern, and did not appear to notice anything -unusual.</p> -<p>Treading water, catching finally the low rail -where it almost dipped into the limpid water, -at the shore side of the listing boat, Nicky, Cliff -and Tom drew close together.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_152">152</div> -<p>There was no one on deck. From the cabin -came sounds of voices.</p> -<p>“I’m going to see—” whispered Cliff, and he -began to climb up cautiously onto the deck. -Nicky and Tom followed his example, but remained -at the rail as he made a peremptory -gesture to them to “stay back!”</p> -<p>Cliff crept closer to the cabin and when no -one appeared and his courage rose, he became -bolder and slipped on his wet feet to the cabin -doorway. He listened a moment and then crept -back to his chums and whispered rapidly.</p> -<p>Taking Cliff’s screwdriver-bladed knife, Tom -went to the rearward door, into the engine -room, and with the knife removed the screw -from its knob, leaving the inner side of the door -with no means of opening it. Then he “stood -by,” watching, listening.</p> -<p>In the bows, hiding his face, using as gruff -an imitation of Tew’s voice as he could, Cliff -hailed the man in the boat in a low tone. “Come -into the cabin, you,” he said. Then he hurried -away.</p> -<p>Presently those in the cabin—Don Ortiga, -Tew, their sailors and the cook, were surprised -to see the boatman appear in their midst.</p> -<p>Before they could question him or get his inquiry -as to what they wanted, the door behind -him slammed as did the engine room door.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_153">153</div> -<p>There was confusion, then oaths, then excited -stamping; of course the time it took them to -discover that they were trapped was not long; -nor did it take overlong to get the knob back -onto the door after an excited hand wrenched it -away. But the time was enough.</p> -<p>When the infuriated members of the hi-jacker -band finally raced up the deck toward -their tender, they found the dipped end of a -rope as a memento.</p> -<p>The Mystery Boys, well away and out of -sight around the island, were rowing the captured -tender with all their strength.</p> -<p>“We can’t——claim salvage!” panted Nicky. -“But we are out of the grip of those men—and -we have a boat—we’re free men again!”</p> -<p>“And there’s a light—a boat or something, -up the coast,” cried Tom. “Nicky, pull hard on -your port oar—you too, Cliff.”</p> -<p>“Right-o!” they answered with a will, pulling -the tender on a swinging curve. “We’ll pull -for it. It may be the cutter!”</p> -<p>It was stationary, and not very far away; -but as they neared it they saw that it was not -the cutter.</p> -<p>It was another cabin boat, lying, apparently, -at anchor.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_154">154</div> -<p>Cautioning his chums not to hail until they -knew whether it was a suitable craft for their -rescue, they drew slowly closer.</p> -<p>From the vessel came a gruff hail.</p> -<p>“I’ve got you covered!” it cried. “Two of -you put your hands up, and one pull your boat -up alongside till we have a look!”</p> -<p>“Out of the frying pan—” breathed Cliff! He -and Tom elevated their hands and Nicky, with -reluctant strokes, drew close to the bow. Tom -discerned a name in glimmering gold against -white paint.</p> -<p>“Fellows,” he whimpered, “it’s that boat we -saw in Jamaica!”</p> -<p>It was—<i>El Libertad</i>!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_155">155</div> -<h2 id="c18">CHAPTER XVIII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">A SURPRISE!</span></span></h2> -<p>“That’s a nice way to welcome mariners!” -exclaimed Cliff as they came alongside; the -colored man on deck merely grunted.</p> -<p>“Pass your line!” he said.</p> -<p>When they clambered onto the small aft deck -they saw that their new captor was a large, -heavy, but lithe-looking negro.</p> -<p>“I wanted you to go away, before,” he said, -more pleasantly. “When I saw you this time I -wouldn’t take chances on letting you go!”</p> -<p>“What do you mean by that?” Nicky demanded.</p> -<p>“Oh!” replied the man, “it’s this way: we -got the maps back in Jamaica, and got <i>El -Libertad</i> ready. When you tried to hire her -Senor Ortiga let your chief think she was laid -up waiting for machinery—but before you were -ten miles away we started for the archipelago.”</p> -<p>“Then I suppose it was one of your crowd -who tried to scare us with the blue light and -rapping on the sloop,” cried Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_156">156</div> -<p>“It was me,” he answered, not very grammatically. -“I used a blue ship’s flare we had -on the boat, burned in a box so you only saw -the light and not the flame. Then I swam out -under water and hit the sloop and then coaxed -you back to the island with another flare.”</p> -<p>“So it was you who put the message there,” -Tom exclaimed, feeling somewhat ashamed of -his terror of the past, now that a perfectly -natural explanation made it all seem so easy -to understand.</p> -<p>“I put it there, but Cap’n Ortiga, he planned -it—with the man who got the maps.”</p> -<p>“And who was that?” demanded Nicky.</p> -<p>“You’ll see,” declared the colored man. -“Come this way!”</p> -<p>He led them into the cabin, a much smaller -one than on the <i>Senorita</i>, since the <i>Libertad</i> -was a narrower, shorter vessel.</p> -<p>Under the ceiling electric dome two men sat -at a table, playing some game of cards. The -man facing them was of Spanish type, not as -tall or as excitable as his brother, but clearly -related to the hi-jacker they had just before -their escape been able to imprison in his own -cabin.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_157">157</div> -<p>He looked up and as the man whose back -was toward them did so and made a half turn -on his folding seat, all three boys started and -their jaws dropped.</p> -<p>“Mr. Coleson!” gasped Nicky.</p> -<p>It was Mr. Coleson all right—the owner of -the plantation where they had stayed in Jamaica.</p> -<p>“Hello, young fellows!” he replied briskly, -swinging further around in his chair. “So you -came back!”</p> -<p>They were still speechless with surprise.</p> -<p>“I’m rather glad you did,” Mr. Coleson went -on. “Did you find any treasure?” He turned -a grinning face to wink at Senor Ortiga who -frowned heavily at the boys.</p> -<p>Nicky shook his head. “You know right well -we didn’t!” he declared. “You sent us away -to have a clear field here.”</p> -<p>“Nevertheless I gather that there is treasure -buried in such spots,” said Mr. Coleson. “You -might have found some.”</p> -<p>“We found something else, though,” said -Nicky, fixing a meaning look upon the -Spaniard.</p> -<p>“Liquor! Of course!” Rodriguez Ortiga -agreed shortly. “How did it happen that my -beloved brother didn’t put an end to you—I -rather expected that he would!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_158">158</div> -<p>Tom was caressing his left ear rather hurriedly; -Nicky, lips half open, suddenly recognized -the sign of their secret call for a council, -or for silence, and folded his arms.</p> -<p>Cliff took up the answer to Ortiga.</p> -<p>“Your brother,” he said, meaningly, “has a -better use for us!”</p> -<p>Ortiga leaned back, scowling, looking sharply -at the trio.</p> -<p>“Just what does that mean?” he demanded.</p> -<p>“You’ll see!” Cliff said. Ortiga pursued the -inquiry but with Cliff the others remained stubbornly -silent. They saw that Cliff’s plan, for -some reason they did not yet grasp, was to -puzzle the two men. Nicky, to get away from -the subject, turned on the estate owner.</p> -<p>“How did you come to be on this boat?” he -asked.</p> -<p>Mr. Coleson, smiling a little, answered -readily. “Quite simple. You see, I have the -maps!”</p> -<p>“How’d you get them?” Tom broke in.</p> -<p>“Equally simple, my lad. I was not far away -when I observed your little difficulty with the -voodoo woman, and being curious, half intending -to interfere, I came closer, just beyond the -heavy fringe of brush near the cabin. From -there I overheard enough of your talk with Sam -to become interested. I followed you three and -since you held your supposedly secret meeting -quite close to my own windows I overheard -some more.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_159">159</div> -<p>The trio of chums felt sheepish. For once -their mysteries had been carelessly pursued; -they had talked openly instead of by signs, as -they all recalled clearly on looking back upon -that day of many excitements.</p> -<p>“Knowing the island superstitions, it was -easy to frighten the child—the little negro boy—I -merely held a handkerchief over my face as -I crouched by the dining room window, watching -for a chance to get the map you were discussing. -My white suit accomplished the rest.”</p> -<p>He had worn a light suit, as did most of the -people of Jamaica, the youths recollected.</p> -<p>“I was sorry to have to strike Sam, but I saw -that your part of the chart was insufficient and -so I took the balance from Sam.”</p> -<p>“It’s all very easy to see, now that you explain -it,” said Nicky, ruefully recalling that -they had attached some ghostly importance to -perfectly ordinary causes. Nicky also recalled -that Mr. Coleson had, himself, that night, mentioned -the ghosts—for his own purpose, it now -became clear!</p> -<p>“I suppose you climbed into a window after -you got our map,” said Tom, vowing mentally -never to accept a single ghostly bit of evidence -again as long as he lived.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_160">160</div> -<p>“I did better than that,” replied Mr. Coleson, -appearing to take a grim delight in explaining -how easily he had hoodwinked them. “I -merely crouched beside the white part of the -house, back of the shrubbery. You looked all -about except right behind you, that time!”</p> -<p>“But see here!” cut in Ortiga, “what is it -that my brother has use for you for?”</p> -<p>Again the chums became silent; actually, -there was no answer but they pretended mystifying -knowledge, in a way paying back the debt -they owed Mr. Coleson and the colored man for -the blue light and old tin can.</p> -<p>“Well, it doesn’t matter—now that we shall -use you first!”</p> -<p>“Use us?” cried Nicky. “Use us for what?”</p> -<p>In his turn Ortiga smiled enigmatically.</p> -<p>Mr. Coleson spoke. “You see, boys,” he said, -“we have the maps, and we have cruised among -the islands for days—but we haven’t located -the Dipper Islands—and, of course, no treasure -is found. You must have the clue we lack. We -will share with you after you help us to find -the treasure.”</p> -<p>“Supposing we won’t help?” inquired Nicky -defiantly. “It’s ours by right. And, suppose -we don’t even know a clue?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_161">161</div> -<p>“In the first case, we will find ways to make -you tell,” snapped Senor Ortiga, with a clenching -fist crumpling the hand of cards he held. -“In the latter case—we won’t believe you!”</p> -<p>Nicky turned with helpless dismay to his two -chums. They still had their arms folded.</p> -<p>“Say nothing!” was the sign Tom made and -Nicky nodded.</p> -<p>“I suppose my brother has learned from you -about the treasure,” said Ortiga, rising. “That -is what he would use you for. Well—we will -be just a little ahead of him—as usual!”</p> -<p>For once, as they sprawled on the cushioned -side seats which had to serve as bunks, the -three comrades admitted to their own secret -selves, although not to each other, that there -seemed to be no way out of this dilemma. For -once their self-reliance was a very small spark, -indeed!</p> -<p>“But the right always wins out somehow,” -Nicky consoled himself. “If it didn’t then the -world would have been smashed up long ago!”</p> -<p>Then, a little braced by his trust, he dozed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_162">162</div> -<h2 id="c19">CHAPTER XIX -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">CAPTAIN KIDD’S MESSAGE</span></span></h2> -<p>When they awoke the three comrades found -their clothes, soaked by their swim the night -before, dry enough to put on. There was very -little conversation during breakfast, but immediately -after the meal Senor Ortiga drew from -his pocket the two halves of Captain Kidd’s -map, laid them on the folding table and summoned -the boys to his side.</p> -<p>There were the two halves of the real map, -together for the first time in Nicky’s sight.</p> -<p>The two halves fitted exactly when Mr. Coleson -held them together. They showed the complete -sign of the Dipper, with small islands -indicating a very close resemblance to the real -constellation of the heavens, as the chums saw -it at night. Beneath them, the two separated -syllables formed, as they had inferred, the -name Dipper.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_163">163</div> -<p>The faint line, zigzagging among the small -and irregular dots below, ran from the wreck to -a point at what was the eastward of the reproduced -constellation; but the line ended without -pointing to any particular islet.</p> -<p>“There’s your map,” Mr. Coleson said. “Now, -lads, you can see that it means very little. It -shows the point where the wreck occurred many -years ago. It shows a channel that must have -been used by the castaways in transferring the -treasure.”</p> -<p>“But,” Don Ortiga broke in, irritably, “we -have located the islands that make the Dipper—they -lie inward about half way between the -Gulf side and the inside channel. And we -have dug every one of them over, torn roots -apart, plumbed with leads and grappled with -hooks——”</p> -<p>“And all we’ve got for our work,” Mr. Coleson -growled, “is the ache in our backs.”</p> -<p>“There is nothing on the chart to indicate -where the treasure was put,” Ortiga commented. -“Unless you know something about it -that we do not see.”</p> -<p>“Do you?” demanded Mr. Coleson.</p> -<p>His look penetrated the eager interest of the -boys and he thought he saw something in -Nicky’s expression that meant more than it -showed.</p> -<p>“You—Nicky, aren’t you?—you know something,” -he declared. “Now, what is it?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_164">164</div> -<p>Cliff and Tom also saw a strange expression -in Nicky’s eyes.</p> -<p>As a matter of fact, Nicky had just recollected -a part of his family’s legend that had -not come into his mind before for the reason -that it was not written down anywhere and had -been told to him only once by his uncle.</p> -<p>Nicky, glancing at his two young companions, -wanted to smile. Both were making vigorous -efforts to make him realize that they were signaling; -each scratched a left ear almost wildly. -It was the call for a secret communication.</p> -<p>Nicky folded his arms and stood, pretending -to pore over the map, his brows knitted. He -was watching for the next sign, although he -already sensed what it would be.</p> -<p>His guess was correct. Cliff was making -the sign to call for the part of their oath that -said “Telling All, I tell nothing!”</p> -<p>Nicky, deliberately, grinned at his chums.</p> -<p>Turning to Mr. Coleson Nicky made a flat -statement.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, “I do know something!” -Everyone bent forward. Ortiga and Mr. Coleson -had eager, intent faces; Cliff and Tom were -anxious and worried. With the key to a treasure -in his grasp, was this impulsive comrade going -to “tell All,” or “tell nothing?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_165">165</div> -<p>Nicky grinned, a little maliciously, it seemed -to Cliff.</p> -<p>“Mr. Coleson,” he said, “you’ve got us ‘in -your power.’ It’s no use to try to fib to you.”</p> -<p>“You’d better not!” snapped Senor Ortiga, -while the colored man, listening in the after -cockpit, rolled his eyes and shook his head and -Mr. Coleson bored Nicky with piercing eyes.</p> -<p>“I’ve got to save my friends and myself,” -Nicky declared. “If you will promise——”</p> -<p>“Oh! Certainly!” broke in Senor Ortiga, -impatiently. “You will get what is coming to -you! Let us have the secret!”</p> -<p>Nicky’s chums were so far forgetting their -usual poise that they shook their heads vigorously, -but Nicky seemed not to notice.</p> -<p>“When Captain Kidd was in prison, as my -family remembers the story, he sent for one of -my grandparents—great-great-great, I guess it -was! And he said——”</p> -<p>“Yes! Yes! What?”</p> -<p>“He said, ‘Here is half a map, and I am -giving it to you——’”</p> -<p>“Never mind all that!” rasped Mr. Coleson. -“Get to the point!”</p> -<p>Nicky nodded.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_166">166</div> -<p>“Look!” he said, and traced the faint line -with his finger. They followed his movement -in fascinated eagerness. “You see, it finally -runs around the top of the islands, the North -part, and then straight as an arrow, points -South!”</p> -<p>“Yes. We see that!”</p> -<p>“Well, the message Captain Kidd gave was, -as well as I can repeat it—‘At the end of the -line, in the lowest part of the Dipper!’”</p> -<p>“‘At the end of the line, in the lowest part -of the Dipper!’” Ortiga repeated. He snatched -the map and pulled it closer. He studied it.</p> -<p>“The line points South,” Nicky said, “so I -suppose Captain Kidd meant to dig or search -down at the part that is the lowest part on the -chart. That would be—” He fished out a -stubby bit of pencil and placed its tip on the -Westernmost of the lowest islands, drew a slim -line from it to the one opposite, at the East, prolonged -the line until it was at a point below the -end of the faint line already on the chart. Then -he made dots to prolong that one until they met.</p> -<p>“That’s it!” exclaimed Senor Ortiga, leaping -up in such excitement that he threw over -his chair and almost upset the table. “We did -not think of that place. We dug all the islands, -but this is far better.”</p> -<p>“Come—Jim, get the boat ready! We will -go at once!” cried Mr. Coleson.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_167">167</div> -<p>“As for you fellows,” said Senor Ortiga, -“we can’t take you; we can’t trust you with the -<i>Libertad</i>. So we will tie you until we return!”</p> -<p>In spite of vigorous protests, the powerful -men quickly overcame opposition, bound ropes -around the boys’ arms and legs, knotted them, -dropped the helpless bundles unceremoniously -on the cabin floor, and hurried to climb into -their own rowboat and the tender which had -brought the chums. The quick orders, followed -by a rythmic plash of oars and voices dying -away gradually in the distance was the story -their ears told.</p> -<p>“You’re a nice one!” said Cliff, sourly.</p> -<p>“Why?” said Nicky, wrenching futilely at his -well-trussed arms.</p> -<p>“After we’d signalled, and all,” Tom cut in. -“Tell all, and tell nothing—oh, yes! Then you -tell all!”</p> -<p>“What would you have done?” demanded -Nicky.</p> -<p>“Gave them a false direction!”</p> -<p>“Would you?” asked Nicky and worked again -on his bonds.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_168">168</div> -<h2 id="c20">CHAPTER XX -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">NICKY CHANGES A WORD!</span></span></h2> -<p>Cramped and aching in every muscle, the -chums struggled uselessly throughout a long -and irksome day. The ropes were tied too securely -to be loosened; they would not stretch.</p> -<p>It was almost twilight when they heard the -returning sweep of oars and the grate of the -boats alongside.</p> -<p>“Jim, see if those lads are still safe, and let -them stretch a bit,” came a voice the chums -recognized as that of Mr. Coleson. Jim, the -colored Jamaican, came into the cabin with -leisurely slowness and they saw, from his downcast -face, the answer to a question in the minds -of at least two cramped prisoners.</p> -<p>He was frowning and his whole bearing was -dejected. They had found no treasure!</p> -<p>This was borne out by the faces of the white -men when they came in and dropped heavily -onto the cushioned side seats. “Look here,” -said Senor Ortiga, morosely, fixing Nicky with -a cold glare, “are you sure you remembered -that message correctly?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_169">169</div> -<p>“I’m sure,” said Nicky, rubbing his arms and -legs to get the blood into circulation again, still -seated on the cabin flooring.</p> -<p>“Well, then,” said Mr. Coleson, “it’s all a -myth, or someone has been ahead of us.”</p> -<p>“Repeat that message,” commanded Ortiga, -not convinced.</p> -<p>Nicky, looking him in the eyes, did so. “‘At -the end of the line, in the lowest part of the -Dipper,’” he stated.</p> -<p>“And you say that’s the truth?”</p> -<p>“It’s the truth——”</p> -<p>“The whole truth?”</p> -<p>“Yes—and ‘nothing but the truth!’”</p> -<p>“Well, we searched the bottom where those -lines join, and then we rowed over to the -two islands, went over them again, and then -searched the bottom between them—that’s the -‘lowest part of the islands,’ too,” stated Mr. -Coleson.</p> -<p>Neither Nicky, Cliff nor Tom cared much. -Their bodies were too sore, too tired from staying -in one position, too full of aches, to enable -them to give much thought to treasure.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_170">170</div> -<p>Almost nothing was said as Jim prepared -supper, for which the chums were waiting as -eagerly as their weary bodies allowed. A low-voiced -conference was held between the white -men, but it was not until the meal was ended, -Cliff lifting his cup with cramped arm and -hand, Tom feeling his feet prickle as circulation -fed the life fluid to them, Nicky feeling as -though he had been trussed up for years, that -Senor Ortiga delivered the result of the conference.</p> -<p>“We noticed that the tender you came in was -marked from the <i>Senorita</i>,” he stated to Tom. -“We rowed down the inner channel a way, wondering -how you came to be in it!”</p> -<p>“We found the wreck,” added Mr. Coleson.</p> -<p>“Again my dear brother failed to get ahead -of me!” snapped the Spaniard, glowering. “But -that is aside from the point, which is that we -are through here.”</p> -<p>“Then you’ll take us back to Jamaica with -you?” asked Cliff.</p> -<p>Ortiga shook his head.</p> -<p>“You have the tender,” he replied. “We will -put some food in it and let you use it to get -to wherever you want to go. Do you suppose -we want to get mixed up with the American -Government for tying up its younger citizens? -Not we! But we won’t set you adrift or maroon -you. We’ll let you have the tender and -some food.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_171">171</div> -<p>It was almost half an hour later that Cliff, -Tom and Nicky, seated in the tender, with a -few days’ supply of canned foods in her bottom, -saw the anchor of <i>El Libertad</i> come up, -heard the pulsing throb of her single, four-cylinder -speed motor, and watched her swing in -a graceful curve into the wide waters of the -Gulf and lay a course Southward.</p> -<p>“There she goes,” said Cliff morosely. “Now -we’d better lay to, on some island for the night, -and then start rowing for civilization.”</p> -<p>“I half wonder if they found the treasure, -after all,” said Tom, “and just acted the way -they did to ‘steer us off’ and wait till we get -away.”</p> -<p>“No,” said Nicky.</p> -<p>“No?——”</p> -<p>“No. At least, if they did, I’ll bet the treasure -was moved up to a new place.”</p> -<p>“What do you mean?” demanded Cliff -sharply.</p> -<p>“You see,” said Nicky, “I did tell the truth—the -whole thing and nothing else except the -truth. But——”</p> -<p>He grinned at his chums in the dull light. -“I saw your signals, even though I would have -done what I did without them.”</p> -<p>If they had suddenly been touched by a “live” -electric wire the other two could not have -jumped more, or assumed more interested and -amazed expressions.</p> -<p>“Tell us what you mean!” cried Tom.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_172">172</div> -<p>“Well,” said Nicky, enjoying their suspense, -“I told them exactly what Captain Kidd was -reported to have said—except for one word -that I changed. It didn’t change the real meaning, -but I had a sort of flash of something inside, -whatever it was, and I thought maybe if -I changed that one word I could fool them—lead -them on a false scent, and still tell the -truth.”</p> -<p>“What word was it you changed?” cried Tom, -and Cliff echoed the question in slightly different -words but with no less eagerness.</p> -<p>“Repeat the message!” demanded Nicky. Cliff -spoke.</p> -<p>“‘At the end of the line, in the lowest part -of——’”</p> -<p>“Wait,” commanded Nicky. “What did you -say after ‘in’?”</p> -<p>“The lowest part,” replied Cliff.</p> -<p>“And what is ‘the lowest part’ of a dipper?”</p> -<p>Tom saw it first.</p> -<p>“The bottom!” he almost yelled.</p> -<p>“That’s it,” nodded Nicky. “The way I remembered -it said ‘in the bottom of the dipper.’ -So I changed the word to ‘lowest part’ so I -could make it seem that the two islands at the -lowest part of the sketch were the ones it -meant.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_173">173</div> -<p>“Then it was easy to draw the lines,” Tom -agreed. “Nicky—I’m ashamed of myself for -being angry and for not trusting you!” He made -the admission manfully, and extended his hand. -“I ask your pardon!”</p> -<p>“You ought to!” declared Nicky, but he -grinned to take the sting out of his words.</p> -<p>Cliff was not behind Tom by more than a -sentence. He, too, told his chum how sorry he -was that he did not trust him. Nicky was glad -to grip hands with both and to forget their -former distrust.</p> -<p>“I didn’t pretend to notice because I wanted -you both to act as though you were mad at -me. It would make them believe I was telling -the truth, I thought,” he explained.</p> -<p>“Let’s row in and see what the real ‘in the -bottom of the Dipper’ looks like,” he added. -“I’m nearly wild to see the real treasure spot, -even if we can’t locate anything there.”</p> -<p>But Cliff counseled caution.</p> -<p>“Those fellows aren’t quite out of sight yet,” -he declared, “and they might be watching. If -we pretend to row along the same way they -are going, until it gets dark, they will believe -we have given up too.”</p> -<p>“That’s good sense,” Tom agreed. “When -it’s so dark they can’t see us, even if they come -back, we can swing in and camp out on some -island. Then, if they get soft-hearted and return -to pick us up, they won’t suspect anything.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_174">174</div> -<p>This was agreed to and they rowed along -easily for about an hour. There was no sign, -strain their eyes as they might, that the <i>Libertad</i> -was anywhere else than on the first leg -of her journey to Jamaica, so they pulled to -the shore of an islet that had a small grove of -cocoanut or mangrove trees—it was too dark to -know which—and, though their couch was not -very dry and rather too full of matted roots -for comfort, the expectation of the morning’s -find, and their own athletic training, enabled -them to make the best of what they had.</p> -<p>Sunrise found Nicky awake and alert. He -shook his comrades.</p> -<p>“Up—up, daisy, the sun is in the sky!” he -cried, “and we—we, daisy, for treasure we shall -try!”</p> -<p>“That’s good sense but terrible poetry!” -laughed Cliff.</p> -<p>“I don’t care,” Nicky replied, “Tom, cook up -some ham, and a rasher of bacon, and about -twenty eggs and some cocoa.”</p> -<p>“Where do you expect me to get them?” demanded -his chum, laughing.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_175">175</div> -<p>“Charge them!” Nicky exulted. “Charge -them at the nearest store. Our credit ought to -be good. By noon we’ll have gold enough to -pay the National Debt!”</p> -<p>“Hooray!” responded Cliff, “gold—gold—gold!”</p> -<p>And by eight o’clock they were in the tender.</p> -<p>“Treasure bound!” Nicky grinned.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_176">176</div> -<h2 id="c21">CHAPTER XXI -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">IN THE BOTTOM OF THE DIPPER!</span></span></h2> -<p>First of all, of course, it was necessary for -Tom, Cliff and Nicky to discover the key -islands which formed the Dipper. This was not -easy, because the channels between the islets -were, in many places, too shallow for even their -light-draught boat to navigate.</p> -<p>They had no definite idea just where to locate -the Dipper, except that the charts had -shown it, and the white men had mentioned it -as being about midway between the inner and -the outer boundaries of the archipelago.</p> -<p>Many trials they made before they found a -channel that ran far into the crowded outcroppings -which showed above the shallow water.</p> -<p>Every time they would locate what seemed -to be a straight and a deep waterway, it would -shoal up at one end and they would have to -make a detour, sometimes of several islands, -to find water they could use.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_177">177</div> -<p>“I declare!” said Nicky, “it makes me think -of a day my New York cousins took me for -an automobile ride on Long Island. They were -repairing roads, and every fork or crossroad -we came to, it seemed, they had a sign, ‘Detour!’”</p> -<p>“And now we ‘detour!’ again,” laughed Cliff, -piloting from the bow, “to the left, this time, -Tom—Nicky—easy!”</p> -<p>They turned into a new channel, and so, time -after time, even retracing their course occasionally -to get back to deeper water, they made -slow progress.</p> -<p>No delay daunted them; no shoal “made their -pluck run aground,” as Nicky explained it. To -the continual detouring was added the handicap -of the difficulty they had in recognizing -what would look like the Dipper constellation -from above. “If we had an airplane, now,” Tom -argued, “we could spy it in a second.”</p> -<p>“Right, again—pull slowly,” Cliff cut in; and -so the morning wore on and they began to feel -as though they had rowed half way around most -of the archipelago.</p> -<p>But the longest way ’round is said to be the -shortest way through, and the chums found it -so.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_178">178</div> -<p>“Look!” exclaimed Cliff, from the bow, “back -water, fellows! And look ahead. I believe we’ve -found it!” Tom and Nicky swung on the seat -and stared over their shoulders. Hard as it -was to be sure, because other islands, a little -closer or further away complicated the general -pattern, they felt that, at last, they saw the -Dipper.</p> -<p>“But there’s an island almost in line with -two of the lower ones that wasn’t on the map,” -objected Tom.</p> -<p>“That’s so,” said Cliff, ruefully.</p> -<p>“Anyway, here’s a good channel, and we’re -going South again—back toward where we -started,” Nicky argued. “Let’s——”</p> -<p>“Back water! Back water!” ordered Cliff. -But they had given a swift impetus to the small -craft as Nicky and Tom bent to the oars and -with a dull grating sound the bow up-ended a -little, as it ran onto a shelf of the bedrock limestone, -into which the coral formed itself.</p> -<p>Tom and Nicky narrowly escaped toppling -over backward and Cliff saved himself from a -plunge onto the shoal only by gripping the -thwart with both hands as the boat stopped -sharply.</p> -<p>“Well—here we are!” said Nicky, settling -himself. “Come aft, Cliff, so we can lighten her -bow and maybe we can pole off and back out—it’s -too narrow a channel to turn around in!”</p> -<p>Cliff stood up to do as his chum counseled; -but he remained standing, his eyes fixed, his -body becoming tense.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_179">179</div> -<p>“What’s the matter?” cried Nicky. “See anything?” -asked Tom.</p> -<p>Cliff lifted a hand, pointing dramatically.</p> -<p>“Come here Nicky—Tom!” he urged. “Easy, -so as not to tip the boat! Do you know what? -That is the Dipper, and we have run aground -right where the line would show we ought to -stop in the chart—and yonder is ‘the bottom -of the Dipper!’”</p> -<p>Excitedly his fellows scrambled over the intervening -seat and crouched at his side.</p> -<p>“That’s right, I do believe!” agreed Nicky. -“The reason the line stopped is because the -channel stopped. This is where they must have -come to a standstill in the old boat—those castaways!”</p> -<p>“Yes,” added Cliff, “they couldn’t go any -further. And the bottom is level here. We -could climb out and walk along it.”</p> -<p>“It’s just the place to unload chests of treasure,” -Tom agreed. “If only there was some -place to hide it in——”</p> -<p>“What about that?” cried Nicky, pointing -straight ahead. “There on that islet that’s -really at the bottom of the Dipper.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_180">180</div> -<p>“But it said ‘in’ not ‘at’ the bottom of the -Dipper,” reminded Tom. Nicky nodded, scrambling -out into the shallow water. Cliff followed, -and Tom delayed only long enough to draw the -nose of their tender far enough onto the shelf -of limestone to prevent any chance of a slight -current drifting it out of easy reach while they -walked along carefully on the coral bed, avoiding -jutting prongs and dodging the menacing -little spaces into which a foot could slip so as -to twist an ankle.</p> -<p>“We’re in the bottom of the Dipper, at least,” -Cliff declared after a few minutes of cautious -wading.</p> -<p>“I don’t see anything to write home about,” -Tom said morosely, wincing from the pain of -a slightly twisted foot. “All our trouble—for -what?”</p> -<p>“Stand here a minute,” urged Nicky. “Let’s -think. Now, fellows, you know that the treasure -wasn’t buried yesterday. Maybe the whole -top of the archipelago has changed since the -castaways’ day. But this looks like the place -they told Captain Kidd about, and unless some -one else has taken it away, their treasure ought -to be here, if we just know how to locate it!”</p> -<p>“That’s the trouble,” said Cliff, “how?”</p> -<p>“It’s no use,” called Tom, who had moved -a little beyond his two companions, at the side -of the tiny islet. “Some one has been here already!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_181">181</div> -<p>They moved up to his position and observed -with dejected eyes the signs of a previous visit -by others; roots were chopped in half; the signs -were very fresh. At one place, very close to -the edge of the small, root-matted surface, a -hole had been chopped completely through the -mass. Further into the brush there were signs -of another such spot.</p> -<p>“That settles it,” Cliff grumbled. “Some one -has beaten us.”</p> -<p>“Look out, Cliff,” cried Nicky, just behind -his friend. “Don’t step back. Here’s another -channel—right at the bottom of the Dipper part—it -runs along what is the bottom, between the -islands.”</p> -<p>“It’s only a hole, maybe——”</p> -<p>“No, it’s a channel,” persisted Nicky. “See—yonder, -the color of the water looks different -from the shoals. It runs——”</p> -<p>“It only goes to the lower island,” declared -Tom, studying the water, and gently lowering -himself, testing till his foot found the bottom. -“It’s only about three feet deep, and—” he -waded carefully away, and then returned. “It -stops just by the other island, the South one. -But there’s another channel beyond a reef -there.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_182">182</div> -<p>“Then whoever came here didn’t use a boat,” -Nicky suggested. “My guess is that those men -waded up to here yesterday, and dug or -chopped until they were sure they couldn’t find -anything.”</p> -<p>“How do you know they didn’t come from -where our boat is?”</p> -<p>“Because,” Nicky explained, “the chopped -places are all on the outside part, nearest the -gully—it isn’t really a boat channel, it’s only -a gully.”</p> -<p>“Well, that doesn’t help us any,” Tom was -still dejected and the more so because of his -slightly injured foot. “I move we give up.”</p> -<p>But Nicky had climbed up onto the low, small -islet, and, his body sprawled over the rooted, -matted growth, was poking and probing.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, after a moment, “I guess we -might as well. If there is any treasure, it’s too -well hidden to discover. I say we might as -well wade back to the boat and get some lunch.”</p> -<p>“Then we had better find our way out before -dark—it took all morning to get in here,” Cliff -suggested. Nicky, as nearly erect as the small, -tough roots under foot would make it safe to -be, began to push and work his way straight -across the islet. Only his head and shoulders -appeared above the low, young growths.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_183">183</div> -<p>“I hate to give up,” he said, as his comrades -started to pick their way back along the bed -of the reef. “This island may not have been -here at all when the—” His words ceased. There -came a crackling and rending of wood. Nicky -cried out!</p> -<p>Cliff, turning, saw Nicky disappearing!</p> -<p>Forgetting his ankle, with a cry, Tom, who -also swung about, scrambled and plunged toward -Nicky.</p> -<p>The latter was almost out of sight, near the -edge of the islet, prevented from going lower -by two roots, over which he had with quick -presence of mind flung his arms.</p> -<p>“I—I fell—through!” he gasped as his chums -made their way to the edge of the islet. “It’s -a hole under the roots! Be careful, fellows, -don’t slip or break through; the coral may be -thin over it. It may spread further around -than you think!”</p> -<p>With all the caution that their fear for Nicky -permitted his comrades got close. The reef -held.</p> -<p>“Listen,” cried Nicky, breathlessly, “I’m not -hurt. Fellows—” He made a beckoning motion -with his head, “I’ve—we’ve—found it!”</p> -<p>“The treasure?”</p> -<p>“The treasure! I’m sure of it. I fell through—and -I can just touch something—like bricks—with -my shoes!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_184">184</div> -<p>They had to go around the islet and approach -Nicky from behind. The surface of the thin -coating of land, held up and bound together -only by its interwoven roots, was shaky enough, -but they did not break through, and finally, by -dint of much tugging, heaving and puffing, they -drew Nicky back far enough so that he could -scramble free and sprawl, gasping, half-laughing, -on the surface by the jagged hole he had -just left. Cautiously Cliff protruded his head.</p> -<p>“I see something!” he whispered, as if some -one might hear——</p> -<p>“The island wasn’t as big or as high,” Tom -said, peering too, “when the castaways brought -the chests here. They buried them—they must -have used picks to break a place in the coral.”</p> -<p>“Then they must have covered it over with -boards and pulled the roots and earth over -it—or else the wind and the birds have brought -seeds and the islet has grown over the place,” -Nicky added. “The boards were so rotted and -the roots were so weak that my weight broke -through!”</p> -<p>Like three active puppies digging a hole for -bones, the chums pushed and scraped, tugged -and tore at the roots; the weaker ones gave -way and soon they had quite a goodly sized -opening uncovered.</p> -<p>“There’s something down there!” gasped -Cliff. “Gold bars, maybe! The chests must -have been thrown away.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_185">185</div> -<p>“Now the puzzle is—how can we get close -enough to tell?” Nicky said, in an eager voice; -he was none the worse for his experience.</p> -<p>“Could one of us make a dive?” Tom speculated. -All three were on their knees, heedless -of the sharp coral bits, peering intently through -limpid water into a mysteriously dark depression.</p> -<p>“I could almost touch bottom; where I was,” -Nicky exclaimed. “Tom, you hold one arm, -Cliff, you brace and hold the other. I’ll let -myself down——”</p> -<p>“Don’t bother,” came a sharp voice, unexpectedly, -from behind them.</p> -<p>They looked up, startled, dismayed. Quickly -their eyes took in the scene. Just back of their -own tender lay the boat of <i>El Libertad</i>. Quietly -it must have been sculled up, while their attention -was focused on Nicky and his find. Close -behind them, smiling in a half sneering way, -was Mr. Coleson, with Senor Ortiga beside him.</p> -<p>“We thought you might have misled us,” Mr. -Coleson said. “We took the logical step to give -you a free hand, and here you have exercised -it—for which we are very—very grateful.”</p> -<p>“As for the treasure,” added Senor Ortiga, -“never mind diving for it. Here comes Jim.”</p> -<p>“No, never mind,” added Mr. Coleson. “We -will attend to it!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_186">186</div> -<h2 id="c22">CHAPTER XXII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">GOLD—GOLD—GOLD</span></span></h2> -<p>“What are we going to do about these lads?” -asked Mr. Coleson as the colored man, Jim, -went back to the boat for several spades and -an axe.</p> -<p>“They will help—won’t you?” said Senor -Ortiga with a pleasant look that surprised the -chums. “Just because they fibbed to us we -can’t tie them up again! It was perfectly -natural for them to want all the treasure for -themselves. We felt the same way!”</p> -<p>“So we did,” replied Mr. Coleson. “After -we roped them up for a whole day I can’t say -that I blame them. Very well. Here is Jim. -Let us clear away the roots and see what we -have.”</p> -<p>Under the changed attitude of the white men, -Nicky, Tom and Cliff fell to with a will. The -axe helped, the spades were very useful; eager -hands made the work seem a delight. After all, -there would be probably be plenty of gold—or -whatever it might be—for each to have a good -share.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_187">187</div> -<p>When they had cleared away a good portion -of the earth and the matted undergrowth clinging -to the crumbly soil, they saw, as soon as -the mud they had created was settled, a fairly -wide, and not very deep fissure in the coral beneath.</p> -<p>Probably, they decided, the castaways, in the -days they had been there, had taken advantage -of a naturally formed depression in the limestone -formation, perhaps had widened it somewhat -with picks.</p> -<p>At any rate, when the moiled water had -cleared, they beheld a mass of metallic bars, -thrown in, helter-skelter.</p> -<p>Mr. Coleson, being the tallest, lowered himself -onto the top of the mass and found that -his chin was just above water. By taking a -deep breath, holding it, and plunging, naked as -he was, beneath the surface, he could get down, -for a brief time to the hoard of metal.</p> -<p>After his first plunge he came up, and sputtering -till he rid his nostrils of water, he held -up above the water a bar, which Senor Ortiga -almost snatched from him in his excitement.</p> -<p>They all crowded around to look.</p> -<p>Ortiga scraped the dirt and slime, accumulated -partly from their recent digging, from the -bar and gave an exultant cry.</p> -<p>One and all they echoed it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_188">188</div> -<p>“Gold—gold—gold!” shrilled Nicky.</p> -<p>Down again plunged Mr. Coleson, to emerge -above the surface with a second bar which was -eagerly grasped by Tom. It weighed, he -guessed, about ten pounds, and was, when examined, -what appeared to be pure gold of very -fine quality, not very large, for gold is heavy -metal.</p> -<p>“The Spaniards used to melt down the Inca -images and ornaments,” Cliff recalled. “Then -they would ship them to Spain in galleons. -There must be a lot of this gold—isn’t there, -Mr. Coleson?”</p> -<p>“Yes—a lot!” he answered.</p> -<p>All resentment vanished from the hearts of -these strangely united enemies under the impulse -of a common gold madness. Mr. Coleson -dived under, several times, bringing up bars -similar to those already found. Then it was -decided that they had better take what they -had, go to the <i>Libertad</i>, and wait till daylight -for full boatloads.</p> -<p>“People have been lost in these islands—among -the twisting, blind channels,” observed -Mr. Coleson. “We laid down markers on the -islands as we came in, each time, and we had -better row out before it gets too dark to see -them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_189">189</div> -<p>So they all returned to <i>El Libertad</i> and spent -an excited evening, hardly daring to sleep for -fear they would wake up to discover that their -treasure was only dream-gold. But it was solid, -in the morning light, gleaming with its yellow -luster when they scraped the surface. They -had found a treasure for which men might -easily struggle and battle, kill and be killed.</p> -<p>The next few days were full of hard work; -nevertheless, it was work that brought no complaints.</p> -<p>The recovery of the golden bars was necessarily -somewhat slow because only one man -could work in the pit at a time. Mr. Coleson, -Jim and Senor Ortiga took turns, but most of -the diving fell to Mr. Coleson, for as they -brought up more bars the level of the bottom -fell lower by their removal, and the shorter -people were totally under water when they -tried to secure the bars, and had to dive, grab -a bar, thrust themselves upward and be caught -by those who waited.</p> -<p>But, one late afternoon they had exhausted -the contents of the hole as far as gold was concerned. -There were several large objects, presumably -golden placques or perhaps they were -silver; but they were too heavy to be dislodged, -much less to be lifted to the surface.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_190">190</div> -<p>All of the company agreed that it was hardly -worth while to try for them any longer, and -the white men, with Jim, began to pick their -way over to the two boats, both filled with -their last load of wealth. But Nicky motioned -to his chums to delay for a moment.</p> -<p>“Mr. Coleson had a despatch box of some -kind almost at the surface, just a little while -ago,” he told them. “Let’s make a try to get -it again. He dropped it because he said it probably -contained only papers.”</p> -<p>“What do we want with papers?” argued -Tom. “We can come back some time and get -it.”</p> -<p>“It may have the log of the old ship in it, -or papers about the cruise,” Nicky argued. -“Cliff’s father would like them more, I think, -than the gold. He could write a whole history -about the Spanish times in America from them, -maybe.”</p> -<p>Cliff, being the oldest and strongest, decided -to do the diving. Divesting himself of clothing -which he hung on the remaining bushes on -the rim of the islet they had not disturbed, he -plunged.</p> -<p>On his first rise he clutched an ancient ornament, -something like part of a figure of a god, -but it was of some stone, not of gold; he was -about to throw it aside but Nicky took it. “It -might be a relic, like those we found in the -Carib diggings,” he suggested.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_191">191</div> -<p>Cliff made several tries, and finally brought -up an old, and very much rusted bronze box, -of very curious workmanship, with a handle at -each end. It was badly eaten away by oxide -and Cliff urged Tom, who took it, to handle it -with care. Then Cliff was helped up onto the -water-covered bedrock and reached for his -clothes.</p> -<p>“Why—” Nicky, turning toward the boats, -gasped. “What are they doing?”</p> -<p>“They’re putting gold from our boat into -theirs!”</p> -<p>As Tom made the exclamation he started -toward the distant boats; the two white men -and the colored Jim were loading up their boat.</p> -<p>“What are you doing that for?” cried Tom.</p> -<p>He, as well as his slightly injured foot would -allow, hastened over the coral. Cliff, his clothes -carried in a rough, quickly snatched bundle, ran -too. Nicky scrambled ahead of him.</p> -<p>But before they could get to the boats they -saw Jim take the oars out of their boat, climb -into his own, and thrust it rapidly backward—there -was no depth to turn it around—down -the channel.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_192">192</div> -<p>“We’ll leave these oars on the island at the -bend,” called Senor Ortiga. “We don’t want -to leave you here to starve. Swim down or -push your boat ahead of you and swim till you -get the oars; then follow the markers; we’ll -leave them, too. We don’t want to desert you, -but we must. By the time you get out we can -be safely away!”</p> -<p>Nicky and Cliff fought their way over the -coral as fast as they could, stumbling into crevasses, -almost falling as their incautious feet -struck rises; but they saw that it was wasted -effort.</p> -<p>They returned, to assist Tom.</p> -<p>Once the three were in their boat, far down -the channel they saw the other boat turn and -disappear around a bend.</p> -<p>“It will be dark, before we get there,” cried -Tom, and he began to shudder and to forecast -dire difficulties, but Cliff bade him, rather -sharply, to stop.</p> -<p>“Remember what the teacher said, last term, -about being afraid?” Nicky reminded Tom. -“He said that when we became afraid we deadened -our common sense and made pictures of -dangers that wouldn’t exist at all unless we -thought they did. He said it wasn’t what was -dangerous that hurts us, but what we thought -might happen. So—Tom—snap out of it!” He -spoke rather curtly and slangily, to impress -Tom the more quickly. Tom saw the sense in -the rebuke and reminder and grinned sheepishly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_193">193</div> -<p>Meanwhile, a hand on the stern thwart, Cliff -was thrusting with his feet, swimming, and -pushing the boat ahead at a slow rate.</p> -<p>They finally reached the distant island and -found the oars.</p> -<p>“Had we better stay here till daylight?” questioned -Cliff.</p> -<p>“No,” Nicky declared. “They have our gold, -and they mustn’t get away. They have a heavy -load and they may get stuck in the channel for -their greediness. We can see the papers they -stuck on sticks to mark the channel. Let’s get -on as far as we can.”</p> -<p>Tom agreed with him, not especially caring -to stay amid the spooky, silent islets all night.</p> -<p>They had hard work in the swiftly closing -darkness, but by using their eyes sharply and -by going ahead slowly, as their escaping enemies -must also do, they finally saw clear water -ahead.</p> -<p>“Hooray!” cried Nicky. “I think I see them -still in the rowboat! Pull hard, Cliff and Tom, -we can get there before they get away!”</p> -<p>But as he said it there came a hail, sharp and -eager from the shore of the island at the mouth -of the channel.</p> -<p>“Help! Help!”</p> -<p>Tom and Cliff held their oars, surprised, listening.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_194">194</div> -<p>“Boat ahoy! Help!”</p> -<p>“Somebody’s on that island!” Nicky declared. -Mechanically responding to a call for aid, Tom -and Cliff swung the tender’s nose toward the -island. Their way took them very close.</p> -<p>“Boys—Master Cliff—Master Tom—Master -Nicky! It’s Sam!”</p> -<p>The figure they could discern against the -trees waved its arms.</p> -<p>“Quick, pull in close,” cried the tall figure, -wading into the water to meet them. “My -boat’s gone. Take me in. We can git to the -other boat before they get away! Hurry, please, -sars!”</p> -<p>It was only an instant before he had caught -the approaching gunwale and was tumbling in. -“Now,” he cried, “give way, sars!”</p> -<p>“Sam!” cried Nicky, at the bow, pumping -the black hand. “I never was so glad to see -anybody in my life. Grab those oars! We’ll -get them yet!”</p> -<p>But they were fated to act otherwise.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_195">195</div> -<h2 id="c23">CHAPTER XXIII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">MAROONED</span></span></h2> -<p>After a quick handclasp with the other two, -Sam counseled delay. “Better to tell me what -has happened to you,” he said. “There are men -hiding on that ship, waiting till the men in the -boat get all their dunnage on board——”</p> -<p>“Dunnage!” interrupted Nicky. “Sam—it’s -gold!”</p> -<p>Sam’s eyes rolled with excitement.</p> -<p>“They went and found it!” he gasped.</p> -<p>“We did, and they took it away from us,” -Tom explained.</p> -<p>“Who’s hiding?” Cliff asked.</p> -<p>Sam suggested that they had better tell him -their story first, and he laid on the oars and -listened as they gave him a brief history of -their adventures.</p> -<p>In his turn he told them his story.</p> -<p>“When I got my head full of crazy scares,” -he said, “I left you on Crocodile Key, and -sailed for the open water. Later on a revenue -cutter overhauled me. Mr. Neale was with the -men.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_196">196</div> -<p>“Then he was all right?” Nicky asked.</p> -<p>“Yes,” Sam replied, “all right, and mad. -When he found out what I’d went and done he -gave me an awful talking to, and then they -turned the cutter about and went back to look -for you.”</p> -<p>After that, Sam explained, his conscience -bothered him, but he decided that the boys must -be all right, and so held on his course toward -Jamaica. But during the late afternoon clouds -gathered, wind came up, rain squalls blew over -and his work was cut out for him.</p> -<p>“I judged it was a ‘judgment’ on me from -On High,” Sam declared. “I had more’n I could -do, handling the sails to get them down, and all -I could do I couldn’t get them reefed quick -enough——”</p> -<p>“And you lost your boat?” broke in Nicky.</p> -<p>“No, sar,” Sam replied. “Wait—let me tell -you. I had to run before the wind and when -daylight came and the wind dropped I was so -wore out with a sight at the tiller that I just -fell down and slept. I let the <i>Treasure Belle</i> -drift.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_197">197</div> -<p>When he had awakened, he went on, he did -not know where he was, but from the direction -in which the wind had blown, he guessed that -he must be well into the Gulf of Mexico. He -trimmed his sails and with the old, heavy-duty -engine for a kicker, he set a course Eastward. -It brought him, in time, within sight of what -he discovered to be the lower end of the Ten -Thousand Island archipelago, almost opposite -to the wrecked <i>Senorita</i>.</p> -<p>“I saw somebody making a signal with a flag, -and the flag at the masthead was upside down—a -sign of distress,” Sam pursued his story, “I -ran close in and found out that the <i>Senorita</i> -was a wreck.”</p> -<p>“We were on it when it happened—but we -told you. Go on,” said Tom. Sam finished -quickly.</p> -<p>“There was a colored cook, a Spaniard, a -man named Tew, and some sailors and the engineer,” -Sam concluded. “They offered me money -to take them aboard the <i>Treasure Belle</i>. I did, -but instead of going back around Cape Sable, -they took me and tied me up and threw me in -the little cabin. They talked about capturing -a boat or something and the first thing I knew, -they had passed the <i>Libertad</i>, here, and went -on beyond during the night. That was at night—last -night. They hauled the <i>Treasure Belle</i> -out of sight between two islands, a little North -of here. There they laid quiet all today. One -man swam off from my sloop and came back -and they all talked. Towards evening they -started the engine, came down, hauled alongside -and got on board the <i>Libertad</i>. They had -untied me and told me to swim onto one of the -islands and stay—or starve, for all they cared. -Then they held guns on me until I swam to -the Key. They said if I warned anybody I saw, -they’d pepper me full of lead. So I hid, and -when I saw two white men and a Negro rowing -towards <i>Libertad</i>, I didn’t dare to say anything. -But nothing happened to them, and -when I saw your boat I guessed it was safe -to hail, because the men on the <i>Libertad</i> must -be hiding and couldn’t hurt me. And so I -found you.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_198">198</div> -<p>“And I’m glad of it,” said Tom.</p> -<p>“I’m right sorry sars, for what I done, and -I’ll try to make it up to you,” Sam said.</p> -<p>“It’s all right,” Nicky stated. “We won’t -hold it against you. But you didn’t say what -happened to your sloop.”</p> -<p>“They put two sailors into her and sailed her -away down the coast,” Sam replied. “To tell -somebody something about bringing up some -cases or something like that. I couldn’t hear -much. They talked about lots of things—Indians -and sharks and—oh, lots!”</p> -<p>“But why don’t we row to the <i>Libertad</i>?” -demanded Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_199">199</div> -<p>As he spoke the reason became apparent. -Jim, in the boat, handed up onto the deck to -the white men the last bars of gold.</p> -<p>“Come aboard,” was presumably his order; -the chums and Sam were too far away to hear. -They did see sudden flashes, hear a subdued -commotion, hear splashes in the water. Guns -were being fired, and people were shouting.</p> -<p>Almost immediately, before the shots died -down, in fact, they heard the roar of <i>El Libertad’s</i> -motor, saw her swing to her anchor, and, -as it lifted from the coral, turned in a wide -sweep, while shots flashed their spurts of flame -through the darkness from her stern.</p> -<p>Then she swung onto a Northerly course and -disappeared swiftly beyond an island at the -Northern side of the channel.</p> -<p>“They’ve shot those men who took our gold,” -Nicky declared. “Sam, and Cliff, row there, -quick! We ought to try to pick them up—maybe -they’re badly hurt.” Sam and Tom dipped -their oars with a will.</p> -<p>Cliff having donned his clothes, of course, -before he took the oars as they rowed out from -the treasure islet, took the tender’s light tiller -from the floor where it lay while they navigated -the shoal water, shipped it and its attached -rudder, and steered so that the rowers could -put more force into their strokes and thus cover -the water more quickly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_200">200</div> -<p>They soon reached the spot, and saw several -figures struggling with a third.</p> -<p>Sam and Nicky hailed. An answer came, -“Jim, here, was knocked overside when he tried -to scramble onto our ship. Help us get him to -shore. His head hit the coral, we think! They -sank the rowboat.”</p> -<p>They pulled close and with some difficulty the -inert colored man was lifted over the gunwale -and dropped into the tender’s bottom. Then -Mr. Coleson, with a smarting flesh wound in -his arm, and Ortiga, who was too busy expressing -an unfavorable opinion of his renegade -brother to examine his hurts, seemed to have -escaped with a scratched hand.</p> -<p>They began to row toward the island but -Nicky made a suggestion.</p> -<p>“Let’s pull for the wrecked <i>Senorita</i>,” he -urged. “There’s most likely to be a medicine -kit on board her, and food as well.”</p> -<p>It took quite a while to get back down the -shore line to the point almost opposite the -Shark River where the <i>Senorita</i> had grounded; -but when they got there Nicky’s prophecy -proved to be correct and Senor Ortiga, when -the surgical and medicinal appliances were -brought, made an examination of Jim, and then -dressed a rather bad scalp wound, bringing its -edges together with surgical thread after washing -it with antiseptics.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_201">201</div> -<p>Jim came to himself before the bandaging -was completed. Though weak and a little bit -uncertain in speech, he was in no way permanently -injured in his brain. Rest would restore -his usual vigor and help nature to heal his hurt.</p> -<p>Weary and discouraged, because there was -nothing to be done toward the recovery of their -lost treasure, the chums, after a midnight meal, -threw themselves onto bunks in the engine -room, preferring these to more comfortable -wall berths with the two white men who had -done them so mean a turn.</p> -<p>Sam elected to stay with his own companions, -and Jim was put in the forecastle to be alone -while he rested.</p> -<p>“I certainly am grateful to you for saving -us, just now,” said Mr. Coleson as they separated -for the night.</p> -<p>“After the way he acted, he ought to be,” -Nicky confided to his comrades, when they were -alone.</p> -<p>They slept peacefully, thoroughly wearied by -hard work and worn down by the nerve tension -of the last few days.</p> -<p>It was Sam who shook them awake.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_202">202</div> -<p>“That man, Coleson, wasn’t so grateful, after -all,” he said when the chums had rubbed some -sleep out of their eyes in the early dawn. “The -tender is gone. The two white men—gone too!”</p> -<p>“The ungrateful—” began Nicky. But what -would calling names do for them? Certainly it -wouldn’t help any.</p> -<p>“We are not on an island, and we’ve got -food,” Nicky observed, recovering his usual -trust in the eventual justice of life. “But we are -marooned! And yet—and yet, I’ll say it again—we’ll -come out best in the long run. You -wait and see!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_203">203</div> -<h2 id="c24">CHAPTER XXIV -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">“A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK”</span></span></h2> -<p>To say that Clarence Neale, the leader at the -start of the Mystery Boys’ adventure, was -worried would be a tame statement of the -truth. Clarence Neale was more than that. He -felt that without intending to do so he had -shirked a responsibility.</p> -<p>Mr. Gray, the scholar and writer, had entrusted -Cliff to his care on an adventure that -promised to be merely a cruise; Nicky Lane, -and Tom, had come under his protection without -permission from their relatives; and not -one of them was with him, nor was their whereabouts -known to him.</p> -<p>No wonder the young archaeologist, himself -not too far from boyhood to recall what dangers -its headstrong impulses lead to, dreaded many -dire things.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_204">204</div> -<p>Two things he knew definitely. The boys -were not on Crocodile Key, nor did any boatman -or native in Little Card Sound or on its -shores know a thing about them. The second -point he was sure about was that they were -not on Sam’s sloop. He had overhauled that -in the government cutter and made sure.</p> -<p>Where were they?</p> -<p>A lieutenant in charge of the patrol had set -him ashore where a government sub-station of -the patrol service enabled him to use the telephone, -to communicate with other stations. Not -a sign of the boys resulted from his several -calls.</p> -<p>“No word?” asked the young lieutenant later -in the afternoon.</p> -<p>Mr. Neale shook his head dejectedly, climbing -aboard the cutter.</p> -<p>“I can’t see anything to explain it except -that the lads must have gone inland, and become -lost,” he asserted. Lieutenant Sommerlee -discounted such a suggestion. The outcrop -of coral on which they landed while he went to -interview Nelse and Pompey, was cut off by -water too deep to wade; they would hardly -dare swim to the further shore; it was swampy -as could be seen from Crocodile Key if they -took pains to look, he declared.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_205">205</div> -<p>“I suggest that you come aboard again,” -Lieutenant Sommerlee invited, holding to his -own idea, without stating it, that the boys had -been taken off the key by some fisherman. “I -have word that a band of hi-jackers is somewhere -around and I have to watch for them; -we can easily hail the different natives as we -pass up and down the coast and see which one -rescued the boys.”</p> -<p>Clarence Neale accepted the invitation and -was on board the cutter when, that night, she -pursued, and lost touch with, the <i>Senorita</i>.</p> -<p>It was Lieutenant Sommerlee’s notion that -the <i>Senorita</i>, if it was she, had turned tail and -run for her home port in Cuba. He was ready -to give up the search for her, and the more so -because of a growing intensity of interest in -the boys.</p> -<p>Naturally, not knowing they were on the -<i>Senorita</i>, or that she had gone into the archipelago, -neither Mr. Neale nor the lieutenant -thought of such a thing as looking for the adventuresome -trio in those waters. It seemed -almost certain that they must have hailed some -small boat, and on being taken aboard, had -found no means of communicating their plight, -or of getting back.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_206">206</div> -<p>But as day followed day, the idea had to be -given up. There was no spot that the cutter -had not touched, where the boys could possibly -be. Unless they had been taken off on a coasting -sloop—but none had been seen in Little -Card Sound, nor would it have excuse for being -there. Of course the few who knew the truth -about the <i>Senorita</i> and her hiding place on the -day that the boys had been missed, kept their -mouths tightly closed.</p> -<p>“I cannot imagine what has become of them,” -Mr. Neale said, with anxiety in his voice and -deep wrinkles of worry on his forehead.</p> -<p>“Oh, they’ll turn up, as boys do, and usually -safe and sound,” the lieutenant said.</p> -<p>One of their men sighted a sail and gave her -position. Lieutenant Sommerlee gave orders; -the helm was shifted and a course was laid to -intercept the vessel, not because the boys might -be on it, but to hail it and see if any news had -been picked up somewhere.</p> -<p>As they came within better sighting distance, -Lieutenant Sommerlee handed Mr. Neale his -binoculars.</p> -<p>“Didn’t you say Sam’s sloop we overhauled -was going back to Jamaica?” he asked. Clarence -Neale nodded. “I told Sam he was discharged, -as far as our party was concerned,” -he acknowledged.</p> -<p>“Look!” ordered the lieutenant. Mr. Neale -lifted and focused the glasses.</p> -<p>“Great—guns!” he cried. “That’s the <i>Treasure -Belle</i>, now, as sure as I live!”</p> -<p>They lost no time in laying alongside and -hailing.</p> -<p>But Sam did not answer. Instead one of two -men spoke through the deepening twilight.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_207">207</div> -<p>“Sam—why he’s sick in the cabin. We’re -taking him to a doctor!”</p> -<p>“Sam—sick,” Mr. Neale said to the cutter’s -officer, “but we left him on the way to Jamaica -the afternoon before the squall. How did these -men get on his boat?—and——”</p> -<p>“And why are they bound Eastward along -the coast when he ought to be nearly to Jamaica -by now—here, heave to!”</p> -<p>The sail came down with a run—the men -were careless sloopmen or very ignorant of a -single-masted boat and her handling. The cutter -swung in a circle and ranged up beside the -sloop.</p> -<p>It was practically dark, for the twilight is -short in the season, and the men sat with their -heads well covered. But if this was a ruse -to escape detection of their identity it failed. -Lieutenant Sommerlee motioned to a patrol -member, and the man caught the rail of the -<i>Treasure Belle</i> and clung so that the boats lay -sides-to.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_208">208</div> -<p>The lieutenant stepped across the rails, and -made his way to the cabin. At the same instant -the two men stood up, but before they could -carry out their intention—which might have -been to plunge over the side and take chances -of swimming away and escaping in the dark—the -young officer had his pistol trained, drawing -it as he whirled.</p> -<p>“Throw up your hands!” he snapped, “and -sit down again!”</p> -<p>“Sam,” called Mr. Neale, clambering into the -cockpit of his old sloop, “where are you?”</p> -<p>“Ain’t no one there,” said one of the men. -“Lieutenant, will you promise us a fair break -if we tell you the truth?”</p> -<p>“Yellow-livered, of course,” he said. “I -guessed you would try that.” He went close, -called for a flashlight and trained it on the -two anxious sailors. “Ho! You—‘Runty’—you, -too—‘Jack O’ the Keys.’ What are you -doing in this sloop? Where is Sam—but I may -as well tell you that you are under arrest right -now, and if you expect any leniency, which I -won’t promise at this moment, you had better -say what’s on your minds.”</p> -<p>Then they told him. He, and Clarence Neale, -learned of the escape of the <i>Senorita</i>, as well -as of Nelse’s part in that, and in the hi-jacker’s -plans, in which Nelse figured as a receiver for -their stolen cargoes, since he owned Crocodile -Key; they also learned of the wreck, of the -boys’ ruse, and escape, and of the latest escapade, -as far as the men knew it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_209">209</div> -<p>Full speed for the archipelago, was the -present order, after the two sailors had been -handcuffed and two of the cutter’s crew took -over the <i>Treasure Belle</i>, to sail her to the -patrol base until Sam could claim her.</p> -<p>“It looks as though there’s a fire up yonder,” -said Lieutenant Sommerlee, as the cutter -doubled the Westermost nose of Florida, “See -the light in the sky?”</p> -<p>“I hope the boys aren’t in any danger!” cried -Clarence Neale.</p> -<p>None of the crew, neither Mr. Neale, the -lieutenant, nor Uncle Sam’s sailors, could resist -a cheer of delight when they got close -enough to see that the fire was merely a great -heap of wood, on a small islet near the channel -to Shark River.</p> -<p>They sent up a rocket at the first verification -of this fact, and urged their speedy engine to -its fullest power as rockets began to burst in the -sky, blue, green and red flares showed and a -dull boom from a signaling cannon floated -across the water to them.</p> -<p>It seemed an age, but was not so very long, -before the chums were leaping, skylarking, dancing, -standing on their heads, slapping one -another on the back, adding a slap or so for -delighted Sam.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_210">210</div> -<p>They had collected wood, cut parts from the -wrecked vessel, made a signal fire on the islet, -and kept it burning all day, and into the night, -since the discovery that they were marooned, -that morning. The purpose was to create a -smoke smudge during the day, and a light at -night, with the certainty that some coasting -vessel or other ship must see it and come closer -to investigate.</p> -<p>The rockets and colored flares were the signal -stores of the <i>Senorita</i>, used more as fireworks -for the celebration than with any other -purpose, for the signal rocket of the cutter had -been read by Sam as the patrol’s own signal.</p> -<p>“Thank Heaven you boys are safe!” cried -Mr. Neale for the tenth time, pumping Nicky’s -hand again and again, sharing fist-cuffs impartially -between the shoulderblades of Cliff -and Tom in his elation.</p> -<p>“And thank Lieutenant Sommerlee too,” said -Cliff. They did.</p> -<p>“But now,” said Nicky, soberly, “what to do -about the gold!”</p> -<p>They had, of course, told all their adventures.</p> -<p>“Now that you are all right,” Lieutenant -Sommerlee said, “I feel that we shall have to -let the gold wait. What I am interested in is -not gold but—hi-jackers!”</p> -<p>“And pirates,” added Cliff. “Don’t forget -they are in a stolen boat—the <i>Libertad</i> belongs -to one Ortiga, and the other one has it.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_211">211</div> -<p>“But, Lieutenant,” protested Nicky, “if you -get the hi-jackers we’ll get the gold. They have -it!”</p> -<p>“That is true,” agreed the officer. “At the -moment I am puzzled about the course through -which we can secure either men or gold.”</p> -<p>Nicky jumped up eagerly.</p> -<p>“When the <i>Senorita</i> was running away,” he -reminded his chums, “remember that Tew told -us they would hide up in Shark River?”</p> -<p>“I do,” agreed Cliff.</p> -<p>“And Sam, when they took his sloop, thought -the men said something to the two on her about -bringing liquor cases or cases of liquor, and -something was said about sharks——”</p> -<p>“That’s so!” Sam exclaimed.</p> -<p>“I believe they’ve gone into Shark River—” -Nicky declared.</p> -<p>“But we are at the mouth of the channel into -Shark River,” objected Tom. “And they captured -the <i>Libertad</i> North of this place, and -turned North again from there.”</p> -<p>“They may have doubled back; Nicky defended -his idea.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_212">212</div> -<p>“I think there is a more likely solution,” -suggested the lieutenant. “They went to the -channel at the opening of the Harney River, -above; there they could go back into the inner -channel—above Whitewater Bay, and down -that, again, to the landward entry into the -Shark.”</p> -<p>Plans were discussed, ideas proposed, until -far into the night. In all that the chums proposed, -they figured; in those their elders discussed, -they did not.</p> -<p>But because of the crew’s depletion by the -departure on the sloop of two of her fighting -patrols, and because neither Sam nor Mr. Neale -was an expert with a rifle or pistol, the more -vigorous plans for pursuit and capture had to -be shelved in favor of more adroit measures.</p> -<p>And so it came about that a plan partially -suggested by Nicky and elaborated by the lieutenant, -in which the boys must figure, was the -one to be adopted.</p> -<p>And again the Mystery Boys were adventure -bound.</p> -<p>“But,” said Cliff, as a new thought struck -him, “those hi-jackers must have seen our lights—we -made plenty of excitement.”</p> -<p>“Yes,” agreed Tom. “They may have seen -them—then, they will either turn and run -across the Gulf, or somewhere else, or they -will unload the treasure in Shark River and -hide it in the Everglades.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_213">213</div> -<p>“Once it’s hidden there, any effort to find -it would be like looking for a needle in a hay-stack!” -declared Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>“Then let’s hurry!” cried Nicky, and from -that instant all was activity on the stranded -<i>Senorita</i>.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_214">214</div> -<h2 id="c25">CHAPTER XXV -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">IN THE EVERGLADES</span></span></h2> -<p>In order to see how Nicky’s plan was, the -picture that he had in his mind must be understood. -This was Nicky’s mind picture:</p> -<p>The hi-jackers, after capturing Sam’s sloop, -had sent her, with two men aboard, to make -contact with their Little Card Sound headquarters. -Nelse was there and from what he -had heard and pieced together, Nicky supposed -that the two men on the <i>Treasure Belle</i> would -find Nelse, and have him go, or send Seminole -Indians, across the inland waterways, to take -to the hi-jackers some liquor cases in which to -conceal the treasure bars.</p> -<p>When they captured the <i>Libertad</i>, the hi-jackers -had left three men floundering in the -water; for all they knew or cared, these men -might have been wounded. The <i>Libertad’s</i> own -boat had been sunk by bullet holes during the -fight, which was why the boys had been left -without a boat when Senor Ortiga and Mr. -Coleson had fled the <i>Senorita</i> in the tender.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_215">215</div> -<p>Under such conditions the hi-jackers had -started North in <i>El Libertad</i>, the night previous -to that on which the cutter arrived.</p> -<p>They would hardly go to the shores of the -Southern States bordering the Gulf of Mexico, -Nicky decided, because they would be afraid -of having the gold discovered: it was in bars -and had been loaded into the <i>Libertad</i> without -any provision for its concealment and transportation -later on.</p> -<p>The hi-jackers would probably go, Nicky -argued, into the inner channel of the archipelago -and then lay up in the Shark River, that -small stream having its source at the edge of -the Everglades. It was the most Southerly -place they could get close to the Everglades, -and the Seminoles, bringing the cases to put -the treasure in would come up the inland way -through part of Big Cypress Swamp, along the -rim of the Everglades, and meet them. That -was the only way Nicky could see for the hi-jackers -to do, because they had no small boat -and could not go any closer to the shallow -water of the Florida swamp than the draught -of <i>El Libertad</i> would permit.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_216">216</div> -<p>They could not have had enough gasoline in -the tanks to risk a very long voyage; that was -the reason he did not think they would try to -get to the Southern States and risk themselves -in strange waters with no way to carry the -gold from the vessel to their Northern headquarters, -wherever that might be.</p> -<p>With all of this the older heads of the party -agreed.</p> -<p>Their first plan, then, was to get the <i>Libertad</i> -pocketed and surrounded; this they must do -before the treasure could be hidden.</p> -<p>Without a small boat it was not probable -that the hi-jackers could get into the Everglades, -but they might know the Seminoles and -might be able to get hold of a canoe.</p> -<p>A day, and a good part of the night before -had passed since they went away in the <i>Libertad</i>, -but Lieutenant Sommerlee and Mr. Neale -decided that they had probably gone into the -Shark River and laid up. They had no reason -to be afraid: they left the <i>Libertad’s</i> owners -in the water; they left three boys and a Negro -in another rowboat. There was not much -danger, from their way of looking at it, in -anything that these people could do.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_217">217</div> -<p>If they had seen the signal smoke of the day -or the fire and the rockets and lights at night, -it would be too late for them to run out in the -<i>Libertad</i>; and, unless they had already hidden -the treasure, they could not very easily do so -in the darkness. They would be more apt to -believe themselves well hidden, and would not -make any move before daylight, because they -would be waiting for their two men in the sloop -to get Southeast and bring help from inland. -They did not know, of course, that the men -had been captured.</p> -<p>First of all, Sam and a patrol sailor went -over the side of the <i>Senorita</i>, in the dark, with -ropes under their arms and fastened to the -rail. They searched about on the reef at the -side of the ship where Nicky and his chums had -thrown the rifles and pistols. Lieutenant Sommerlee -did not think that these had been in the -water long enough to be severely damaged or -made useless; he wanted them for a purpose.</p> -<p>Sam and his companion by dint of much -searching brought up both submerged rifles and -several pistols.</p> -<p>They were set to work cleaning and drying -and oiling them at once.</p> -<p>“Cliff,” ordered Lieutenant Sommerlee, taking -command, “you—with Sam and Jim and -one of my sailors, will stay on the <i>Senorita</i>. -Jim has had a night and a day to rest in and -he is pretty strong again. You four are the -guardians of this Shark River channel.”</p> -<p>“If they try to run out past us we must try -to prevent that,” Cliff agreed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_218">218</div> -<p>“Yes,” nodded the commander. “My boatswain, -Jack, will be with you and, for the sake -of discipline, you must all obey his orders. He -has a cool head and is a fine shot. Four of you -ought to be able to block this channel if the -hi-jackers try to run out here.”</p> -<p>“We will!” agreed Cliff, feeling the importance -of his share in the blockade.</p> -<p>“The rest of us will start at once in the cutter,” -the lieutenant continued. “We will tow -our own light dory, and when we reach the -inner mouth of the Harney River, Mr. Neale, -Nicky, and one of my men who has been into -the Everglades, will drop off in the dory and -go up the Harney River as fast as they can by -night. By submerging a flashlight in the water, -training its beam on the bottom, and rowing -carefully they can get almost to the head of -the stream, where it has its source at the rim -of the Everglades. From there, as soon as -dawn comes, my man will direct the course -South along the rim of the Everglades to the -nearest point he sees fit to the Shark River. -The Harney starts a few miles North of the -Shark, at the rimrock, and by sending the boat -there, we can block the Everglades side and -stop any Indians who may come there from -Big Cypress.”</p> -<p>“And we will stop them, never fear!” declared -Nicky stoutly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_219">219</div> -<p>“I know that you will,” said the lieutenant -with a smile. “The cutter will proceed carefully -down the inner channel. I will be in command, -and will lie-to close to the bank, not far -from the Shark. Unless the hi-jackers rush out -I will do nothing until we are all in position. -We shall need some signals.”</p> -<p>“Have you any smoke-rockets on the cutter?” -asked Nicky. “They would make enough light -to be seen at night, and smoke to see by day.”</p> -<p>“We have,” answered a sailor. “Plenty of -them.”</p> -<p>“Then we will take four,” Nicky suggested. -“How will we use them?”</p> -<p>“One at night will call for help. One right -after the other at night will call urgently for -help. Do not use them for any other purpose -tonight, and I will be watching the sky over -the ’Glades.”</p> -<p>“All right, sir,” said Nicky in proper nautical -deference. “Then, when we get into place at -the inside end of the Shark, shall we signal?”</p> -<p>“No,” replied the lieutenant. “But if you -see that there is no boat in the Shark River at -all, send up a rocket, wait a minute and then -send up a second. Watch for the same signal -in reply; if you do not get it, repeat with your -other two rockets. If the boat is there, make -no signal unless the men are escaping. In that -case, send up three rockets in quick succession, -as fast as you can.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_220">220</div> -<p>“How shall we be able to set them up?” -asked Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>“You will find clumps of tall saw-grass -almost everywhere; it is from four to eight or -nine feet high, and you must be careful not to -let its sharp edges gash you, but it is strong -enough to support a rocket in an upright position -while you set and light it.”</p> -<p>Hasty repetition by each member of the -party of plans in which they must participate, -the arranging of signals from the cutter, and -of others from the <i>Senorita</i>, completed the arrangements.</p> -<p>Cliff, with Jim, Sam and the boatswain, Jack, -busily getting the recovered arsenal into good -shape again, saw the cutter disappear into the -gloom.</p> -<p>The run up the channel into the Harney -River was without event, and since Lieutenant -Sommerlee had cruised in those waters, making -a chart for the U. S. Geodetic Survey, he knew -the safest way, and finally, with tense, thrilling -nerves, Nicky dropped into the light dory with -Mr. Neale and a sailor called Brownie because -his last name was Brown and he was a short, -fat, jolly little man. With whispered directions -from the cutter’s commander, they pushed off -and with Mr. Neale at the oars and Nicky in -the stem, Brownie being at the bow to give the -course up the rapidly narrowing stream, they -slipped into a darkness that seemed to close -down about them like a curtain.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_221">221</div> -<p>By following the lieutenant’s directions they -made steady progress as far as their boat dared -go in the dark, feeling-out the channel with the -tip of their flashlight under water so they could -see the coral bottom of the river. Finally they -stopped, tied to a heavy root and got such sleep -as they could, curled up on their hard seats.</p> -<p>At about four-thirty, before dawn cut -through the heavy tangle of trees, intertwined -overhead, Brownie awoke his companions and -they ate their hardtack, and picked the bones -of a chicken from the cutter’s recent purchases, -cooked the night before on the <i>Senorita</i>; this -they washed down with cocoa from tin cups, -cocoa hot out of a thermos bottle.</p> -<p>The hot liquid helped to drive away the night -chill, and Nicky declared that he felt fit for -anything.</p> -<p>“That’s good,” chuckled Brownie. “We’re -going to have to stand in shallow water and -walk in it, too. We must drag our dory up -over the rock bed here at the rim of the Everglades.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_222">222</div> -<p>In spite of the cold of the water, fed by the -overflow from the Everglades which, themselves, -are renewed by many streams that spout -out cold and clear, from holes in the limestone, -they dragged and tugged and laughed softly as -they slipped, until, when the dory was over the -rim, and into fairly good water, they were quite -warm from their exertions.</p> -<p>“Here we are!” said Brownie softly, with a -wave of his hand. “Here we are—in the Everglades!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_223">223</div> -<h2 id="c26">CHAPTER XXVI -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">NICKY DOES SOME SCOUTING</span></span></h2> -<p>“While we rest,” Brownie said to Nicky, -“take a good look around. There’s not so -many white boys who get to see the Everglades. -It’s a sight worth seeing, just at daybreak!”</p> -<p>It was. Nicky stared about, and turned in -surprise.</p> -<p>“Why, I thought,” he said, amazed. “I -thought the ’Glades were all swamps. They’re -not, at all!”</p> -<p>“Many a one has the wrong idea,” retorted -Brownie affably. “In truth, the ’Glades are -just flat bedrock, mostly, under a couple of feet -of water, and with a very thin soil that the -grass hangs onto. Down South’ard, you see, -where the trees are, that’s Big Cypress. That’s -all swamp, I admit, and bad to get into. This -would be as bad if you got lost in it, and that -wouldn’t be so hard, would it?”</p> -<p>Mr. Neale agreed with him, while Nicky, -standing upright on the forward thwart, forgot -his wet feet in the beauty and strangeness of -the scene before him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_224">224</div> -<p>At the Eastern edge of the ’Glades, the sun -was rising, casting its slanting, golden rays -across a great expanse of grass, and more -grass, and yet more grass.</p> -<p>That grass was no such growth as is usually -understood by the name. It was tall, some -clumps of it reaching up as high as ten feet. -There were several kinds, but most predominant -was the terrible saw-grass. Its stiff uprightness, -and its rasping, cutting edges would -make of it, Nicky decided, a formidable barrier -for anyone who tried to go through it.</p> -<p>Brownie agreed with his voiced idea.</p> -<p>“I went with another lieutenant across the -’Glades, back a couple of winters ago,” he said. -“It took us months. It’s not so many miles, -but, as you can easily see, the grass grows in -big clumps, and it is so high that you can’t spy -ahead and find the channels. There are channels, -but they are a good deal like the ones you -tell about in those Ten Thousand Islands. Some -of them run into blind ends and shoal up; -others are blocked by the saw grass—and if -anybody wants the job of trying to hack a way -through some of these clumps of saw grass, -they aren’t named Brownie.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_225">225</div> -<p>Nicky, and Mr. Neale, could readily see how -difficult it would be to cut a way through: the -edges of the blades could inflict such deep -gashes in the hands that only by the most careful -work could one cut at them, and then only -in heavy gloves which would, in a short time, -be cut through. Even boots, Brownie said, were -not thick enough to withstand much work in -passing through the grass.</p> -<p>“In places,” he added, “we had to wade and -push our canoes—we had two specially built -canoes, and we made a survey while we crossed. -The grass tears at leather and rubber boots -and in almost no time it gets through. Look -across! See, about half way, there is a long -clump of grass—almost like land! Well, it’s -just grass, and it is so long and so thick that -it took us a couple of weeks, going South, to get -down around it. In covering five miles straight -across we made more than forty miles of travel. -You see, we’d go fifty feet and run into a dead -end, or into a bend that took us to grass; then -we’d have to go back and search out another -way. Back and forth, around and back, through -and back, we went. I tell you, it was no lark!”</p> -<p>They were rested, and with water enough to -float their dory, they turned her prow toward -the distant line of trees which marked the Big -Cypress Swamp and sculled carefully, winding -along the comparatively open way at the edge -of the rim of the ’Glades.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_226">226</div> -<p>The Everglades are really a sort of inland -sea, very shallow and thickly studded with -clumps of the terrible, high grass. Around the -table land of the shallow sea, which rises gradually -toward its center line, something like a low -crest of a long underwater hill, there is a rim -of somewhat higher rock which keeps the water -in.</p> -<p>The water seems to be replenished by -streams or springs coming up through fissures -in the rock; its drainage is to the open sea and -the bays inside the outer reefs, through rivers -like the Shark and the Harney on the West -side, and the Miami on the Eastern slope.</p> -<p>Sculling carefully, and keeping a sharp lookout, -the trio in the light-draught dory progressed -steadily as the sun rose higher. It -was still very early.</p> -<p>“I doubt if the hi-jackers are awake yet,” -said Brownie. “They probably feel that they -are well hid.”</p> -<p>“What’s that—ahead?” queried Nicky, standing, -carefully balanced, in the stern. He sat -down and helped Mr. Neale to steady their -craft while Brownie rose at the bow and spied -over the grass at one side.</p> -<p>“I swan!” exclaimed Brownie under his -breath, turning to his companions. “It’s—a -boat.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_227">227</div> -<p>He turned and stared, under his cupped -hand.</p> -<p>“I can make out—why! It’s the <i>Senorita</i>, -printed on the bow.”</p> -<p>“The <i>Senorita</i>!” exclaimed Nicky softly. -“That’s the tender we had taken away by Mr. -Coleson and Don Ortiga’s brother—the one -they called Senor Ortiga.”</p> -<p>“Then they must have rowed in at the Harney -yesterday, and come around behind the -Shark,” stated Mr. Neale. “I wonder what -they intended to do?”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’m not worrying about what they intended,” -Brownie answered, “I’m anxious -about what they’re doing now—what has happened -to them. We ought to know. It might -upset our plans.”</p> -<p>“There’s nobody in the boat, or in sight,” -Nicky whispered as they very slowly worked -the dory closer. The empty tender lay with its -nose to the rock and heavy fringe of underbrush, -grass and small trees at the ’Glades’ -rim.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_228">228</div> -<p>“I know what!” Brownie said, when they -were quite dose. “That boat is moored to a -root on the rim-line. It’s about opposite an -old Indian trail, too. A trail leads down beside -the Shark. You can’t hardly make out the -mouth where the water escapes from the -’Glades, the trees and brush is so thick. But -it’s there, and the Indians have a sort of portage, -about opposite where the tender lays.”</p> -<p>“We ought to do some scouting,” suggested -Nicky. “Let me!”</p> -<p>Mr. Neale objected. Brownie, also, said that -he had better do it.</p> -<p>“You’re too stout,” Nicky urged, “and Mr. -Neale is not a woodsman. I’ve spent two summers -in the woods, one up in Maine and one -out in the Sierras. I can go quietly and come -back without letting anyone know I’m around.”</p> -<p>He pleaded so eagerly and the danger seemed -so slight, if he kept his head, as he promised to -do, that they finally agreed, and he was allowed -to land on the damp, matted growth at the nose -of the dory as she swung close to the tender. -Nicky listened carefully to instructions from -Brownie and warning from Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>“And be especially watchful about snakes,” -Brownie said. “There aren’t so many in the -’Glades, but in the heavy growth there are -plenty. But if you keep your eyes open—and -here!—take this pistol, in case of need!—you -can generally avoid them. If you fire three -times, quickly, we will come to help you. If -you fire at a snake, we’ll come, too, of course, -but the three shots is to show that it is help -you need, of any kind.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_229">229</div> -<p>The trail was almost blind, being little used, -and Nicky was hard put to it to discover his -way sometimes; but Brownie had told him -where to look for Indian signs on the trees and -lower tangle, and what sort of ground to avoid, -and he made a fairly quiet and very slow -progress.</p> -<p>Almost so suddenly as to be a total surprise, -he came to the end of the trail. Thick brush -and heavy tangle of every sort of vine and -creeper was just ahead; but through it his -quick eyes discerned the glint of sun on rippled -water, and the white reflection of a boat’s bow!</p> -<p>There, moored close to shore, so that one -could step from it to the heavy roots at the -edge, lay the <i>Libertad</i>!</p> -<p>Nicky stayed where he was and looked and -strained his ears. He moved cautiously to one -side and got a better view. He could see the -forward deck, and there crouched the two -Ortiga brothers, the one they called the Senor -and the other, the Don.</p> -<p>Their voices were low, but they came clearly -to Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_230">230</div> -<p>“Let’s call a truce,” Senor Ortiga was saying. -“You and I have fought and won, back and -forth, times without number. Now there is -enough gold in this boat to make us rich—and -more back in the islands. Let’s bury the -hatchet!”</p> -<p>“It is buried, amigo,” his brother agreed. -“Now I suggest that we also bury the treasure, -out in the ’Glades, and disappear for a while.”</p> -<p>“That would do but for one thing. We can’t -trust our men. If they know where it is buried -they will come back and steal it—or you——”</p> -<p>“Yes,” snarled the other suddenly angry -again. “Or I—or you! Bury the hatchet! Oh, -yes!”</p> -<p>“Our original plan—your plan—is best, after -all,” said the other brother. “We will wait until -the Seminoles come and pack the treasure -in cases when it is divided—then it will be ‘each -man for himself!’”</p> -<p>“I will go back to the rimrock and see if there -is any sign of the Indians,” said Senor Ortiga, -rising. Nicky looked about quickly. He must -get back and warn his companions so they -could, all three, hide before the Senor arrived.</p> -<p>And as Nicky turned, his blood turned to ice -in his veins.</p> -<p>Lying along a low bough, not ten feet from -the ground, with its steady, unblinking, bright, -beady eyes fixed on him, lay a moccasin, a large -specimen of the ’Glades snake family!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_231">231</div> -<p>Instinctively, and with the impulsiveness that -characterized his movement at many close corners -in life, Nicky lifted the pistol and fired!</p> -<p>As his finger pressed the trigger he realized -that, in the old adage, “the fat was in the fire.”</p> -<p>He had upset all their careful plans!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_232">232</div> -<h2 id="c27">CHAPTER XXVII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">IN THE ENEMY’S HANDS</span></span></h2> -<p>It was not the bullet from Nicky’s pistol that -did damage—it missed the moccasin by a good -foot; but the sound, pounding through the still -morning air, warned and wakened the hi-jackers.</p> -<p>Nicky did not dare risk a run past the snake -which, in spite of the pistol shot, had not moved, -except to lift its head angrily.</p> -<p>From the position by the boats Mr. Neale -and Brownie heard the reverberating thud of -the exploding powder. “He’s in trouble,” said -Mr. Neale. “But he isn’t calling for help!” -answered Brownie. They listened, but no -further sound came. “Guess he got it,” said -Brownie.</p> -<p>But then their ears were assailed by a triple -succession of sharp explosions. This time it -was the summons, without chance of mistake!</p> -<p>Breaking through the tangle, heedless of cuts -and scratches, the sailor and the young collector -of relics fought their way along the faint -trail.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_233">233</div> -<p>Nicky had aimed the pistol at the snake, even -as he pressed the trigger in the call for aid; -but his hand shook so that he made no effect -on the reptile which, alarmed by the sound, -slipped in a long, sinuous curve to the trunk -of the tree. Nicky drew a long breath. But -at the same instant that he heard the crash of -bodies in the trail, he heard, behind him, feet -thudding up from the waterside.</p> -<p>Turning, he lifted the pistol desperately in -the faces of the two Ortiga brothers; but they -were too close. As one knocked the weapon -high in the air it exploded its fifth cartridge.</p> -<p>At the sound the men on the path beyond -sight of Nicky gave a hail; at the same instant -stout, powerful arms closed around Nicky, his -opened lips were rudely smothered in a coarse -hand and he felt himself, struggling, kicking, -trying to bite, propelled toward the water.</p> -<p>“Fling him in and let’s get away!” cried Don -Ortiga.</p> -<p>“No,” panted his brother, with a wicked word -as Nicky teeth closed on his flesh and he -snatched his hand free. “Make him a hostage! -Hold him. Here—ahoy, the ship! Give a hand!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_234">234</div> -<p>Nicky tore and fought but against two powerful -men. His fourteen years, his athletic prowess, -were little help to him. His strength was -in no way equal to theirs. From the <i>Libertad</i> -came excited voices.</p> -<p>From the trail broke cries and the sound of -Brownie’s automatic barking as he caught sight -of the men; but Mr. Neale stayed his hand, -catching a view of Nicky in the group.</p> -<p>Before they could get there and intervene, -Nicky had been flung to willing hands, had been -thrust back into the cabin, an engineer was rocking -the flywheel of <i>El Libertad</i>, her motor took -hold with a roar and a tremble of the hull, Don -Ortiga and his brother had thrown themselves -onto the bow deck, clinging to the rail, and -then scrambling down out of range, and, backing -down stream, <i>El Libertad</i> was beyond the -leap of Brownie which fell short and sent him -plunging down onto the coral bottom.</p> -<p>Mr. Neale shouted to Nicky; he was helpless, -having no weapon. Nicky could not answer; -he was surrounded, his mouth was being -tied securely with a handkerchief rudely thrust -between his lips.</p> -<p><i>El Libertad</i> backed slowly but surely down -the stream.</p> -<p>From the bank Brownie, sputtering and -soaked, hailed.</p> -<p>“<i>Libertad</i>—ahoy!” he cried. “Stop or we’ll -sink you!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_235">235</div> -<p>“With what—your fat?” cried a lusty sailor -with a roar of laughter. “If you shoot you’ll hit -your boy—see, here he is!”</p> -<p>Screening behind Nicky, whose bound form -they lifted into view, the evil sailors sent a defiant -guffaw back to the men on the bank.</p> -<p>“Get the rockets!” panted Mr. Neale, tearing -back along the trail, “the cutter won’t know -what’s happened. Send up rockets!”</p> -<p>Brownie dashed back with him, and while -Mr. Neale was fumbling to set the rockets, and -dropping a packet of matches into the water -in his helpless eagerness, Brownie was tugging -at the light dory with all his strength, trying -to shove it over the rimrock into the shoals at -the head of the Shark; his idea was to row -down after the vessel and so to be on hand if -any help could be rendered. Mr. Neale had to -ask for matches; but finally the fuses hissed -and rockets roared up from the heavy roots into -which their sticks had been thrust, to break into -puffs of white, heavy smoke—the warning of -attack!</p> -<p>On the <i>Libertad</i> a hasty conference was held. -Nicky was not invited to attend the conferees, -but was bound quickly and thrown unceremoniously -into a corner of the cabin floor, to await -their further need for his protecting body.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_236">236</div> -<p>Whispers, gruff laughs, sharp negatives to -suggested action, were all that Nicky could -catch. Finally, however, he heard Don Ortiga -order the engineer to put on full speed astern, -and back went the white boat down the Shark, -a man at her stem to call the channel to the -tillerman.</p> -<p>“We’ll use him as a blind, say he’s been hurt -and we want to deliver him up,” Nicky overheard -a man confide to the engineer who was -necessarily absent from the conference. “That -will hold their fire.”</p> -<p>“Whose fire?” asked the engineer, wiping -gasoline from the lower edge of the carbureter, -which seemed to be leaking.</p> -<p>“The cutter must be laying outside,” the -sailor declared. “One man on the shore was in -uniform. They must have tried to surround -us. Lucky for us, the lad fell into our hands!”</p> -<p>“Yes,” said the engineer coarsely laughing. -“If they offer to hurt us we can shoot him—or -whatever we like!”</p> -<p>At the head of the Shark River Mr. Neale -was helping with the dory; its keel grated and -rubbed, offering resistance. They lifted and -bumped it along until it seemed safe to leap -in; but the added weight plumped it down onto -the coral again and they had to tumble out -and push once more. Then Mr. Neale leaped -in, Brownie gave a shove and fell onto the -stern on his chest, and clambered aboard. They -caught the oars and gave way with insane eagerness.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_237">237</div> -<p>On the <i>Libertad</i> Nicky lay in his corner.</p> -<p>“Let us go—if they don’t—we’ve got him——”</p> -<p>“Sort of tight corner,” Nicky said to himself, -and with all the cunning at his command -he kept his face impassive to the chance sight -of a passing sailor while, under him, cramped -as they were, he tugged fiercely at the hurriedly -made knots, his jaws aching from the wedge -of soiled linen crushed between his teeth, his -body bent toward one end—liberation!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_238">238</div> -<h2 id="c28">CHAPTER XXVIII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">TWO IN THE TOILS</span></span></h2> -<p>Early in the morning Tom, on board the -cutter with Mr. Sommerlee, his engineer and -two of the patrol, decided that a brisk bit of -exercise would be just about the finest appetizer -he could desire.</p> -<p>There had been no signs at all of any excitement, -although Tom had taken his turn with -the others at watch while the cutter lay anchored -a stone’s throw beyond the mouth of the -Shark River.</p> -<p>While Lieutenant Sommerlee got the dry-alcohol -stove lit up for their hot cocoa and fried -eggs, Tom saw no harm in a brisk swim to the -mouth of the river and back. Accordingly, -while the sun was giving Nicky his first view of -the ’Glades, Tom lowered himself from the cutter’s -stern, not caring to risk a dive in the -poor light, and struck out gaily for shore, wondering, -as he swam, how Nicky’s party was getting -along, back there beyond the heavy growth -that fringed the inner channels.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_239">239</div> -<p>Crawling out on a root, Tom slapped the -early morning chill of the water out of his -body, and rested before returning to the cutter.</p> -<p>He wondered, as he lolled on the roots, -whether <i>El Libertad</i> was actually hiding in the -river or not. He half wished that he had asked -Mr. Sommerlee for permission to swim up the -river a ways; it might help them to discover -the truth; they had no small boat and would -not wish to risk having the cutter discovered -before the landing party had its position and -gave a signal.</p> -<p>“I think I’ll swim up the river a few strokes,” -Tom decided. “Nicky swam a ways in Crocodile -Creek and we discovered the liquor stores; -it won’t hurt me to do a hundred yards and -back.”</p> -<p>Accordingly he slipped down into the limpid -stream, and against a slight current that did -not tire him at all, he pulled his lithe, muscular -young body along steadily. But when he lifted -his head to glance ahead he saw nothing; nothing, -that is, but water and low-clustered tree -roots on the banks, tall grass, and leaves meeting -in a heavy tangle along the banks and, far -beyond him, meeting overhead. The <i>Libertad</i> -was too close in, behind a tangle of weed and -grass, to be visible from his low point of vantage -in the water.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_240">240</div> -<p>Suddenly his ears were assailed by a distant -thud—like a shot!</p> -<p>Tom listened. There was the deep silence of -the morning over all of Nature. “Perhaps an -Indian is out hunting—or a white man has just -shot his breakfast,” Tom mused, and deciding -that he had gone far enough he swung lazily, -and then set off with brisk strokes.</p> -<p>Then he beached and stood up on a ledge of -sandy coral reef. The three signal shots bore -their triple crash through the woods, followed -by Nicky’s final shot.</p> -<p>“That sounds more like fighting than hunting,” -mused Tom. “I wonder if our land party -has made contact! I guess I had better go back -to the cutter and see if they have noticed any -rocket signals.”</p> -<p>He turned and began to swim back.</p> -<p>He had gone further than he had intended -to, however, and he felt pretty well tired out -by the time he came back to the river mouth; -so, deciding to rest and to hail the cutter and -ask for information, he drew himself up on -the root.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_241">241</div> -<p>He saw a flurry of activity on the cutter; -quite clearly he had been totally forgotten in -some new excitement. The motor was running -and Lieutenant Sommerlee, eyes fixed on the -far reaches of the river was maneuvering, backing -and turning to bring the cutter broadside -to the channel. Tom turned to look back up -the stream he had recently swam in, and saw, -afar, the white spot that would soon become -<i>El Libertad</i>, backing out because she could not -turn in the channel.</p> -<p>Mentally, Tom summed up the situation -quickly; if he tried to swim out to the cutter -he would interfere with the lieutenant’s plans, -and perhaps be in the line of fire if the white -vessel continued to approach. He would surely -be in line of fire from her stern if he tried to -swim to the cutter.</p> -<p>Yet, naked and white against the dark foliage, -he would be just as much of a target, and -quite as noticeable, on his root.</p> -<p>Hastily, but warily, remembering saw-tooth -grass and snakes as very real menaces to unshod -feet and an unprotected body, Tom melted -into a thicket of heavy creeper and leaves, and -with his eyes peering through his green lattice, -he saw the white boat crawl out into view.</p> -<p>Then he saw something more. Nicky, still -gagged and bound, was up on the after deck, -held there by the arm of a man who cleverly -kept as much of his person below the coaming -of the after cockpit as he could.</p> -<p>Tom compressed his lips to hold back his first -impulse to call out.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_242">242</div> -<p>How had Nicky gotten into that predicament? -What was he doing in the hands of the -enemy? He was prompted to shout to Nicky; -then sober second thought told him that this -might endanger Nicky, and it would certainly -draw attention to himself, not very desirable to -a white-skinned boy, minus his clothes, and -menaced by a pack of men evil enough to treat -his chum so rudely.</p> -<p>Tom held his position and watched.</p> -<p>Evidently it was the intention of the hi-jackers -to have Nicky discovered and recognized -by the crew of the cutter. Such was, in -fact, their aim. Mr. Coleson, compelled to expose -a portion of his arms in order to keep -Nicky in view, did not like his place nor the -rough treatment the boy had received. While -he had, it is true, helped to tie the boys on a -previous occasion, and had then deserted them -in their tender, and, later, with Senor Ortiga, -had stolen the tender in order to chase the hi-jackers, -he had not in any of this actually intended -any violence toward his youthful captives -or—as they later became—rescuers!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_243">243</div> -<p>It irked him, and went against his sense of -decency, weak though that was, to have Don -Ortiga cold-bloodedly crouch beside the engine -with a pistol in his hand, holding it trained on -Nicky, and, as Mr. Coleson made no doubt, -ready to fire with deadly aim.</p> -<p>Tom, on the shore, took in Nicky’s plight. -Being elevated above the water edge, he was -able to see downward beyond the coaming of -the cabin sides, and he observed Don Ortiga’s -position and its menace.</p> -<p>Still he held his lips pressed together. A -warning would do no good; silence could do no -harm.</p> -<p>From the <i>Libertad</i> the hoarse hail of Senor -Ortiga came across the water. The <i>Libertad</i> -had lost way and drifted very slowly stern-first -out of the mouth of the river. Those in the -cutter caught the hail also, and the hand Lieutenant -Sommerlee had partly raised to call for -full speed across the oncoming stem, was suspended -in midair.</p> -<p>“There’s a gun trained on this boy,” cried -the younger Ortiga. “We have his life in our -hands. We mean to get free and if you stop -us or fire or try any tricks, the boy pays for -it!”</p> -<p>The position into which the <i>Libertad</i> had -drifted was stern-out, so that the cutter was on -her quarter, and to the side farthest from -Tom’s hiding place.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_244">244</div> -<p>In that position, totally unsuspicious of his -presence, no one on <i>El Libertad</i> was paying -attention to his side of the river mouth.</p> -<p>Two ideas, two courses of action, sprang into -Tom’s mind. The first was this: he recalled -that when the trio had lain, tied hand and foot -on the floor of the <i>Libertad’s</i> cabin, the drip-drip -of the gasoline from a leaky carbureter -gasket had become very noticeable.</p> -<p>He recalled that Mr. Coleson had mentioned -it to Senor Ortiga, that night when they had returned -from their fruitless hunt, and said he -must fix it. The idea Tom had was that if he -could manage to get on board, unobserved, and -loosen the carbureter or destroy it, the white -boat would be powerless to escape. But the -men were all congregated at the stern, all except -the steersman, up in the cubby where the wheel -was located, at the forward end of the cabin.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_245">245</div> -<p>The second idea grew from the first: in the -bow was the main gasoline tank; a pipe line of -copper ran along, close under the edge of the -cabin flooring, and up forward there was a petcock -in the line, so that the flow of what Mr. -Coleson, in his English fashion, called “petrol” -could be cut off in case of a break in the line. -“Now,” decided Tom, “if I could get aboard -and turn that cock without my action being discovered, -the engine would stop as soon as it -sucked the compression tank dry—about a -tenth of a mile. Then they’d have to surrender -or be starved out, and we could signal for help, -and certainly pick them off. Maybe, with Cliff, -I could plan to get Nicky free first! I’m going -to try it!”</p> -<p>Tom made as little noise as he possibly could, -climbing out of his retreat; if he was discovered, -he must be shot!</p> -<p>But they were all busy listening to some plea -or argument from the lieutenant. Tom made -his dip into the water without apparently attracting -the least bit of notice.</p> -<p>He waded softly, as far as he could, then -with deft, quiet strokes, drew steadily, if -slowly, closer—closer—closer!</p> -<p>If only they all kept out of range below the -cockpit and cabin coaming! Evidently, in spite -of the danger to Nicky, none of the desperate -crew cared for a chance shot from the cutter. -They stayed low.</p> -<p>Tom reached the side of the almost inert -white hull; with only a slight drift taking her -gradually past the cutter, she was evidently -being permitted to lie still until the drift got -her out of the way of the cutter, or far enough -into open water so that she could be turned -and steered in a forward run.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_246">246</div> -<p>Tom, huddled close under the hull, holding -to the loop of the anchor rope which hung down, -listened. As he came on he noticed that the -cutter was edging up, and that Nicky had been -dragged off of the after deck. Tom believed -that he knew why. They had threatened to do -something to Nicky in order to stop the cutter -from edging up.</p> -<p>A shrill cry from the <i>Libertad</i>, right over -his head, made Tom almost let go of his rope; -then he realized that to him it did not sound -like Nicky’s voice! They were frightening the -lieutenant with a falsified noise, the cry of a -falsetto voice among the crew.</p> -<p>He could not see, clinging under the hull, -but he guessed that the ruse had succeeded; -he guessed, also; that, if ever, now was his moment -to act.</p> -<p><i>El Libertad</i> had drifted at least a boat’s-length -back from the river mouth; probably -most of her crew would be looking toward the -cutter which must, by the changed position, be -off her forward beam. Tom lifted his hand until -he could loosen it from the rope without letting -the cable slap the side, then dropped back -into the water, pulled alongside the hull toward -the stern, and there reached up and caught the -rail with one hand.</p> -<p>Would he be seen?</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_247">247</div> -<p>Slowly he drew the other hand to the rail. -Nothing happened. He suppled his muscles and -then with all their aid working in the slow, -upward pull, he drew his eyes level with the -deck.</p> -<p>They were all forward, intent on something—Nicky -or the cutter!</p> -<p>Tom pulled himself up higher, made an effort, -and by ill fortune, on the instant of success, -slipped on the wet rail, and plumped down -in a heap in the cockpit, aft.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_248">248</div> -<h2 id="c29">CHAPTER XXIX -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">ONE LAST HOPE!</span></span></h2> -<p>Nicky, held, as he was, between two pairs of -strong arms, with Mr. Coleson on one side of -him and Tew on the other, saw that Lieutenant -Sommerlee, with his two patrols in the cutter, -was “in a fix.” It was plainly to be seen that -the naval man did not dare to open fire, because -of the threat to Nicky; nor did he dare to approach.</p> -<p>The lieutenant had prolonged the parley, -making offers and trying, by threat, by pleading, -by persuasion, to induce the desperate crew -of <i>El Libertad</i> to see reason, to give themselves -up.</p> -<p>Nicky had somewhat loosened the rope -around his wrists, but he did not let this be -known because he knew that he could not make -his escape and he wanted to save his strength -for a surprise at a more advantageous time.</p> -<p>Tom, flopping his wet, naked body onto the -after deck and tumbling unceremoniously into -the cockpit, turned every man’s attention in -that direction.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_249">249</div> -<p>“So help me!” shouted Tew, “it’s a mermaid—no, -a merman—what’s come floppin’ aboard.” -He released one of Nicky’s arms and crawled -aft. Don Ortiga still kept Nicky covered with -his weapon, a menacing glow in his eyes. All -of the crew crouched because they did not want -to risk the chance of an unexpected shot from -the cutter. Crawling to where the engineer was -rocking the flywheel, getting the engine to start -again, Tew confronted Tom.</p> -<p>“What brought you aboard?” he demanded.</p> -<p>“I came to be with my chum!” declared Tom. -“If you’ll let me get Mr. Coleson’s jumper out -of the engine locker, I’ll thank you.” Tew -nodded and Tom secured the jumper with which -to cover his body.</p> -<p>Lieutenant Sommerlee saw the naked body -land on <i>El Libertad</i> and realized that it was -Tom’s, but did not see why the boy had deliberately -gone into danger.</p> -<p>However, as attention seemed to be distracted -from him he seized the opportunity to -make a sign to the man at the cutter’s engine -and that sailor, with careful hand, advanced his -throttle, so that the engine got more gas and -picked up. The cutter began to nose in to -closer quarters with the white boat.</p> -<p>At the same time Senor Ortiga drew a -weapon and pointed it toward Tom.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_250">250</div> -<p>“You come forward,” he commanded. “Tew—or -somebody—tie him up.”</p> -<p>“All right, if you think I can do any harm,” -said Tom quietly, “but take that handkerchief -out of Nicky’s mouth. What can he do by talking -that can hurt you? It’s simply cruelty to gag -him!”</p> -<p>“Take it out!” snapped Don Ortiga. “We -don’t intend to be cruel, but you fellows are interfering -with us and we are going to use you -to cover our escape—then we will see what to -do with you later.”</p> -<p>“All right,” agreed Tom, pretending to extend -his arms toward Tew.</p> -<p>“Keep away!” shouted Senor Ortiga to the -cutter.</p> -<p>But she had headway and was coming on. -Lieutenant Sommerlee had decided that he must -risk the possibility of harm to the boys—he -held that they would hesitate a long moment -before they would stain their hands with a -crime against life.</p> -<p>In that he was right, because the most hardened -criminals are really cowards and, unless -maddened or morally perverted, they will be -more afraid of death than of imprisonment, and -will weigh their chances of escape to the last -instant before actually committing a major -crime.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_251">251</div> -<p>Nicky, seeing that his chance might have -come, suddenly wrenched his shoulder out of -the grip of the sailor, at the same instant giving -the sailor a thrust with his hands, and ripping -them free of the rope. The sailor staggered, -being off balance in his crouching position; -he cannoned against Don Ortiga.</p> -<p>Tom, fastening the strap of the jumper he -had donned, saw Nicky’s move, and, being upright, -saw Lieutenant Sommerlee rise in the -cutter and take aim at one of the men.</p> -<p>With a catlike leap he sprang against Tew, -knocking him off his feet against the engineer; -the two men clutched one another for support.</p> -<p>Tom, his plan of action made sure, had seen -a wrench lying on the floor. For this he -reached; he got it in his hand and arose. He -turned toward the engine. The wrench rose -in the air and came down with all Tom’s force, -sidewise, toward the carbureter.</p> -<p>But Tew had divined his purpose and with -a superhuman effort caught the swinging arm -and by his superior strength diverted the blow -enough so that it clanged harmlessly against -the water-cooling outer casing of the motor.</p> -<p>Tom, seeing the futility of his blow, released -the wrench.</p> -<p>As he sprang back there came a report from -the cutter.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_252">252</div> -<p>But at the same instant Don Ortiga fired -back, crying “Down—flat—everybody!” They -all crouched.</p> -<p>“Jump—Nicky!” cried Tom. “Jump overboard.”</p> -<p>Nicky leaped onto the cushioned side seat -and tried to elude the gripping hands. Tom, -on his end of the cabin floor, made a similar -effort. The engine roared as contact was made, -and the <i>Libertad</i>, gathering headway, swung -her nose and made straight for the cutter.</p> -<p>Lieutenant Sommerlee and his two men were -firing, but while woodwork in the cabin window -sashes flew in splinters, they had to fire carefully -so as not to touch the two boys.</p> -<p>Tom and Nicky were struggling, each caught -by the legs. They strove manfully against the -heavy odds, but while the men dared not show -their heads, or expose their bodies to the fire -from the cutter, they could drag at the boys in -safety.</p> -<p>The uneven struggle lasted only a moment -and the boys were lying, pinioned, panting, helpless -on the cabin floor.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_253">253</div> -<p>The <i>Libertad</i>, veering suddenly, made a -sweeping curve, turning aside from the cutter. -In the position which the cutter was faced, coming -head-on, she had to pass astern of the -<i>Libertad</i> before her men could control the tiller -and turn her rudder.</p> -<p>Nicky and Tom, lying on the floor, could not -see; but they heard the foul words of the -<i>Libertad’s</i> crew and saw the flashes of their -weapons. Directed against the three in the cutter, -their superior fire was a menace that Lieutenant -Sommerlee could not overcome; before -he could, under the circumstances, get the cutter -around, <i>El Libertad</i> was racing, full speed, -for the channel that led outward. The cutter -came on, but the <i>Libertad</i> had the headway and -the advantage of her straight course while the -cutter had to swing in a wide circle before she -could take full advantage of her speed.</p> -<p>“You boys will be sorry for what you tried,” -grated Don Ortiga.</p> -<p>“We’re sorry now,” said Tom shortly. “We -are sorry that we tried to get away.”</p> -<p>“Yes,” panted Nicky, “we ought to have succeeded.”</p> -<p>He turned his head toward Tom, his lips -shaped words, but only Tom, reading his lips, -got the message.</p> -<p>“There’s only one hope,” Nicky’s lips formed, -“Cliff!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_254">254</div> -<h2 id="c30">CHAPTER XXX -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">CLIFF PLAYS HIS PART</span></span></h2> -<p>Cliff, on board the stranded <i>Senorita</i>, with -Sam and Jim and the naval patrol sailor, Jack, -knew nothing of the exciting events that had -just occurred.</p> -<p>Nor did he guess that an escaping white boat -full of desperate men was laying its course to -pass his station.</p> -<p>Tom’s effort to destroy the carbureter had -drawn the attention of the crew to the engineer’s -repeated assertions that the leaky old -carbureter was wasting gas, and that they ought -to be sure they had enough to run the channel -and escape.</p> -<p>“But where can we get any more?” said -Senor Ortiga.</p> -<p>“On the wrecked <i>Senorita</i>, of course,” -snapped his brother. “Her tanks are almost -full.”</p> -<p>“But with the cutter coming, how can we stop -for gas?” demanded Tew.</p> -<p>“Easy,” said a sailor, and revealed a plan.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_255">255</div> -<p>Of all that Cliff was ignorant. He, with Sam, -Jim and the sailor, had stood watch-and-watch -through the night and up into the day.</p> -<p>But nothing had altered the monotony.</p> -<p>But excitement was coming, and coming fast!</p> -<p>Nicky and Tom had been unceremoniously -roped and flung into the open cockpit aft of the -engine compartment. The cockpit was a low -step higher than the cabin flooring, but its -coaming and sides were so high that all the -two chums could see was the sky and, when -they ran close to an islet, the tops of the trees -where these grew near the water.</p> -<p>The cutter had been delayed for a moment -to pick up Mr. Neale and Brownie, who had -rowed with all their might and had sighted the -cutter in time to hail her and to be taken aboard. -Lieutenant Sommerlee wanted Brownie, a good -shot, and Mr. Neale would be able to play a -part if hand-to-hand fighting came about.</p> -<p>He sent Brownie forward and bade him scan -the water closely as they put full speed on to -chase the <i>Libertad</i>, long since passed out of -view beyond the first island of the archipelago.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_256">256</div> -<p>“I suspect they will try to do something to -delay us,” the lieutenant said. “They may drop -something in the channel, for there is one place -where it is very narrow and quite shallow, and -almost any large object—an anchor, sticking -up on the coral, would crush our bow planks at -the speed we’re making.”</p> -<p>Brownie kept a sharp watch, and soon discovered, -as they approached the narrowest and -shallower part of the channel, something dark -on the bottom.</p> -<p>“Cliff and Jack and the colored men will -stop them I hope,” said the commander as they -slowed and drew near to the submerged danger.</p> -<p>“They will, if they can do it,” Brownie said. -He dropped over the bow and discovered that -his commander had foreseen exactly what had -been done; the <i>Libertad’s</i> anchor had been cut -loose, and, with some spare engine parts, had -been flung from the white boat’s stern into the -channel with the hope that the cutter would -run onto them and be entirely disabled, before -they were noticed.</p> -<p>While the damage was averted, it took time -to lift the heavy metal under the water, and to -displace it.</p> -<p>Meanwhile Cliff sat on the slanting deck of -the <i>Senorita</i>, with Jack and Sam, while Jim -hung close above them on the top of the cabin, -his eyes fixed on the distances of the channel.</p> -<p>“What will you do if they come in daylight?” -Cliff looked up at him to ask.</p> -<p>“Shoot at the waterline and let the water in,” -said Jack.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_257">257</div> -<p>“But they’ll shoot back,” objected Cliff.</p> -<p>“That’s the chance we have to take,” Jack -answered.</p> -<p>“We might load up the signal cannon with -some slugs, or something,” suggested Jim. He -had begged Cliff’s pardon for his part in the -tying-up and other maltreatment aboard the -<i>Senorita</i>; Jim was not a bad being at heart; -he had been employed by Senor Ortiga and Mr. -Coleson and had only done their bidding, with -no animosity or cruelty in his actions. Cliff -had readily forgiven him. Jim, thus made -happy, was just as determined to help the side -of right and justice as he had been, before, to -earn his pay honestly, as he saw honesty and -his duty to his employers.</p> -<p>“The cannon wouldn’t carry the slugs any -distance,” said Sam.</p> -<p>“But they’d have to pass within three feet -of us,” said Jim.</p> -<p>He pointed overside to the channel, where the -deep water was at the side of the wrecked vessel. -“This boat ran onto coral because her tiller -rope broke, remember! There’s plenty of -water, and they can pass us, but they’ll have -to steer close.”</p> -<p>Cliff nodded.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_258">258</div> -<p>“If you fellows won’t think I’m bossy,” he -said, modestly, “and if Jack won’t be mad and -think I want to be the leader, I’d like to say -something.”</p> -<p>“Go ahead,” said Jack. “Always open to good -ideas, buddy!”</p> -<p>Cliff expounded a plan: his first idea was that -to fire at the vessel, if she ever came, would -bring about firing in response. If they could -in some way lure some of the hi-jackers onto -the <i>Senorita</i>, without their own numbers being -endangered, several of them might board -the other boat and destroy her steering gear, -or even capture her.</p> -<p>Jack liked the plan better than he did his -own.</p> -<p>“I’m for it,” he said. “If you can get them -to stop—if they come out at all, and if they get -past the cutter, which I don’t see how they -can!”</p> -<p>“Jim, they know, is on board,” Cliff said. -“My plan would be for Sam, and you, Jack, -and me, to hide behind the cabin where they -couldn’t see us, and have Jim hail them, if they -come close enough and slow up enough to let -him jump aboard—and they might not. But if -they didn’t, Jim could be up forward on the -cabin, and keep their attention on that end of -the boat, and when they come abreast maybe -one or more of us could run around the after -end of the cabin and jump aboard.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_259">259</div> -<p>“Pretty wild chance,” commented Sam. “But -it’s better than risking our necks standing up -to be shot at—we’d have at least the chance -of surprising them, and if we got aboard——”</p> -<p>“There’s a rocket!” cried Jack. “And another—” -They all scrambled onto the cabin and -stared toward the distant coast. Three puffs -of smoke hung in the air, low over the trees.</p> -<p>“Nicky’s signal—or the cutter’s,” Cliff cried. -“Be ready for—for anything!”</p> -<p>The wait was tedious. Their nerves were -taunt and their voices when they spoke briefly -were rather shrill and shaky. They did not -know what was happening or what might happen. -Would they be called on, really, to try to -stop a band of hi-jackers? It seemed very easy -when they discussed it in calm security; but -with those signals shredding into nothing in the -air, the reality and seriousness of their position -came home to them all.</p> -<p>The time seemed endless, but finally Jim, -alone on the cabin roof, whispered down, without -moving enough to disclose the fact to his -oncoming adversaries, “here she comes—<i>El -Libertad</i>—and a-hummin’.”</p> -<p>“How many on her? Who can you see?” -asked Cliff, tensely.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_260">260</div> -<p>The white craft came ahead at her full speed. -After a brief wait Jim answered Cliff. “I see -my old boss, Senor Ortiga,” he said, “and -Marse Coleson! And some other men—why, -it’s the men who used to be in business with -my boss, only they turned hi-jackers. Yes, sar, -there’s Don Ortiga, the brother—and Tew—and -all o’ them, the very ones we sent you to -with that message in the can.”</p> -<p>“I know,” said Cliff. “Never mind, now—hail -them, aren’t they near enough?” Being -under the cabin wall for concealment he was -not able to see.</p> -<p>“Now they are,” said Jim softly and sent a -hail across the water.</p> -<p>“Take me off, stop and take me off—Master -Coleson, it’s Jim!” he shouted. There was no -answer. The white boat, as he reported in low -tones, between hails, was slowing up, and coming -closer, losing way—stopping. Jim, to carry -out his part, sprang down from the cabin.</p> -<p>Cliff, Sam and Jack crouched; they were no -longer able to tell what was happening, but -they knew that Jim would call out “Bless you -for saving me!” if he got aboard and then they -could act quickly, knowing that the boat would -be opposite their end of the cabin.</p> -<p>Instead, another voice came, loud and clear.</p> -<p>“We’ll see about taking you off; we’re stopping! -We need gas.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_261">261</div> -<p>“How’d you get gas?” asked Jim, from the -deck rail. “You ain’t got no way to pump it -from one tank to the other!”</p> -<p>“Yes we have,” called the voice. Cliff thought -it sounded like Tew. “We got a hose rigged to -our bilge pump, and we’ll pump with that.”</p> -<p>The white boat scraped along the <i>Senorita’s</i> -tilted side, and men swarmed over onto her -deck; the crouching three heard their boots -scrabble, thud and clump about. They were forward, -and Jim had run along the forward end -of the craft to continue his talk. The after end -of the <i>Senorita</i> was, therefore, beyond the after -rail of the shorter boat.</p> -<p>Cliff inched his way around the aft side of -the cabin until he could peer forward, taking -a big chance, but feeling that he must see.</p> -<p>Jack, and Sam, creeping close behind him, -waited in suspense.</p> -<p>Cliff took a swift peep and ducked back.</p> -<p>“They’re stretching a hose to the <i>Senorita’s</i> -forward tank,” he breathed. “There are some -men on the <i>Senorita</i>, and—let me look again!”</p> -<p>He protruded his head again, and then he -thought he heard a low whistle.</p> -<p>Cliff turned, looking down toward the stern -of the white vessel.</p> -<p>There, trussed up like two turkeys, in the -cockpit of the <i>Libertad</i>, lay Tom and Nicky, the -latter grinning a little sheepishly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_262">262</div> -<p>Cliff turned to his companions. His voice -came in swift, whispered words. Jack nodded.</p> -<p>“We’ll do it!” he answered, hoarsely. “Inch -as close as you can and we’ll be behind you. -You take the cockpit, and free your chums. I’ll -race forward, shooting, call Jim to help, and -try to prevent the others from getting off our -wreck. Sam, you shoot—in the air, in the water—anywhere; -but shoot, load again and shoot—holler -and try to scare them if you can’t hit -them!”</p> -<p>“All right,” said Sam. Cliff inched along the -deck. He was in plain view, now, from forward -on the <i>Senorita</i>, or from the <i>Libertad</i>.</p> -<p>But the trio in the cabin of the latter vessel -were deep in conversation, and the men were -busy with the hose.</p> -<p>“Start your bilge pump!” called a sailor. Tew, -on the white boat, bent and engaged a clutch; -there was a heavy grind of gearing and the -slow pulsation of a pump.</p> -<p>“Now!” whispered Cliff, and dashed for the -rail.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_263">263</div> -<p>“Look out—we’re caught!” yelled a man, on -guard atop the <i>Senorita’s</i> cabin, watching for the -cutter. He fired at Cliff, but Sam, reaching -a black arm over the cabin studding, yanked -his leg, threw him off balance, and spoiled -aim. Shooting, yelling, Jack charged up -narrow deck, Sam at his heels.</p> -<p>Cliff leaped and landed beside Nicky!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_264">264</div> -<h2 id="c31">CHAPTER XXXI -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">NICKY IS A HERO!</span></span></h2> -<p>Things happened so fast and so thick that -no one could have told a story of all that went -on. Cliff, landing on all fours, beside Nicky, -was up on his knees in an instant, tugging his -knife from his pocket, ripping open its blade.</p> -<p>He slashed at Nicky’s rope, and loosened it; -again he slashed and then, at a warning cry -from Tom, he looked over his shoulder, but too -late.</p> -<p>Nicky, frantically tugging to loosen the cut -rope, saw Tew coming but was as helpless as -Tom.</p> -<p>Cliff dropped his knife and tried to get up, -to turn, to ward off the blow. Tew, his face -working in a rage, his whole, muscular frame -behind his stout arm, drove a fist at Cliff’s -head. Cliff instinctively threw up his arm. The -fist crashed against it, flung him by its force -against the cockpit thwart, and Cliff felt sick -and faint, struggled to rise, saw the world turn -black, big and little pinwheels whirl before his -eyes, and sank in a heap.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_265">265</div> -<p>Tew turned, and raced back to his engine. -Nicky, his whole being burning with a fire of -fury, tore at his rope and began to loosen it.</p> -<p>On the <i>Senorita</i>, the man atop her cabin was -firing at Sam and Jack but they, under the -shelter of the cabin, were crouched low, scampering -up the deck, loading their pistols.</p> -<p>The men forward with the hose, taken by surprise, -without their weapons in their hands, -scattered, several leaping into the water and -making for the islet close at hand.</p> -<p>Jim had already leaped into the forward -cabin of the <i>Libertad</i>, and with his pistol aimed -toward the deck of the vessel just above, was -warning off those who wanted to leap down. -They stopped, not daring to leap.</p> -<p>Nicky got his arms free, threw the rope impatiently -off and bent over Cliff. His chum -lay inert, stunned by the shock as his head had -struck the wood in his fall.</p> -<p>Nicky turned, to look for the knife, to free -Tom.</p> -<p>On the cabin top the man on watch gave over -firing and shouted a hoarse warning!</p> -<p>“The cutter!” he roared, “she’s coming!”</p> -<p>Full speed up the channel came Lieutenant -Sommerlee’s craft, with Brownie, the lieutenant -and the two sailors forward, Mr. Neale at the -tiller, aft.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_266">266</div> -<p>The men on the <i>Senorita</i> leaped to the water, -Jack and Sam coming from concealment, -standing erect, ordering them to surrender and -firing at their heads as they scrambled for the -islet and cover on the farther shore.</p> -<p>In the cabin of the <i>Libertad</i> the two men, -Mr. Coleson and Don Ortiga, called to Senor -Ortiga, who was on the deck of the <i>Senorita</i>, -and at the same time a rifle ball, from the man -on the cabin, aimed quickly at Jim, cut into -the flesh of the colored man’s arm and he -dropped his weapon.</p> -<p>Without an instant’s hesitation, Senor Ortiga -leaped upon him, landed in the cabin, bent -double, knocking Jim aside, and began to reach -for the wheel, as Tew, leaping for the spark -lever, advanced the spark, and at the same time -threw the gear lever out of mesh with the bilge -pump and into the gear with the engine propeller -shaft.</p> -<p>As the engine took the spark and began to -roar, Mr. Coleson, his face white, leaped past -Tew to get to the cabin windows and thus to -jump out into the channel and take his chance -on swimming clear.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_267">267</div> -<p>Nicky made a lunge past Tew, to stop Mr. -Coleson, but his foot caught on the hose, still -connected loosely to the bilge pump, and tore -it free. There came the gurgle of the gas still -in it, as it flowed over the floor in a trickling, -spreading pool.</p> -<p>Nicky missed his catch, and saw Mr. Coleson -leap free and plunge overside into the channel.</p> -<p>From the cutter came hails and shots.</p> -<p>On the <i>Senorita</i> Sam and Jack had captured -one man, and were firing at the islet.</p> -<p>Nicky felt himself caught by the nape of the -neck as he tried to recover his balance. With -his face white with rage, Don Ortiga brought -Nicky upright and sent him, with the full force -of his strong arms, toward the forward cabin. -Then, as Nicky sprawled in a heap, Don Ortiga -turned on his brother, just arising to face him.</p> -<p>“This is your fault!” he grated. “If you -hadn’t come in and left your boat to be discovered——”</p> -<p>“Be still!” cried his brother. “Where is the -gold—we must get it away—some of it!”</p> -<p>“It is safe!” growled Don Ortiga.</p> -<p>“Then let’s go away from this spot!”</p> -<p>“I shall go. You shall stay. Here and now -we settle an old score,” cried Don Ortiga. -Nicky saw him unsheathe a knife, and at the -same instant Senor Ortiga, seeing his danger, -leaped to grip the arm holding the knife.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_268">268</div> -<p>Nicky, rushing past Tew, who was steering -the craft, its momentum increasing with every -turn of the propeller, tried to trip Don Ortiga, -but the other man leaped aside, thrust at him -with a foot, and at that instant Senor Ortiga -caught the wrist of his hand holding the knife -and a battle ensued that made Nicky gasp.</p> -<p>Amid the shouts and the shots from the cutter, -amid the cries of men being caught or being -fired at in the water, with the craft making -steady way under Tew’s guidance, those two -brothers strove and strained, fighting wordlessly -for the possession of that knife.</p> -<p>Nicky was held spellbound for an instant.</p> -<p>Then, with a cruel trick, Don Ortiga lifted -a knee and caught the brother he hated in a -vital spot and Senor Ortiga, with a groan, relaxed -his hold on the knife.</p> -<p>Don Ortiga stepped back, his face a mask of -hate and fury.</p> -<p>His brother began to recover, for the blow -had not been delivered with enough force to -be permanently damaging.</p> -<p>“And now, as I said, we settle old scores!” -hissed Don Ortiga.</p> -<p>With a hand that shook he extracted a cigarette -from a case in his pocket, staring in meditation -on his evil plan while his brother, groaning -and white, gained his balance.</p> -<p>Don Ortiga scraped a match roughly against -its box, lit his cigarette and then, flicking his -match carelessly, loosed it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_269">269</div> -<p>Nicky cried out shrilly.</p> -<p>“The gas!” yelled Nicky. “Get away! The -gas!”</p> -<p>Senor Ortiga sensed the danger, and so did -his brother. Both acted; the Don leaped back -to the cockpit and began to scramble to its -side, his brother trying to crawl out of the -window.</p> -<p>It all happened in a fraction of a second—the -match was in the air, the men were escaping, -Nicky was leaping back toward Tew for -he saw what was coming.</p> -<p>Tew, as the match landed, yelled in terror -and began to climb from the cabin to the forward -deck and there leaped into the water.</p> -<p>As he did so there was a flash, a roar and a -seething, boiling pool of flaming gasoline -covered the cabin floor around the engine!</p> -<p>Nicky, whose first instinctive impulse had -been self-preservation, instantly thought of his -chums in the cockpit—of Tom, bound—of Cliff, -perhaps still insensible.</p> -<p>The men were being rounded up, by shouting -navy men and those who helped. But of this, -of the effort of Mr. Coleson to escape, of his -capture, of the capture of the Don and of his -brother, Nicky knew nothing.</p> -<p>His whole mind was fixed on one purpose.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_270">270</div> -<p>He must get through a lake of seething flame -to his chums!</p> -<p>The cockpit was a bare few inches above the -floor level of the engine compartment, and so -the gasoline had not spread; but the flame was -licking the sides of the cabin, flaring through -the windows, and, fanned by the speed of the -vessel’s movement, bellied out aft over the -boys.</p> -<p>Nicky was almost thrown off his feet as the -<i>Libertad</i> thrust her nose, unguided by human -hand, against the side of the coral, and with -a jolt stopped.</p> -<p>Nicky gained his equilibrium and leaped for -the foredeck; there he climbed swiftly atop the -low cabin and began to run along its length.</p> -<p>As he ran he shouted wildly to Lieutenant -Sommerlee and Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>They heard him and the cutter swung her -nose toward the beached vessel with its cabin -blazing.</p> -<p>Nicky saw flames leap up through the windows -and lick at the roof and blow over it in -the light breeze. It was hot to his feet, still -he went on, a handkerchief over his face, -crouching low as he ran.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_271">271</div> -<p>He stopped, at the after end, for a sheet of -flame was bellying out. But it subsided, and -taking what might be his last chance, he leaped -onto all-fours beside Tom.</p> -<p>Cliff was moaning, stirring. Nicky shouted -again to those in the cutter and Mr. Neale -leaned far over the bow, to reach the white -stern at the very first instant.</p> -<p>With seething flame behind him, threatening -to belch out over him at any instant, with the -cockpit edge beginning to burst into flame, -Nicky found Cliff’s knife and sawed Tom’s -bonds. Then, cutting down the ropes between -his legs so he could stand and work, Nicky let -Tom help his own final escape while he tugged -and worked to get Cliff in his arms.</p> -<p>“Be still,” urged Nicky. “It’s all right!”</p> -<p>Sam and Jack had seen the fire occur; with -a common impulse they had leaped into the -<i>Senorita’s</i> cabin to get the patent fire extinguishers -always kept in an engine room. With -these they leaped back to the deck and alongside -the flaming cabin as Nicky crossed it.</p> -<p>Turning the extinguishers upside down to -break their containers and allow the chemicals -to fuse and mix and create pressure and a -spouting flow of watery gas, they turned the -short nozzles onto the cockpit and cabin. There -was the roar and hiss of chemicals meeting their -flaring enemy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_272">272</div> -<p>There came a great puff of smoke and flame, -but Nicky, just in time, on the edge of the -cockpit, with Cliff in his arms, leaped!</p> -<p>He struck the water, and began to swim, -holding Cliff’s head up!</p> -<p>Tom, freeing himself at the same time, -sprang into the water and paddled to his chums.</p> -<p>The cutter came alongside and they were -drawn from the water.</p> -<p>And then, with a violent roar as the fire -found the gas line and fresh fuel, the fire blazed -up again.</p> -<p>“The tank—the aft tank!” cried Jim, leaping -from the cabin floor where he had, with his hurt -arm, been trying to get the <i>Libertad’s</i> extinguisher -into play. “The tank! Get away!”</p> -<p>He leaped into the water and swam off, and -at the same time, with a glorious feeling that -some High Power had held back the end until -all were safely away, Nicky, in the cutter, saw -<i>El Libertad’s</i> stern burst into a mass of fire, -sparks and rending wooden splinters.</p> -<p>Her stern, literally blown to bits, sank, -blazing and hissing, into the channel, leaving -her still blazing with her nose on the coral.</p> -<p>There was nothing to do about it.</p> -<p>“But the treasure—” gasped Cliff, who had -come to himself somewhat, with a good sized -bruise on his temple. “It will all be melted.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_273">273</div> -<p>“Let it melt!” cried Nicky. “As long as you -and Tom are safe!”</p> -<p>And, with no further word than a tight grip -of Cliff’s hand, Nicky watched wordlessly the -blazing pyre of all their seeking.</p> -<p>“The gold won’t burn,” Lieutenant Sommerlee -consoled the boys.</p> -<p>“And there is more in the coral ‘safe,’” said -Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>They laid off all that day, watched the embers -sink down to the water’s edge, saw the last -spark die, and then plumbed the wreckage for -the treasure, hoping that in a state of molten -yellow blocks it would be brought up. But no -golden bars were there, nor could a single glint -of melted metal be discovered, though Sam, -Jim and Brownie dived with a will and almost -tore the charred insides out of the <i>Libertad</i>.</p> -<p>“Where can it be?” mused Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>They questioned their captives, but all were -silent. With a fierce grimace of hate Don Ortiga -told them they would never find it.</p> -<p>But Nicky held on firmly to hope!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_274">274</div> -<h2 id="c32">CHAPTER XXXII -<br /><span class="small"><span class="small">HOW VOODOO BROUGHT SUCCESS</span></span></h2> -<p>Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, looking with their -lordly heads over the wide expanse of a sunlit -sea, discerned a white sail. That was no -unusual sight to them; but this particular sail -seemed, in some way, to be more important than -the rest.</p> -<p>It was. Under its wide, unreefed expanse, -three youths, a colored and a white man -watched eagerly for the closer signs of the -island’s harbor at Kingston.</p> -<p>In time they landed, and, after a while, they -had secured a conveyance and were whirling -out through the lazy streets, noticing with delight -the familiar sights, the indolent colored -people on the streets and in the shops, the -family “flitting” or moving, its colored woman -heading the procession with the dining room -table balanced on her head, its legs sticking -aloft, the family stuff piled within its upturned -top; while the children bore their respective -loads and the man of the family, as usual, -stalked along behind—carrying nothing!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_275">275</div> -<p>“It’s great to see the cactus again!” grinned -Nicky, noting the great plants by the wayside -when they left the city and rose into higher -ground, seeing cactus plants many feet high, -sometimes making a veritable forest with their -close-set ranks.</p> -<p>In time Mr. Gray, Cliff’s father, greeted them -on the old plantation. They had cabled from -Florida before sailing back in Sam’s <i>Treasure -Belle</i>.</p> -<p>Many were the greetings exchanged, and long -were the tales that had to be told. Nelse and -the hi-jackers were in prison.</p> -<p>“Mr. Coleson was let go free,” Nicky explained. -“I guess the naval patrol did not want -to get into any trouble with the British—or -the authorities in Jamaica.”</p> -<p>“It would have brought about complications,” -said Mr. Neale. “I understand that Mr. Coleson -won’t return to Jamaica.”</p> -<p>“He cabled me,” said Mr. Gray. “He asked -me if I wanted to buy this plantation.”</p> -<p>“Will you?” Cliff asked his father, the -scholar who wrote many books about ancient -civilizations.</p> -<p>“No, sar,” broke in Sam, smiling his bright -smile. “But Sam will.”</p> -<p>“So that’s how you will spend your share -of the treasure?” asked Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_276">276</div> -<p>“Part of it,” agreed Sam.</p> -<p>“But you haven’t yet told me how you discovered -it,” Mr. Gray said. “You stopped at -the point where you failed to bring it up from -the burned vessel.”</p> -<p>“Well,” said Nicky, “we ‘worked’ a little -voodoo, sort of, didn’t we, fellows?” Tom and -Cliff nodded.</p> -<p>“You see, if the treasure wasn’t in the burned -boat somebody must have hidden it,” Cliff took -up the explanation. “Nicky suggested that we -make an experiment. He thought that as long -as Don Ortiga declared, up and down, he knew -nothing about it, and Senor Ortiga and Mr. -Coleson said the same, it might be that somebody -else had hidden it during the night. Mr. -Coleson, who was sorry for what he had done, -tried to help us, and we believed his statement.”</p> -<p>“Yes,” said Tom. “So Nicky got Sam and -Jim, the colored boys, and made them tell all -they knew, or guessed, about voodoo.”</p> -<p>“He certainly was clever, sar,” broke in Sam. -“He found out that we had heard of people -‘divining’ from tricks, and that night we had -a voodoo affair on the after deck of the -<i>Senorita</i>.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_277">277</div> -<p>“Yes,” Cliff took up the tale, “Nicky got -Lieutenant Sommerlee to get the sailors and -Tew together on the deck, then he and Sam -and Jim put on a regular show, making believe -they were going to find out who knew about it. -They had a smoky fire, and took bits of hair -off the heads of the sailors and burned them. -Tew acted as though he was afraid of it all—he -was superstitious. So he refused to give -us his hair and then Sam, here, pretended to -slip up behind him and snip some off with a -knife. And that made Tew nervous, but what -we really burned was some of the other sailors’ -hair—only Tew didn’t know that. Then Sam -leaped up and pointed to Tew, and said: ‘You -know, sar,’ and Tew broke down and showed -by his face that he did.</p> -<p>“And do you know where it was?” demanded -Nicky, unable to repress himself any longer. -“He had waited till they were all asleep, the -night before they were caught, and he had -dropped the bars, one at a time, into a pool -beside the boat. We found them there.</p> -<p>“And Lieutenant Sommerlee took us around -to Miami, and we stayed there several days, -unloaded the gold bars, had the bank assay and -value them, and deposited—oh, a heap for -everybody!”</p> -<p>“And of course the hi-jackers were sent to -prison,” Tom added.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_278">278</div> -<p>“Has anyone been found belonging to the -old Governor’s family who should rightfully -share in our find?” asked Mr. Neale.</p> -<p>“Yes,” said Mr. Gray. “An old, widowed -lady, and she will be very glad of the money -for she is poor.”</p> -<p>The boys were glad for her, and unselfishly -voted to add a little from their plenty to help -the lady. Later she refused to take more than -a fair part, for that, she said, would keep her -in easy circumstances for the rest of her life.</p> -<p>While the boys were adding details of their -adventure and discussing what they might do -with some of the gold, and Mr. Neale and Mr. -Gray were comparing notes on the gold figures -and silver placques of a looted Inca city which -had been secured later from the treasure key, -a knock came at the door and Ma’am Sib, the -old voodoo woman, came in with a goggle-eyed -boy of dark skin and about ten years old.</p> -<p>“Who sen for Ma’am Sib?” she demanded in -her high, querulous tones. “Did you, white -sirs?”</p> -<p>“We did,” Nicky stated. “We, the three -members of a secret order as powerful as any -in the world.”</p> -<p>She looked at him sharply to see if he was -joking or trying to make her feel ridiculous. -Oddly enough, Nicky was really serious.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_279">279</div> -<p>“This won’t be a lecture, Ma’am Sib,” Cliff -added. “But we want to show you something -about voodoo that even you won’t guess about. -If you can tell us how it’s done, we’ll be glad.”</p> -<p>She looked at him curiously.</p> -<p>Nicky, very serious, nodded to Tom who rose -and walked slowly over to the window.</p> -<p>“It’s just a roundabout way to do her a -favor,” Mr. Neale whispered to the mystified -father Cliff was winking at. “There’s no harm.”</p> -<p>Tom was unostentatiously moving aside the -curtain on a small chest of shelves in which -various relics were stored.</p> -<p>Cliff came close to Ma’am Sib.</p> -<p>“Ever see anything like this before?” he -asked. He laid on the table before the shriveled -old crone a small, rude figure, cut out of -stone, very much discolored, with its legs -broken off, and having a hideous face and arms -that stuck down without any hands to finish -them off.</p> -<p>The old woman stared.</p> -<p>“Why—why—let me see! I know that—I -seem to remember——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_280">280</div> -<p>“Oh, no,” laughed Nicky. “Don’t strain your -memory, Ma’am Sib. That is one of the ancient -Gods of an old Central American tribe. We -got hold of it—well, never mind,” he did not -wish to say they had found it in the despatch -box with treasure, recovered later from the -locker of the burned <i>Libertad</i>, and that they -supposed the Spanish Inquisitors had taken it -from the Indians. “It’s a powerful god.”</p> -<p>“I—I seem to see—” began the crone, rolling -her eyes toward the ceiling.</p> -<p>“Oh, no, you’re not as old as this god,” Cliff -told her. “But it has strange powers and we -are going to show them to you.” She shivered -and drew back but Nicky smiled gaily at her.</p> -<p>“It won’t hurt you,” he said. “Now you -stand it up in front of you—prop it against this -book! Now, make a circle in the air in front -of it, and then draw a circle around it with your -index finger on your left hand, and then say—‘Abacca-abbaca-brab!’ -three times and see -what happens—it won’t hurt.”</p> -<p>The woman looked at Sam. He was grinning, -but he nodded for her to do it. She hesitated -and then, taking some bits of queer stuff from -a bag she had, muttering some charm to protect -herself from evil, she made the circles and muttered -the words of Nicky’s fol-de-rol.</p> -<p>There came a thump, and a small bar of gold -fell onto the table. Tom had flung it adroitly, -of course, but she fixed her eyes and stared as -if she would pop her eyes out.</p> -<p>“How—how—” she stammered.</p> -<p>“Want to know how it was done?” demanded -Nicky.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_281">281</div> -<p>“I’ll give you this gold if you tell me,” she -said.</p> -<p>“I see,” began Tom.</p> -<p>“I know,” said Nicky.</p> -<p>“I’ll tell—” began Cliff. But suddenly all -three saw that Mr. Neale, whom they had long -before taught their secret signs, was making a -sign which they all interpreted to mean, “Seeing -All, I see nothing; Knowing All, I know -nothing; Telling All, I tell nothing,” the oath of -the Mystery Boys. Nicky grinned and nodded.</p> -<p>“This is it,” he said. “Once you made three -clay figures of us and stuck their heads in the -sun; they brought us good luck so we brought -this god to give you some of it.”</p> -<p>And that was all she ever found out.</p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">THE END</span></p> -<h3 id="c33">Mystery and Adventure Series for Boys</h3> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/p3.jpg" alt="The Mystery of Lake Retreat" width="309" height="427" /> -</div> -<p>Here’s a Series of thrilling, exciting -mystery stories by some of the best-known -authors for Boys in this Country. Each -volume is a separate story in itself; independent -of any other volume in the Series.</p> -<p class="center">Handsome Cloth Binding <span class="hst"><i>Attractive Colored Jackets</i></span> -<br />PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH -<br />POSTAGE 10c. EXTRA</p> -<dl class="blist"><dt>TOM BLAKE’S MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURE. By Milton Richards</dt> -<dt>BARRY DARE AND THE MYSTERIOUS BOX. By Gardner Hunting</dt> -<dt>THE BLACK SKIMMER. By Philip Hart</dt> -<dt>WRECK OF THE DAUNTLESS. By Philip Hart</dt> -<dt>THE VALDMERE MYSTERY. By Milton Richards</dt> -<dt>THE FLIGHT OF THE MYSTIC OWLS. By Philip Hart</dt> -<dt>THE SECRET OF THE ARMOR ROOM. By Capwell Wyckoff</dt> -<dt>ADVENTURES OF A PATRIOT. By Philip Hart</dt> -<dt>DONALD PRICE’S VICTORY. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D.</dt> -<dt>IN THE CAMP OF THE BLACK RIDER. By Capwell Wyckoff</dt> -<dt>THE MYSTERY AT LAKE RETREAT. By Capwell Wyckoff</dt> -<dt>THE STRANGE TEEPEE. By Philip Hart</dt> -<dt>THE MYSTERY OF EAGLE LAKE. By L. P. Wyman, Ph.D.</dt></dl> -<p class="center"><i>Thrills and Adventure Aplenty!</i></p> -<h3 id="c34">The Mystery Boys Series</h3> -<p class="center">By VAN POWELL</p> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/p4.jpg" alt="The Mystery Boys and the Inca Gold" width="310" height="433" /> -</div> -<p>Here are five great, red-blooded stories for Boys. -Each volume is a story in itself and entirely independent -of any other volume in the Series. If you like mystery -and adventure in large doses, read THE MYSTERY -BOYS SERIES.</p> -<p class="center">Handsome Cloth Binding <span class="hst"><i>Attractive Colored Jackets</i></span> -<br />PRICE, 50 CENTS EACH -<br />POSTAGE 10c. 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