But, instead of clearing away, the storm increased in violence, and by nine o"clock in the morning the wind was blowing close to a gale. Both the captain and the mate were on deck, and the former advised the boys and the other pa.s.sengers to remain below. Two of the Englishmen were very seasick and found all manner of fault because of the storm.
"I"d never have come on this treasure hunt had I known I was to be so sick!" groaned one.
"What b.l.o.o.d.y luck!" said the other sick man. "All the pirates" gold in the world is not worth it!"
"Stow it!" cried the man named Geswick. "You know you weren"t to mention what we were after."
"n.o.body can hear us, in this storm," replied the first man who had spoken.
"Those boys might hear," put in the fellow named Pardell.
"Oh, well, they are only boys. Besides, they"d not dare to follow us up to Cave Island--"
"Hush, I tell you!" cried Geswick, savagely. "Do learn to keep your tongue quiet." And then the men continued to talk in whispers.
Dave had been pa.s.sing the staterooms of the Englishmen during this conversation and he could not help but hear what was said. When he rejoined his chums he told them of the talk.
"They must be on the hunt after pirates" gold," said Phil. "Well, they are not the first to do that kind of searching. Party after party has sailed down here for the same purpose."
"Yes, and each party has been unsuccessful, so far as I know,"
answered Dave.
"Perhaps they have some extra-good clew," suggested Roger, trying to forget his seasickness.
"Perhaps," returned Dave. "Well, if they can find any pirates" gold on any of these islands they are welcome to it, so far as I am concerned.
All I want to get hold of are the Carwith jewels."
CHAPTER XIX-THE MISSING SHIP
"How much longer do you think this storm will last?"
It was Dave who asked this question, of Captain Sanders, when the latter came down to get a bite for breakfast. To get a regular meal, with the vessel pitching and tossing wildly, was out of the question.
"I don"t know, Dave," was the grave answer. "I am hoping the wind will die down by sunset. But the storm may last several days."
"Are we in any danger?" questioned Phil.
"There is always danger during a storm," answered the master of the _Golden Eagle_. "But I hope to weather this blow without much trouble."
"Can we be of any a.s.sistance?" went on our hero.
"No, boys. There is nothing you can do but keep yourselves from falling overboard. How is Roger?"
"A little better."
"I heard that two of those Englishmen are pretty sick," went on Captain Sanders, with a faint smile.
"They are."
"It"s queer to me that they sailed with us. It"s not such a pleasant voyage."
"I overheard a little of their talk," answered Dave, and, knowing he could trust the captain, he related what had been said.
"Pirates" gold, eh?" muttered the master of the ship. "Most of those yarns are fairy-stories. I"ve known expedition after expedition to be fitted out, to search for treasures said to be hidden by the old-time buccaneers, but I never saw a man yet who got even a smell of a treasure. Where were they going for it, Dave?"
"I don"t know. I think one of them mentioned Cave Island. Is there such a place?"
"There may be, although I never heard of it. Many of the islands in this part of the globe, being of volcanic origin, contain caves."
"They must expect to get to Cave Island from Barbados."
"More than likely," answered the captain, and then hurried on deck again.
The storm continued for the remainder of the day, but by nightfall the wind commenced to die down, and by midnight the clouds had pa.s.sed and the stars were shining brightly. In the morning the big sun came out of the sea to the east like a globe of fire.
"Now we are going to have some warm weather," remarked Billy Dill, and the old tar was right. As the sun mounted in the heavens it grew positively hot, until the boys had to go to their staterooms and don thinner clothing. With the departure of the storm, Roger"s seasickness left him, but the two Englishmen remained slightly unwell for some time longer.
"Phew! how warm it is!" remarked Phil. "And just think of it!-up at home they are having snow and ice!"
With the pa.s.sing of the storm, the boys settled down as before. They saw but little of the Englishmen, especially of the pair who were sick. But one day something happened which came close to causing a crisis.
The boys were seated on the rear deck, talking over matters in general, when a strong puff of wind caused a sheet of paper to blow from somewhere ahead towards Dave. He reached out and caught the sheet just as it was about to go overboard.
"h.e.l.lo, what"s this?" he cried, as he looked the sheet over. "Must be some sort of a chart."
"It is," answered Roger, gazing at the paper. "See, here is a spot marked Barbados, and another marked Cave Island, a little to the eastward."
"Why, look what it says, up here!" cried Phil. ""_Map of the Don Amorandos Treasure, buried in 1715_." Say, do you think those Englishmen--"
"Hi, you! Give me that map!" bawled a voice from near by, and with a very red face, the Englishman named Geswick bore down on the boys.
"How dare you look at this?" he went on, as he s.n.a.t.c.hed the sheet out of their hands and folded it up.
"We wanted to see what it was and whom it belonged to," answered Dave, as calmly as he could.
"You had no right to look at it," stormed Andrew Geswick. "That is private property."
"Then why did you let it fall in our hands?" asked Phil.
"If it hadn"t been for Dave, it would have gone overboard," put in Roger.
"Humph!" The man fell back a little. "Well, I am thankful for that.
But you boys had no right to look at it," he grumbled.
"Why, it"s only a chart, isn"t it?" asked the senator"s son, curiously.