"No; the treasure, if it is found, belongs to Mr. Stanhope"s estate absolutely--that is, to Mrs. Stanhope, Dora and the Lanings. The fact that Silas Merrick had an interest in the ship at the time of the stealing of the wealth cuts no figure at all."
"What is Sid Merrick doing?" asked Tom.
"He has been working in secret, looking for Bahama Jack and the Spaniard, Doranez. I found out that he had one talk with Bahama Jack, but the sailor did not like Merrick and told him very little. Then I started to find Doranez--he is the man I have been after during the past week. I found him and he promised to work with me if I would pay him for his trouble. But yesterday he sent me a note, stating he had changed his mind and was going to Spain, to look up some of his relatives. So he is probably out of it from now on."
"Maybe he is going to look for the treasure on his own account,"
suggested Randolph Rover.
"He cannot do that very well, for he has little or no money."
"And what do you propose to do, father--go on a hunt for the treasure?"
asked d.i.c.k.
"Yes. From what papers I have on hand and the information gotten from Bahama Jack I think we stand a fair chance of locating that island and of finding the cave where the treasure is secreted. Of course, there is a good deal of guess-work about it, but I am convinced the thing is worth trying."
"And how are you going at it?" came from Tom.
"A friend of mine in Philadelphia, a Mr. Dale, has a steam yacht which he is not going to use this summer, as he is going to Europe. I have determined to charter that yacht and go on a cruise among the West Indies. It will be a fine outing for the summer, even if we don"t locate Treasure Isle, as Mr. Stanhope called the spot."
"And you"ll take us along?" asked Tom, quickly.
"If you want to go."
"If we want to go? Does a duck want to swim, or a dog want to scratch fleas? Of course we want to go."
"Such a trip will suit me to a T," said Sam. "And I hope with all my heart we locate that treasure," he added earnestly.
"Of course you"ll take this Bahama Jack along," said d.i.c.k.
"Yes, and I have promised him a big reward if the treasure is recovered," answered his father.
"Who else will be in the party?"
At this question Anderson Rover"s eyes began to sparkle.
"I was going to keep it a secret, but perhaps I had better tell you.
The steam yacht is a large one and can readily accommodate fifteen or twenty pa.s.sengers. I have decided to ask Mrs. Stanhope to go and bring Dora, and will also ask the Lanings. Then they will know exactly what is being done to recover the treasure. In addition, if you want to take some of your chums with you, as you did on that houseboat trip----"
"Hurrah, just the thing!" burst out Sam. "Let us take Fred Garrison by all means."
"Yes, and Songbird Powell and Hans Mueller," added Tom. "They will help to make things lively."
"Can they go?" questioned d.i.c.k.
"We can telegraph and find out," answered Tom. "I"ll telegraph this afternoon," he added, always ready to do things on the rush. "We ought to get an answer to-night or to-morrow morning."
"When do you want to start on the trip?" asked d.i.c.k.
"As soon as the party can be made up, and the steam yacht can be gotten in readiness. I have already instructed the captain to provision her for the trip."
"Then she has a captain and a crew?"
"Oh, yes, she carries ten men, including an engineer and his a.s.sistant."
"That is certainly fine!" said d.i.c.k, and he smiled as he thought of what a nice trip they would have with Dora Stanhope on board. d.i.c.k was not "moonstruck," but he had a manly regard for Dora that did him credit.
After that Anderson Rover gave them many more details regarding the treasure, and his talks with Bahama Jack and of what he hoped to accomplish. He had a fair idea of the lat.i.tude and longitude of Treasure Isle, which, he had been told, was of coral formation, covered with palms and shaped somewhat like a horseshoe.
"Bahama Jack says the treasure cave is about In the center of the inner curve of the island, but that you cannot sail close to it on account of the numerous reefs. You have to land on the island in a small boat, and that is why very few ships stop there. Natives of that vicinity occasionally go there for fruit and for birds, but there is no regular village on the island."
"If the island is shaped like a horseshoe we ought not to have great difficulty in locating it," said d.i.c.k.
"The trouble is, you cannot see the formation very well from the sea, d.i.c.k. If one were in a balloon it would be different. You must remember that there are many hundreds of islands scattered in that part of our globe."
"Let"s take a balloon along," suggested Tom. "Then we could go up and take a look around."
"You couldn"t look far enough, Tom, and if you tried to sail in the balloon you"d probably drop into the ocean and be drowned. No, we"ll have to do our searching from the steam yacht. But I have several maps and drawings which I think will aid us."
"The things Cuffer and Sh.e.l.ley were after?" cried d.i.c.k.
"Perhaps--if they are in league with Sid Merrick. Merrick, of course, would like to get all the information possible."
"I"d like to look at the maps and drawings."
"So would I," added Sam and Tom. The idea of going on a treasure hunt filled them with great interest.
"The maps and drawings I have are only copies," went on Anderson Rover.
"The originals are in Mrs. Stanhope"s possession." Mr. Rover turned to his brother. "You have them, Randolph. Will you please get them."
"I have them?" queried Randolph Rover, in perplexity. As my old readers know, he was at times somewhat absent-minded.
"Why, yes, don"t you remember my giving them to you? They were in a large yellow envelope. I think you placed them away with your traction company bonds."
"Why--er--so I did," stammered Randolph Rover. "But I--er--I don"t quite remember what I did with them." He scratched his head. "I"ll go and get my tin box."
He left the sitting room, and after being gone fully ten minutes returned with a flat tin box, in which he kept some papers of value.
"The envelope doesn"t seem to be here," he said, turning over the contents of the box.
"Don"t you remember it?" asked his brother, anxiously.
"Oh, yes, I remember it very well now. I saw it only a couple of days before I went to Carwell with my bonds."
"Did you take that tin box to Carwell?" asked Tom.
"Yes."
"Was the envelope in it then?"