The Hilltop Boys on Lost Island by Cyril Burleigh

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Keeping on, now in sight of the water, and then having to leave it on
account of the thickness of the jungle, they pushed on till they saw the
yacht lying at anchor.

Descending to the shore at the risk of a bad fall, they hailed the vessel,
and presently some one put out in a boat and came toward them.

Bucephalus and old Ben Bowline were in the boat, the old sailor hailing
them when he neared the shore.

"Well, mateys, did you think you'd walk out to the yacht?" he asked. "The
old man was afraid you'd fallen in, and been gobbled up by sharks. Some of
the boys found the boat adrift, and brought it in. Don't you know how to
tie up a boat yet? I'll show you some knots if you don't know them."

"We know all the knots you can show us, Ben, and perhaps a good many
more," grunted Percival. "The boat was tied all right, but----"

"Wha' was yo' goin' to say, sah?" asked Bucephalus.

"Some one untied it," said Percival. "Who brought it back, Buck?"

"Ah donno, sah, Ah didn' saw dem, othahwise Ah could identify de pussons.
Have yo' any ideah as to deir pussonality you'se'f, sah?"

"I have an idea, but ideas can't hang a man. Anyhow, I don't want it to
get abroad that Jack Sheldon and I do not know how to tie up a boat or tie
any ordinary kind of knot. The whole Academy would laugh at us if that
notion got around."

"Ah reckon de 'cademy knows all abo't yo' an' Mistah Jack a'ready an' wha'
yo' done befo' dis," said the negro with a broad grin. "Ah reckon, too,
dat de story was a fabrication puah an' simple. Fact am, if Ah done tol' a
story lak dat folks would call it a lie witho't mincin' wo'ds."

"That's about what it was," said Percival, as he and Jack got into the
boat, and Bucephalus and Ben Bowline started to row them to the yacht.

"I had a comical adventure with a boat myself once, mateys, if you care to
hear it," said old Ben as he bent leisurely upon his oar, "but maybe the
young gentleman won't believe it."

"Go ahead, Ben, let's have it," spoke up Jack. "Never mind whether we
believe it or not. It will amuse us at any rate."

"A sailor man is a mo' pribileged pusson dan one what resides on sho',
Ah've noticed," observed Bucephalus. "Folks lak to listen to dem an' dey
don' call it lyin', whereas an' on de oder han', ef Ah indulge in any
picturesque adaptations o' de trufe dey say Ah'm lyin' right away."

"Never mind that," chuckled Percival. "There is no hurry and Ben wants to
spin his yarn, so you might as well let him. Take it easy. There is no
hurry. Go ahead, Ben."

The old sailor was a good deal mollified by Dick's present attitude, and
taking an easy stroke with his oar, he began his more or less veracious
narrative.

"It was down on the coast o' South Ameriky that this here thing happened,
but I never had it put in the log 'cause the old man wasn't along an'
nothin' went into it that he didn't see hisself; but it's just as true,
I'm giving you my word----"

"As the one about the whale!" roared Dick. "Go on, Ben."

"We was sailin' along the coast o' South Ameriky," Ben went on, "when one
day as I was cleanin' out one o' the boats to have ready when we went
ashore, which we judged would be in a little while, there come up a sudden
squall an' I was chucked clean overboard, boat and all.

"Davits, falls, blocks and everything went, and me too, striking the water
kerplump. Then it got so dark that I couldn't see nothin', and where I was
I had no idee, no more'n nothin', 'cause I couldn't see a thing and there
was such a noise all around that I couldn't hear a thing. Then it come on
to rain for further orders and I was just drenched to the skin and had all
I could do to keep the boat bailed out.

"I couldn't see nor hear anything of the old hooker and I just drifted
without knowin' where I was goin' and not carin' much nuther, bein' wet to
the hide an' tired out with bailin' an' just ready to flop down an' quit.

"Well, I drifted an' drifted without knowin' where I was driftin', till
finally I seen a shore at some distance off an' took the oars an' pulled
for it, havin' somethin' to think of now.

"It was still a-rainin', but I didn't care for that now, but just pulled
for shore till it got dark again and stopped rainin', which was a comfort.
I pulled on till it was too dark to see anythin', and then I come to a
stake stickin' out of the water and hitched my boat to it and lay in the
bottom an' went right to sleep.

"As long as I was tethered to the stake or bush or whatever it was I
reckoned I was all right, an' so I slep' on without feelin' a bit alarmed,
knowin' that I wouldn't drift no more an' in the mornin' I could go on an'
reach the shore.

"When I woke up in the mornin' I was mightily astonished to find myself
lyin' on the ground at the foot of a big tree and to find the boat hangin'
to the topmost limb. Ye see, the rainwater had run off an' left the ground
bare again, and as the boat slipped down to the perpendickalar I was
dropped out an' went from branch to branch till----"

Percival let out a hearty laugh and fairly shook himself, saying at last
when he could find breath:

"Baron Munchausen with variations. I've heard that story before, Ben, but
the rain was snow and the twig was a church steeple. Still, it's a good
story and will bear a bit of a change."

"H'm! I knowed you'd say I was lyin'!" grunted Ben, pulling heartily on
his oar and cutting his story short.

Dick put the bag of gold and the letters Jack had picked up in his trunk
under his berth and locked it, saying nothing at that time to any one, but
resolving to go again with Jack, and bring away the chest if they could
manage it.

He meant to tell the doctor about their wonderful find when they had all
of it safely in their possession, and to have the letters translated so as
to learn definitely all about the wrecked vessel and its mission, but just
now he thought it wise to say nothing and Jack agreed with him.

Not all of the boys were on the yacht when the two young adventurers
returned, and nothing was said about their having to hail the yacht, but
as the others began to arrive, some time later, Percival watched them in
turn to see if he could distinguish guilty looks on the faces of any.

When Herring and Merritt came on board he suddenly stepped out from behind
a funnel, which had hidden him so that the two bullies did not see him
till just as he faced them.

Both of them showed surprise, and Percival said to himself:

"They are the ones, just as I supposed. When anything happens to me or
Jack and especially to Jack, look out for Pete Herring."

The two bullies passed him as quickly as they could, and had nothing to
say, being evidently much astonished at seeing him on the yacht, but
fearing to say anything lest they should betray themselves.

Passing Percival they came suddenly upon Jack, not having time to prepare
for a meeting with him, and both of them flushed crimson.

"Oh, then it was you who found the boat afloat and brought it back?" Jack
said carelessly. "Very kind of you, I am sure."

"What boat, what are you talking about?" growled Herring, turning redder
than ever. "I don't know nothing about no boats."

"No, I suppose not," laughed Jack carelessly, and then going on to join
Percival, who said:

"Herring and Merritt are the fellows."

"Yes, so I supposed. They don't know anything about it. They never know
anything about things that happen to me, and generally you cannot prove it
on them."

"We can't now, but I am satisfied that they were in it just the same."

"Well, we got out of it all right, so there is no need of accusing them.
The next time we go there we will be on the watch."

"I suppose they saw the boat, and then came up to see what we were doing,
saw the rope and knew we were down in the hole, and closed it upon us."

"They might have drawn up the rope, but they don't think of everything,
fellows like that."

"No, they do not, and that's how you can catch them."

Later Dick and Jack saw the captain and Dr. Wise in the cabin, and told
about the wrecked schooner, as she probably was, and of the visit to the
cabin under water, and the finding of the gold.

Dick exhibited the bag Jack had given him, and showed the letters found on
the floor, the captain being able to read them.

"There were money and supplies shipped to the Mexican rebel leader," he
said, "and probably the vessel may have been chased, and put in among the
islands of the Caribbean to get away, and was wrecked here. There is quite
a lot of money in this bag, about a thousand dollars, and if there are
many of the bags and they are all as full as this, you will have a pretty
good sum to dispose of."

"The money belongs to Jack," said Percival. "He discovered the wreck and
it should be his. He needs the money, and I do not."

"You worked with me," put in Jack, "and if I have any of it you should
have a share. Does it belong to us, however?"

"Of course it does," said Captain Storms. "You found it and that's the law
of treasure trove. It isn't likely that the Mexican rebels or their agents
will put in a claim for it, and it is yours all right."

"But we have not got the rest of it," said Jack, "and the hold might be
flooded before we go there again. It is a wonder that the water has kept
out as long as it has."

"The iron doors have done a lot to keep it out; they are probably
watertight. That cabin you were in was like a strong room, and maybe the
skipper had it built that way a purpose. You don't know what sort of crew
you may get when you are on a lay of this sort, and I guess he wasn't
taking chances, having a lot of money on board."

"That may account for it, but it made me feel a little creepy being in
there, and knowing that the water was just above me, and perhaps on the
other side of those doors."

"I don't wonder. They say divers get afraid when they see all sorts of
fishes swimming around them under water. I'd like to go to the place with
you. I've had some queer adventures, but nothing so queer as that."

"I should be very glad to have you, sir, and if you want a share of the
money in the chest----"

"No, that's all right. It belongs to you and your friend and the little
fellow, too, I suppose."

"Why, of course, they must have their share of it."

"I don't think Jesse W. will take it, and, anyhow, he was not with us when
we went into the cabin, and I certainly don't want it," said Percival. "It
all belongs to you, Jack."

"Not if I don't want to take it," Jack replied with a laugh. "How are you
going to make me take it, Dick?"

"I'm sure I don't know, but it ought to be yours, just the same. I'd like
to get the rest of it, and suppose we go after it to-morrow?"

"That will be all right."

"And I'll go along to help you," said the captain. "There's no getting out
of here right away, and we may as well do something. I can't get any
answer to my wireless messages yet, and maybe folks think they're only a
joke, and don't pay any attention."

"You have tried to get New York?" asked Jack.

"Yes, and Havana and any place I can, but I can't do anything. I don't
know if I am tuned up with those fellows or whether they think it is only
a joke or what. I've tried American and International, wired S.O.S. and
all the different distress signals, but could not seem to make
connection."

"Why don't you try Mr. Smith in New York? He would be interested on
account of his boy. Try a plain commercial message. That ought to go. You
can at least try it."

"That is very sensible advice," said the doctor. "I suppose you have been
sending out distress signals, and the wireless people, if they have caught
you up simply regard it as a hoax."

"Well, I'll try again, and do as the young man suggests. In the meantime
I'd like to visit this wreck. I never was in a ship's cabin under water
when it was safe, and I'd like to try it."

"We will go to-morrow," said Jack.

CHAPTER IX

THE LAST VISIT TO THE WRECK

The next day, as agreed upon, they went to the old wreck on the rocks to
get more of the treasure in the hold, and to satisfy the captain's
curiosity about the place.

It had gotten around among the boys that Jack and Dick had found a sunken
treasure, and there were stories of fabulous wealth afloat in a short
time, all the boys, with a few exceptions, wishing to visit the place and
gaze upon the buried gold with their own eyes.

"We cannot have all those boys visiting the place and getting in our way,"
sputtered Percival when it was suggested by Harry that he and one or two
others go with the party.

"But we would not be in the way," said young Dickson, "and we might be of
assistance."

"How did you find it out anyhow?" asked Percival. "We did not say anything
about it."

"I don't know, but, at any rate, it is all around, and everybody knows
about it. I heard Herring talking about it. He seems to think it is a big
hoax, and that you did not find anything."

"Well, we did, all the same, but we don't want a lot of fellows with us,
and, besides, it is dangerous. Never mind, Hal. You are in with us on the
most of our adventures, but I don't think you had better go this time. We
have promised to take young Jesse W. with us, as he was there the first
time, but not the second, and he has never seen the cabin with its strange
lights, the swash of water outside, the chest of gold and all that."

"H'm! you make me want to go with you all the more," said Harry, half
laughing, half impatient. "You should not appeal to a boy's imagination
like that, Dick. I want to go with you now the worst way."

"Well, I suppose you do, but you'll have to be satisfied with what I tell
you about it. I'll write a composition about it, and you will think you
are reading Jules Verne and the Arabian Nights all over again."

"You be smothered!" sputtered Harry, half cross and half good natured. "As
if that would satisfy me."

"It will have to, Hal," laughed Percival. "Never mind, I'll give you a
ten-dollar gold piece to hang on your watch chain as a charm. You can say
it was one that Captain Kidd had."

"Yes, and they were not made at that time, two hundred years ago," said
Harry in disgust. "Well, never mind. Billy Manners and I will find a
buried treasure, and never let you have a smell of it"

"All right, Harry," and Dick went away to get Jack, young Smith and the
captain, and start on their visit to the point.

The captain had a rope and an axe, and Jack took his pocket flash along
with him, having found it very useful on the second visit to the submerged
vessel.

They climbed up the rocks, and found the place where they had gone down,
but now the opening was so small, more rocks having fallen in, apparently,
since their last visit, that they doubted if they could get down.

"I am afraid we shall have to give it up," said Jack in some
disappointment. "The last time Dick and I were here we had to squeeze
through to get out, but now it seems worse than before."

"Let me try, Jack," said young Smith eagerly. "I am only a little fellow,
and can get through where big fellows like you and Dick could not. Don't
you remember how you put me through the little window at the Academy, that
time of the rebellion in the school? Well, you can use me now in the same
way. I want to see that place down there. You know I did not see it the
last time, and I want to see it very much. Try, Jack. I am not so big, and
can squeeze through almost anywhere."

Jack found a place where it would be quite possible for Jesse W. to get
down, but not for himself or Percival, and, of course, out of the question
for the captain, who was nearly as big as both of the latter combined, and
he said:

"Here is a place, J.W., which, I think, will fit. It does seem too bad
that you should not see the place, having been with us on our first trip,
and we will give you a chance."

"I can bring away a bagful of the gold, anyhow, Jack, and perhaps go for
another one after that. I should like to see the place, anyhow."

"All right, you shall do so, old man, but don't load yourself down with
gold. That has drowned many a man before now. Get the rope, Dick. We will
lower him into the place. Take a light, Jesse W., for you will need it.
You know just how to find everything?"

"Yes, I go into the hole in the bow of the vessel which we saw, follow
along till I come to a door, and then go along a passage till I come to
another door and there I am, right in the cabin with a light overhead,
shining through the water."

"That's it. Don't stay too long, and don't load yourself down with bags of
gold. I'd rather not have it than have you take any risks."

"But you don't think there is any danger, Jack?" asked the younger boy, as
they prepared to lower him.

"No, if I did I would not let you go."

The boy got down safely enough, and called to Jack and Dick when he had
reached the bottom that he was all right, and then threw off the rope,
which had been put around him under his arms.

He called to them from time to time, his voice growing fainter every time
he called, and at last they could not hear him at all.

"I hope it is all right," murmured Jack when the boy had been gone a few
minutes. "I thought it would be when I let him go, but now----"

"It is all right," said the captain. "He is a plucky little fellow, and
there isn't anything that can happen to him. The rocks hold the vessel as
tight as a vise and there is no chance of her slipping back into the water
or anything of that sort."

"Well, I hope so, but somehow I begin to feel nervous, and wish that I had
not let him go down."

"Young Smith is all right, Jack," said Percival reassuringly. "He is not
afraid of anything, and really I don't believe there is anything to be
afraid of. There was not when we went down."

"No, but we are a couple of big boys, and he is only a midget. If anything
happened to him I should never forgive--listen, and see if you can hear
him coming."

"No, I cannot, but he has had hardly time to get there yet. Give him a
chance. He will want to see all there is, boy-like. Let him have a good
long look at the wonders of the place. He has never seen anything like it
before, and never will again."

Jack was very anxious in spite of Dick's cheering words, and the minutes
seemed like hours till at last, holding the rope in his hand he felt a tug
at, and then heard:

"Hello! Are you up there?"

"Yes!" shouted Jack. "Are you all right?"

"Sure I am. Wait till I get the rope under my arms. I've got a bag of the
stuff, as I said I would, but I don't think----"

"You don't think what?" asked Jack, thinking that he detected something in
the tone of the boy's voice that indicated danger of some sort.

"Nothing, wait till I get the rope fast."

"Very good. Take your time."

"All right," the boy called in a few moments. "I have got it. Haul away!"

They saw the light of the electric torch flashing upon them, as the boy
came nearer and nearer to them, and at last drew him out of the hole, Jack
noticing that he seemed quite pale, and then suddenly noticing that he was
wet up to his knees.

"Hello! what is this, Jesse W., how do you happen to be so wet?" he asked.
"There was no water in----"

"Yes, some," answered the boy quietly. "It had worked in under the door or
at the side somewhere. Maybe they had settled. Anyhow, I got the bag and
here it----" and then the boy sank limp and helpless into Jack's arms and
fainted away.

"By George! he was a plucky little fellow and no mistake!" exclaimed Jack.
"He said that he would get the bag and he did, and standing in water up to
his knees, and not knowing at what time he might have the whole Caribbean
sea tumbling in upon him. Get some water, Dick!"

The boy presently came around, however, and said faintly, but with a half
laugh:

"I told you I'd bring it, didn't I, Jack? Well, I did, and I hope it will
be enough to keep you at the Academy for the rest of the course. If it
isn't, my father----"

"You are a brave young fellow, Jesse W., but you don't go back for
another, I tell you that!"

"You bet he does not!" echoed Percival. "So the water had made its way in,
had it? That's the last we will see of the place, then."

"Yes, it had come in somewhere, at the bottom, I guess. Still, it was not
coming in all the time nor fast, and I wanted to see the place, and I had
promised to fetch a bag of gold to Jack and----"

"And you wanted to keep your word even if you were drowned," sputtered
Percival. "Much you could have kept it in that case. You are a young
brick, J.W., but don't you do anything like that again."

"Well, I won't, if you say so, Dick," answered the little fellow.

"That's a brave little chap," said the captain. "He said he'd do a thing,
and he did it. There's lots who wouldn't."

They returned to the boat, and the captain told Percival to row toward the
reefs and as close to the stump of a mast as it was safe to go, as he
wanted to observe the wreck again.

Nearing the wreck they noticed that the water was swirling and eddying
very violently at a point where they judged the cabin to be, and the
captain said, after looking at the boiling waters for a short time:

"The water is making its way in and will run forward as far as its level.
She'll break up with all that water in her, and I wouldn't be surprised to
see her go any time."

In fact as they lay there watching the boiling waters over the sunken
vessel, they saw them become more greatly agitated and Percival pulled
away to a safer distance as the agitation increased.

Then of a sudden the stump of a mast sank into the water, there was a
still greater agitation and a mass of broken timbers shot up into the air
and then fell back, and went floating away on the tide.

"That's about the last of her," said Captain Storms, "or, at any rate, you
won't go into the cabin again. You've made your last visit to the wreck,
and if any one ever gets that money he'll have to dive for it. You can be
thankful that you went there when you did."

"So I am," said Jack. "Come on, Dick, pull away from here."

CHAPTER X

A THRILLING ENCOUNTER

Returning to the yacht first for the captain to get aboard, Jack and
Percival then took the boat and went to the outer bay on a little
exploring trip of their own, the rest not caring to make any more
explorations at that time.

The boys guided the boat along shore not too near the rocks, both keeping
watch for any nook which might prove of interest or afford an opportunity
for an adventure of any sort.

There was a short, keen-bladed hatchet to cut their way through the
thicket if necessary when they went ashore, and Percival had a rifle with
which to shoot any game they might come across, both being placed on one
of the forward thwarts.

Jack was provided with his pocket flashlight in case they went into dark
places, and Dick had a revolver in his pocket, declaring that this might
be of as much use as the torch in case they came to close quarters with an
enemy, no matter of what sort.

As they were rowing at a lazy rate, keeping up a slow, even stroke, Jack,
who was keeping a lookout on the shore and steering at the same time,
suddenly said, looking toward a mass of rocks which they had just come
abreast:

"There looks to be a sort of cave in there, Dick. At any rate, there is a
hole which seems to run in to some little distance. Suppose we explore it
and see how far we can go."

"I'm in for anything that you are, Jack," replied Dick.

"All right, pull ahead, not too fast, and we'll have a look at the place."

"Pull ahead it is, Jack."

Jack was in the bow and he now steered the boat toward the opening in the
rocks, which was quite big enough for them to enter, and they went on at a
slow, steady gait, presently gliding into the water cave, for such it
seemed, with plenty of room above and on both sides.

Jack turned his head now and then to see how they were progressing and if
there were any obstructions in the way, and presently said:

"A little slower, Dick. It is getting darker in here now and I do not want
to run into anything."

"Slower it is, Jack. It would not be any fun to stave a hole in the bottom
of the boat. It doesn't belong to us."

"That would be reason enough for not daring, with some persons," said Jack
with a low laugh. "They will take care of their own things, but are
careless with those belonging to others."

"The woods are full of such, Jack."

Jack rowed with one hand, drawing in his other oar so that it might not
strike the rocks in case the passage narrowed, and then got out his pocket
flash and shot a strong ray ahead of him.

"Good gracious! what's that?" suddenly exclaimed Percival in accents of
terror. "Back water, Jack, for heaven's sake!"

"What is it, Dick?" asked Jack, turning his head and sending the light
directly in front of him. "I don't see anything."

"It's gone, Jack, or the light does not strike it now, but it was
something awful. It fairly gave me the creeps to look at it."

"But what was it, Dick?" and Jack slowly turned the light this way and
that so as to get a sight at the object which had so terrified Percival.

"I don't know. It had two awful eyes and a beak and a lot of legs, or
arms, or whatever they were, and a fat body which--there it is, Jack!"

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