[Illustration: HE THREW THE HATCHET WITH ALL THE FORCE HE COULD
COMMAND.]




                            THE ROVER BOYS
                              SHIPWRECKED

                                  OR

                         _A THRILLING HUNT FOR
                            PIRATES’ GOLD_


                                  BY
                          ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
                         (Edward Stratemeyer)

           AUTHOR OF “THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL,” “THE ROVER
              BOYS IN THE AIR,” “THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY
                 HALL,” “THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES,” ETC.


                             _ILLUSTRATED_


                               NEW YORK
                           GROSSET & DUNLAP
                              PUBLISHERS

                 Made in the United States of America




BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD

(Edward Stratemeyer)


THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES

  THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
  THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
  THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
  THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
  THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
  THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
  THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
  THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
  THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
  THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
  THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
  THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR


THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES

  THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
  THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
  THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
  THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
  THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
  THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE
  THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED


THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES

  THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
  THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
  THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
  THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL
  CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
  THE MYSTERY AT PUTNAM HALL

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated._

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York


                          Copyright, 1924, by
                          EDWARD STRATEMEYER


                     _The Rover Boys Shipwrecked_




                             INTRODUCTION


MY DEAR BOYS: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the
eighth volume in a line issued under the general title, “The Second
Rover Boys Series for Young Americans.”

As related in the First Series, this line of books was started with
the publication of “The Rover Boys at School,” in which I introduced
my readers to Dick, Tom and Sam Rover and their friends and relatives.
This First Series, consisting of twenty volumes, told of what happened
to these three Rover boys while attending Putnam Hall Military Academy,
Brill College, and while on outings in this country and abroad. When
the boys became married Dick Rover was blessed with a son and a
daughter, as was also his brother Sam, while Tom became the parent of a
lively pair of twin boys.

From their homes in New York City the four younger Rovers went to
boarding school, as related in the first volume of the Second Series,
entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall.” From that school the scene was
shifted to “Snowshoe Island” and then to doings while “Under Canvas.”
Then the boys went “On a Hunt,” and, later, to “The Land of Luck.”
Then came exciting days at “Big Horn Ranch” and at “Big Bear Lake,”
where we last met them. In the present volume the scene is shifted to
the Atlantic Ocean. The boys were shipwrecked and had many thrilling
adventures.

As many of my readers know, the sale of this series of books is now
well past the _three million_ mark. To me, this seems truly wonderful.
My only hope is that the reading of these books will do all of the boys
and girls good.

Affectionately and sincerely yours,

                                                    EDWARD STRATEMEYER.




                       CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                       PAGE
      I. AN ACCIDENT ON THE ROAD                   1
     II. SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THE ROVERS           15
    III. A THANKSGIVING REUNION                   29
     IV. AT OLD NANTUCKET                         40
      V. LOST IN THE FOG                          54
     VI. ABOARD THE SCHOONER                      65
    VII. A NIGHT OF ANXIETY                       76
   VIII. PLANNING TO ESCAPE                       87
     IX. ANOTHER PLOT                             98
      X. IRA SMALL’S REVELATIONS                 108
     XI. THE ESCAPE                              119
    XII. ON THE MOTOR BOAT AGAIN                 130
   XIII. A CRASH IN THE DARK                     140
    XIV. ALONE ON THE OCEAN                      150
     XV. FACING STARVATION                       160
    XVI. ABOARD THE STEAM YACHT                  169
   XVII. ANIMALS, BIRDS AND SNAKES               179
  XVIII. FRED’S LUCKY THROW                      188
    XIX. AN ENCOUNTER WITH A TIGER               198
     XX. THE DOOMED SHIP                         206
    XXI. ASHORE AT LAST                          214
   XXII. ABOUT A PIRATES’ TREASURE               223
  XXIII. A TIME OF ANXIETY                       232
   XXIV. IN THE JUNGLE                           241
    XXV. THE THIRTEEN ROCKS                      251
   XXVI. THIEVES IN CAMP                         261
  XXVII. AT THE WALL OF ROCKS                    270
 XXVIII. A SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE                  279
   XXIX. IN THE CIRCLE OF THIRTEEN ROCKS         288
    XXX. WHAT THE BOX CONTAINED――CONCLUSION      298




                            THE ROVER BOYS
                              SHIPWRECKED




                               CHAPTER I

                        AN ACCIDENT ON THE ROAD


“Battalion, attention!”

The command came from Major Jack Rover. The scene was the campus of
Colby Hall Military Academy, and drawn up in front of the youthful
major were the three companies of cadets. It was a clear day in
November and the boys made an inspiring appearance in their well
fitting uniforms. Every rifle was in the pink of condition, as were
also the drums, fifes and bugles of the musicians.

“Present arms!” was the next command, and as the students held their
rifles before them, Captain Mapes Dale, the military instructor, passed
in front of one company after another. He was followed by Colonel Colby
and Professor Grawson.

“The cadets certainly make a fine showing,” remarked Colonel Colby,
after the brief inspection had come to an end.

“They do indeed, Colonel,” answered Captain Dale. “They have never
turned out better. We’ll have to congratulate Major Rover. He certainly
keeps the boys well in hand.”

The owner of the military academy and his aids came to the front once
more, and then Captain Dale nodded to the young major. This was a
signal that the youthful commander could now proceed with the usual
morning routine.

“Shoulder arms! Forward march!” came the quick, clear command.

Then the drums struck up, followed by the lively pipings of the fifes,
and the three companies of cadets moved forward across the campus and
around the school buildings, finally coming to a halt in front of the
entrance to the mess hall. There the cadets broke ranks, placed away
their guns, swords and other equipments, and piled into the mess hall,
where all were speedily seated at the numerous dining tables.

“That ends parading for some time to come,” remarked Captain Fred
Rover, of Company C.

“And I’m not sorry,” returned Andy Rover, his cousin.

“Hurrah for the Thanksgiving holidays!” burst out Randy, Andy’s twin.
“Won’t we have a dandy time at home?”

“And don’t forget that invitation from Ralph Mason,” came from Jack.

“Hoopla! Me for a life on the ocean wave!” burst out Andy. “Ralph says
that motor boat is a dandy.”

“If only the weather stays clear!” said Fred, anxiously.

“Young gentlemen, a little less noise, please,” came from Professor
Snopper Duke, who chanced to be at the head of the table at which the
four Rovers were seated.

“Yes, sir. Sorry I spoke, sir,” mumbled Andy, and slyly put his tongue
in one cheek, at which his twin brother and his cousins grinned.

All of the cadets were in high spirits, and with good reason――school
was to close that afternoon for the Thanksgiving holidays. Nearly
all of the cadets were going either home or elsewhere, so that only
a handful would be left at the academy for ten days. Usually the
Thanksgiving recess was shorter, but Colonel Colby wished to take
advantage of the holidays by having some necessary repairs done to the
mess hall ceiling, which was in danger of coming down.

Before Jack Rover had been elected major of the school battalion, Ralph
Mason had occupied that important position. Now Ralph had left Colby
Hall for good, but he still retained his affection for many of the
lads there, and had invited the Rover boys and two of their chums, Gif
Garrison and Dick Powell, to accompany him on a motor-boat trip from
Woods Hole to Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod――the proposed
outing, of course, being contingent upon the condition of the weather.

“I only hope the folks at home won’t object to our taking that
motor-boat trip,” remarked Fred, after the meal was over and the boys
were preparing to go to their classrooms.

“I don’t see how they can object,” came from Randy. “It will be
perfectly safe.”

“Of course it will be safe,” returned his twin brother. “There won’t a
thing happen to us.”

“Let’s hope so, anyway,” said Jack. “We’ve had adventure enough.
Gracious, just look at what happened at Big Horn Ranch and at Big Bear
Lake! After all those doings, I’m willing to sit down and take it easy.”

“No sitting down for me,” broke in Andy, and in high spirits he dropped
his school books and turned a cartwheel in the corridor.

“Andy Rover, what do you mean by such conduct in the school building?”
came in a cold, clear-cut voice, and the boys saw Professor Duke
standing in a doorway close behind them.

“Oh, excuse me, sir. I didn’t know any one was looking,” stammered the
fun-loving Rover.

“After this reserve your gymnastic exercises for the gymnasium,” was
the professor’s sarcastic command as he turned away.

“My, but he’s a real sociable fellow!” was Randy’s whispered comment.

“And we thought he had turned over a new leaf,” murmured Jack.

“It must be bred in the bone,” was the way Fred expressed himself.

The gong was now sounding, and all of the cadets hurried to their
various classrooms, and were soon deep in their studies or recitations.
Although they liked fun, Andy and Randy especially, the Rovers knew
that they must make good records at the Academy, or otherwise there
would be trouble when they faced their fathers and mothers.

“Well, anyway, the agony will be over by half-past two this afternoon,”
remarked Andy to his brother, “and by four-thirty we’ll be on our way
home.”

“Do you suppose the girls will be on hand?” questioned Randy.

“Yes. Jack said Martha telephoned in early this morning. And she said
she might have a surprise.”

“A surprise?” came from Fred. “How is that?”

“Martha wouldn’t say, because, she said, the whole thing might fall
through.”

“It’s a wonder Jack didn’t make her tell! What do you suppose those
girls have up their sleeve?”

“Search me! You can’t make Martha open her mouth when she wants to
keep silent. She’s not one of the kind of girls to tell everything she
knows.”

“Did she say Mary was in on the secret?” questioned Fred. Mary was his
sister, and the two girls attended Clearwater Hall, a school for girls
in that vicinity.

“Didn’t say a word about Mary,” put in Jack, thus appealed to.

“Maybe she didn’t say anything about Ruth Stevenson, either?” came from
Andy, slyly, and his manner was such that the young major found himself
blushing in spite of himself.

“Well, I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what’s doing,” sighed
Randy.

The last day in school before a holiday is usually not so strictly
observed as some others. The cadets, however, had to go through their
usual recitations, interrupted only by the time taken for lunch. Then
at half-past two the dismissal bell rang, and the cadets rushed hither
and thither in their anxiety to pack and get away.

“Look at the autos outside, will you?” came from Gif Garrison, who had
stopped to speak to Jack about the proposed trip with Ralph Mason.
“I’ll say some fellows are in luck.”

“Yes, indeed!” came from Dick Powell, usually called Spouter by his
chums. “I’d rather ride in an auto ten times over than in a stuffy
train. Just think of rolling along through the country with all the
foliage at its very best. Think of the trees tipped with crimson and
gold, the mountainsides looking like――――”

“There, Spouter, that will do for the present,” interrupted Jack,
good-naturedly. “You can spout all you please about the scenery when we
are off on our trip.”

“Oh, pshaw! you fellows have no eye for beauty,” grumbled Spouter, in
disgust. “I don’t believe you know whether the tree leaves are red,
yellow, green or pink.”

“Hi there, Jack! Come here!” came in a yell from Fred, who had run out
on the campus. “Here’s a surprise!”

Jack broke away from a number of his friends and ran down to where Fred
was standing. The two Rovers were quickly joined by Andy and Randy.

“Why, it’s dad!” came from Andy. “Dad and Uncle Sam!”

“And they’ve got the two autos with them!” answered his twin, dancing
up and down in excitement.

“Say, was that the secret Martha was keeping?” demanded Jack, rushing
up and shaking his two uncles by the hand. And then, before they could
answer, he went on: “Where’s my dad? Why didn’t he come?”

“Your father had to remain in New York,” answered Tom Rover. “Somebody
has to run the business, you know. We can’t all go holidaying,” and his
eyes twinkled, showing that he was just as full of fun as he had been
when at the age of his twin sons.

“Yes, we telephoned to Martha. But we told her to keep it a secret
because we were afraid that something might hold us back,” explained
Sam Rover.

“Why, Dad, you’ve got a new car!” burst out Fred. “What do you know
about that! Some swell outfit, I’ll say,” he added, gazing at the new
automobile admiringly. It was a big twelve-cylinder sedan, and looked
to be the acme of comfort and mechanical perfection.

In a few minutes the boys learned that they were to leave the school by
automobile and pick up the two Rover girls at Clearwater Hall on the
way. Ruth Stevenson was to accompany Martha and Mary.

“Martha said Ruth’s folks are away on a tour,” explained Tom Rover. “So
she is to spend the holidays with us.”

“Well, that will suit Jack all right enough,” said Randy quickly.

“Don’t you all like Ruth?” demanded the young major.

“Sure, we do!” came promptly from the others, and then, somehow, Jack
felt better.

“You haven’t heard all of the secret yet,” Tom Rover said, grinning at
his twin sons and his two nephews. “Shall I tell them?” he went on,
turning to his brother Sam.

“Why not let them find it out for themselves?” came quickly from Fred’s
father. And then, turning to the lads, he continued: “You don’t know
where you are going, boys, but you’re on the way.”

“Do you mean to say that we’re not going home?” came from all four
cadets in a chorus of wonder.

“You are not,” replied Tom Rover. “But don’t ask any more questions. Go
ahead and get ready to leave. We have a long ride ahead of us, and we
don’t want to drive any farther than is necessary after dark.”

While the Rover boys were saying good-bye to their chums and getting
ready to make the trip, Tom Rover and his brother Sam went in to call
on their old school chum, Colonel Colby.

“It’s a touch of old times to see you fellows again,” said Larry Colby,
as he shook hands warmly. “It’s too bad Dick didn’t come with you. Then
we’d have the old quartette,” and he smiled broadly.

“Well, time is bound to scatter us,” remarked Sam Rover. “Some of the
fellows are scattered to the four quarters of the globe. About all
the old crowd I ever see are Songbird Powell, Fred Garrison and Hans
Mueller.”

Knowing that they had a long run ahead of them, the Rover boys lost no
time in getting ready for the trip. Then their suitcases were stowed
away and they climbed into the two cars, the twins with their father
and the others with Sam Rover.

It did not take long to run to Haven Point and then along the lake to
Clearwater Hall. Here they found a number of automobiles parked along
the campus and many girl students coming and going.

“There they are!” called out Jack, and waved his hand. In a moment more
his sister Martha came running toward them, followed by Mary Rover and
Ruth Stevenson.

“How about the surprise, Jack?” cried Martha, her face beaming.

“Peachy!” answered her brother, promptly. “Couldn’t be better!”

“Did you suspect?” questioned Mary.

“Not at all. We thought the folks were all too busy in Wall Street to
come up here just now.”

“Hold on! Hold on!” interrupted Sam Rover. “They don’t know where
they’re going yet. Don’t spoil things.”

“They don’t!” burst out Mary. “Why, I thought――――”

“No, that’s to be a surprise,” said Tom Rover. “Don’t tell them a word.
Let them find out for themselves. It will give them something to think
about.”

“Well, this certainly is a mystery,” murmured Fred, and he and his
cousins looked blankly at each other.

“It was splendid to invite me to go along,” remarked Ruth Stevenson,
as she shook hands warmly with the young major and the others. “Just
splendid!”

“We’re glad to have you, Ruth,” answered Sam Rover.

The boys assisted the girls with their luggage, and a few minutes later
the automobile trip was begun. The twins rode with their father, and
Mary and Fred went with them, while Jack and Martha, accompanied by
Ruth, rode with their Uncle Sam. As was to be expected, Tom Rover led
the way and set such a pace that his brother had hard work to keep up
with him.

“We figured out that we could reach a town called Bridgeville in time
for supper,” said Sam Rover. “But I rather think we’ll have to hump
ourselves to do it.”

“I guess Uncle Tom is going to try to put one over on you, Uncle Sam,”
remarked Jack. “Maybe he wants to show you that his old car can outrun
your new one.”

“It’s all right, if he doesn’t get into trouble,” answered Sam Rover.

“Oh, I don’t mind riding fast,” came from Ruth, her eyes sparkling with
excitement. “It’s so good to be out of school once more!”

“Wish we were bound for Big Bear Lake,” said Jack.

“Oh, Jack, wouldn’t that be grand!”

“It would be unless some big bear came along to eat us up,” put in
Martha.

“Oh, we killed off all the bears,” said Jack. And this remark made both
of the girls giggle.

On and on sped the two cars, keeping just within sight of each other.
Up hill and down hill they rolled, around broad curves, and over solid
stone bridges and some that were built of wood and rattled loudly as
they passed. The weather was so warm that they had all the windows
down, so they could enjoy the fresh air to its fullest.

“Where do you suppose they are taking us?” whispered Randy to his
brother, as they rolled swiftly along.

“Search me!” was the slangy answer. “They’ve certainly got something up
their sleeve. I thought sure we were going home.”

“So did I.”

Suddenly the car guided by Sam Rover struck a broad curve leading to
the left. A little farther on there was a crossroad, and presently
through the trees and bushes Fred’s father caught sight of a long, low,
yellow car on the other highway. As this car was coming from his right,
he at once slackened his pace and blew his horn vigorously.

The occupants of the other car paid not the slightest attention to the
warning, but kept on, faster, if possible, than ever. As a consequence,
Sam Rover had to jam on the brakes. Then, as he came still closer to
the crossroads, he prepared to make the turn and run, if possible,
with the other car. Then came a wild tooting of the other horn, and
the yellow car attempted to make a turn to the right to get into the
highway on which the Rovers were running.

But this turn proved disastrous, and in a twinkling the yellow car
rolled over and over, landing in some bushes on the side of the road.
The Rovers’ car proceeded a distance of fifty yards on the crossroad,
and then came to a standstill.




                              CHAPTER II

                    SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THE ROVERS


“Oh, look at that auto!”

“It turned over and over!”

“Do you suppose they are killed?”

Such were some of the cries that came from the occupants of Sam Rover’s
car as the machine came to a standstill. In the meanwhile the car run
by Tom Rover had disappeared around a bend of the main highway.

“This certainly looks bad,” murmured Sam Rover, as he leaped to
the ground, accompanied by Jack. Both ran back to the scene of the
accident, followed slowly and somewhat fearfully by Martha and Ruth.

“Oh, suppose they are killed or terribly hurt?” murmured the Rover girl
to her chum.

“If they are hurt we’ll have to do what we can for them,” answered
Ruth. “I wonder if there is any first-aid kit in your uncle’s machine?”

There had been several loud yells of alarm as the low, yellow car
turned over and over in the bushes beside the highway. Now, however, as
Jack Rover and his uncle approached, there was an ominous silence, the
spinning wheels of the machine coming to a sudden stop.

“There is one man!” cried the youthful major, and pointed into some
bushes where the legs of an individual were floundering around in the
air. A few seconds later the man righted himself and struggled to a
nearby tree, dazed and bewildered.

“There is another fellow――under the auto!” came from Sam Rover. “Come
on! Let us get him out before the machine has a chance to settle down
on him.”

The military training of uncle and nephew stood them in good stead,
and they knew exactly what to do in this emergency. Close at hand was
a rail fence, and while Sam Rover strained with might and main to keep
the yellow car from turning over on the man in the brushwood, Jack
obtained a fence rail. Rushing up with this, he propped it against the
machine to hold it in place. Then he and his uncle grabbed the unknown
man, who was almost unconscious, and dragged him to safety.

“Any more in the auto?” panted Jack, his quick efforts having almost
winded him.

“I don’t see any.” Sam Rover turned to the man who was leaning against
the tree. “Were there more than two of you?” he questioned.

“No!” bellowed that individual, glaring at the Rovers. “You’ve got us
in a fine fix, I must say!” he went on sourly.

“I think you fellows were as much to blame as any one,” answered Sam
Rover, curtly. “However, now is no time to quarrel. Your friend seems
to be pretty well used up.”

“I don’t think he’s hurt as much as I am,” said the other man, surlily.
“I was pitched out right on my head.” He was now rubbing the back of
his neck and his left shoulder. “For all I know, something may be
broken.”

Reasoning that the sour-faced individual would not argue in this
fashion if he were seriously hurt, Sam Rover turned his attention to
the other man, and Jack did likewise. The young major had noted a tiny
watercourse close to where the roads intersected, and now he ran to
this and brought back a capful of water. With this they bathed the
man’s face, so that he soon opened his eyes and sat up.

“Any bones broken?” asked Jack’s uncle, kindly.

“I don’t know.” The man pulled himself together slowly, and then
started to rise. “Gee, but my back feels sore! We certainly came a
cropper, didn’t we?” and he grinned sheepishly at the Rovers.

“I’m glad no one was killed,” said Sam Rover.

“See here! This is your fault,” howled the other man, coming forward
stiffly. “You had no business to be racin’ on this road.”

“I don’t think I was running as fast as you were,” answered Jack’s
uncle.

“I bet you wasn’t,” put in the other man, still grinning. He turned
to his companion in misfortune. “I told you, Ferguson, not to hit ’er
up quite so fast. Some time you’ll climb a stone wall and land in the
cemetery.”

“Oh, shut up, Billings,” growled the man called Ferguson. “I know what
I was doin’. It was this fellow’s fault, and he’s got to pay for the
damage done.”

“All right, make him pay,” was the good-natured comment from Billings.
Then suddenly he began to chuckle. “I wonder how much of the stuff we
smashed, Bill,” he went on.

“Shut your jaw, you fool!” cried Ferguson. “I say this fellow has got
to pay for the damage done.”

While the men were talking Jack and the two girls had moved closer to
the upset car to inspect it.

“Oh, look, Jack!” whispered Ruth, suddenly. “What is that running from
it? Is it the gasoline?”

“I don’t think so.” The young major made a closer inspection and began
to sniff the air. “It’s liquor. These fellows are carrying hooch.”

“Oh, did you ever!” murmured Martha, in horror, for she had never had
any use for liquor in any form.

“Say, you get away from that car!” burst out Bill Ferguson, in sudden
alarm. “Get away from there, I say!”

“They are carrying liquor. The car is loaded with it, Uncle Sam!” cried
Jack.

“Yes; and they have both been drinking,” answered his uncle quickly. He
turned to the two men. “If you want to make a police affair of this,
I’m willing,” he continued sternly. “But I’ll tell you right now,
you’ll make a poor showing in a police court.”

“Oh, call it off! Call it off, Ferguson!” interposed Billings, as
good-naturedly as ever. “I ain’t making no kick, and half the cargo
belongs to me at that. Do you want us to get in bad around here? Call
it off, I tell you!”

“I ain’t goin’ to have this car busted up for nothin’,” grumbled
Ferguson. “However,” he added hastily, “I suppose I’ll have to let it
pass. We ain’t got any witnesses against you.”

“You’ll be lucky if you both keep out of jail,” answered Sam Rover,
pointedly. “Carrying liquor around like that is prohibited, and you
know it. I advise you to get out of the business and stay out.” Jack’s
uncle turned to those with him. “Come on, and we’ll see if we can catch
up to your Uncle Tom.”

As the Rovers and Ruth left the vicinity of the accident the two men
watched them narrowly. On the face of Billings there was a look of
dismay, while Ferguson appeared more sour than ever. He glared sharply
at Jack.

“Maybe we’ll meet again some day, and under different circumstances,”
he remarked, with a scowl.

“What awful men!” was Ruth’s comment, as they climbed into the
automobile once more. “I’d hate to be alone and meet them.”

“What do you suppose they are, Uncle Sam? A couple of liquor runners?”

“More than likely, Jack,” answered his uncle. “But one thing is
certain――this load of liquor will never be delivered,” he added, with a
chuckle.

“I don’t see why they can’t obey the law and leave liquor alone,”
remarked Martha, as the car was backed to the other road and then sent
forward in the direction Tom Rover had taken.

“There is too much money in it, that’s why,” answered her uncle. “Some
of these rum-runners――or bootleggers, as they are called――have become
millionaires at the game. They sell all sorts of the vilest kind of
concoctions at exorbitant prices.”

They ran on for several miles and then reached a point where they found
the other automobile resting by the roadside.

“Didn’t know whether you were lost, strayed or stolen,” called out Tom
Rover, gayly. “What happened? Did you get a puncture or just stop to
pick buttercups?”

“No. We’ve been dabbling in spirits,” answered his brother, just as
gayly.

“And we knocked the spirits out in one round,” added Jack.

Then the story of the accident on the road was narrated, the others
listening with keen interest.

“Gee, I wish I’d been there!” declared Andy, wistfully. “I’m never
around when anything like that happens!”

“Never around!” cried Fred. “If I know anything about it, you’re
generally in the thick of it.”

“I’m glad neither of the men was seriously hurt, even if they are
bootleggers,” remarked Mary. “And as for their liquor, it served them
right to have it smashed and spilt.”

“I can tell you that one man, the fellow named Bill Ferguson, was
certainly mad,” said Jack to his cousins. “He looked as if he wanted to
chew us up.”

“You’d better keep your eyes open in case you meet him again,” remarked
Randy.

“Oh, it isn’t likely that we’ll ever meet again,” replied the young
major. But in this he was mistaken. He was to meet Bill Ferguson again
and under the most thrilling of circumstances.

Once more the two automobiles proceeded on their way. And while they
are thus rolling along let me take the opportunity to introduce my
characters more specifically.

In the first volume of this series, entitled “The Rover Boys at
School,” I introduced three brothers, Dick, Tom and Sam Rover, who
resided at that time with their Uncle Randolph and their Aunt Martha at
Valley Brook Farm, a pleasant country place in New York state. From the
farm the boys had been sent to Putnam Hall Military Academy and, later
on, to Brill College. Then they had gone into business in Wall Street,
New York, under the name of The Rover Company. Each had been married to
a boyhood sweetheart, and now the three families resided in adjoining
residences on Riverside Drive overlooking the beautiful Hudson River,
in New York City.

Not a long while after his marriage to Dora Stanhope, Dick had been
blessed with a son, John, who was always called Jack, and a daughter,
Martha, who was a year younger than her brother. To Sam Rover and his
wife Grace had come a daughter, Mary, and, about a year later, a son,
who was named Fred after an old school chum, Fred Garrison. Tom and his
wife, Nellie, were blessed with a healthy pair of boy twins, one called
Andy, after his grandfather, Anderson, and the other Randy, after Uncle
Randolph.

As they resided side by side, the younger generation of Rover boys, as
well as their sisters, were brought up very much as one large family.
At first the young folks were sent to some private institutions of
learning in the Metropolis. But presently Andy and Randy, as well as
the other boys, began to develop such a propensity for fun it was
decided to send them to some stricter institution of learning.

At that time Larry Colby was at the head of a military academy,
called Colby Hall. How Jack and Fred and the twins were sent to that
institution of learning and what happened to them, has already been
related in the volume entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall.”

At the school the lads made many friends and also a few enemies. Among
their warmest chums were Gif Garrison, the son of their fathers’ old
friend, Fred Garrison, after whom Fred Rover was named, and Spouter
Powell, the son of the older Rovers’ chum, John Powell, always known as
Songbird because of his propensity for writing what he called poetry.

A term at Colby Hall had been followed by some winter adventures on
“Snowshoe Island.” Then the boys had returned to school to go into an
encampment “Under Canvas.” Later still the lads had gone on a great
“Hunt,” which had been productive of many adventures. Later still,
after another term at the military academy, where Jack had gradually
worked his way up from being an under officer to becoming major of
the school battalion and where Fred had risen until he was now the
captain of Company C, the four boys, along with several chums, had gone
into “The Land of Luck,” otherwise the great oil regions of Texas and
Oklahoma.

Shortly after this Spouter announced that his father had purchased a
place in the far West called “Big Bear Ranch.” The boys were invited to
visit this place and had a glorious time in the saddle and otherwise.

Colby Hall was located on Clearwater Lake not far from the town of
Haven Point. On the other side of the town was located Clearwater Hall,
a school for girls. Among the pupils at this institution were Ruth
Stevenson and also May Powell, a cousin of Spouter Powell. Jack and the
other boys speedily became acquainted with these girls, and later on
induced their parents to allow Martha and Mary to become pupils at the
place.

Gif Garrison had often been a guest of the Rovers. When his father
became the owner of a large bungalow at Big Bear Lake, the cadet
received permission to use the place for a summer outing. How Gif,
Spouter and the four Rover boys went to this resort, and what stirring
adventures they had there with wild animals and with some students from
a rival academy, is told in the volume preceding this, entitled “The
Rover Boys at Big Bear Lake.”

“We certainly had some wonderful happenings at Big Bear Lake,” Fred had
remarked when the boys were returning to Colby Hall after their outing.
“I don’t believe we’ll ever have more strenuous times than those.” But
in this surmise Fred was mistaken, as the pages which follow will prove.

It was just growing dark when the two automobiles entered Bridgeville
and pulled up at the leading hotel. Tom Rover had telephoned ahead,
and a substantial supper awaited the crowd, to which, it is needless to
state, all did full justice. In spite of the narrow escape during the
ride, all of the young folks were in the best of spirits.

“Now tell us what’s the rest of this secret,” demanded Fred. “Where are
we bound?”

“Don’t tell them, girls,” cried Tom Rover. “I’ll tell you what I’ll
do,” he went on, with that same merry twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll give
a five-dollar bill to the boy who first guesses where we are going to
stop to-night. Now, no more questions, only keep your eyes wide open.”

“Well, so far, for all I know, we may be headed for New York City,” was
Fred’s comment.

“Yes, and we may be headed for the north pole,” answered his fun-loving
uncle, gayly.

As soon as possible after supper, the automobile trip was resumed. Mile
after mile was reeled off in the semi-darkness, the powerful lights of
both machines making the road almost as bright as day. Travel seemed to
be light on the highway, and they made rapid progress for thirty miles
or more.

“Hello, here is a brand new concrete road!” exclaimed Fred presently.
“Looks as if it had just been opened.”

“Opened less than a week ago,” answered his uncle. “Now watch sharp if
you want to win that prize.”

On and on sped the two automobiles. Seven miles more were covered, and
then they turned sharply to the left and mounted a long hill thickly
wooded on either side. At the top of the hill both automobiles came to
a stop.

“Why, I declare!” stammered Fred. “It’s Dexter’s Corners! There is the
Swift River and there’s the railroad station at Oak Run! Why, we’re
going to Valley Brook Farm!”

“Right-o!” sang out his uncle. And then he tooted the horn three times.
At the same time the horn from the other automobile sounded out.

“Hello, they’ve discovered it too!” burst out Mary.

“Hurrah for Valley Brook Farm!” shouted Randy.

“What do you know about this?” came from the other automobile, in
Jack’s voice. “Some surprise, eh? We’re going to have our Thanksgiving
turkey on the farm.” And then he added quickly: “Will father and mother
be there?”

“Yes, they’re coming up on the early morning train to-morrow,” answered
his Uncle Sam.

In a minute more they had passed across the river in the direction of
Dexter’s Corners. Then they struck the old road leading to the farm
where great-uncle Randolph and great-aunt Martha resided, and where
Dick, Tom and Sam had spent so much time when their father, Anderson
Rover, had been lost in the jungles of Africa.

“My, but the old place certainly looks good to me!” cried Jack, as they
rolled up, both machines sounding their horns loudly.

The old farmhouse was glowing with lights, and now the front door
opened, revealing Anderson Rover and Randolph Rover and his wife
Martha. Then a side door opened likewise, and to the front came rushing
Jack Ness, the old hired man, and Aleck Pop, the colored man who had
been the Rovers’ servant for so many years.

“Hurrah for Valley Brook Farm!” shouted Randy, as he rushed forward to
embrace his Aunt Martha, and the other boys echoed the cry.




                              CHAPTER III

                        A THANKSGIVING REUNION


“How good it seems to be at the farm once more,” remarked Fred, after
the various greetings were over and old Aunt Martha had bustled off to
get a bit of lunch for the travelers before they retired for the night.

“It’s a beautiful old place,” said Ruth to Jack. “I know I’m going to
have a splendid time here.”

“It’s too bad I can’t be with you, Ruth,” returned the young major,
rather wistfully. “But you know the old saying――a fellow can’t be in
two places at once.”

“I only hope that motor-boat trip proves a pleasant one, Jack.”

“Oh, I think it will be a dandy. Ralph Mason, you know, is a fine
fellow, and he said the motor boat was a peach.”

All the young folks were tired out because of the various doings of the
day, and were glad enough to retire as soon as they had partaken of the
refreshments served. The boys slept soundly, and so did the girls, and
none of them put in an appearance until it was time for breakfast.

“Hello, Jack!” cried Randy, as he met the hired man on the side porch.
“How are you feeling these days?”

“Pretty good, everything considered,” answered Jack Ness, with a grin.
“Ain’t quite as young as I used to be when your dad was a boy around
here.”

“He tells me you used to have great times together.”

“Well, we did――when your dad and your uncles didn’t get to cuttin’ up
too high.”

“So they cut up once in a while, did they?”

“They sure did!”

After breakfast Tom Rover drove over to the railroad station to meet
Dick and his wife. Jack and his sister went along, while Mary took Ruth
to show her over the place.

“Well, Aleck, you’re getting younger every day,” remarked Andy, gayly,
as he met the old colored man bringing in some onions and turnips from
the barn.

“Can’t say as I’s much younger, but I ce’tainly doan feel no older,
Massa Andy,” was the answer.

“Haven’t had the mumps, have you?” went on Andy, somewhat anxiously.

“Mumps? No, sah, I ain’t had no mumps.”

“Then maybe it was the measles?”

“No, sah, Massa Andy, I ain’t had no measles either.”

“That’s queer. Perhaps it was chilblains, or lumbago, or turtle-foot?”

“No, I ain’t had no chilblains nor no lumbago. But w’at’s dat
turtle-foot? I ain’t never done hear of him.”

“Never heard of turtle-foot?” demanded the fun-loving Rover boy. “Now
isn’t that strange! I thought you were brought up in a place where
everybody had turtle-foot once in a while. Your nose looks just as
if you’d had it. And just look at your ears! They’re all curled up
like dead leaves. Don’t feel as if you wanted to see a doctor or an
undertaker, do you, Aleck?”

“Say, w’at you want to do? Scare dis nigger out of his life?” questioned
Aleck, his eyes as big as saucers. “I doan feel nothin’ the matter with
my ears,” and he felt of both ears carefully. “An’ my nose seems all
right, too,” he went on.

“All right. I only wanted to know. We can’t afford to have anything
happen to the best looking colored man on the farm,” returned Andy,
with great seriousness.

“Say, you’re only jokin’, Massa Andy. You is jest like your dad before
you. He was always botherin’ the life out o’ dis coon. But he was a
nice boy――yes, sah, he was. An’ he’s a nice man, too,” added Aleck,
hastily.

“Never mind, Aleck. I brought you a sure cure for your ills,” continued
the fun-loving Rover. “Picked it up at a store in Haven Point a few
days ago. It will cure you of turtle-foot, rheumatism, misery, or
anything else. Whenever you’re not feeling in the best of condition,
just smell it real hard, and you’ll feel better at once,” and thus
talking, Andy brought from his pocket a small article wrapped in tissue
paper.

“Well, now, Massa Andy, dat’s right good of you to remember dis ol’
nigger,” answered Aleck, taking the package. “Want me to look at it
right now?”

“Certainly, Aleck. And remember, if you don’t feel in the best of
health just smell of it good and strong.”

Setting down his basket of turnips and onions, the colored man unwrapped
the article somewhat gingerly. To his gaze there was displayed an
imitation rabbit’s foot that looked almost real.

“A rabbit’s foot! Dat sure am good luck!” he exclaimed, his eyes
glistening. “Ain’t nothin’ better.” He turned the article over in his
hands. “I ain’t feelin’ so very scrumptuous this mornin’, so maybe I’d
better take a smell of it,” he ventured.

“Sure, Aleck. But remember, you have to smell good and powerful.
Otherwise the charm won’t work,” returned Andy.

Aleck looked at the imitation rabbit’s foot again, and then lifted the
article to his nostrils. He closed his mouth tightly and took a long,
deep breath through his nose. The next instant the colored man jerked
back his head and his eyes stared as if about to start from his face.
Then his head went back and he gave a resounding sneeze.

Kerchoo! kerchoo! kerchoo! Loud and clear came one sneeze after another
while the tears began to run down Aleck’s face.

“Hurrah, it’s taking effect!” shouted Andy, gayly.

“Dat dere rabbit’s foot am――kerchoo――am full of――kerchoo――pepper!”
gasped Aleck Pop. “You done――kerchoo――played a――kerchoo――trick on de
ol’ man!” And then he went off into another spasm of sneezing.

“That will make you feel like a new man, sure,” put in Randy, who stood
near by watching proceedings. Andy had told him about the rabbit’s foot
and what fun he hoped to have with the article.

“It certainly will clear out your head, Aleck,” was Fred’s comment,
with a grin. “Keep right on sneezing.”

“Am dat a cure, or am it only ’nother trick?” demanded Aleck, between
more sneezes.

“You’ve got to take it for what it’s worth, Aleck,” replied Andy, with
a chuckle. “If you don’t like it, you know you can always pass it
along.”

“Perhaps Jack Ness would like to try the cure,” suggested Randy.

“By golly, dat’s w’at I’ll do! I’ll try it on Ness.” And then Aleck
Pop pocketed the imitation rabbit’s foot so well seasoned with cayenne
pepper and resumed his errand.

The train came in promptly, and it goes without saying that Jack and
Martha were glad to see their father and mother. Dick Rover looked the
picture of health, and his wife Dora was as beautiful as ever.

“We’re sure going to have some family reunion,” remarked Jack, as
they rode back to the farm. “Everybody will be on hand to eat the two
turkeys Aunt Martha is having roasted.”

“And you just ought to see the pumpkin and other pies in the pantry!”
came from Martha. “I’m sure all the boys will eat themselves sick.”

“Humph! I don’t see you and Mary holding back on pie, or turkey
either,” returned her brother, quickly.

It certainly was a grand family reunion. The dining table extended from
one end of the dining room through the folding doors of the sitting
room. At the head of the table sat Grandfather Anderson Rover, with old
Uncle Randolph and his wife Martha beside him. Then came the fathers
and mothers of the Rover boys, and the young folks occupied the other
end of the table, with Ruth, the only outside guest, sitting between
Martha and Jack. It was old Uncle Randolph who asked the blessing,
and it can truthfully be said that all were thankful that they were
together and in the best of health.

“I’ll tell you what――a gathering like this is something to be
remembered,” remarked Dick Rover.

“Yes, indeed, Dick,” came from Dora, his wife. “There is no telling how
long these gatherings can last. Your father and your Aunt Martha and
Uncle Randolph are certainly growing old.”

It was a great feast, and all of the young folks ate turkey and
cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes and turnips and boiled onions until
they had to desist in order to save room for the pies and other dessert
that followed.

“Gee, I feel like a stuffed alderman!” sighed Randy, at last. “I
couldn’t eat another mouthful if I tried.”

“Same here,” said Fred.

“If I tried to eat another piece of pie, I’d bust off every button I’ve
got,” was the way Andy expressed himself.

“Suppose we take a walk?” suggested Jack. “We need it.”

“I expect you want to work up an appetite for supper,” said Mary, slyly.

“We’ve got to do something, haven’t we?” her cousin retorted.

All of the young folks were glad to get out into the air again, and
they ended by taking a long walk back of the farm where the Rick Rack
River flowed. The lads had gone over this territory a number of times,
and Jack pointed out to Ruth where his father and his uncles had had
numerous adventures in the past――adventures which have been jotted down
from time to time in the earlier volumes of the First Series.

“I wish you were going along on that motor-boat trip, Ruth,” remarked
Jack, when the pair were strolling along a little apart from the others.

“It would be nice if we were all going,” admitted the girl. “But I
guess the motor boat would be pretty well crowded.”

“Yes; Ralph said she wouldn’t hold any more than the crowd that is to
go.”

“Of course you expect to be back in time for school?”

“Yes, we’ll be back unless the unexpected happens.”

All arrangements had already been made, and bright and early on the
morning following Thanksgiving the four Rover boys said good-bye to
their parents and the others and drove away to the railroad station at
Oak Run. Here they took a train for the Junction, and there changed to
an express for Worcester.

“I wonder if Ralph will be waiting for us at Woods Hole?” remarked
Fred, while on the way.

“I hope so,” answered Jack.

The boys had lunch on the train, and at Worcester changed to another
train which connected at Middleboro for Woods Hole. The run was rather
a long one, with numerous stops, and as a consequence they did not
reach Woods Hole until well toward evening.

“I see Ralph!” exclaimed Randy, as they alighted from the train, and
the next minute the former major of the Colby Hall battalion was
striding up to the Rovers.

“I was afraid the train might be late,” remarked Ralph, after shaking
hands all around.

“How’s the motor boat?” questioned Fred, anxiously.

“Fine and dandy. I’ve had a man go over her carefully, so that she is
in first-class condition.”

“What about Gif and Spouter?” questioned Jack.

“They’re coming a little later. Come ahead――I’ve got accommodations for
all hands.”

In less than half an hour the boys found themselves located at an
old-fashioned but comfortable hotel overlooking the waters of Vineyard
Sound. Not far distant was the dock at which the _Fancy_, as the motor
boat was named, was tied up.

The Rover boys were washing up for supper when Gif and Spouter arrived,
having made the trip to Woods Hole in an automobile run by Mr.
Garrison, who, however, had to proceed on his way because of business.

“Well, boys, have the best time possible,” said he, as he bade his son
and the others farewell. “And above all things, don’t get into any
trouble.”

“Oh, we’ll be all right, Dad. Don’t worry,” returned Gif; and a few
minutes later the seven boys were left to themselves.

All of the lads were in the best of spirits, and it must be confessed
that they were far from quiet when discussing their plans for the
outing while in their rooms after supper.

“We’ll run from here over to Oak Bluffs on Marthas Vineyard,” announced
Ralph. “We can stay there a day and run around to Edgartown and stay
there also, if we desire. Then we’ll run straight over to Nantucket,
where there is a splendid harbor. After that we can run over to Chatham
and other places on Cape Cod.”

“Sounds mighty good,” said Randy.

The boys arranged many of the details of the trip and then turned in to
dream of the happy times in store for them. But none of them dreamed of
the many perils ahead, nor of the thrilling adventures through which
they were to pass.




                              CHAPTER IV

                           AT OLD NANTUCKET


“Hurrah for a life on the ocean wave!” shouted Andy.

“A home on the rolling deep!” came from Randy.

“If you fellows don’t all get seasick before you get back,” interposed
Gif, closing one eye suggestively.

“Seasick? Perish the thought!” cried Andy, tragically. “This crowd
never gets seasick.”

“I’ll say it’s some dandy day for starting a trip,” put in Jack. “It’s
as fine as if we’d had it made to order.”

“What a beautiful harbor,” was Spouter’s comment. “Isn’t it queer there
aren’t more boats around?”

“You must remember the season is a little late,” answered Ralph.
“During the summer you’ll find boats galore around here.”

“What about a harbor at Marthas Vineyard?” questioned Fred.

“Very fine. And another fine one at Nantucket,” was the answer.

The boys had left Woods Hole half an hour before and were now headed
southeast for their first stopping-point, which was to be at Oak Bluffs
on the island of Marthas Vineyard. The _Fancy_ rode well, riding the
swells of the Sound like a thing of life. The sun shone brightly, there
was scarcely any wind, and it was indeed a perfect day for the start of
the boys’ motor-boat cruise.

The _Fancy_ was a new purchase by Mr. Mason, and a better equipped
motor boat could scarcely be imagined. The craft was about thirty-five
feet in length and just broad enough to be safe and comfortable without
sacrificing too much speed. The cockpit boasted of an engine of the
latest design capable of a high degree of speed, weather permitting.
The boat boasted of a fairly good-sized cabin, all of the windows of
which could be raised or lowered as desired. The craft was finished
in oak and all of the fittings were of brass, now polished to the
highest degree. Ralph had always been a neat boy, a stickler for order,
and this had obtained for him the position of major of the school
battalion, and his neatness and orderliness were now reflected in the
appearance of the craft he commanded.

“Don’t you want me to take the wheel for a while?” questioned Jack, who
had been itching to run the motor boat.

“Sure, you can take the wheel,” responded Ralph, readily. “I’ll take a
squint at the engine. A new engine like that always needs looking over,
you know, until it works down to a bearing.”

As space on the _Fancy_ was somewhat limited, due to the fact that
the boys had rigged up berths in the cabin in case they wished to
sleep on the craft, they had brought along only such luggage as seemed
absolutely necessary. Their things were soon stowed away, and then they
gave themselves up to the enjoyment of the occasion.

“Beats being in school all hollow,” declared Andy, as they sped along
on their course, the engine humming merrily.

“Don’t mention school,” returned his twin. “We’ll get enough of that
when we get back.”

“What boat is that?” questioned Spouter, as he pointed to a large craft
not far distant.

“That’s one of the lightships around here,” replied Ralph. “There are a
number of them strung along between here and Nantucket.”

“Rather a lonely life, staying on a ship like that,” remarked Spouter.
“I wonder how often they get ashore.”

“Oh, it isn’t as lonely as it might be farther away,” answered Ralph.
“I wish I had thought of it before――I’d have brought them some
newspapers. Very often those going by throw newspapers aboard a
lightship, for which the light men are very thankful.”

They had made out the island of Marthas Vineyard ahead of them, and it
was not long before they approached one of the headlands known as West
Chop.

“The other headland over to our left is East Chop,” explained Ralph.
“And just beyond that is the town of Oak Bluffs. Between the two Chops
is Vineyard Haven harbor.”

“I don’t see any oak bluffs,” commented Spouter, who had a keen eye for
scenery and was watching the shoreline closely.

“I believe somebody said the oak bluffs were swept into the water long
ago by a storm,” answered Ralph. “However, the town of Oak Bluffs is
quite a nice one, and the place has a number of good summer hotels.”

The run into Vineyard Haven harbor did not take long, and soon the boys
made a landing and went ashore. It was now close to noon.

“It’s too bad it’s so late in the season,” remarked Ralph, as they were
riding along in a jitney they hired. “Nearly all of the summer hotels
at Oak Bluffs are closed. But I think we’ll find fair accommodations
somewhere in the town.”

They interviewed the jitney driver, who seemed to be a native of the
island, and were directed by him to the only large hotel that was open.
There the lads decided to remain for the night, taking the afternoon
off to explore the place.

“Certainly a pretty resort,” announced Spouter, after dinner and while
they were riding around the town.

They found a splendid road along the shore leading to Edgartown and
were told there was another fine highway to the westward which ran
through Vineyard Haven to Indian Hill and Gay Head.

“You certainly ought to visit Gay Head,” said the jitney driver. “It’s
only about twenty miles from here and a splendid drive, and Gay Head
is well worth looking at. You’ll find some of the old Marthas Vineyard
Indians down there, too, selling trinkets.”

The boys talked it over, and decided that they would have the driver
take them to Gay Head and were soon on the way. After passing through
Vineyard Haven they struck out through the country in the direction of
Indian Hill, and then passed on through the woods and beyond numerous
farms until they came out on a high headland close to which was
located a government lighthouse.

Gay Head proved to be a series of headlands consisting for the most
part of clay of various colors. As the setting sun played upon this
kaleidoscope of color, Spouter went into ecstasies.

“Isn’t it magnificent!” he cried. “Just look at the wonderful
combinations of coloring――red, blue, green, brown, and a hundred and
one shades! I never dreamed they had anything like this!”

Nearly all the boys took the path leading down from the top of Gay Head
to the beach far below. But Andy and Randy, more venturesome, decided
to find a way of their own.

“Be careful, there!” sang out Fred. “That stuff is awfully slippery.”

“Oh, we’re all right,” responded Randy. “Don’t you worry.”

He and his twin brother were walking along one of the larger of the
headlands. There was a shelf a few feet below, and both attempted to
scramble to this. But as Fred had said, the vari-colored clay was
exceedingly slippery, and almost before they knew it the twins had gone
flat on their backs. Randy clutched at Andy, and both did their best to
keep from slipping farther.

“Dig in! Dig in!” gasped Andy, clutching vainly at the slippery clay
beneath him.

“Dig in, yourself,” spluttered his twin.

He clutched at a slight projection, but the clay came away in his hand,
and down he rolled over and over with his brother close behind him.
They reached another ledge of clay, which broke beneath their sudden
weight, and then on and on they went, bringing up at last in a mass of
soft clay but a few yards from the sand that lined the water’s edge.

“Well, if that isn’t the dog’s false teeth!” gasped Andy, when he could
speak. “We came down in a hurry, didn’t we?”

“And we saved a lot of time, I’ll say,” murmured Randy. Then he held up
his hands. “Just look at these paws, will you?”

“Never mind the paws,” retorted his brother, and then began to grin.
“Look at your clothing, will you? It’s all the colors of the rainbow.”

“Humph! Look at yourself. You look as if you’d been sleeping on a
painter’s palette.”

The two boys arose and brushed themselves off as well as they were
able. Then they limped down to the water’s edge, where they washed
their faces and hands. By this time the others had come down by way of
the regular trail and joined them.

“Anybody hurt?” questioned Jack, eagerly.

“Nothing hurt but our feelings,” grumbled Randy.

“You’ll have to have those suits cleaned and pressed, I’m thinking,”
remarked Gif. “If you don’t do it, folks will take you for a couple of
tramps.” And then he had to laugh, and everybody joined in, even the
twins taking the mishap in good part.

After inspecting Gay Head, the lads visited the lighthouse, bought a
few trinkets from some Indian children who had the things on sale, and
then returned to Oak Bluffs. Here a tailor was found who promised to
clean and press the damaged suits before morning.

The following day found the Rover boys and their chums once more aboard
the motor boat. The gasoline tank had been filled, and soon they were
on their way past Oak Bluffs to the harbor at Edgartown.

“It would be fine to spend a vacation here in the summer time,”
remarked Jack, as they sped along.

“Look at that big hotel just facing us,” put in Fred. “I wouldn’t
mind stopping there. A fellow wouldn’t have to go very far to go in
bathing,” he continued, pointing to a long row of bathhouses almost in
front of the hotel.

“Why don’t you jump in now and have a bath, Fred?” said Andy, grinning.

“Thank you, Andy. I’m afraid the water would be a trifle warm,”
responded the youngest Rover boy.

At Edgartown, much to their surprise, the boys ran into several of
their school chums, including Dan Soppinger, Ned Lowe and Will Hendry,
always called Fatty, because of his unusual stoutness.

“Well, look who’s here!” cried Dan Soppinger.

“What brought you?” came from Fatty Hendry. “Did you run over here to
take us back home?”

“No. We came over to hear Ned sing and play,” answered Randy, and
this brought on a general smile, for Ned Lowe was well known for his
manipulation of a mandolin and his propensity for singing funny songs.

“I don’t know about your running out to Nantucket,” remarked Dan
Soppinger, after he had heard the plans of the others. “They’ve been
having a lot of fog around here lately. You don’t want to get lost in a
fog.”

“Now, Dan, don’t be a wet blanket!” cried Fred. “Who ever heard of fog
in weather like this! Why, it’s just perfect!”

“At the same time, you can’t tell about the weather around here,”
broke in Fatty Hendry. “I’ve known it to change completely in a few
hours. You had better be careful, and if you see any signs of bad
weather you had better put into the nearest harbor.”

All of the boys remained at Edgartown over night and then the trip on
the _Fancy_ was continued, the motor boat now heading for the town of
Nantucket, located on the island of the same name.

“Now we’ll be getting out on the Atlantic Ocean,” remarked Randy, as
mile after mile was covered on the course eastward and when they had
passed another lightship.

“They call this Nantucket Sound,” answered Ralph. “But it’s all so open
that you can hardly tell where the Sound ends and the ocean begins.”

As Ralph was not acquainted with the course, they did not arrive at
Nantucket harbor until well toward evening. The day, however, had
proved ideal, and every one enjoyed the trip to the utmost. In the
harbor of the quaint old town, which in years gone by was devoted
almost exclusively to the whaling industry, they found a great number
of craft of all kinds.

“There are some storm warnings up,” announced Ralph presently. “But I
must confess that I don’t see anything of a storm.”

“Nor do I,” answered Jack.

They spent the evening in roaming around the quaint old town with
its wide cobblestone main street and its narrow alleyways with their
weather-beaten homes. They even took an automobile ride extending
across the island to ’Sconset, a small colony located directly facing
the broad Atlantic.

“Gosh! here’s where a fellow can stand and look right over to Europe,”
announced Fred.

“You can if you have good eyesight,” chuckled Randy.

In the morning the storm signals were still displayed, but the Rovers
and their chums could see no evidences of anything unusual brewing.
There was little or no breeze, and the sun shone brightly.

“Well, what do you fellows want to do?” questioned Ralph, after they
had breakfasted and were walking toward where the motor boat was tied
up.

“I’d just as lief go on,” answered Fred.

“So would I,” put in Gif. “We’ve seen about all there is to see around
here.”

“Yes, and remember this vacation isn’t going to last forever,” came
from Randy. “Before we know it, we’ll have to be back at Colby Hall
again.”

All the boys were eager to continue the trip, and after seeing to the
supply of gasoline and oil they had the hotel keeper pack up a generous
lunch for them and then set off.

“Hi, you fellows! Better beware!” called out one old man, who looked
as if he might have been a sea captain. “We’re going to have some bad
weather before night.”

“We’ll watch out,” answered Ralph. “If we see anything that looks
mussy, we’ll head for a harbor in a hurry.”

By studying the map, the boys had found that Chatham on Cape Cod lay
due north of the eastern shore of Nantucket. It was not a great many
miles to this well known summer resort, and all felt sure that they
could make it without much trouble.

“Seems to be hardly any swell on the water,” declared Gif. “I thought
it would be a good deal rougher away out here.”

“I guess it gets rough enough in bad weather,” answered Jack.

The engine of the _Fancy_ was running smoothly, and soon they slipped
out of Nantucket harbor and the island gradually faded from sight.

“A pippin of a boat, and no mistake,” remarked Spouter. “She rides the
ocean like a thing of life. Ralph, it was certainly fine of you to
offer this outing.”

“Better not say too much until we get back,” answered Ralph. “The best
of motor boats kick up sometimes, you know.”

Ralph had scarcely spoken when the kick-up he had mentioned happened.
The engine seemed to slow down, the cylinders missed fire one after
another, and then, of a sudden, the motor stopped.

“Now what’s the matter?” questioned Randy, in dismay.

“That’s to be found out,” answered Ralph, and his usually confident
face showed his concern.

“Gee, I hope we haven’t broken down!” whispered Fred to Randy. “We’re a
good many miles from shore.”

Eagerly Ralph looked over the engine, and so did Jack and Gif.

“I think it’s the supply pipe,” announced Ralph presently. “It acts to
me as if it was clogged up.”

“Dirty gasoline would do that,” answered Jack. “I wouldn’t put it past
some of these strange fellows to sell you any old thing. They don’t
care as long as they get your money.”

He and Ralph worked over the supply pipe, which was so tightly fastened
on that it took their combined strength to loosen it. The gasoline did
not run, and finally with the aid of a fine wire they managed to bring
out of the pipe a small quantity of waste filled with black dirt.

“Say, fellows, you want to hurry up with those repairs!” cried Andy,
suddenly. “Just look at those clouds coming up!”

All looked in the direction pointed out, and it must be confessed that
the hearts of the lads sank when they saw what was overtaking them. The
clouds were obscuring the sun, and, almost before they could realize
it, a heavy bank of fog rolled down, enveloping them completely.




                               CHAPTER V

                            LOST IN THE FOG


Having cleared out the supply pipe as well as they were able, Jack
and Ralph adjusted the same. Then the motor was started and after
considerable spluttering the engine seemed to work almost as well as
ever.

But all this had taken time, and now the sun was hidden completely, and
the fog had settled down upon them like a gigantic blanket, shutting
off the view in all directions.

“They had it right when they put up those storm signals,” was Fred’s
dubious comment. “Gee! did you ever see fog come in such a hurry?”

“Yes, and just notice how wet and cold it is, too,” added Randy,
shivering. “I’ll bet the thermometer has gone down twenty degrees.”

“We might as well put on our slickers,” suggested Jack, for they had
provided themselves with raincoats for the trip.

“I suppose we’ll have to steer by the compass entirely,” said Ralph.
“Which way shall we head――back to Nantucket or for Chatham?”

“Which do you think is nearest?” questioned Gif.

“I think we’re about half way, Gif.”

“In that case, we might as well go on,” put in Spouter. “We don’t want
to be tied up at Nantucket indefinitely. If we reach Chatham, or some
other point on the Cape, then, if the weather continues to be bad, we
can always get back by train.”

“Yes, but we don’t want to leave Ralph alone with the boat,” said Jack.

“Oh, that would be all right,” answered the former major of the school
battalion. “I haven’t got to get back, you know. My time is my own. I
can stay anywhere until the weather clears up, and then it will be an
easy matter for me to run along the coast to New Bedford, where we keep
the _Fancy_.”

“You’ll have to run slow, Ralph, and toot your horn,” said Randy. “We
don’t want to smash into anything.”

“Every one of you had better keep his eyes and ears wide open. We’re
right in the course used by a whole lot of steamers going up and down
the coast. If one of those big vessels hits us it might cut us in two.”

“Wow! but you’re a cheerful customer,” murmured Andy. “You’ll have us
at the bottom of the ocean before you know it.”

But in spite of this raillery, Andy knew as well as the others that
there was need for caution. Two of the lads stationed themselves in
the bow of the motor boat, and as they proceeded the horn of which the
craft boasted was sounded frequently.

Not daring to take too many chances, the _Fancy_ was run at half speed.
Thus they had covered about a mile when they heard a hoarse whistle
coming from a distance.

“There is one of the big steamers now!” cried Gif.

“I hope she isn’t headed our way,” put in Spouter, quickly.

The boys continued to toot the horn of the motor boat, and listened
intently to the deep tone coming from the unknown. Slowly but surely
the warning through the fog kept coming closer and closer.

“My gracious! she’s coming this way as sure as fate,” burst out Fred.
“Toot that horn for all you’re worth!”

“Let’s yell,” suggested Randy, and all of the boys yelled with might
and main, making as much noise as they had ever made in their lives.

“I’ve got an idea!” cried Andy, presently, and dashed into the cabin.
He reappeared with a tin pan and a big spoon. At once he began to beat
on the pan as hard as he could.

It was a time of intense anxiety. Although they strained their eyes to
the utmost, none of the lads could pierce the blanket of fog which hung
thickly on every side. They turned on the searchlight, but even this
revealed nothing but the murky water just ahead of them.

And in that dense fog the hoarse notes from the steamer were highly
deceptive. First the boys thought they came from the right, then from
the left, and then they were certain they were dead ahead. Their nerves
were tense, and every second seemed like an hour. And slowly but surely
the warning whistle came closer and closer.

“Maybe you had better back her, Ralph,” suggested Jack, and at once the
engine was started up again and set in reverse.

“There she is! On our right!” called out Randy, a moment later.

“She’s heading this way!” screamed Fred.

“Back her, Ralph! Back her, or we’ll be cut in two!” bellowed Gif.

Like a great ghost the bow of the steamer shone forth in the rays of
the motor-boat searchlight. There was a clanging of bells, and the big
steamer veered off while the _Fancy_ continued to back. As the stern
of the large vessel swept within twenty feet of the smaller craft,
the boys caught sight of many passengers and some officers peering
anxiously over the rail at them. Then the big steamer was swallowed
up again in the fog and the motor boat and its occupants were left to
themselves.

It must be admitted that all of the cadets had been scared, and
with good reason. Now that the peril was over, each felt a sinking
sensation, and Fred and Spouter were close to fainting. It was several
seconds before any one felt like speaking.

“It’s a good thing you backed, Ralph,” said Gif, soberly. “If you
hadn’t done it we might have been cut in two.”

“We’ve got Jack to thank for that,” answered the young commander of the
_Fancy_. “It certainly was a close shave, wasn’t it?” he added, with a
sigh of relief.

“Well, we’re not yet out of our troubles,” came from Randy. “Where
there is one boat like that there’s apt to be more. I think we had
better head for the Cape as quickly as we can make it.”

“Oh, we can’t afford to run fast,” broke in Fred. “The best thing to
do is to run as cautiously as possible.”

“I’d give as much as ten dollars to be on land again,” murmured
Spouter. “We were fools not to heed those storm warnings.”

So far there had been no rain. But now a miserable drizzle set in, as
cold as it was dismal. The boys buttoned up their slickers tightly and
pulled their caps well down over their faces. But with it all they felt
far from comfortable and could not keep from shivering.

“Might as well have a bite to eat,” suggested Andy, after another hour
had passed and they were still in the midst of the cold drizzle and
fog. “Maybe it will warm us up.”

The lunch was passed around, and although some of the boys did not have
much of an appetite, the food disappeared quite rapidly. With the lunch
they had brought along a thermos bottle filled with hot coffee, and
this beverage was comforting.

Presently the wind began to blow and the boys had hopes that this would
dispel the fog. But they speedily found out their mistake. Once or
twice they saw a bit of clearing, but then the wind died down and the
fog seemed to become thicker than ever, the glass of the cabin windows
running with water inside and out.

“A fellow doesn’t realize what sunshine means until it fails him,” was
Spouter’s comment. “Gosh! how good it would seem if the sun came out as
bright as it was yesterday.”

“Well, there is one thing to be thankful for,” said Jack, trying to be
cheerful. “So far as I can see, this boat doesn’t leak a drop.”

“You wouldn’t expect a brand new boat to leak, would you?” asked Gif.

“Some boats might――if they had been kept dry too long,” put in Fred.

“I don’t think we need worry about the _Fancy_ leaking,” came from
Ralph. “And I don’t think we’ll have any serious trouble with the
engine――although, of course, we may have some if that gasoline is too
dirty. After this I’m going to have every gallon I buy strained before
it is put in.”

Another half hour passed, and again they heard the hoarse whistle of a
steamer, this time from their left.

“She’s coming up the coast, but she doesn’t seem to be very close,”
said Andy. “Gosh! I hope she passes by without scaring the wits out of
us,” he added, with a wry smile.

As before, the cadets strained their ears. The sounds kept coming
closer, but presently they died away in the distance, much to the lads’
relief.

Ralph had stopped the engine, but now it was started once more, and
again they headed in the direction of Cape Cod, steering, of course,
entirely by the compass.

“I’m heading a little to the westward,” announced Ralph. “I don’t want
to miss the shore of the Cape and get out into the Atlantic by mistake.”

Less than twenty minutes later they found themselves in more trouble.
Again the engine stopped, and once more Ralph and Jack, aided by Gif,
began a search for the trouble. They found the supply pipe flowing
freely, and then examined the carburetor, and finally looked over the
wiring.

“I think it’s in the battery,” said Jack, at last, and when the
sparking was tested this proved to be a fact.

The _Fancy_ was equipped with a full set of tools, but, even so, the
boys made a long job of getting the motor to run. In the meanwhile, the
wind had sprung up again, and they found themselves drifting eastward
into the broad and rolling Atlantic.

“Gee, this looks as if we might never get back!” whispered Fred to
Randy.

“Don’t say that, Fred, or you’ll have us all scared to death.”

“It wouldn’t be half so bad if we could only see where we are,” put in
Andy.

“It would be a great deal better if the fog would lift,” came from
Jack. “Then, if we couldn’t get going, we might hoist some sort of
signal of distress.”

The wind now came in irregular puffs, and, having lost her headway, the
_Fancy_ rolled dreadfully and occasionally shipped considerable water.
Several of the boys began to bale the craft while the others continued
to work over the battery.

“Hurrah! She’s going!” announced Jack, at last, and all felt something
of relief when the engine was again running. Then the craft was turned
around and headed once more in the direction of Cape Cod.

With the wind came a regular downpour of rain, yet even this did not
serve to dispel the fog entirely. Try their best, none of the boys
could see more than four or five yards in any direction. They continued
to sound their horn and occasionally use the flashlight.

“We ought to be pretty close to the Cape,” said Jack, as they moved
along cautiously.

“That depends,” answered Ralph. “We may have drifted out into the ocean
a long distance while we were making repairs.”

“We are certainly having our share of hard luck,” was Gif’s comment.
“But, never mind, I guess we’ll be out of it in an hour or two.”

“We can’t get out any too quickly for me,” muttered Spouter, who cared
for the water less than any of the others.

Suddenly Fred uttered a cry which was taken up by the twins. All had
seen something ahead on their left.

“Looked like a small boat to me,” declared the youngest Rover.

“It was a boat! A motor craft something like this one!” declared Randy.

“And it was loaded with boxes,” put in his twin.

“Why in the name of common sense didn’t they toot a horn, or something?”
burst out Ralph. “We might have run right into them!”

“Did you say she was loaded with boxes?” questioned Jack, of his cousin.

“She sure was, Jack.”

“Then maybe she didn’t want to be seen,” answered the young major,
grimly. “Those boxes may have been filled with liquor taken from some
rum ship standing off the coast. I saw in a newspaper only last week
that the rum ships were standing off the coast all the way from Maine
to Florida. All they have to do is to keep outside of the legal limit.”

At the alarm given by Fred, Ralph had stopped the engine again. But now
the trip was once more resumed.

“If that was a boat carrying liquor from some rum-runner to the shore,
perhaps the big vessel isn’t far off,” remarked Jack, a few minutes
later.

The words had scarcely left his lips when all on board the motor boat
saw that something unusual was going on just ahead of them. Before
Ralph could slow down, the _Fancy_ plowed her way between several
small boats, and then struck a glancing blow on the bow of a large
three-masted schooner.

“Hi! what are you doing there?” came in a bellowing tone from out of
the rain and fog.

“It’s a government boat!”

“They’re spying on us!”

“Jump them, boys! Don’t let ’em get away!”

Such were some of the cries uttered by those aboard the strange boats.

In the meanwhile, Ralph had shut off the engine, but the shock of the
collision had thrown most of the lads off their feet. Then, before the
lads could recover, the _Fancy_ was boarded by half a dozen burly men.




                              CHAPTER VI

                          ABOARD THE SCHOONER


“Where are you from?”

“Are you government spies?”

“They look pretty young for spies,” announced one of the men, as he
faced Jack.

“What do you mean by slamming into our boats in this fashion?” roared
one elderly fellow, a man with an ugly scar on his jaw. “Do you want to
send us all to Davy Jones’ Locker?”

“Better search ’em, Jim. They may be heeled,” muttered another.

“Here, what do you fellows want?” demanded Ralph.

“Who are you? Do you own this boat?” questioned the man with a scar.

“It belongs to my father.”

“Where are you from――Hyannis?” asked another of the fellows, quickly.

“Up with your hands, all of you!” commanded the first man who had
spoken.

As several of the men were armed, the boys felt that it would be
useless to resist, so they allowed themselves to be searched. Then
one of the men went into the cabin and found a pistol which belonged
to Ralph. Of course, the Rovers and their chums were very angry; but
they saw that they had an exceedingly rough crowd to deal with――men
who would go to any length to have their own way――so they felt that it
would be useless to resist.

“Carrying any loose change with you, Buddy?” questioned one of the men,
leering into Randy’s face and then glancing down at his watch-chain.

“What do you mean?” answered Randy. “If I’ve got any money I’m not
going to give it to you.”

“Don’t be so sure of that, Buddy. What are you fellows doing out here,
anyway?”

“I think they’re too young to be spies,” said one of the men, who
seemed to be a trifle more respectable than his companions.

“Don’t you be too sure of that, Ike,” was the reply from the man with
the scar. “The government is getting all sorts of people to watch us
lately. They’ve even got some women folks on our trail.”

“Well, if they’re spies, we caught ’em nicely,” came from another of
the crowd.

“We are not spies, and we want you to let us alone,” said Jack. “We
were trying to find our way from Nantucket to Chatham, and we hit you
by mistake. It wouldn’t have happened if you had had a horn blowing. We
sounded our own horn every once in a while.”

“Never heard no horn,” declared one of the men. “You can’t put up a
job on us! I know your sort! We ought to throw the whole bunch of you
overboard!”

It was easy to see that all of the men had been drinking and that
several of them were in anything but an amiable mood. There were three
small boats and each of them was piled high with boxes of liquor of
various brands. Evidently the boxes had come from the three-masted
schooner, for the larger vessel rode high and appeared to be empty.

A war of words followed, lasting ten minutes or more. In vain the Rover
boys and their chums pleaded that their coming upon the rum-runners had
been an accident. One or two of the men seemed willing to believe them,
but the majority of the law-breakers were of the opinion that they were
spies.

“I’ve spotted a motor boat following us two different nights,” said one
of the men. “I’ll bet a new hat this is the same boat. They thought
they would spot us with our cargoes and hand us over to the federal
agents.”

“It isn’t true! Not a word of it!” said Ralph.

“We want you to let us go. Otherwise you’re going to get yourselves
into a lot of trouble,” put in Gif.

These words seemed only to anger the men. They conferred among
themselves, and then one of them, the fellow with the scar, came to
Ralph.

“You go up on the schooner and talk to Captain Gilsen,” said he. “He’s
the fellow to settle this.”

“And the rest of you go up with him,” put in another. “He’ll probably
want to talk to every one of you before he lets you go.”

Somewhat against their will, one after another of the boys was hustled
up a rope ladder that hung over the side of the schooner.

[Illustration: THE BOYS WERE HUSTLED UP THE SIDE OF THE SCHOONER.]

“What of the motor boat? Who is going to take care of that?” questioned
Jack, as he went up.

“We’ll look after the motor boat,” answered the scar-faced man.

Once on the deck of the schooner, Ralph and the others found themselves
confronted by a burly, dark-faced fellow with a fierce moustache. This
was Captain Gilsen.

“Now, I want the straight of this,” the captain said harshly. “No
crooked story for me, understand!”

“We’re telling you the simple truth, Captain,” said Ralph, and then he
and Jack and Gif told their story.

“Humph! Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t,” muttered the captain,
tugging at his moustache. “For all I know, if I let you go, as soon as
you get ashore you’ll get my friends into trouble.”

“Well, you’ll get into trouble if you don’t let us go,” answered Jack
pointedly. “You have no right to detain us.”

“And you have no right to come up and bump into my schooner,” growled
the captain. “For all I know, you’ve done a whole lot of damage.”

“No damage at all outside of a little paint being scraped off,” put in
Gif. “And it was a pure accident. If you had had your horn blowing, it
wouldn’t have happened.”

“Don’t you tell me what I ought to be doing,” stormed Captain Gilsen.
“I was running a ship before you were born. You stay right here until I
talk it over with the other men.”

While the captain was speaking another man had come on deck, rubbing
his eyes and stretching himself as if he had been asleep. He looked at
the boys in surprise, and then, as his gaze fell upon Jack, he uttered
an exclamation.

“What in thunder are you doing here?”

Jack looked at the fellow sharply and then he was equally surprised.
The newcomer was Bill Ferguson, one of the two men who had been pitched
out of the overturned automobile.

“Do you know these fellows?” demanded Captain Gilsen, in astonishment.

“I know this fellow,” was the surly answer. “He’s the one I was telling
you about――the fellow who was riding in the automobile that almost
bumped into Billings and me.”

“What? The same kid? That certainly is interesting!”

“How did he come here?”

“You must have slept mighty hard, Bill, or you wouldn’t ask that
question,” came from the captain of the schooner. “The whole bunch
smashed into us with their motor boat. We don’t know whether they are
spies or what they are.” And then the captain continued: “You watch the
bunch while I talk it over with the other fellows. I want to be sure of
what I’m doing before I let them go.”

The captain walked to the side of the schooner and then went down
the rope ladder to one of the small boats. Here he held an earnest
conversation with those who had first seen the boys.

“Well, I didn’t expect to see you quite so soon,” remarked Bill
Ferguson, with a leer at Jack. “I ought to give you a sound lickin’,
that’s what I ought to do!”

“That accident was your own fault, and you know it,” answered Jack, not
knowing what else to say. “You have no right to blame me for it.”

“Were you runnin’ the car?”

“No. My uncle was doing that.”

“Well, then, he’s the one, I suppose, I ought to blame.”

“Not at all! It was your own fault.”

“Humph! How did you get here?”

Again the story was told, Bill Ferguson listening with deep interest.
He scowled sourly when Jack finished. Then, of a sudden, a crafty look
came into his eyes.

“Where is the motor boat now――tied fast to the schooner?”

“Tied fast to one of the other boats,” put in Ralph.

“Is your motor boat an old one?”

“No, she’s brand new,” answered the young commander of the _Fancy_.

He had scarcely spoken when he realized that he had made a mistake. A
new sea-going motor boat is worth considerable money, and Ralph, as
well as Jack, felt that Ferguson must realize this.

“You stay where you are. I’ll see what the men have to say myself,”
said Bill Ferguson, presently, and strode to the rail.

The boys felt in anything but a comfortable position. They were
outnumbered at least three to one, and all of the rum-runners seemed to
be armed. More than this, as they were on the high seas, the captain of
the schooner would be likely to do about as he pleased.

“Say, Ralph, can’t we jump on the motor boat somehow and get away?”
whispered Gif.

“If we don’t get away, I’m thinking these fellows will rob us,” came
from Randy, who had not forgotten what one of the rascals had said
about money.

“I don’t see how we can get to the motor boat,” was Ralph’s reply. “Do
you think we can make it, Jack?”

The young major shook his head. He felt that it would not be safe to
make the attempt in the fog and with the motor boat bobbing up and down
on the swells of the ocean.

The conversation between Captain Gilsen and the owners of the small
boats lasted for the best part of a quarter of an hour. Then, when
the captain came on deck again, he held another conference with Bill
Ferguson. Later on the Rover boys learned that Ferguson and Gilsen were
not only cousins, but also partners in their illegal traffic.

“I am sorry to say I can’t let you go just yet,” said Captain Gilsen,
when he came back to the lads. “Some of the men are afraid that you are
spies and will get them into trouble. They want a chance to get away
first.”

“You haven’t any right to detain us,” said Ralph.

“Well, I’m taking the right. We’ll tie the motor boat fast to the
schooner, and then you can just sit down and suck your thumbs for an
hour or two.”

“And you can thank your stars you’re gettin’ off so easy,” put in Bill
Ferguson. “I ought to give you a good lickin’, that’s what I ought to
do,” he went on to Jack.

The boys had noted that there were at least six or eight sailors on
board the _Hildegarde_, as the schooner was named. For all they knew,
these men might also be armed, so it would be folly for them to show
any resistance. This being so, they remained on the deck of the craft
while one after another of the smaller boats took their departure. The
_Fancy_ was attached by a long cable to the _Hildegarde_ and was left
in charge of one of the sailors, who seemed to know how to manage such
a craft.

“Now make yourselves at home on deck, but don’t get into mischief,”
said Captain Gilsen to the boys, after the small boats were gone. “I’ve
got a few things to attend to below deck. I’ll be up after a while and
we can talk matters over.”

He and Ferguson went below and in the cabin held a whispered
conversation lasting quite a while. In the meantime, the boys talked
matters over, trying to determine what would be best for them to do.

“We are certainly in a pickle,” was the way Spouter expressed himself.
“Half of the men on this boat look to be regular cutthroats.”

“They’re a bad bunch, you may be sure of that,” answered Jack. “If they
weren’t, they wouldn’t be in any such business.”

“I wonder if we can’t haul the motor boat closer, drop aboard, and get
away,” suggested Andy.

“We might jump overboard and swim for it,” said his brother, “but it
would be mighty cold.”

When Captain Gilsen showed himself again his face wore rather a sickly
smile.

“I’m sorry I have to tell you this,” he said. “But the fact of the
matter is, we’re afraid to trust you to go ashore just at present. We
want to give those other fellows a chance to dispose of their cargo.
If you went ashore, you might spoil everything. So we’ve concluded to
take you along with us until the weather clears off. Then we’ll let you
go.”

“You mean that we’ve got to go with you?” cried Spouter, in dismay.

“That’s it.”

“But suppose we don’t want to go with you?” put in Gif.

At this Captain Gilsen drew himself up.

“You have to go,” he replied curtly. “This is my ship, and what I say
goes!”




                              CHAPTER VII

                          A NIGHT OF ANXIETY


“You mean to tell us we’re prisoners?” demanded Jack, his eyes flashing.

“Not exactly prisoners,” returned Captain Gilsen. “There is no use of
getting so sour about it. This whole happening is your own fault――not
ours. We didn’t invite you to come here and spy on our doings.”

“How long do you want us to remain?” questioned Randy.

“That will depend on how you behave. If you take things easy like,
we’ll let you go just as soon as the weather clears. No use of letting
you go now; you might bump into some of the rest of our ships,” and
again the captain of the _Hildegarde_ tugged at his heavy moustache.

“Well, all I’ve got to say is, this is a mighty high-handed
proceeding,” declared Ralph. “However, you’ve got the best of us, and
I suppose we’ve got to submit. Just the same, I want you to understand
that we are protesting against this whole proceeding.”

“Oh, don’t let ’em give you any guff,” put in Bill Ferguson, who had
followed Captain Gilsen to the deck. “They know they’re in wrong just
as well as we do.”

“How long do you expect to remain in this vicinity?” questioned Fred.

“We’re not going to remain at all, now we’ve discharged our cargo,”
answered the captain.

“You mean to say you are going to carry us off?” cried Gif.

“We won’t carry you very far. We’re headed down the coast, so when we
let you go you’ll be able to get ashore easy.”

A bitter war of words followed, all of the boys insisting upon it that
the captain of the _Hildegarde_ had no right to carry them off in this
fashion. Andy and Randy were strongly in favor of fighting for their
rights; but upon seeing this both the captain and Ferguson showed their
pistols.

“You behave yourselves and act like gentlemen, or else somebody is
going to get hurt,” warned the captain. “This is my ship, and I won’t
stand for any nonsense while you’re on board. Now the whole bunch of
you get forward, and don’t let me hear another word out of you until I
let you go.”

Then, as the boys were forced to retreat in the direction of the
forecastle of the schooner, Captain Gilsen called his mate, a fellow
named Letts, and told him to take charge of the newcomers.

“Watch ’em closely,” the captain ordered. “Don’t give ’em a chance to
arm themselves or put up any kind of a job on us.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll attend to it,” answered Letts. He was a short, stocky
individual and anything but prepossessing in appearance. Later, the
boys learned that he had once been a prize-fighter in England.

A short time later, and while the Rover boys and their chums were
wondering what would happen next, orders were given to hoist the sails
and start up the auxiliary engine, and soon the _Hildegarde_ was moving
away through the fog.

“Which way are you heading?” questioned Ralph, of the mate.

“Down the coast,” was the curt reply. “Now don’t ask more questions.
When the call comes for mess, you can have your share with the men. If
you have to stay on board over night, I’ll have them fix you up somehow
in the fo’castle.”

The lads found the forecastle of the _Hildegarde_ anything but a clean
and sweet-smelling place, and so, after a brief survey, they were glad
to come out on deck again and seek such shelter as they could find in
the fresh air. All of the hands on the rum-runner eyed them curiously,
but said little, having evidently been instructed by Letts not to
become communicative.

“Well, we are certainly in a pickle,” announced Jack, dubiously. “I
must confess I can’t see any way out, either.”

“Nor can I,” came from Gif.

“The worst of it is, there is no telling how long they’ll compel us to
remain on board,” broke in Fred.

“Gee! I wish we had our school rifles here,” remarked Randy. “I think
we could soon show this bunch where they get off!”

“I’d like to put up a fight as well as any of you,” said the young
major. “But I’m satisfied we would get the worst of it. You saw how the
captain and Ferguson drew their pistols at the first sign of trouble.”

“Yes, and those rascals would use the pistols, too!” was Spouter’s
comment. “Both of those skunks are about as hard-boiled as they make
’em.”

“Yes, and the mate and the crew are just as vile,” added Fred.

Not having access to the compass on the ship, the boys had no means
of knowing how the craft was headed. The fog was as thick as ever,
and now the horn was kept sounding as the auxiliary engine drove the
_Hildegarde_ forward, the sails doing little to aid the progress of the
craft.

Presently four bells struck, and one of the hands, a tall, lanky fellow
who had been watching the boys furtively, came to them and announced
that the evening mess was ready.

“You ain’t goin’ to git nothin’ like you’d git at that Astoria-Vanderbilt
Hotel in New York,” he announced, his little eyes twinkling
good-naturedly. “They don’t serve no table de hotie bill of fare on this
schooner. You’ve got to have a cast-iron stomach to stand what you git.”

“I don’t think I care to eat,” announced Ralph. “We had a pretty
substantial lunch on the motor boat.”

“The same here,” said Jack.

“Oh, well, we might as well see what they’ve got,” came from Andy,
whose curiosity was aroused. In spite of the peril, the fun-loving
Rover boy enjoyed the novelty of the situation.

“I think I could go any kind of a cup of coffee, as long as it was
hot,” said his twin.

Led by the tall, lanky sailor, whose name they afterward ascertained
was Ira Small, they sat down at one end of the mess table and were
served with a stew of unknown ingredients, some rye bread and black
coffee.

“This is the snake’s toothbrush, and no mistake!” declared Fred, in
disgust. “I wouldn’t feed the pigs such stuff as this.”

The boys sampled the food, drank a little of the coffee, and then left
the table, several of the hands sneering at them and looking anything
but friendly. These hands had bottles of liquor which were passed
around freely. One offered his bottle to Jack, but the young major
shook his head.

“Thank you, I don’t drink,” he said briefly.

“Don’t drink, eh?” sniffed the sailor. “Well, you don’t know what you
miss.”

Slowly the evening wore away and the _Hildegarde_ kept on her course.
The fog was now lifting slowly, and with this came an increase in the
wind, so that the craft made much better speed than before.

Jack had noted that the tall sailor named Ira Small did not associate
much with the other hands. The fellow was a peculiar sort of individual,
given to talking to himself and to rubbing his chin as if trying to
refresh his memory over something.

“That fellow is a character,” whispered the young major to Ralph. “He
doesn’t seem to belong to this bunch at all. I wonder how he got here.”

“Maybe they shanghaied him, just the way they shanghaied us, Jack.”

“Do you think they’re going to keep us on board long, Ralph?”

“I don’t know. I must confess I don’t like the looks of things at all.”

“Randy has an idea that they’ll rob us of everything we’ve got,” said
Spouter, in a low voice.

“Well, they certainly look like a bunch of thieves, or worse,” returned
Jack.

“I made a mistake by letting that fellow Ferguson know that the _Fancy_
is brand new,” said Ralph. “They’ll have their eyes on her, sure! They
know she is worth quite a bunch of money.”

“Yes, and those rum-runners from shore could use such a motor boat very
nicely,” remarked Randy.

“But if they keep the boat, how are we going to get ashore?” questioned
Fred.

“Oh, maybe they’ll put us ashore in a rowboat,” answered Jack. “It
would be just like them to do it. They may leave us with nothing but
our bare clothing, and they may even take our things and give us some
of their old rags.”

Looking at it from every point of view, it was a disheartening
situation. One instant the boys felt like arming themselves as best
they could and making a break for liberty; but the next, caution
prevailed, and they knew that such a move would bring on a fight that
might prove fatal to one or more of them.

When it came two bells in the first night watch Letts told the boys
they could turn in and showed them where they could sleep in some
vacant bunks and on the floor of the forecastle.

“Aren’t you going to let us go ashore?” questioned Ralph.

“Not to-night. Perhaps we’ll be able to let you go in the morning. You
couldn’t do anything, anyhow, in this heavy fog.”

There was no help for it, and so the boys turned in, although none of
them undressed. In some bunks not far away several sailors were already
snoring lustily, so the boys had to keep quiet for fear of raising a
new row.

It was a night long to be remembered. For some time neither Jack nor
any of the others could go to sleep. All were cudgeling their brains to
think of some way by which they might gain their liberty. But nothing
came to their minds that sounded feasible. At last, worn out by their
exertions, one after another dropped off to sleep, Fred being the last
to close his eyes.

It was early morning when Jack got up. The others were still slumbering,
and as there seemed no need to arouse them, he slipped quietly out of
the forecastle to the deck. It was still raining, but the fog was
clearing away rapidly and a strong wind was blowing from the northeast.
All of the sails of the _Hildegarde_ were set, and the auxiliary engine
was silent.

The oldest Rover boy found only three hands on deck, one of whom was at
the wheel. One of the hands proved to be Ira Small, and the tall, lanky
sailor grinned slightly at him as he came up.

“Got a little sleep, I hope?” said Small, blinking his eyes and rubbing
his chin vigorously.

“Oh, I slept fairly well after I once got to sleep,” answered Jack. “I
was worn out――we had put in such a big day.”

Ira Small looked at him questioningly for several seconds and then
looked up and down the deck to make sure that they were not being
observed. Then he leaned forward impressively, his long neck extending
like that of a duck.

“They ain’t got no right to keep you on board this ship, lad. It’s a
blamed shame, that’s what it is! I wish I could help you and your crowd
to git away.”

“Thank you for that,” said Jack, his eyes lighting up. “I’m glad to
know we have one friend on board this vessel.”

“I reckon I made a big mistake when I shipped with Cap’n Gilsen,” went
on the tall sailor, rubbing one ear and then the other vigorously and
then rubbing his chin. “I knew he was in the rum-runnin’ business, but
I thought I could switch him on to somethin’ worth more money.”

“Where does this schooner hail from?”

“From Jamaica, lad. But don’t you let ’em know I told you,” went on Ira
Small, impressively. “They don’t like me none too well as it is, and
they’d like me still less if they knowed that I was tryin’ to help you
fellows.”

“From Jamaica!”

“That’s it. And the ship’s made two trips since I been on board. I
wanted to desert the first time we come up here with licker, but I
didn’t git no chance. You see, when I shipped, as I said afore, I
thought I could int’rest Cap’n Gilsen in somethin’ that would be worth
more to him than this rum-runnin’ business. But he won’t listen to me.
He thinks I’m crazy.” Ira Small shook his head vigorously and then
rubbed his chin once more. “Well, maybe I am. But just the same, some
day I’m goin’ to find them thirteen rocks.”

“You’re going to find what?” questioned Jack, puzzled.

“I’m goin’ to find them thirteen rocks somewheres down in the West
Indies. I’ve got photygraphs of ’em, and I know jest what they look
like.”

“Thirteen rocks!” repeated Jack. “What good would it do you to find
those thirteen rocks?”

“Ha! That’s jest it!” The sailor closed one eye suggestively, glaring
at the young major with the other. “The thirteen rocks is where the
pirates buried their treasure――thousands and thousands of dollars’
worth!”




                             CHAPTER VIII

                          PLANNING TO ESCAPE


Ira Small glared at Jack in such an impressive manner that the young
major of the Colby Hall battalion was not a little disturbed. He did
not wonder over the fact that Captain Gilsen had thought the sailor
crazy.

“It would be very fine to find the pirates’ treasure,” he returned
briefly. “But just now what I am more interested in is getting away
from this schooner.”

“I don’t blame you, lad! I don’t blame you! It’s a poor place for any
one to be. An’ it’s much worse than it is now when the men git to
drinkin’ and fightin’. I’ve been through it a dozen times, an’ I know!
I was a big fool to ever come on board!”

“Well, why don’t you leave?”

“Easier said nor done, lad. The cap’n knows I don’t want to stay with
him, an’ he an’ the mate watch me like a dog his bone. I’d git away
fast enough if I had the chance.”

“We’ll talk about this again. Don’t say anything about it now,” warned
Jack hastily, as he saw the mate of the _Hildegarde_ approaching,
having just come from below to take his trick at the wheel.

“Where are the other young fellows?” questioned Letts, shortly, as he
gazed suspiciously at Jack and then at the retreating form of Ira Small.

“They haven’t come on deck yet, so I suppose they’re sleeping,”
answered Jack. “Are you ready to let us take our boat and go?” he went
on.

“We may let you go as soon as it clears a bit. But about taking your
motor boat, that’s another story. Bill Ferguson, the captain’s partner,
says he has a claim on it.”

“A claim? I don’t see how that can be!”

“It was you and your uncle who were responsible for smashing up an
automobile with all the liquor aboard.”

“Oh, so that’s his scheme!” cried Jack, his eyes flashing. “He expects
us to settle that bill, does he? Well, I’ll tell you right now, he
has another guess coming to him! He and that fellow with him were
responsible for that accident, and not I――nor my uncle. Besides that,
the boat belongs to Mr. Mason. I have no claim on it.”

“Ferguson says you’re all in together and you’ll have to settle for
that smash-up before you can have that motor boat.”

“What does he put his claim at? Not that I’ve any idea of settling it.”

“He says that it’ll cost at least three hundred dollars to repair the
car, and he lost over a thousand dollars’ worth of liquor.”

“He had no right to be transporting the liquor.”

“Fairy tales, lad! Fairy tales!” answered the mate sarcastically.
“Everybody’s doing it. You’ve got to settle with Ferguson before we let
you take that boat.” And thus speaking the mate walked away to relieve
the man at the wheel.

It must be admitted that the boys were in anything but a happy frame of
mind when they went to get the scanty and badly-cooked breakfast which
was offered to them. Jack had told the others what the mate had said,
and all were justly indignant.

“I believe they’re nothing but a bunch of thieves,” was Fred’s comment.
“This is only an excuse for robbing us of the motor boat.”

“That’s just what I think!” put in Gif. “Gee, I wish we could arm
ourselves in some way and compel these fellows to run the schooner
ashore.”

“I’m sorry I got you into so much trouble, Ralph,” said Jack to his
friend. “I didn’t know that fellow Ferguson would be on board,” and he
grinned.

“It’s not your fault at all, Jack,” returned Ralph, quickly. “That’s
only an excuse to keep the motor boat. I believe these fellows haven’t
any conscience and they will take everything we’ve got before they let
us go.”

“Maybe they won’t let us go even then,” put in Randy. “You know the old
saying, ‘Dead men tell no tales.’ They may take us to sea and drop us
overboard.”

“Great Cæsar, Randy! you’re the cat’s slippers for scaring us to
death,” burst out his twin.

“Oh, I don’t think they’ll go as far as that,” came from Spouter. “They
wouldn’t dare. But they may take everything we’ve got of value, and
then turn us adrift in one of their rowboats.”

“Well, what shall we do?” questioned Jack. “Shall we try to arm
ourselves and fight?”

“It may come to that later, Jack,” answered Ralph. “But just yet I
wouldn’t advise it.”

“Neither would I,” said Gif.

“A fight would only give them an excuse for shooting us down,” remarked
Fred.

Slowly the day passed, and with it went the mist and rain. The wind was
now blowing freely, and the _Hildegarde_ made good progress on her
course. The boys were not given a chance to look at the compass, but,
by the sun, knew they must be heading southward. Not a speck of land
was anywhere in sight.

“That shows they didn’t go down the coast as they said they would,”
said Jack, about the middle of the afternoon.

“Where do you suppose they’re bound for?”

“Perhaps they’re going straight back to Jamaica,” suggested Spouter.

“Or to some other island of the West Indies where they can get another
supply of liquor,” added Randy.

“I’m going to the stern and take a look at the motor boat,” said Ralph.

“Maybe they won’t let you go to the stern,” said Andy.

“I’ll soon find out.”

“Ralph certainly has a right to look after his own boat,” put in Gif.
“Gosh! these chaps are carrying things with a high hand,” he added,
with a serious shake of his head.

“On the high seas a captain’s word is law,” said Fred. “So this fellow
takes it for granted he can do as he pleases.”

“I wish a revenue cutter would show up,” came from Spouter.

“I guess we all wish that,” answered Jack, with a faint smile.

“Oh, if we could only have the whole crowd placed under arrest!”
muttered Randy.

All of the boys walked toward the stern of the schooner, but speedily
found themselves confronted by Captain Gilsen and Bill Ferguson. One of
the sailors was now at the wheel.

“Where you going?” demanded the commander of the _Hildegarde_, curtly.

“I wanted to take a look at my motor boat to see if it was all right,”
answered Ralph.

“The motor boat is all O. K., and I’m claimin’ it,” came from Bill
Ferguson. “I’m goin’ to keep it for the damage done to my auto and the
liquor I was carryin’.”

“I had nothing to do with that accident, and the motor boat belongs to
my father,” answered Ralph.

“See here! You keep a civil tongue in your head, or there’ll be trouble
on this schooner,” bellowed Ferguson. “All of you fellows are in this
together, and I guess one is about as responsible as another. Better
make ’em go forward, Cap’n, and behave themselves,” he added to his
partner.

“I want the motor boat, and I want it right now,” answered Ralph. “The
storm has cleared away, and we want to go ashore.”

“You talk like that to me, and the next thing you know you’ll be in the
ship’s brig!” roared Captain Gilsen. “We’re on the high seas now, and
I’m in command here. Every one of you get forward, and be quick about
it! I’ll let you know when you can go ashore.”

“All right, we’ll go forward,” answered Ralph, stiffly. “Just the same,
I want you to understand that you’re laying up a lot of trouble for
yourself.”

Another war of words followed, several of the hands, and likewise the
mate, coming to the scene to look on. In the end, there was almost a
pitched battle, the captain shaking his fist in the boys’ faces and
threatening them with all sorts of punishment if they did not behave
themselves and do exactly as he ordered. Ferguson also took part in the
argument, and even grabbed Jack by the arm.

“You thought you could get away from me; but you can’t,” he said, with
a leer. “You’re goin’ to pay good and plenty for that auto wreck.”

“Let go of my arm!” returned Jack, and gave the fellow a shove that
sent him backward against the ship’s rail. At this Ferguson became
furious, and would have drawn a pistol had not the mate of the
_Hildegarde_ interposed.

“No use of fighting now,” he said. “We’ve got a better way of squaring
accounts,” and he looked suggestively at Ferguson.

“All right. Just as you say,” was the surly response. “But that young
cub has got to be taught a lesson, and I’m the man to teach it to him.”

This quarrel made the position of the boys more uncomfortable than
ever. They moved forward while several of the sailors jeered at them.
Evidently the whole crowd was against the lads, the single exception
being Ira Small. The tall, lanky sailor had some work to do, and this
he did without taking part in the discussion or what followed.

“Where do you suppose we are?” asked Fred, after another hour had
passed and the breeze seemed to be stronger than ever.

“I think we’re somewhere off the Jersey coast,” answered Ralph. “But
how far east I can’t tell. There isn’t a sign of land anywhere.”

Slowly the hours dragged by, the boys not knowing what to think of the
situation.

“I wonder if we can’t get aboard the motor boat to-night,” said Randy.
“Of course, we’d have to be very careful about it. But if she is tied
on behind, why couldn’t we slip down on the cable, one after another,
and get aboard?”

“That might be all right,” said Jack. “But we’d have to take some grub
along, and we’d have to be sure that we had gasoline.”

It was not until evening that Jack had another opportunity to talk to
Ira Small.

“See here, Small,” he said, when they met in the semi-darkness, “if you
want to leave the _Hildegarde_, why don’t you come aboard the motor
boat with us?”

“I’d like to do it first rate,” answered the sailor, in a whisper. “But
we’d have to be mighty careful or they’d be sure to spot us.”

“Do you think we could get hold of any provisions and some water to
drink?”

“It might be done, lad. But we’d have to be mighty careful, I’ll tell
you. If they saw any of us runnin’ away they’d shoot at us as sure as
I’m standin’ here.”

“What about gasoline? Have they any on board?”

“Yes; they’ve a couple o’ barrels. You see, sometimes those small boats
from shore have to hang around a long time to keep out o’ the way of
revenue cutters. Then they use up their gasoline, and they’re glad
’nough to git a new supply from the schooner.”

“Where is the gasoline kept?”

“In the oil room up in the bow.”

“Locked up?”

“Yes. But the lock ain’t o’ much account, and could easy be broke.”

“What about grub?”

“To tell the truth, I don’t think we could git a-hold of much. But we
might git some――’nough to last, say, a day or two.”

“And water?”

“Yes, we could git water easy ’nough.”

“Could we make it to-night?” asked Jack, eagerly.

“Better not try it to-night, lad. After what happened on deck this
afternoon, you’ll be watched close. Better take it easy and pretend
you’re waitin’ for what may turn up. It may be they’ll let you go
to-morrow.”

“I don’t think they will,” answered Jack. “But if they do, do you want
to go with us?”

“I’ll go if I kin make it,” answered Ira Small. “P’r’aps I kin drop
overboard quiet like and git aboard the motor boat without their seein’
me.”

“Is anybody aboard the motor boat now?” questioned Jack, suddenly.

“Oh, no. She comes along all right alone, so the sailor who was on
board come back to the ship.”

“Well, Small, you stick to us, and we’ll stick to you. You help us
escape, and you shall be well rewarded.”

“I don’t want no reward. I want to git square with Cap’n Gilsen an’ his
bunch,” answered Ira Small. “I’d like to git away in the motor boat an’
blow the _Hildegarde_ to kingdom come. That bunch of critters on board
this ship ain’t fit to live.”

“Well, I’ll see you again about this,” said Jack, as he noted the
approach of Letts.

“All right, lad. I’ll be ready at the first chance. I want to git away
just as quick as you do. I want to git back to the West Indies an’
spot the thirteen rocks. I’m after pirates’ gold!” concluded the lanky
sailor, as he stalked away hastily.




                              CHAPTER IX

                             ANOTHER PLOT


Before they retired for the night, the boys talked the situation over
once more.

“I don’t see why we can’t make a break for it,” grumbled Randy. “We can
wait until about two or three o’clock in the morning. Nearly everybody
will be sound asleep by that time, and we could steal to the stern and
get to the motor boat by the cable without half trying.”

“Yes! But how about grub?” questioned Fred.

“And how about gasoline?” put in Ralph. “We couldn’t run very long on
the supply that was left when we were captured. We were running mighty
low, and I was afraid we would go short before we got out of the fog.”

“You’ve got to remember one thing,” observed Spouter. “If they found
us trying to steal away in the darkness, they’d have no mercy on us.
They’d probably handcuff us and throw us in the ship’s brig and feed us
the poorest food they have on board.”

“Yes, and they’d probably steal everything we’ve got in the bargain,”
came from Gif.

In the end they resolved to take Ira Small’s advice and wait at least
another day.

All of the other lads had listened with interest to what Jack had told
them about the lanky sailor’s yarn of thirteen rocks and the pirates’
hidden gold.

“It might not be such a fairy tale as you think,” said Fred. “If you’ll
remember, the pirates of years gone by hid lots of gold and other
treasure on out-of-the-way islands of the West Indies.”

“Yes, but that was a good many years ago,” answered Jack.

“I don’t care. I was reading in a newspaper only a short while ago
about a hunt being made along the South American coast for a treasure
said to have been secreted there by one of the notorious buccaneers.”

“Oh, we’ve all read such yarns,” put in Gif. “There may be some
pirates’ gold somewhere. But I’ll wager it’s so well hidden it will
never be brought to light. Why, folks have been digging for Captain
Kidd’s gold ever since I can remember.”

“I wonder what he means by thirteen rocks?” mused Andy.

“There must be thirteen rocks around the place――maybe pointed ones,”
said Jack.

“In that case, if I ever get down to the West Indies I’m going to keep
my eyes open for the lucky thirteen,” grinned Randy.

The sea air made the boys drowsy, and although several of them thought
to keep awake, almost before they knew it each of them was sound
asleep. Nor did any of them rouse up until the golden sun was peeping
up over the eastern rim of the ocean.

“Gosh, what a disagreeable smell around here!” muttered Gif, as he
arose and stretched himself. “It makes my head ache.”

“That’s funny. I’ve got a headache myself,” replied Jack, who sat on
the edge of one of the rough bunks, rubbing his eyes. “I feel just as
if I’d been in a swing, or something like that.”

“Maybe we’re getting seasick,” came dismally from Fred. He, too, had
just arisen, and his face was unusually pale while he seemed to breathe
with difficulty.

“Say, Fred, you certainly look odd!” cried Jack. “Do you really think
you’re getting seasick?”

“I don’t know,” was the slow response from the youngest Rover. “I never
felt so queer in my life,” he went on, as he took a few staggering
steps around the forecastle. “Guess I need a little fresh air. It’s
dreadfully close in here.”

“It can’t be so very late,” said Ralph. He felt for his watch, and then
uttered an exclamation. “My watch is gone!” He thrust his hands into
his pockets. “My money is gone, too, and so are my keys! Everything is
gone!”

Jack and the others gazed at Ralph in astonishment. Then simultaneously
they felt in their own pockets.

“My watch is gone too!”

“So is mine!”

“My diamond scarf pin is gone!”

“So is my ruby ring!”

“I’m cleaned out of everything!”

“Gee, fellows! they’ve robbed us!” groaned Randy. “They took everything
we carried while we were asleep.”

“How could they do that without some of us waking up?” questioned
Spouter. “We don’t all sleep like logs at once, do we?”

“I’ve got it!” exclaimed Jack. “Don’t you remember that funny smell
we noticed when we first awoke? I’ll bet five dollars to a cent they
drugged us!”

“That’s it!” broke in Ralph, eagerly. “Sure they did! That’s the smell
of chloroform. I know, for we used it once when dad chloroformed our
old sick cat.”

The others felt that their chum was right, and everybody boiled with
indignation over this new indignity that had been heaped upon them.

“I wish I had a shotgun――I’d show them a thing or two!” cried Jack, his
eyes blazing wrathfully. “Captain Gilsen and his gang are nothing but a
bunch of pirates!”

“Maybe the captain didn’t do it. This may be the work of Ferguson or
Letts, or some of the others,” remarked Spouter.

But the others could not agree with this. They were of the opinion that
the theft had been committed by those in authority on board the craft.
Nevertheless, they took it upon themselves to question several of the
sailors who were just arising.

“I ain’t got any of your stuff, Buddy,” growled one of the men. “And
don’t you say I have, either, or I’ll knock your block off,” and he
glared wickedly at the boys.

“If you’ve been robbed, go to the cap’n with your yarn,” said another.

“I will go to the captain!” returned Jack. “I’m not going to stand for
any such treatment any longer!”

“And I’m with you!” broke in Randy. “Come on, let’s arm ourselves!”

The boys were thoroughly aroused, and each looked around the forecastle
for something which might be used as a weapon.

“Take my advice and go slow, you kids,” growled one of the sailors.
“The cap’n and Ferguson and Letts go well heeled, and they’d jest as
lief fill you full of holes as not. You’ve seen a little roughness so
far, but you haven’t seen nothin’ of what might happen if you got those
men worked up. The cap’n won’t stop at nothin’ when he’s roused up.”

Nevertheless, the boys left the forecastle, each armed with a stick or
a spike, or whatever came to hand.

Just as they came on deck they ran into Ira Small. The lanky sailor
looked at the weapons they carried, and then shook his head dubiously.

“Don’t you do it. Throw them clubs away,” he whispered hoarsely. “If
you start a fight you’ll git the worst of it and spile everything. Take
a meek-like way. Pretend you ain’t got no backbone――that you’re scared
stiff――and then maybe we’ll git a chance to outwit ’em. I know how I
can git some grub and the gasoline you want,” he went on impressively.
Then, as he saw the mate approaching, he hurried back to where he had
been busy coiling up some ropes.

“What’s the meaning of this?” demanded the mate, coming to a halt and
eyeing the clubs and other things the boys carried.

“We were robbed last night, and we want to know who did it,” answered
Jack, coldly.

“Robbed! What do you mean?” and the mate tried to put on an air of
innocence.

“While we were asleep our watches, money and everything else was taken
away from us,” said Randy.

“I don’t know anything about that,” replied the mate. “But you listen
to me,” he went on sternly. “Drop those things, or it’ll be the worse
for you.”

“I want to talk to Captain Gilsen and to that fellow Ferguson,” said
Jack.

“They’re both asleep. You can’t see ’em.”

Some bitter words followed, and it was all the boys could do to keep
themselves from pouncing upon the mate and giving him the thrashing
they felt he deserved. In the midst of the talking, Captain Gilsen and
Ferguson appeared, each carrying a pistol.

“You boys get forward and stay there, and no more nonsense!” roared the
captain, when they had again mentioned the robbery. “If I hear another
word out of you, I’ll put you in the brig.”

“Oh, dear, this is dreadful!” exclaimed Andy, and suddenly burst out
crying, much to the amazement of the others. But when he had his back
turned on the captain and the other enemies, he winked at his twin and
at Fred.

“Cry!” he whispered. “Cry for all you’re worth! Make ’em think we’re
licked bad. Then they won’t watch us.”

Catching the cue, Fred began to blubber, and Randy followed suit. At
first the others were amazed, but then they saw through the trick, and
all suddenly looked glum.

“It ain’t fair,” whined Jack, in tearful tones. “It ain’t fair at all,
Captain Gilsen. I think you ought to let us go.”

“I want to go home!” groaned Gif. “I want to go home!”

“We didn’t do anything to you,” said Spouter, mournfully.

“Some day you’ll catch it! You see if you don’t!” bewailed Ralph,
and the seven boys retreated slowly to the forward deck of the
_Hildegarde_, acting as if thoroughly cowed.

“I reckon they’ve learned their little lesson,” was Captain Gilsen’s
comment. “I thought I could break ’em sooner or later. I’ll bet in
another day they’ll be willing to eat out of my hand.”

“I’ve got another scheme,” said Ferguson, a few minutes later, when the
boys were out of hearing. “Perhaps we can make a barrel of money out of
this.”

“How so?”

“It looks to me as if those boys came from pretty wealthy families.
They wear good clothes and they all had fine jewelry and plenty of
spendin’ money. Don’t you think their folks would pay a good price to
have the boys back home safe and sound?”

“You mean hold them for a ransom, Bill?”

“Why not? That has been done before, and folks have paid handsome, too.”

“Humph! I hadn’t thought of that, but it might be worth considering,”
answered the captain of the _Hildegarde_, pulling meditatively at his
moustache.

“It would be a dead easy thing to do,” continued Ferguson. “We could
sail the schooner over to one o’ those little islands where nobody
lives and git ’em to sign letters askin’ their folks to pay up to have
’em released. Why, say, Cap’n, we might make thousands of dollars out
of it――a good deal more’n we ever made out o’ the liquor business.”

“Yes, but think of the risk we’d be running. It’s a big crime to kidnap
people like that.”

“Well, look at the risk we run gettin’ liquor into the States. Some day
those revenue cutters will open fire on us and maybe blow us to pieces.”

“Let’s find out a little more about the boys,” said Captain Gilsen,
after a moment’s thought. “If their folks are real well off, it might
pay to do as you say. I think the crew will stand for it all right
enough, and I know Letts would be all right――he’s been mixed up in
half-a-dozen shady transactions.”

“Why, say! just look at what we might make out of it,” cried Ferguson,
his eyes glistening greedily. “If we got only ten thousand dollars for
the safe delivery of each boy, that would amount to seventy thousand
dollars!”

“Humph! If their folks are really wealthy, perhaps we can get two
or three times that amount out of ’em, Bill,” returned the captain,
tugging on his moustache more fiercely than ever. “If we go into this
at all, we might as well do it right. Of course, we’d run a big risk,
but a hundred thousand dollars――or maybe two hundred thousand――isn’t to
be sneezed at.”




                               CHAPTER X

                        IRA SMALL’S REVELATIONS


“Andy, I never knew you could cry so cheerfully,” remarked Jack, when
the boys were once more by themselves and were sure that no outsiders
were observing them.

“He’d make a hit on the vaudeville stage,” came from Spouter. “Gosh!
when he first started I thought he was really crying.”

“So did I,” added Gif. “And I didn’t know what to make of it, for Andy
isn’t built that way.”

“Now we’ve started to appear as if we are half scared to death, I
suppose we’ve got to keep it up,” remarked Randy.

“Sure we’ve got to keep it up,” answered Jack, promptly. “It’s a good
stunt. We have to hand it to that sailor, Small. He certainly had the
right idea.”

“Maybe he isn’t as crazy as some people think,” said Fred. “Lots of
people are peculiar, but that doesn’t make them insane.”

“Well, we didn’t find out anything about the things that were stolen,”
remarked Ralph.

“If we leave the schooner, we’ll probably have to leave those things
behind,” said Fred. “It’s a shame! I’d like to sneak into the cabin
some time and take a look around.”

“So would I!” came simultaneously from the twins.

“I don’t blame you,” answered Jack. “Just the same, please remember
that if we want to get away from this schooner soon, we’ve got to be
mighty careful about what we do. If they discover us in any underhand
work, they’ll come down on us like a thousand of brick.”

While the boys talked the matter over near the bow of the schooner,
Captain Gilsen, Ferguson and Letts held a conference in the cabin of
the _Hildegarde_.

“That sounds pretty good to me,” said the mate, after Ferguson had
unfolded the plan already broached to the captain. “Of course, we might
have a lot of trouble communicating with those boys’ folks, and more
trouble getting them to pay up, but I think it could be done.”

“Of course it could be done!” replied Captain Gilsen, tugging on his
moustache as usual. “I’ve been thinking it over hard, and I’m sure I
know just where we can take ’em; a small island off the coast of Porto
Rico. From there we can easily get into communication with the mainland
and send out telegrams to their folks.”

“Those boys may cut up pretty wild when they understand what is going
on,” remarked the mate.

“I don’t think they will,” answered Ferguson. “We’ve got ’em pretty
well cowed.”

“How you going to keep them from pestering us about going ashore with
the motor boat?”

“We’ll concoct a story that the revenue cutters are after us, and that
we’ve got to keep pretty well out to sea,” was the reply. “We can tell
’em that it’s too rough ’way out there for the motor boat and that
they’ll be safer aboard the schooner.”

Thereafter the three men went into an earnest discussion of the subject
and finally decided that they would go into the scheme on equal shares
and that each would assume an equal risk.

“We can easily buy up the whole crew,” said Letts. “I think a hundred
dollars to each man will fix it up.”

“There’s only one fellow I don’t trust, and that’s Small,” said Captain
Gilsen. “He’s a first-class hand, but there’s something about him I
don’t like.”

“Oh, don’t worry about Small. We can easily manage him,” sneered the
mate. “Why, that fellow is half crazy. He’s talking about pirates’ gold
and that sort of rot all the time. Just promise him that you’ll go
after that treasure after this affair is taken care of, and he’ll be
all right.”

Then the three men discussed the subject of whether or not it would be
advisable to treat the boys better than had been done.

“They’re not common sailors, or anything like that,” remarked Letts.
“I suppose it galls ’em to be herded in the fo’castle. Maybe they’d
take it better if we gave ’em accommodations in the cabin, although how
we’re going to crowd ’em in, I don’t see.”

“Not a bit of it!” howled Ferguson. “I don’t believe in bein’ nice to
’em! Treat ’em rough――that’s my way! Treat ’em rough!”

“I think Bill is right,” said the captain. “If we continue to treat ’em
rough, they’ll be easier to handle when it comes to writing letters
home in order to obtain their release. We’ll scare them out of their
wits.”

“And on the other hand, if they agree to do everything we tell ’em, we
can promise that they’ll get back everything we took away from ’em,”
added Ferguson. “Of course, we don’t have to give the things back, but
we can promise it,” and he leered wickedly at his companions.

However, there was one thing the plotters did do, somewhat to the boys’
surprise. When the call came to dinner they found that Captain Gilsen
had given orders that they have one of the tables in the forecastle to
themselves. And on this the meal served was a decided improvement over
those previously supplied.

“This is something like,” said Randy, as he tasted the stew and then
sipped some of the coffee. “It shows the cook knows his business when
he wants to.”

“Those men have got something up their sleeve or they wouldn’t be
giving us this food,” returned Jack, suspiciously.

“Perhaps they’re getting a little bit scared over what may be coming to
them,” said Gif.

“No, I don’t believe it’s that, Gif,” returned the young major.

It was not until late in the afternoon that Letts came up to where Jack
and Ralph were standing and smiled rather dubiously at them.

“We’re in a hole, and you fellows have got to stand for it,” said the
mate. “We thought we could run closer to land and let you take your
motor boat and go ashore. But we saw some signals a while back, and
we’ve got to change our plan entirely.”

“Signals?” queried Ralph. “What sort of signals? I didn’t see anything.”

“No; because you weren’t looking in the right direction and because you
didn’t have a spy-glass,” returned Letts. “The captain got signals that
two revenue cutters are searching for us. So instead of going inshore
we’re going out.”

“What do you mean――out on the ocean?” demanded Jack, quickly.

“That’s it, lad. And we intend to keep out until we’re sure the coast
is clear. Besides that, we’ll be better off outside, I think, because
another storm is coming.”

The boys did not know whether to believe the mate of the _Hildegarde_
or not. However, there was nothing they could do to improve matters, so
they did not argue with him. They had already noted that the sun was
going under some heavy clouds and that the breeze was freshening.

“They’ve certainly got something up their sleeve regarding us,” said
Jack, when he and Ralph were telling the others what the mate had said.

“Well, it doesn’t look as if we can do anything about getting away
to-night,” said Fred. “I just had a chance to talk to Ira Small, and he
said it wouldn’t be any use――that we’re too far out on the Atlantic
and that the storm is coming up fast.”

“I wonder what they’ll do with the motor boat if the storm gets very
heavy!” cried Ralph. “Maybe they’ll cut it adrift!”

“They won’t want to throw away such a valuable craft unless it becomes
absolutely necessary,” returned Jack. “I think those fellows are out
for every dollar they can get――their robbing us proves it!”

By the time the boys went to supper the wind was blowing strongly and
the _Hildegarde_ was pitching and tossing on the broad bosom of the
Atlantic.

“It’s goin’ to be a real storm, to my way o’ thinkin’,” said Ira Small,
when he had a chance to speak to the lads. “You kin be thankful you’re
not out in it in your motor boat. That craft couldn’t make much headway
in sech a sea as the wind is kickin’ up.”

“Have they done anything about the motor boat?” questioned Ralph.

“Yes, they’ve covered her with a tarpaulin and hitched her on with a
cable that’s twice as long and three times as strong as the first one
was. I reckon they’re goin’ to save her if they possibly kin, no matter
how hard it blows.”

“Where do you think we are, Small?”

“We’re jest about east o’ Cape Hatteras. An’ lemme tell you, that’s
some place to be in when a storm comes.”

“Yes, we’ve heard all about Cape Hatteras and the awful storms they
have in that vicinity,” said Fred. “Gee, maybe this old tub will go to
the bottom!”

That night on the _Hildegarde_ proved to be one the boys never forgot.
The wind seemed to blow stronger and stronger until the vessel was
rolling and pitching in a manner that made it dangerous to cross the
deck. Nearly every stitch of canvas had been taken in, only enough
being left set to give the schooner steerage way. There were several
showers, but nothing in the way of a heavy downpour, and what little
there was of thunder and lightning kept in the distance.

“Well, I’m mighty thankful we’re not out in the motor boat,” remarked
Randy.

“So am I,” answered Fred. “I don’t believe we could do a thing in such
a wind as this.”

“Do you notice that it is not as cold as it was?” remarked Jack. “This
breeze is quite warm.”

“That’s because it is coming from the south,” answered Spouter. “You
must remember that the farther south we go, the warmer it’s going to
be.”

“If we’re off Cape Hatteras we’re a good way from home,” put in Ralph.
“Hang the luck, anyhow! Why did we have to run into these miserable
bootleggers?”

By midnight the storm was at its height. Sleep for the boys was out
of the question, and they huddled together near the door of the
forecastle, talking in low tones and wishing for daylight to come.

“It sure is a humdinger of a night!” exclaimed Ira Small, when he came
in from his watch on deck. “The sea is gettin’ worse an’ worse ev’ry
minute.”

“How long do you think this storm will last, Small?” questioned Jack.

“Can’t say, lad. It may blow itself out by mornin’, and it may last
two or three days. We ain’t in the worst of it――the worst seems to be
farther down the coast.”

To the dismay of the boys, the storm at daybreak was as bad as ever.
The sea was now running strong and the _Hildegarde_ could hardly keep
on her course despite the fact that some sail was set and the auxiliary
engine was being used.

The storm seemed to have a bad effect on the sailors. As much as
possible they remained in the forecastle, and three or four of them
insisted upon drinking heavily. Soon there was a violent quarrel, and
one man was hit on the head with a bottle and knocked unconscious. Then
the captain and the mate were called in, and two of the sailors were
placed in irons until they could sober up.

“I must say I’m disgusted with the bunch sailing with me,” said Captain
Gilsen to Ferguson, after the quarrel had quieted down. “If we can make
that bunch of money we spoke about out of those kids, I’ll be willing
to discharge every one of them.”

“Well, we’d better hold ’em together the best we can until we’ve put
our plan through,” answered Ferguson.

All day long and the following night the wind kept up, and the
_Hildegarde_ had all it could do to keep on its course. But to the
delight of the boys, they learned that the motor boat was still in tow
and right side up.

“The tarpaulin kep’ most o’ the water out,” explained Ira Small. “I
think she’ll be as good as ever when the storm clears away.”

“Let’s get what sleep we can,” said Jack, to his chums. “All of the
others on board the schooner will be worn out because of the storm.
Then, when it calms down, they’ll want to sleep, and that maybe will
give us a chance to see what we can do.”

It was not until the following afternoon, when the storm had subsided
and matters were running fairly smooth, that Ira Small sidled up to
Jack, Ralph and Gif, who chanced to be standing near the forward rail.

“I’ve got hold o’ that gasoline, and I know how I kin git some grub and
water,” whispered the lanky sailor hoarsely. “How about it? Do you want
to make a try for it to-night?”

“Do you think it would be safe, Small?” questioned Ralph.

“You know more about that there motor boat nor I do, but if I was you
boys, I’d not stay on this here schooner a minute longer’n I had to. I
jest heard somethin’ that you young fellows might like to hear.”

“What is that, Small?” asked Jack.

“If I tell you, will you promise not to give me away? If they found out
I told you, they might kill me.”

“We won’t say a word,” said Gif, quickly. “What have you learned?”

“I’ve learned that they ain’t goin’ to let you go nohow,” answered the
lanky sailor. “They’re goin’ to take you to some island where they’ll
hold you prisoners till your folks pay a whole barrel o’ money to
ransom you.”




                              CHAPTER XI

                              THE ESCAPE


“Hold us prisoners?” burst out several of the boys in chorus.

“That’s what, lads. I had a little work to do at the stern, and I
overheard a talk between Ferguson and the mate. They got it all fixed
with the cap’n to hold you till your folks pay a whole lot of money to
have you set free.”

“The rascals!” cried Jack, indignantly. “I knew they had something up
their sleeve! I said so several times!”

“I guess the quicker we make a break for liberty the better,” put in
Gif.

“I’ll not stay on this schooner another night if I can possibly help
it!” was the way Ralph expressed himself.

“Are you sure you can get the gasoline and the grub and water?”
questioned Fred, hopefully.

“Yes, lad. But, of course, some o’ you have got to help me.”

“We’ll all help!” came eagerly from Randy. “Just tell us how we can
work it.”

“I’ve found out where they keep the key to the oil room, and I’ve found
two empty ten-gallon cans which can be filled with gasoline. There is
plenty of water, and we can put it into anything that comes handy.”

“What about grub?” questioned Ralph.

“That’s goin’ to be the hardest part of it; but there is a good store
of everything in the cook’s galley, and I think we kin git in there and
help ourselves after he turns in. Of course we’ll have to be mighty
careful. If the cap’n caught me tryin’ to git away, he might shoot me
down as a deserter,” went on the lanky sailor, solemnly.

After that the boys, although trying outwardly to appear calm, were
keyed up to the utmost excitement. They looked around the forecastle
for some things which might hold drinking water and found a dozen or
more bottles and likewise the corks that had been in them. Then they
found a jug containing some vile-smelling liquor.

“We can empty that jug when the time comes and fill that with water
also,” said Ralph. “We can tie it fast to the cable and let it slide
down to the motor boat.”

“Gee, that’s an idea!” said Andy. “Maybe we can slide some other things
down, too. Then we can cut the cable and haul the stuff on board.”

“I wish we had some chloroform to use on the whole bunch,” said Fred.
“Then maybe they wouldn’t wake up until well in the morning, and by
that time we might be out of sight.”

That evening all of the boys ate frugally, stowing away as much of the
meal as they could in their pockets. Andy also watched his chance, and
took half a loaf of bread from one of the other tables which the cook
had served.

After another conference with Ira Small, it was decided that Jack and
Ralph should aid the sailor in getting the gasoline. The others were to
watch their chance and enter the cook’s galley and confiscate anything
they could lay hands on in the way of food.

“And don’t forgit the water,” warned Ira Small. “On the ocean that’s
more important than something to eat.”

“We know all about that,” answered Fred.

It was not until nearly midnight that the boys managed to crawl forth
from the forecastle one by one. Several of the sailors were asleep
close by, and the lads felt that all might be lost if any of these were
awakened.

“I’m going to arm myself,” whispered Ralph. “And if anybody starts
anything, I’m going to try to knock him in the head.”

The others thought this a good suggestion, and in the end every lad
picked up whatever was handy in the way of a weapon. Then, watching
their chance, one crowd made its way to the cook’s galley while the
other slunk like shadows to the oil room at the bow.

It proved an easy matter to open the door of the oil room with the key
Ira Small had found. But it was not near so easy to run the gasoline
from one of the barrels into the two ten-gallon cans. They did not dare
make a light for fear of an explosion, and it was difficult to work in
the darkness.

But at last they had the cans filled and then Ira Small led the way to
the deck once more.

“Now each of you follow me and carry one of the cans,” he said. “I’ll
go ahead an’ see if the coast is clear. Don’t make no noise.”

As silently as a ghost the lanky sailor moved toward the stern of the
schooner, on the lookout for any one who might be on deck. Not far
behind him came the two boys, each struggling with his ten-gallon can
of gasoline, a weight by no means light.

“Now go slow,” whispered Small, as he stepped back and brought the lads
to a halt. “I don’t believe that fellow at the wheel is more’n half
awake, but we don’t want to disturb him.”

As silently as possible, Ralph and Jack followed Small up the few steps
leading to the stern deck. There in the semi-darkness they saw one of
the sailors leaning heavily on the wheel. He had been drinking freely
that evening, and for that reason was not near as alert as he might
otherwise have been.

As they passed the cabin they saw the swinging lamp was turned low, but
no one was in sight, and they reasoned that the captain and the mate,
as well as Ferguson, had retired.

In the meantime, the other boys had made their way to the cook’s
galley. It was so dark inside that they could not see a thing, and so
were compelled to light one of some matches which Randy had obtained
from Small. Then they found a candle and lit this, shading it with
their hands so that it might not let out any more light than was needed.

“Here’s a pan of baked beans,” whispered Fred. “What about taking
those?”

“Fine――if we can carry them,” answered Spouter.

“Here are some old flour bags. Why can’t we put some of the stuff in
those?” suggested Fred, bringing the bags forward.

“A good idea, Fred!” said Andy. “Let’s put all the stuff in bags; then
we can tie it over our shoulders and thus keep it out of the water as
much as possible when we slide down that cable to the _Fancy_.”

In a very few minutes the boys had collected a miscellaneous lot of
food, including the beans, several loaves of bread, some biscuits, some
canned vegetables, bacon, butter, cheese, coffee, condensed milk, sugar
and some dried fruit. Everything was placed in the empty bags and in a
bit of sail cloth they found tacked up over some shelves.

“Now I guess we’ve got about all we can carry,” whispered Gif. “We
don’t want to overload ourselves nor stop ourselves from making a quick
get-away.”

The boys were on the point of leaving the galley with their spoils when
suddenly they heard a noise outside and a moment later a burly form
darkened the doorway.

“Who’s knockin’ round in my galley?” demanded the voice of the colored
cook. “You-all ain’t got no right to take no food, and you know it! You
had your supper. Now you got to wait for breakfas’. Come out o’ there!”

The boys were so taken by surprise that for the instant they did not
know what to do. Then Gif whispered to Spouter:

“Let’s try to capture him. If he raises an alarm, we’ll never get away.”

“All right. Let’s jump him, boys!” called out Spouter to the others,
and then leaped upon the cook, and Gif followed.

The colored cook was as much surprised as the boys had been, and before
he could recover from his astonishment he found himself dragged into
the galley and five boys doing their best to bear him to the floor.

“Hi! Hi!” he sputtered. “What you-all up to? Stop that! Let go of me!”

“Shut up! Don’t dare make a sound!” whispered Gif, in his ear. “Shut
up!”

“Who is you?” questioned the cook. “Is you one o’ those boys we done
took aboard the other day?”

“If you don’t keep quiet, we’ll heave you overboard,” added Fred,
although he had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

“Chile, chile! don’t heave me overboard!” groaned the cook. “I can’t
swim! Let go of me! I ain’t done nothin’!”

During their days on the schooner the boys had noticed a small hatch
only a few feet from the door to the galley. This hatch had been open
to ventilate the hold, and Gif had looked down to find the spot beneath
empty.

“You keep quiet,” he ordered, and then he said to his chums: “I know
what to do with him. As soon as I tell you to come out, bring him
along. And somebody had better put his hand over the fellow’s mouth for
fear he may start to yell.”

Slipping outside, Gif made his way to the small hatch and raised it.
Then he called softly to the others, and they came outside, dragging
the cook with them. Randy had his hand over the fellow’s mouth, and it
must be confessed that the colored cook was thoroughly frightened.

“Drop him down the hatchway, quick!” ordered Gif.

Without ceremony, this command was carried out, and the poor colored
cook found himself shooting through utter darkness, to land in a heap
in the hold of the schooner. Then the boys replaced the hatch and ran
back into the galley to get the food they had packed up, and also the
bottles and the jug of water. They were just starting for the stern
when they found themselves confronted by Ira Small.

“Got the stuff?” whispered the lanky sailor, hoarsely.

“Yes,” answered Andy.

“I thought I heard a little noise up here.”

“You did,” answered Gif. “We were spotted by the cook.”

“And we dropped him down the hatchway over there,” added Spouter.

“Good for you, lads! Good for you! Now come on――there ain’t no time to
lose. That fellow hangin’ over the wheel may rouse up at any moment.
Besides that, it’s almost time for the next man to take his trick.”

Once more Ira Small led the way to the stern of the _Hildegarde_. There
the other boys found that Jack and Ralph had provided themselves with a
number of short pieces of rope.

“We’re going to loop each of the oil cans fast to the cable leading
down to the motor boat,” explained Ralph. “You might as well loop all
your bundles also. Of course, a good deal of it will get wet, but
that can’t be helped. We can’t get it to the boat any other way while
we’re riding through these swells. We’ll be lucky to get on the boat
ourselves.”

While the boys were looping the last of their bundles fast to the cable
where, one after another, the bundles began to slide down from the
stern of the schooner toward the motor boat, Ira Small drew back.

“I’ll be with you in a couple o’ minutes,” he said. “You fellows kin
follow the stuff down the cable if you want to. But don’t cut it――I’ll
do that myself as soon as you’re safe on board and have salvaged the
stuff.”

The sailor disappeared in the semi-darkness, and one after another the
boys crawled over the stern of the _Hildegarde_ and caught hold of
the cable leading down over the ocean to where the motor boat rested.
Fortunately, both wind and waves had calmed down considerably, so that
the schooner was making but little headway.

It was no easy matter for the boys to reach the motor boat, and they
would have had great difficulty in getting aboard had it not been
that Captain Gilsen had left an arrangement on the craft so that a
sailor from the _Hildegarde_ might get on board whenever it was deemed
necessary. This was a sort of rope ladder left across the bow with a
line running from the cabin top to the cable just above the water line.
Floundering around in the waves and the darkness, one after another of
the boys slid along the cable and finally managed to reach the motor
boat. The last to come aboard was Jack, and it must be confessed that
he was almost spent with his exertions.

“Are we all here?” questioned Gif, hanging fast to one side of the
cabin, for they could not as yet get into the motor boat on account of
the tarpaulin lashed over the cockpit.

Each lad quickly answered that he was there, for which the whole bunch
were thankful.

“Now if only that sailor would come along, we could cut the cable and
let the schooner go on her way,” said Ralph, as they began to loosen
the tarpaulin.

“Look! Look!” exclaimed Fred, excitedly. “Look at that light on the
schooner!”

“Fire! Fire!” was the sudden cry from the _Hildegarde_. “Everybody on
deck! The ship is on fire!” And as the boys gazed in consternation,
they saw the flames on the deck of the schooner mounting higher and
higher.




                              CHAPTER XII

                        ON THE MOTOR BOAT AGAIN


“The ship is on fire!”

“I wonder how that happened?”

“I bet that’s the work of Small!” cried Jack.

“More than likely――unless we set fire to something in the galley,”
returned Fred.

“Maybe that loose gasoline caught,” said Ralph. “Quite a lot of it
spilled out on the oil-room floor in the darkness.”

While the boys gazed at the flames on the _Hildegarde_ they saw Ira
Small rush to the stern. The next instant the lanky sailor was sliding
down the cable.

“Quick! We ain’t got no time to spare!” gasped Ira Small, as he hauled
himself up to the motor boat. “Pull in on the cable and then cut it.
But don’t let the stuff on the line git away.”

All of the boys understood what was to be done, and Jack had already
obtained a hatchet which was in one of the lockers of the motor boat.
While Small, Gif and Spouter hauled in on the cable, Ralph and the
others continued to unloosen the tarpaulin. Then the young commander of
the _Fancy_ leaped into the cockpit and examined the motor.

“Some water here, but still dry enough to run, I think,” he announced.

“Wait! We don’t want to start up until we’ve cut loose!” cried Fred.

“That’s it, Ralph. If you start up now we might bump into the schooner.
She isn’t making much headway,” added Randy.

By this time those at the bow had hauled in five or six yards of the
cable. Then the heavy line was held down on the bow and Jack gave it
several vigorous blows with the hatchet. The last accomplished its
purpose, and the line snapped, the forward end whizzing back to the
_Hildegarde_.

“Now we can take the stuff aboard,” said Gif, and this was quickly
accomplished.

Many of the stores were soaked, a fact which did not please any of
them. But they were glad that they had the things. Otherwise it would
have been folly to attempt to escape in the motor boat. For all they
knew, it might take them several days to reach land.

In the meanwhile, the flames on the deck of the _Hildegarde_ had
mounted higher and higher, catching on a few of the tarred ratlines of
the mainmast.

“Now hurry up an’ git that engine started!” cried Ira Small. “We want
to git away while the goin’s good.”

A lantern was lit and in a few minutes Ralph and one or two of the
others had the motor in working order. Then the battery was turned on,
and in a second more the motor responded and a steady putt-putt greeted
the boys’ ears, much to their delight.

“I’ll take the wheel!” cried Jack. “You see that the motor does its
duty, Ralph.”

“All right. I think we’ll need some of that gasoline we brought along
before a great while. You know, I said our supply was running low when
we were captured.”

The _Fancy_ was headed away from the schooner, and then, as near as
he was able, Jack steered for where he supposed the far-distant coast
might be located. In the meanwhile, the other lads and Ira Small rested.

“Gee, but that was some get-away!” panted Andy.

“I’ll tell the world!” came from Fred. “When I came down the cable I
thought I would never reach the motor boat. Some strong pull to the
ocean!”

“What can you tell us about that fire, Small?” demanded Gif.

At this question the lanky sailor chuckled hoarsely.

“Scart you, didn’t it? Well, I reckon it’s scarin’ those left aboard
the schooner; and that’s jest what I want. They’ll be so int’rested
fightin’ that fire, they won’t think nothin’ about chasin’ us.”

“Did you set the fire?” questioned Randy.

“I sure did, lad. But don’t git excited,” went on Ira Small. “It ain’t
goin’ to do the old _Hildegarde_ much harm. All I did was to spread
some excelsior soaked in gasoline on the deck near one o’ the rails.
They kin put the fire out easy enough. But they’ll have to work lively
for a few minutes to do it.”

“Are you quite sure it won’t burn the ship so she’ll sink?” questioned
Fred, anxiously.

“We wouldn’t want to leave those men to drown,” added Randy.

“No sech luck, lad. You can’t drown a rascal who’s meant to be hung.
No, the fire’ll soon be out. You jest watch and see. But meanwhile,
we want to git as fur away from the schooner as possible. Now those
rascals have got an idee they kin hold you fur a ransom, they won’t let
you escape if they kin help it.”

With the motor of the _Fancy_ running fairly well, Gif and Spouter
turned their attention to bailing the craft. While this was being done
Fred and the twins stowed the food away in the cabin and saw to it that
nothing might happen to their precious supply of water. Meanwhile,
Ralph opened one of the cans of gasoline and emptied the contents into
the supply tank of the motor boat.

“There! That will carry us quite a few miles,” he declared. “Of course,
how many will depend on what kind of weather we strike and how the sea
is running.”

“I guess we can be thankful it’s so warm,” said Jack, doing his best
at the wheel to make the _Fancy_ ride the waves without ducking those
aboard. “If it was as cold down here as it is around Cape Cod, I think
we’d all catch our death of cold.”

“It’s too bad we’re wet,” said Gif. “But I suppose we’ve got to make
the best of that.”

They were soon out of sight of the schooner, save for the flames which
showed them a small part of the deck. As Ira Small had said, the fire
soon became lower and presently vanished completely.

“I guess it’s out,” said Fred, with a sigh.

“Yes; and I’m glad of it,” returned Randy.

“Gee, I’ll bet they were scared for a few minutes,” came from Andy.

“You can bet they are mighty mad at us,” was Spouter’s comment. “You
can be sure they’ll lay the fire at our door. They’ll say we wanted to
burn the ship and drown them.”

“I don’t think they’ll ever try and bring any o’ you fellows into court
about it,” chuckled Ira Small. “You’ve got too good a case ag’in’ ’em.”

With the extinction of the blaze on the _Hildegarde_, the only light
anywhere around the motor boat vanished and the Rover boys and the
others found themselves plowing along slowly and uncertainly over the
wide bosom of the Atlantic. Overhead there were drifting clouds, and
only a few stars could be seen.

“P’int her a little more to starboard, lad,” advised Ira Small, as he
joined Jack at the wheel. “I can’t give you the course direct, but I’ll
do my best.”

“I suppose you’ve often steered by the stars,” returned the young major.

“Yes, I did when I was on the old _Maria Deggett_,” answered the lanky
sailor. “I took three trips in that four-master, an’ we sailed pretty
nigh to ev’ry spot on the globe. She was a fine ship, an’ Cap’n Deggett
he was one fine man!”

“Why didn’t you remain on her?” questioned Ralph.

“She went ashore off the coast of Floridy in a hurricane. She was a
total wreck, an’ that nigh broke ol’ Cap’n Deggett’s heart, an’ he
never went to sea no more. That was the trip when I heard all about
the thirteen rocks an’ the pirates’ hidden gold,” went on Ira Small,
impressively.

“Do you really believe in that treasure?” questioned Fred, eagerly.

“Of course I do, lad! It’s there, an’ I know it! All I’ve got to do is
to locate them thirteen rocks.”

“I’d like to hear your yarn about it some day――when we’re out of this
trouble,” returned Fred.

On leaving the _Hildegarde_ behind, the boys had only one regret, and
that was that they had not recovered any of the things stolen from them.

“But never mind,” said Jack, in speaking of this. “If we ever get the
chance, we’ll make Captain Gilsen and Ferguson pay up!”

“Yes, and pay dearly!” added Gif. “Every one of those fellows ought to
be sent to prison.”

“Well, anyhow, we got our grub for nothing――not to mention the
gasoline,” chuckled Andy. “It isn’t much, but it’s something.”

Now that much of the excitement attending the escape from the schooner
had come to an end, the boys realized that they were both wet and
sleepy. A small oil stove of which the cabin boasted was lit, and here
one after another they made themselves as comfortable as possible.
There chanced to be just one heavy raincoat aboard the craft, and this
was passed out to be used by the one who was on duty at the wheel.

“I’ll take my trick at the wheel for a few hours,” announced Ira Small.
“That’ll give you lads a chance to take a nap an’ dry yourselves. The
motor boat ain’t a schooner, but I reckon I kin manage it.”

“All right,” answered Ralph, gratefully. “If anything goes wrong with
the engine, just call me.”

The boys retired to the cabin and there made themselves as comfortable
as the limited quarters permitted. They hung some of their clothing
close to the oil stove and then, utterly worn out, sank down to rest
wherever a place afforded.

Morning found them still on the bosom of the broad Atlantic with
neither a sail nor land in sight. The sun peeped out from behind a thin
bank of clouds, and by its rays they set their course due west.

“We’re bound to hit land sooner or later,” remarked Jack. “That is, if
the good weather and the gasoline hold out.”

“How many miles can we travel with the gasoline we have on hand?”
questioned Fred of Ralph.

“That’s a hard question to answer, Fred. You see, I’ve not been running
the _Fancy_ very long, and I don’t know what she can make in this sort
of sea. You know it’s one thing to run in smooth water, and quite
another in the swells of the ocean. We lose a lot of our headway every
time the stern is lifted out of the water.”

“Well, let’s hope, if it doesn’t carry us to land, that it will at
least carry us in the path of the ships sailing up and down the coast,”
put in Spouter.

“We’ll run straight for the first good-sized steamer we see,” answered
Ralph.

“Don’t run into any more rum-runners,” warned Andy, with a sickly grin.
“We’ve had enough of that class of rascals.”

With the coming of daylight, the boys and the lanky sailor felt better.
A pot of coffee was gotten ready on the oil stove and cups of this
beverage passed around with some bread and biscuits served to make them
still lighter hearted.

“I suppose we’ve got to be careful how we use up our grub and water,”
warned Jack. “There is no telling how long it has got to last us. For
all we know, we may be much farther from shore than we imagine.”

Slowly the morning wore away. About eleven o’clock Fred set up a shout.

“What is that smoke just ahead of us?” he queried.

“I don’t know,” answered Spouter. “Looks like some smoke on an island.”

“It’s a steamer!” came from Gif, a minute later. “A steamer! And she’s
moving northward.”

“Let’s see if we can’t get close enough to hail her!” cried Jack,
eagerly.

Ralph was willing, and soon had the _Fancy_ running at her best rate of
speed. Then he took the wheel from Gif, who was steering.

“Maybe I can manage her a little better,” he said. “You know, I’ve had
more experience.”

“Go to it, Ralph,” answered Gif, readily. “I never was very much of a
sailor.”

Then began a mad race in the direction of the distant steamer. Would
they be able to get close enough to signal to those on board?




                             CHAPTER XIII

                          A CRASH IN THE DARK


“Are we getting any closer?”

The question came from Randy after at least a quarter of an hour had
passed in their eager chase after the distant steamer which was moving
slowly, leaving a long trail of black smoke in the air behind it.

“We don’t seem to be making much progress,” answered Jack, dubiously.
“What do you think, Ralph?”

The former major of the Colby Hall battalion shook his head while his
face showed his disappointment.

“I’m afraid she’s getting away from us.”

“That’s jest how it looks to me,” burst out Ira Small. “Guess she’s one
o’ them fast boats runnin’ from South America to New York.”

“Can’t we make some kind of a signal to her?” asked Fred. “Why not hang
a flag out upside down, or something like that?”

Several flags were stowed away in one of the lockers, and now Old
Glory was brought forth, and this several of the lads took turns in
waving wildly, keeping the stars at the bottom.

The steamer was a goodly distance away, and it is doubtful if a
signal could have been seen without the aid of a glass. As it was,
no attention was paid to the motor boat, and presently the big liner
passed out of sight in the distance.

“Good-bye to our first hope,” remarked Spouter, mournfully.

“And may we have better luck next time,” said Fred, hopefully.

Slowly the remainder of the day wore away. A little after noon they
prepared a dinner of baked beans, canned corn and a few strips of
bacon, washing this down with a little more coffee. They did not dare
make very much of the beverage because they wished to save their water
supply.

“We’ll have to cut out coffee altogether if we don’t sight something
to-morrow,” warned Jack.

Toward evening they saw a sail in the distance. But night was coming
on and the sail soon disappeared in the darkness, and they found
themselves alone as before.

“Don’t look as if I was ever goin’ to see them thirteen rocks an’ ketch
sight of the pirates’ gold,” murmured Ira Small, dolefully. For the
time being his high spirits seemed to have deserted him.

“I should think you’d be awfully sleepy, Small,” remarked Jack. “Why
don’t you turn in and see if you can’t get a good night’s sleep? You’ve
had hardly a wink since the night before we left the _Hildegarde_.”

“Think I will turn in, if you fellows kin git along without me,”
answered the old sailor. “If anything unusual turns up, jest call me,”
and he retired to the cabin and was soon snoring lustily.

“He certainly is a character,” remarked Gif. “But I guess his heart is
in the right place.”

“He certainly proved himself our friend,” returned Jack. “If it hadn’t
been for him, we might still be aboard the schooner. It would have been
useless for us to cut loose in the motor boat without the gasoline and
the grub.”

“Do you think there is anything to his story about the thirteen rocks
and the pirates’ gold?” questioned Andy. Tales of piratical treasure
had always appealed to the fun-loving Rover.

“There may be something in it, Andy. Certainly the pirates existed. And
if they got all the loot the books tell about, they must have either
spent it or else hidden it somewhere.”

“Yes, but as far as I have ever heard, the great majority of the
searches for pirates’ treasures have been dead failures,” broke in
Spouter. “I know, only a few years ago, a company was organized up in
our neighborhood to look for a treasure said to be buried off the coast
of Brazil. The promoters wanted my father to take stock in the concern,
but he refused. The crowd got together and went down to Brazil in a
steamer and spent two or three months looking for the gold, but didn’t
find a single doubloon.”

“Well, sometimes a treasure hunt proves a success,” said Jack. “Don’t
forget how my father and Uncle Tom and Uncle Sam went down to the West
Indies and located the Stanhope treasure.” He referred to a great
treasure search, the particulars of which have been given in the volume
entitled, “The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle.”

“Yes, you told us about that, Jack,” answered Spouter. “And I’ve
heard the particulars from my father, too. You know, he was with the
expedition.”

“Let’s get the particulars of this treasure from Small,” said Randy.
“We might organize an expedition just as our folks did,” he added, his
eyes glistening for the moment.

The boys took turns at steering the _Fancy_, and thus the greater part
of the night wore away. Just as it was growing light in the east Fred,
who was at the wheel, uttered an exclamation of dismay.

“What’s the trouble, Fred?” questioned Randy, who was coming out of the
cabin to relieve him.

“The motor just went dead.”

“Perhaps she’s out of gasoline. Wait a minute till I take a look at the
tank.”

An inspection of the gasoline tank of the craft showed that it still
contained a quart or more of the volatile fluid.

“It’s in the engine, or else the battery has gone out of commission,”
said Randy.

Not caring to do too much to the engine without consulting Ralph, they
called the young commander of the motor boat, and while Fred continued
at the wheel in an endeavor to head up against the rolling billows,
Ralph and Randy commenced to hunt for the trouble.

The boys were still at this when, a little later, Jack and Andy
appeared.

“Looks to me like another storm,” said Jack, gazing eastward anxiously.

“Yes, and I’d say it was coming up pretty fast,” answered Andy.

Before the motor could be put into commission again the sky was
overcast and the wind began to come in strong, irregular puffs.
Then, of a sudden, it began to rain, the big drops splashing in every
direction on the motor boat and the rolling waves.

“Gee, I don’t like this!” exclaimed Ralph, as he took the wheel from
Fred. “Boys, I think we’re in for it.”

Soon the waves were running much higher than before, and the _Fancy_
bobbed up and down like a cork. It was next to impossible to make
headway in any direction.

“Let me help you at the wheel, Ralph,” suggested Jack. “This is going
to be something awful――worse than that fog we ran into.”

“This is going to be a real storm, no mistaking that,” answered Ralph,
and his face showed his anxiety. “We’ll be lucky if we don’t upset.”

The constant rolling of the _Fancy_ soon aroused Ira Small, and once
awake the lanky sailor came outside in a hurry.

“I was afraid of it,” he said, gazing anxiously at the sky. “I felt it
in my bones yesterday, but I didn’t want to scare none of you lads. I
was hopin’ we could git inshore before it come.”

By eight o’clock the storm was on them in all its violence. The _Fancy_
pitched and tossed so wildly that they could scarcely keep from going
overboard, and Ralph advised that each one don a life-preserver, of
which there was a supply in the forward locker.

“Good idee,” said Ira Small. “Le’s put ’em on, by all means. They may
save our lives.” And so the life-preservers were adjusted by every one
without delay.

With such a storm in progress no one thought of breakfast. For fear of
fire, the oil stove had been put out. Many of the loose articles aboard
the motor boat were either placed in the lockers or lashed fast. But
before this was accomplished the _Fancy_ hit an extra heavy wave, and
this caused some of the canned goods and two of the bottles of water
to bounce up from their resting-place in the cabin, smash two of the
windows, and roll overboard.

“Gosh, this is something awful!” muttered Spouter. “We’ll be lucky if
we ever get out of it alive.”

All day long the storm continued. Occasionally the wind would let up
a little and they would have a breathing spell, for which they would
be thankful. But then the wind would blow as strongly as before, and
they would have to cling fast with might and main while the motor boat
plunged and tossed as if every plunge might be her last. During that
time the boys and the sailor ate a few crackers and drank a little
water, but that was all.

“If only some sort of sail would appear, or a steamer,” sighed Fred,
wistfully.

“Don’t say a word,” groaned Gif, who was a trifle seasick. “I’d give
all I’m worth to be on land again.”

“Same here,” added Spouter, promptly.

As night came on a new peril assailed them. Ira Small was at the
wheel with Andy aiding him when, of a sudden, Ralph, who was somewhat
forward, let out a yell of alarm.

“Steer to the left!” he called. “Quick! We’re running into a mass of
wreckage!”

As quickly as possible, Ira Small turned over the wheel of the motor
boat. Then the craft arose to the top of a wave and the next instant
crashed into several good-sized spars and some other wreckage that
floated on the water.

The shock was such that several of the lads were thrown off their feet,
and for the moment all of them thought the _Fancy_ was going to upset.
But Ira Small, bareheaded and with his scant locks flying in the wind
and rain, kept manfully at the wheel, and soon the wreckage was left
behind and the _Fancy_ once more rode on an even keel.

“I’ll say that was some bump,” remarked Spouter, when he could catch
his breath. “Gosh, I thought we were going to the bottom, sure!”

“You fellows better see if we’ve sprung a leak,” called out the lanky
sailor. “Sounded like a bad smash to me.”

As well as the bobbing boat permitted, Ralph and Jack crawled forward
and made an examination of the bow. They found a bad crack just below
the water line through which the water was coming in a thin but broad
stream.

“We’ll have to plug it up, somehow!” cried Jack. “Here, take this
waste! Hold it over the hole until I can get a knife.”

Jack crawled back into the cabin, and soon returned with an ordinary
table knife, and with this Ralph started to plug the waste into the
crack through which the ocean was pouring. It was hard work, and while
Ralph was at this Jack looked for more openings. He found one on the
other side of the motor boat, a small hole into which he presently
pounded one of the bottle corks with the hatchet.

“Looks bad, Ralph,” remarked the young major, when they returned to the
cockpit.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get through the night,” was the
doubtful reply.

Half an hour or more passed, and the storm seemed to grow wilder and
wilder. There was not so much rain, but the wind came in fierce gusts
that blew the spray all over the motor boat and its occupants. To stand
up was impossible, and the lads crouched low, wondering what would
happen next. Ira Small was still at the wheel, and now Ralph went to
his assistance.

Suddenly something dark and menacing loomed up before them. The next
instant the _Fancy_ struck the object with terrific force. Then the bow
of the motor boat seemed to be split into several pieces. The craft
turned over, and the next instant everybody on board found himself
struggling in the ocean.




                              CHAPTER XIV

                          ALONE ON THE OCEAN


The upsetting of the motor boat came so swiftly and unexpectedly that
nobody aboard had an opportunity to save himself. All were flung out
into the dark and turbulent water and several were hit by the object
with which the _Fancy_ had collided.

As Jack went overboard something struck him in the side, all but
winding him. He floundered around helplessly for several seconds, and
had it not been for the life-preserver he had donned it is possible
that he might have gone under never to rise.

The force of the waves speedily separated the boys and the lanky
sailor, and when Jack was able to comprehend what had happened he found
himself practically alone on the bosom of the heaving ocean.

“Hi, fellows! Where are you?” he managed to call out.

But only the wind and the slishing of the waves answered him. Then he
strained his eyes to the utmost, but not a soul seemed to be in sight.
Close at hand was a short and thick spar, and to this the young major
clung mechanically.

His heart was filled with horror. Was it possible that the others had
either been killed by the collision or drowned? The thought was agony,
and fervently he prayed that the others might be spared.

As the spar mounted to the top of a wave, Jack looked around again,
and this time saw the dim outline of some dark object in the hollow
just below him. Thinking it might be the wreck of the motor boat, he
struck out feebly, and presently gained the object, to find it a mass
of wreckage, evidently a part of the forecastle or cabin of some small
sailing ship.

“Who is that?” came unexpectedly from the wreckage, and Jack was
delighted to recognize the voice of his cousin Fred.

“It’s I――Jack!” gasped the young major, as he held fast to the
wreckage. “Are you all right, Fred?”

“Got a bump on my left shoulder, but it didn’t amount to a great deal,”
answered the youngest of the Rover boys. “Are you alone? Where are the
others?”

“Yes, I’m alone; and I don’t know where the others are. Have you seen
any of them?”

“I saw Gif and Spouter just as we went overboard. But then something
struck me in the shoulder, and we became separated in the dark.”

“The others can’t be far off――unless they went down,” went on the
young major. And then, not without considerable difficulty, he managed
to pull himself up beside his cousin on the wreckage, which formed
something of a raft fifteen or twenty feet long and about half as wide.

“If we only had a light,” said Fred, “maybe we could spot some of the
others. Oh, Jack, what will we do if they’ve been drowned?” and the
tone of his voice showed his misery.

“It’s terrible, Fred. I hate to think about it,” and Jack shuddered. He
felt that if his light-hearted cousins and his chums were drowned, life
would never be the same.

A quarter of an hour dragged by dismally. The boys could think of
nothing they might do to aid the others, and so sat close together,
holding fast to the wreckage so that, as it pitched and tossed from the
top of one wave to the next, they would not be swept overboard. There
were occasional sheets of rain, and the wind blew as strongly as ever,
sending the flying spray in all directions.

“I saw something!” cried Fred, presently, while they were straining
their eyes to pierce the gloom around them.

“Where?” questioned his cousin, eagerly.

“There! To the left! It’s gone now!”

“What did it look like, Fred?”

“I may be mistaken, but it looked like somebody floundering around in
the water.”

“Let’s yell to him.” And then both boys cried out as loudly as their
exhausted condition permitted.

“Who’s calling? Where are you?” came from out of the darkness, and the
next instant the two boys saw the form of somebody on the top of a wave
close at hand.

“Here we are――on some wreckage!” shouted Jack. “Be careful, or you’ll
get struck!”

“Help me! I’m almost done for!” gasped the swimmer, and for the moment
disappeared in the trough of the sea.

Throwing himself flat on the wreckage, Jack crawled to the edge.
A second later he saw an arm in the water and grasped it tightly.
Then out of the briny deep came Ira Small, spluttering and kicking
convulsively.

“Save me! Save me!” he groaned. “I’m all in! I guess my right leg is
broke.”

In that pitching and tossing sea, it was no easy matter to haul the
injured sailor on to the wreckage. Twice he almost slipped from Jack’s
grasp, but finally he came up, and with Jack’s aid crawled to the
middle of the improvised raft.

“You done me a big service, lad. I’ll never forgit it,” mumbled Ira
Small, and then he all but fainted away.

“Gee, it’s too bad if his leg is broken,” remarked Fred. “And we can’t
do anything for him, either.”

“I guess he was about all in when he reached the raft,” returned Jack.
“Another minute, and he would have gone down.”

Now that they had found one of their companions, the two boys looked
around more eagerly than ever for the others. Time and again they
called out, and once they thought they heard a cry in return; but from
whence it came they could not determine, and soon the whistling wind
drowned out every other sound.

After the rescue of Ira Small several hours went by――hours that the
boys never forgot. The rude raft pitched and tossed as before, and
while the rain stopped, the wind blew as fiercely as ever, showering
them continually with the ocean spray. Occasionally some small bits of
wreckage hit that upon which they rested, and once a small spar rolled
up on the raft, hitting Jack in the foot.

“Some vessel must have gone to pieces either in this storm or the storm
we had before,” remarked Jack.

“I hope some of the others got hold of the wreckage.”

“So do I. But, Fred, this really doesn’t help us much. We must be miles
and miles away from land; and without anything to eat or drink――――”

Jack did not finish what he had in mind to say. But both his cousin and
Ira Small understood.

“It’s a terrible situation,” murmured the lanky sailor mournfully.
“But I wouldn’t mind it so much if only my leg wasn’t hurt. What good
is a sailor with a broken leg? No good at all!” and he shook his head
dismally.

He was now sitting up on the wreckage with Fred on one side of him and
Jack on the other. All had on their life-preservers, and in addition
they clung fast to a rope which in some manner had become tangled on
the floating débris.

Never had the two Rover boys felt more dismal. The mind of each
reverted continually to Andy and Randy and to their school chums. Were
the others alive? Or had they seen the last of those they loved so well?

“Oh, Jack! what will the folks at home say if Andy and Randy are
drowned?” whispered Fred.

“I don’t know,” was the doleful reply. “I’d hate to break the news to
Uncle Tom and Aunt Nellie.”

“Yes, and think of Gif’s and Spouter’s folks and of the Masons!”

“It’s too terrible to realize, Fred. Let’s hope for the best. It’s the
only thing we can do.”

“Maybe we’ll go down too,” came lugubriously from the lanky sailor.
“An’ then I won’t never find them thirteen rocks an’ the pirates’ gold.”

“Never mind pirates’ gold now,” returned Jack, quickly. “I’d give every
dollar of it if we were all safe and sound on land again.”

“I don’t doubt it, lad. I don’t doubt it. Gold ain’t of no consequence
to a man after he goes to Davy Jones’ Locker.”

A little later came a moment of excitement. Another portion of wreckage
loomed up before them, and then came a crash that all but sent them
into the ocean again.

“Hold fast!” yelled Jack. “But look out that you’re not struck!”

“Oh, my leg! My poor leg!” moaned Ira Small, for he had been hit again,
this time by what appeared to be a piece of ship’s railing.

For several minutes the two pieces of wreckage continued to bob up and
down on the water. They bumped, and bumped again, and finally seemed to
wedge themselves together into one uncertain whole.

“There are a lot of ropes!” cried Ira Small. “Might as well lash all
the stuff together, lads. The bigger the raft, the safer it will be for
all of us. I’d help, but I can’t do nothing with this busted leg.”

Both of the boys saw the ropes he mentioned, and set to work as best
they could to lash the two bits of wreckage together. This task took
them almost half an hour, and by that time they were gratified to see
that dawn was almost at hand and that soon the sun would be showing
itself over the eastern rim of the ocean.

“I wish it was daylight,” sighed Fred.

“So do I,” answered the young major.

“Even if a ship was near by we’d be unable to see it in this darkness.”

“How do you feel, Fred, worn out?”

“Yes. But that isn’t the worst of it, Jack. I can’t get the others out
of my mind.”

“Neither can I. If only―――― Oh!”

The talk came to a sudden end as some more wreckage hit them. All were
on their guard, not wishing to be flung overboard. But presently the
other wreckage slid away in the darkness, much to their relief.

With the coming of daylight the wind seemed to go down a little. But
the waves were as high as ever, and every few minutes those on the
wreckage found themselves covered with the flying spray.

On the second bit of wreckage the boys had found two blankets, and
these they placed under the lanky sailor, so that he might rest more
comfortably. Then Jack made an examination of the hurt leg.

“It doesn’t seem to be broken to me,” he said. “But it’s certainly
horribly bruised. You’ll have to be very careful of it.”

“Well, I’ll be thankful if it ain’t broke,” was the reply. “But it
certainly hurts an awful lot. Wish I had a drink of water.”

“I’d like a drink myself,” said Fred. “But we haven’t got any water, so
what’s the use of thinking about it?”

“It’s a pity we didn’t think to save a little of the water while it was
rainin’, lad. Even a mouthful or two might mean a whole lot to us later
on.”

As the sun came up over the eastern ocean, the boys gazed eagerly in
all directions. Here and there they could see bits of wreckage――boxes,
barrels, floating spars, and what looked to be the bow of a fair-sized
schooner.

“Some vessel has certainly gone to pieces, and not very long ago,
either,” remarked Jack. “But I don’t see anything that looks like a
human being; do you, Fred?”

“I see something!” cried his cousin, excitedly. “Look over there, Jack!
What is that?”

The young major looked in the direction indicated, and then drew a
sharp breath.

“Why, it’s somebody on some wreckage!” he exclaimed. “And they are
signaling to us!”




                              CHAPTER XV

                           FACING STARVATION


The fact that some of the other castaways had been sighted filled even
Ira Small with intense interest.

“How many of ’em?” he queried.

“I can’t make out exactly,” answered Fred. “But I think there are two,
and maybe three.”

“I see only two,” came from Jack. “There they go!”

The wreckage in the distance had disappeared behind a big wave. But
soon the Rover boys and the sailor saw it come into view again, and now
somewhat closer than before.

“There are two on it――that’s all!” exclaimed the young major. “One
standing up and the other sitting down.”

“Can you make out who they are?” questioned the sailor.

“I think the fellow standing up is Randy, but I’m not certain,” said
Fred. And then he set up a yell in which Jack joined.

For fully a quarter of an hour the two pieces of wreckage bobbed up
and down on the broad bosom of the Atlantic. Sometimes Jack and Fred
thought they were coming a little closer together, and then it looked
as if they might be drifting farther apart.

“It’s Randy! I’m sure of it!” exclaimed Fred, presently.

“You’re right!” answered his cousin. “And the fellow sitting down――I’m
almost positive――is Andy. He must be hurt, or he wouldn’t keep sitting
like that.”

“Maybe he got his leg hurt, jest like I did,” came mournfully from Ira
Small.

At the end of an anxious half hour, the two pieces of wreckage were
not over fifty yards apart. Jack and Fred could now see Randy and Andy
quite distinctly, and called to them.

“Can’t you swim over?” cried Jack. “We can’t come to you because Small
is hurt.”

[Illustration: “WE CAN’T COME TO YOU BECAUSE SMALL IS HURT.”]

“I’m hurt too,” answered Andy. “I got my ankle twisted when I fell out
of the motor boat.”

“I’ve got an idea,” called the young major, suddenly. “Maybe I can
carry a line over to you, and then we can tie the pieces of wreckage
together. We did that to another piece that bumped into us.”

Taking one of the ropes, Jack saw to it that one end was securely
fastened to the edge of the wreckage upon which he stood. Then
divesting himself of most of his clothing, he leaped into the ocean and
began to swim with might and main for the other improvised raft, which
was made up of part of a schooner’s stern.

As my old readers know, Jack had always been a good swimmer――in fact,
all of the Rover boys could swim well――but he soon discovered that
swimming in a river or a lake was an entirely different matter from
making headway in the rolling Atlantic. One minute he felt that he was
on the top of a high hill and the next that he was going down into a
bottomless hollow.

But he kept on vigorously, and soon came so close to the other piece of
wreckage that Randy could almost reach him.

“Be careful, Jack,” was the warning. “If you get struck in the head it
may knock you senseless.”

At last, after several minutes of maneuvering, the young major, with
his cousin’s assistance, managed to scramble up on the wreckage.

“Gee, I’m glad that’s over!” he panted. “It looked like an easy stunt
when I started; but it proved to be anything but that!”

“Say, don’t you know a shark might have come up after you?” questioned
Andy.

“I didn’t think of sharks until I was half way over,” was the reply.
“And as none appeared, there is no use of worrying about it. Is the
ankle very bad, Andy?”

“It’s so bad that I can’t stand on it. But never mind that, Jack. I’m
mighty glad to see you and Fred.”

“Do you know anything about Gif, Spouter and Ralph?” questioned Randy.

“I do not. None of us saw a thing of them after the boat turned over.”

“We saw them for a few minutes,” said Randy. “Gif had hold of a
spar that I grabbed, and Ralph and Spouter were on another piece of
wreckage. Then I slipped and went down, and when I came up I hit this
piece of wreckage and joined Andy.”

It was quickly decided to bring the pieces of wreckage together if it
could be accomplished in safety. Ira Small ordered Fred to stand by
with a small spar to use as a fender if necessary, and then called
similar directions to Randy. Then Jack watched his chance and pulled in
on the line.

For several minutes matters looked rather serious as the bits of
wreckage came together with a crash, then swept apart and came together
with another crash. But finally several pieces of rope were lashed
fast under Ira Small’s directions, and then Randy and Jack were able to
assist Andy to a place on the blankets beside the sailor.

“Now lash all the wreckage together as tight as you possibly kin,” said
Ira Small. “Then we’ll have a purty respectable kind of a raft to float
around on. I kin tell you, this wreckage is a God-send to us,” he went
on solemnly. “If it hadn’t been fur it, we’d all be at the bottom of
the ocean by this time.”

“Yes, but if it were not for the wreckage, the motor boat wouldn’t have
been smashed,” put in Andy.

“Well, lad, I s’pose that’s so, too,” admitted Ira Small, nodding his
head gravely.

Now that they were together once more, the four Rover boys felt
somewhat better. Yet they continued to worry over the disappearance of
their three chums.

“It will certainly be an awful thing if they don’t show up,” remarked
Randy. “Just think of how their folks will feel.”

“Yes, and think how we’ll feel!” came from Fred, and his face showed
his downheartedness.

Andy and Randy brought with them one thing which was a little comfort.
On their wreckage they had found a piece of sail several yards square,
and during the rain they had caught a few cupfuls of water. From this,
as the morning wore on, each took a sip.

It was found that Andy’s ankle was much swollen. The other boys bathed
it for him and then bound it up with a strip of the sailcloth. They
performed the same services for Ira Small.

“We’re in the sick-bay, lad,” said the lanky sailor dubiously to Andy.
“I reckon we’ve got to make the best of it. Howsomever, luck’s been
with us so far, an’ mebby luck’ll see us through.”

Slowly the afternoon wore away. By this time all aboard the wreckage
were hungry, but the most that anybody could offer was a water-soaked
package of chewing gum which Andy found in a pocket of his jacket.

“I think we’ll find that too salty to chew, Andy,” said Jack. “I
wouldn’t touch it. It will make you thirstier than ever.” So the
water-soaked chewing gum went unused.

At last night came on. So long as it was light, everybody aboard the
wreckage kept his eyes on the alert for some sign of the other three
boys and for some craft that might pick them up.

“Gee, I wouldn’t care even if the old _Hildegarde_ hove in sight,” said
Randy, at last. “If we were on board that tub, we’d at least have
something to eat and to drink and a place to sleep.”

“No more o’ that schooner fur me!” cried Ira Small. “I’d rather jump in
the ocean than go aboard her ag’in,” and his eyes flashed angrily.

When night settled down they found themselves absolutely alone on that
part of the wide ocean. Even the bits of wreckage which had surrounded
them had disappeared. Nothing was to be seen on every side but the
heaving waters.

“Gosh, if we ever get off of this and on dry land once more, I won’t
want to look at the ocean again for years,” murmured Randy.

“I’ll be like the fellow who got seasick and said the next boat he’d
take would be a Pullman car,” put in Andy, with a faint grin.

In such a perilous position, with the wreckage heaving up and down
on the water, sleep was almost out of the question. Occasionally one
or another would doze off, to awaken with a start as the uncertain
flooring beneath him gave an extra lurch or an ominous crack. They
did not know whether the ropes they had used would hold the wreckage
together. If it parted, they might at any instant find themselves again
floundering around in the ocean.

Before morning came, the ominous clouds began to gather once more, and
now the wind came up in fitful gusts. In a little while the wreckage
was bobbing up and down and creaking fitfully.

“If only we had a few more strong ropes,” said Ira Small. “Those we
have are good enough if the weather stays calm, but I’m afraid a heavy
storm would prove too much of a strain on ’em.”

The day proved one of alarming uncertainty. The heavy clouds soon
brought on more rain, and the wind became almost as violent as it had
been the day before. Anxiously all of the boys and the lanky sailor
watched the ropes that held the wreckage together.

“Well, anyway, we can get a drink out of this, maybe,” said Randy, and
he and the others spread the canvas so that they might catch as much of
the rain as possible.

They swallowed the liquid eagerly. It did not help their hunger, but it
cut off that awful thirst which was little short of maddening.

Thus another night was spent on the wreckage. By this time their hunger
had become acute. Andy and the old sailor suffered the most, because of
their hurts.

“Gee, I can’t stand this much longer, Randy,” said Andy to his twin, at
last. “I feel as if I was getting sick all over.”

“I’m sorry, Andy, that I can’t do anything more for you,” was the
brotherly response. “But there isn’t a thing here to work with.”

“Oh, I know that! It’s not your fault, Randy,” and Andy said no more.

After a little while no one seemed to feel like talking. A gaunt
spectre arose in the mind of every one on the wreckage――the spectre of
Starvation. With nothing to eat, how much longer could they live?

“Maybe we would have been better off if we had gone down in the first
place,” thought Jack. “It’s better to die quickly than to die by
inches.”




                              CHAPTER XVI

                        ABOARD THE STEAM YACHT


Slowly the forenoon passed. Again all scanned the horizon eagerly.
Twice they thought they saw sails in the distance, and once caught
sight of a trail of smoke left by some steamer. But no craft came close
enough to be signaled. Nor did they see any more of the wreckage.

“I’m afraid the other fellows have gone to the bottom,” said Fred, and
his voice trembled as he spoke.

“Well, there ain’t much ch’ice between bein’ drowned an’ starvin’ to
death,” came from Ira Small. His thin face was thinner than ever and
his eyes burned with a peculiar fire.

“Gee, I hope Small doesn’t go crazy,” whispered Randy to Jack. “I’ve
heard some people do that when they get too hungry.”

“He certainly looks pretty wild, Randy,” was the reply.

“Don’t you feel a bit dizzy, Jack? I do.”

“I’m trying not to think of being hungry,” said the young major. “It’s
the only way out as far as I can see.”

A few minutes more passed and then, of a sudden, Ira Small leaped to
his feet, pointing his long, bony hand ahead of him.

“There’s another wreck!” he called out. “Looks like a steam yacht, too!”

All gazed in the direction indicated and saw that Ira Small was right.
The wreck, which was quite a distance away, disappeared in a hollow of
the ocean, but a moment later came up on the crest of a wave.

It was a steam yacht, but both of the masts were broken off just above
the deck, one dangling partly over the side, held by a number of ropes.
The bow of the yacht was smashed in, and a goodly portion of the
starboard rail had been carried away.

“She’s been in a collision, that’s sure!” cried Jack.

“Maybe she smashed into the ship the wreckage of which hit the _Fancy_,”
suggested Fred.

“That might be so, lad,” said the old sailor, still standing up, in
spite of his hurt leg.

“Let’s yell and wave our hands!” cried Andy. “I’d rather be on a boat
like that, even if she is all battered up, than on this wreckage.
Besides that, we want something to eat――and mighty quick, too!”

“I don’t see anybody on the deck,” came from Randy.

All looked eagerly toward the battered steam yacht. The craft was of
good size and tilted over to port and up at the bow.

“Looks to me like the yacht had been abandoned,” said Ira Small. “Look,
lads! All the small boats are missin’. I’ll bet after she was struck
the cap’n thought she was goin’ down, an’ so abandoned his ship.”

Slowly the steam yacht came closer. She was considerably water-logged,
and now the Rover boys and the sailor saw that her bow was greatly
damaged and that part of the forward deck had also been torn up.

“She must have been in a terrible smash, whatever it was,” remarked
Jack.

“Yes, and she may have cut the other boat clean to pieces,” answered
Randy. “Just look at all the wreckage we got into!”

“But if she hit that boat, why didn’t we see the yacht before?” queried
Fred. “She was right on the same spot.”

“Well, you must remember, this here wreckage is from a small sailin’
ship,” answered the lanky sailor. “That there yacht probably has
a good engine aboard, and maybe after the collision the cap’n put
on full steam, thinkin’ he could make land. Then the vessel got so
water-logged he was afraid she was goin’ down, and so he and his crew
and his passengers, if he had any, took to the boats. But I want to say
one thing,” he went on impressively: “She’s the funniest lookin’ steam
yacht I ever saw. Look at that queer house on deck, and look at them
queer portholes along the side. Maybe she’s a hospital ship.”

“I wish we could get aboard to find out,” came from Andy. His hunger
was making him desperate.

“I’ve a good mind to try to swim over to her,” said Jack.

“If you go, I’ll go along,” answered Randy, quickly.

“Well, if you try it, each of you’d better take two life-preservers,”
suggested Ira Small. “Then, when you git tired of swimmin’, you kin
rest yourselves. It ain’t no mean distance to that there vessel.
Distances on the water are mighty deceivin’.”

“What about sharks?” asked Fred.

“We’ve got to run that risk,” answered Jack. “I’d just as lief be food
for sharks as to starve to death,” he added desperately.

A little later, each wearing two life-preservers, Jack and Randy struck
out for the water-logged steam yacht, which was moving slowly on the
rolling bosom of the Atlantic.

“Don’t hurry, Randy,” cautioned the young major. “It may be a long
swim, and there is no use of our getting winded. Take it easy. It may
get us there quicker in the end.”

The two Rover boys made slow progress, and at the end of a quarter of
an hour the water-logged steam yacht seemed to be almost as far away as
ever.

“It doesn’t look as if we were going to make it, does it, Jack?”
questioned his cousin, as he stopped swimming for a moment. His looks
showed his disappointment.

“Oh, we’ll get there sooner or later,” Jack answered, as cheerfully as
he could.

They resumed their swimming, and a few minutes later saw, to their
delight, that the rolling ocean was bringing the strange vessel closer
to them.

“Look out that you don’t get struck!” cried Jack, when the steam yacht
loomed up just ahead of them. “She’s bobbing around pretty lively,
in spite of being water-logged. Try to grab one of those ropes on the
broken mast.”

As the two youths drew closer they could hear the swash of the ocean as
it struck the sides of the water-logged boat. But mingled with these
sounds came others that made them look at each other in wonder.

“What do you suppose that noise is?” questioned Randy.

“I don’t know. Maybe some people in distress.”

“Maybe the steam yacht is a hospital ship, as Small said.”

The strange noise continued to come from the water-logged steam yacht,
but what it could be the boys could not surmise. As the vessel surged
closer, each caught hold of the ropes which held the broken mast and
then did his best to pull himself up to the slanting deck above.

“Be careful!” called out Randy. “These ropes may give way and let us
and the mast down in a hurry.”

“Oh, they’ve held so long, I guess they’ll hold a little longer,”
answered Jack. “Up you go!”

A minute later the two Rover boys stood on the deck of the water-logged
vessel. The craft was so badly listed that they moved around with
difficulty.

“Not a soul in sight, dead or alive,” murmured Jack, after they had
gazed up and down the long deck.

“Do you notice anything funny in the way of a smell?” questioned his
cousin, suddenly.

“I certainly do!” Jack gave a sniff. “Smells something like a stable.”

“Maybe she’s a cattle boat.”

“That might be, Randy. But come on, we might as well take a look around
and see if anybody is in charge. And we want to see, too, what we can
do about getting the others on the wreckage aboard.”

“Maybe we can find some kind of small boat. They may not have taken all
of them,” was the hopeful response.

Not only did the deck slope at a dangerous angle, but it was also
exceedingly slippery, so that it was with great difficulty that the
boys managed to move around. It had been the foremast that hung by the
board, and they had come aboard close to where rested the remains of
the smashed-in bow.

“There is that noise again!” exclaimed Randy, while they were moving
amidships. “What in the world can it be!”

“Some animals, I guess,” answered his cousin. “They may have some
horses or cows or sheep, or something like that, on board. Come on,
let’s investigate. This thing is getting on my nerves.”

The cousins moved with caution to the middle portion of the yacht.
Here were the remains of a deckhouse, smashed flat by the fall of the
mainmast, which was now missing. Behind this was a cabin, the door and
windows of which were all tightly closed.

“Hello! Hello!” yelled Jack, at the top of his lungs. “Anybody on
board? Hello!”

Jack had scarcely uttered the call when from below the deck came a
pandemonium of sounds that fairly made the two lads jump. There were
roars and moans, and a shrill chattering that made their hair feel as
if it would stand on end.

“My stars, Jack! what kind of a boat is this?” gasped Randy, as he
clutched his cousin by the arm.

“I don’t know,” was the short reply, and Jack looked at his cousin
curiously. Had their extreme hunger and thirst affected their minds and
were they simply imagining things?

They looked back to the wreckage they had left, and to their
satisfaction saw that it was less than half as far away as it had been
when they had left it to swim over to the steam yacht.

“Thank fortune, it’s coming this way!” breathed Randy. “I hope it
does――that may save us a lot of trouble.”

“Provided we want to stay aboard this ship,” answered Jack.

“Why, what do you mean by that? Don’t you think it’s safe?” asked his
cousin, in alarm.

“I don’t know what to think, Randy. Either we’re bewitched, or this
boat has got the queerest cargo aboard I ever heard of. Just listen to
that roaring and moaning and chattering! Did you ever hear anything
like it in your life?”

“Hi! Hi! Can’t you throw us a line?” came suddenly from the wreckage,
and now they saw that it was floating still closer.

“Let’s see if we can’t tie fast to the wreckage before we do anything
else,” said Jack. “We don’t want it to float off on the other side of
the yacht.”

Their fears forgotten for the moment, the two cousins set to work and
soon found a long line which might answer their purpose. They cast this
line out as far as they could, not once, but many times, and at last
had the satisfaction of seeing it caught by Fred and the old sailor.
Then to the light line they attached a fair-sized hawser, and this
was speedily hauled down to the wreckage, which in a few moments more
bumped into the side of the steam yacht and was secured there.

“Gee, I’m glad to be over here!” cried Fred. “Hurry up! Help me get
Andy and Small aboard. Is there anybody alive on the yacht?”

“We don’t know what’s aboard yet,” answered Jack, anxiously. “We’re
hearing all sorts of strange sounds. Just listen!”

All listened, and suddenly the face of Ira Small took on a knowing look.

“By gum! I know what this craft is,” he exclaimed. “I’ve heard of her
before. She’s a menagerie ship!”




                             CHAPTER XVII

                       ANIMALS, BIRDS AND SNAKES


“A menagerie ship?” queried Randy.

“That’s it, lad. Those must be wild animals you hear. An’ mebby
some monkeys,” added the lanky sailor, listening to the roaring and
chattering. “Are any of ’em loose?”

“So far we haven’t seen anything that’s alive,” answered Jack.

“Well, we might as well go aboard,” called Andy. “If there are any wild
animals loose, though, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

The wreckage was pounding so hard and constantly against the side of
the steam yacht, nobody cared to remain upon it, and so with all the
care possible Andy and the old sailor were helped to the deck above,
and then Fred followed them.

“Better not cut the wreckage loose just yet,” advised Jack. “We may
want to get on it in a hurry.”

“Gee! do you think those wild animals might get loose and chase us
around?” questioned Fred.

“I don’t know what to think, Fred. We haven’t had a chance to look the
boat over. I guess the best thing we can do first is to arm ourselves.”

It was no easy matter to find anything in the way of clubs, because
the storm had swept the deck of the steam yacht almost clean. But they
finally managed to break out some pieces of wood from the wreckage at
the bow, and from these made a number of heavy sticks.

“You two had better stay near the ladder leading to the roof of the
cabin,” said Jack to Ira Small and Andy. “Then, if there’s any trouble,
you can climb up there somehow to safety. There is no use of staying
down on the deck with those game legs of yours.”

The two injured ones did as advised, and then the others moved around
cautiously to the cabin door. Opening it inch by inch, Jack peered into
the compartment to find it deserted.

“Nothing here!” he exclaimed, and walked into the cabin, followed
immediately by Fred and Randy.

The place was in great disorder, showing that those aboard the steam
yacht had evidently left in a hurry. Lockers stood wide open, much
of the contents strewn in all directions. On the floor lay a number
of dishes along with some knives, forks and spoons, evidently swept
from the cabin table by the hurry of those who were escaping from the
vessel or by the action of the storm. Around the cabin were a number of
staterooms, some of the doors of which stood wide open, and here the
same disorder prevailed.

“I suppose they didn’t have much time in which to leave,” was Jack’s
comment. “They probably grabbed what they could lay hands on and ran
for the boats.”

“I don’t see anything to eat around here!” exclaimed Fred. “Let’s find
the cook’s galley.”

“Here’s some drinking water, anyhow,” came suddenly from Randy, as he
caught sight of a cooler on a stand at the end of the cabin.

The cooler was almost full, and the three lads lost no time in getting
all the water they wanted. Then they picked up a pitcher from the floor
and filled this, and Fred took it to Andy and the lanky sailor.

“Gosh, that tastes like heaven!” said Ira Small, as he smacked his
lips. “Now if I had a bite to eat, I think I’d feel like a new man.”

“You never know how good water is until you have to do without it,”
remarked Andy.

Having assured themselves that there was no cook’s pantry attached
to the cabin, the three boys came out on deck again, and then went
on a hunt for the cook’s galley. This was soon located, and much to
their satisfaction they came upon a quantity of food which made their
eyes sparkle in anticipation. There were all sorts of canned goods,
both fish and meats as well as vegetables, and in addition boxes of
crackers, sides of bacon, and canisters of tea, coffee, cocoa, and also
salt, sugar, rice and a great variety of other articles.

“We can’t cook anything on that stove――at least not the way it’s
standing,” said Randy, pointing to the tilted-up kerosene stove of
which the galley boasted.

“I am hungry enough to eat a cold meal,” came quickly from Fred, who
was already munching a cracker. “Come on, let’s take some of this stuff
to Andy and that sailor. They’re just as starved as we are.”

With their hands full of good things, the three boys made their way to
the top of the cabin, and soon the whole crowd were regaling themselves
with the first meal they had eaten for several days. They broke open
several cans of soup, and though the soup was cold, it tasted better to
them than any meal they had ever eaten.

“I’ll tell you what――hunger is the great sauce,” declared Jack, as he
munched his sixth cracker. “At home we’d probably turn up our noses at
this, but here――wow!”

While they were eating they discussed the situation, but could arrive
at no conclusion as to what would be their next best move.

“We can’t do much of anything, lads, until we have examined the ship,”
declared Ira Small. “For all we know, she may be leakin’ so fast that
she’s liable to go down at any time.”

“In that case, the best thing we can do is to put a supply of grub and
water on the raft and make the raft as substantial as possible,” cried
Andy.

“That wouldn’t be no bad idee, lad. That wreckage did us a mighty good
turn. We kin lash all the timbers together with a few more ropes, an’
git some kind of a spar for a mast, an’ then hoist a sail if we have
to leave the yacht. But examine the ship first――it might not be so bad
after all.”

The thought that the steam yacht might go down suddenly filled the
Rovers with a new dread, and in spite of the old tar’s last words,
they decided to pack a lot of the ship’s stores in some sailcloth, the
bundle being then hung over the side where it could be lowered to the
wreckage without much trouble. Then they found a cask filled with
drinking water, and placed this near the rail.

“Now if the worst comes to worst, we’ll have something to rely on,”
declared Jack. “I don’t think she’ll go down so fast but what we’ll
have time to get that stuff aboard the wreckage. Then we can take a lot
of ropes along and other things and fix the raft up after we’ve shoved
off.”

Having eased their minds about the food and the water, Jack, Randy and
Fred continued their inspection of the yacht.

“I’m rather afraid to go below on account of what may be loose down
there,” said Fred.

They found a door, and beyond this there was a sort of runway, or
gangplank, leading to the deck below. As the ship was on so much of
a slant, it was no easy matter for the boys to get down, and they
advanced with caution, Jack holding up before him a ship’s lantern he
had found and lit.

The smell of wild animals was powerful below decks, and the sounds
they had heard above were now increased tenfold. Close at hand were a
number of empty stalls, or cages. But presently they came upon one cage
containing a live tiger. Farther on were several more tigers and also
four lions. Then came a number of leopards and other wild beasts, some
of which the boys were unable to identify.

This was on the upper side of the vessel. On the lower side were two
cages of monkeys, three of parrots, and several heavy wire cages the
occupants of which made the boys draw back in a hurry.

“Snakes!” cried Fred, in disgust. “What do you know about that? Great
big snakes!”

“Yes, and look at the number of them!” returned Randy. “There must be
fifteen or more. Just look at that big brown thing! He’s as thick as my
arm and at least ten feet long.”

“This certainly is a menagerie ship, and no mistake,” came from Jack,
and then he added: “I suppose those poor beasts haven’t had anything to
eat or drink since the crash came. We ought at least to give them some
water.”

“Here’s a hogshead full of water,” said Fred, “and half a dozen pails.
We might as well give them a drink while we’re at it.”

The hogshead, even though on a slant, was more than half full of water,
and into this the lads dipped the pails, and soon all of the animals
were supplied. At once they stopped their roaring and growling, and set
about satisfying their thirst.

In another part of the ship the boys discovered a dozen sheep and
goats, and also a cage of live rabbits. In a closet they discovered
many canisters of crackers which were not unlike dog biscuit, and they
rightly guessed that these were food for the monkeys. There were also
several kegs of grain for some birds which hung suspended in a row of
cages, and for the parrots.

“I suppose those live rabbits must be for the snakes,” said Jack. “You
know, such reptiles won’t eat anything dead.”

“Well, I don’t know that I want to feed any snakes rabbits,” said
Randy, making a wry face.

They had soon fed the birds and the monkeys. Then, as there seemed no
help for it, they slaughtered one of the sheep and threw portions of
the carcass to the various wild animals.

“I hate the job,” was the way Jack expressed himself. “But I can’t
leave those beasts to starve to death. They probably suffer as much
from hunger as we did.”

The boys had opened several of the portholes of the lower deck, so that
the breeze, coming in, made the air below much sweeter. Yet it was not
a pleasant place to be in, and they were glad when the last of the
animals and the birds had been taken care of.

“Now we’d better get down in the lower hold and see what condition the
ship is in,” declared Jack. “According to Small, we should have done
that in the first place.”

“Maybe,” answered Randy. “Just the same, I’m glad we took care of those
animals and birds. That awful growling and moaning and chattering got
on my nerves.”

Looking around once more to see that all of the things which were alive
below decks had been properly cared for, the three lads advanced to the
runway down which they had come from the deck above. They were just
about to start up the runway when Randy uttered a scream of horror.

“Look out, there!” he called. “Look out, or he’ll be after you!”

“What is it?” came simultaneously from the other Rover boys.

“A snake! One of those big snakes!” was the reply. “He’s at the top of
the runway! There he goes out on deck!”




                             CHAPTER XVIII

                          FRED’S LUCKY THROW


The three Rovers were alarmed, and with good reason. Such a snake at
liberty on the deck of the water-logged steam yacht would be a constant
source of danger.

“Are you positive you saw him, Randy?” questioned Jack.

“Positive!” was the ready reply. “Gee, but he was a big one, too!”

“Maybe we’d better warn the others,” broke in Fred. “That snake may go
right after Andy or Small if they happen to be down on the deck.”

“I’m going out, snake or no snake!” came from the young major.

“Wait! Let’s get those hatchets and axes we saw back there,” cried
Fred, and ran back, to return a minute later with two axes and a
fair-sized hatchet.

Carrying these weapons ready for use, the three Rover boys mounted the
runway cautiously. At first they saw nothing on the deck. Then Fred
pointed excitedly to the wreckage at the bow.

“There he is!” he cried. “There he goes under those boards!”

“What are you yelling about?” came from Andy. He and the lanky sailor
were still resting on the top of the cabin.

“It’s a big snake,” answered Jack. “He got loose and just came up a
runway. There are a whole lot of them down below, in a big wire cage.”

“If we only had guns we could take a shot at that snake!” exclaimed
Randy. “I’m sure we could soon blow him to pieces.”

“I’m going to take a shot of another kind!” exclaimed Fred, and, aiming
as carefully as he could, he threw the hatchet with all the force he
could command.

It was a light and sharp affair, and as the bright steel circled
through the air the boys saw the snake twist around and for a moment
its head came into view. Then the circling hatchet descended, cutting
the snake deeply in the center of its body.

“You struck him, Fred!” exclaimed Randy, in delight.

“Yes, but he isn’t dead,” announced Jack, quickly.

“Look out! He may come for you!” came from Andy, who could see the
reptile from where he was resting. And now in his excitement he stood
up, and Ira Small did likewise.

The wound made by Fred’s hatchet was evidently a severe one, and,
maddened with pain, the reptile whipped around and around on the
forward deck. Then, of a sudden, it began to slide down the slope, and
a moment later disappeared over the side of the yacht into the heaving
ocean.

“He’s gone!” murmured Randy, in awe-struck tones.

“Yes; and I’m glad of it,” answered Jack. “Fred, that was certainly a
dandy throw.”

“I’ll say it was a lucky one,” answered the youngest Rover boy
modestly. His face had blanched and he was breathing heavily.

“For all we know, there may be more loose snakes around,” remarked
Jack. “We’ll have to be on our guard every minute.”

“I move we look around the cabin for guns and pistols,” said Randy.
“I’d feel a good deal better if I had some sort of firearm. It would
be a protection, not only against the snakes, but against those wild
beasts, if any of them should break loose.”

“If I had my way, I’d heave all the beasts and the snakes overboard,”
came from Fred.

He armed himself again with the hatchet, and then the three boys
rejoined Andy and the lanky sailor, and the five held a consultation.

“The steam yacht don’t seem to be settlin’ very fast,” said Ira Small.
“So I don’t know but what your idee of lookin’ round for some weapons
ain’t a first-class one. I’d like to have some kind of a shootin’ iron
myself. A bullet travels a heap-sight quicker nor a club, or a hatchet,
either. Not but what that crack of yours, lad, wasn’t a wonder,” he
added hastily to Fred.

Without delay Jack and his two cousins re-entered the cabin and made
a thorough search of that compartment and the staterooms adjoining.
They kept their eyes open for more reptiles, but none appeared. In one
stateroom they found a case containing two automatic pistols, and on a
rack in another stateroom they found two double-barreled shotguns. All
of the weapons were loaded; and they also found some extra ammunition.

“Now I guess we’ll feel better,” said Jack, after Fred and Randy had
appropriated the pistols and he had armed himself with one of the guns.
“I’ll take this other gun up to Andy and Small.”

“Here’s another pistol!” exclaimed Fred, having looked into a drawer
under one of the stateroom beds. “It’s a small affair, but it looks to
be all right and it’s fully loaded.”

“We’ll give that to Andy and that old sailor can take the shotgun. Then
each of us will have a weapon.”

In one of the staterooms they had also found a good-sized flashlight,
and this Jack placed in his pocket.

“I suppose we really ought to go down in the lower hold and find out
how badly she is leaking,” he said. “Do you feel like going with me?”

“I don’t feel very much like it, Jack,” answered Fred, candidly. “But I
suppose it ought to be done. We’ll take our weapons and the flashlight,
and then maybe we’ll be safe. I don’t believe any wild beast would want
to charge us with that light flashing into his face.”

The boys soon located the engine room of the steam yacht, and there
found a ladder leading down to the lower hold, which was, as they later
on found, connected with the upper deck by several hatchways, all of
which had been battened down during the storm.

They found the hold divided into several compartments. Most of the
doors of these compartments were closed and bolted. There was a
miscellaneous cargo of boxes, crates and barrels, all thrown into
hopeless confusion, caused by the listing of the vessel.

“She has not only settled on her port side, but she’s also settled at
the stern,” said Jack. “That’s why the smashed-in bow is sticking so
high in the air. There doesn’t seem to be any great amount of water
forward, not over a foot at the deepest.”

With caution the boys climbed to the stern of the steam yacht, and
there found the water in one place to be two and a half feet deep.
They looked at it carefully and threw the searchlight on all sides,
but could not bring themselves to believe that the water was becoming
perceptibly higher.

“Do you know what I think?” said Jack, at last. “I think the only
opening is at the bow, and the only water that’s coming in now is what
we’re shipping from the rolling of the waves.”

“Then what makes the vessel sink at the stern?” questioned Fred. “Why
didn’t she sink at the bow and go down?”

“I can’t answer that question, Fred. Maybe they shifted some of the
cargo in an endeavor to get the hole up above the water line. Anyway,
that’s how the thing is now, and I believe if we could get that hole
closed in some way, she’d float for a long time. I’m going to ask
Small about it; he knows more about ships than we do.”

The boys reported to Andy and the lanky sailor. Ira Small was greatly
interested, and said it was quite possible that the only hole might be
at the bow.

“Of course, the shock may have started a few of the seams below the
water line,” he said. “But mebby that water comin’ in could be taken
care of by the engine, or even the hand pumps. Anyway, it don’t look
to me like she’d go down in a hurry. But I think we ought to try and
close that there hole in the bow. It didn’t look to be more’n four or
five feet an’ we kin easy cover that with a couple o’ tarpaulins, tyin’
’em fast inside as well as out. You boys jest help me around a bit, an’
I’ll show you how it kin be done.”

The next couple of hours were busy ones for all on board the
water-logged steam yacht. Even though his ankle hurt him considerably,
Andy insisted on helping drag forward some heavy tarpaulins which
were found stowed away on the vessel. When it came to adjusting the
necessary ropes, Ira Small performed his share of the task. And so
between all of them, two tarpaulins, one on top of the other, were
lashed fast over the smashed-open bow of the vessel. Then Ira Small
insisted upon going down in the forward hold to show the boys how the
inner tarpaulin could be fastened so that little or no water could
enter.

“Course it’s only a makeshift,” explained the lanky sailor. “But I’ve
knowed sech a makeshift to last a long while. Now if we kin shift some
o’ that cargo, mebby we kin git her on more or less of an even keel.”

“What about the water?” questioned Randy.

“Oh, we won’t touch that at present, lad. Let it stay in the stern.
It’ll keep the bow up high, and that’s jest what we want. We’ll shut
the door to the stern hold, so the water won’t run for’ard if the yacht
begins to pitch.”

By the time the work was accomplished, and Jack, Fred and Randy had
prepared supper, it was growing dark. All of those aboard the steam
yacht were exhausted from their exertions and glad to rest and take
their time at eating.

“I don’t want to do any more to-night,” said Fred. “I think the best
we can do is to shut ourselves in the cabin and make ourselves as
comfortable as possible in the staterooms.”

“Just what I was going to suggest,” answered Jack.

“Why can’t we take turns at staying on guard?” suggested Andy. “I’m
willing to keep awake for two or three hours, and then, one after
another, you fellows can be called to do the same.”

Thereupon it was decided that each person should spend two hours on
guard.

“If it’s all the same to you boys, I’ll take the first watch,” said Ira
Small. “I want to see if I can’t do somethin’ with the steerin’ gear
aboard this yacht. If the rudder’s in workin’ order, I want to see if I
can’t head her up to the waves so she’ll ride a bit easier.”

“Well, that’s all right; but don’t overtax your hurt leg,” answered
Jack. “If you need any of us in a hurry, yell or fire off the gun.”

Lighting the lantern in the cabin, the boys opened the doors to the
various staterooms and then proceeded to make themselves as comfortable
as the disordered condition of the compartments permitted. They had
found quite a quantity of clothing on board, and now proceeded to take
a rub-down and don some dry garments.

“It’s wonderful how warm it is,” said Jack. “I didn’t feel a bit cold
even with that wet stuff on.”

“We must have drifted southward,” returned Randy.

The lads were all too tired to do much talking, and having once gotten
into some other underwear, they hung their own garments up to dry.
Then, one after another, they lay down to get what rest they could.

At the end of a couple of hours Jack aroused himself, and, as his
cousins were all sleeping soundly, he went outside to see how matters
were going with the old sailor. He was just moving forward on the deck
when he saw a dark shadow slinking along in the starlight.

The discovery filled him with alarm, and he stood stock still. Then the
shadow took shape, and in another moment he saw that the object was a
tiger!




                              CHAPTER XIX

                       AN ENCOUNTER WITH A TIGER


For the moment Jack’s heart seemed to stop beating. The tiger looked
to be young but powerful, and had evidently broken from his cage in a
search for food. He was sniffing his way along the deck, pausing every
second or two to gaze around suspiciously.

The young major had one of the pistols with him, and he wondered if
that weapon would be powerful enough to slay the beast. He knew that a
tiger is usually hunted with a heavy rifle.

The beast continued to slink along in the semi-darkness, and now Jack
saw that he was headed for the pilot house, where Ira Small sat nodding
over the wheel. Evidently the beast had scented the sailor and was
wondering if he could bring down his prey. Having had only a small
portion of food, Jack fancied the tiger might take a desperate chance
in an endeavor to satisfy the cravings of his stomach.

“Hi, there, Small!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Look out for
yourself!”

“What’s that?” stammered the lanky sailor, straightening up suddenly
and turning back from the wheel.

“A tiger! Look out for him! Have you got your shotgun?”

As Jack uttered the words the beast turned, and without waiting further
the young major fired two shots in rapid succession. One took the tiger
in the hind quarter and the other just grazed his neck. The beast gave
a wild leap and then whirled around to locate the unexpected attack.

Jack did not hesitate to retreat, and with all possible speed. Dashing
up the sloping deck of the yacht, he gained the rail and there balanced
himself against a boat davit. The tiger saw him and crept forward a few
yards, crouching low as if meditating an attack.

Bang! It was the report of Small’s shotgun, and the charge hit the deck
directly behind the tiger, some of the shot entering his tail and his
hind feet. With a wild roar the beast whirled around, and in excitement
slid along the deck.

As he slid along the deck Jack fired again, this time hitting the beast
squarely in the side. Again came a roar and a savage snarl, the tiger
baring his glistening teeth as if willing to chew his attackers to
bits.

“Is he hit?” came from Small, hobbling forward.

“Yes; but he isn’t dead,” answered Jack. “Give him the other barrel.”

Again the shotgun blazed forth, and this time the charge entered the
tiger’s neck and forequarter. He straightened up, and then, seeing Jack
on the rail, made a savage leap in that direction.

As the beast came on, the young major fired once more. It was at close
range, and the bullet found its way directly into the open mouth of
the tiger. The spring came to a sudden halt and the beast dropped limp
half over the rail and within three feet of where the young major
was standing. Then the tiger gave a convulsive shudder, dropped to
the deck, and slid down the slope against the broken-off end of the
mainmast.

“Is he dead?” questioned Small, coming from the pilot house gingerly.

“I think so, but I’m not sure,” answered Jack.

“What’s all the shooting about?” called another voice, and Randy
appeared, followed by Fred, the first carrying a shotgun and the other
a pistol.

“One of the tigers broke loose and we’ve been shooting at him,”
answered Jack. “There he is――over by the mast.”

“A tiger!” exclaimed Randy. He grabbed the shotgun tighter. “Is he
dead, or shall I give him another shot?”

“I think he’s done for,” answered Jack. And when they turned the
searchlight on the beast, they saw that he had breathed his last.

“Well, this is certainly the dog’s suspenders,” murmured Fred. “Are
there any more of those beasts loose?” he went on nervously.

“You know as much about it as I do,” answered the young major. “I
suppose the others can get loose just as well as this one did. This is
certainly a fine wreck to be on!” he added, with a grim smile.

By this time Andy was hobbling up on deck. All of the crowd, including
the lanky sailor, surveyed the tiger carefully, but with great respect.

“He certainly was a beauty,” remarked Jack. “And see what a peculiar
color.”

“I think the animals are all very fine,” answered Randy. “Perhaps this
isn’t an ordinary menagerie ship. Maybe the people in charge were only
picking up unusual specimens.”

“What are you going to do――heave that beast overboard?” asked Andy.

“No sense in doing that,” answered Jack, quickly. “We slaughtered one
of the sheep to feed the other beasts; now I guess we can skin this
and cut up the carcass for more food; and maybe we can even try a tiger
steak――that is, if we can get the stove to working,” he went on.

It must be admitted that all of the crowd were rather nervous for the
remainder of the night. While one was at the wheel trying to steer the
water-logged yacht, another remained on guard at the entrance to the
cabin, so that no wild beast might gain admittance.

When day dawned the first work of the boys and the old sailor was to
make sure that the other animals and the snakes were well secured. Then
the beasts, reptiles and birds were fed, after which, leaving Andy in
charge of the wheel and on the lookout for a possible sail, the others
went below, to make an effort to shift some of the cargo so that the
water-logged steam yacht might ride on more of an even keel.

But they soon found this task almost impossible. The fire was out under
the boilers, so that the engine of the yacht could not be started, and
consequently they could not use any of the hoisting machinery.

“And we can’t do much with that cargo by hand,” declared Jack. “We’d
only break our backs and maybe get our fingers smashed. It would take a
gang of heavy laborers several days to make an impression down here.”
So the task of shifting the cargo was abandoned.

They looked over the store of provisions and brought up a number of
boxes and crates which contained things they thought they might use.

“With the yacht so terribly listed, it’s out of the question to start
a fire under the boilers and get things to running,” declared Jack.
“Everything is so out of kilter we might end by blowing the yacht up.
I guess about the only thing we can do is to drift along and wait for
somebody to pick us up.”

“If there was only some sort of radio on board!” sighed Randy.

“There is a receiving set in the yacht’s office,” answered Fred. “But
it doesn’t seem to be in workable condition. Probably it was knocked
out of kilter in the collision.”

That day the boys managed to get the fire started in the cook’s galley,
and for the first time in a number of days all enjoyed a cooked meal.
If a few of the articles of food were underdone or a bit burned, nobody
complained. They took their time over the repast, and ate as they had
never eaten before.

Strange as it may seem, not a sail of any kind had appeared in sight.
And even a trail of smoke that might indicate a distant steamer was
missing.

“I reckon we’re out o’ the track o’ most ships,” was the way Ira Small
expressed himself.

“If we only had the means to send out a radio call for assistance, it
might be worth while to try to get our latitude and longitude,” said
Jack. “But that’s of no consequence while we have no radio and no means
of sailing the steam yacht in any direction.”

During the afternoon the boys made another inspection of the
water-logged steam yacht, which was named the _Coryanda_. From records
on board they learned that the craft was owned by two scientists, Paul
and James Ellingham, of Baltimore. The Ellinghams, it seemed, were much
interested in the collecting of rare beasts, birds and snakes, and the
specimens on the steam yacht had been picked up in various parts of the
globe after a tour lasting over two years. Each animal, reptile and
bird was carefully catalogued.

“Some valuable cargo, I’ll say,” declared Randy. “Just look here! A
white and red parrot put down as worth two hundred dollars! I wouldn’t
give ten dollars for the best parrot going.”

“Yes, and look here! One blue-headed snake with a mile-long name put
down at two hundred and seventy-five dollars!” cried Fred. “I wouldn’t
give that much for a boatload of ’em.”

“Well, they’re probably worth that, and more, to some zoo,” declared
Jack. “Just the same, I’d rather not have such things on the _Coryanda_
while I’m aboard.”

The afternoon wore away slowly, and toward night Ira Small announced
that another storm was approaching.

“An’ it’s comin’ up fast, too,” he declared.

“What do you think it will do to us, Small?” questioned Randy.

“There’s no tellin’, lad,” answered the lanky sailor. “But when a ship
is as water-logged as this here _Coryanda_ is, she’s liable to do most
anything. The best we kin do is to fix up that raft of ours as good as
we possibly kin and git together all the provisions and water we kin
carry. Then, if the worst comes to the worst, we kin leave the yacht.”




                              CHAPTER XX

                            THE DOOMED SHIP


As Ira Small had predicted, the storm came up rapidly, and by sundown
the sky was heavily overcast and the wind was blowing freely. Then
came a shower of rain, the wind sweeping it furiously into the faces
of those on the yacht as they moved around, trying to get together
whatever they thought might be of benefit if they had to take again to
the wreckage.

Jack, Randy and the old sailor had worked on the wreckage for over an
hour, lashing the timbers together with half a dozen ropes and building
a small platform in the center so that they might rest more comfortably
than they had before.

“If only we would strike land!” sighed Andy, who, like Small, was now
limping around despite the fact that his ankle was still swollen.

By midnight the storm was on them in all its fury. The _Coryanda_
pitched and tossed in the darkness, the wreckage at her side banging
and pounding at every rise and fall of the waves.

“Gee, maybe that raft will knock a hole in our side!” said Fred.

“Well, I don’t know what to do about it, and neither does Small,”
answered Jack. “We can’t afford to cut it loose, and it might be too
dangerous to try to tow it; the line might snap, and then we’d have
nothing to take to if the yacht went down.”

“It’s too bad if we all go down,” murmured Ira Small, mournfully. “I
always did hope I’d live long enough to find them thirteen rocks an’
git a chance to hunt for that pirates’ gold.”

The wind had been rising steadily until now it was blowing with
hurricane proportions. The boys and the old tar did what they could
to steer the yacht so that she might head up to the waves. But the
water-logged condition of the craft was against her, and often they hit
a mountain of water with a resounding crash that threatened to smash
all the timbers beneath them.

“I don’t see how the vessel can stand much more of this,” declared
Randy, after a crash that had all but sent them sprawling.

“We’ve got to take what comes, and that is all there is to it,”
answered Jack, trying to put on a brave front for the benefit of his
cousins. “If she starts to go down, all we can do is to make a rush for
the raft.”

About two o’clock in the morning they made the discovery that the
_Coryanda_ was slowly but surely settling. The force of the elements
had torn away one corner of the two tarpaulins lashed over the hole at
the bow, and into this the waves kept pouring whenever they hit.

“Can’t we stop that hole?” asked Fred.

“No, no, lad! Don’t try it!” warned the old sailor. “You’d be swept off
by a wave before you knew what hit you. Stay where you are, and when
she gits too low I’ll let you know and we kin take to the raft.”

Another half hour passed, and then without warning came a resounding
crash on the keel of the _Coryanda_. The vessel seemed to slide along
on something and then slid off again into deep water.

“Gracious! what was that?” gasped Andy, in new alarm.

“We struck a key, I think,” answered Ira Small. “An’ if so, we must be
somewhere near land. You know, the West Indies are full of keys of all
kinds.”

They had the ship’s lanterns lit, and now tried to pierce the darkness
ahead with the searchlight. But this hand instrument was too feeble to
show them anything. Then came another crash from underneath the steam
yacht, and there followed a wild roaring, screaming and chattering
from the wild beasts and parrots below decks.

“Sounds as if something had broken loose down there!” exclaimed Fred.
“Gee, if they come up here, we sure will be in a pickle!”

“I don’t see how they can break out on deck with all those doors and
hatchways shut tight,” answered Jack. Everything had been closed with
care to keep out the elements. Only the door to the cabin was open, so
that they might enter from time to time to shelter themselves from the
fury of the hurricane.

One crash now succeeded another on the bottom of the steam yacht as
the vessel was driven furiously forward by the force of the wind. The
roaring, screaming and chattering below continued, showing that the
wild beasts and birds were in great terror and doing their best to gain
their liberty.

“We’re certainly among some keys,” said the lanky sailor. “But of
course, lads, you got to remember they may not be above water. There’s
thousands of places down in the West Indies where the keys are all
beneath the surface of the ocean. If we―――― Gosh! that’s the time we
struck a big one!”

There had been a tremendous crash, followed almost immediately by a
bump, and then another bump. The _Coryanda_ was thrown so far over
that every one on board lost his balance and went sliding down almost
into the water. Then the doomed ship veered around in the wind, and,
carried by a mighty wave, swept forward to crash again and again in the
darkness.

“I reckon she’s goin’ to pieces!” cried out Ira Small. “We’d better try
for the raft if we kin make it. Be careful, everybody, or somebody’ll
git drowned!”

As well as they could in the darkness, the boys, led by Jack, crept
down to the rail where the raft was lashed fast. They were just going
overboard when there came another mighty crash that threw every one of
them off his balance.

Some struck the rail, but Randy and Fred were hurled clear into the
boiling sea. Randy went down several feet, and so did his cousin.
Blindly each of them struck out and soon reappeared on the top of a
wave.

“Is that you, Fred?” spluttered Randy, as soon as he could speak.

“Yes. Where are the others? Did they go overboard?”

“I don’t know. Come on――let’s try to get on the raft.”

Both raft and yacht were but a short distance away, the lights of the
latter showed dimly through the flying mist of the storm. Bravely the
two Rover boys endeavored to reach the raft. But before they could move
more than a dozen feet the storm carried both boat and raft out of
their sight in the darkness.

“They’re gone!” gasped Fred. “The ship and the raft are gone!”

The thought filled the two boys with agony, and yet instinctively they
kept swimming, hoping almost against hope that something would come to
save them. All around were the mountainous waves, but presently they
made out a line of foam which proved to them that some sort of shore
must be close at hand.

“See the foam, Fred!” gasped his cousin. “Come on――let’s make for it!”

It was a struggle that neither of the lads ever forgot. Time and again
they reached shallow water only to be sucked back by the receding waves.

“I don’t think――I――can――make it!” gasped Fred. “Oh, the――storm is
something――awful!”

Randy was equally exhausted, and almost as hopeless. Yet almost
instinctively the two lads continued to struggle, and presently an
extra high wave hurled them forward until their feet touched a sandy
shore. Then, before the water could recede, they struggled onward
desperately, and at last reached a spot where the waves could no
longer touch them. Then they sank down, completely exhausted.

In the meanwhile the others on the doomed steam yacht had managed to
get down on the raft. They carried their firearms and an ax and a
hatchet with them, and now Ira Small ordered that the hawsers which
held the raft to the yacht be cut.

“But where are Fred and Randy?” questioned Jack, anxiously.

“They went into the water. They must be somewhere around here,”
answered Andy. “Hold up the light so they can see it.”

The raft was now freed from the steam yacht, but the force of the wind
still kept the two together. Then the yacht struck again, and the force
of the collision tipped the raft up so that those aboard were nearly
spilled off into the sea.

“Randy! Fred! Where are you?” yelled Andy. The possibility of his twin
brother and his cousin being drowned filled him with agony.

“Look out, there! Something is comin’ down from the deck!” yelled Ira
Small, suddenly. “Lay low! Them beasts is gettin’ loose!”

They could see but little, for the force of the shocks had put out
nearly every light aboard the yacht and on the raft. But they could
hear a continual roaring and snarling, and now some of these sounds
seemed to come closer. Then, of a sudden, tawny bodies loomed up near
the yacht’s rail.

“It’s a lion! Two of them!” yelled Jack.

“Yes, and they’re getting ready to jump down here!” answered Andy.




                              CHAPTER XXI

                            ASHORE AT LAST


It looked as if Andy was right, for both lions now had their forepaws
on the rail of the ship as if ready to leap down on the improvised raft
and its occupants.

But just at that moment the keel of the _Coryanda_ struck bottom once
more, and an instant later the water-logged yacht swung around and
away from the raft. The lions were left at the rail, and they roared
savagely in their combined perplexity and disappointment. Evidently
they knew not what should be their next move.

But those on the raft could give the beasts no further consideration.
The force of the hurricane sent the bit of wreckage whirling around and
around and how the sea foamed and boiled on every side of the raft.

“Hold tight!” yelled Jack to the others. “Hold tight!”

Andy heeded the command. But Ira Small, who was moving forward and for
an instant had let go of one of the ropes, slipped to the edge and
before he recovered had disappeared in a shower of flying spray.

“Small is gone!” muttered Andy, hoarsely. It was all he could do to
keep himself on the wreckage.

Jack did not answer. He, too, had seen the mishap to the lanky sailor
and he realized that in such a tempest it would be next to impossible
for Small to save himself. He grabbed hold of the loose end of one of
the ropes and, tying this fast under his arms, passed the flashlight to
his cousin.

“Keep this on me if you can,” he said, and leaped overboard.

It was a heroic move to make, for the young major knew that he was
taking his life in his hands. As the light shot through the flying
spray, he caught a glimpse of the hands of the sailor a few yards away.

“Help! Help!” yelled Small. “Throw me a rope!”

“Keep up! I’m coming!” yelled Jack in return.

But at that instant Ira Small disappeared beneath a mountainous wave
that rolled over both him and Jack and threatened to engulf the raft.
It was more by luck than anything else that Jack reached the lanky
sailor even before both of them came up to the top of the wave. Ira
Small was beating the water feebly.

“I――I――got a――a cramp, or somethin’,” he spluttered. “It’s in――my legs.
Save me, lad, save me!”

“Hold tight, and we’ll get back to the raft!” panted Jack. “I’ve got a
rope under my arms. Can you hold yourself?”

“I――guess so, although that cramp is something terrible!” gasped the
poor sailor, and Jack saw his mouth twist in agony.

Another wave came along at that instant, bringing with it the raft,
to which Andy clung with one hand while spraying around the rays of
the flashlight with the other. The light struck the pair in the water
for just a moment, and then the fury of the hurricane sent the raft
forward with a jerk that was keenly felt by Jack. Then the rope parted,
and the young major found himself helpless in the boiling and foaming
waters with a bit of the rope dangling under him and Ira Small clinging
desperately to his back.

“Kin you make it, lad? Kin you make it?” spluttered the old tar.

“No. The rope broke,” answered Jack.

“Then we’re bound for Davy Jones’ Locker!” moaned Ira Small. “Can’t
you save us somehow, lad? Kin you save us somehow? Remember them
thirteen rocks an’ the pirates’ gold. Save me, an’ you kin have all
that gold.” And now the old sailor acted as if he were losing his mind.
He could swim but little, and the thought of being cast away in the
ocean and in the darkness terrorized him.

But if Small was ready to give up, Jack was not. Weighted down as he
was by his clothing and the rope which he could not unfasten just
then, and also by the form of the sailor, he continued to struggle
desperately in an effort to keep afloat. Ship and improvised raft had
both disappeared in the darkness, and he could see only a few feet in
any direction.

He battled bravely, and wave after wave lifted the young major and his
helpless burden up and through that boiling and foaming sea, which
denoted that land was close at hand. Then he, like Randy and Fred, felt
the sand beneath his feet and took fresh courage.

“We’ve struck land!” he cried. “Hold tight for a minute longer, Small,
and I think we’ll be all right.”

Another wave swept forward, carrying the pair well up the beach. Then,
watching his chance, Jack, with Ira Small still clinging to him,
struggled madly to gain some sort of foothold on the shore.

In the meantime, Andy, left alone on the raft, did not know what to do.
He used the searchlight as best he could, and when the rope suddenly
parted he retained presence of mind enough to throw a life-preserver
which was on the raft in the direction his cousin had taken. Then the
waves and the flying spray cut out the view on all sides of him, and
though he wiped off the glass of the searchlight and played the rays in
all directions, he could see nothing but the rolling ocean.

“They are gone! All of them are gone!” he murmured, in agony. “First
Gif and Spouter and Ralph, and now all the others! I’m all alone!”

The poor boy was in such a state of mind that he was almost ready to
cast himself into the sea and end it all. He was trying to think of
what to do when, without warning, the raft was caught up by the waves
and a few seconds later was grounded on the beach. It went back into
the wallow of the sea, but the next wave carried it still higher.

“Ashore! Ashore!” cried Andy, in amazement. And then, before the raft
could again slide back into the ocean, he took a flying leap forward,
landing in water less than a foot deep and hobbled rapidly to a point
of safety. As he did this, the raft was sucked back into the ocean and
it disappeared from view into the gloom of the night and the storm.

Andy had no thought of looking around to see upon what sort of place
he had landed. His one thought was of his cousins and the old sailor.
He still held the flashlight in his hand, and now as rapidly as he
could do so, he hobbled along the sandy beach, throwing the rays of the
flashlight before him and calling loudly.

The first persons he encountered were Jack and the sailor. The young
major sat on the sands panting for breath while beside him in a
semi-conscious condition lay Ira Small.

“Jack!” was the eager cry. “Are you all right?”

“Is that you, Andy?” panted the young major. “Yes, I’m all right. But
Small is pretty close to being all in. When the rope parted I thought
sure we’d be drowned.”

“Where are the others?”

“I don’t know.”

Leaving the old sailor resting where he was, Jack and Andy continued
the search along the sands. They used the searchlight, and presently
heard a cry from a distance, and Fred and Randy appeared.

“Safe! Safe!” cried Andy, joyously. “Oh, how glad I am! I thought I was
going to be all alone!”

It was a happy reunion, and for the moment the Rover boys did nothing
but hug each other in their delight at being together again. They cared
not if the raft and the steam yacht were gone, so long as all of them
were safe. They walked to the spot where Ira Small lay, and each sank
down to rest.

“He’s certainly in bad shape,” said Jack, gazing at the old tar, who,
with closed eyes, was breathing heavily. “He said he had a cramp, or
something like that.”

“I wonder what place this is?” put in Randy. “Maybe there’s some sort
of village or town not far away. If so, we might be able to get a
doctor for him. Now that we have all been saved from the ocean, we
certainly don’t want him to pass away like this.”

After having rested for some time, it was decided among the boys that
the twins should remain with the old tar while Jack and Fred set out on
a tour of exploration, taking the flashlight to guide their way.

The rain had stopped entirely, but the wind blew as fiercely as ever,
and the boys had no easy time of it to make their way along the sandy
shore. Back of the sand they found a dense mass of bushes and trees, a
veritable semi-tropical jungle.

“Gee! this doesn’t look as if there was any village or town very near,”
observed Fred, after they had passed up and down the somewhat narrow
beach for a goodly distance. “Do you suppose we’re on the mainland or
on an island, Jack?”

“I’m of the opinion we’re on an island, Fred. It seems to me we were
drifting southward most of the time.”

“Would we do that if the boat was in the Gulf Stream?”

“I think we were east of the Gulf Stream. Anyway, I’ve got a hunch
that we’re somewhere in the West Indies, although, of course, I may be
mistaken. I’m really and truly all at sea,” and Jack grinned grimly.

The two Rover boys walked along the beach until they came to a point
where a huge wall of rock jutted out into the ocean, and here the
flying spray stopped their further progress. Then they walked back
along the beach to where they had left the twins and the sailor, and
then continued their observations in the other direction. Here they
found that the beach made a turn, and the ocean came into what formed
a small bay. But at the entrance to this the jungle was so dense that
progress on foot was completely cut off.

“There isn’t any path around here, that’s certain,” remarked Jack, at
last. “Do you know what I begin to believe?” he added.

“What?” questioned his cousin.

“I believe we are cast away on a small deserted island.”




                             CHAPTER XXII

                       ABOUT A PIRATES’ TREASURE


Morning found the five castaways resting as comfortably as they could
in the jungle on the edge of the sandy beach. The storm had passed
completely, and only a mild wind had succeeded the hurricane. But the
waves were still angry and foamed and boiled as they struck the keys
beyond the beach.

Utterly exhausted, one after another of the Rover boys had dropped to
sleep. The last to lie down had been Jack. The young major had found
some rain water in a hollow between the trees and bushes, and had given
Ira Small a drink. The old sailor was still suffering, but none of the
boys knew what more they could do for him, except to place him upon as
comfortable a couch as the edge of the jungle provided.

It was a sorry looking crowd that came together for a consultation
shortly after the sun arose. The boys were still wet to the skin, but
as it was comparatively warm, they did not mind this a great deal. They
hung up their jackets and took off their shoes and socks and thus
proceeded to dry themselves as best they could.

“It certainly does look lonely around here,” remarked Fred, after
taking an observation in every direction. “Not a settlement nor a craft
of any kind in sight!”

“It looks like a deserted island to me,” remarked Jack. “Or, otherwise,
it’s an unusually lonely bit of coast.”

Now that they had rested, all felt the pangs of hunger. Water was to be
had in sufficient quantities for drinking purposes, but the jungle, as
far as they could see, afforded nothing in the way of food.

“Anyhow, that hurricane ought to have thrown some fish up on the beach,
and maybe we can find some oysters,” suggested Randy.

“Why not take a look around for the raft?” came from his twin brother.
“It got stuck for a moment when I came ashore, and I can’t believe but
what the hurricane cast it up somewhere around here.”

“Don’t leave me!” groaned the lanky sailor, propping himself up on one
of his arms. “Don’t leave me all alone in this out-of-the-way place.”

“We’re not going to leave you, Small,” answered Jack, kindly. “We’ll do
what we can for you, never fear.”

“You saved my life, lad,” went on the old tar, gratefully. “I ain’t
never goin’ to forgit it, neither. You know what I said about them
thirteen rocks and the pirates’ gold. If I ever lay hands on that gold,
you’re goin’ to git a big share of it.”

“What I’d like to lay my hands on just now is a roast-beef sandwich,”
said Andy. “I feel hollow right down to my toes.”

“Yes, a sandwich and a good cup of hot coffee,” put in Fred.

As Andy’s foot still hurt him, it was decided that he was to remain
with the sailor while the three other boys walked down the beach in the
direction where Andy had landed.

For a long while the searchers found nothing of interest outside of
several small fish they discovered flapping around in a pool well up on
the beach.

“There are a couple of meals, anyhow,” said Jack. “That is, if we can
make a fire to cook them over.”

“Oh, we’ll make a fire all right enough. I’ve seen it done several
times, when the party didn’t have any matches,” declared Fred. “Of
course, it isn’t very easy.”

“I’ll tell you what we can do,” suggested Randy. “If there are any
birds around we might bring them down either with the firearms or with
bows and arrows.”

The three Rover boys continued their explorations until almost noon,
and then, to their satisfaction, caught sight of the raft being slowly
pounded to pieces on a series of keys just outside the tiny bay
previously mentioned.

“There she is!” exclaimed Jack, who was the one to make the discovery.

The improvised raft still hung together, and so far as they could see
their stores were still upon it. But the sea was pounding it heavily,
sending the spray completely over it.

“Maybe if we had a line heavy enough we could haul the raft ashore,”
suggested Randy.

He had scarcely spoken when the force of the waves made the raft break
loose from the keys upon which it was stuck, and an instant later it
surged shoreward.

“It’s coming in!” cried Fred. “Let’s see if we can’t haul it up somehow
or other.”

The next fifteen minutes were filled with strenuous exertions on the
part of the three Rover boys. Twice the wreckage came up on the sand,
and they did their best to hold it, but without success. Then they
managed to get hold of two of the ropes which lashed the wreckage
together, and, watching their opportunity, they waited for an extra
high wave and then ran the wreckage up the beach as far as they
possibly could.

“Now come on and tie it fast!” yelled Jack.

He had found a loose end of one of the ropes. Tying this to another
rope they had found on the wreckage, they ran up the beach and anchored
the improvised raft fast to a palm tree.

“Now let’s get the stuff ashore before the raft has a chance to break
loose,” directed the young major.

Working with feverish haste, the three boys pitched boxes and crates
and canned goods out on the sand above the reach of the ocean. It was
well that they did this, for before they had finished their task the
wreckage began to go to pieces. The continual pounding of the elements
had snapped a number of the ropes, and now one bit of timber after
another drifted away.

“Come on! Let us take the wreckage up as high as we can get it!”
directed Jack. “That stuff may come in useful as firewood, if for
nothing else.” And so what was left of the raft was presently hauled to
a place of safety.

It did not take the boys long to look over the stores, and, carrying
what they needed, they hurried back to where they had left Andy and the
lanky sailor.

They had matches in a water-tight box, and soon a fire was lighted and
a meal started, much to every one’s satisfaction. After the meal Ira
Small felt better. He was not yet able to get on his feet, stating that
his legs felt too shaky; but he insisted upon sitting up and taking
part in the discussion of what should be their next move.

“I reckon we’re on a little island of the West Indies,” said the old
tar. “There’s dozens an’ dozens of ’em scattered fur hundreds o’ miles
around. Most of the islands have settlements, but there’s a lot of ’em
that ain’t visited once a year. The folks down here can’t grow nothin’
on ’em, an’ couldn’t git the stuff to market if they did, an’ so the
islands are left to themselves, not bein’ near where ships usually
travel.”

“Was it on one of these islands that your thirteen rocks and the
pirates’ gold was located?” questioned Randy, curiously.

“That’s it, lad. An’ if I ever git my hands on that gold, you lads are
goin’ to have a fair share of it. I ain’t never goin’ to forgit how
Jack, here, saved my life.”

“Tell us something about the pirates’ gold, will you?” questioned Fred.
The search and the work of the morning had tired him completely, and he
was content to rest for a while after eating.

“To go into the details would be a long yarn, lad――longer nor any of
you would care to listen to,” answered Ira Small. “Howsomever, here is
the gist of it:

“About five year ago I fell in with two old sailors who hailed from
Jamaica. They was talkin’ about the thirteen rocks and pirates’ gold,
and one of ’em had several snap-shot photygraphs of them thirteen
rocks and where they was located on an island. They said the place
wasn’t so very far from Porto Rico, an’ they tried to figure out how
to locate that island, which they had once visited. The thirteen rocks
was located in something of a circle, an’ in the center of it was a
flat rock, an’ under that the treasure of gold hidden by Zalopa, an old
South American pirate, and his men.”

“Gee, I’d like to locate that pirates’ treasure!” murmured Fred, his
eyes glistening. “What do you suppose it’s worth?”

“Them old sailors thought it was worth a big amount, although how much
they couldn’t exactly say,” answered Ira Small.

“Where are the sailors now?” questioned Jack.

“Both dead. They got smallpox, an’ nobody would nurse ’em but me. I
stayed with ’em till they died, an’ they was so grateful they said
I could have the treasure if I could find it. They told me all they
could about it. After their death I got smallpox myself, but it didn’t
amount to a great deal. I reckon I was too thin an’ leathery,” answered
the lanky sailor solemnly.

“And you’ve never had a chance to look for the treasure?” questioned
Randy.

“Not much of a chance. You see, after I had the smallpox I had to earn
my livin’ an’ I didn’t have no time to go treasure huntin’. But some
day, if I can git anybody int’rested, I’m goin’ to git a ship an’ sail
aroun’ lookin’ fur an island with them thirteen rocks.”

“Did you save the pictures?” asked Andy.

“I got two of ’em. The rest got tore up an’ lost. The two are sewed up
in a pocket o’ my shirt. Some day I’ll show ’em to you,” answered the
old tar.

It was fascinating to speculate upon a pirates’ treasure, but just at
present the boys felt that they must turn their attention to conditions
as they now existed.

“I’m going to try to climb up one of those tall palm trees and take a
look around,” announced Jack, a little later. “I’ve seen pictures of
how the natives go up those trees, and I’m going to try the stunt.”

He took a stout rope, and, going to one of the trees, proceeded to
pass the rope around his body under the arms and then around the tree,
leaving a slack of about two feet. Then, barefooted as he was, he
started to ascend the palm tree by grasping the bark with his toes and
sliding the rope up from one point to another, bearing back on the rope
from time to time to keep it from slipping.

Jack had read about this method of ascending a tree, and had even seen
a moving picture of a native climbing in this fashion. It had looked
easy enough in the picture, but he soon realized that ascending in this
fashion was anything but easy. However, he was determined to get up,
and after a prolonged effort managed to reach a point where he could
look around for a considerable distance.

“What do you see?” called out Randy, eagerly.

“I don’t see much of anything,” was Jack’s answer. “We’re on an island.
There isn’t any settlement, and not a ship of any kind is in sight.”




                             CHAPTER XXIII

                           A TIME OF ANXIETY


Jack’s announcement filled all of those below with keen disappointment.
They had hoped from his position in the tall palm that he would
discover either that they were on a point of the mainland or that some
sort of settlement was not far away.

“Gee, we’re regular Robinson Crusoes!” declared Andy, with a sigh.
“What do you know about that!”

“And not a sail in sight!” murmured Fred.

“Yes, and nothing in the way of a boat to get away on,” added Randy.

“I thought it might be that way,” put in the old sailor. “We sure are
in a pickle, an’ no mistake. But it’s a mighty good thing you sighted
the raft an’ got them stores ashore. That food will last us quite
a spell.” And then he added suddenly: “Don’t he see nothin’ of the
_Coryanda_?”

“What about the steam yacht?” called up Fred.

“Nowhere in sight,” was Jack’s answer, after another look around.

“Then she must have gone to the bottom,” came solemnly from the lanky
sailor. “I thought she was doomed.”

“Well, there’s one satisfaction,” was Andy’s comment. “If she went
down, it’s good-bye to all those savage beasts and those horrible
snakes.”

After a careful survey of the surroundings, Jack came down from the
tree and told the others the details of what he had seen.

“The island looks to be about a mile long and not quite half a mile
wide,” he said. “The western end is mostly rocky and extends out into
the ocean for a considerable distance. Looks to me as if it might be
of volcanic origin, like we have studied about in school. Over to the
eastern end of the island is that little bay, and there the jungle is
very dense. There are more rocks at the far eastern end of the island,
some quite tall.”

“And you didn’t see anything at all in the way of a settlement or a
place where boats might land?” questioned Randy.

“Not a thing! It looks to me as if this island had never been visited.”

“Oh, I reckon these islands are all visited once in a while,” remarked
Ira Small. “The natives come in their long boats to see what they can
pick up. But we might have to wait a good many months before any one
would come here to take us off.”

“And it doesn’t look as if we could build a boat ourselves――not with
the material we have,” answered Jack, with a sigh.

“Then it looks as if we might be booked to stay here quite a while,”
remarked Randy. “Oh, dear, I wonder what the folks at home will think!”
he went on soberly.

“They’ll think we have all been lost at sea,” answered Fred.

“They will unless those aboard the _Hildegarde_ tell how we escaped in
the motor boat.”

“Those rascals won’t open their mouths about that,” answered Andy. “And
even if they did,” he went on, “they’d most likely think the motor boat
was lost in the hurricane.”

“And what do you think became of Ralph, Gif and Spouter?” remarked
Randy.

No one cared to reply to this. All wished to hope for the best, yet
down in their hearts they were satisfied that their school chums had
gone to a watery grave. A sudden spell of melancholy fastened itself
upon the four Rover boys. The mind of each traveled back to the loved
ones at home, and they could well visualize the agony of mind which
their parents and the girls must endure.

“More than likely mother is half crazy, and so are dad and Martha,”
mused Jack to himself. “Oh, if only we had a radio sending station, or
some carrier pigeons, or some means of communicating with them!”

“I suppose the folks at home will start some sort of a search for us,”
said Fred, a little later. “But it will be a good deal like looking for
a pin in a haystack.”

“We can only hope for the best, Fred,” said Randy. “Gee, I wish we
could do something! I don’t want to stay on this forsaken island for
any great length of time!”

“None of us wants to stay here,” declared Andy. “We haven’t any great
stock of provisions, and what are we going to do when those are gone?
Of course, we can catch fish, and maybe get some oysters, and perhaps
bring down a few birds. But who wants to live on that sort of stuff
very long?”

“There may be something we can find to eat in the jungle,” said Jack.
“Bananas or cocoanuts or mangoes, or some other semi-tropical stuff
like that. It isn’t likely there’s very much on a place that’s so
rocky.”

During the afternoon the boys explored the island further, penetrating
into the jungle for quite a distance. Here, however, they found the
thickets so dense that progress was almost impossible.

“We’d have to cut our way along to get to the south side of the
island,” declared Jack. “A fellow could never get through unless he
found some sort of a trail.”

They did manage to reach the shore of the little bay. Here the water
was comparatively quiet, and here they came upon some of the wreckage
that had torn itself loose from the improvised raft.

“We can make a little raft of that stuff and sail around the bay on
it,” said Jack. “But I don’t see what good it will do.”

Too tired at last to do anything else, the boys returned to their
temporary camp and there proceeded to fix an evening meal and prepare
themselves for a second night on the island. They had secured a
good-sized tarpaulin from the wreckage, and, cutting some poles with a
hatchet, they soon had a tent erected. Then all the boys set to work
to cut down some small branches, with which they fixed up beds for
themselves and for the old sailor.

Fortunately, they had recovered all the firearms left on the improvised
raft, and none that had been carried in their pockets had been lost, so
that now all were armed as before.

“But we must remember that our supply of ammunition is limited,” said
Jack. “So don’t shoot at anything unless you have to.”

“I don’t see what there is to shoot at,” answered Randy, who was frying
one of the fish brought back from the pool.

“Well, something may turn up when you least expect it,” answered the
young major.

Their clothing was now dry, yet they presented anything but an enviable
appearance. Their linen was much soiled and torn and their suits were
also torn and very much mussed up.

“We wouldn’t do to go to a party, would we, Jack?” remarked Fred, when
they were preparing to retire. “I wonder what Ruth Stevenson would say
if she saw you now.”

“Probably she’d be glad to see me and all the rest of you, Fred,” was
the prompt answer. “I know I’d be mighty glad to see her and all of the
others. Wouldn’t you?”

“Would I! Would a duck swim or a monkey eat peanuts? I’d give all I’m
worth to be safe and sound again at home or at Colby Hall. Gosh! it
seems as if we had been away for ages.”

Nothing that night disturbed the party, and all were stirring early,
each wondering what they might do to get out of their predicament. To
stay on the lonely little island indefinitely was unthinkable. Besides,
they felt they must let their parents know of their whereabouts at the
earliest possible moment.

When Andy was dressing, Jack noticed that Andy was surveying his
injured ankle quite seriously. The fun-loving Rover boy had lost much
of his light-heartedness.

“Does it still hurt, Andy?” he questioned kindly.

“A little, Jack. But I don’t mind that so much,” was the sober reply.
“It’s when I try to walk. It doesn’t seem to act like it used to.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s stiff. I can’t bend it, and it makes me walk sort of flat-footed.
Haven’t you noticed it?”

“I thought you limped a little.”

“It’s worse than that. I don’t know what to make of it. But I certainly
don’t want to walk with a limp all the rest of my life.”

“Oh, don’t think of such a thing!” exclaimed Jack, in dismay. His
cousin had always been so acrobatic that to think of his being lame
filled the young major with dismay.

“If I could only see a doctor or get to a hospital, maybe they could do
something for it before it got too bad,” went on Andy. “I guess I need
attention as much as Small does.”

As the boys did not wish to carry the pile of wood brought in from
the breaking up of the improvised raft, they shifted the camp a little
closer to where the wood lay, and there put up the tent in more
permanent fashion, digging a trench around the back and both sides, so
that in case of rain the water would run off into the sand. They also
fixed some better bedding, and from some stones built a small fireplace
where they might cook their meals to better advantage.

It was about the middle of the afternoon when Randy, who had been
walking up the beach in the direction of the high rocks, came running
back in great excitement.

“Do you see it? Do you see it?” he called out eagerly.

“Do we see what?” asked several of the others in chorus.

“A ship! There she is! And I believe she’s coming to this island!”

All gazed in the direction to which Randy pointed, and far out at sea
they saw what seemed to be a bark with all sails set.

“She’s either coming this way or else she’s going to round the eastern
end of the island,” said Fred.

“Let’s do what we can to signal her!” exclaimed Jack.

The boys had already talked over the matter of signals, and now they
started up the fire and then heaped upon it some damp brushwood,
thereby causing a dense smoke. Then two of them went down the beach,
waving a bit of sailcloth while the other two went up the beach and did
the same thing.

Would their signals be seen? Anxiously the boys waited to find out.




                             CHAPTER XXIV

                             IN THE JUNGLE


Five, ten, fifteen minutes went by slowly. The wind had fallen
somewhat, so the progress of the vessel in the distance was slow.

“She’s coming this way, I’m sure of it!” declared Randy.

“Don’t be too certain. You may be disappointed,” answered Fred.

The youngest Rover boy had scarcely spoken when the bark seemed to veer
off to the eastward.

“She’s going away!”

“Maybe she’s only tacking in the wind.”

With strained eyes the boys watched the vessel in the distance. Now she
seemed to tack back, much to their delight.

“She’s coming in!”

“They must be seeing our signals!”

“Hurrah! I wonder what sort of a vessel she is?”

“Perhaps she’s another rum-runner,” came from Fred.

“Oh, Fred, don’t say that!” exclaimed Andy.

“Well, you can’t tell, Andy. We must be right in the path of that kind
of a ship. So many of them run from the West Indies to the United
States.”

“Look, look!” cried Jack, in sudden dismay. “She is turning away again.”

“That’s right. She is steering due east!” added Randy, with something
like a groan.

Another five minutes passed, and then all of the boys, as well as the
lanky sailor, came to the conclusion that the bark was moving eastward.
Frantically the lads continued their signaling, and saw to it that the
clouds of smoke from their fire continued. But if the signals were
seen, no one paid any attention to them, and presently the bark, far
to the eastward, was but a speck in the distance on the bosom of the
rolling ocean.

“She’s gone! They didn’t even notice us!” exclaimed Fred, and his voice
had something of tears in it.

All were downcast, and it was some time before they could get back to a
more optimistic frame of mind.

“They should have seen the smoke, even if they couldn’t see us waving
the sailcloth,” said Randy, bitterly.

“Well, if they saw the smoke, they might have thought it was from a
fire built by some of the natives,” answered Jack. “If I was sailing
among a great bunch of islands like the West Indies, I wouldn’t want to
stop to investigate every pillar of smoke I saw.”

“If we only had a regular flag, then we could hoist it up in one of
the trees. If we placed it upside down, that would be sure to attract
attention sooner or later.”

“Yes; but we haven’t a flag, so we’ve got to do without it,” said Andy,
who was now rubbing his hurt ankle in an endeavor to limber it up.

Another day passed, and by this time the boys felt a little more at
home on the island. A few hours of fishing had sufficed to bring in a
goodly mess, and while some of these were eaten, the others were placed
in a pool where they might be drawn upon whenever necessary. The boys
had also made a hunt for oysters, and while they had found a few of
the bivalves, they were not of a particularly good variety, and no one
cared for them except the old tar.

“Some day I’m goin’ to make myself a good, big stew of ’em,” said Ira
Small. “I always did like a stew made of oysters caught on the spot.”

Now that he could rest whenever he desired, the lanky sailor recovered
rapidly, so that in a couple of days he was able to hobble around with
the aid of a cane which Jack cut for him. A great friendship had sprung
up between the young major and the old tar.

“I ain’t forgot how you saved me from goin’ down to Davy Jones’
Locker,” the old sailor said more than once. “An’ don’t you forgit what
I said about that pirates’ gold. If I lay hands on it, you git your
full share.”

After a quiet Sunday on the island Jack and Randy made their way on
Monday morning to the little bay and there constructed a raft out of
the wreckage that had drifted into the opening. Then, with their shoes
slung around their necks and their socks in their pockets, they set
off for the opposite shore of the bay, using two pieces of boards for
sculls.

“We may find nothing over there to interest us,” said Jack. “Just the
same, it won’t hurt to go over. Perhaps we can find some sort of a
trail to the south side of the island.”

As the water was calm, it did not take the boys long to reach the other
side of the little bay. Here they found a spot where landing was easy
and tied up the raft so that it might not float away. Then, putting on
their socks and shoes again, they continued their explorations.

They soon found that progress in this direction was almost as difficult
as it had been in the vicinity of their first camp. The jungle was a
mass of tangled undergrowth and heavy vines, with here and there some
fair-sized palm trees. A little further on they came to a series of
rocks which seemed to bar their further progress in that direction.

“We don’t seem to be getting anywhere, Jack,” remarked Randy, as he
stopped to catch his breath and wipe the perspiration from his brow.
“Gee! this doesn’t seem to be like December weather, does it?”

“Well, you must remember we’re pretty well south,” was the young
major’s answer. “What do you think we’d better do――go back?”

“Let’s move along the base of the rocks. Maybe we’ll find some sort of
an opening. I’d like very much to get to the south shore of the island,
just to find out what is there.”

Once more they went on, advancing with care for fear of slipping and
perhaps spraining an ankle. They had a hatchet with them, and often had
to cut the brushwood and the vines, to make a passage for themselves.

“There is one thing we want to remember,” said Jack, suddenly. “And
that is that we’ve got to get back. We don’t want to lose our way.”

“I guess not!” exclaimed his cousin. “Why, if we lost our way in this
jungle we might never get out. We’d have to climb a tree or some of
those rocks just to locate ourselves.”

Presently, in the midst of the jungle, they came to a small clearing.
Here there was a rocky hollow, and they found a bubbling spring of
pure, cool water.

“Say, this is worth while!” exclaimed Jack, after each of them had
taken a drink. “I wish we had this spring near the camp,” he added as
they sat down to rest and eat their lunch.

“Look on the ground, will you!” exclaimed Randy, suddenly. “Look at
those footprints! What do you make of them, Jack?”

Both gazed at the soft ground in the vicinity of the spring, and there
saw a number of footprints evidently made by some wild animals.

“What animals do you suppose they can be?” questioned Randy.

“I don’t know. In fact, I don’t know what sort of wild animals exist on
these islands. They are certainly not the marks of horses or cows or
sheep, or anything like that.”

“If there are any wild animals in this jungle, we’d better be on our
guard.”

“I should say so! I wish we had brought one of the shotguns along.”

“So do I.”

They had with them two of the pistols, but they realized that these
weapons might prove of small use against any large beasts.

They looked around the vicinity of the spring, but nothing in the way
of an animal showed itself. Not even a bird was in sight, and all was
as quiet as the grave.

What to do next, the two boys did not know. If there were wild animals
on the island, that might change matters very much, so far as they were
concerned. They would have to keep on guard continually, and might even
have to take some means of protecting themselves against attack.

“Do you suppose those beasts might be from the wreck of the _Coryanda_?”
said Randy suddenly.

“It’s possible. That wreck might have come close enough for some of
the animals to jump overboard and swim ashore. Or, the vessel may have
struck the island and then gone to pieces and drifted away before we
had a chance to see what happened.”

The boys discussed the situation and came to the conclusion that the
best thing they could do would be to return to the camp and inform the
others of what they had discovered.

“If there are any wild animals loose here, every one of our crowd
ought to know it,” said Jack. “And the quicker we get the information
to them the better.”

He and Randy turned back and made their way once more along the base
of the rocks. It was now about two o’clock in the afternoon, and they
hoped to return to camp well before dark, which, in that portion of the
globe, came on suddenly.

The two cousins had passed along less than fifty yards when suddenly
Jack held up his hand.

“Look, Randy! Look!” he whispered.

Randy did as directed, and there a short distance ahead saw on a flat
rock the form of a big lion. The monarch of the jungle stood out
boldly. He was looking off into the brushwood and acted as if he were
watching something.

“It’s a lion!”

“Exactly! And as they don’t have lions down here in the West Indies, it
must be one of those from the _Coryanda_.”

“That’s right. What shall we do――fire at him?”

“I don’t think it would do much good――at least not from such a
distance. If we got closer we might be able to wound him, even if we
didn’t kill him.”

“Yes, but I don’t want to get closer, with nothing but a pistol to
shoot with.”

“Neither do I. But what are we going to do? He’s right in the way of
our getting back to the raft.”

Suddenly the boys saw the lion straighten up and get ready as if to
make a leap into the brushwood below. Then they were startled as they
heard a rustling in the jungle, and the next moment a full-sized goat
leaped into the clearing just ahead of them. The animal was evidently
full of fear, and knew not which way to turn.

“A goat!”

“Yes, and it’s one of those that were on board the steam yacht! Don’t
you remember her? The one with the black spots on her neck? The one
Andy said he’d like to try to milk?”

The goat saw the boys and, as if asking protection, leaped toward them.
Then from the lion on the rock came a roar, and the next instant the
big beast hurled himself into the brushwood in the direction of the
goat.

“Gee, the goat is coming this way!”

“Yes, and the lion is after her――or else he’s after us!”

The two boys held ready their pistols, and as they did so they
retreated to the vicinity of the rocks. They were backing up to these
when suddenly the goat leaped around, saw the lion, and immediately
made another leap and started to scramble up the rocks within several
yards of where the boys were now crouching.

The lion came tearing forward, and then he too bounded up on the lower
rocks.

But hardly had he touched these when the goat made a mighty leap and
went up out of his reach.

“Gee, I’m glad the goat got away,” muttered Randy.

He had scarcely spoken when the lion, evidently much disappointed,
turned around on the rocks and the next instant caught sight of the two
lads. Up went his mane and he let out a savage roar, and then hurled
himself in their direction.




                              CHAPTER XXV

                          THE THIRTEEN ROCKS


“He’s coming this way! Use your pistol, quick!”

Crack! Crack! Both of the pistols spoke up, and the lion was hit in the
head and in the left foreleg. Then the two Rover boys fired again, this
time at even closer range, one bullet piercing the beast’s ear and the
other plowing through the skin of his back.

But nothing stopped the rush of the ferocious lion, and it was only by
leaping to the rear of the nearest rock that Jack and Randy escaped the
onslaught.

In the next few minutes so many things happened that it is almost
impossible to describe them. The lion, with another roar and snarling
from pain, came around the rocks just as the boys leaped up. Then,
standing several feet above the beast, they fired once more. The
lion retreated, got wedged in between a tree and a rock, and turned
savagely, probably thinking in his excitement that he had in some way
been attacked from the rear.

“There’s a shelf just above us!” exclaimed Jack, glancing around for
some means of escape. “Let’s get up there!”

Roar after roar came from the lion, the sound so terrifying it was
enough to make anybody tremble. The goat was leaping from rock to rock,
and now disappeared from sight. The shelf the young major mentioned
was a rocky one about three feet above their heads. Over it grew a few
vines, and Randy clutched these only to have them come away in his
hands.

“Here, let me boost you up, Randy!” exclaimed Jack. “Quick! That lion
may take it into his head to leap at us!”

“But what of you?”

“I’ll get up somehow! Hurry! We have no time to waste!”

In a few seconds Randy was boosted to the shelf. Looking around, he saw
a place where he could dig in with his toes, and he promptly lay flat,
extending his hands downward as he did so.

“Come on! I’ll help pull you up!” he gasped. “Hurry up! The lion is
getting ready to jump.”

Thus assisted, the young major managed to scale the wall and reach the
rocky shelf. He had scarcely done so when the lion, crouching low,
made a wild leap upward.

The distance the beast covered was fully fifteen feet, and both the
Rover boys felt that he might have gained the rocky shelf had it not
been for Randy’s quick action. Beside him lay a jagged stone half as
big as his head. This he scooped up and launched at the beast when the
lion was less than a yard away. The stone did little damage to the lion
physically, but the attack was so unexpected that the forward movement
of the king of the jungle was stopped, and he dropped down on the rocks
from which he had come.

“Fire at him, Jack!” called out Randy. “Give him every bullet you’ve
got!” And then both boys emptied their pistols into the beast as he
stood there, evidently trying to make up his mind what next to do.

Some of the shots went wild, but two hit the lion squarely in the side,
and now with roars of pain and fear the beast suddenly retreated and
the next instant disappeared in the undergrowth on the edge of the
jungle.

“He’s gone!”

“Maybe he’ll come back!”

“Let’s reload just as fast as we can.”

The last suggestion was a good one, and they carried it out immediately.
In the meanwhile, they kept their eyes on the jungle, but the lion did
not show himself.

“Maybe he’s mortally wounded,” suggested Randy.

“I hope so,” answered his cousin. “But we can’t take any chances on
such a big beast as that. Gee! when he leaped for this shelf, I was
scared. I thought he was about ready to eat us up.”

“He’d have killed us both, Jack, if he could have gotten at us,”
answered Randy, with a shudder.

The boys realized that they had been in great danger, and if they were
exceedingly nervous, who could blame them? With reloaded pistols, they
waited where they stood, straining their eyes and ears for any other
movement the lion might make.

“And the worst of it is,” said Jack, “if that lion and that goat came
ashore from the _Coryanda_, for all we know, all the other beasts, and
maybe the snakes, came ashore too.”

“They could only do that if the steam yacht was completely wrecked so
that the cages were broken open.”

“Well, those cages didn’t look very secure to me. Don’t forget how
that snake and that tiger got loose.”

“We’ve got to get back to camp somehow and warn the others. But I must
confess I don’t feel much like going through that jungle to where we
left the little raft.”

“Nor do I. I’d rather try to climb over the rocks and get to the bay,
somehow or other, that way.”

The boys made an investigation and presently found a place at the end
of the narrow shelf where two or three rough steps led upward. Neither
of them wished to trust himself in the jungle, and so they kept on for
over half an hour, climbing one rocky height after another in their
endeavor to reach the bay without taking to the heavy growth to the
westward.

“Hurrah! I see the ocean!” cried Randy, presently. “I think if we keep
on in this direction we’ll soon get to a point where we can get down to
the bay. But, of course, we’ll be quite a distance from where we left
that raft.”

“Never mind. Maybe we can swim back to the raft,” answered Jack. He
felt that anything would be better than facing such wild beasts as
might now be roaming the otherwise deserted island.

It was hard work climbing over the rocks, which in many places were
sharp and irregular.

“Look out that you don’t go down into some deep hole,” warned Jack.
“You might get wedged so tight you’d never get out.”

“I suppose that goat got along easily enough. A goat loves to leap the
rocks.”

“Yes, but we’re not goats. Come on! We want to get back before night.”

The boys moved forward, but the going was now more perilous than ever,
and presently, having leaped to a spot that looked fairly easy to
negotiate, they found further progress all but impossible.

“Looks like we were stuck, Randy,” said the young major, scratching his
head.

“Oh, don’t say that, Jack! We don’t want to go back after coming all
this distance!”

“Yes, but if we can’t go ahead we’ll have to go back.”

For ten minutes the two youths searched around, and then managed to
find a split between two of the rocks and beyond this a rocky slope
leading still farther upward.

“We might as well try this,” said Randy. “If it doesn’t lead to
anywhere we can go back.”

The rocky slope ended in something of a plateau. The boys were now
at one of the highest points on the island and could see in almost
all directions, the heavy jungle cutting off only a small part of the
coast line in the southwest. To the north and the east, as well as the
southeast, rolled the mighty Atlantic, flashing in the rays of the
declining sun. To the eastward on the island were innumerable rocks,
some of them fantastic in shape and forming a sort of bowl, the bottom
of which was now shrouded in shadows.

“My gracious! this whole end of the island is nothing but rocks,”
declared Randy.

“Look!” exclaimed Jack, pointing to the coast southward. “Unless I’m
greatly mistaken there is the wreck of the _Coryanda_!”

“It’s the old steam yacht just as sure as you’re born!” answered his
cousin.

“No wonder I didn’t see the wreck from the top of that palm tree,” went
on the young major. “See how she’s wedged in between the rocks.”

“Yes, and it looks to me as if her backbone was broken, Jack. Anyway,
she’s split bow and stern. No wonder the animals got loose. Smashing up
on the rocks that way must have loosened everything.”

“Maybe most of the animals were killed by the shocks.”

“I hope they were.”

The two boys walked to a nearby rock in an endeavor to get a better
view of the wreck, which was all of a quarter of a mile away.

“We’d have a hard job getting down to her, I’m thinking,” remarked
Jack. “I don’t believe we’d ever be able to get over those rocks. We’d
have either to sail around to the eastward, or otherwise make our way
to the south shore and get to her from that point.”

“Well, I’m glad we located her, Jack; aren’t you?”

“To be sure I am, Randy. If we have to stay on this island any great
length of time we’ll probably need everything we can get from the
yacht. We didn’t have any great variety on the raft, remember, and we
need some clothing as well as food.”

“And don’t forget that we want a flag to hoist upside down as a signal
of distress.”

Having inspected the wreck as well as they could from such a distance,
the boys began speculating on how they might get down from the rocks
to the eastern shore of the little bay. They had to go forward with
caution, because at every step the way seemed to become more perilous.

“I don’t believe any human being was ever on these rocks before,” was
Randy’s comment.

“I guess you’re right,” answered Jack. “What would bring a person
up to such an out-of-the-way place, anyhow? There isn’t much to this
island, and I don’t wonder the natives give it the go-by.”

The boys went a few yards farther, and then both leaped to a rock that
seemed to be secure, but which was not. Under their combined weight it
tilted unexpectedly, and they suddenly found themselves sliding they
knew not to where.

“Grab hold!” yelled Jack, and did what he could to stop his progress,
and Randy did likewise.

Down they went over one slippery rock after another, bringing up at
last in a sort of pocket on the side of a cliff. Here they stood
panting for breath and rubbing their shins and their elbows, which had
been sadly scraped in the descent.

“Great Cæsar! I thought we were going down to kingdom come,” gasped
Randy.

“Now we are in a pickle!” returned the young major. “How ever are we
going to get out of this place?”

Jack began to look around, wondering what their next move might be. An
instant later he let out an exclamation of astonishment.

“What is it, Jack?” queried his cousin, as he saw the young major
pointing his finger and counting slowly to himself.

“Look there, Randy! Am I right, or am I only dreaming? Do you see these
sharp-pointed rocks all around us? Well, just count them, will you?”

Catching what was in Jack’s mind, Randy began to count the huge circle
of sharp-pointed rocks.

“Why, there are thirteen of them!” he burst out. “Oh, Jack! do you
think――――”

“That this is the place Ira Small has been talking about? Well, it
certainly looks like it!”




                             CHAPTER XXVI

                            THIEVES IN CAMP


The two boys gazed in awe at the circle of thirteen sharp-pointed rocks
which arose majestically in a circle that was all of an eighth of a
mile in diameter. There were other rocks on every side, but these stood
out distinctly so that there was no mistaking them.

“If these are the thirteen rocks Small has been talking about, then
that pirates’ treasure ought to be located in the center of this
circle,” said Jack.

“And that would be somewhere down there,” added Randy, pointing with
his finger to the rocks far below them. “Jack, do you really think
there is a treasure here?”

“I don’t know, Randy. It may be only a fairy tale. Why should any
pirates come to such a forsaken place as this to bury their treasure?”

“That’s just what I was thinking. It would be much easier for them to
bury their gold close to where their ship landed. They would have an
awful job getting to such a spot as this.”

“Perhaps there’s some secret way of getting from the shore to this
place――some trail over and between the rocks of which we know nothing.
Anyway, the thirteen rocks are here.”

“I wish we had seen those photographs the old sailor talked about. Then
we’d know in a minute whether this was really the place or not.”

Had the rocks been less dangerous to climb, both of the boys would
have tried to descend to the center of the rocky bowl in a quest of
the pirates’ treasure. But they realized that it would be extremely
dangerous to attempt to approach that place from where they stood,
and so, rather regretfully, they turned their backs on the thirteen
high-pointed rocks and continued their search for some means of
reaching the little bay where they had left their raft.

“Gee, this is certainly some island to be on,” was Randy’s comment, as
they moved forward slowly and cautiously, testing every foothold to
make certain that it was secure. “Wild animals and a pirates’ treasure!”

“It would sound exciting to read about,” commented the young major.
“Just the same, I’d like to be out of this mess, Randy.”

“So would I. And just think of the folks at home! How they must be
worried about us!”

“Yes, but there is something even worse than that. Think of Ralph, Gif
and Spouter.”

“I’m thinking about them every day, Jack. Life at Colby Hall won’t be
the same with Gif and Spouter gone. And Ralph certainly was a fine
fellow.”

It was growing dark when the two Rover boys at last reached a point
where getting down to the eastern shore of the bay was comparatively
easy. By this time they were all but exhausted from their efforts, and
both resolved to break through a short bit of the jungle in an endeavor
to reach the raft.

“Keep your pistol ready for use, Randy,” warned the young major, and
then he moved forward with his firearm in one hand and the hatchet in
the other.

Both boys were on edge, thinking that some wild animal might pounce out
upon them at any instant. But nothing happened to disturb them, and a
little later they reached the raft and, much relieved, sculled their
way over to the other side of the bay, this time landing as close to
the ocean and its sandy shore as possible.

“Hello! Hello!” came from out of the fast-gathering darkness, and a
moment later in reply to their answering calls Fred appeared.

“I supposed you’d be getting anxious about us,” said Jack. “We
certainly have had plenty of things happen to-day. We’ll tell you all
about it when we get back to camp.”

Seated comfortably in camp and partaking of a substantial meal gotten
ready by the other boys, Jack and Randy told first about the encounter
with the lion.

“Gee, I hope you killed him!” cried Fred. “I don’t want to meet such a
beast as that around here.”

“The lion must have come from the yacht,” put in Ira Small. “An’ if
that’s so, then the ship must have come ashore on the island.”

“That’s just what she did,” answered Randy. “We saw the wreck lying
between the rocks away off to the southeast.”

“Did you visit the ship?” questioned Andy, eagerly.

“No. We were too far away, and climbing over those rough rocks is no
easy task.”

“And now we have something of more importance to tell,” said Jack.
“That is, we hope it may prove of more importance. Small, I’d like
to see those photographs of those thirteen rocks you’ve been talking
about.”

“Jumping toadstools, Jack! you don’t mean to say that you’ve spotted
those thirteen rocks?” ejaculated Andy, and for a moment he stood
straight up, forgetting all about his twisted ankle.

“We certainly did see thirteen rocks; great big ones, too, and all in a
circle!” cried Randy, proudly. “Of course; they may not be the thirteen
rocks Small has been talking about, but there were thirteen of them,
and all in a circle, just as plain as the nose on your face!”

“Hurray! I knowed them rocks was on an island somewhere around here!”
burst out the lanky sailor. “I been figgerin’ it out in my mind ever
since we come ashore. Wait! Somebody give me a sharp pocketknife an’
I’ll cut them photygraphs loose so you kin see ’em.”

The two photographs were soon brought forth from the shirt pocket into
which they had been sewn; and by the aid of the searchlight Jack and
Randy examined them carefully.

“The same place!” exclaimed Randy. “Don’t you think so, Jack?”

“I certainly do!” was the ready reply. “Just look at that rock there
and the one over here! Don’t you remember how this one had two points
and that one had three?”

“Yes, and this one here was just a bit flatter than any of the others.
Oh, it’s the same place! I’m sure of it!”

“Well, if it’s the same place, do you suppose the pirates’ gold is
there?” questioned Andy, quickly.

“I don’t know about that,” answered the young major. “The whole center
of the circle seems to be formed like a huge bowl and is very rocky. We
had no means of getting down to the middle of it. As it was, we slipped
two or three times and nearly broke our necks.”

“The gold is there, I know it is!” came solemnly from Ira Small. “We’ll
have to go on a hunt for it first chance we git.”

“Of course these pictures weren’t taken from anywhere near where we
stood,” said Jack, after looking at the photographs a second time. “It
looks to me as if they’d been taken from the north. And if that’s so,
then there must be some way of getting down into the rocky bowl from
that direction.”

“I’ve no idee how they got to the place,” said the lanky sailor. “There
must be some kind of a path leadin’ from the shore. Mebby the pirates
cast anchor outside of the keys an’ come ashore in small boats.”

Eagerly the four Rover boys and the old tar talked the matter over. For
the time being they forgot completely about the wreck of the _Coryanda_
and the wild beasts and snakes which might have come ashore. Presently,
however, Jack reminded them of the peril.

“We’ve got to keep all our weapons handy and somebody will have to
remain on guard after this,” he said. “We don’t want a couple of lions
or tigers surprising us.”

“Yes, and we don’t want any big snakes crawling in to sleep with us,”
put in Fred, with a shudder.

“Let’s keep the fire bright,” suggested Andy. “Wild beasts don’t like a
blaze.”

“If we could only get to the wreck of the steam yacht, perhaps we’d be
able to find some rifles,” said Jack. “Then I’d feel almost like going
after those wild beasts. But I don’t care to do it with a shotgun or a
pistol.”

They talked the matter over still further, and in the end made up a
regular schedule so that each of the boys, as well as the old sailor,
would take his turn at remaining on guard. Of course, the old tar could
not do much in the way of moving around, but his eyes and his ears were
as alert as any one’s, and that was all that was necessary.

The night, however, passed without incident, and morning found Jack and
Randy much rested; and with daylight the alarm over the wild beasts
subsided somewhat.

“I wish we had some sort of a boat,” said Jack, while eating breakfast.
“Then we could skirt the island and visit the _Coryanda_, and also look
for some sort of path leading to that circle of rocks.”

“Why can’t we build a sort of scow out of the wreckage?” questioned
Fred. “We’ve got plenty of boards and ropes, and I think we could get
quite a lot of nails out of the stuff if we set to work to do it.”

As nothing else suggested itself, the boys surveyed all the wreckage
they had brought ashore and finally concluded they might utilize a
portion of it in building a sort of sharp-pointed scow. Then they set
to work, Ira Small hobbling down the sandy shore to watch them.

It was no easy task to build the scow, and it was not until noon of
the next day that the craft was ready for use. They had nailed it as
tight as possible, but this was not saying much, and they relied mostly
on the solid flooring with which the scow was furnished to keep them
afloat.

“Now we’ll have to make some sort of sweeps for it and then we’ll be
ready to set sail,” declared Fred.

All had become so interested in making the scow seaworthy, that, for
the time being, the camp had been forgotten.

“I suppose it’s about time somebody got grub ready,” murmured Andy,
presently. “Scow or no scow, I want my dinner.”

“Well, you go on back and start things,” returned Jack. “Perhaps you’d
better go with him, Fred. Randy and I can finish here. We’ll be along
in a few minutes.”

Fred and Andy walked back in the direction of the camp with Ira Small
hobbling after them. They had covered not more than half the distance
when Andy gave a sudden cry.

“Look what’s going on in camp!” he exclaimed. “What in the world are
those things, anyway?”

Fully two dozen small forms were moving rapidly in and around the camp.
What was being done neither of the boys could surmise until suddenly
Fred let out a yell of dismay.

“They’re monkeys! What do you know about that!”

“They must be the monkeys from the wrecked yacht,” answered his cousin.
“And look! Do you see what they’re doing? They’re carrying off our
things!”




                             CHAPTER XXVII

                         AT THE WALL OF ROCKS


Had it not been such a serious situation, the two Rover boys would have
been inclined to laugh at what was happening. But they realized that
the canned food and other things in the camp meant a great deal to
them, and they did not intend that the monkeys should make away with
the stuff.

“Get out of there! Scoot! Scat!” yelled Fred, running forward.

He was followed by his cousin, and in a moment more both boys found
themselves in the midst of the simians. The monkeys chattered and
squeaked in alarm, but none of them seemed to be inclined to retreat.
Many of them had found something to eat, and the others were snooping
around, doing their best to tear open packages or break open some of
the canned goods.

“Get out of here!” yelled Fred. He had scarcely spoken when one of the
monkeys dropped a can of beans on his toes and leaped upon the youth’s
left shoulder. “Hi! Get off of there!”

But instead of getting away, the monkey caught hold of Fred’s ear and
held tight, shrieking and chattering loudly as he did so.

In the meanwhile two other monkeys leaped upon Andy, one on his
shoulder and the other on his back, holding tight to the alarmed
boy’s collar. The other simians ran back and forth, chattering most
infernally. One had picked up a pan brought in from the wreckage, and
this he banged upon any object that came to hand.

[Illustration: A MONKEY CAUGHT HOLD OF FRED’S EAR AND TWO OTHERS LEAPED
UPON ANDY.]

“For gracious’ sake! what’s that racket in camp?” exclaimed Jack,
looking up suddenly.

“Hi! Hi! Come here! Some monkeys have attacked the two boys!” yelled
Ira Small at the top of his lungs. And then, somewhat scared at the
unexpected turn of affairs, the lanky sailor blazed away with a shotgun
he was carrying.

The aim of the old tar was poor, and the shots scattered into the
jungle back of the camp. But the noise had its effect, and in a
twinkling all but two of the monkeys began to take their departure. But
they did not go empty handed. With loose food, canned stuff and other
things in their paws, they scrambled into the jungle, and, amid a wild
chattering, disappeared.

“Monkeys, of all things!” burst out Randy, rushing forward beside the
young major. “Who ever thought they would come to attack us!”

“They’re probably hungry, just the same as that lion was,” answered
Jack. “There they go!”

The two monkeys that remained were the ones that had clung fast to
Fred’s ear and one of those which had fastened itself to Andy’s collar.
These continued to chatter and squeak, but held fast as if seeking
companionship and protection.

“Gee, do you know what I think?” declared Andy, suddenly. “This little
beggar is tame. He isn’t half as wild as those others were.”

By this time the other monkey had let loose of Fred’s ear, and now sat
perched on the lad’s hand, looking up into Fred’s face so comically
that the youth was compelled to grin.

“If you’re going to be friendly, all right,” said the boy. “Just the
same, you had me pretty well scared.” And then he stroked the monkey,
and the frisky little animal seemed well content to nestle in the crook
of his arm.

“I’ll wager that these two monkeys were pets of the people on board
the steam yacht,” declared Jack, when the momentary excitement had
come to an end and the party had made sure that all the other monkeys
had disappeared. “If it wasn’t so, these fellows wouldn’t stay here a
minute.”

“I guess you’re right,” answered Fred. “Just the same, what are we
going to do with the two little beggars? We don’t want to feed them,
and I’m certain that I don’t want to kill them.”

“We’ll have to feed them and then chase them back into the woods,”
suggested Andy.

“You’ll have fine work chasin’ ’em away after you’ve fed ’em,” declared
Ira Small, coming as close to grinning as the boys had ever seen. “Feed
a monkey once, an’ you’ll have him around you forever. The only way to
git rid of ’em is to douse ’em with cold water.”

“Oh, if they want to stay, let them,” answered Jack. “They’ll help us
pass the time when we haven’t anything else to do.” The cuteness of the
two little simians appealed to him, just as it did to all the other
boys.

A little later, after the monkeys had been fed to their hearts’ content,
the Rover boys tied them to nearby trees so that they might not get into
further mischief.

It was not until the following morning that all started out in the
clumsy scow, if such it might be called, to make the trip around the
eastern end of the island to where the wreck of the _Coryanda_ lay. On
the way they thought they might land once or twice on the sandy beach
below the rocks in an endeavor to find some passageway leading to the
spot where they thought the pirates’ gold might be hidden.

At first Jack and Randy had thought to take the trip, in company with
Ira Small; but Fred and Andy had protested so vigorously that it was
finally decided that all should go, even though the scow might be
rather crowded.

The clumsy craft had been provided with four extra long sculls, or
sweeps, and everybody, even to Andy, went barefooted, knowing that they
might be standing in several inches of water most of the time. They
carried their shoes in a water-tight canister, so that they might have
these foot coverings whenever they landed. They also carried with them
a supply of food, not knowing how long they would be away.

It was an ideal day for the trip. There was hardly any wind, and
consequently the surf at the keys and along the beach had greatly
subsided. They got afloat without much trouble, and then the old
sailor took command, telling them how they might progress to the best
advantage.

“Ain’t no need to go out any further than jest to keep from bein’
throwed up on them rocks,” he said, after they had passed the entrance
to the little bay. “An’ every one keep his eyes peeled for anything
that looks like an openin’.”

“Were there any marks leading to the treasure――I mean anything in
the way of a signboard?” questioned Randy of the lanky sailor.

“There was supposed to be a triangle,” answered Ira Small. “A triangle
of three arrows. Them sailors said the triangle led to the circle.”

“Then, having found the circle, we’ll have to keep our eyes open for
the triangle,” murmured the young major.

Slowly and not without some danger, they finally rounded the eastern
point of the island. Although they had watched closely, no one had
discovered any opening that might lead to the bowl of the thirteen
rocks. Here and there they had discovered small bunches of brushwood
and vines growing among the rocks, and had seen higher up innumerable
nests of sea birds, but that was all.

“But the opening must be there――that is if the yarn about the treasure
is true,” declared Jack.

“We’ll have to make a more careful search when we’re coming back,” said
Fred.

“Perhaps the opening is behind some of those vines or bushes,” put in
Andy.

Having rounded the eastern end of the island, it did not take them long
to reach the vicinity of the spot where the _Coryanda_ had been cast
up among the rocks. Here were innumerable little keys, and Ira Small
rightfully guessed that it was only the force of the hurricane that
had driven the water-logged steam yacht in so far and with such dire
results.

“She’s busted clean an’ clear,” was the lanky sailor’s comment.
“Busted, lengthwise an’ sidewise. They won’t never be able to do a
thing with her. She’s gone forever.”

“We’ll have to go slow about going aboard,” said Jack. “No more wild
beasts for me!”

“Or snakes, either,” added Fred.

They had brought along the shotguns and pistols, and had seen to it
that every weapon was fully loaded. Now, as they came up beside the
rocks on which the _Coryanda_ rested, Jack told Fred and Andy to remain
at the sweeps while he and Randy and the old sailor held their weapons
ready for use should the occasion require.

But all seemed calm and peaceful in the vicinity of the wreck, and,
gaining courage, the whole party presently landed, made fast, and
mounted to the deck of the old steam yacht at a point close to the
cabin.

A glance around showed them that everything was in the wildest
disorder. Evidently the water-logged yacht, driven by the hurricane,
had pounded on the rocks time and again before some extra large wave
had cast her up and broken her into practically four pieces, two
forward and two aft. Hatchways and the runway for the animals were
wide open, and in one spot they could look down an opening to the very
keel of the vessel.

“Be careful how you move around,” warned Randy. “Otherwise, somebody
may slip through one of those openings and break his neck.”

On account of the condition of the steam yacht, and because there might
still be some of the wild beasts or snakes present, they moved around
the wreck with great caution. Thus an hour or more passed. They found a
sheep and a little deer, both wedged in the wreckage and dead.

“The animals and the snakes seem to be gone,” declared Jack, at last.
“And all of the monkeys have gone, too, and also the parrots. About all
that are left are a few of the small birds, and I guess we might as
well give them their liberty.” And this was done.

When the noon hour was reached all were tired and hungry and glad
enough to sit down on the deck and eat a portion of the food they had
brought along. As they did this they talked over the situation.

“There are plenty of stores here, and most of the stuff seems to be in
good condition,” remarked Jack. “So, no matter what else happens, we’re
not liable to starve to death.”

“I suppose we could stay on board if we wanted to?” suggested Fred.
“It might be safer to sleep in the cabin here, even in its partly
wrecked condition, than to bunk out on the beach with those wild
animals at large.”

“Oh, I don’t want to stay all the time,” put in Randy. “We can’t
stretch our legs here. Besides, it might be dangerous if another
hurricane struck us. I saw some rifles on board, and if we arm
ourselves with those, I’d rather be back in the vicinity of the old
camp.”

“Well, whatever the crowd want to do――――” began Jack, and then came to
a sudden stop. A distant humming had reached his ears, and this humming
steadily increased in volume.

“What do you suppose that is?” questioned Andy, looking at Jack
curiously. He, too, had noticed the humming.

“Sounds like an aeroplane motor,” was the quick reply. “Hear how loud
it’s getting!”

“There it is!” shouted Randy, pointing skyward. “It’s an aeroplane as
sure as you’re born!”

“Yes, and it’s heading this way!” cried Fred.




                            CHAPTER XXVIII

                        A SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE


For several seconds all those on the deck of the wrecked steam yacht
watched the on-coming flying machine with intense interest. Then Randy
uttered a sudden exclamation.

“The flag! Let’s put it out upside down for a distress signal!”

“Yes, and let’s make some smoke! We can do it with some wet papers,”
put in Fred.

While Fred and Andy got ready the smoke signal, Randy and the young
major rushed to where they had found the flags belonging to the wrecked
vessel. As quickly as possible they selected the biggest Old Glory on
board and brought it out on the deck.

“How kin you raise it?” questioned Ira Small. “There ain’t no masts.”

“We’ll tie it to a pole and hold it up from the top of the cabin,”
answered Jack, hurriedly.

In all haste the flag was fastened to a pole the boys had noticed some
time before and then raised to the top of the cabin, where Randy and
Jack waved it frantically at the on-coming ’plane. A few minutes later
the flying machine was almost directly overhead. It was of fair size
and contained two occupants.

“It’s a hydroplane!” exclaimed Fred. “See the pontoons under it?”

“I hope she lands,” murmured Andy.

“I don’t believe they can land on the ocean very well,” said Jack. “But
they might land in that bay on the north shore.”

Eagerly the whole party watched the movements of the hydroplane. It
seemed to be passing them by when it slowly turned in a wide circle to
the eastward. Then it came along over the wreck once more.

“They’re dropping something!” cried Jack. “Here it comes!”

A white object about as big as a man’s head came dropping down from the
hydroplane. It was evidently of light weight, for its descent was not
rapid and the wind carried it from over the stern of the wreck to a
point just beyond the bow. Then the hydroplane sailed on.

“I’ll bet it’s a message of some sort!” burst out Randy, and he and
Fred scrambled over the side of the yacht and on to the rocks where
the object lay. They found it was made of paper, tied lightly with a
string, and to it was attached a bit of cardboard on which was written:

    “Wreck and distress signals seen. Cannot land. Will notify
    U. S. Government without delay. Can you hold out forty-eight
    hours? If so, turn flag.

                                                          “JACKSON.
                                                          “BORDERWELL.”

“Hurrah for Jackson and Borderwell, whoever they may be!” cried Jack,
happily. “Come on! Let’s turn the flag right side up!” and this was
quickly done.

Again the hydroplane made a turn, this time wider than before. Then the
flying machine passed over the wreck at a lower level, and they could
see the two aviators peering anxiously down at them. They waved the
flag in delight and Andy and Randy threw kisses to show that everything
was all right. Then they saw each of the aviators wave their arms in
return. A few seconds later the hydroplane passed southward once more.

“I’ll bet she’s bound for Porto Rico!” cried Jack, and in this surmise
he was correct.

“If only we could have sent word to the folks that we’re safe!” sighed
Fred.

But even with this drawback, the boys felt tremendously relieved, and
had it not been for his twisted ankle Andy would have danced a jig of
joy. Their situation would soon be known to the outside world, and they
were certain that relief would not be slow in coming.

“Forty-eight hours won’t be so long to wait,” said Randy. “Why, that’s
only two days!”

“That will give us time to hunt for the pirates’ gold!” exclaimed the
lanky sailor. “I wish my leg was better. I’d climb over them stones
somehow or other and git to the middle of the circle of the thirteen
rocks.”

“Now that we know that help is coming, we can spend all our time in
trying to locate the gold,” said Randy. “Why not take another trip
along the base of the rocks in the scow? We can post a notice here
telling where we’ve gone, so that if any one arrives they’ll wait for
us.”

They finished their interrupted meal and then decided to make another
tour in the scow without delay. It was very calm, the wind having gone
down completely, so they felt they could approach quite close to the
cliffs without much danger of another wreck.

For fully two hours the party of five moved slowly along the rocky
shore, inspecting every foot of the way for some hidden trail by which
they might get to the bowl encircled by the thirteen rocks.

“There might be an opening behind that bunch of vines,” remarked Andy,
presently. “It looks as if there were some sort of opening there.”

They had brought with them several long-handled boathooks, and by means
of these they managed to make a landing on the rocks, and Randy and
Fred climbed to the point where the vines mentioned were growing. Here
they found an opening several yards in depth, inhabited by numerous sea
birds that flocked forth in much astonishment.

“There is an opening,” shouted Randy, after throwing the rays of the
searchlight around, “but it doesn’t lead to anything. It’s just a blind
pocket.”

After this the search was continued for another hour, and the boys
visited two other places along the rocky barrier. One was thickly
matted with vines, and here they found the foothold very uncertain, and
Jack and Fred, who were doing the climbing, came close to tumbling down
into the ocean.

“Doesn’t look as if there was any sort of an opening around here,” came
dolefully from Andy. He was sorry that he could not do some of the
climbing himself, but he knew that he had to take care of his hurt
ankle or that member might become so bad that he could not use it at
all.

“We won’t give up yit!” cried Ira Small. “I’m goin’ to git down in that
circle of rocks if I’ve got to stay behind on the island all alone!”

“Oh, we wouldn’t dream of going off without you, Small,” answered
Randy, quickly.

“Well, I ain’t goin’ to leave till I’ve made a search,” answered the
old tar, stubbornly. “That thing’s been in my mind fur five years, an’
I ain’t goin’ to give up now when I know where them rocks are located.”

“Maybe we’ll have to get an airship in which to get down into the
bowl,” said Andy, making a wry face.

Again they went on, and now they were less than an eighth of a mile
from where the rocky wall came to an end and the jungle took its place,
leading, a short distance farther along, to the entrance to the little
bay which Jack and Randy had navigated on the raft.

“What a lot of birds,” remarked Jack, as they went along close to the
rocky cliff. “I never saw so many in my life.”

“It would be easy to get enough for a bird pot-pie――if a fellow wanted
it,” added Andy, with a grin. Then, however, the fun-loving Rover shut
his mouth tightly and began to rub his hurt ankle.

“Hurt very much, Andy?” asked Fred, kindly.

“It starts up every once in a while,” was the answer. “I don’t notice
it, and then of a sudden it seems to go right back on me.”

“You’ll have to see a doctor――just as soon as we can get to where there
is one,” put in his brother.

“I suppose so. But I’ll wait till we get home first.”

As they moved along both the boys and the lanky sailor kept their eyes
on all the flat rocks which were passed. Presently Fred saw what he
took to be the picture of an arrow carved on one of the rocks, and he
pointed this out to the others. Close to the arrow grew some trailing
vines from a small opening just above.

“Gee, that does look like an arrow!” cried Andy, with interest.

“Yes. But there were to be three arrows forming a triangle,” remarked
his twin.

Curious to know if the mark was really meant for an arrow, they sculled
the scow in closer to the rocks and then pulled the vines aside with
one of the long boathooks.

“There are the three arrows, just as plain as day!” burst out Jack.

He was right. There, on the face of a large upright rock, the
representation of three arrows had been cut. Each arrow was about two
feet in length, the bottom one horizontal and the others running down
to a base probably four feet long.

“It’s a triangle, all right enough! A triangle with the three angles
left open!” ejaculated Randy.

“Yes, but where is the opening?” came quickly from Ira Small. He was as
much excited as any of the boys.

“It must be up behind those vines!” cried Fred.

It was no easy task to get up the side of the smooth rock, and had it
not been for the substantial boathooks they carried and the support of
some of the vines, they would have been unable to make it. However,
Jack and Randy managed finally to reach the opening and speedily began
an investigation. But this amounted to nothing. The opening was very
irregular, and all the passages leading from it went up instead of down.

“How are you making out?” shouted Andy, impatiently.

“Nothing doing up here, as far as I can see,” announced Jack.

“Maybe there’s some sort of a secret trapdoor,” suggested Fred,
hopefully.

For over a quarter of an hour Randy and Jack continued their
investigations of the little opening just above the triangle of arrows.
Then they came to the edge of the hole and looked down blankly at those
on the scow.

“It’s no use,” said Randy, disconsolately. “If there’s any passageway
here, we can’t find it.”

While the search was in progress, those on the scow had had no easy
time of it to keep the craft from becoming damaged on the rocks. Now,
as an extra large wave rolled in from the ocean, Fred used one of the
boathooks as a fender. But the hook on the end of the pole slipped
down, and the next instant boy and pole disappeared from view into the
ocean at the base of the rocky cliff!




                             CHAPTER XXIX

                    IN THE CIRCLE OF THIRTEEN ROCKS


“Fred’s gone!”

“Push the scow back! Otherwise he’ll be smashed!”

Such were the excited exclamations as the youngest Rover boy disappeared
over the front end of the clumsy scow which was now being turned
sideways by the force of the waves.

All expected the boy to reappear, and they waited anxiously for several
seconds. Then, as he failed to show himself, their anxiety turned to
alarm.

“Where is he? Where did he go?” gasped Jack, peering down from the
opening above.

“I don’t know,” answered Andy. “He was pushing on the boathook and it
slipped and he and the pole went down into the water.”

“What do you suppose is keeping him down?” questioned Randy, who was
also peering anxiously from the opening above.

“Don’t ask me,” answered his twin. “Gee, this is fierce!”

“He was sucked under!” spluttered Ira Small, excitedly. “Sucked under!
There must be some kind of a hole under them rocks!”

“If he’s in a hole, we’ve got to get him out,” returned Jack, and
regardless of the danger, he leaped down into the water beside the scow
and then climbed on board.

Randy quickly followed him. Then the searchlight was played upon
the water where the youngest of the Rover boys had so mysteriously
disappeared.

“I see the hole in the rocks!” cried Jack, an instant later. “It’s less
than two feet under water. Here! Give me that rope. You fellows pull in
when I give a jerk. I’ll try to find him.”

In a twinkling the young major fastened one end of the rope he had
indicated around his body under his arms. Then, without further ado,
he leaped into the ocean. Another wave was coming in, and this swept
him down under the rocks exactly as it had swept Fred. The young major
felt himself hurled forward, and then, of a sudden, his feet struck
some sloping sand. He pushed his way onward and presently found himself
standing up in water less than a foot deep and in almost total darkness.

“Fred! Fred!” he called out, as soon as he could speak.

“Who is that?” was the quick response, and the next moment his cousin
stood beside him. He was panting for breath.

“I’ve found the opening,” spluttered the youngest Rover. “But I didn’t
do it in the way I supposed.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Not in the least, Jack. But I don’t know how I’m going to get back――or
how you’re going to get back, either,” went on Fred. And just then
another wave came rushing in on the pair, coming up to their waists and
then receding.

“I’m fast to a rope. You catch hold of me and we’ll both get out, I
think, without a great deal of trouble.”

“This must be the passageway, Jack.”

“Perhaps. But just now we’d better return to the scow. The others are
all afraid you were drowned.”

With Fred holding to the rope, they waited until another wave was
coming in and then jerked upon the line. Then, as the wave receded,
they rushed along with it, protecting themselves as much as possible
from such rocks as might be over their heads. They felt the line
tighten, and in a few seconds more came out into the daylight and were
hauled close to the scow.

“Fred!”

“Gee, but I’m glad you’re all right!”

Such were the cries from Andy and Randy as the youngest Rover boy and
the young major crawled aboard the scow. They were somewhat winded, and
it was half a minute before they recovered sufficiently to tell of what
they had seen.

“That must be the passageway!” cried Ira Small excitedly. “Mebby you
kin git in it with a rowboat when the tide is low. Anyway, I think we
ought to investigate.”

The boys thought so, too, and they calculated that the water would be
at its lowest about three hours later.

“It will be dark by that time,” was Andy’s comment.

“I don’t care,” answered Jack. “I’m going to see what sort of place
that is before I leave this island.”

“I think we can get in and out of that hole without a rope,” said Fred.
“I mean while the water covers it. Just the same, it might be a good
thing to fasten a line out here on the rocks and then carry it inside.
Then a fellow could haul himself out if he had to.”

This suggestion was thought a good one, and in the end a heavy hawser
was fastened on the rocks and then carried by Jack and Fred through the
opening under water. Then, while the water was gradually going down,
the others fastened the scow as best they could, and also entered the
watery passageway under the cliff.

It was not such a hazardous thing to do, nor so terrifying, when they
understood just how the opening was located. All reached the sandy
beach under the cliff without mishap. They carried the searchlight,
which was of the water-tight variety, and with the aid of this soon
made their way under the base of the cliff to where there was a
fair-sized opening on the inner side.

“Here we are!” exclaimed Jack, in delight. “That must be the passageway,
beyond a doubt!”

Once in the open, they saw that the irregular bowl encircled by the
thirteen pointed rocks was just ahead of them. The path was rough, but
well defined, and they had little trouble in following it.

“Gee! what a desolate place this is,” remarked Andy, as they pushed
along.

He had good reason for making that remark. On every side of them were
the bare rocks, lying in all sorts of fantastic shapes. Here and there
were a few stunted bushes and trailing vines. There was nothing in
the way of a jungle; not a tree showed itself; nor were there any
indications of water.

“This is what I call stony lonely and no mistake,” was the way Fred
expressed himself.

At last they reached a point almost at the bottom of the rocky bowl.
Now they could gaze around them and see the thirteen rocky points quite
plainly.

“It’s them thirteen rocks, and no mistake!” said Ira Small, with
satisfaction. “An’ we found the triangle, too! So that pirates’ gold
must be somewheres close at hand.”

“Unless some one else has been here before us and taken it away,”
answered Jack. “Don’t be too much disappointed if we find it gone.
These pirate treasures have been hunted for years by thousands of
treasure seekers.”

“Well, I’m goin’ to make certain if it’s here or not before I leave
this island!” answered the lanky sailor, determinedly.

It was now growing dark, the setting sun casting long and grotesque
shadows across the hollow where they were traveling. Soon night came
on, just at a time when they were trying to decide where the center of
the jagged bowl might be.

“We’ll probably have to stay here all night,” said Jack. “I don’t
believe we can do much in the darkness.”

“Oh, come on! Let’s do what we can,” cried Andy, eagerly. He was so
excited that for the time being he had almost forgotten his hurt ankle.

The other boys were equally interested, and it must be confessed that
the lanky sailor was as wild as any of them. He, too, had forgotten
all about his injured leg, and he strode on over the rocks, looking in
every direction for some sign that might indicate where the pirates’
gold was hidden.

It was now so dark that they had only the searchlight to guide them,
and this seemed to be growing dimmer.

“I suppose the battery is giving out,” said Jack, and then the thought
occurred to each of them: What would they do if the flashlight failed?
They would then be left in utter darkness, and even though they carried
matches in a waterproof box there was nothing at hand with which to
build a fire.

They stumbled along for a hundred feet or more over the rough rocks,
and then Fred gave a sudden cry:

“Look there! Can that be the place?”

All gazed at the spot pointed out, at the same time centering the rays
from the fast-fading flashlight on the place. They saw a curious mound
of stones, evidently built up by hand. The stones averaged the size of
bricks, and arose in a pyramid to the height of several feet.

“That’s it! That’s it!” yelled Ira Small, excitedly. “That’s the place!
I remember one of them sailors said there was stones heaped on the flat
rock like the pyramids of Egypt, only, o’ course, not so high!”

“Well, that heap was certainly placed there by hand and not by nature,”
answered Jack. “Come on, let’s throw the stones aside and see what is
under the pile!”

All set to work, including the lanky sailor, and it may well be
believed that the stones composing the pyramid were quickly scattered
in all directions. At the bottom, they came upon a flat rock resting
upon four other rocks which evidently had an opening between them.

“Some rock!” said Jack, as he surveyed it. “We’ll have our own trouble
moving it, I’m afraid.”

The searchlight was placed a few feet away, and the boys and the
sailor set to work to move the heavy flat stone which rested on the
four others. At first they could not budge the stone, but finally they
brought it up on one edge and let it fall over on the other side.
Underneath, in a square hollow, they saw more small stones, evidently
packed in by hand and tamped down. They had a job removing two or three
of these, but then the others came up easily.

“Hello! Here’s a handle of some sort!” exclaimed Randy, feverishly. “I
believe it’s the handle of a box!”

All saw the handle, which was about five inches long and so rusted and
mildewed they could not make out of what material it was composed. Jack
and Randy, aided by the old tar, pulled upon it with might and main and
presently brought to light a small chest evidently of iron, brass, or
some hard wood――what, they could not determine for at that instant the
rays of the flashlight died away, leaving them in total darkness.

“It’s a chest!”

“I wonder if the pirates’ gold is in it!”

“Oh, gee! why did that light have to go out just now?” grumbled Andy,
impatiently.

“Make a light, somebody. We’ve got to find out what this thing is!”
said Fred.

Jack was already bringing forth the waterproof match-box, and now he
struck one of the matches and held it over the chest. It was so covered
with mildew and other evidences of age that he could hardly make out
which was the front and which the back of the receptacle.

“Oh, if we only had a torch or something to make a fire with!” moaned
Andy.

“Wait! I’ve got something!” exclaimed Ira Small, suddenly, and, diving
down into a pocket of his jacket, he brought forth a bit of candle not
over two inches in length.

“Picked it up on the yacht,” he explained. “Thought it might come in
handy some time.”

The bit of candle was lit, and then all looked down the hole to see if
anything further might be there. But only the solid rock met their gaze.

“Smash it open, boys! Smash it open!” went on the lanky sailor, still
as excited as ever. “We want to see what the box contains before that
candle is burnt up――an’ it won’t last very long.”

They found a small lock on the box, much rusted and without a key. With
rocks they finally succeeded in smashing the lock. Then they pried back
the lid of the box. A sheet of what had once evidently been perfectly
good leather met their gaze. The sailor thrust this aside and then dove
both hands into the box, bringing up a mass of old and much tarnished
coins.

“Pirates’ gold!” he exclaimed, excitedly. “Doubloons! Hundreds of them!
We’ve got the pirates’ gold at last!”




                              CHAPTER XXX

                  WHAT THE BOX CONTAINED――CONCLUSION


“Look at the gold!”

“I wonder what it’s worth?”

“Those sailors told the truth, after all!”

Such were some of the exclamations made by the Rover boys as they gazed
at the contents of the chest pulled out of the rocky hole before them.

But if they were excited, Ira Small was more so, and for a few minutes
the boys thought the old tar would go crazy. Again and again he dove
his hands into the chest, to bring up the coins and let them fall back
with a merry clink.

“I knowed we’d find it!” he cried. “Now I’ll be a rich man fur life!”
And then he added quickly to the boys: “But you’re to have your share
of it, lads. One-half of whatever is here goes to Jack an’ the rest of
you.”

They were still looking over the coins in the chest when the bit of
candle spluttered up and went out.

“Never mind! I don’t care how dark it is now,” said Andy. “We’ve found
the treasure, and that’s enough.”

“We’ll have to stay here all night,” returned Jack. “We’ll never be
able to find our way out in the darkness.”

“What do we care?” put in Randy, lightly. “I don’t believe any wild
animals are going to bother us in this out-of-the-way hole. Those
pirates certainly buried their gold in a spot where it was hard to
find,” he added.

Sitting around in the darkness, the boys and the old sailor discussed
the situation from every possible angle. They could make only a wild
estimate of what the contents of the chest was worth, but knew it would
run into many thousands of dollars.

Their exertions that day had worn them out completely, and presently
all were glad to make themselves as comfortable as possible on the
rocks and go to sleep. They set no guard, and such a precaution would
have been unnecessary, for no wild animals came to disturb them.

In the morning they took another look at the contents of the chest, and
then, while it was still early daylight, set out for the passageway
under the cliff. It took them two hours to clamber to this place and
two hours more to get out to the clumsy scow and rig up a hawser so
that they could haul the chest on board.

“Now we’ve got it we don’t want to lose it,” said Ira Small anxiously,
and so the ancient box was handled with care.

Once aboard the clumsy scow, they set out upon the return to the
wrecked steam yacht.

“We’ll certainly have a story to tell when we get home,” said Fred to
his cousins. “Do you know, I had half a notion that that story about
pirates’ gold was a fairy yarn.”

“So did I, Fred,” said Randy. “But, of course, it’s well known that
pirates did bury their treasures around the West Indies.”

Once aboard the wreck, the boys and the old sailor washed and brushed
up the best they could, and then prepared for themselves a much-needed
meal. After this they sat down to look over the contents of the chest
more carefully and to wait as patiently as possible for those who might
come to their rescue.

“These are Spanish doubloons all right enough,” said Jack. “But what
they’re worth, I don’t know.”

“Yes, but they’re not all doubloons,” answered Randy. “Some of these
coins seem to be copper.”

“Well, it’s quite a find, anyhow, Randy.”

“Oh, I agree with you on that!”

On the afternoon of the next day a vessel hove in sight which proved
to be an auxiliary cruiser of the United States Navy. Again the boys
and the old tar set up their signal of distress, and soon a small boat
containing a couple of officers and a number of men reached the wreck.

“Hurrah! Hurrah!” shouted Andy, as they came up. “Now we’re safe!”

“What vessel is this?” asked one of the officers, as soon as he had
found out who the party were; and when told he said that the _Coryanda_
had been reported water-logged and about to sink two weeks before.

“She belongs to two scientists from Baltimore,” he said. “They had a
valuable collection of wild animals, snakes and birds on board.”

“So they did!” answered Jack. “And, believe me, we had some fun with
those creatures! A few of them are dead, and the rest of them were
either drowned or escaped to this island.” And then he and his cousins
and the old tar told their story.

“Did those two men, Jackson and Borderwell, who were in the hydroplane
and flew over the wreck, notify you?” questioned Jack, curiously.

“They did,” answered the leading officer. “They were sent out on a
scouting expedition,” he explained. “After such storms as we have had
lately we often find wrecks floating around in this vicinity.”

“Well, those men certainly deserve our thanks,” put in Randy, and the
other boys and Ira Small agreed with him.

Many of the things of value on the wreck were taken to the cruiser, and
then the boys and the old tar went on board. The cruiser was from Porto
Rico, but was bound for Norfolk, for which the boys were thankful.

“Well, it’s good-bye to the island!” cried Jack, as they steamed away.

“Yes, and good-bye to whatever of the wild animals and snakes are left!”

“Gee! what of the monkeys we left tied up?” questioned Jack, suddenly.

“They’re not tied up,” answered Andy. “I didn’t have the heart to do
it, so I cut them loose when we were leaving camp.”

The auxiliary cruiser was, of course, supplied with radio, and the lads
lost no time in sending a message to their parents. A few hours later
came a return message, relayed from New York City, stating that the
fathers of the four boys were on the way to meet them as soon as they
landed at Norfolk.

It can well be imagined how impatient the boys were to reach home. Yet
every time they thought of joining their parents and Mary and Martha a
tinge of sadness crept into their minds.

“Poor Ralph, Gif and Spouter!” murmured Jack. “How we shall miss them!”

When at last Norfolk was reached, the boys could hardly wait to get
ashore. There were their fathers ready to greet them, and my readers
can rest assured that all received the warmest kind of welcome.

“We were hoping against hope when your message came,” declared Dick
Rover. “We thought the motor boat had been lost with all on board.”

“We’ve been watching all the shipping reports for days,” added Tom
Rover. “We knew there had been some terrible storms, and the papers
have reported half a dozen wrecks. We were sure no motor boat could
live in such weather.”

“Well, we’ve got bad news,” said Randy, sorrowfully. “Spouter, Gif and
Ralph――――”

“Are all safe!” burst in Sam Rover.

“Safe!” came simultaneously from the four Rover boys.

“Yes, safe! We got a message from them only yesterday. They were picked
up by a vessel bound for Spain, and they are now on their way home.”

“Hurrah! This is the best yet!” cried Andy, and tried to do a jig
in spite of his hurt ankle. Later on the poor fellow had to go to a
hospital to have the ankle readjusted. But the operation was not a
severe one, and soon his ankle was as well as ever.

The old sailor went home with the boys and was warmly thanked for all
the assistance he had given the lads during their perilous days on the
ocean and on the island.

The contents of the pirates’ chest was gone over carefully, and then
Dick Rover advised that a well known numismatist be called in.

“What in the world is a numismicks?” demanded Ira Small, and when he
was told what was meant, he agreed at once that what Dick Rover had
suggested be done.

The numismatist went over all of the coins carefully and declared many
of them valuable, not only intrinsically, but on account of their age
and rarity. He took charge of the whole affair, and in the end the
treasure brought in twenty-four thousand dollars.

“An’ half of it goes to the boys. I won’t have it no other way,”
declared the lanky sailor. And so each of the boys was able to place
three thousand dollars to his own bank account.

“Well, we certainly had great times on that trip!” declared Randy. “I
don’t suppose we’ll ever have such strenuous times again.” But Randy
could not look into the future. Strenuous days were still to come for
the boys, and what some of them were will be related in another volume,
to be entitled “The Rover Boys on Sunset Trail; or, The Old Miner’s
Mysterious Message.”

It was not until later that the boys learned that the two scientists
from Baltimore who owned the _Coryanda_ had been saved along with all
but two of those who had been aboard the ill-fated steam yacht. About
the _Hildegarde_ they heard nothing for many months, but one day Ira
Small turned up with the information that the rum-runner had been lost
in the hurricane and not a soul had been saved.

“Oh, Jack, I’m so glad you got back safe and sound,” said Ruth
Stevenson, when she met the young major. “You can’t imagine how worried
all of us were!”

“Well, I’m mighty glad to be back, Ruth,” he answered. “We’re all glad
to be back. It was no fun being cast away on the ocean on that bit of
wreckage and then to get on a water-logged yacht that had a lot of wild
animals and snakes aboard.”

“What are they going to do about those wild animals and snakes?”
questioned Martha.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” answered her brother. “One such
experience was enough for me.”

“I guess it was enough for all of us,” put in Randy.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind having that little monkey back,” came from Andy.
“But as for the rest of the beasts――not for me!”

“Hurrah! Here’s a letter from Ralph, Spouter and Gif!” cried Fred,
bursting in upon his cousins. “They’re coming back to America just as
fast as a steamer can bring them.”

And now, while the Rover boys are reading the letter from their chums,
we will say good-bye.


                                THE END




                           _This Isn’t All!_


Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in
this book?

Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and
experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?

On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you
will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same
store where you got this book.


                    _Don’t throw away the Wrapper_

_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have.
But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete
catalog._




                         THE TOM SWIFT SERIES

                          By VICTOR APPLETON

                  Author of “The Don Sturdy Series.”


Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a
bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most
interesting kind of reading.

    TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
    TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
    TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
    TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
    TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
    TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
    TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS
    TOM SWIFT CIRCLING THE GLOBE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS TALKING PICTURES
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS HOUSE ON WHEELS
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG DIRIGIBLE
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY TRAIN
    TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT MAGNET


                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




                         THE DON STURDY SERIES

                          By VICTOR APPLETON

                   Author of “The Tom Swift Series”


Every red-blooded boy will enjoy the thrilling adventures of Don
Sturdy. In company with his uncles, one a big game hunter, the other
a noted scientist, he travels far and wide――into the jungles of South
America, across the Sahara, deep into the African jungle, up where the
Alaskan volcanoes spout, down among the head hunters of Borneo and many
other places where there is danger and excitement. Every boy who has
known Tom Swift will at once become the boon companion of daring Don
Sturdy.

    DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY
    DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS
    DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD
    DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE
    DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES
    DON STURDY IN THE PORT OF LOST SHIPS
    DON STURDY AMONG THE GORILLAS
    DON STURDY CAPTURED BY HEAD HUNTERS
    DON STURDY IN LION LAND
    DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF GIANTS
    DON STURDY ON THE OCEAN BOTTOM
    DON STURDY IN THE TEMPLES OF FEAR


                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




                       TED SCOTT FLYING STORIES

                         By FRANKLIN W. DIXON

            =Illustrated. Each Volume Complete in Itself.=


No subject has so thoroughly caught the imagination of young America as
aviation. This series has been inspired by recent daring feats of the
air, and is dedicated to Lindbergh, Byrd, Chamberlin and other heroes
of the skies.

    OVER THE OCEAN TO PARIS;
    _or, Ted Scott’s Daring Long Distance Flight_.

    RESCUED IN THE CLOUDS;
    _or, Ted Scott, Hero of the Air_.

    OVER THE ROCKIES WITH THE AIR MAIL;
    _or, Ted Scott, Lost in the Wilderness_.

    FIRST STOP HONOLULU;
    _or, Ted Scott Over the Pacific_.

    THE SEARCH FOR THE LOST FLYERS;
    _or, Ted Scott Over the West Indies_.

    SOUTH OF THE RIO GRANDE;
    _or, Ted Scott On a Secret Mission_.

    ACROSS THE PACIFIC;
    _or, Ted Scott’s Hop to Australia_.

    THE LONE EAGLE OF THE BORDER;
    _or, Ted Scott and the Diamond Smugglers_.

    FLYING AGAINST TIME;
    _or, Breaking the Ocean to Ocean Record_.

    OVER THE JUNGLE TRAILS;
    _or, Ted Scott and the Missing Explorers_.

    LOST AT THE SOUTH POLE;
    _or, Ted Scott in Blizzard Land_.

    THROUGH THE AIR TO ALASKA;
    _or, Ted Scott’s Search in Nugget Valley_.

    FLYING TO THE RESCUE;
    _or, Ted Scott and the Big Dirigible_.

    DANGER TRAILS OF THE SKY;
    _or, Ted Scott’s Great Mountain Climb_.

    FOLLOWING THE SUN SHADOW;
    _or, Ted Scott and the Great Eclipse_.


                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




                          GREAT SPORT STORIES

                        For Every Sport Season

                         By HAROLD M. SHERMAN


Here’s an author who knows his sports from having played them. Baseball,
football, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, track――they’re all the same to
Harold M. Sherman. He puts the most thrilling moments of these sports
into his tales. Mr. Sherman is today’s most popular writer of sport
stories――all of which are crowded with action, suspense and clean,
vigorous fun.


    _The Home Run Series_

    Bases Full!
    Hit by Pitcher
    Safe!
    Hit and Run
    Double Play
    Batter Up!


    _The Basketball Series_

    Mayfield’s Fighting Five
    Get ’Em Mayfield
    Shoot That Ball!


    _The Gridiron Series_

    Goal to Go
    Hold That Line!
    Touchdown
    Block That Kick!
    One Minute to Play
    Fight ’Em, Big Three


    _The Ice Hockey Series_

    Flashing Steel
    Flying Heels
    Slashing Sticks


    _Other Stories of Sport and Adventure_

    The Land of Monsters
    Beyond the Dog’s Nose
    Cameron McBain, Backwoodsman
    Ding Palmer, Air Detective
    Don Rader, Trail Blazer
    No. 44


                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




                      THE REX LEE FLYING STORIES

                           By THOMSON BURTIS

            =Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself.=


The author of this series of exciting flying stories is an experienced
aviator. He says, “During my five years in the army I performed
nearly every sort of flying duty――instructor, test pilot, bombing,
photographing pilot, etc., in every variety of ship, from tiny scout
planes to the gigantic three-motored Italian Caproni.”

Not only has this author had many experiences as a flyer; a list of his
activities while knocking around the country includes postal clerk,
hobo, actor, writer, mutton chop salesman, preacher, roughneck in the
oil fields, newspaper man, flyer, scenario writer in Hollywood and
synthetic clown with the Sells Floto Circus. Having lived an active,
daring life, and possessing a gift for good story telling, he is well
qualified to write these adventures of a red-blooded dare-devil young
American who became one of the country’s greatest flyers.

    REX LEE; GYPSY FLYER
    REX LEE; ON THE BORDER PATROL
    REX LEE; RANGER OF THE SKY
    REX LEE; SKY TRAILER
    REX LEE; ACE OF THE AIR MAIL
    REX LEE; NIGHT FLYER
    REX LEE’S MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT
    REX LEE; ROUGH RIDER OF THE AIR
    REX LEE; AERIAL ACROBAT
    REX LEE; TRAILING AIR BANDITS
    REX LEE; FLYING DETECTIVE


               GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK




                       WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS

                         By JAMES CODY FERRIS

                   =Each Volume Complete in Itself.=


Thrilling tales of the great west, told primarily for boys but which
will be read by all who love mystery, rapid action, and adventures in
the great open spaces.

The Manly boys, Roy and Teddy, are the sons of an old ranchman, the
owner of many thousands of heads of cattle. The lads know how to ride,
how to shoot, and how to take care of themselves under any and all
circumstances.

The cowboys of the X Bar X Ranch are real cowboys, on the job when
required, but full of fun and daring――a bunch any reader will be
delighted to know.

    THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH
    THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON
    THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER
    THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT NUGGET CAMP
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT RUSTLER’S GAP
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT GRIZZLY PASS
    THE X BAR X BOYS LOST IN THE ROCKIES
    THE X BAR X BOYS RIDING FOR LIFE
    THE X BAR X BOYS IN SMOKY VALLEY


               GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK




                        FLYING STORIES FOR BOYS

                       IN THE AIR WITH ANDY LANE

                          By EUSTACE L. ADAMS

            =Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself.=


Mr. Adams, the author of this flying series for boys is an experienced
aviator and has had many thrilling adventures in the air――both as a
member of the famous Lafayette Escadrille in the World War and in
the United States Naval Aviation Service flying with the squadrons
patrolling the Atlantic Coast. His stories reveal not only his ability
to tell daring and exciting air episodes but also his first hand
knowledge of modern aeroplanes and the marvelous technical improvements
which have been made in the past few years. Andy Lane flies the latest
and most highly developed machines in the field of aviation.

    FIFTEEN DAYS IN THE AIR
    OVER THE POLAR ICE
    RACING ’ROUND THE WORLD
    THE RUNAWAY AIRSHIP
    PIRATES OF THE AIR
    ON THE WINGS OF FLAME
    THE MYSTERIOUS MONOPLANE
    THE FLYING WINDMILL
    THE PLANE WITHOUT A PILOT
    WINGS OF ADVENTURE
    ACROSS THE TOP OF THE WORLD
    PRISONERS OF THE CLOUDS


                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




 Transcriber’s Notes:

 ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); text in
   bold by “equal” signs (=bold=).

 ――Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently
   corrected.

 ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.

 ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.