though not very high, the hill on which guy and his friends were seated was of sufficient altitude to command a general view of the entire island. with the exception of this hill, the surface of the island was flat, and it was possible to see its general contour.
in front, at a comparatively short distance, the osprey rode at anchor.
“it is the sight of the ship that makes me feel comfortable,” said abner titcomb, pointing to it.
through the clear atmosphere they could see distinctly all that passed on board the vessel.
“see,” said luke clark, “the captain is pacing the deck with an impatient step. ten to one he doesn’t enjoy being detained here.”
“i know he doesn’t,” said guy. “he loses no opportunity to ridicule my search after the treasure, and thinks mr. saunders an idiot for the expense he has incurred in chartering the vessel.”
“i don’t see what business it is of his,” said{236} titcomb. “you, or rather mr. saunders, are paying the owners well for the time consumed.”
“true; but he is impatient to go on to bombay. he asked me if i couldn’t get through my search in three days.”
“what did you say?”
“that this time was entirely insufficient.”
“it is a pity that captain grover is not in command.”
“yes. it would be a great deal more comfortable for me.”
from time to time, as they could see, the captain looked toward the island and then resumed his walk.
“i wonder he doesn’t propose to come on shore and aid you in the search, guy.”
“i don’t think he cares to have me succeed. for some reason which i don’t understand he appears to have taken a dislike to me.”
“it is partly because you are independent of him. he has authority over all on board the osprey except ourselves, and this chafes him.”
“i shouldn’t like to be in the power of such a man.”
“nor i. but for your firmness, luke and myself would have lost our cabin privileges and been obliged to eat with the sailors.”{237}
“so far as pleasant society is concerned, i should be as willing to keep company with them as with captain richmond.”
“i feel the same way, but i was unwilling that the captain should impose on me.”
“boys,” said luke clark, suddenly, “i think we made a mistake in not bringing some water with us. i am beginning to feel thirsty.”
“i shall feel so soon,” said titcomb. “we may as well hunt for a spring. thirst is, if anything, harder to bear than hunger.”
“very well,” said guy. “let us make a search.”
they descended the opposite slope of the hill, and in a covert near the bottom found a clear, pellucid spring, from which they dipped water in the hollow of their hands and drank.
there was a slight mineral flavor which was not unpleasant, and all three enjoyed the cooling draughts.
“this is a very important discovery,” said titcomb, “and would be even more so if we were obliged to remain any length of time on the island. now, guy, what shall we do next?”
“continue our exploration,” said guy. “this is only the first day, remember.”
“but the captain wants to limit you to three days.”{238}
“yes; but i have not accepted the limitation. after traveling so many thousand miles, i don’t propose to be hurried.”
“i applaud your pluck, guy. you have an unusually strong will for a boy of sixteen. from whom do you take it?”
“not from my father,” answered guy. “he is altogether too gentle and yielding, and allows himself to be bossed by one of his deacons. fortunately, i thwarted deacon crane in one of his schemes when i was at home.”
“your father is a minister, isn’t he?”
“yes.”
“that accounts for it.”
“i don’t know. some ministers are quite as fond of having their own way as any of their congregation. however, that isn’t the case with my father.”
“i suppose, guy, you have some clue to the place where the treasure is concealed?” said titcomb. “i have not inquired, hitherto, but it seems to me that while we are exploring we may as well keep our eyes open, and perhaps we may chance upon the spot.”
“it is time i told you what i know,” answered guy. “i am obliged to confess that the directions are not as clear and explicit as i should wish. yet{239} i think they may be sufficiently so for our purpose.”
“go ahead, guy,” said luke clark. “i confess that my curiosity is aroused.”
“then i will tell you all i know.”
guy took from his pocket a roll of paper, discolored by time, and unfolding it, read this paragraph:
“there is a place on the island where six trees are arranged (by nature) in the shape of a cross, as this drawing will show.
o
o o o
o
o
“between the second and third of these trees, counting from the top downward, the pirate’s treasure is concealed. a large cavity was dug out, and in this was placed a sailor’s chest, in which are stored gold, silver, and jewels, besides a considerable amount in bank notes—some english, some{240} french, and some american. as to the value of these treasures, no one knew anything except the captain, and possibly even he was uninformed.”
“there is more,” added guy, “but this is all that is of importance.”
abner titcomb and luke clark listened thoughtfully.
“that seems a pretty good clue,” said abner, at length. “it is hardly likely that there will be more than one group of trees arranged in the shape of a cross.”
“you are, no doubt, right.”
“i move that we use our eyes as we go along. we may come upon this cross this very day.”
“i wish we might.”
“if we do, we may conclude that we have succeeded in our quest, even if we do not dig at once for the treasure.”
“yes.”
“i shall feel more interest in our walk now, as we shall have an object in view.”
“it seems to me,” said guy, “that the pirates might easily have selected a place more difficult to find.”
“i don’t know about that. of course, now that we have the clue, it seems simple, but otherwise{241} how could we be led to suppose that the treasure would be hidden there rather than in any other place? all puzzles are easy when you have found out the key to them.”
after this the party naturally confined their explorations to the wooded part of the island. somewhere among this multitude of trees were to be found the six trees arranged in the shape of a cross.
“it seems as if it ought to be easy to find,” said guy.
“yes; but you must remember that the woods, besides running back for perhaps three or four miles, reach nearly across the island in breadth. it may be a long and tedious search, after all.”
“but i don’t think we can fail to succeed at last.”
“yet it may be a matter of weeks before we find the cross.”
“at any rate we have the clue. it does not require sharpness, only patience.”
when midday came all felt hungry, and they sat down to eat the provisions they had brought with them.
as they had discovered water nowhere else, they were obliged to work their way back to the spring which they had originally chanced upon.{242}
“it is a pity that we didn’t bring a pail with us to hold water, so that we need not have been obliged to retrace our footsteps.”
“we shall know better how to manage to-morrow.”
the three explorers wandered about till they were very tired, and a full hour before the time set they were on the beach waiting for the boat to carry them back to the osprey. they were seen from the vessel, and in a few minutes they were on board again.
“well,” said captain richmond, addressing guy, “what have you accomplished?”
“we have discovered a spring and explored a part of the island.”
“have you found the treasure?”
“not yet,” answered guy.
“so i supposed,” returned the captain, with a sneer.
he said nothing more, but he had succeeded in making guy feel uncomfortable.
