JOY.
It was useless for the boys to argue with themselves that the rapid
discharge of musketry could have no sinister meaning. They were in that
frame of mind when no silver lining can be seen, even to the smallest
cloud; and against their own better judgment they decided that the
strange schooner either would be of no assistance to them, or that she
was manned by a crew which might attempt to inflict further injuries.
Joe thoughtlessly suggested that perhaps the red-nosed man was in
command, and had come to get the Bonita's cargo. This was said more in
jest than as something with a possible foundation of truth; but it was
sufficient to excite all of Jim's fears, and he actually tried to induce
Harry and Walter to go with him into the thicket, where they might hide
until the schooner had left the vicinity.
While the boys would not agree to anything quite as wild as this, they
were seriously alarmed; and when the rattle and splash of oars broke the
stillness Walter was almost sorry he had not followed the young
fisherman's advice.
"We haven't got to wait long before findin' out if they'll take us away
from this blessed key!" Bob said cheerily. "Here comes a boat, an'
unless I'm makin' a big mistake we'll soon, be leavin' this 'ere cove
bound for some civilized port!"
Louder and more distinctly sounded the clink of oars in the row-locks
until from out the darkness came the welcome hail:
"Ahoy, on the island!"
"Halloo!" Bob shouted with a roar, as if afraid any ordinary cry would
not be heard by those from whom he expected assistance.
"Have you got three boys there who were carried away from the Isle of
Shoals in the brig Bonita?"
"Ay! ay! an' they'll be mighty glad of a chance to leave!"
This question surprised the boys almost to the verge of bewilderment. It
was positive the red-nosed man would not ask for them so solicitously;
and yet, who else in that lonely portion of the ocean knew anything
regarding their mishaps?
Harry and Walter clasped hands as if in a daze, both so excited as to be
unable to speak until a second voice from out the darkness shouted:
"Are you there, Harry?"
"It's father! It's father!" Harry screamed, as he ran toward the water;
and there, with Walter at his side, he stood straining his eyes in the
vain effort to see the boat, but in his joyful astonishment giving no
heed to the apparently strange fact that those whom he loved had known
so well where to look for the Bonita's involuntary crew.
It was not possible for the little craft to land with safety on the
beach, where the surf was breaking with sufficient force to overturn if
not stave her to pieces, and he who had first hailed now cried:
"Is there a landing-place near by?"
"You're at the mouth of a cove in which there's water enough to float a
ship," Joe replied. "I'll walk along the beach to where there is no
surf."
By shouting continually he succeeded in piloting the boat behind the
point where a landing could be effected, and a few moments later both
Harry and Walter were clasped in Mr. Vandyne's arms.
For some moments no word was spoken, and then the boys poured forth a
flood of questions regarding the loved ones from whom they had been so
long separated.
"They are all well at home," Mr. Vandyne replied laughingly; "but we had
better settle down for the night before I attempt to give you the
information required. Shall we go aboard the schooner?"
In their exceeding great joy the boys had forgotten the treasure
entirely, and it is quite probable they would have said "Yes" to the
last question but for Bob. He had not been in such a state of despair
prior to the coming of the boat as to render happiness so bewildering,
and he also had a very clear idea of what should be done.
"I axes your pardon for interfering sir," he said, stepping very close
to Mr. Vandyne and speaking in a low tone, "but there's particular
reasons why you'd better have a chance to talk with us alone afore your
crew comes ashore or we leave the key!"
Harry's father was considerably mystified by this odd statement; but he
hesitated only an instant before asking:
"Have you got any kind of a shelter?"
"A decently good tent, with a couple of mattresses to lie on," Bob
replied. "It ain't the best that ever was, but you can manage to get
along one night, I reckon."
"It's something we've found that he wants you to see," Harry whispered;
and turning to the crew, who were lying on their oars a short distance
away, Mr. Vandyne said:
"I will stay on shore until morning. Go back to the yacht; and at
sunrise, if you think there's no danger, bring her into this cove."
"Ay, ay, sir," a voice replied; and then the sound of oars in the water
told that the boat was leaving the harbor, probably steering for a tiny
red light which could now be seen some distance off the land.
"What have you got which there is so much mystery about?" Mr. Vandyne
asked, as the gentle splash and ripple of water which told that the
sailors were returning to their craft died away in the distance.
"We have found a pirate's treasure," Harry said in a whisper. "There are
nineteen bags full of all kinds of money."
"Pirates' treasure!" his father repeated in astonishment.
"What the lad says is a fact, sir;" and Bob stepped forward once more.
"We had no way of findin' out how much it was worth; but there's
altogether too big an amount for us to run the risk of lettin' strangers
see the pile."
"Where is it?"
"At the camp, sir. I'll lead the way. Jim, you foller behind me an' let
Joe bring up the rear."
Then Bob set out at such a rapid pace that there was but little
opportunity for conversation until the entire distance had been
traversed.
Joe and Jim built a huge camp-fire, and after Harry introduced his
father to the three members of the party who were strangers, Bob pulled
from beneath the mattresses one of the treasure bags.
"There are eighteen more jes' like that," he said, as he slashed the
tarred canvas with his knife until the yellow coins fell in a golden
stream at Mr. Vandyne's feet. "We haven't overhauled many of 'em; but
one's a fair sample of the lot."
"Why, you've got a fortune here!" the gentleman cried in surprise as he
assured himself that the pieces were gold and of large denomination.
"Where and how did you find it?"
"It'll need a pretty long yarn to give you an understandin' of the whole
cruise, an' we'll each do a share of the spinnin' so the thing will come
out ship-shape," Bob said, as he began to fill a pipe, that his
character of story-teller might be enacted properly. "You've got all
night for the hearin', so there's no pertic'lar hurry. Harry shall
begin, an' I'll chip in when he comes to the pickin' up of me after I'd
thinned down pretty nearly to a ghost."
Perhaps Mr. Vandyne would have preferred to hear the story in fragments
rather than at one sitting; but Bob was bent on spinning a yarn, and as
there was no practicable alternative he was forced to submit.
Harry began without delay, Jim and Walter interrupting whenever he
neglected to give all the details. The old sailor then related the
particulars of the involuntary cruise up to the time Joe came aboard. He
in turn told of the disaster to the Sea Bird, and Bob finished the
story, which occupied considerably more than an hour in the telling.
"We shall have to let the crew know what you've got here, although
there's no necessity of explaining where or how it was found, for they
will be needed to take the bags aboard," Mr. Vandyne said, after the
lengthy "yarn" had been spun. "There is no danger, for the schooner is
commanded by a man in whom I have every confidence, and there won't be a
piece missing when we arrive in New York."
"Now tell us how you knew where we were?" Harry asked.
"The party who came in search of the murderers gave your written story
to the newspapers in Savannah, and it was copied all over the country."
Then Mr. Vandyne briefly related what had previously been done toward
finding the boys.
When the Sally Walker failed to return it was supposed she had been
blown out to sea, and every available craft was hired to search for the
missing party. When a week passed without the hoped-for result, it
seemed certain that all were dead, and they were mourned for until the
newspaper articles appeared.
The remainder of the story was brief. Mr. Vandyne had just purchased the
schooner-yacht Lorlie--the same craft which was now hove-to off the
key--and in her he started for the Bahamas.
"What was the meaning of those pistol-shots we heard, sir?" Joe asked.
"They sounded like a fight rather than a signal."
"I wanted to let you understand we were coming, and emptied my revolver
at the same moment the captain did his. There was considerable noise,
I'll admit; but knowing we should land in a few moments, I paid little
attention to it at the time."
The sun was already sending forth heralds of his coming when the happy
party exhausted their questions and explanations, and half an hour later
the Lorlie was anchored in the cove, with the five who had passed
through so many adventures eating a hearty breakfast in her
luxuriously-furnished cabin.
After the meal had been concluded the work of taking the gold on board
was begun, and before nine o'clock the yacht was slipping swiftly out of
the harbor, heading for Nassau, all her white sails filled by a strong
north-westerly breeze.
Instead of going directly to New York, it was Mr. Vandyne's intention to
run down the shoal for the purpose of sending wreckers to the key, in
the hope of saving such cargo from the Bonita as was on or near the
island.
The three boys were standing aft as she passed the point where Walter
had done duty as sentinel with such happy results, and it was very
difficult for either to restrain his joy at thus bidding adieu to the
key.
"When I get my ship I won't come within a hundred miles of this place,"
Jim said emphatically; and his companions were quite positive it would
not give them any pleasure to return.
Swiftly the gallant yacht sped on, bowing her long, tapering spars to
the ocean swell, until the key was hardly more than a spot of blue on
the horizon, and the accidental cruise was well-nigh at an end.