AT LIGHTHOUSE COVE
"Here, where are you going, Sammy?"
"Come back here, we want to get this thing settled!"
Thus Frank and Bob called after their chum, who was headed toward where
Mrs. Bouncer still stood on the steps.
"I'm going to find out about that pirate gold!" answered Sammy, never
turning around.
"There he goes again!" cried Bob. "I wonder what mother meant by saying
that? She never told me about any pirates."
"Maybe we'd better go back and see," suggested Frank. "We'll never get
the straight of it from Sammy."
"All right, I'm with you," said Bob, and the two followed their chum.
And while they are thus trying to get at the meaning of the remark made
by Mrs. Bouncer I will take just a few minutes to tell my new readers
something about the three chums and their friends, as well as about
their adventures, which I have set down in the other books of this
series.
The first volume was named "Fairview Boys Afloat and Ashore; Or, The
Young Crusoes of Pine Island." In that I told how Frank Haven, Sammy
Brown and Bob Bouncer went sailing in the _Puff_, how the craft was
wrecked, and how the boys had to live on Pine Island for some days
before they were rescued.
"Fairview Boys on Eagle Mountain; Or, Sammy Brown's Treasure Hunt," was
the name of the second book, and in that you can read how Sammy, in
looking through an old trunk in the attic, discovered a curious
document. It told of treasure, and he and his two chums at once set off
for Eagle Mountain to discover it.
In the third book, called "Fairview Boys and their Rivals; Or, Bob
Bouncer's Schooldays," the chums had a different form of excitement.
There was a fire in the school and a jewelry store robbery. How the
stolen things were finally recovered, and what part Bob Bouncer had in
it, you will find set down in the book.
Then came the fourth volume, called "Fairview Boys at Camp Mystery; Or,
The Old Hermit and His Secret." In that the boys had an invitation to
visit an old hunter, who lived on a part of Pine Island they had never
explored.
Almost as soon as they reached the island the boys discovered a curious
aged hermit, who seemed very angry at them. They also found a mysterious
room, in an old mansion, and what they found there, how they were
startled by an explosion, and what the old hermit's secret was--all that
you will find written down in the fourth book.
The boys spent most of the Christmas vacation on Pine Island, and now
winter was over, Spring had come and gone, Summer was at hand, and they
were ready for warm weather vacation fun.
I might add just a line or two about the boys themselves. Frank Haven
was a straightforward, every-day kind of chap, with many likeable
qualities. He was a sort of leader for the other two, they generally
looking to him for advice.
Bob Bouncer, as you have probably guessed, was a "cut-up." He liked
jokes and fun, but was never mean in them. He could never resist playing
tricks when he got the chance.
Sammy Brown was a queer chap. He was fond of reading stories of
adventures in strange countries, and he loved books on treasure hunting.
And it finally became so that, on the slightest chance, he would imagine
that he, himself, might one day discover a gold or diamond mine, or
stumble on some mysterious hoard of pirate gold.
Once, as the readers of my other books know, Sammy did start on a
treasure hunt. It had an unexpected ending. And again Sammy was sure he
had discovered, on Pine Island, a band of men who made counterfeit
money. I leave you to find out for yourself what it really was he came
across.
The boys lived in the town of Fairview, on the shores of Rainbow Lake, a
large body of water, containing many islands, the largest of them being
Pine.
Bob and his two chums had many friends. They went to the same school,
were in the same class, and were so often together that it was strange
to see one of them out alone.
They usually spent their Summer vacations together, and this was the
first time, in some years, that there was a prospect of parting. But Bob
believed he had gotten up a plan that would avoid this. It was this plan
which was about to be put to the test on this last day of school.
"Wait a minute; can't you, Sammy?" called Bob to his chum, who was
hurrying toward Mrs. Bouncer. "Don't go so fast. My mother isn't going
to run away."
"I guess maybe he thinks someone else will get ahead of him, and find
that pirate gold," suggested Frank. "It's queer your mother never told
you about it."
"Maybe it's a joke," said Bob. "Ma likes to have fun with us, once in a
while."
Sammy kept on until he stood in front of Bob's mother. Then he burst out
with:
"What's that you said about a pirate, Mrs. Bouncer? Is there really one
at Lighthouse Cove? If there is I'm going to have a hunt for his gold.
Did he hide it in a cave, or bury it on the beach? And is there an old
map of it, drawn in blood?"
Sammy Brown's eyes were shining with eagerness.
"Oh, what a funny boy!" exclaimed Mrs. Bouncer, with a laugh. "I never
expected you would take me up so quickly."
"Why, is it a joke, ma?" asked Bob.
"I don't know whether it is or not," Mrs. Bouncer replied, and she did
not smile this time. "I really don't know why I mentioned it," she went
on. "It slipped out before I knew it."
"Then there is really pirate gold there; is there?" asked Bob.
"Oh, as to that I can't say. You see, boys, it's this way. I did not
intend to speak of it to you, Bob, until we got there, for I didn't want
any excitement. But, since it slipped from me, I'll tell you all I know.
"When I went down to Lighthouse Cove, in the Spring, to see about hiring
a cottage for the Summer, I met an old sailor who had charge of some of
the places that were shut up for the Winter. After looking at several
cottages I picked out one named 'Barnacle.' It was a little too large,
but it was in an ideal spot, right in the centre of the cove shore. It
is lovely there, and near the lighthouse.
"Well, I was talking to this old sailor, whose name is Hamp Salina, and
I asked him if Lighthouse Cove was a good place for a lively boy to have
fun--I was thinking of you, Bob."
"What did he say?" asked Bob, eagerly.
"Well, he said it was the finest spot a boy could wish for, and if
everything else failed to amuse him, he could spend his time digging for
the pirate gold. I asked him what he meant, and he said there was a
rumor that one of the old-time freebooters had come ashore at Lighthouse
Cove once, and buried part of his ill-gotten treasure there."
"Did you ask him where it was buried?" asked Sammy, eagerly.
"Oh, yes, but Hamp said he didn't know, and no one else did, though at
different times many persons had dug for the gold."
"Did they find any?" asked Frank.
"Never, so the old sailor said. I'm sorry, now, that I mentioned it, for
you boys won't do anything else but look for it, I'm afraid."
"We surely will have a try for it!" declared Sammy, earnestly.
"That's what!" exclaimed Bob.
"We'll have to get on the right side of Hamp Salina," said Frank. "Maybe
he knows more than he's told."
"Well, don't count too much on it, and then you won't be disappointed,"
advised Mrs. Bouncer, with a smile. "You'd best run along now, Frank and
Sammy, and see if your parents will let you come with Bob."
"If my folks don't let me go," said Sammy, slowly, as he thought of the
chance of the pirate's treasure, "if they won't let me go, I--I won't go
with them. I'll stay here in Fairview all Summer."
"And so will I!" cried Frank. "But I'm sure they'll let us."
Frank proved to be a good prophet. When Mrs. Haven and Mrs. Brown had
read the notes written by Mrs. Bouncer, inviting the boys to Barnacle
Cottage, they at once gave their consents. As Mrs. Brown said to Mrs.
Haven:
"We'd never have any peace with our boys if they were alone with us, at
the places to which we are going. They'd much better be together."
"I think so, too," said Mrs. Haven.
So it was arranged, and Sammy and Frank were wild with delight.
"I can go!" shouted Sammy, as he came rushing out of the house, after
his mother had consented. "I can go, Bob!"
[Illustration: "I can go," shouted Sammy.]
"That's fine!"
"And we'll get that pirate gold!" added Frank, with a grin as he came
out of his house to give the good news that he, too, could go.
"We'll, if we don't, we'll have fun anyhow," said Bob, who never had
much faith in the wild plans of Sammy Brown.
"Oh, we'll get it!" declared Sammy. "All we need to do is to discover
the right place and dig."
"Yes, discover it the way you discovered the treasure on Eagle
Mountain!" laughed Bob.
"Oh, well, something came of that!" declared Sammy, in some confusion.
"Yes, something," admitted Bob, "but not what you expected. Now let's
begin packing."
It was some days yet before the journey to Lighthouse Cove would be
made, but the boys were so eager that they began to get ready at once.
Finally they did start. It was half a day's journey from Fairview to the
seashore, and Lighthouse Cove was reached about three o'clock in the
afternoon.
Mr. and Mrs. Bouncer, the servants, and the three boys drove up from the
station in a large carriage.
"There's the cottage!" exclaimed Mrs. Bouncer, pointing to a large one a
little way up from the beach of the cove. "Yes, and there's old Hamp to
welcome us."
"What, the sailor who knows about the pirate gold?" cried Sammy. "I must
see him at once!" And, without waiting for the carriage to stop, he gave
a flying leap out of it.