THEY FIND THE CAVE.
They were walking slowly along listening with all their ears and
keeping their eyes turned, for the most of the time, toward the
grove. The captain was in the lead with Mr. Lakewood close behind
him; then came Jack followed by Pat, while Bob brought up the rear.
They had just passed the last of the trees when Bob felt the swish of
some object as it flew past his head and landed on the back of the
first mate's head with a resounding crack. That worthy at once
pitched forward and fell face down. Bob sprang and turned him over
at the same time calling to the others.
"Something hit him on the back of the head," he explained as they
turned and rushed back. "It was that nut there."
Pat was unconscious but only for a minute. "Was it lightning?" he
gasped as he struggled to his feet.
"No, it was nut," Jack grinned, but the hot-headed Irishman was in no
mood to catch the pun.
"Whot was it thin," he demanded rubbing the back of his head.
"Someone or something threw this nut at us and hit you," Bob told him
as he picked up the nut.
"An' it's meself as he can't do thot wid and git away wid it," he
sputtered starting back toward the grove.
But the captain caught him by the arm and held him back. "Easy there
now," he cautioned.
"Aisy me eye. I'm going ter git the spaleen whot threw thot nut, I'm
tellin' yer."
"Not that way you aren't," the captain insisted easily holding the
struggling mate. "Maybe it was a gorilla or an orang-outang and if
it was he'd make mince meat of you if you go rushing in there."
"But--"
"No buts about it. You do as I say or I'll put you in irons when we
get back to the ship," the captain told him, but the boys caught the
twinkle in his eye and knew that he was only bluffing. Evidently the
Irishman caught it also for his look of fierce determination vanished
and a good natured grin spread over his face.
"All right," he said. "Yer're the boss," and the captain let go his
hold.
"We'll investigate this grove when we're better armed," the captain
promised them as he started off again.
Once more it seemed to Jack that he caught the sound of laughter from
back in the depths of the woods, but as none of the others seemed to
hear it, he said nothing.
It was just eleven when, finally, they reached the other end of the
island and stood on the edge of the cliff. Three or four times they
had asked Mr. Lakewood what he thought about it being the right place
during the walk from the grove. But he had refused to commit himself
until they had reached the very end of the island.
"I think it's it," he said slowly, "but I'll knew for sure in a short
time now. If I'm right there's a passage a short distance off there
which leads down to the water and in that passage is the entrance to
the cave of pearls."
"Let's go then," Jack said impatiently.
"At once," his uncle told him as he turned to lead the way. "Here it
is for a fact," he declared a few minutes later as he stopped and
pointed to a narrow defile which separated the cliff into two parts.
"Hurrah!" shouted both of the boys.
"Follow me, now, and be careful where you step; it's a bit rough if I
remember rightly," their uncle said as he started down the narrow
defile.
He was right when he called the path rough and they had to go very
slowly picking their way over rocks some of them as large as a
barrel. But they had only a short distance to go and soon the leader
stopped and pointed to an opening which appeared as though cut in the
wall of stone.
"Now for it," he said, pulling a flashlight from his pocket.
The opening was tall enough for them to walk upright but so narrow
that they had to go single file and even then their arms sometimes
touched both sides of at the same time.
"Good thing none of us is very fat," Jack chuckled as he followed
close at his uncle's heels.
"It's only a step or two farther," Mr. Lakewood said and, a moment
later he stopped and threw the light from his flash about a small
chamber just in front of where they stood.
Then a great wave of disappointment swept over the boys for the floor
of the cave was bare. Not a single oyster shell was to be seen.
"Stung," Jack gasped.
"Looks that way, doesn't it," his uncle said with no trace of
disappointment in his voice.
"But where did they go?" Jack asked.
For a moment no one replied and then Bob said: "Well, I've never
heard of oysters walking so I reckon we've got to conclude that some
one has beaten us to them."
"Faith an' it's a great brain you got," Pat laughed.
"Well, boys, it's getting along toward dinner time, so I reckon we'd
better be getting back to the boat," Mr. Lakewood said as he turned
and started out through the opening.
"He's got something up his sleeve," Bob whispered to Jack as they
fell in behind the others.
"What makes you think so?"
"Because he didn't seem to mind it."
"He didn't for a fact. But what can he have up his sleeve as you put
it?"
"We'll have to wait and see. He knows."
It was well past twelve o'clock when they were back on board and
Wong, having kept dinner waiting all of ten minutes, was in a bad
mood.
"You velly mooch late," he snapped as they entered the mess cabin.
"But we're hungry enough to make up for it," Jack told him.
"You velly lucky to gleet anything," was the answer he got.
"It's a good thing for us that Wong's bite isn't as bad as his bark,"
Bob laughed as they sat down at the table.
"You didn't seem to be much disappointed, Uncle Si," Jack ventured
when they were nearly through the meal and he had not mentioned the
subject.
"No? Well, you see, I didn't expect to find them there."
"You didn't?" both boys gasped. "Then what did you come for?" Bob
asked, a look of amazement on his face.
"Pearls," laconically.
"But--"
"Give me time and I'll tell you all about it," his uncle interrupted.
"You see, the chances are that those oysters would have rotted long
before this if no one had found them."
"Would that have spoiled the pearls?" Jack asked.
"I hardly know about that but the chances are that the shells would
have split open and the tide would have washed them out to sea. I
think I told you that the tide makes up in the cave through some
opening that we didn't see. So, that's why I didn't really expect to
find any pearls in the cave."
"Then you just took a long chance?" Jack asked.
"Not quite so long as you think, perhaps, although I might as well
confess that it's a chance all right."
"You mean----"
"I mean that, although those particular pearls are undoubtedly gone,
I hope to find others."
"Where?" Bob asked.
"In the water just off the head of the island."
"But what makes you think there are any oysters there?"
"I saw some there when I was here before, and for another thing, I
believe that whoever hid those oysters in there gathered them close
by. These natives around here are a mighty lazy lot as a rule and,
for that reason, I figure that they didn't find them a great ways
off."
"But where--"
"So when I outfitted the boat," Mr. Lakewood went on ignoring the
interruption, "I included some oyster rakes and to-morrow we're going
oyster hunting."
"How about a diving suit?" Jack asked.
"Well, to tell the truth, we've got a first class outfit on board
but, unless the water's deeper off the end there than I think, we
won't need it."
"Looks as though you had thought of about everything," Bob grinned.
"Had to. You see, it's too far to go back for something you forgot
to bring," his uncle smiled.
"How about this afternoon?" Bob asked.
"No, we're not going to start till to-morrow; the old man needs this
afternoon to get rested up in after that tramp."
"Didn't I tell you he had something up his sleeve?" Bob asked a
little later after they had finished dinner and their uncle had
announced that he was going to his cabin for a nap. The two boys
were sitting beneath the awning on the forward deck and chafing under
the enforced delay.
"Well, I didn't bet against it, did I?" Jack returned. "Reckon I
suspected it as much as you did."
For half an hour they sat and talked about the coming oyster hunt and
again thrashed over the adventure of the morning. Several times Bob
had yawned and finally Jack advised him to go and take a nap.
"Believe I will," he said, getting up from his chair. "Coming along?"
"I'm not sleepy," Jack returned in a disgusted tone. "I use my
nights for that purpose," he added turning his eyes toward the
southern end of the island.
As Bob started for the cabin Jack arose and leaned on the rail.
"Just a minute, Bob," he said, and Bob quickly returned to his side.
"What is it?"
"Look over there just at the top of that knoll."
"I don't see anything."
"Keep your eyes glued on it while I get the glasses," Jack ordered.
"I saw something move there."
He was back in less than a minute. "Seen anything?" he asked.
"Lots of sand," Bob replied.
For a minute Jack gazed through the glasses and then handed them to
Bob.
"Look just to the right," he ordered.
"It's nothing but a stump," Bob said after taking a long look.
"Stump, your eye."
Jack snatched the glass from his hand and looked again.
"It was moving when I looked before," he said as he handed them back
to his brother.
"And it is now," Bob declared excitedly a moment later. "It's either
a man or--or--"
"Or something else," Jack finished the sentence.
"It must be a man. No other animal would crawl along like that."
"But what's he trying to do?"
"Trying not to let us see him, I'd say."
"Of course, smarty, but what's he after?"
"Probably wants to find out something about us."
"Well, he's coming in the right direction if he does."
"He's stopped now," Bob announced a moment later. "Now he's crawling
back."
"Reckon he didn't find out much."
"He's gone over the knoll, now."
For nearly an hour they watched the distant knoll but the object did
not again appear.
"How about that nap?" Jack asked.
"Nothing doing."
"Then I'll beat you a game of checkers."
"You mean you'll try."
They played checkers until supper time and, to Jack's great joy, he
was two games ahead when the bell rang. During the meal they told
their uncle and the captain what they had seen.
"And you think it was a man?" Captain Ole asked, when they had
finished.
"I'm not sure," Bob replied, "but it looked more like a man to me
than anything else. It was too far to be sure."
"Well, whatever it is we'll have to look out for it," Mr. Lakewood
declared, "It evidently doesn't like our company."
It was sometime during the night when the boys were awakened by the
noise of what sounded like a fight just outside their cabin.
"What the dickens!" Bob cried as he jumped from his bunk wide awake.
He pulled open the door and rushed out on deck closely followed by
Jack. There, close to the rail, two figures were locked in each
others' arms and swaying this way and that, while loud hoarse grunts
came from one or both of them. For an instant the boys hesitated as
though uncertain what to do. Then, with a loud shout to Jack to
"come on" Bob sprang forward. Only a few feet separated him from the
fighters but, before he could reach them, one was hurled violently to
the deck while the other, with a wild bellow of rage, leaped for the
rail and disappeared over the side. A loud splash followed as he
struck the water.
Knowing that it would be too dark to see a swimming object in the
water, Bob quickly turned to the man who was lying motionless on the
deck.
"It's Pat," he cried, as he turned him over.
"What's all the rumpus?" Mr. Lakewood asked the question as he came
running toward them.
"It's Pat," Jack told him. "Something threw him down and then jumped
overboard."
"Is he dead?" Mr. Lakewood asked anxiously.
"Only got the wind knocked out of him, I think," Bob, who was working
Pat's arms up and down, replied.
After what seemed a long time the breath slowly came back to the
mate's lungs and, finally, he was able to speak.
"Thot makes twice," were the first words he gasped.
"Take it easy a bit," Bob cautioned helping him to his feet.
By this time Captain Ole and two of the sailors had joined the party
and, after waiting a few minutes until he had fully recovered his
wind, Pat told them what had happened.
"Faith an' it's meself as was standin' by the railin' thar lookin'
out over the water, whin somethin' grabbed me from fornist before I
had time ter turn. He got his arm around me neck an' all but had me
wind shut off fer a minute. But I got me neck free an' we wint at
it. But it's meself as'll tell the world he's strong. Sure an' I'm
some scrapper meself but that guy'd had me if the byes had'n scared
him off so he would."
"And you heard nothing before he tackled you?" Mr. Lakewood asked.
"Niver a bit."
"You think it was a man?"
"Sure an' whot else could it uv bin?"
"How about a big monkey?" Captain Ole asked.
"Well, it moight have bin a monkey but it's me bet it was a man, an'
as I said before, ut's the second time. First he hit me wid a nut
an' thin he knocks the wind out uv me. Oh, he's got sumpin comin'
ter him all right an' don't yer fergit ut."
"Hope I'll be there to see it," Jack told him.
"An' it's some fight yer'll see if yer are," Pat promised him.
"I should have thought you could tell by the feeling whether it was a
man or a monkey," Captain Ole said.
"Well, the thing was hairy enough ter be a monkey if thot's whot yer
mane," Pat told him.
"And the noise he made sounded more like a monkey than a man to me,"
Bob added.
"But fer all thot I'm bettin' 'twas a man," Pat insisted. "Sure an'
I niver heard yit uv a monkey swimmin' an' thot feller must've swum
out here from the shore."
"Well, I reckon he's gone for to-night whatever it was," Captain Ole
said. "I'll stay up the rest of the night and the rest of you'd
better get back to bed."
"Nuttin' uv the sort. I'll finish out me watch," Pat insisted.
"It'll be light now in about an hour and you'd better get a little
sleep after that jolt," the captain told him.
But the mate refused to leave his trick and, after a little more
arguing, it was decided that both the captain and the mate would stay
up.
"He might come back and it'll take two to watch the boat securely in
the darkness," Captain Ole said.
The boys went back to bed but were too excited to sleep and, after
talking together for a while, they decided to get dressed and join
the captain and Pat on deck.
"So you thought we might need protection, eh," Captain Ole laughed as
they joined him on the bridge a few minutes later.
"Not that, sir, but we couldn't get to sleep again and it's mighty
hot in there so we thought we might's well call it a night," Bob told
him.
"Well, I'm mighty glad of your company anyhow."
The rest of the night passed without incident and, as soon as
breakfast was over, the following morning, the anchorage of the
Valkyrie was changed to a position about two hundred yards off the
north end of the island. Here they found the water but a little more
than five fathoms deep and it was then high tide.
"It'll be shallow enough to use the rakes for at least a hundred
yards off shore when the tide goes out," Mr. Lakewood declared as the
anchor touched bottom.
"Hadn't we better be getting the rakes ready?" Bob asked.
"Sure we will, right away."
He gave the order to a couple of the sailors and they went below and
soon returned carrying four of the rakes in their arms. They were
about twelve feet long, each rake consisting of two poles bolted
together about four feet from one end, which had fastened to it a
curved jaw fitted with long teeth. These jaws when shut made a kind
of basket capable of holding a peck or more of oysters.
"They're more like a big pair of pliers than a rake," Jack said as
the sailors laid them down on the deck.
"But they call them rakes just the same," his uncle told him.
"How soon can we have a try with them?" Bob asked.
"Right away if you want to."
"I'll say we do," Jack declared.
"All right, then, we'll start in near shore where the water's shallow
enough to work out as the tide recedes."
"Gee, but I hope they're thick," Jack said as his uncle ordered two
of the small boats lowered.
It was quickly arranged that the two boys and their uncle would take
one boat while Pat and two of the sailors went in the other.
"The one what gleets the flirst loyster velly slure gleets two pieces
of plie for dinner," Wong told them as they started down the ladder.
"You save 'em for me, Wong," Jack shouted back.
"All lightee," Wong told him.
At high tide the water lapped against the cliff and it was not until
they were within a few feet of the land that they found the water
shallow enough for their purpose.
"All right now, one of you in either end," Mr. Lakewood said as he
ceased rowing. "I guess you know how to work the things without
being shown."
"Seeing there's only one possible way I reckon we do," Bob assured
him.
"Then go to it and remember the reward," he laughed.
"Those two pieces of pie are as good as under my belt right now,"
Jack declared as he stood up in the bow and lowered the rake into the
water. "Gee, but I've got something," he added a moment later after
he had opened the rake as wide as possible and then slowly closed it.
"I must have a bushel," he continued as hand over hand he pulled in
the load.
Jack's rake was nearly full sure enough but, after he had dumped the
contents onto the bottom of the boat, he was greatly chagrined to
find that he had brought up nothing but stones.
"There's where you lose the pie," Bob taunted as he swung his load
over the edge of the boat.
But he too had brought up nothing but stones.
"I'll get that pie yet," Jack laughed as he finished throwing his
stones back in the water and lowered his rake a second time.
But for fully half an hour they raked the bottom of the ocean, as
Jack put it, and nothing but stones rewarded their efforts. And the
men in the other boat had no better luck.
"I reckon we're in too near shore," Mr. Lakewood declared as he noted
that the boys were getting rather discouraged. "After dinner the
tide will be out and we may have better luck."
"Here's hoping," Jack said as he dumped another load of stones into
the boat.
"But let's not give up yet," Bob said throwing the last of his last
failure over the side of the boat. "I got a stone that time which
looks something like an oyster."
"Then we must be getting warm," Jack laughed.
So for another half hour they persisted working gradually further
from the island as the tide receded. Then, just as they were about
to return to the ship for dinner, Jack brought up the first shell.
"Hurrah!" he shouted as his quick eye spied the bivalve among the
load of stones he had dumped. "I told you that pie belonged to me."
It wasn't much of an oyster, as Bob told him, and there was no pearl
in it, but Jack insisted that even so it was worth two pieces of pie.
"And where there's one there's bound to be more," he exulted. Before
they had time to try again the dinner gong sounded and, much against
their inclination, they had to hurry back.
"We'll fill the boat after dinner," Jack declared as he took the oars
and started to row back to the Valkyrie.
Jack got his two pieces of pie and Wong, seeing the wistful look on
Bob's face, gave him an extra piece as well.
"You'll have to earn that after dinner," Jack told him.
When they started in again after dinner the tide was more than
two-thirds out and a strip of sand showed at the foot of the cliff.
They began operations at about the same place where they had left off
and, after a few trials Bob brought up the second oyster.
"There, that's a real oyster," he announced as he picked it out from
the stones.
"It's big enough to hold a good sized pearl at any rate," Mr.
Lakewood smiled as he reached out his hand for it.
With his oyster knife he quickly opened it and, to their great joy,
found a pearl about the size of a small pea.
"Not very large but it's a good one," he told them.
"Think it would buy two pieces of pie?" Bob asked.
"You had the pie anyhow," Jack reminded him.
"Well, you can't say I haven't earned it now," Bob retorted with a
grin.
It was an hour before they found another pearl although they pulled
in one or more oysters with nearly every haul.
"It must have taken whoever covered the floor of that cave some time
unless he found them thicker than we are," Jack declared after he had
dumped two loads of stones without a single oyster.
"I believe we'll strike them thicker somewhere around here," Mr.
Lakewood said. "I think the others are doing better than we are," he
added.
"Let's paddle over and see," Bob suggested.
The other boat was some hundred feet distant and the two men who were
handling the rakes seemed to be putting a good deal of enthusiasm in
their work as Mr. Lakewood paddled toward them.
"How's tricks?" Bob called when they were only a few feet distant.
"Coming in pretty fast now," Pat, who was sitting in the middle of
the boat, answered.
"Found any pearls?" Jack asked.
"Six."
"Six?"
"Faith an' thot's whot I said an' here's another," and the mate held
up a pearl nearly as large as the end of his thumb.
"You've got us licked by five," Bob told him as the two boats touched.
It was evident that they had struck the bed for, as one of the
sailors pulled in his rake, they could see that it was nearly filled
with oysters.
"Why didn't you tell us you'd struck them?" Bob demanded.
"Faith an' it's only a minute thot we hit 'em thick. It's meself as
was jest goin' ter shout ter yer whin I seed yer comin'."
The boys pitched in with renewed effort and soon had the oysters
coming in thick and fast.
"I'll say these are real oysters," Jack laughed as he dumped a rake
full of them in the boat.
"If the pearls are there and of a size in proportion we'll be all
right," Bob added.
The oysters were now coming in much faster than Mr. Lakewood could
open them although he was working as rapidly as possible.
"Here's a good one," he announced soon after they had started work in
the new place.
"I'll say it is," Jack laughed. "Just keep 'em a-coming."
They worked industriously until the bell called them back for supper
and, as soon as the meal was over, they finished opening the
remainder of the oysters, a task which kept them busy until dark. As
a result of the day's work they found that they had gathered
thirty-three pearls, many of them of good size and three were very
large.
"What do you suppose they're worth?" Bob asked as he threw the last
of the shells overboard.
"Well, I'm not much of an expert at valuing them but I'd say we've
got close on to two thousand dollars' worth."
"You mean it?" Jack gasped.
"I believe it'll run over that amount rather than under it," his
uncle assured him.
"But isn't it unusual to find them so thick?" Bob asked.
"Indeed it is. I happen to know that as a usual thing not more than
one oyster in a thousand has a pearl in it and probably not that."
"Then what makes them so thick in these fellows?" Bob asked.
"I'm not sure, of course, but, you know, it is thought that a pearl
comes from a grain of sand getting into the oyster's shell and
setting up an irritation. Now, you may not have noticed it, but
these oysters are slightly different from those we're used to not
only in size but in shape as well. Their shells are more nearly
round and are slightly rougher. My theory is that this kind of
oyster, for some reason which I can't explain, is more liable to the
pearl disease than any other varieties."
"It's a good theory, I'll say," Bob agreed.
"And let's hope they don't get over it in a hurry," Jack added.
"Get over what?" Bob asked.
"Why, that irritation that makes pearls," Jack laughed.