THE LOST TREASURE
Such good news hardly seemed true.
“Are you sure it is our ship?” Mrs. Brown asked her husband. “We were
fooled the other time by a sea gull. I don’t want to be disappointed
again.”
“This surely is a steamer,” said Sam Trend. “I can see her smoke.”
“Yes, that must be the _Beacon_,” said Mr. Brown. “I wonder what
happened to her that she stayed away so long.”
“We’ll soon know,” returned his wife, her eyes shining with
happiness. Though it was very lovely on Cocoanut Island, now that the
wild man was caught, she did not want to stay there any longer.
Nearer and nearer came the vessel, appearing to get larger each
minute.
Bunny and Sue ran up and down the sand in delight while their
mother, their father, the two sailors and Harry Pott looked with
eager eyes over the stretch of water.
“Hope she doesn’t come so close she gets on the sand-bar again,
Will,” murmured Sam to his mate.
“That’s right,” agreed the other. “But I guess Captain Ward will be
careful. We wouldn’t have gone on at first if it hadn’t been for the
fog at night.”
A few minutes later loud whistles broke out from the ship to let the
castaways know she was coming to rescue them.
“That’s the _Beacon_ all right!” cried Sam. “I know her tooting.
First I thought it might be some other steamer she was sending after
us. But she’s the _Beacon_!”
So it proved. A little later a boat put off from the anchored ship
which came to a stop a safe distance away from the island and the
sand-bar. Those on the _Beacon_ did not wait for the castaways on the
island to launch the boat they had.
In the craft that put off from the ship was Captain Ward and some
of his sailors. Running up the beach to where Mr. and Mrs. Brown
stood with the children and the others and holding out his hands, the
commander cried:
“Oh, I’m so sorry this happened and that you were left behind! It was
all due to an accident and because I was hurt. We never would have
gone away and left you except for that!”
“We knew it was an accident,” said Mr. Brown. “And, really, we have
had a very good time here. We have an extra passenger for you to take
back if you will,” and he motioned to Harry Pott.
“A regular castaway, I take it,” said the captain.
“Yes, I’ve been here nearly a year,” said Harry Pott.
“But what happened to the _Beacon_?” asked Mrs. Brown.
“Several things happened,” explained Captain Ward. “In the first
place, her steering gear was damaged in the hurricane and also when
we ran on the sand-bar, but we didn’t know that. Everything seemed to
be all right when you folks went ashore, and then we waited until
high tide and started to pull the ship off the bar.
“We managed that part all right and were backing away when we found
the steering gear wouldn’t work after we had turned the ship about to
head away from the island. But even that would have been all right
had it not been that while I was giving orders something fell from
up above and hit me and my first mate on our heads. We were knocked
unconscious and remained so for a long time.
“This made so much excitement on the ship, together with the breaking
of the rudder, that no one thought anything about you folks left on
the island. In fact, very few of those on board knew you had gone off
for a little picnic, though I knew and so did my mate. But we were
both unconscious.
“Well, while I was lying in this state in my berth, the second mate,
knowing nothing about you folks left here, kept the ship steaming
away. She could move straight ahead, but could not turn about. And
the second mate wanted to get as far away as possible from the
dangerous sand-bar. So he went for many miles before dropping anchor.
“And there we were, disabled, many miles away from the island, and
here you were, marooned. I tell you I felt mighty sorry about it when
I came to and asked about you,” said Captain Ward. “And when I found
you hadn’t come back on board and no one had gone after you, I was
nearly wild with worry.
“I wanted to put back and take you off at once. But, to add to our
troubles, when we got the steering gear fixed the engines got out of
order and we couldn’t move at all.
“Of course the engineers worked as hard as they could to make
repairs, and it was only a little while ago that we could turn around
and come back to get you. All the while the machinery was being fixed
I had a man on a lookout for some other ship to send to rescue you,
but we saw none. Our wireless was out of order, so we couldn’t radio
about you to any other ship. But as soon as we got things fixed up we
came back in a hurry, and here we are!”
“We’re glad to see you,” laughed Mr. Brown. “Really, we haven’t been
so badly off. We have had a good shelter and plenty to eat.”
“But we were all excited about the wild man,” said Bunny.
“And we caught him—Bunny and I!” put in Sue.
“Wild man?” asked Captain Ward.
“I guess they called me that,” said Harry Pott. And then he told his
story—how he had been shipwrecked with the _Mary Bell_. “My father
and I were on board,” explained the long-haired sailor, “when we ran
into the big storm. I had been sick for some time and couldn’t do
much. My father tried to save me when the ship broke up, but we got
separated. He managed to get in a boat, but I couldn’t. I clung to
part of the wreckage and got ashore.”
“Didn’t you save the treasure?” asked Bunny Brown.
“What’s this about treasure?” asked Harry Pott. “I never had any, and
my father didn’t either, that I know of.”
They told the son what Mr. Pott had raved about in the hospital. Then
a look of remembrance came over Harry Pott’s face.
“Oh, I recall now that when my father went off in the lifeboat he
called to me about saving the treasure,” he said.
“But what was the treasure?” asked Mr. Brown.
“It must have been something in my father’s sea chest,” said the
castaway sailor. “I know he kept very close watch over it and more
than once he said to me it contained something valuable. But I was
too sick to pay much attention.”
“Then is the treasure lost?” asked Mrs. Brown.
“Well, my father’s chest came ashore with some other stuff,” said
Harry Pott. “It’s in the deckhouse now. I’ve never opened it. I was
too sad and miserable here, a castaway all by myself.”
“Well, if there’s a treasure here we don’t want to leave it behind,”
said Mr. Brown. “Your father seemed very anxious about it, Harry.
Let’s have a look at it.”
When they reached the deckhouse a little later and opened Mr. Philip
Pott’s chest, the treasure was found to be a lot of old-fashioned
silver dishes—a teapot, a sugar bowl, a coffee urn, and such things
as that.
“Oh, what wonderful silver!” cried Mrs. Brown when she saw it. “That
is, indeed, a treasure! Where did it come from?”
“That silver has been in our family a long time,” said Harry. “Just
before my father and I sailed together on the _Mary Bell_ an old aunt
of father’s died and gave us this silver. I didn’t think much about
it, and I didn’t know my father called it his treasure until you
people mentioned it. I don’t believe it’s worth much—old silver like
that.”
“Oh, indeed, it is worth a lot of money!” said Mrs. Brown. “It is
very beautiful and old. Dealers will give a lot for that.”
“Well, we’ll have it put on board the _Beacon_ and kept safely for
Mr. Pott,” said Captain Ward. “And now I think we had better get back
to the ship, for there may be another storm or a fog and I don’t want
to get caught on the sand-bar again.”
A little later the castaways, including Harry Pott and his chest
of silver, were rowed out to the _Beacon_ and soon the vessel was
steaming on her way again.
“Good-by, Cocoanut Island!” called Sue, waving her hands over the
rail to the place where they had had so many strange adventures.
“Good-by!” echoed Bunny Brown. “Now we’re on the rolling ocean again!”
Mr. Harry Pott was well taken care of on board the steamer. His hair
and beard were trimmed and he was given some clothes to replace the
ones made ragged by his lonely life of a year on the island.
“Now I feel better,” he said. “And when I get to my father I shall be
very happy.”
“And he’ll be glad to see you and the treasure,” said Bunny.
As the _Beacon_ still had many miles of travel before her and as
Harry Pott was anxious to get back to see his father, the ship
stopped at the nearest port and the castaway and his chest of silver
went ashore, to take passage in another steamer that would carry him
back to Philadelphia. From there he could go by train to Bellemere.
This he did, as Bunny and Sue learned a few weeks later.
The Browns remained on board the _Beacon_ and went to the West
Indies, where they had a wonderful time and many strange adventures
of which I have not room in this book to tell you.
At last Bunny and Sue reached home again, off the rolling ocean, and
among the first to greet them was Harry Pott and his father. Mr. Pott
had been cured in the hospital and was quite well again.
“And I’m never going to ride any more horses!” he said.
“Did you get the treasure all right?” Bunny wanted to know.
“Indeed I did!” cried Mr. Pott. “And if it hadn’t been that you
children teased to go ashore on the island, perhaps I never would
have found it, nor Harry either.”
“Oh, oh!” exclaimed Sue. “Then Bunny and I found your treasure for
you, didn’t we, Mr. Pott?”
“That’s what you did, little girl.”
“And his son Harry, too,” added Bunny. “Don’t forget, Sue, that we
found the wild man, and that the wild man isn’t a wild man any more
but is Mr. Pott’s son Harry.”
As Mrs. Brown had thought, the old silver was valuable, and while the
fortune was not a very large one, the pieces were sold for enough
to satisfy Mr. Pott. He and his son remained in Bellemere some time
before again taking passage as sailors.
So all ended happily, for which Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were
very glad.
“Next year maybe we’ll have some more adventures,” said Bunny.
“I hope we do,” said Sue.
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 BUNNY BROWN SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of the Popular “Bobbsey Twins” Books, Etc
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.
These stories are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about
five to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at
the lively doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning,
trustful sister Sue.
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA’S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP-REST-A-WHILE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU’S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON THE ROLLING OCEAN
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON JACK FROST ISLAND
GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
For Little Men and Women
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of “The Bunny Brown Series,” Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.
These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten
stands among children and their parents of this generation where
the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and
mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and
experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children
everywhere.
THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR
THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS KEEPING HOUSE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CLOVERBANK
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The Blythe
Girls Books, Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume
Complete in Itself.
Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into
immediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take
them at once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of
fun and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own—one
that can be easily followed—and all are written in Miss Hope’s most
entertaining manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on
the bookshelf of every child in the land.
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED’S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT INDIAN JOHN’S
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.
THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS
By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE
Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by WALTER S.
ROGERS
Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is
to take her to your heart at once.
Little girls everywhere will want to discover what interesting
experiences she is having wherever she goes.
HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST
HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND
GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK
CAROLYN WELLS BOOKS
Attractively Bound. Illustrated. Colored Wrappers.
THE MARJORIE BOOKS
Marjorie is a happy little girl of twelve, up to mischief, but full
of goodness and sincerity. In her and her friends every girl reader
will see much of her own love of fun, play and adventure.
MARJORIE’S VACATION
MARJORIE’S BUSY DAYS
MARJORIE’S NEW FRIEND
MARJORIE IN COMMAND
MARJORIE’S MAYTIME
MARJORIE AT SEACOTE
THE TWO LITTLE WOMEN SERIES
Introducing Dorinda Fayre—a pretty blonde, sweet, serious, timid
and a little slow, and Dorothy Rose—a sparkling brunette, quick,
elf-like, high tempered, full of mischief and always getting into
scrapes.
TWO LITTLE WOMEN
TWO LITTLE WOMEN AND TREASURE HOUSE
TWO LITTLE WOMEN ON A HOLIDAY
THE DICK AND DOLLY BOOKS
Dick and Dolly are brother and sister, and their games, their pranks,
their joys and sorrows, are told in a manner which makes the stories
“really true” to young readers.
DICK AND DOLLY
DICK AND DOLLY’S ADVENTURES
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK.