CONCLUSION
"What are the sticks for, Mr. Stoodles?" asked Dave Fearless.
"Shure, they're reed torches."
"Oh, we have to have a light, have we?" asked Bob Vilett.
"Shure, ye have. It's simmering darkness we're going into."
"This is the famous cave island, is it?" said Dave. "Well, it deserves
the name. Why, it's a regular honeycomb."
"No sign of Nesik and the others yet," said Captain Broadbeam. "I
wonder what has become of them?"
"That's aisy to surmise, captain," declared Pat Stoodles. "They left
the fellows aboard the _Swallow_ to guzzle and get sthupid while they
took a yawl and came here to remove the threasure."
"Yes, you must remember," said Dave, "that their whole plan all along
has been to delude their crew into the belief that the treasure went
down in the _Swallow_.'"
"Wan, two, three, four, five," spoke Stoodles, patrolling a patch of
beach, and looking up and counting along the immense row of fissures and
openings in the solid rock. "The lasht one I indicate is the place we
must go into."
"You mean to say," observed Dave, "that the treasure is hidden in that
cave."
"Thanks to you I mane to say it, and sthick to it, too, my brave lad,"
cried Pat exuberantly.
"Thanks to me?" repeated Dave blankly.
"Begorra, yes."
"You puzzle me, Mr. Stoodles."
"Arrah, then, out with it: The outcast was dead when I saw him, but I
happened to notice that his back was tattooed. It took me eight hours
to make out the marks. I can spake the native dialect well enough, but
the script was hard to figure out. But I did it."
"And what did it tell?" asked Dave interestedly.
"Well, two outcasts had found the gold. So as not to forget exactly
where it was, one tattooed a diagram or chart, or whatever you may call
it, on the back of the other. One of them died a little later. That's
all, come on."
The wonders of the next two hours, those who followed the guidance of
Pat Stoodles never forgot. It was like a visit to fairy-land. They
penetrated underground chambers of dazzling magnificence, the torches
illuminating walls and roofs of glittering splendor.
At last, in a depression of a great rock-crystal stone, they came across
a heap of straw.
Pulling it aside, a golden gleam dazzled the eager eyes of the
onlookers.
"It's there! Oh, it's there!" cried the enraptured Dave Fearless.
The ocean treasure, again recovered, lay before them.
It had come so easily, so naturally, that there was something unreal
about the whole thing.
The moment could not help but be filled with the intensest joy and
excitement. Yet in a plain, practical, business way they went to work
to encase the great mountain of loose golden coins in sacks which they
had brought with them.
It was nightfall when they had got the golden hoard all on board of the
_Swallow_, and safely stored in the hold of the stanch little steamer
that had carried them through so many adventures and perils in safety up
to this supreme moment of their lives.
What of Nesik and his cohorts? Fifty times during the evening this
theme was earnestly discussed.
Dave Fearless sat thinking over this and many other things late that
night, enjoying the cool, refreshing breeze as he lay comfortably in a
hammock.
Suddenly he jumped upright with a shock. A form dripping with water
clambered into view. He landed on the deck, staring wildly about him.
"Someone, quick!" he gasped. "I'm done out. Quick, Fearless! Start
the steamer, quick! Danger--explosion!"
"Daley!" shouted Dave. And then, as the man fell like a clod at his
feet, he ran right down into the engine room.
Something told Dave that this man was giving an important friendly
warning.
He fairly pulled Bob Adams from his bunk. He ordered him to start the
engines at once. He ran to the cabin and roused Captain Broadbeam.
"What's this--the steamer going?" cried Broadbeam.
"Yes, something is wrong," gasped Dave. "Come on deck--the mischief!"
A frightful roar rent the air. The whole ship shivered. Just behind
him as he came up on deck Dave saw a mighty flare, a great lifting of
the waters. Then all was still.
It was not until the following morning, when Daley recovered
consciousness, that they knew the terrible peril they had escaped
through his friendly intervention.
It seemed that he had managed to get to the second west island. He was
nearly starved when he ran across Nesik and the others.
He decided it was politic to make friends with them. The night previous
he was the only trusted one of the crew that Nesik and the Hankers took
in the yawl that went for the treasure.
"They got the gold," narrated Daley.
"Oh, they did?" muttered Captain Broadbeam, with a jolly smile.
"I helped them--in bags just as Gerstein had left it."
"Smart boy, that same Gerstein!" chuckled Pat Stoodles.
"Then they discovered that you people had recaptured the _Swallow_,"
continued Daley. "All day they hid with the yawl in a little cave. They
decided you people would be too watchful to ever afford them a chance to
again get possession of the steamer. You certainly would try to find
them. Gerstein submitted a diabolical plan. They had some dynamite
used in clearing away a stopped-up passageway in the cave. They made up
a float, fused the dynamite, and with a cord guided it down the beach
towards you. I got away from them."
"And warned us in time, brave mate!" cried Captain Broadbeam, heartily
grasping the sailor's hand. "We're your friends for life."
The _Swallow_ did not leave the Windjammers' Island for a week. During
that time Stoodles made several visits to the natives. On one of these
he and Dave took with them the two boxes Dave had purchased at Minotaur
Island.
They returned feeling pretty good over something accomplished, and
refused to discuss it with the intensely curious Bob Vilett.
Jones and Lewis were found and taken aboard of the _Swallow_, which
started homeward-bound at last.
At Mercury Island their prisoners from the _Raven_ were set ashore. Of
Captain Nesik, the Hankers, and the others not a trace had been found.
Dave and his friends well knew that a terrible disappointment had faced
the plotters when they came to discover that the bags they had secured
in one of the caves did not contain the gold.
The native outcasts they were certain had removed the gold to the place
where they found it, filling the bags with something heavy and replacing
these at the original hiding-place.
Amos Fearless gave his friends a royal banquet the day the _Swallow_
arrived at San Francisco.
Each one, down to the humblest sailor, received a generous share of the
ocean treasure they had suffered so much to secure.
The rest of the gold was shipped by rail to Quanatack, and Doctor
Barren's curiosities to the Government at Washington.
Captain Broadbeam, Doctor Barrell, Pat Stoodles, and Bob Vilett were
special guests of Dave and his father in the new beautiful home they
bought on Long Island Sound.
"Dave, when are you ever going to tell us that secret of yours and
Stoodles' about those two boxes you took from Minotaur Island?" asked
Bob one evening, as they all sat on the broad veranda of the Fearless
home, enjoying the lovely evening.
"Oh, that is only a side issue now," smiled Dave, "seeing we got the
treasure."
"A great scheme, though," said Stoodles. "I'll tell it. Dave simply got
the royal sanction at the Windjammers' Island to establish a postal
service. We did it up officially before the whole tribe. We printed
ten thousand postage stamps."
"And as we control the whole issue," said Dave, "of course we can charge
our own price for them as rarities."
The old ocean diver and his son were sorry when their loyal friends had
to leave them for the duties of life that called them to business.
They saw much of one another, however, from time to time. Each was
splendidly provided for out of the ocean treasure. Good fortune did not
spoil any of them, and each settled down to a practical, useful, and
happy life.
THE END
* * * * * * * *
The Young Reporter Series
By HOWARD R. GARIS
12mo. cloth, illustrated and with full colored jacket
Fascinating stories of great mysteries and extreme perils--the life of a
daring young reporter for a metropolitan daily, written by one who was
himself a reporter for sixteen years.
THE YOUNG REPORTER AT THE BIG FLOOD
Or the Perils of News Gathering
THE YOUNG REPORTER AND THE LAND SWINDLERS
Or The Queer Adventures in a Great City
THE YOUNG REPORTER AND THE MISSING MILLIONAIRE
Or A Strange Disappearance
THE YOUNG REPORTER AND THE BANK MYSTERY
Or Stirring Doings in Wall Street
THE YOUNG REPORTER AND THE STOLEN BOY
Or A Chase on the Great Lakes
THE YOUNG REPORTER AT THE BATTLE FRONT
Or a War Correspondent's Double Mission
Joe Strong Series
12mo, cloth, colored jacket and Illustrated
Vance Barnum is a real treasure when it comes to telling about how
magicians do their weird tricks, how the circus acrobats pull off their
various stunts, how the "fishman" remains under water so long, how the
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JOE STRONG, THE BOY WIZARD
Or Mysteries of Magic Exposed
JOE STRONG ON THE TRAPEZE
Or The Daring Feats of a Young Circus Performer
JOE STRONG, THE BOY FISH
Or Marvellous Doings in a Big Tank
JOE STRONG ON THE HIGH WIRE
Or A Motorcycle of the Air
JOE STRONG AND HIS WINGS OF STEEL
Or A Young Acrobat in the Clouds
JOE STRONG AND HIS BOX OF MYSTERY
Or The Ten Thousand Dollar Prize Trick
JOE STRONG, THE BOY FIRE-EATER
Or The Most Dangerous Performance on Record
Army Boys Series
By HOMER RANDALL
12mo, cloth, Illustrated and with colored jacket
Here we have true-to-life pictures of what our brave soldier boys did,
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off hours. A series which ought to be on every bookshelf in the land.
ARMY BOYS IN FRANCE
Or From Training Camp to Trenches
ARMY BOYS IN THE FRENCH TRENCHES
Or Hand to Hand Fights With the Enemy
ARMY BOYS ON THE FIRING LINE
Or Holding Back the German Drive
ARMY BOYS IN THE BIG DRIVE
Or Smashing Forward to Victory
ARMY BOYS MARCHING INTO GERMANY
Or Over the Rhine with the Stars and Stripes
ARMY BOYS ON GERMAN SOIL
Or Our Doughboys Quelling the Mobs
Navy Boys Series
By HALSEY DAVIDSON
12mo, cloth, illustrated and with colored jacket
The true story of the American Jackies of to-day--clean-cut, brave and
always on the alert. The boys join the navy, do a lot of training, and
are then assigned to regular service. They aid in sinking a number of
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the American navy of to-day.
NAVY BOYS AFTER A SUBMARINE
Or Protecting the Giant Convoy
NAVY BOYS CHASING A SEA RAIDER
Or Landing a Million Dollar Prize
NAVY BOYS BEHIND THE BIG GUNS
Or Sinking the German U-Boats
NAVY BOYS TO THE RESCUE
Or Answering the Wireless Call for Help
NAVY BOYS AT THE BIG SURRENDER
Or Rounding Up the German Fleet
NAVY BOYS ON SPECIAL SERVICE
Or Guarding the Floating Treasury
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
Publishers New York