HIDDEN EVIDENCE
The boys were greatly interested in the brief telegram received from
Fred’s father and they were sorry that they were not in New York City
to learn the particulars of what was taking place.
“Gee, I hope they do clear up that affair in Wall Street!” sighed Randy.
“Yes, and I hope Uncle Sam gets all the securities back,” added Jack.
The boys sent a telegram home stating that they were well and that they
were going to continue the trip the following morning.
When they returned to the _Firefly_ they found that Captain Corning,
as well as the head diver and his assistant, had gone ashore. The mate
was in charge and said that two of the sailors had had a brief leave of
absence. It was not until late that Captain Corning returned, coming in
shortly after the arrival of Olesen and Amend. The sailors did not come
in until later.
“I had Olesen and his assistant followed,” said the commander of the
_Firefly_ in response to questions from the boys. “They visited
several questionable resorts where I suppose they got some bootleg
liquor. They did not go near any hardware stores or other places where
they might have purchased firearms. Just the same, they may have gotten
some pistols on the sly.”
“Olesen came aboard with a package,” said Jack; “but of course I don’t
know what was in it.”
The _Firefly_ sailed early the following morning, the course being
now southwest to the coast of Yucatan. The sun was exceedingly hot,
but the heat was tempered by a fair breeze, for which all on board
were thankful. Now that they were getting closer to the spot where the
_Margarita_ was supposed to be resting, the boys became more interested
than ever in the drawing and charts which Captain Corning possessed,
and pored over the papers by the hour, trying to figure out just where
the ill-fated steam yacht had gone down. The captain and his mate,
as well as Leif Olesen, likewise studied the papers and also studied
several books which the captain had brought along, books that gave much
information concerning the coast line of Yucatan and a study of the
shifting sandbars and of such storms as occurred along this coast from
time to time.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea of where the _Margarita_ was abandoned,”
explained Captain Corning. “So the only question is: In what direction
did the derelict blow after the craft was left to herself? Did she
go up the coast or down, was she blown ashore or on a sandbar or the
rocks, or did she slide down into the depth of the center of the Gulf?”
“Let’s hope she went on a sandbar or on the rocks,” answered Fred.
“Yes, and that she is still there,” added Andy.
“Well, boys, you mustn’t be too much disappointed if we fail to find
the _Margarita_,” warned the captain. “I’ll hate to lose my money, just
the same as you’ll hate to lose yours. But we’ve got to be prepared for
a failure just as much as for a success.”
Sunday passed quietly and two days later found the _Firefly_ steaming
slowly along the coast of Yucatan. The yacht had several drags out,
drags which had been constructed by the head diver, and his assistant
after consultation with the captain and the mate.
“After all it’s a good deal like looking for a needle in a haystack,”
sighed Fred, as hour after hour went by without results.
“It won’t do to get discouraged so early in the game, Fred,” answered
the captain, with a grim smile. “If we go over a few miles of the
bottom around here every day, we’ll be doing very well.”
From a section of the regular chart the captain had constructed a much
larger affair, and this he had divided into numerous squares.
“We’ll go at this thing systematically,” he said. “We’ll try to take
one square at a time, and thus sooner or later we’ll have a pretty good
idea of what is on the whole bottom around here.”
Once or twice other vessels came close, wondering what they were
doing. But generally speaking, they were unmolested, several Mexican
fisherman, however, gibing at them when they guessed they were looking
for a treasure.
“Ha-ha! That’s an old story,” said one of them. “If you’re lucky you
may bring up some old anchors or sea boots, and that will be all,” and,
lighting a cigarette, he waved his panama hat and sailed away.
“Evidently those fellows don’t believe much in a treasure,” was Jack’s
comment.
Day after day went by and the search continued, but without results.
Then the boys grew a bit depressed and so did the captain and his mate.
“Looks a bit like a wild-goose chase,” was the way Nat Brooks expressed
himself. “It seems to me we’ve been raking over miles and miles of Gulf
bottom and got absolutely nothing for our pains.”
“Well, we’ve covered twenty-two of those squares on the captain’s
chart,” answered Randy. “That’s something.”
“Yes, and there are only about seventy squares left,” came from Andy.
“We’ve got to hit something sooner or later,” he added hopefully.
“If we strike something before the whole checkerboard is crossed
off!” sighed Fred. He showed plainly that failure would mean a great
disappointment to him.
And for the matter of that, failure would mean bitter disappointment to
all. Even the captain was beginning to look worried and spoke rather
sharply when he addressed the men. The seven thousand dollars he had
invested in the quest was practically all the money he possessed.
Another day passed, and this was unusually warm, for the breeze had
died away. The boys sat under an awning trying to keep cool and trying
to amuse themselves by reading and talking.
Presently Jack grew restless and began to pace the deck. He went well
forward and then, turning, found that Jake Patnak had followed him.
“Well, Jake, this is getting to be a long-winded affair,” he remarked
pleasantly to the tall sailor.
“Mr. Rover, I want to speak to you, but I don’t want Leif Olesen
or Nick Amend to see me,” returned the tall sailor in a low tone
of voice. “Come here, please,” and he pointed to the side of the
forecastle.
“What is it? Have you discovered something?” asked Jack, as he stepped
to the place indicated.
“If I were you and the captain, I’d watch Olesen and Amend very
closely,” said the sailor, and his face showed his earnestness. “I
think they’ve discovered something and they’re not going to let you
know what it is.”
“You mean something about the treasure?” asked the oldest Rover boy
quickly.
The sailor nodded.
“What was it?”
“That I can’t tell you, because I wasn’t close enough at the time to
see. It was a couple of hours ago, when Captain Corning was below and
Mr. Brooks was busy on the forward deck. Those two sailors, Larsen
and Smader, were hauling up one of the drags and Olesen and Amend
were with them. There was something on the end of the drag, a curious
shaped thing over a foot long and maybe six or eight inches around and
covered with seaweed. As soon as it came up the two divers looked at it
carefully and then Olesen put it inside his jacket and went below with
it. Maybe you had better ask Captain Corning or Mr. Brooks if they know
anything about it. But if they say anything to Olesen or Amend, please
don’t mention me, because I don’t want to have any trouble with them if
I can help it.”
“All right, Jake, I’ll try to keep you out of it if I can,” answered
Jack. “And I’m sure Captain Corning will do what he can for you, too.
He told me he liked you very much.”
“That so? Very good!” and Jake Patnak’s round face beamed with delight.
He was one of the kind of men who would never be anything but an
overgrown boy.
It did not take Jack long to find the captain and tell the master of
the _Firefly_ of this new development. The captain said he would look
into the matter without delay.
“If Olesen is hiding anything from me, he may have done that trick
before,” said the captain.
“But what good would it do him? He can’t take the treasure away from us
until it is brought up,” replied Jack.
“He may be trying to play an old trick on us,” was the captain’s
answer. “That trick is to locate the treasure, but not let us know
anything about it. Then, after we’ve sailed away and given the quest
up, he could come back with his own crowd and bring it to the surface.”
“Do you think he’s up to something like that now?”
“I don’t know what to think. But I know he has no right to hide
anything from me on board this vessel.”
“Don’t you think it would be more advisable not to say anything just
yet? If you anger him he may throw up his job and go ashore and take
what information he’s now got with him. That would leave us in the
lurch. Why not let him and his assistant go ahead and watch every
move they make? Then, if he’s doing any crooked work, we’ll catch him
red-handed sooner or later.”
Captain Corning was a straight-forward man, and this “beating around
the bush,” as he expressed it, did not suit him at all. However, he
took Jack’s advice and talked it over with his mate, and Mr. Brooks
agreed with the oldest Rover boy that they had better not say anything
to the divers until more evidence against them was forthcoming.
“But I’ll tell you what we can do,” went on the mate. “When Olesen and
Amend are on deck, we’ll make sure that they stay there and then some
of us can search their staterooms and see if they have anything hidden
there that was brought up from the Gulf bottom.”
“That’s an idea,” returned the captain. “We’ll do it.”
Jack told the other boys of what had taken place, and Fred and Andy
were delegated to go on deck with Mr. Brooks and give warning if the
two divers attempted to come below. Then Captain Corning and the other
two boys went into Olesen’s stateroom and began a hasty examination of
its contents.
“I suppose he’d raise a terrible rumpus if he found us going through
his things,” said Randy.
“He can’t raise any rumpus with me,” declared the captain. “I am in
absolute command on this ship, and I have a right to search every nook
and corner if I want to.”
“I know you have,” said Jack. “But that wouldn’t prevent Olesen from
feeling sore.”
The majority of things in the stateroom were of the ordinary kind, and
in those the searchers took little interest. Then they opened Olesen’s
trunk, which was unlocked.
“Nothing here that looks as if it was taken out of the water,” said the
captain after a hurried glance through the contents.
“Wait a minute before you shove that trunk back,” said Jack, getting
down flat on the stateroom floor. “There may be something in the space
behind it.”
He felt in under the bunk as far as he could and presently discovered
something wrapped up in an old newspaper. Both the paper and the object
wrapped in it were wet.
“That shows that whatever the thing is, it came out of the water!”
cried Randy triumphantly.
With eager hands the captain and Jack took the paper from the object,
which proved to be a round wicker holder woven over an empty demijohn,
the cork of which was missing.
“Well, why would he want to hide this?” asked Randy. “Why, it’s only an
empty liquor jug!”
“Here is why he hid it!” exclaimed Captain Corning, turning up the
bottom of the wicker holder of the demijohn. “Do you see how this is
stamped?” and he held the object closer to the light in the stateroom.
The boys looked, and then both of them gave a cry of astonishment. The
wickerwork was plainly stamped with the name _Margarita_!