"Not exactly; we've been at the wrong end of a collision, an' put in here to patch up a little."

"Have you been ash.o.r.e yet?"

"Do you suppose they know we found the paper?" Walter whispered in alarm as Bob hesitated before saying:

"Three of the crew landed this morning to look for water."

"Did you see any men there?"

"If you mean a Mexican, a thin feller, an' one with a red nose, we've seen more'n we wanted!" and by the tone of Bob's voice it could be easily understood that he was growing very angry.

"That's the crowd we're looking for!" the man on the schooner said excitedly. "On what part of the key are they?"

"You'll find 'em somewhere between here an' the coast of the United States. We had the brig Bonita in tow when we came to anchor, an' by lockin' us below on the tug they stole her!"

The man conversed with those near him for a moment, and then resumed the conversation by asking:

"When did that happen?"

"About two hours before sunset yesterday afternoon. Do you know anything of the scoundrels?"

"Considerable that ain't to their credit. They shipped at Na.s.sau on a trading-vessel, and tried to get up a mutiny in order to seize the craft. The captain marooned them here, and we shouldn't have troubled our heads about such a lot if it had not been learned that they murdered two turtle-fishers in the North-west Channel three weeks ago simply for the small amount of money the men received from sale of the cargo. It looks now as if the villains had given us the slip."

"I ain't so sure of that," Bob replied after some thought. "The brig is a decently heavy sailer, an' there hasn't been wind enough to take her very far away. The chances are they're loafin' 'round the Bank now."

As may be supposed, the crew of the Sea Bird were astonished at learning the true character of those whom they would have befriended. That the men were scoundrels there had been good proof; but to learn they were murderers as well, shocked all hands.

"It's a good thing we didn't sail on the Bonita," Walter said in a whisper. "If they'd kill two fishermen for a little money, I'm sure there wouldn't have been much hesitation about butchering us before we arrived in port, so they could claim the brig."

"All that appears unfortunate is not ill-luck," Joe added; and then the captain of the schooner shouted:

"We'll give them a chase, anyhow. Tell us the full particulars concerning the brig, and if we don't succeed in catching the murderers it will be easy to send the information to every port they're likely to enter. By that means they'll be prevented from enjoying the stolen property very long. Come aboard, where we can talk without such a waste of wind!"

"Let's all hands go," Bob suggested; and in a few moments the crew of the Sea Bird were on the schooner--Harry telling the story of how he, Walter and Jim were carried away by the Bonita; Bob relating the particulars of the Trade Wind's loss, and Joe giving an account of the collision.

"It's kind of a mixed up affair," the captain said, rubbing his nose vigorously, as if to quicken memory, "and I reckon it'll be safer to take down all the names, so's there'll be no mistake."

"I'll write out the whole thing for you," Harry proposed, and the captain appeared to be relieved by the proposition.

"I ain't got much of a fist for writin'," he replied half-apologetically, "an' it'll save me a deal of time." Then, as Harry began what of necessity would be quite a lengthy narrative, he asked Bob: "Is there anything we can do for you? Have you stores enough for a decently long voyage?"

"I reckon we have everything needful except coal, an' we'll have to run into Na.s.sau for that. If you'll give me the course it'll be a big help, seein's how I ain't very much of a navigator."

This the captain was not only willing but pleased to do. He even went so far as to draw on a piece of brown paper a rude chart of the North-east Providence Channel, and the self imposed task was hardly completed when Harry brought his written story to an end.

CHAPTER XX.

TREASURE-SEEKERS.

The crew of the schooner obtained the fullest particulars regarding the brig, the direction of the wind when she was gotten under way, and such other information as might be of benefit to them, for the chase was to be continued to the American coast, if necessary.

"We can send for the legal papers in case the murderers have reached the United States," the captain of the schooner said; "and with such proof as we have got concerning their crime there is little doubt but that the Government will grant an extradition."

"If you should catch them, make a claim in our name for salvage on the brig," Joe said. "We brought her through a gale in which she would have been dismasted if not totally wrecked, and as she was stolen from an anchorage our rights in the matter should be respected."

"That's about the size of it, Joe," Bob added, approvingly. "If there's any fairness in law we oughter get a right tidy lot of money outer the old hooker."

"I'll attend to the business for you, my hearties; an' what's more, them villains shall be made to answer for a cold-blooded murder if we have to keep the chase up six months. Now I allow we should get under way, for a good sailin' breeze mustn't be lost. We'll see you in Na.s.sau, I reckon, for if things work favorably we'll be home again in a week at the latest."

This was a decided hint for the visitors to take their departure, and a few moments later they were rowing toward the Sea Bird as the schooner glided swiftly out of the little cove.

"Well, lads," Bob said, after they had watched the rapidly receding craft until her hull was shut out from view by the point of land, "now that they're off there's nothin' to prevent us from findin' out if what was writ down on that paper means anything. Get the compa.s.s. We'll take an ax an' the fire-shovel as well, for most likely there'll be a job at diggin' before it'll be possible to tell whether we're on a wild-goose chase or not."

The boys were eager to follow up the clew given by the doc.u.ment found at the ruined hut, and in a very short s.p.a.ce of time everything was ready once more for a visit to the key.

It was now past noon, for the schooner had been in the harbor two or three hours; but in the excitement of hunting for treasure no one thought of eating. The heat was intense even where the sea-breeze had full range, and among the underbrush it would be almost stifling; but this discomfort was unheeded in the newborn thirst for gold.

With Bob and Joe at the oars the yawl glided over the gla.s.sy waters very swiftly, and when she was pulled up on the sand beyond reach of the tide the old sailor said, as he raised the compa.s.s:

"Lead the way, lads, an' make the course pretty nigh direct, for we don't want to cruise 'round any more'n is necessary. Joe, you take the shovel an' ax, so's the leaders can travel light."

By following up their own trail, which was distinctly marked in the underbrush, the boys had no difficulty in going directly to the ruined hut, stopping only once on the way to quench their thirst at the spring.

"This is the place, an' there's the hole in the timber where we found the paper," Harry said, as he laid his hand on the crumbling joist.

"What puzzles me is to know from which side of it we're to measure forty-one fathoms."

"There can't be much of a mistake if we're to travel nor'-nor'-east,"

and Bob placed the compa.s.s on that portion of the shattered timber which yet remained in the sand. "It'll be a decently hard job to walk in a straight line, though, an' if we should happen to get an inch or so out of the way at the start it would throw the whole course askew."

"A few feet wouldn't matter a great deal while we've got the palmetto to guide us," Joe suggested.

"We have, if it's standin' yet; but this 'ere doc.u.ment was fixed up a good while ago, my hearty, an' the tree they took their bearin's from may have been blowed down a dozen times since then."

"I don't believe that could have happened more than once," Harry said, laughingly, "unless palmettoes are different from other trees."

"Well," Bob replied, gravely, "once would be enough to knock us out of reckoning, an' instead of standin' here in the hot sun chatterin' like a lot of parrots we'd better find the true course."

To lay out a straight line through the woods with nothing but a compa.s.s as guide is by no means a simple task, and of this the old sailor was well aware. He set about the work methodically, heeding not the time spent providing the result arrived at was correct, and in doing this the a.s.sistance of all was necessary.

With the compa.s.s placed squarely over the end of the post Bob sighted across it, directing Jim, who had moved off at a distance of half a dozen yards, until he was in the desired position. Then the compa.s.s was carried forward to this point, and as Joe trimmed away the branches or hewed down trees which obstructed the view, Harry walked ahead according to the old sailor's orders.

Walter made the third point in the observation; and thus the line was continued by the one in the rear going forward when the distance had been measured, until forty-one fathoms, or two hundred and forty-six feet, had been covered.

"Here we are!" Joe cried as the final living peg was in position; "and there's nothing that looks like a palmetto anywhere near. Are you sure the course is true?"