Dorothy had scrambled to the top of the big rock. Suddenly she uttered a loud screech.

"What's bit you now?" demanded Chet, starting up.

"Oh! my trophy pin! It's dropped off my blouse directly into the water.

Oh, dear me! I won that in the relay races this spring."

"And the water's deep there," declared Bobby. "It's a regular diving hole."

"Now, you've lost it!" cried Dora, sadly. "But you can wear mine sometimes."

"Don't you fret, Miss--which is it, Dora, or Dorothy?" demanded Billy.

"I'm Dorothy," admitted the twin in question, climbing sadly down to the sh.o.r.e again.

"That's all right, Dorothy," said Short and Long. "Leave it to me. I put my bathing trunks in my pocket and while you girls are spreading the luncheon over yonder I'll dive and see if I can get the pin. It's some muddy down there, I guess; but I can stay under water nearly two minutes--can't I, Chet?"

"So you have, Billy. You try it. And if you can't, maybe Lance or I can get it."

Billy retired into the nearest cave to remove his clothing and the girls returned to the landing. In five minutes Billy made a famous dive into the deep hole under the boulder. He did not stay down two minutes, for Lance timed him. And he came up without the pin, but when he got his breath, he gave voice to a shout that started the echoes.

"What's the matter with you, Billy?" demanded Chet.

"I've found it!" cried the small boy.

"Good! give it to me and I'll run with it to Dorothy," said Lance.

"Oh! I haven't found her old pin," said Billy.

"What's the matter with you, then?" demanded Chet. "You said you'd found it."

"And so I have," proclaimed the diver.

"Then hand it over," said Lance.

"But it's down there--and it's. .h.i.tched to a chain," gasped Billy.

"What are you talking about?" cried both his boy friends together.

"_I've found the lard can!_" shrieked Billy, dancing up and down on the rock.

"Great Scott!" spoke Chet, staring at him.

"You don't mean it?" cried Lance.

"The lard can with the money?" demanded Chet, shaking the smaller boy by the arm.

"How do I know whether there is money in it or not?" returned Billy.

"Lemme find where the end of that chain is. .h.i.tched, and we'll drag it out of the mud and see."

"Say! Talk about treasure hunting!" gasped Lance. "This beats 'em all!"

Splash! went Billy again into the water, like a huge frog. In a minute he was at the surface again, with the end of a trace chain in his hand.

"Catch hold here, fellows, and pull!" he gasped.

Chet and Lance obeyed. With a strong heave they brought the weight ash.o.r.e. It certainly _was_ a lard can; but the cover was soldered on.

"How we going to cut it open?" demanded Lance, eagerly, as Billy crawled out on sh.o.r.e again.

"We're not going to open it," declared Chet, decisively. "This can is going directly to police headquarters. And all of us want to keep our mouths close shut about it until the police have examined the contents."

And this he impressed rigidly upon the rest of the party when Billy had dressed and the three boys went back to the landing. Unfortunately Dorothy's pin was not recovered. But, as she said herself, she didn't mind that, seeing that her loss of the pin brought about the discovery of the buried treasure.

"It beats Captain Kidd, and 'Treasure Island,' and Poe's 'Gold Bug,' all rolled into one!" declared Bobby, as a final comment upon the whole adventure.

The party was eager to get across to the city again and deliver the sealed can to the authorities. So the picnic was considerably shortened.

Nevertheless, the Central High Treasure Hunting Company, Limited, was p.r.o.nounced an overpowering success!

CHAPTER XXIV

THE BIG DAY

But the boys and girls of Central High learned nothing that day about the contents of the sealed lard can. Whatever was discovered inside it the police kept very close about.

Chet had a private interview with the Chief of the Centerport Bureau of Detectives, and so did Billy Long. Short and Long wished that he could get through with police interference in his affairs, and grumbled some; but the detectives treated him pretty nicely this time, and the two boys went home wondering what would be the outcome of the "treasure hunting expedition."

"Just the same, we found something!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Chet. "And it is important, I feel sure."

"Wish it was the money stolen from Stresch & Potter. The firm has offered five hundred dollars reward for the recovery of the money and the apprehension of the burglars," said Short and Long.

"Say! that would be great for you," his friend said. "Wouldn't it?"

"We'd take Alice out of that factory and let her finish High," said Billy, quickly. "That's what we'd do at the Long domicile."

"I hope it _is_ the stolen money, then," said Chet.

"Hot chance of that," scoffed Billy. "Those fellows that 'burgled' the store got away weeks ago and have probably spent the money by this time."

The discovery of the sealed can on the island did not banish from the minds of the girls of Central High, however, the mystery of the stolen sh.e.l.l. This was a tragedy that loomed bigger and bigger as the day of the races approached. And it was very near now.

The twins were delighted to be able to row with their mates on the eight-oared crew; but like the other members, they were quite hopeless of winning the race if they had to use the old boat.

"Somebody who owed us a big grudge turned that trick of stealing the sh.e.l.l," Bobby Hargrew declared, again and again.