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 Nassau, 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 compass. 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 document found at the ruined hut, and in a very short space 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 glassy 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 compass:

"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 compass 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 document 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 compass 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 assistance of all was necessary.

With the compass 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 compass 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?"

"I know it can't be half a fathom out of the way," Bob said as he wiped the perspiration from his face and gazed around in perplexity. "This is what comes of takin' a bearin' that's likely to be knocked outer line."

"If the tree isn't where it ought to be must we give up the search?" Walter asked as a look of disappointment came over his face.

"We won't cry quits quite so soon as this," Bob replied quickly. "Joe, drive a stake where Harry stands, so we can find the spot ag'in, an' then get ready to start on the other course."

When this had been done Bob brought the compass forward once more, and Joe struck out southeast by east—a direction which caused them to return almost over the same course, the stake standing at the point of an acute angle.

This second course was but little more than one-quarter the distance of the first; but the underbrush was more tangled, which made the labor of clearing a path proportionately greater, and it was nearly night-fall when Joe shouted, as he pressed on in advance:

"There's no need of squinting across that compass-box any longer, for here's the coral-head as plain as the nose on a man's face!"

Without thinking that by leaving their positions all this last portion of the work might have to be repeated, the boys rushed forward eagerly despite Bob's warning shouts; and thus deserted by his assistants, the old sailor could do no less than join the others, who were standing around what looked like a dull-white rock of the same form as that so rudely pictured on the time-stained paper.

"I reckon we've struck it!" he said with a long-drawn sigh of relief; "but there's likely to be a big lot of diggin', an' it's gettin' late. My idee is that we'd better knock off now, an' come back in the mornin'."

Joe was of the same opinion, and the two men began to gather up their belongings preparatory to a return to the steamer.

The boys were decidedly disappointed. Even though all were very hungry, they would have preferred to settle the question then and there regardless of the amount of time that might be necessary; but as their views on the subject were not asked for, there was no other course open save to follow the leaders.

The coral-head lay nearer the water's edge than did the hut, and after blazing two or three trees and ascertaining the bearings of the supposed treasure, the line of march was taken up.

The sun had been below the horizon fully a quarter of an hour when they stepped on board the Sea Bird, and not until then did the boys realize how tired they were. The exertion even of cooking supper seemed too great; but it was a task which must be performed, and all hands aided in it, thus bringing the meal to a much earlier close than if Jim had officiated at the stove alone.

It is safe to say that none of the steamer's crew were troubled with wakefulness five minutes after retiring, and Bob himself was wrapped in slumber when the sun came up out of the sea. His eyes were opened at a reasonably early hour, however, and when a hurried breakfast had been eaten the party set out for the spot where all believed a pirate's treasure would be found.

To retrace their steps by the course laid out on the previous evening was not a difficult matter, for the trail through the tangled underbrush would have showed the way even without the compass, and before two hours of this new day were spent the little party stood once more around the coral-head.

Owing to the fact that they had but one shovel the work of digging progressed slowly, and it was soon discovered that the task would require considerable time. The coral was of great size, very much larger at the base than the top, and imbedded in the sand to the depth of at least four feet.

"We must spell each other every five minutes," Bob said, as he set the example by taking the tool from Joe's hands. "In that way we shall get along faster, because the one who's diggin' will always be fresh."

Each of the party, including the boys, had taken his turn at the shovel half a dozen times when the huge mass of coral was finally uncovered, and then came the question of removing it entirely.

To this end Joe cut three poles, to be used as levers, and with the most intense excitement depicted on every countenance the treasure-seekers set about this last portion of the task.

The second attempt was successful. The coral was rolled up on the sand until it could be toppled over, and then, as Bob scraped the earth away from where it had rested so long, an oblong sheet of metal—apparently copper—was exposed to view.

This was sufficient proof for the boys that the paper found in the hollow log referred to a hoard of gold, and they cheered again and again until all three were hoarse, while Bob said in a tone of mingled amazement and joy:

"I'm blest if I thought the dockerment was anything more'n a bloomin' hoax; but this begins to look as if there might be a heap of truth in it, even if them as wrote the story was mighty bad hands with a pen."

Despite all their anxiety to know what had been hidden in this place, the little party stood around the excavation in a frame of mind very much resembling awe until Joe said, impatiently:

"Come, come! What's the sense of standing like images? Let's know what there is here, now that we're pretty near the end of the puzzle!"

This was sufficient to awaken the treasure-seekers from their daze, and the work was continued without further delay.