AN UNEXPECTED VISIT.
It was fully ten minutes after the excited boys arrived at the Sea Bird before Bob and Joe could understand the meaning of the document which Harry waved so triumphantly above his head, or learn where and how it had been found. Each one insisted on telling the story at the same time, and the result was that nothing could be distinctly heard until Bob shouted:
"Hold up, lads! Give yourselves time to elect a president who can do the talkin', an' then p'rhaps me an' Joe'll find out whether you've seen the Bonita or discovered a bridge that leads to New York!"
"Let Harry tell the story while Walt an' me bail the yawl. Her seams haven't swelled enough yet to prevent her from takin' in water;" and Jim went forward resolving not to say another word until the matter was fully explained; but before Harry had well begun the recital both he and Walter were assisting in the conversation.
Bob and Joe did finally succeed in learning all the particulars regarding the finding of the manuscript, and then their excitement equaled that of the boys.
"There ain't any question but what the lads have lighted on the secret of a pirate's treasure," the old sailor said in a positive tone, and looking around at his companions as if challenging either of them to contradict him. "Years ago these keys used to be a great place for 'em to sneak in an' out of, an' it stands to reason this would 'a' been jes' the kind of a harbor they'd try to make, 'cause there's water enough here to float a good-sized craft."
"But it's a big question as to whether we can find it;" and Joe examined the document carefully once more. "It has been a good while since this was written, and perhaps both the tree and the coral rock have disappeared."
"It won't take very long to learn that, matey," Bob replied in a tone so cheery that it would have been difficult to believe he had felt so angry and despondent a few hours previous. "There's a good compass in the pilot-house, an' with it an' your tape-measure we'll be able to lay out the course to a hair."
"Do you mean to knock off work for the sake of going treasure-hunting?" Joe asked in mild surprise.
"Why not? Two or three days won't make much difference to us when the repairs are a question of weeks, an' there's no great danger of an easterly gale at this time of year."
It did not require any lengthy or able argument to convince Joe that he would be warranted in ceasing his work as machinist to become a treasure-seeker, for he was fully as eager as Bob to test the truth of the apparent statement contained in the document.
Half an hour after the boys came on board all hands were ready for a return to the key. The compass had been placed in the stern-sheets of the yawl; Joe carried the measuring-tape in his pocket, and all was in readiness for the start, when the old sailor suggested that one of the Sea Bird's anchors be dropped.
"I ain't afraid of her slippin' the Bonita's hawser," he said; "but it'll be a good idea to prevent her from swinging round into shoal water."
Anything, no matter how much labor it might involve, which would guard against a loss or further disablement of their second and only remaining craft should be attended to, and all hands assisted in the work. The tug's smallest anchor was let go with the cable made fast to the stern bitt, and unless a violent storm should arise she would lay to her moorings as safely as if in a dry-dock.
Bob looked once more to the stopper on the bow hawser, as if the idea of leaving the little steamer even for so short a time made him uneasy regarding her safety; and then, when, about to step over the rail into the yawl, he involuntarily glanced seaward.
"Well, if that don't take all the wind outer my sails!" he exclaimed, pointing with one hand toward the open ocean as he shaded his eyes with the other. "An hour ago I'd 'a' been glad to see sich a sight as that; but with the paper the boys found I've kinder lost all hankerin' for a chance to leave this key."
The remainder of the party were already on board the yawl, and it was some seconds before the full meaning of his words could be understood. It was Harry who first caught a glimpse of that which attracted the old sailor's attention, and he cried, as he clambered over the steamer's rail:
"It's a vessel! Father has sent some one to look for us, and now we can go home!"
