"I'd like to go myself," added Dick, "even if I had to stay ashore all
night. Remember, the _Josephine_ is on the way here, and the
sooner some of us get to land and locate that cave the better."

"The _Josephine_ isn't here yet," said Fred.

"No, but she may put in an appearance at any time," answered Tom. "I
believe in taking time by the forelock, as the saying is."

The matter was talked over for a few minutes, and then it was decided
to let Tom, Dick and Sam go ashore in company with two sailors, who
would then bring the rowboat back to the steam yacht. The boys were to
take blankets and some provisions with them and spend the night on the
island.

"I don't think you'll find the cave without Bahama Bill's aid," said
Mr. Rover. "But it will do no harm to look around. If this isle is like
the rest of the West Indies there will be little on it to hurt you.
There are few wild animals down here, and no savages outside of some
negroes who occasionally go on a spree and cut loose."

The rowboat was soon ready, and the boys embarked, with the best wishes
of those left behind. Hans wanted to go very much, but was told he must
wait until morning. Bahama Bill said he would rather sleep on shipboard
any time than on shore.

"A bunk for me," were his words. "It's better than under the trees or
bushes. Once I was ashore sleepin' an' a big snake crawled over my
legs. I thought some cannibals were trying to tie me fast and jumped
up. When I see the snake I run about three miles without stopping. A
cozy bunk fer me every time, yes, sir!"

It was exciting to bring the rowboat through the passage of the reef
and once the boys thought they were going to ship a good deal of water.
But the two men who were rowing knew their business and brought them
into the horseshoe harbor without mishap. They helped the lads to land,
on a small sandy strip close to some palms, and then started back to
the steam yacht.

"Treasure Isle at last!" cried Dick, when they were left alone. "So far
our quest has been successful. Now to locate the cave and unearth that
treasure!"

"And may it prove to be worth all that has been said of it," added Sam.




CHAPTER XX

THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY


The boys had landed at a spot that was particularly inviting in
appearance, and they stopped for several minutes to take in the natural
beauty surrounding them. There were tall and stately palms, backed up
by other trees, trailing vines of great length, and numerous gorgeous
flowers. A sweet scent filled the air, and from the woods in the center
of the isle came the song of tropical birds.

"What a fine camping place!" murmured Sam. "A fellow could spend
several weeks here and have lots of fun, bathing and boating, and
hunting birds, and fishing," and his brothers agreed with him.

Yet the beauty of Treasure Isle was soon forgotten in their anxiety to
locate the cave. They had a general idea that it was in the center of
the horseshoe curve, and that center was quite a distance from where
they had been brought ashore.

"The best we can do is to tramp along the water's edge," said Dick.
"Then when we reach the center we can go inland."

"We haven't over an hour," replied his youngest brother. "By that time
it will be too dark to do much more. And we'll have to find some
suitable place to camp for the night."

"Oh, we can camp anywhere," cried Tom. "It's good enough--just for one
night."

They began to trudge along the edge of the horseshoe curve, over smooth
sand. But this did not last, and presently they came to a muddy flat
and went down to their ankles. Dick was ahead and he cried to the
others.

"Stop! It's not fit to walk here!"

"Why, it's like a bog!" declared Sam, after testing it.

"We'll have to go inland a distance," said Tom. "Come on," and he
turned back and struck out for the palms and bushes beyond.

It was then that the Rover boys began to realize what was before them.
Scarcely had they penetrated the interior for fifty yards when they
found themselves in a perfect network of trailing vines. Then, after
having pulled and cut their way through for fifty yards more, they came
to a spot that was rocky and covered with a tangle of thorny bushes.

"Wow!" ejaculated Tom, after scratching his hand and his leg. "This is
something prime, I must confess!"

"What I call hunting a treasure with a vengeance," added Dick, dryly.

"I move we go back," came from Sam. "We seem to be stuck in more ways
than one."

"Perhaps it is better traveling just beyond," declared Dick. "I am not
going to turn back just yet anyway."

He took the lead, breaking down the thorny bushes as best he could, and
Sam and Tom followed closely in his footsteps. It was rather dark among
the bushes and almost before the three knew it they had fallen headlong
into a hollow.

"Well, I never!"

"This is coming down in a hurry!"

"Is this the treasure cave?"

Such were the exclamations of the three lads as they picked themselves
up out of the dirt, which, fortunately for them, was soft and yielding.
Nobody had been hurt, for which they were thankful.

The hollow was about fifty feet in diameter and half that depth in the
center. On the opposite side were more bushes and rocks, and then a
thicket of tall trees of a variety that was strange to them.

"This is what I call hard work," observed Tom, as they began to fight
their way along again. "I don't know but what we would have done as
well to have waited until morning."

"Don't croak, Tom," said Sam.

"Oh, I am not croaking, but this is no fun, let me tell you that."

All of the boys were panting from their exertions, and soon they had to
call a halt to get their breath. It was now growing dark rapidly, for
in the tropics there is little of what we know as twilight.

"We certainly can't do much more in this darkness," said Dick at last.
"I must confess I thought walking in the direction of the cave would be
an easy matter."

"Well, what's to do next?" questioned Sam, gazing around in perplexity.

This was no easy question to answer. As if by magic darkness had
settled all around them, shutting out the sight of objects less than a
hundred yards away. To go forward was all but impossible, and whether
or not they could get back to where they had come from was a serious
problem.

"If we can't get back we'll have to camp right here," said Dick.

But they did not want to stay in such a thicket and so they pushed on a
little further, until they reached a slight rise of ground. Then Dick,
who was in advance as before, uttered a cry of surprise:

"A trail! I wonder where it leads to?"

He was right, a well-defined trail or footpath lay before them, running
between the brushwood and palms and around the rocks. It did not look
as if it had been used lately, but it was tolerably clear of any
growth.

This was something the Rover boys had not counted on, for Bahama Bill
had never spoken of any trail in his descriptions of the isle. They
gazed at the path with curiosity. Tom was the first to speak.

"Shall we follow it?" he asked.

"Might as well," answered Sam. "It's better than scratching yourself
and tearing your clothing in those thorn bushes."

The boys took to the trail and passed along for a distance of quarter
of a mile or more. It wound in and out around the rocks and trees and
had evidently been made by some natives bringing out wild fruits and
the like from the forest.

"It doesn't seem to be leading us to anywhere," was Dick's comment. "I
don't know whether to go on or not."

Nevertheless, they kept on, until they came to a sharp turn around a
series of rocks. As they moved ahead they suddenly saw a glare of light
cross the rocks and then disappear.

"What was that?" asked Sam, somewhat startled.

"A light," answered Dick.

"I know. But where did it come from?"

"It was like the flash of a bicycle gas lamp," said Tom.

"There are no bicycles on this trail," said Dick.

"I know that, too, Dick. But it was like that kind of a lamp."

Just then the flash of light reappeared, and now they saw it came from
a point on the trail ahead of them. They listened intently and heard
somebody approaching.

"Several men are coming!" whispered Dick.

"Not from our yacht?" said Tom.

"I don't think so."

"Can they be from the _Josephine_?" asked Sam.

"That remains to be seen."

"If they are from the _Josephine_ what shall we do?"

"I think the best thing we can do is to keep out of sight and watch
them."

"But they may locate the cave and take the treasure away," said Tom.

"We have got to run that risk--unless we want to fight them."

"Oh, if only we could get our crowd here to help us!" murmured Sam.

"We may be mistaken and they may be strangers to us. Come, let us
hide."

Losing no time, the three Rover boys stepped into the bushes beside the
trail. As they did so the other party came closer, and the lads saw
that they carried not only an acetylene gas lamp, but also a ship's
lantern and several other things. The party was made up of Sid Merrick,
Tad Sobber, Cuffer and Shelley.

"It's mighty rough walking here," they heard Tad Sobber complain. "I've
got a thorn right through my shoe. Wait till I pull it out, will you?"
And he came to a halt not over ten yards from where the Rover boys were
hidden.

"You didn't have to come, Tad," said his uncle, somewhat harshly. "I
told you to suit yourself."

"Oh, I want to see that treasure cave as well as you do," answered
Sobber.

"I'd like to know if this is the right trail or not," came from
Shelley. "You ought to have brought that Spaniard along, to make sure."

"Doranez is no good!" growled Sid Merrick, who was by no means in the
best of humor. "He likes his bottle too well. If he would only keep
sober it would be different."

"Why don't you take his liquor from him?" asked Cuffer. "I'd do it
quick enough if I was running this thing."

"He says he won't tell us a thing more if we cut off his grog. He is
getting mighty ugly."

"Maybe he wants to sell out to those Rovers," suggested Shelley.

"He wouldn't dare to do that--I know too much about him," answered Sid
Merrick. "No, it's because he wants too big a share of the treasure."

"Do you suppose the fellows on the steam yacht have landed here yet?"
asked Tad, as he prepared to go on.

"I don't know. They are laying-to outside of the reef. I reckon they
don't know anything of the landing on the other side of the island,"
answered his uncle. "Come on, we haven't any time to waste if we want
to head them off. I didn't dream they'd get here so quickly."

"I guess that fellow Wingate was no good," came from Cuffer. "He didn't
delay the steam yacht in the least."

"Maybe he got caught at his funny work," suggested Shelley, hitting the
nail directly on the head, as the reader already knows.

Casting the light of the acetylene gas lamp ahead of them, the party
from the _Josephine_ moved on, directly past the spot where the
Rovers were in hiding. The boys hardly dared to breathe for fear of
discovery. They stood stock still until the others were all but out of
sight.

"This is interesting," murmured Tom. "They must have landed on the
other side of the island."

"Yes, and Merrick hired that Walt Wingate to play us foul!" cried Sam.
"What shall we do next, Dick?" he continued anxiously. "They act as if
they expect to get that treasure to-night!"

"I don't know what to do exactly," answered Dick. "But one thing is
certain--we must follow them up and prevent their getting hold of that
treasure if we possibly can!"




CHAPTER XXI

SCARING OFF THE ENEMY


It was easy enough for Dick to say they must follow up their enemies
and prevent Sid Merrick and his party from gaining possession of the
treasure, but how all this was to be accomplished was another matter.

In the first place, the other party numbered four as against their
three. More than this, those from the _Josephine_ were heavily
armed, while the Rovers had brought with them nothing but a single
pistol.

"It's well enough to talk," whispered Sam, after Sid Merrick and his
crowd had passed on, "but if we tackle them in the open the chances are
we'll get the worst of it."

"We may get a chance at them in some other way," answered Dick. "We
have this advantage, we know where they are and they don't know we are
on the isle."

With cautious steps they stole after the Merrick party, keeping them in
sight by the waving rays of the lamp and lantern ahead, as they danced
over the rocks and among the trees and bushes. They kept about a
hundred feet to the rear.

"I've got a plan," said Tom, as the party ahead came to a halt to make
sure of the trail. "Can't we cut in somewhere and get ahead of them and
then scare them back?"

"Let's try it!" exclaimed Sam. "I am sure if we play ghosts, or
something like that, we'll scare Tad Sobber out of his wits."

"It's a risky thing to do," mused the eldest Rover. "We might get
caught at it."

Nevertheless, he was rather in favor of the plan, and when the Merrick
party stopped again, for Cuffer to take a stone out of his shoe, they
"cut into" the woods and pushed forward with all speed. It was hard
work, but they were in deadly earnest, and did not let the vines and
brushwood deter them.

"Now, the question is, How are we to scare them?" said Dick, after they
had regained the trail, well in advance of Sid Merrick and his
followers.

"Let us play ghosts?" said Sam.

"We might black up and play niggers on the warpath, with big clubs,"
suggested Tom.

"And get shot down," interrupted Dick. "No, I think the ghosts idea is
as good as anything. Quick, take off your coats and tie your
handkerchiefs over your faces."

The boys had on light-colored outing shirts, and these, with the
handkerchiefs over their faces, made them look quite ghostlike in the
gloom under the trees.

"Now, when the time comes groan," said Tom. "Ghosts always groan, you
know."

"And let us order them back," added Sam.

"But be sure to do it in very ghostlike tones," warned Dick. "If our
voices sound a bit natural they'll get suspicious at once. If they come
for us, or shoot at us, drop behind the rocks and run into the woods."

It must be confessed that the boys were doubtful of the success of
their ruse. Yet they felt they must do something to hold the
treasure-seeking party in check, at least until morning. With the
coming of daylight they could signal to the _Rainbow_ and with the
aid of those on the steam yacht probably rout the enemy.

The Rover boys advanced along the trail until they reached a spot they
deemed favorable for their purpose. Then Dick gave his brothers a few
more directions.

Presently they saw the rays of the gas lamp and the lantern in the
distance. At once Tom set up a deep groaning and Sara and Dick joined
in.

"What's that?" asked Shelley, who was the first to hear the sounds.

"Sounds like somebody in distress," answered Sid Merrick.

"Thought you said there was nobody on this island?" came from Cuffer.

"Didn't think there was. Maybe it's some native who----"

"Look! look!" screamed Tad Sobber and pointed ahead with his hand.
"What's that?"

"What's what?" asked the men in concert.

"There--that thing bobbing up and down over the rocks?" And Tad Sobber
trembled as he spoke. This lonely walk through the darkness of the
forest had somewhat unnerved him.

"That's strange," muttered Merrick. "It's groaning!"

"It's a ghost!" screamed Tad, and shrank back, as did Cuffer and
Shelley.

"A ghost?" repeated Sid Merrick. "Nonsense! There are no such things as
ghosts."

"It cer--certainly looks like a--a ghost!" faltered Cuffer.

"It is a ghost!" said Tad, his teeth beginning to chatter. "I--I
ca--can hear it gro--groan! Come on ba--ba--back!" And he began to
retreat.

"Back with you!" came in solemn tones. "Back with you!"

"No white man must come here," said a second voice. "This is sacred
ground!"

"He who sets foot here dies!" came from a third voice. "This is the
burial place of the great Hupa-hupa! Back, if you value your life!" And
then followed a jabbering nobody could understand, and white arms were
waved wildly in the air.

This warning was too much for Tad Sobber, and without further ado he
took to his heels and retreated down the trail whence he had come.
Cuffer followed him, and Shelley also retreated several yards.

"Stop, you fools!" cried Sid Merrick. "Those are no ghosts, I tell you.
It's a trick of some kind."

"I--I don't know about that," answered Shelley. "Don't you think it
would be better to come here in the daylight? We--er--we can't find
that cave in the dark anyway."

"Yes, we can--and I am going to do it, too," was Merrick's answer.
"That is a trick, I tell you." He raised his voice: "Who are you?" he
called out. "Answer me truthfully, or I'll fire on you!"

This threat alarmed the Rover boys, for they saw that Merrick was in
earnest.

"I guess our cake is dough," muttered Tom.

"Wait, I think I can scare him back yet," said Dick. "Let me do the
talking."

"I say, who are you?" repeated Merrick. "You needn't pretend to be
ghosts, for I don't believe in them."

"We are the owners of this isle," answered Dick, in the heaviest tone
he could assume. "We are ten strong, and we order you to go back to
your ship at once."

"The owners of this isle?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe it."

"You can do as you please about that. But if you come a yard further
we'll fire at you."

"Humph! Then you are armed?"

"We are--and we know how to shoot, too."

"What brought you here at such a time as this?"

"We have a special reason for being here, as you may learn by
to-morrow."

"Do you know anything of a treasure on this island?" went on Sid
Merrick curiously.

"We know something of it, yes. It belongs to the Stanhope estate,
provided it can be found."

"It doesn't belong to the Stanhopes at all--it belongs to me," cried
Merrick.

"In a day or two the Stanhopes are coming here to take possession,"
went on Dick. "They will bring with them a number of their friends and
uncover the treasure, which is now hidden in a secret place. As I and
my brothers and cousins own this isle we are to have our share of what
is uncovered. Now we warn you again to go away. We are ten to your
four, and we are all armed with shotguns and pistols, and we have the
drop on you."

"Good for you, Dick, pile it on," whispered Tom. Then he pulled Sam by
the arm. "Come on, let us appear from behind another rock--they'll
think we are two more of the brothers or cousins!"

"You won't dare to shoot us," blustered Merrick, but his voice had a
trace of uncertainty in it.

"Won't we?" answered Dick. "There is a warning for you!" And raising
the pistol he carried he sent a shot over the heads of the other party.

"They are shooting at us! We'll all be killed!" yelled Tad Sobber, who
had come back during the conversation, and again he and Cuffer took to
their heels.

"Mind the warning!" called out Dick, and dropped almost out of sight
behind a rock. At that same moment Tom and Sam appeared from behind a
rock far to the left.

"Mind that warning!" they cried. "Remember, we are ten to four!"

"There are two more of 'em," cried Shelley.

"Confound the luck, what sort of a game is this anyway?" said Sid
Merrick, much chagrined.

"Well, it is more than we expected," answered Shelley. "I, for one,
don't care to risk being shot down. I reckon they have the bulge on us,
if there really are ten of 'em."

"I've seen but five--the three ahead and the two over yonder."

"There are two more!" answered Shelley and pointed to another rock, to
which Sam and Tom had just crawled. "That makes seven."

"Go back, I tell you," warned Dick. "We'll give you just two minutes in
which to make up your mind. If you don't go back we'll start to shoot!"

"Come on back!" cried Tad, from a safe distance. "Don't let them shoot
you, Uncle Sid!"

"We'll go back to our ship," called out Sid Merrick. "But remember,
this thing isn't settled yet."

"If you have any differences with the Stanhopes you can settle with the
folks on the steam yacht which has just arrived," answered Dick, not
knowing what else to say.

The party under Sid Merrick began to retreat, and Dick, Tom and Sam
watched them with interest, until the lights faded in the distance.
Then Tom did a jig in his delight.

"That was easier than I expected," he said.

"Even if we didn't scare them playing ghost," added Sam. "I wonder if
they really thought we were ten in number?"

"Well, they thought we were seven anyway!" answered Dick. "It was a
clever ruse you two played."

What to do next the Rover boys did not know. It was impossible for any
of them to calculate how far they were from the spot where they had
landed or to determine the best way of getting back to Horseshoe Bay,
as they had named the locality.

"If we move around very much in this darkness we may become hopelessly
lost in the forest," said Dick.

"Maybe we had better stay right where we are until morning," suggested
his youngest brother.

"I'm agreeable to anything," were Tom's words.

"If we stay here we want to remain on guard," said Dick. "Merrick may
take it into his head to come back."

An hour later found the three Rover boys encamped in a small opening to
one side of the forest trail. They made beds for themselves of some
soft brushwood, and it was decided that one should remain on guard
while the other two slept.

"Each can take three hours of guard duty," said Dick. "That will see us
through the night nicely," and so it was arranged.




CHAPTER XXII

PRISONERS IN THE FOREST


Dick was the first to go on guard and during the initial hour of his
vigil practically nothing came to disturb him. He heard the occasional
cry of the nightbirds and the booming of the surf on the reefs and the
shore of the isle, and saw numerous fireflies flit to and fro, and that
was all.

"I don't believe they'll come back," he murmured to himself. "Like as
not they are afraid to advance on the trail and also afraid to trust
themselves to this jungle in the darkness."

Dick had found some wild fruit growing close at hand and he began to
sample this. But it was bitter, and he feared to eat much, thinking it
might make him sick. Then, to keep awake, for he felt sleepy because of
his long tramp, he took out his knife and began to cut his initials on
a stately palm growing beside the temporary camp.

Dick had just finished one letter and was starting the next when of a
sudden he found himself taught from behind. His arms were pinned to his
side, his pistol wrenched from his grasp, and a hand that was not
overly clean was clapped over his mouth.

"Not a sound, Rover, if you know when you are well off!" said a voice
into his ear.

Despite this warning the lad would have yelled to his brothers, but he
found this impossible. He had been attacked by Merrick and Shelley, and
Cuffer stood nearby, ready with a stick, to crack him over the head
should he show fight. The attack had come in the dark, the gas lamp and
the lantern having been extinguished when the party from the
_Josephine_ drew close.

Merrick had prepared himself for his nefarious work, and in a twinkling
he had Dick's hands bound behind him and had a gag placed in the
youth's mouth. Then he had the lad bound fast to a nearby tree.

In the meantime Tom and Sam were sleeping soundly. The two brothers lay
each with a hand close to the other, and with caution Merrick and his
party tied the two hands together. Then they tied the lads' feet, so
that they could not run.

"What's the meaning of this?" cried Tom, struggling to rise, as did
Sam.

"It means you are prisoners!" cried Tad Sobber, who had had small part
in the operations, but who was ready to do all the "crowing" possible.

"Prisoners!" gasped Sam. "Where is Dick?" he added.

"Also a prisoner," said Tad, with a chuckle. "You thought you had
fooled us nicely, but I guess we have turned the tables on you."

"I suspected you Rovers," said Sid Merrick.

"Really!" answered Tom, sarcastically. "You acted it!"

"See here, don't you get funny, young man. Please remember you are in
our power."

"And we'll do some shooting, if we have to," added Tad, bombastically.

"Tad, I guess I can do the talking for this crowd," said his uncle.

"You were afraid of the ghosts, Tad," said Sam. "You must have run
about a mile!" And the youngest Rover grinned in spite of the
predicament he was in.

"You shut up!" roared Tad Sobber, and exhibited some of the brutality
that had made him so hated at Putnam Hall by raising his foot and
kicking Sam in the side.

"Stop!" cried the youngest Rover, in pain. "What a brute you are!"

"Leave my brother alone!" came from Tom. "A fine coward you are, to
kick him when he is a prisoner! You wouldn't dare to try it if he was
free."

"I wouldn't, eh? I want you to understand I'm not afraid of anybody,"
blustered Tad. "I am----"

"Tad, be quiet," cried his uncle. "I am fully capable of managing this
affair. Don't kick him again."

"Yes, but look here, Uncle Sid, they----"

"I will take care of things," cried Sid Merrick, and so sharply that
his nephew at once subsided. But on the sly he shook his fist at both
Tom and Sam.

"Maybe we had better make sure that nobody else is around," suggested
Shelley, who had been Merrick's best aide in the capture.

"All right, look around if you want to," was Merrick's reply. "I am
pretty certain these boys are alone here--although more persons from
the steam yacht may be ashore."

They looked around, but, of course, found nobody else. Then Dick, Tom
and Sam were tied in a row to three trees which were handy. Merrick
took possession of their single weapon.

"I don't want you to hurt yourselves with it," he said, grimly.

"Merrick, this is a high-handed proceeding," said Dick, when the gag
was removed from his mouth.

"No more so than was your statement of owning the isle," was the
answer.

"What are you going to do with us?"

"Nothing."

"I must say I don't understand you."

"What should I do with you? I don't enjoy your company. I am here
solely to get that treasure, as you must know. I am going after that
and leave you where you are."

"Bound to these trees?"

"Certainly."

"Supposing we can't get loose?" remonstrated Tom. "We may starve to
death!"

"That will be your lookout. But I reckon you'll get loose sooner or
later, although we've bound you pretty tight."

"Can I have a drink before you go?" asked Sam, who was dry.

"Don't give 'em a drop, Uncle Sid!" cried Tad. "They don't deserve it."

"Oh, they can have a drink," said Sid Merrick. "I'd give a drink even
to a dog," he added, and passed around some water the boys had in a
bottle.

Less than fifteen minutes later the three Rover boys found themselves
alone in the forest. The Merrick party had lit their acetylene gas lamp
and the lantern and struck out once more along the trail which they
supposed would take them to the treasure cave. The boys heard them for
a short distance, and then all became dark and silent around them.

"Well, now we are in a pickle and no mistake," remarked Sam, with a
long sigh.

"That ghost business proved a boomerang," was Tom's comment. "It's a
pity we didn't dig out for the shore, signal to the steam yacht, and
tell father and the others about what was going on."

"There is no use crying over spilt milk," said Dick. "The first thing
to do is to get free."

"Yes, and that's real easy," sniffed Tom. "I am bound up like a bale of
hay to be shipped to the South Pole!"

"And the cord on my wrists is cutting right into the flesh," said Sam.

"If we were the heroes of a dime novel we'd shoo these ropes away in a
jiffy," went on Tom, with a grin his brothers could not see. "But being
plain, everyday American boys I'm afraid we'll have to stay tied up
until somebody comes to cut us loose."

"Oh, for a faithful dog!" sighed Sam. "I saw a moving picture once in
which a dog came and untied a girl who was fastened to a tree. I'd give
as much as five dollars for that dog right now."

"Make it six and a half, Sam, and I'll go half," answered Tom.

"Well, this is no joke," declared Dick, almost severely. "We must get
free somehow--or they'll get that treasure and be off with it before
father and the others have a chance to land. We've got to do
something."

They all agreed they "had to do something," but what that something was
to be was not clear. They worked over their bonds until their wrists
were cut and bleeding and then gave the task up. It was so dark they
could see each other but dimly, and the darkness and quietness made
them anything but lighthearted.

"Supposing some wild beast comes to chew us up," said Sam, presently,
after a silence that was positively painful.

"We know there are no big beasts on these islands," answered Dick.
"Don't worry yourself unnecessarily, Sam. We've got troubles enough as
it is."

"The only beasts here are human beasts," said Tom, "and their names are
Merrick, Sobber, Cuffer and Shelley," and he said this so dryly his
brothers had to laugh.

Slowly the night wore away, each hour dragging more than that which
preceded it. Two or three times the boys tried again to liberate
themselves, but fared no better than before, indeed, Dick fared worse,
for he came close to spraining his left wrist. The pain for a while was
intense and it was all he could do to keep from crying out.

"I'd like to know what time it is," said Sam, when the first streak of
dawn began to show among the trees.

"And I'd like to know if Merrick has found the treasure cave," added
Dick.

"It will soon be morning," came from Tom, and he was right. The rising
sun did not penetrate to where they stood, but it tipped the tops of
the trees with gold and made it light enough for them to see each other
quite plainly.

The boys were glad that day had come at last, for being prisoners in
the light was not half as bad as in the dark. Each looked at the others
rather curiously.

"Well, we are still here," said Tom laconically.

"Yes, and liable to stay here," added Sam.

"I wonder if father is getting ready to land," said Dick. "I suppose if
he does he will come ashore where we did."

"Yes, but that is a good distance from here," was Sam's comment.

"Wonder if it would do us any good to yell?" said Tom.

"And bring Merrick and his gang down on us," said his younger brother.
"No, thank you."

"I don't believe they are around," said Dick. "I am going to try my
lungs." And he began to yell with all the power of his vocal organs.
Then Tom and Sam joined in, and they kept this up, off and on, for
fully an hour.

"I am not only dry but hungry," said Tom. "Wish I had that lunch we
brought along."

"Tad Sobber sneaked that away," said Dick. "If ever there was a fellow
with a heart of stone he's the chap. Why, Dan Baxter in his worst days
wasn't as bad as this young rascal."

Another hour went by and then Dick uttered an exclamation:

"Listen!"

"What did you hear?" asked his brothers.

"I thought I heard somebody calling!"

They strained their ears and from a great distance heard a cry, but
what it was they could not make out.

"Let's call back," said Dick.

"It may do us harm," interposed Sam.

"We'll take the chance," said Tom, and started a loud cry, in which all
joined. They waited patiently for an answer to come back. But for
several minutes there was absolute silence. Then, to their surprise, a
pistol shot sounded out.

"Hullo!" ejaculated Dick. "Something is up. I wonder what it is?"




CHAPTER XXIII

WHAT WINGATE HAD TO TELL


After the departure of the Rover boys from the steam yacht Mr. Rover
and Captain Barforth held a consultation, and it was decided that the
search for the treasure cave should begin in earnest at daybreak.

"I do not think the boys will locate the cave in the coming darkness,"
said Anderson Rover. "But still it will do no harm to let them have a
try at it."

"Mr. Rover, do you suppose those on board the _Josephine_ have
landed yet?" asked Fred, who was present.

"There is no telling for certain, Fred. But I should say not, since
their steamer is nowhere in sight."

"I hope they do not come for some days," said Mrs. Stanhope. "For if
they do, and you meet, I feel sure there will be serious trouble."

After that Anderson Rover had a long talk with Bahama Bill, and the old
tar said he thought he could locate the cave without much trouble.

"O' course, the isle has changed since I was here last," said he. "Must
have had a hurricane or something like that, to wash the beach and rake
down some o' the trees. But I think I can find it as soon as I locate
the trail leadin' that way. You know trails are great things. Why, when
I was sailing on the _Jessie D._, from the South Sea Islands, we
landed on a place where there was a trail running to a volcano. We took
to it, and the first thing we know we went down into that ere volcano
about a thousand feet. It made my hair stand on end, I can tell ye!
Four o' us went down, an' the others had to git ropes an' haul us up
ag'in, an' it took half a day to do it."

"Vos you hurted much?" asked Hans.

"Not a scratch, my hearty, only it broke my pipe, one my brother gave
me afore I sailed, an' one I wouldn't have taken a month's pay for,"
concluded Bahama Bill.

An hour later Songbird, who was on the deck of the steam yacht,
composing poetry in the darkness of the night, saw the old tar coming
toward him. Bahama Bill was groaning deeply.

"What's the matter?" asked the would-be poet.

"Oh, I'm a-burnin' up on my insides!" answered the old tar, and gave a
deep groan. "I want a doctor, I do!"

Seeing Bahama Bill was really sick, Songbird went to his assistance and
called Mr. Rover. Then Captain Barforth was consulted and he gave the
man some medicine.

"It's queer I took sick so quick," said Bahama Bill, an hour later,
when he felt better.

"What did you eat and drink?" asked Anderson Rover.

"I ate a tongue sandwich--one o' them was handed around awhile ago. I
put it in my bunk room when I got it and ate it on going to bed. It
made me sick the minit I downed it."

"I ate one of those sandwiches and it didn't hurt me," said Fred.

"Yah, and I vos eat two of dem," put in Hans. "Da vos goot, doo!" and
he smacked his lips.

"Perhaps you ate something earlier in the day that didn't agree with
you," said Captain Barforth; and there the talk ended, and Bahama Bill
retired once more.

Less than an hour later came a commotion on the steam yacht. Two men
were evidently fighting and the voice of Bahama Bill was heard.

"I've caught ye!" he bellowed. "No, ye ain't goin' to git away nuther!"
And then came a crash as some article of furniture was tipped over.

A rush was made by Mr. Rover, the boys and several others, and to the
astonishment of all Bahama Bill was discovered on the deck locked arm
in arm with Walt Wingate, who was doing his best to break away.

"Wingate, you rascal!" shouted Anderson Rover, and caught the deck hand
by the collar.

"Let me go!" yelled the fellow, and struggled to free himself. He held
a pistol in one hand and this went off, but the bullet merely cut the
air. Then the weapon was taken from him.

"So you are still on board, eh?" roared Captain Barforth, when he
confronted the man. "What have you to say for yourself?"

"I--er--I haven't done anything wrong," was Wingate's stubborn reply.

"Oh, no, of course not!"

"He came at me in my sleep," cried Bahama Bill. "He had something in a
little white paper and he was trying to put it into my mouth when I
woke up an' caught him. I think he was going to poison me!" And he
leaped forward and caught the prisoner by the throat.

"Le--let up!" gasped the deck hand. "It--it's all a mis--mistake! I
wasn't going to poi--poison anybody."

"Maybe he vos poison does sandwiches, doo," suggested Hans. "I mean
dose dot made Bahama Pill sick."

"Like as not he did," growled the old tar. "He's a bad one, he is!" And
he shook the deck hand as a dog shakes a rat.

"He is surely in league with Sid Merrick," said Anderson Rover. He
faced Walt Wingate sternly. "Do you dare deny it?"

At first Wingate did deny it, but when threatened with severe
punishment unless he told the whole truth, he confessed.

"I used to know Sid Merrick years ago," he said. "He used me for a
tool, he did. When we met at Nassau he told me what he wanted done and
I agreed to do it, for some money he gave me and for more that he
promised me."

"And what did you agree to do?" asked Anderson Rover.

"I agreed to get a job as a deck hand if I could and then, on the sly,
cripple the yacht so she couldn't reach Treasure Isle as quick as the
_Josephine_--the steamer Merrick is on. Then I also promised to
make Bahama Bill sick if possible, so he couldn't go ashore and show
you where the cave was. I wasn't going to poison him. The stuff I used
was given to me by Merrick, who bought it at a drug store in Nassau. He
said it would make Bahama Bill sleepy--dopy, he called it."

"Did he tell you what the stuff was?"

"No."

"Then it may be poison after all," said Captain Barforth. "You took a
big risk in using it, not to say anything about the villainy of using
anything."

"Oh, jest let me git at him, cap'n!" came from Bahama Bill, who was
being held back by Fred and Songbird. "I'll show him wot I think o'
sech a measly scoundrel!" And he shook his brawny fist at the prisoner.

"I'm sorry now I had anything to do with Merrick," went on Walt
Wingate. "He always did lead me around by the nose."

"Well, he has led many others that way," answered Anderson Rover,
remembering the freight robbers.

"I am willing to do anything I can to make matters right," went on
Wingate.

"O' course you are, now you're caught," sneered Bahama Bill.

"Can you tell us if the _Josephine_ was coming to this spot?"
asked Captain Barforth.

"Is this the south side of the isle?"

"Yes."

"Well, Captain Sackwell said he knew of a landing place on the north
side of Treasure Isle, and he was bound for that spot."

"The north side!" cried Anderson Rover. He looked at Captain Barforth.
"Can they have tricked us?" he asked.

"I never heard o' any landing on that side," said Bahama Bill. "But
then I never visited the place but onct, as I told ye afore."

"Did the Spaniard Doranez know of the landing on the north side?"
questioned Songbird.

"So he told Merrick," answered Wingate. "He said he was the one to
speak of the isle first, for he had visited it half a dozen times
during his voyages among the West Indies."

"Then they may be on the north side of the island now!" cried Fred.

After that Walt Wingate was questioned closely and he told all he knew
about Merrick and his plans. He was very humble, and insisted upon it
that he had meant to do no more than put Bahama Bill into a sound
sleep.

"Well, you are a dangerous character," said Captain Barforth. "For the
present I am going to keep you a prisoner," and a few minutes later he
had Wingate handcuffed and placed under lock and key in a small
storeroom. The deck hand did not like this, but he was thankful to
escape a worse fate.

Anxious to know if the _Josephine_ was anywhere in the vicinity of
the isle, some of those on board the _Rainbow_ ascended one of the
masts and attempted to look across the land. But a hill shut off the
view.

"We'll have to wait until morning," said Mr. Rover, and was about to go
down to the deck when something attracted his attention. It was a
strange shaft of light shooting up from along the trees in the center
of Treasure Isle.

"A searchlight!" he cried. "Somebody is on shore, and it must be
Merrick with his crowd." And this surmise was correct, as we already
know.




CHAPTER XXIV

A MISSING LANDMARK


The searchlight was watched with interest for fully quarter of an hour.
It was, of course, visible only now and then, but from the shafts of
light seen, those on the steam yacht were certain somebody was moving
from the north side of the isle to the location of the treasure cave.

"We ought to head them off, if possible," declared Anderson Rover.
"Should that be Merrick's crowd and they meet my sons there will surely
be trouble!"

"Let us go ashore without delay!" said Songbird, who was sorry he had
not accompanied the Rover boys.

"That's what I say!" added Fred. "We can take plenty of lights."

"I vos not von pit sleepy," declared Hans. "I go kvick, of you said so,
Mr. Rofer."

"If yo' go, don't forgit Aleck!" pleaded the colored man.

"You shall go, Aleck," answered Mr. Rover, who knew he could depend
upon the colored man in any emergency.

"I hope you find Dick, and Tom and Sam," said Dora. "It was foolish for
them to go off alone."

"And don't let Merrick hurt anybody," pleaded Nellie.

It was quickly decided that the party to go ashore should be composed
of Mr. Rover, Bahama Bill, Aleck, and the three boys. Nearly everybody
went armed, and the party carried with them a small electric
searchlight, run by a "pocket" battery, and two oil lanterns. They also
took with them some provisions, and a pick, a shovel and a crowbar, for
Bahama Bill said there might be some digging to do to get at the
treasure.

Had it not been for the small searchlight it would have been next to
impossible to find the opening through the reef during the night. But
the light was all that was needed, and they came through with little
more than a shower of spray touching them. Bahama Bill and Mr. Rover
rowed the boat and soon brought the craft to a point where they
disembarked without difficulty.

"The boys did not land here," said Anderson Rover, after a look along
the sandy shore for footprints. "But they must have come in somewhere
around here."

"Let's call for them," suggested Songbird, and this was done, but no
reply came back.

"They have started on the hunt for the cave, just as I supposed they
would," said Mr. Rover.

"Den let us git aftah dem directly," said Aleck. "I feels like I could
tramp all night widout half tryin'!"

Tying up the rowboat, and shouldering their tools and provisions, they
set off along the shore of Horseshoe Bay, just as the three Rover boys
had done. Bahama Bill led the way, with Mr. Rover beside him, carrying
the electric light, which gave out fully as much light as did the
acetylene gas lamp carried by Merrick.

"Here are some footprints!" cried Mr. Rover, after a short distance had
been covered.

"Dem was made by our boys!" cried Aleck, after a minute examination. "I
know dem shoes, fo' I has shined 'em many de time!"

"If they walked in that direction they took the wrong course," was
Bahama Bill's comment. "Like as not they got turned around among the
trees an' in the dark."

"We must locate the party with that strong light we saw from the
yacht," said Mr. Rover. "Perhaps in doing that we'll come up to my
sons."

Once on shore, the old tar said he remembered the locality well, and he
did not hesitate in pushing forward, across the path taken by the three
Rover boys, and then to a trail which the Rovers had missed. They had
to climb a small hill, and here it was that Bahama Bill showed the
first signs of perplexity.

"Queer!" he muttered, coming to a halt and gazing around. "Mighty
queer!"

"What is queer?" questioned Anderson Rover.

"This looks changed to me. When I was here afore there was a rock
yonder, an' the crowd placed a mark on it fer a guide, as I told ye.
Ain't no rock there now!" And he scratched his head as if he was afraid
he was not seeing aright.

"When you were here was a good many years ago," said Songbird. "The
rock may have tumbled down the hill. Let us look around."

This advice was followed, and after a long hunt a rock was found in a
hollow. It had a peculiar mark cut upon it.

"That's it!" cried Bahama Bill, in delight. "I knew it must be around
here somewhere. But what made that big rock tumble down?"

"Maybe somepody pushed him ofer," said Hans.

"Four men couldn't budge that rock," declared Fred.

"I believe an earthquake must have done it," came from Anderson Rover,
and suddenly his face grew grave. "I trust no earthquake has disturbed
the treasure cave," he added.

They pushed on, but scarcely had they covered a quarter of a mile when
Bahama Bill called another halt. And well he might, for the trail they
had been following came to an abrupt end in front of a pit several rods
in diameter and twenty to thirty feet deep. The bottom of the pit was
choked up with rocks, dead trees and brushwood.

"What now?" asked Mr. Rover, and his tone betrayed his uneasiness.

"This wasn't here afore," said the old tar, briefly. He was so
"stumped" he could scarcely speak.

"You are sure?"

"Dead certain."

"Then this isle has undoubtedly been visited by an earthquake within
the last few years."

"Thet's it, Mr. Rover."

"Maybe the trail can be picked up on the other side of the hole," came
from Fred. "Let us walk around."

He and some of the others started to do so, but soon came to a place
where walking became uncertain and dangerous. Songbird went into one
hole up to his waist and poor Hans disappeared entirely.

"Hellup! hellup!" roared the German boy. "Bull me owid, somepody!"

Aleck was close at hand, and reaching down into the hole he got hold of
Hans' hand. It was a hard pull, but presently Anderson Rover took hold,
too, and between him and the colored man they got the German youth to
the surface. Hans' face and clothing were covered with dust and dirt
and he was scratched in several places.

"I dink I was goin' t'rough to Chiny!" he said. "You pet my life I vos
careful after dis vere I valk, yah!"

"The earthquake seems to have left this part of the isle full of pits
and holes," said Mr. Rover. "I hope my boys have managed to steer clear
of the dangerous places."

They soon found they had to turn back, and now Bahama Bill frankly
declared that he was "all at sea," as he put it.

"Every landmark I knew has been swept away," he said. "All I can say
is, the cave is in that direction," and he pointed with his hand. "But
it may be buried out o' sight now," he added, dismally.

There was nothing to do but to retrace their steps, and this they did
as far as they were able. They had covered about half the distance when
they saw a shaft of light shoot around the tree-tops near them.

"There is that strange light!" cried Songbird.

"Let us find out what it is!" added Fred.

They tried to follow the light and in doing this became hopelessly lost
in the jungle. Then one of the boys struck one of the oil lanterns on a
rock and smashed it, thus doing away with that much of the illumination
they carried.

"We must be careful," said Anderson Rover. "We are making no progress
so far as the treasure is concerned. We had better try to find our way
back to the shore, and try to find my sons." And this was agreed to by
all.

But it was no easy matter to get back to the shore, and an hour later
found them in a tangle of undergrowth. Aleck was ahead, accompanied by
Fred and Songbird.

"Hark! I heah something!" cried the colored man, presently.

"Somebody is calling!" cried Songbird.

"Maybe it's Dick and the others!" added Fred.

They called in return and then they fired off a pistol. There was a
brief silence and then came the call once more.

"Come on, dis way!" yelled Aleck, and plunged through the underbrush
with the boys following. He continued to call and at last made out the
voices of Dick, Tom and Sam quite plainly.

"I'se found de boys!" cried the colored man in delight. "I'se found de
boys!" And he plunged on again until he gained the clearing where the
three lads were tied to the trees. With his pocketknife he cut their
bonds.

"Good for you, Aleck!" cried Dick. "I am more than glad to see you!"

"And so am I," added Sam and Tom in a breath.

Then the others came up, and the Rover boys had to tell their story, to
which the members of the second party listened with the keenest of
interest.




CHAPTER XXV

THE TRAIL THROUGH THE JUNGLE


"Sid Merrick is certainly in deadly earnest," was Mr. Rover's comment,
after the boys had finished their tale. "He means to get hold of that
treasure by hook or by crook, and he will stop at nothing to gain his
end."

"We want to go after him and his gang," said Dick. "We ought not to
lose a minute doing it."

"Can you walk, Dick?"

"I guess so, although being tied up made me rather stiff."

"I see your wrist is bleeding."

"Yes, and I tried pretty hard to free myself."

"And I tried, too," added Sam. "But I couldn't budge a single knot."

"We could not unknot the knots," added Tom, who was bound to have his
joke.

It was now morning, for which all were thankful. The lights were put
out, and the whole party partook of some of the provisions on hand.

"I believe Merrick would have left us to starve," said Sam. "He is the
greatest rascal I ever knew!"

The Rover boys pointed out the direction Sid Merrick and his party had
taken. Bahama Bill said that trail was new to him, and if it led to the
treasure cave he did not know it.

"But I'll know the cave as soon as I see it--if it is still there," he
added.

"Well, you won't see it if it isn't there," said Dick, grimly. "That
earthquake may have changed the whole face of that portion of the
isle."

The trail appeared to make a wide sweep to the westward, and led them
over ground that was unusually rough. The trailing vines were
everywhere and they had to brush away innumerable spider webs as they
progressed. Once Songbird came upon some spiders larger than any he had
yet seen and two crawled on his shoulder, causing him to yell in
fright.

"What's the matter?" asked Dick.

"Spiders! Two were just going to bite me, but I got rid of 'em!"

"Don't be afraid, Songbird," came from Tom. "Why don't you study them
and write a poem about them?"

"A poem about spiders! Ugh!" And Songbird's face showed his disgust.

"Der spider vos a pusy little animal," observed Hans. "He sphins his
veb und attends strictly to business. I dink I make up some boetry
apout him," and the German boy began:

    "Der vos von leetle sphider
        Vot lifed owid in der voot,
    He made himself a leetle veb
        Und said dot it vos goot."

"Hurrah, for Hans!" cried Tom. "He's the true poet of spiderdom!" and
then he added: "Hans, we'll crown you poet laureate if you say so."