CHAPTER XVIII TREASURE AND TREACHERY
The boys slept late the next morning and when they awoke the Mexican wasstill lying on his blanket, not sleeping but still not working. Feelingthat they should do something to earn the hospitality of their new-foundfriend the two boys brought wood from the thicket and kindled the fire.The Mexican gave them some beans and they speedily made enough for allof them.
After they had eaten they started off in the direction of SenoritaMercedes' ranch, the Mexican riding slowly and the boys walking besidehim. They had managed to dry out their clothes and put them on, andalthough they were a mass of wrinkles and ridges they did well enough.Their shoes had shrunk somewhat and walking was not easy, but they stuckto the task manfully, plodding along mile after mile without complaint.
Several times during the trip the overseer got down from his horse andinsisted that one of the boys mount and ride for a few miles, andalthough they protested he would not listen to them. So they rodegratefully, in this way saving themselves from a good many aches andpains. The Mexican was not used to walking but he said nothing, trudgingalong on one side or the other of the horse cheerfully.
They stopped once for dinner and then pressed on again. The foreman ofthe ranch was sure that they would reach the Mercedes place in two days,or late on the following day, so they pushed on eagerly. In the earlyafternoon they were forced to take a rest from the heat of the sun, butcovered a few miles before it was time to make camp for the night.
They were near the coast at the time and their camp was pitched in thehollow formed by two small hills. They had looked for a favorablelocation, for this one had no wood near it, as the country was mostlybarren, and thickets few and far between. Some green bushes grew nearbyand they resolved to use these as a final resource, but before doing soJim and Terry started out to see it they could find anything morepromising. Terry went over the top of one hill and Jim over the top ofthe other, while the overseer prepared for their supper.
Jim had a small axe which Alaroze had given him and he walked along theridge of the small hill looking carefully around. On the opposite sideof the hill he found a long depression in the soil which looked asthough it might have been the bed of a stream at one time, perhaps somecreek which had originally flowed from the distant mountains. Hewandered down it aimlessly, convinced that his quest for wood was notlikely to be very successful. A vast stillness lay over the country andhe felt very much alone. A mile or more to the east of him he could hearthe sound of the ocean.
There was no use in walking down the defile, he decided, so he startedfor the slope of the slight hill which was beside him. As he did so hisfoot struck something solid. He bent down to see what it was and found asmall stick of wood protruding from the sand at his feet. He cleared thesand away around the stick, to find that it was quite large and that itran into the sand for some little distance. When he had finally drawn itfrom its sheath be examined it with curiosity.
It was a piece of mahogany and it showed the hand of civilization.Although it was now black with age it had at one time been varnished. Itwas a large splinter and he wondered how it ever got there. Examining itclosely he detected signs which led him to believe that it had beenburned at some time. There was a thin line running across it thatsuggested carving.
"That's funny," he reflected. "Somebody once had a fire here and usedgood wood for it. Perhaps there is more nearby."
With this thought in mind he dug his axe deeper in the sand and began toscoop it out. Before many minutes had passed he ran across another pieceof wood, but this one he could not get out. It seemed to have no end andhe set to work in earnest to uncover it. But after he had uncoveredabout twenty-five running feet he stopped in perplexity.
"This must be a house!" he cried. "Every bit of it burned, too."
The top of the long section of wood had been burned. It was thick woodand he tried to dig down under it. But after he had dug sand out to thedepth of four feet he stopped and looked puzzled. It was a straightwooden wall, extending down into the valley of sand.
Jim stopped his work and walked to the top of the rise, where he slowlylooked up and down the pass. He looked toward the ocean, calculatedthoughtfully and then looked toward the mountains. Then, looking downtoward the long strip of black wood which he had uncovered he voiced histhought.
"That's a ship down there, evidently burned to the water's edge andlater covered up by shifting sand. Now, I wonder----?"
Without finishing his thought he hurried down to the trench and oncemore went to work. Digging some five feet down beside the wall of woodhe came to a flooring of hard planks, just what he had been looking for.It was the deck of a ship, and he began feverishly to dip out sand. Inthis task he was finally surprised by Terry and the overseer.
Terry had returned to the camp with a few dead bushes and they hadwaited around for Jim to return, but as he did not do so they becamealarmed and set out to find him. Their first glimpse of him was an oddone. When they topped the rise some distance back of him they saw himstanding in a deep trench, facing a four foot wall of wood, busilyengaged in scooping sand from the hole and throwing it as far away as hecould. With cries of astonishment they hurried up to the long trenchwhich he was making.
"Jim!" Terry cried, while the Mexican looked on with bulging eyes. "Whatis this?"
Jim started slightly as he straightened up. "It is the remains of asunken ship," he cried. "See, this is evidently the rail, a solid wallof wood, and I'm just uncovering the deck. It was burned to the edge ofthe water, and later covered up with sand."
"Well, I'll be jiggered!" shouted Terry. "Do you think it is thetreasure ship?"
"I don't know, but I wouldn't doubt it. As you can see, I have uncoveredabout twenty-five feet of this rail. The deck seems to be good and I'mtrying to uncover enough of it to find a hatchway, so that we can see ifit is empty down below."
Terry and the Mexican jumped down beside him. The Mexican understoodenough of English to know that they thought the ship beneath them mightbe a treasure ship, and he set to work with a sincere will to scoopsand. They could not make much progress, however, for it was rapidlygrowing dark, and at last they were forced to give it up until the nextday.
"That is the best we can do," Jim decided, peering about him in thedark. "Let's chop some of this wood and then we'll go back to camp."
With his axe he hacked off enough wood to last them through the nightand the three companions carried it back to their camp, where, amid muchtalking, they built the fire and cooked the supper. The Mexican was toldthe whole story and he replied that he knew the legend of the phantomgalleon. The boys were not averse to telling him the story for they feltthat they owed him much and knew that his future help would meaneverything. It was late that night before they lay down to sleep, andwith the rising of the sun they were up and at work on the buried wreck.
It took them all the morning to clear the solid deck of the ancient shipfor a space of several feet and at last they came to a hatchway, coveredby a heavy door which was flush with the deck. There was a bolt on thedoor but one blow of the axe broke it in pieces, and the three unitedall their strength to pulling the hatch open. It came upward at last,releasing a flood of stale and poisonous air that sent them reelingbackward with all possible speed.
"Diable!" gasped Alaroze. "I think all the fiends are closed inside!"
When the air had cleared sufficiently they all peered down the openhatchway, to discover a wide flight of stairs leading down into the holdof the ship. There was now no longer any doubt but what it was thephantom galleon, for it was built on a magnificent scale. They realizedthat had it not been burned the rear of the galleon would never havebeen covered up, for the rear of the Spanish ships were composed of highafter-deck houses, but this ship had been burned and only the deck,which had been below the water, had remained.
"The hold must be full of water and sand," Terry commented.
Jim swung his feet over the edge
of the deck and gingerly felt the stepbelow. "Full of sand, yes, but not of water. The sand will be wet,though. Now be careful on these stairs."
The stairs were solid and safe, but they did not go far. Originally theship had run aground and filled with water, and in time the sand hadfilled up the hold of the galleon. A space of about six feet only wasopen, and in this space the foul air had been held. The three companionsfound a bed of moist sand cutting off any further progress.
"If there is any gold in this ship, it is below the sand," Alaroze saidin Spanish.
"Yes, senor," nodded Jim. "I think we had better not walk on this sandfor fear of falling into some pit. If we ever sank in this wet stuff,that would be the end of us."
"It surely would," remarked Terry. "What is this sticking up out of thesand? A piece of brass?"
It was a dull strip of brass, but when Jim scraped the sand from it theyfound that it was long and finally discovered that it was the edge of abrass-bound chest.
"Oh, somebody's trunk!" said Terry, indifferently.
But the eyes of the Mexican were glittering and Jim himself was excited."More likely the top of a treasure chest!" he retorted, and dealt thechest top a slashing blow with his axe.
With a shuddering, sucking sound the paper-like substance tore off,revealing to the three in the hold a sight which took away their breath.Gold in the form of coins of all sizes was revealed, gold which lay andstill gleamed in the interior of the trunk. The Mexican talked furiouslyto himself in his native language, and the boys simply stared.
"Gold, the gold of the treasure ship!" gasped Jim, scarcely able tobelieve his eyes.
Terry picked up some of it and examined it curiously. "It is gold, sureenough," he agreed, dazzled. "Wish we had the professor here to tell usjust what it represents."
"Perhaps there is more around," Jim suggested. He began to dig his axeinto the sand, while the Mexican stood back of him, his eyes gonesuddenly black and calculating. But Jim found that there was no more.
"Probably this chest was brought up here, while the rest of the treasureis still below. At any rate, even if there is no more, there is enoughto make us all rich." He turned to Alaroze with a smile. "Well, senor,it was lucky for us when we ran across you, and lucky for you when youagreed to guide us home. Your share from this will make you a rich man."
"Yes, yes, senor," agreed the overseer, breaking into a smile. "I blessthe day we met! May the saints reward you!"
"We've been rewarded pretty well already!" grinned Jim. "Well, whatshall we do? We can't do much of anything until we return home, get therest of the party and return here to go to work. Suppose we take alongsome of the gold and start out for the ranch."
They took several of the largest coins, the hands of the Mexicantrembling as he did so, and made their way up on deck again. Terrydemanded of Jim if he was going to leave the galleon ruins uncovered.
"Yes," replied Jim. "There isn't much chance of anyone coming this way,and it would take us hours to cover it up. Let's spend that time on ourhomeward journey."
"All I hope is that we run across the others in quick order, then," saidTerry. "I'd hate to lose time while this treasure is lying uncovered."
Leaving the galleon they returned to camp and prepared to start back forthe ranch. The Mexican went to his horse, picked up his rifle and lookedat it, and then placed it against a tiny mound of sand. With avertedface he picked up the blanket and his few supplies.
Terry and Jim were conferring earnestly. "It will take a large force ofmen to dig down into that wreck," Terry said. "We'll let the professorand Ned decide what is best to do."
"Sure," agreed Jim, swinging around. "Well, I guess we're ready to go."
Then, both boys stopped suddenly. Standing before them, with his riflelevelled straight at them, stood the Mexican overseer. There was a hardlight in his black eyes and his mouth was a straight line, the lipswhite.
"What--what's the matter?" asked Jim, smiling slightly, and thinkingthat there was some joke in the wind.
"Nothing is wrong, senor," came the reply. "But since you two know sowell where the gold is, I shall regret the necessity of killing you bothso that it will be all mine!"