“That’s it, lad. An’ if I ever git my hands on that gold, you lads are goin’ to have a fair share of it. I ain’t never goin’ to forgit how Jack, here, saved my life.”
“Tell us something about the pirates’ gold, will you?” questioned Fred. The search and the work of the morning had tired him completely, and he was content to rest for a while after eating.
“To go into the details would be a long yarn, lad—longer nor any of you would care to listen to,” answered Ira Small. “Howsomever, here is the gist of it:
“About five year ago I fell in with two old sailors who hailed from Jamaica. They was talkin’ about the thirteen rocks and pirates’ gold, and one of ’em had several snap-shot photygraphs of them thirteen rocks and where they was located on an island. They said the place wasn’t so very far from Porto Rico, an’ they tried to figure out how to locate that island, which they had once visited. The thirteen rocks was located in something of a circle, an’ in the center of it was a flat rock, an’ under that the treasure of gold hidden by Zalopa, an old South American pirate, and his men.”
“Gee, I’d like to locate that pirates’ treasure!” murmured Fred, his eyes glistening. “What do you suppose it’s worth?”
“Them old sailors thought it was worth a big amount, although how much they couldn’t exactly say,” answered Ira Small.
“Where are the sailors now?” questioned Jack.
“Both dead. They got smallpox, an’ nobody would nurse ’em but me. I stayed with ’em till they died, an’ they was so grateful they said I could have the treasure if I could find it. They told me all they could about it. After their death I got smallpox myself, but it didn’t amount to a great deal. I reckon I was too thin an’ leathery,” answered the lanky sailor solemnly.
“And you’ve never had a chance to look for the treasure?” questioned Randy.
“Not much of a chance. You see, after I had the smallpox I had to earn my livin’ an’ I didn’t have no time to go treasure huntin’. But some day, if I can git anybody int’rested, I’m goin’ to git a ship an’ sail aroun’ lookin’ fur an island with them thirteen rocks.”