“If I were you and the captain, I’d watch Olesen and Amend very closely,” said the sailor, and his face showed his earnestness. “I think they’ve discovered something and they’re not going to let you know what it is.”
“You mean something about the treasure?” asked the oldest Rover boy quickly.
The sailor nodded.
“What was it?”
“That I can’t tell you, because I wasn’t close enough at the time to see. It was a couple of hours ago, when Captain Corning was below and Mr. Brooks was busy on the forward deck. Those two sailors, Larsen and Smader, were hauling up one of the drags and Olesen and Amend were with them. There was something on the end of the drag, a curious shaped thing over a foot long and maybe six or eight inches around and covered with seaweed. As soon as it came up the two divers looked at it carefully and then Olesen put it inside his jacket and went below with it. Maybe you had better ask Captain Corning or Mr. Brooks if they know anything about it. But if they say anything to Olesen or Amend, please don’t mention me, because I don’t want to have any trouble with them if I can help it.”
“All right, Jake, I’ll try to keep you out of it if I can,” answered Jack. “And I’m sure Captain Corning will do what he can for you, too. He told me he liked you very much.”
“That so? Very good!” and Jake Patnak’s round face beamed with delight. He was one of the kind of men who would never be anything but an overgrown boy.
It did not take Jack long to find the captain and tell the master of the Firefly of this new development. The captain said he would look into the matter without delay.
“If Olesen is hiding anything from me, he may have done that trick before,” said the captain.
“But what good would it do him? He can’t take the treasure away from us until it is brought up,” replied Jack.