"I am sure of nothing, my lads. But—but—there was one man on board the Advance who would not have been above heaving me overboard, were the chance given to him." The sufferer looked around curiously. "You have saved my life; I don't know but that I may as well tell you my secret."
"We would certainly like to hear your story," returned Leander, bluntly.
"Then I will tell it as well as I am able. In the first place, I am an Englishman, and my name is Robert Menden. Less than two weeks ago I took passage on the steamship Advance, bound from Liverpool to Havana, Cuba. I wished to sail direct for Porto Rico, but could not obtain the passage, so took what I considered the next best thing. You know it is easy to get passage to any of the West Indies from Havana."
"Yes, I know that," returned Dick. "Havana is quite a center of trade."
"I was bound to Porto Rico in search of a fortune, which I heard of quite by accident while I was travelling in Spain nearly a year ago. On board the Advance was a man who knew my secret. He was an old enemy of mine, and I cannot get it out of my head but that he helped me overboard, not only to get rid of me, but also that he might secure the treasure for himself."
CHAPTER III.
SOMETHING ABOUT A GREAT TREASURE.
"A treasure!" cried Don, as Robert Menden paused, to partake of some soup which Danny had brought to him.
"Yes, a treasure, lads—a treasure said to be worth twenty or thirty thousand dollars. Of course, that is not a fabulous sum, but it is pretty large for a poor Englishman like me, who has never had over two hundred pounds in his life."
"It's enough!" cried Dick. "I'd like to pick it up myself."
"But what kind of a treasure is it?" questioned Leander. "Won't you tell us more about it?"