"Well, I was talking to this old sailor, whose name is Hamp Salina, and I asked him if Lighthouse Cove was a good place for a lively boy to have fun—I was thinking of you, Bob."
"What did he say?" asked Bob, eagerly.
"Well, he said it was the finest spot a boy could wish for, and if everything else failed to amuse him, he could spend his time digging for the pirate gold. I asked him what he meant, and he said there was a rumor that one of the old-time freebooters had come ashore at Lighthouse Cove once, and buried part of his ill-gotten treasure there."
"Did you ask him where it was buried?" asked Sammy, eagerly.
"Oh, yes, but Hamp said he didn't know, and no one else did, though at different times many persons had dug for the gold."
"Did they find any?" asked Frank.
"Never, so the old sailor said. I'm sorry, now, that I mentioned it, for you boys won't do anything else but look for it, I'm afraid."
"We surely will have a try for it!" declared Sammy, earnestly.
"That's what!" exclaimed Bob.
"We'll have to get on the right side of Hamp Salina," said Frank. "Maybe he knows more than he's told."