"Even if ye haven't diskivered any pirate gold?" said Hamp with a chuckle and a sly glance at Sammy.
"We haven't found any yet," Sammy replied, sticking to his guns. "But, just the same, we might have run across some if we'd been able to stay here all Summer. We don't know what there may be in that old wreck over yonder. We started to swim over there yesterday but Bob got a cramp and we had to give it up."
"That's too bad," said Hamp, gravely. "But that wreck hez been there a good many years and it's likely t' be there fer some time yet. Maybe if ye come down next Summer ye'll hev another chance to take a hack at the gold."
There was a twinkle in his eye that showed he was not banking very much on the boys' chances, and Sammy thought it might be just as well to change the subject.
They chatted a little while longer and then parted with mutual good wishes. Hamp, with a sigh of regret, went back to his net mending, while the boys went back to the Bouncer cottage to make final preparations for their journey.
They had been so used to going round in their bathing suits and loose, comfortable clothes, that it was quite an ordeal to be dressed up stiffly in their best, but they took it as a necessary evil and made the best of it.
They caught the train in plenty of time, and Mrs. Bouncer gave a sigh of relief after the noisy, tumultuous group had found seats and settled into place.
Sammy had received his promised letter by the morning mail, but had been too busy so far to open it. The main thing with him was that his folks were going to let him go, and he could wait to find out the details. But now that he was comfortably settled in his car seat he opened the letter and read it over.
It told him of the surprise that his father and mother had felt when they had received the news that upset all their plans for Sammy for the Summer. There had been a good deal of hesitation and doubt before they had finally decided, but the knowledge that the other boys were going and the thought of how Sammy would feel if he were left behind had turned the scale. So they had hurried to send the telegram, and now were anxiously awaiting his return home.
"It's all right, is it, Sammy?" asked Mrs. Bouncer, who had been studying his face while he read.