“The thought came to me of seizing that ship after the fight this morning,” said Benton. “Not exactly seizing it either, for it doesn’t belong to us, but of getting possession of it long enough to put in it what treasure we’ve got, running it back to San Domingo where we could place it safely, and then coming back again to go on with our work. I’ve no doubt that in the scared state those fellows were we could have done it. But I dismissed the thought almost as soon as I had it, because it would lead to all sorts of complications. The best use that schooner could be to us would be to get those fellows away from the island.
“But the very fact that they are away makes it necessary for us to hurry up our work,” he continued. “As soon as they get back to San Domingo, they’ll get talking to fellows of their own kind, the wharf rats and toughs that infest the water front. It might be an easy enough thing to get up another expedition, especially when they tell them how few we are. We’ll have to scratch gravel now and make every minute tell.”
They turned in early that night, in order to rise at the first streak of dawn. The hurried look they cast at the sea told them that it was scarcely disturbed by a ripple, and they looked forward to a day of fruitful work. They hastened through their breakfast and then made for the beach.
Phil was in the van, and as he reached the shore he gave a startled shout that speedily brought his comrades to his side.
There, scattered along the beach were the timbers of a ship, while other debris of a vessel, hatches, parts of masts and deck planks bobbed up and down in the surf.
They looked at each other in utter perplexity.
“Some ship must have foundered,” exclaimed Dick, “and yet I don’t see how that could be. There hasn’t been any big storm recently.
“An old ship it must have been too,” said Tom, stooping to examine a piece of timber. “This beam is worm eaten. No wonder the old tub went to pieces. I only hope that her crew has escaped.”
“They didn’t escape,” said Phil quietly. “The ship went down with all on board. And it went down more than two hundred years ago.”
Dick jumped as though he had been shot.