“Pass them up here. We’ll have a look at the writin’ first, an’ then’ll be plenty of time to say they are worth nothing. What else was there in the desk?”
Again the boys resumed the search; but it seemed as if all the important contents of the chamber had been exposed to view.
Several tiny vials; some curious instruments, which might once have belonged to a surgeon, and a package of quills for pens, comprised the entire list of articles.
The loose earth had been examined thoroughly, and Gil said with a sigh of disappointment:
“There’s no reason why we should stay here any longer. It’s too hot down here for comfort, and we can look at the papers up above where there’s more air.”
“All right, here’s the rope. Send the iron box first, an’ then I’ll pull you out.”
Five minutes later the boys were in the tunnel, and since there could be no question but that the sailors had succeeded in getting the greater portion of the treasure, the contents of the casket attracted considerable attention.
“Let’s go up a long bit where there’s no danger the light of the torch can be noticed from the shaft, an’ see what’s written on all that paper,” Gil suggested, and Jenkins ran back to tell Andy of the change of position before following the boys to a point within twenty or thirty feet from the stone door which had been discovered some time previous.
Here the three seated themselves on the ground, and the mate was about to take the yellow documents from their long resting-place, when the torch was suddenly extinguished without apparent cause.
Nelse was on the point of making some laughing remark, when he felt the mate’s hand pressed firmly over his mouth, and at the same instant a draught of air swept down the passage as if a vent had suddenly been opened.