Colonel Morello had tricked them.
In the place of the blazing sapphires, the box held nothing but so much worthless old junk!
CHAPTER XII.
A MENACE OF OLD OCEAN.
"Gone!" exclaimed Joe Hartley, in a hollow voice.
"Ker-ker-ker-clean ger-ger-gone!" stuttered Ding-dong Bell.
"The scoundrels," ground out Captain Akers through clinched teeth.
All had some exclamation of anger or dismay to contribute. Such a completely dumfounded ship's company was never afloat on the Pacific, surely.
"I see it all now," burst out Nat suddenly, "Morello and Dayton could not trust even their own men, so they removed the sapphires from the chest and concealed them elsewhere, all the time leaving the chest in plain view so as to create the impression that all was open and above board. Oh, the rascals! They cannot even be fair and square with their own associates."
The boy stopped short. He was overcome with chagrin at the thought that he had risked liberty and life for the sake of an utterly worthless chest.