For nearly an hour we steadily worked, finding nothing at all. Then, as I stopped to rest, I cast a careless glance along the rocky sides of the cave and thought that I saw a white mark upon the wall, a few feet toward the front. Springing to my feet I approached this point and discovered that a small cross had been made with a piece of chalk or a bit of white limestone.
“Here we are, Nux!” I cried, joyfully and at once began digging in the sand beneath the mark. A few minutes work proved that my sudden suspicion was correct; for Nux, who had straightway joined me, dragged one of the sacks to light, while I discovered another just beside it.
It was part of the stolen gold, sure enough, and my heart beat fast with excitement as I realized that the precious hoard was once more in my possession.
Only a part had been hidden in this place, we found; but now we had an unmistakeable clew to guide us, so that we had little difficulty in finding a second secret mark that resulted in the discovery of the balance of the treasure, as well as the sacks of provisions.
When all had been unearthed Nux asked:
“What we do now, Mars Sam?”
“Why, carry it away, of course,” I answered, joyous and elate.
“Where?” enquired the black, simply.
I looked at him in surprise, and then realizing the meaning of the question, grew thoughtful again.
“You’re right, Nux,” said I. “It’s going to be a harder task than I thought. We can’t pass by the forest with it, that’s certain; for Daggett and his followers would be sure to see us. On the other side, the cliff rises straight out of the sea, and there’s no way to escape around it. All we can do, then, is to carry the gold to the top of this rock.”