"It seemed to open itself," the Little Captain replied. "I just dropped the end of the ruler in the box, and it sprang open."
"You must have touched the secret catch, or spring," was Allen's opinion.
"Let's have a look!" proposed Will. "I always did want to see how one of those hidden mysteries worked. Pass it over, Betty!"
"Indeed, don't you do it!" cried Mollie. "Let's see, first, what is in that package, Betty. You said it was a treasure; didn't you?"
"Well, that's what I said," admitted Betty. "But it will probably be some more meaningless cipher."
"Oh, do open it!" begged Grace. "I'm all on pins and needles——"
"Thinking it may be—chocolates!" teased her brother.
She aimed a futile blow at him, which he did not even dodge.
Betty reached in and lifted the white tissue-paper package from its hiding place. It almost completely filled the space. There was a rustling sound, showing that the paper had acquired no dampness by being buried under the sand in the box.
"Put it on the table," suggested Allen, removing the box from Betty's lap. She turned to the table, near which she had been sitting, when her experiment resulted so unexpectedly. On the soft cloth she laid the paper packet.