The influx of fresh water from above was beginning to tell.
It could be easily seen that the preservation of the bodies for such a wonderful period of time was due wholly to a certain element in the water, and the fact that they had been closely bottled up in the cabin.
These men had, two centuries before, sailed the waters of the Honduras Gulf and left their homes in sunny Spain to seek an El Dorado in the New World.
And this had been their end. It was a wonderful thing to ponder upon.
Frank stood spellbound.
While the ghastly forms, contorted and twisted into every possible shape, went sailing about the cabin.
Some of them had already begun to fall into dissolution. The ultimate end of all was assured.
But Frank soon regained his composure.
His momentary dread of the corpses passed away, and he now bethought himself of looking for the galleon’s hidden gold.
That this was really the Donna Veneta he felt assured.