Frank passed on from the captain’s cabin into the forward cabin. This was also deserted. But everything in the place seemed in a perfect state of preservation.
The young inventor did not waste much time here.
He looked curiously at some articles of bric-a-brac which had withstood the rack of time. Some of them were of value, and he decided to have them removed to the Dolphin.
So interested did he become in his research that he became quite oblivious of the fact that he was imprisoned alive in a sunken ship.
Beyond this cabin there was the forecastle. This contained no material of value, but the seamen’s chests were in some cases open and the contents thrown carelessly about, just as their owners had left them.
Frank spent but little time in the forecastle.
Then he went below into the hold. Here were the stores which the Spaniards had placed aboard the Veneta for her long cruise.
There were casks of wine, rich old Madeira, of priceless value now, could it be brought to the light of day. Great barrels of pork and ship biscuits, and other matters too numerous for specific mention.
Through the hold Frank went to the magazine. Here was a goodly store of powder and ball. Next was the gun-room, with many stands of small arms of the ancient firelock pattern.
“Well,” muttered the young inventor, after all this, “where is the princely fortune of gold which is supposed to be contained in this vessel? Surely it must be hid away in some secret part of the ship, if it exists at all.”