"Well, if we ever get out of here we can use it to good advantage."
"That is the whole secret of happiness with wealth—the knowledge of how to use it."
When they left the Professor the boys wondered why at first he declared that he had no one that he cared to leave the money to, and then suddenly remembered that he did have some whom he cared for. The Professor was as much a mystery to them as many of the things which had come to them during their sojourn on the island. This was, in fact, the only information that they had ever gleaned from him concerning his home, his family, or his friends, and that was very meager at the most.
The boys were anxious to revisit the cave, and the Professor was pleased at their determination, but advised them to make the visit themselves, and to endeavor to find out the full extent of the subterranean windings, and also suggested that they should try to make a working chart of it for their own information.
It was a little difficult now, since the close association had grown up between Harry and Tom, on the one hand, and George and Ralph on the other, to find a suitable excuse for the absence of Harry and George, but the Professor arranged this without creating suspicion on their part.
"I think Ralph is a mighty fine fellow, and we get along splendidly, and I don't think I ever met a pair of more unselfish boys," said George, as they walked up the hill.
"That is my opinion, too. Tom is a most wholesouled fellow, and we find so much that is likeable in each other, that I tell you I do not feel like being so niggardly as to keep the knowledge of the cave and the treasure away from them; and I feel the more about it that way when I think of the terrible suffering they have gone through."
"Just my idea, exactly. How much do you really think there is in the cave? I mean, what do you think it is worth in money?"
"I am sure the Professor knows. It would be awfully interesting to know. Isn't it funny the Professor never said anything about the worth of it?"
"Yes, he did. Don't you remember, just before we left on the big trip he wanted to know whether we cared to take the risks among the savages, when we had so much treasure in sight?"