“Sampson put the chest there,” he concluded.
“What are you driving at?” asked Tom. “Have you really found the treasure, Ben?”
Ben pointed negligently toward the cleft in the rock. “There,” he answered. “See that yellow cross? That marks where he hid the chest.”
“You’re dreaming!” David snorted.
“How do you know?” questioned Tom.
Ben took from his pocket the piece of paper that bore James Sampson’s message. He read it aloud, slowly, giving each word full weight. “Sampson put the chest there,” he concluded. “And there it is now. I crawled in and found it.”
Even David was impressed by that. He got down on his knees and poked into the cavern, and when he stood up he nodded solemnly.
“There is something in there,” he said. “I shouldn’t wonder if Ben might be right.”
“Well,” said Tom, “there’s a rope in the sailboat. We left her around the point.” He hurried away.