“One day in Canada I ran across a sailor who had made a trip in the ship before the name was changed, and he told me a queer thing. He said he had found a rough map cut out on the wood of 170 the forecastle with a jackknife. There were wavy lines to represent the water and a shaded part that might stand for a beach. Then there was a clump of three trees standing together, and a little way off were two more. One big rock rose out of the water on the right-hand side.
“Of course I jumped to the conclusion that it might have something to do with the place where the gold was hidden. I thought perhaps some of the sailors had wanted to impress on their memory just how the place looked, so that they could find it more easily when the time came. I pumped the man for more details, but that was all he could remember. I’ve tried in every way I knew to trace the old Ranger but she has slipped out of sight like a ghost. If I could only have one look at that old forecastle, I think that the map might put me on the right trail.”
“I’ll bet it would,” declared Fred with conviction, and his opinion was eagerly echoed by the others.
For a long time they debated the matter from this new angle, and it was very late when Lester urged that they should settle down for the night.
“We’ll get an early start in the morning and get back to the Shoals before noon,” he suggested. “I want to get busy on the government maps and plot out every mile of the coast so that we can start out in earnest.”
But Lester’s plan miscarried in part. They got 171 the early start after a cordial good-bye to Mark. But the wind was baffling and they had to make long tacks, so that dusk was drawing on when they at last reached Bartanet Shoals.
172CHAPTER XXII
ANGRY WATERS
As the five boys entered the lighthouse, Teddy happened to glance at the barometer that was fastened to the wall near the door.
“Say, fellows!” he exclaimed, “the glass is certainly mighty low this evening. Looks as though there might be some weather coming.”