[CHAPTER IX.]
THE HEAD OF OBBONEY.
Carl's pleasure in getting rid of the charm was rather tempered by this attack on the iron chest.
That chest had had a checkered career. Where the Man from Cape Town got it, or what he had put into it, no one knew. The Man from Cape Town had declared that it contained treasure, and he had drawn a chart, showing an uninhabited sand key in the Bahamas and indicating a cave on the key where the chest could be found.
The chest had passed rapidly into the hands of Jurgens and Whistler, then into the possession of Motor Matt and his friends, then to Townsend, then back to Jurgens, then once more to Motor Matt, and now, for the final time it seemed, to Jurgens. All these changes were attended with more or less violence and astonishing adventure.
With keen eyes Carl watched proceedings. Sturdy blows of the hammer drove the point of the cold chisel into the old lock, destroyed its mechanism and rent it apart. As Bangs dropped his hammer and chisel and prepared to lift the lid, Jurgens approached and leaned over excitedly.
"There ought to be enough treasure in that chest," said he to Bangs, "to make Whistler and you and me independent, Proctor."
A gleam arose in Bangs' watery black eyes and a deeper red ran into his puffy face.
"All I want's enough to keep me in liquor," said Bangs.