“The trees prove it!” Nicky cried. “Now, all we have to do is to wait till tomorrow and then——”
“Dig for treasure!” cried Tom and Cliff, together.
CHAPTER IX
BLACK CAESAR’S BUCCANEERS
Once the anchor was dropped and the sails furled, and everything made ship-shape for an indefinite stay, the chums lost no time in tumbling into their dinghy and rowing the several hundred yards to shore.
They wanted to inspect the small inlet opposite which they had anchored, and, before the light faded, to get an idea of what sort of a place lay beneath those three sentinels standing their silent guard over the treasure buried so long ago.
The mouth of the inlet was dark and gloomy when they reached it and Tom, using the oars, let them trail in the water until the snub-nosed boat lost way.
“It looks pretty spooky in there,” he said.
“Oh, pshaw!” exclaimed Nicky, “pull, Tom. There aren’t any spooks!”
“But there are snakes—and plenty of them,” Cliff came to the rescue of the oarsman. “Mr. Neale warned us, and it’s getting close to sunset. We might not see them—the snakes!”
Nicky gave in and they drifted close in to the narrow waterway. The shore was heavily matted with a jungle of undergrowth, above which the larger growth, some small mahogany, mangrove and other trees towered.