but here I interposed.

"Captain Coffin," said I, "told me that a part of the treasure was
church plate, and that he had seen it. He showed me a coin, too, and
said it came from the island."

"Hey, lad? What sort of coin?"

But to this I could give no answer, except that it was a piece of
gold, and in size perhaps a trifle smaller than a guinea.

"That's a pity, lad. The coin might have helped us. You're sure now
that you can't remember? It hadn't a couple of pillars engraved on
it, for instance?"

I shook my head. I had taken no particular heed of the stamp on the
coin.

Captain Branscome sighed his disappointment.

"The church plate don't help us at all," he said, "or very little.
Why, I've heard this Honduras treasure dated so far back as Morgan's
time, when he sacked Panama. The tale went that the priests at
Panama or Chagres, or one of those places, on fright of Morgan's
coming, clapped all their treasure aboard ship under a guard of
militia--soldiers of some sort, anyway--and that the seamen cut the
soldiers' throats, slipped cable, and away-to-go. But Morgan!
He must have died before Queen Anne was born--well, not so far back
as that maybe, but then or thenabouts. I tell you, ma'am, this story
hangs around every port and every room where seamen gather and drink
and take their ways again. 'Tis for all the world like the smell of
tobacco-smoke, that tells you some one has come and gone, but leaves
you nothing to get hold of. Hallo!--"

As the exclamation escaped him, Captain Branscome, who had casually
picked up a corner of the parchment between finger and thumb, with a
nervous jerk drew the whole chart from under my outspread palms and
turned it over face-downwards.

"Eh? But see here!"

He fumbled with his glasses, while Miss Belcher and I, snatching at
the chart, almost knocked our heads together as we bent over a corner
of it--the left-hand upper corner--and a dozen lines of writing
scrawled there in faded ink. They ran thus--

1. Landed by cuttar when wee saw a sail. Lesser Kay N. of
Gable. Get open water between two kays S.W. and W. by S.,
and N. inner point of Gable (where is green patch, good
watering) in line with white rock (birds), neer as posble.
S. a point E. 3 feet bare, being hurried.

2. Bayse of cliff second hill S.S.W. from Cape Alderman.
Here is bank over 2 waterfals. Neer lower fall, 12 paces
back from eg