at, and now
he's coming back to me," explained Harry.

"Oh, no, you mustn't hope for any such good luck as that," said his
mother, with a smile. "If Sandy were in that box you would hear him
barking. And, besides, that box seems to be tightly nailed or screwed
shut. We'll soon see what's in it, for it is coming ashore," she added.

"Maybe it's Sandy," insisted Harry.

"I don't think there's any dog in it," Sue remarked. "But maybe there's
pirates' gold."

"Maybe," assented Bunny.

"What's pirates' gold?" asked Harry.

"It's gold the robber pirates take off ships," explained Bunny. "And
they put it in boxes, and then they bring it on shore and bury it in the
sand, and then they make a map in red ink so they won't forget where
they buried the box, and then they go off and get more gold, the
pirates do."

"What makes 'em bury the gold they already have?" asked Harry.

"So nobody can find it," explained Bunny.

Bunny and Sue liked to hear tales of the sea. Bunker Blue had told them
some, and I am afraid they were not altogether true, however interesting
they were.

"But that can't be a pirates' box," said Sue, "'cause I don't see any
pirates, and they wouldn't send a box to shore all by itself."

"No," agreed Bunny, "I guess they wouldn't, 'cause a box couldn't bury
itself in the sand. But I think there's something in this box."

"It does seem so," said Mrs. Slater, who was now quite as interested as
were the children. "Look," she went on. "It is going to come ashore at
that little point. Let's walk out on it, and we can pull it up on the
sand."

A little tongue of land extended out into the water near the spot where
they were standing, and soon Bunny, his sister, and Harry and Mrs.
Slater were out on the very tip of it, waiting for the box to be washed
ashore. The tide was rising, and the waves were still rather high on
account of the storm.

Nearer and nearer the box came, but when it was almost at the point of
land it seemed about to be washed away, farther up the coast.

"Oh, it is going past us!" exclaimed Mrs. Slater.

"I can wade in and get it!" said Bunny. "I'll take off my shoes and
stockings and get it," and, sitting down, he began to do this.

"I don't want to take off my shoes. You can get it without me, Bunny,"
remarked Sue.

"May I wade in, Mother?" asked Harry.

"It isn't deep," said Bunny, as Mrs. Slater hesitated. "And we won't
have to wade out very far."

"All right," agreed Harr