rrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" I cried, leaping up in the boat, and waving
my arms about like an idiot. "Why, Bigley, it will set father free of
all his troubles. Here, I'm half mad. What shall we do? Hold hard a
moment: I'm going down to see."

I had only my breeches on, and tearing these off, I stepped on to the
gunwale, leaped up, turned over, and dived down into the clear cold
water, trying with all my might to reach the bottom, but only describing
a curve, and coming up again about twenty feet from the boat.

I swam back to have another try, but Bigley stopped me as I was about to
dive off.

"No, no," he said; "it's of no use. You can't get down there without a
killick or some other weight."

"But I'm not sure it is the silver," I cried in a despairing tone.

"But I am," he said. "The boxes are lying all about. They look like
stones if you stare down, because they are all amongst the weed; but
when I got down to feel for the grapnel I was right upon them. It's in
amongst them somehow. That was why I came up again and tried to fasten
the line round one."

"But are you quite sure, Big?" I said, trembling with eagerness.

"Quite sure," he said. "There can't be any mistake about it. The
Frenchman's boat ran on the rock and capsized, and all the chests must
have gone to the bottom like a shot."

"And my poor father suffering all that worry, when here lay all his
silver at the bottom, close to the shore. Here, what shall we do,
Bigley? We must stop and watch it, for fear anybody else should come
and find it."

"No fear of that," he said, drawing the rope once more through the
ring-bolt, and then securing the boat-hook to the end, and throwing it
overboard to act as a buoy. "Here, let's dress and go and tell him."

"Yes, yes," I cried, trembling with eagerness, and hurrying on my
clothes, as he did his, we rowed ashore, and after hauling the boat back
to its safe place, climbed up the slope, and prepared to walk to the
Bay.

"Big," I said; "I'm afraid to leave it. Suppose while we are gone
someone goes and takes it all away."

"Ah! Suppose they do," he said. "But it isn't such an easy task.
Nobody knows of it but us, Sep, and we can keep the secret."

"You are right," I said. "Come along, and let's make haste and tell
him."

We strode along the cliff path that morning faster, I think, than we had
ever gone before, and when we came in sight of our place I was going to
rush in and tell my fat