al of legitimate trading, but mixed
in with this a considerable amount of smuggling.

"Her captain was a man named Ramsay----"

"That's the very name Ross gave us," broke in Teddy excitedly.

"He was a hard man, but, outside the smuggling, a straight one," resumed
Mr. Lee, "and the people along the coast had confidence in him.

"One day a man, whose name Dick didn't remember, came aboard for a trip
to the New England coast. He had considerable luggage, and among other
things there was a heavy box that it took two men to handle. The man had
them put the box in his cabin, although some other things he permitted
to be placed in the hold.

"They had only been a day or two out, when Ramsay was killed by a tackle
block that fell from aloft while he was walking the deck. The mate,
Manuel, who Dick explained was the big Portuguese, took command and the
captain was buried at sea.

"The passenger seemed to grow nervous after the captain's death, and
kept pretty closely to his room. But he couldn't stay there always, and
one day when he entered it he found Manuel there trying to open the
chest. There was a fight right away, and in the struggle the man was
badly hurt by a blow from a hatchet that Manuel had in his hand.

"The whole crew had been drawn to the spot by the struggle, and Dick
says they were all scared, even Manuel himself, at the outcome of the
fight. Manuel would have robbed, but neither he nor the others would
have gone so far as to murder.

"But they had got into the scrape now, and felt that they might as well
be hung for sheep as for lambs. They had passed Bartanet Shoals a few
hours before the fight took place----"

"That's why Mr. Montgomery kept harping on that, I suppose," said
Lester. "It was one of his last conscious thoughts."

"That must have been it," said his father. "They opened the box and got
the surprise of their lives. Dick said that there was nothing but gold
pieces, and it shone so that it dazzled their eyes."

"Did he say how much there was?" asked Bill.

"Dick said he didn't know, but it must have been a great many thousands
of dollars. Dick was an ignorant fellow and he said he didn't know that
there was as much money as that in the world.

"At any rate, there was more money than any one of them could ever hope
to earn at the beggarly wages they were getting. They took an oath then
and there that they would divide the gold evenly among them, and all
swore to take the life of any