was hidden."

"It must have been fearfully exasperating to come so near finding out
and yet just to miss it," remarked Bill.

"It is a lucky thing for Ross that he didn't find out," interjected
Fred. "Tom didn't know who the rightful owner was, and if he'd found it
he would have kept the gold."

"I'm afraid that he wouldn't have tried to find out very hard," laughed
their host. "Sailor men have peculiar ideas about hidden treasure. The
general rule they go by is that 'findings is keepings.'"

"I guess there are a good many besides sailors who would go by the same
rule," said Teddy.

"Human nature is much the same, no matter what a man's calling is,"
assented Mr. Lee. "But you lads have kept me talking a long while, and
I've got to look after my work. I've given you all I know about the
Montgomery case, and it's up to you now to put your heads together and
make the most of it."

CHAPTER XII

UNCLE AARON REJOICES

"Well," said Fred, drawing a long breath and looking around at his
companions after Mr. Lee had left the room, "we've certainly got more
than we expected from this after-dinner talk."

"And we didn't know at the start that we'd get a thing," exulted Teddy.

"It's queer that dad never mentioned the matter to me," mused Lester.
"Still I was a little chap when it all happened, and the whole thing has
been almost forgotten."

"But what's the net result?" asked Bill. "We haven't the least idea yet
where the treasure really is."

"No," admitted Fred. "We haven't. And yet we've made a long step
forward. In the first place, we know that Ross was absolutely honest and
truthful in all that he said. Then, too, we know from Tom's story that
the treasure wasn't taken away by the smugglers then, and couldn't have
been afterwards, since they were all drowned. So we can be sure that
it's still where they left it unless some one else has stumbled on it,
which isn't at all likely. Further than that, we know where the man
lives who picked up Mr. Montgomery when he was adrift, and there's no
knowing what we may be able to get out of him. It seems to me that we're
already far ahead of where we were this morning."

"There's another point too, Fred," broke in Teddy. "Dick told Tom that
the chest wasn't buried, but was hidden somewhere. That gives us a
mighty good tip. If we didn't know that, we might waste our time and
break our backs in digging, when it wouldn't do us a bit of good."

"That's funny, too," r