efore?"

"Well," suggested Fred, "we hadn't heard before of that phrase Mr.
Montgomery used over and over. 'It's where the water's coming in.'"

"That's nothing at all," affirmed Bill decidedly.

"I have a hunch it does mean something," replied Fred, "and I'm going to
keep mulling it over in my mind until I find out what the meaning is.

"By the way, Ross," he went on, turning to their new-found friend where
he sat brooding a little way apart from the rest, "we've learned
something since we saw you first that may interest you. We'd have told
you earlier this afternoon, but we've been traveling in different boats,
and then when we got on shore we were so busy with cutting up the shark
that we didn't get a chance till now."

Ross looked up eagerly.

"What is it?" he cried, getting up and joining the group.

He listened breathlessly while Fred told him what they had learned
during their talk with Mr. Lee--the fight with the smugglers, their
flight to the south Pacific, the partial confession of Dick and the
going down of the ship with all on board.

When Fred had finished, Ross rose and paced the beach excitedly.

"You fellows found out in a few minutes what I've spent years trying to
learn," he cried. "All the time I've been hunting, I've been haunted by
the fear that even if I found where the gold had been hidden, the money
would long ago have been taken and spent by the robbers. I've felt like
all kinds of an idiot in keeping up the search on such a slender chance,
and again and again I've been tempted to give it up. But this puts new
life and hope in me. There's still a chance to find the gold and pay my
father's debts."

"It's practically certain that the money is still there," affirmed Fred.
"The fellows who took it are all drowned--unless they're living
somewhere on a desert island, and that's so unlikely after all this time
that it isn't worth giving it a second thought. The only living man,
outside of ourselves, who knows about the gold is Tom Bixby. He's just a
rough sailor knocking about all over the world, and he too may be dead
by this time. The whole secret lies with us, and if the gold's ever
found, we'll be the ones who will find it."

"You boys have been perfect bricks," declared Ross warmly, "and you make
me ashamed for having kept anything back from you from the start."

"You needn't feel that way at all," asserted Teddy. "For my part, I
think you've been very generous and outspoken in telli