s the booty."

[Illustration: _"We have probably found a pirate's lair, and here is the
booty"_]

The boys were too much overcome for words. They looked at the gold, and
then at each other. George arose and walked back and forth. Harry, with
the coin in his hand, brushed it and held it close to the light.

"With this we can buy anything we want," George finally uttered.

"Whom will you buy it from?" was Harry reply. The Professor only smiled.
Of what use was money to them? George had forgotten that.

"Here is another one."

"Another what?"

"A chest, something like yours." The lid, with its mocking lock, opened
easily, and there, coated with the universal carbonate, were a mass of
coins, articles of ornament, rings, bracelets, and pieces the names or
uses of which were entirely unknown to them.

"Now that we have them, what shall be done with the treasures?"

The boys did not answer for some time. Here was wealth; more, probably,
than either had ever dreamed of; but it was of no earthly use to them.
They must, of course, preserve it. They had discovered it, and under all
the laws were entitled to possession.

"Well, have we gotten together all the gold and silver and precious
stones? Just imagine us as buccaneers! Owners of an island we haven't
conquered, and possessors of a fortune without working for it!" and the
Professor laughed at the thought of it. The boys, too, laughed, but when
they looked over at the ghastly skeletons, the joy was suddenly checked.

The Professor saw the reason. "Isn't this a sermon? You have become
acquainted with it early in life; some learn it very late, and others
never get the lesson. Riches; death! Possessors of every material thing
that earth can give, and the grave beyond it! The unfortunates there had
all this, but their skeletons have stood guard over it for a century or
more."

The Professor still smiled, but the boys were very grave. It was,
indeed, an impressive lesson.

"Why are you so quiet? Are you mourning for them?" Then, without waiting
for more gloomy feelings, he continued: "How high above the mouth of the
cave do you think we are?"

This sudden change in the tone of the Professor was almost startling to
them. How indifferent! It appeared almost like desecration.

"I have no idea," was Harry's faltering reply. He looked around to
assure himself that it was not all a dream. The sudden acquisition of
what appeared to be an immense store of wealth, the ghast