mp of a mast belongs to, at any rate."

"I believe it is, Dick. Probably she drove in here, had a hole smashed in
her bow, and then sank. The earth has settled in between the masses of
rock above and around her, and hidden her, but there is still the fissure
down which we have just come."

"This is as good as finding Captain Kidd's treasure, isn't it?" exclaimed
young Smith. "We never expected to find anything. Shall we go in and see
what more there is, Jack?"

"We may find ourselves in the water before we know it," murmured Jack.
"No, I think we would better stay where we are. It is the safest plan by
long odds. It looks like taking too many chances to go into a place like
that. Better wait till another time."

"Give me a match or two, Jack," said Percival. "I'll promise not to take
too great a risk."

Jack handed him the matches, and he struck them, and advanced a step or
two into the opening.

"It is plenty wide enough," Percival said. "Yes, these are ship's timbers,
all right. She must have struck hard to make such a gash. We are on a
level with the lower deck. I can't see much cargo around, but there is a
way aft. This must be a sort of steerage, and the lower hold where the
cargo is stored is below us. I believe we could walk right ahead to the
after bulkhead, and if there happens to be a door in it, as is often the
case, straight into the after cabin."

"If there were anything to make a torch of, Dick, I'd go with you," said
Jack, "for I am as much interested as you are in this strange find, but we
don't know what we might stumble against or into what hole we might fall.
Wait, Dick. We shall not probably leave the island for some time, and
there will be opportunities to find out more about it."

"Yes, I suppose so, but I would like to find them out now. However, you
have the right of it, and it is just as well to be cautious."

"Besides, I have only a few more matches left, and we must get back to
where we started. If you and I were alone----"

"Yes, quite right," and Dick came out, as his matches were extinguished,
and they started back.

A match or two gave them all the light they wanted till they began to
ascend, the way up being more difficult than coming down, and both older
boys being obliged to assist the younger one.

However, they reached the top at last, the light seeming to be almost
dazzling after they had been used to the darkness for even the short time
they were down in the strange pl