y got out of prison?"
asked Sam.

"They wanted to, but were poor and had forgotten the exact location of
the island where the treasure was hidden. Bahama Jack was a happy go
lucky sort of a sailor and he came to this country and worked for a
while on a lumber schooner running from Florida to Boston. Doranez
also came to this country, but where he kept himself at first I do not
know."

"Go on, Dad, this is getting exciting," broke in Tom, as his parent
paused in his recital.

"Not long ago Mrs. Stanhope came to me for advice concerning this
matter. Mr. Laning had told her everything, and she wanted to know if
it would be worth while to organize an expedition to hunt for the
treasure. I said I would look into the matter and ask her to give me
what papers Mr. Stanhope had left in reference to the affair. I
started to hunt up Bahama Jack and Doranez. After a good deal of work
I found the former and had several long talks with him."

"Did you get any news from him?" asked Dick.

"A little. He does not remember exactly where the island was located,
but told much about its general appearance and what other islands were
in that vicinity. But he also told me something else, which worried me
a good deal. It was that Sid Merrick, as the heir of Silas Merrick,
was also after the treasure."

CHAPTER VII

IN WHICH SOMETHING IS MISSING

"Sid Merrick after the treasure!" cried Dick.

"Yes. He wants it both for himself and for his nephew, Tad Sobber. He
claims that the revolutionists took it from a ship belonging in part
to his brother and consequently he has as much right to it as has Mrs.
Stanhope."

"But that isn't so, is it?" asked Sam.

"No; the treasure, if it is found, belongs to Mr. Stanhope's estate
absolutely--that is, to Mrs. Stanhope, Dora and the Lanings. The
fact that Silas Merrick had an interest in the ship at the time of the
stealing of the wealth cuts no figure at all."

"What is Sid Merrick doing?" asked Tom.

"He has been working in secret, looking for Bahama Jack and the
Spaniard, Doranez. I found out that he had one talk with Bahama Jack,
but the sailor did not like Merrick and told him very little. Then I
started to find Doranez--he is the man I have been after during the
past week. I found him and he promised to work with me if I would pay
him for his trouble. But yesterday he sent me a note, stating he had
changed his mind and was going to Spain, to look up some of his
relatives. So he