Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-11

other of the island.
After walking an hour without getting a
glimpse OF the sea, he stopped, looked about
him undecidedly, and then tried to find a
place where the foliage would permit Of his
seeing the sun.
II must have been walking in circle he
said to himself 'For, at the rate / have
been, going since I lost sight of the trail, l
could have crossed the key twice."
But If such was the case he could do no
better than run the same risk over again, for
there was nothing to guide him. The sky
was completely obscured by the thick, green
canopy formed by the stunted trees and
climbing vines He set his face resolutely in
the direction he thought he ought to pro-
ceed. and walked swiftly on with the dogged
reflection
II might as well keep travelling in circle,
with the chance of coming out somewhere at
some time, as to stand here whining.
Another hour passed, and he was appar-
emily no nearer his journeys end than when
he started; but yet he stopped suddenly, and
with good cause.
He could hear the voices of men talking
few, yards in advance, and he knew that
he had come upon some of the enemy.
Creeping cautiously around to the right.
where he was securely hidden by dense
growth of dwarf palmetto, he succeeded in
reaching spot where he could hear all that
was said, and the first words caused his heart
to leap for joy, since through them he knew
that Dudley and Percy had not been cap
tured.
cts waste of time and strength hunting
for couple of boys in such tangle of PAL
metto as this, Pedro!" voice said, COM
and then you viii be sure of bagging them in
the end, although don't understand why
you are 50 anxious to catch them :
"You know well enough that both you and
you insist on leaving the key" replied sec
ond voice, which Bob had no difficulty in
recognizing as belonging to Gomez.
That is because l don't see any chance Of
finding the treasure unless we dig the whole
island over, and neither Lon nor / are will
ing to do quite as much work as you pro-
pose, more especially when we are not at
all certain that there is any gold here
If we can catch those boys, I'll show you
whether it is here or not. We have got pro-
visions and water enough to last a month, and
in that time, if we can make those young
scamps dig as | intend they shall, we ought
to find the money. You won't stay here and
work, but there are those on this key who
will be obliged to do what l want, and /
propose to have them"
Every we'll Do as you choose, and will
help you as much as can in the chase; but
no more sand-digging in the hot sun for me"
wen carry out your plan now. We can
do that and hunt them, too. So we shan't
be losing much if it don't work.
Bob crouched lower among the leaves as
the sounds told that the men had brought
Their halt to an end and in a minute he was
alone, Gomez and his companion passing with
in a few feet of him.
III see what they are up to, at any rate"
he muttered to himself as he followed, guid-
ed only by the sound of their footsteps in
the distance, fol. he did not care to venture
near enough to be seen. sits certain that
they haven't got Percy and Dud, and that's
one little piece of good fortune"
| That he had previously been travelling in "A
circle Bob knew when, after following the
men about twenty minutes. he found that tbev
had led the way directly to the sandy square
at one corner of which the camp was situated
What they had come there for he could
not understand, unless it was to lie in wait
trusting that the boys would naturally return
to their supplies. He did not dare to ven
ture near enough to observe their movements
but stood just within the shelter of the trees,
listening intently.
The minutes went by, and Bob remained
silent, motionless and as patient as an In
dian until nearly an hour had elapsed. after
which he began to think it was time to act
By making long detour to the eastward,
and then circling around until he could an
proach from, the north, he was able to creep
up on the hut In safety. No one could be
seen; not a sound was heard The place wal.
evidently deserted, and Bob moved slowly for
ward until he discovered what the "planp
was which Mr. Pedro Gomez's companion had
proposed.
The water cask had been found and was
lying near the edge of the sea, with its pre-
cious contents spilled on the sand phe
packages of food over which Dudley had spent
so much time, or at least portion of them,
had been torn down and trampled upon un-
| til they were no more longer eatable The
turtle crawl had been destroyed, and its in
mates either carried away or set loose, while
even the poor apology for camp had been
leyeled TO the earth.