the west coast which might have
been made habitable; though I have never seen such a cave on the island,
nor even one that could have been serviceable as a store."

Mike winced a little, for he fully expected to hear his father say "Have
you?" But then Sir Francis went off to another subject, and the boy
nursed up his ideas ready for his next meeting with Vince, which was on
the following day.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

PIRATES OR SMUGGLERS? HOW TO PROVE IT.

"Pirates, Cinder!"

Mike was down at the gate waiting for Vince to come with his roll of
exercises, ready for the morning's work; and as soon as Vince came
within earshot he fired off the word that he had been dreaming about all
night--

"Pirates!"

"Where?" cried Vince, looking sharply round and out to sea.

"Get out! You know what I mean. It's pirates, not smugglers."

Vince stared at him for a few moments, and then burst out laughing.

"Well, you've got it this time," he said, "if you mean the cave."

"And I do," said Mike quietly. "Pirates; and that's some of the plunder
and booty they took from a ship over a hundred years ago. So now whose
will it be?"

"Stop a moment," said Vince, looking preternaturally serious; "let's be
certain who it was. Let me see: there was Paul Jones, and Blackbeard,
and the Buccaneers. What do you say to its having belonged to the
Buccaneers?"

"Ah! you may laugh, but my father said last night that he never knew of
smugglers being on the island, but that there was a story about pirates
having a cave here, and going out in their vessel to plunder the outward
and homeward bound merchantmen."

"Humph!" grunted Vince, with a sceptical look.

"And look here: he said the people had a superstitious belief that the
pirates used to sail towards the Crag, and then disappear."

"What!" cried Vince eagerly.

"Disappear quite suddenly."

"Behind that line of rocks when they sailed into the little cove, Mike?"

"To be sure. Now, then, why don't you laugh and sneer?" cried Mike.
"Does it sound so stupid now?"

"I don't know," said Vince, beginning to be dubious again.

"Then I do," said Mike warmly. "I never knew of such an unbelieving
sort of chap as you are. There's the cave, and there's all the plunder
in it--just such stuff as the pirates would get out of a ship homeward
bound."

"Yes; but why did they leave it there and not sell it?"

"I know," cried Mike excitedly: "because one day they went out and
at