More'n that, we'd
seen the treasure mound.

"Torchy," says Vee, the first chance we has for a few side remarks
after lunch that day, "what do you think? Is it full of gold and
jewels?"

"Well," says I, tryin' to look wise, "it might be, mightn't it? And
then again you can't always tell."

"But suppose it is?" insists Vee, her gray eyes bigger than ever.

"I can't," says I. "It's too much of a strain. Honest, from what I've
seen of the country down here, it would be a miracle to run across a
single loose dollar, while as for uncoverin' it in bunches-- Say, Vee,
how much of this pirate guff do you stand for, anyway?"

"Why, you silly," says she. "Of course there were pirates--Lafitte and
Jose Gaspar and--and a lot of others. They robbed ships right off here
and naturally they buried their treasure when they came ashore."

"What simps!" says I. "Then they went off and forgot, eh?"

"Some were caught and hanged," says she, "and I suppose some were
killed fighting. No one can tell. It was all so long ago, you see.
They're all gone. But the islands are still here, aren't they?"

"I don't miss any," says I. "There's the mound, too. It's big enough
to hold forty truckloads."

"Oh, there won't be that much," says she. "A few chests, perhaps. But
think, Torchy, of digging up gold that has been lying there for a
hundred years or more!"

"I don't care how old it is," says I, "if it's the kind you can shove
in at the receivin' teller and get credit for. What you plannin' to
blow your share against?"

"I hadn't thought much about that," says Vee. "Only that I once saw
the loveliest girdle made of old coins."

Isn't that the girl of it!

"You're a wonder, Vee," says I. "Here you stand to have a bundle of
easy money wished on you, and all you can think of is winnin' a fancy
belt."

Vee giggles good-natured.

"Well, Mister Solomon, what would you do with yours?"

"Swap it for as many blocks of Corrugated preferred as my broker could
collect," says I. "Then when we declared an extra dividend--"

"Pooh!" says Vee. "You and Auntie are just alike."

"Wouldn't it cheer Auntie up a lot to hear that?" says I. "I expect
she's busy spendin' her share, too."

"I should say," announces Vee, "that we had all better be planning how
to get that treasure on board the yacht. Captain Killam says we
mustn't go there by day, you know, because someone might follow us.
Then there's the crew. I wonder if they s