to keep the thing."

"Give it to me, master," said Martin; "the secret of the treasure may
as well lie with the legacy that is charged on it." Then once more he
unscrewed the handle of the sword Silence, and having folded up the
paper and wrapped it round with a piece of linen, he thrust it away into
the hollow hilt.

"Now that sword is worth more than some people might think," Martin said
as he restored it to the scabbard, "but I hope that those who come to
seek its secret may have to travel up its blade. Well, when shall we be
moving?"

"Listen," said Martha. "Would you two men dare a great deed upon those
Spaniards? Their ship is burnt, but there are a score or over of them,
and they have two large boats. Now at the dawn they will see the mast
of this vessel and attack it in the boats thinking to find the treasure.
Well, if as they win aboard we can manage to fire the matches----"

"There may be fewer Spaniards left to plague us," suggested Foy.

"And believing it to be blown up no one will trouble about that money
further," added Martin. "Oh! the plan is good, but dangerous. Come, let
us talk it over."

The dawn broke in a flood of yellow light on the surface of the Haarlem
Mere. Presently from the direction of the Spanish vessel, which was
still burning sullenly, came a sound of beating oars. Now the three
watchers in the _Swallow_ saw two boatloads of armed men, one of them
with a small sail set, swooping down towards them. When they were within
a hundred yards Martha muttered, "It is time," and Foy ran hither and
thither with a candle firing the slow-matches; also to make sure he cast
the candle among a few handfuls of oil-soaked shreds of canvas that lay
ready at the bottom of the hatchway. Then with the others, without the
Spaniards being able to see them, he slipped over the side of the little
vessel into the shallow water that was clothed with tall reeds, and
waded through it to the island.

Once on firm land, they ran a hundred yards or so till they reached a
clump of swamp willows, and took shelter behind them. Indeed, Foy did
more, for he climbed the trunk of one of the willows high enough to see
over the reeds to the ship _Swallow_ and the lake beyond. By this time
the Spaniards were alongside the _Swallow_, for he could hear their
captain hailing him who leant over the taffrail, and commanding all on
board to surrender under pain of being put to death. But from the man in
the stern came no a