first circling that we covered any of the
ground which we may cover now? I mean will the new circles we propose
making coincide at any place with the previous ones?"

"They won't exactly coincide," answered the young inventor. "You can't
make circles coincide unless you use the same center and the same
radius each time. But the two series of circles will intersect at
certain places."

"I guess intersect is the word I wanted," admitted Ned.

"What's the idea?" Tom wanted to know.

"I'm thinking of Hardley," answered his chum. "He might assert that we
purposely went to the wrong location with him to begin the search, and
if we afterward find the wreck and the gold, he may claim a share."

"Not much he won't!" cried Tom.

"Bless my check book, I should say not!" exclaimed Mr. Damon.

"Hardley broke off relations with us of his own volition," said Tom.
"He 'breached the contract,' as the lawyers say. It was his own doing.

"He has put me to considerable expense and trouble, not to say danger.
He was aware of that, and yet he refused to pay his share. He accused
me of incompetence. Very well. That presuggested that I must have made
an error, and it was on that assumption that he said I did not know my
business. Instead of giving me a chance to correct the error, which he
declared I had made, he quit--cold. Now he is entitled to no further
consideration.

"An error was made--there's no question of that. We are going to
correct it, and we may find the gold. If we do I shall feel I have a
legal and moral right to take all of it I can get. Mr. Hardley, to use
a comprehensive, but perhaps not very elegant expression, may go fish
for his share."

"That's right!" asserted Mr. Damon.

"I guess you're right, Tom," declared Ned. "There's only one more thing
to be considered."

"What's that?" asked the young inventor.

"Why, Hardley himself may find out in some way that we were barking up
the wrong tree, so to speak. That is, learn we started at the wrong
nautical point. He may get up another expedition to come and search for
the gold and--"

"Well, he has that right and privilege," said Tom coolly. "But I don't
believe he will. Anyhow, if he does, we have the same chance, and a
better one than he has. We're right here, almost on the ground, you
might say, or we shall be in half an hour. Then we'll begin our search.
If he beats us to it, that can't be helped, and we'll be as fair to him
as he was to us. This treasure