. The men probably
intended to put father out of the way, and, after the search for him had
been given up, to come back and get the box. Father either tried to
escape in the open boat, or the crew, not quite willing to kill him in
cold blood, set him adrift, knowing that in his wounded condition it
would probably amount to the same thing."

"Didn't the _Ranger_ ever turn up?" asked Fred.

"Not at any of the home towns," answered Ross. "But some months later it
was found tied up to a wharf near Halifax. It was from the log they
found on board that they learned of Captain Ramsay's death. The crew
were traced, and it was found that they had shipped on a brig that was
bound for the Pacific. She went down in a storm off Cape Horn, and every
soul on board was lost."

"Then everybody who was actually concerned in the matter is probably
dead," mused Lester.

"Yes," answered Ross, "we can't look for any help from human witnesses.
There's a bare chance that some letter or document may turn up that will
give us a clue. But that's so unlikely that it's hardly worth
considering."

"Then all you have to go on is the possibility that the box was buried
somewhere on this coast not very far from Bartanet Shoals, and that if
it was, it's never been taken away?" asked Bill.

"That's all," admitted Ross, "except----"

He checked himself hastily.

CHAPTER VI

AARON RUSHTON, CREDITOR

If the other boys noticed the involuntary movement, they made no
comment, and Ross went on:

"You fellows may think I'm foolish to go on hunting for the gold when
I've got so little evidence to go on. It seems almost like hunting for a
needle in a haystack. But there's such a lot at stake that I can't give
it up."

"I don't think you're foolish," maintained Teddy stoutly. "It's just
what I'd do, if I were in your place."

"So would I," agreed Fred. "Of course you may never find it. But if you
didn't try for it, you'd feel restless and uneasy all the rest of your
life."

"It's better to have tried and failed, than never to have tried at all,"
declared Bill.

"You're young enough yet to spare a year or two more at it anyway," said
Lester. "If nothing comes of it, you can settle down at something else."

"Yes," replied Ross, "it isn't a matter of life and death anyway. Mother
is still keeping the old place up in Canada and looking after the
property that father left there. The income is small, but it is enough
to keep us going, and i