t still wreathed and curled from out them.

Our enforced detention, however, was by no means wasted time, for now
that the surface of the island was bare, and I could see what I had to
work upon, I could also see that several long, slender ranging-poles
would be necessary, and the obtaining and preparation of these kept all
hands busy for the remainder of that day. And immediately after
breakfast, next morning, I got out my sextant, and, all hands of us
landing upon the islet, we went to work with a will. First of all, I
made my way to one of the masses of rock, and climbed up on it. Both
masses had well-defined "peaks," and I came to the conclusion that the
instruction to "draw a line from one black rock to the other" would mean
that a _straight_ line must be drawn, or _ranged_, from one of these
well-defined peaks to the other. So I temporarily removed the telescope
from my sextant, and, levelling it upon the extreme peak, or highest
point of the rock I occupied, brought it to bear upon the corresponding
peak of the other rock. Then I sent a man along with instructions to
start from the other rock and walk toward me, halting whenever I raised
my hand and sticking a rod perpendicularly in the ground. I met with a
great deal more difficulty than I had anticipated in securing the
satisfactory execution of this apparently simple operation, but by
keeping the telescope levelled from the one peak and bearing upon the
other, and making the man hold the rods truly vertical, I at length
succeeded in ranging out a perfectly straight line from the one rock to
the other. Then, setting the limb of my sextant to an angle of
sixty-five degrees, and stationing myself at certain points in the
line--which I was easily able to do by means of the rods--I at length
found the exact point required, which I marked by driving a stake into
the ground. "There," said I to O'Gorman, "is your point--if my
interpretation of the instructions given in your paper is the correct
one; and at a depth of a yard or thereabouts below the surface you ought
to find your treasure. If you do not find it at this precise spot I
would recommend you to try a little to right and left, in line with the
poles that, as you see, I have left standing."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

FINDING THE TREASURE.

O'Gorman and his entire train of satellites being now upon the islet,
ready to dig until they had reached the buried treasure, I thought the
opportunity a good one