jected her father.

"How would this do?" was Drew's contribution. "As has already been
said, the men would be surprised to see us bring a box aboard if they
hadn't first seen us take it ashore. Now, suppose we take one of the
ship's chests, load it with some worthless junk that would make it as
heavy as this box, and bring it ashore. We could bring it up here,
throw away the contents, put the treasure in it, and then call on the
men to take it back to the ship. They'd recognize it as the same one
they'd brought over, and their thinking would stop right there."

"By Jove, I believe you've hit it, Allen!" exclaimed the captain.

"That sounds sensible," conceded Tyke. "I guess it's the only way."

"Well, now that that's settled," went on the captain, "what are we
going to do with the treasure in the meanwhile? It's getting late now.
We can't get it aboard to-day. We'll want eight men besides Rogers.
Then, there's all this hardware," and he indicated the firearms.

"Couldn't we leave it just where it is until we come back to-morrow?"
ventured Ruth. "There isn't a soul on the island, and we'll be here
the first thing in the morning."

"A little too risky, I'm afraid," said Tyke. "It's dollars to
doughnuts that there's no one on the island but ourselves and the
boat's crew; yet we'd go 'round kicking ourselves for the rest of our
lives if we found to-morrow that some one had been here an' helped
himself."

"Let's pile some of these loose lava blocks on top of the chest," said
Drew. "Make a regular mound. It will look as though the earthquake
had done it."

That plan seemed the best, and they acted on it. They closed the cover
after one more lingering, delighted look at the chest's gleaming
contents, then they built the cairn.

"One sure thing," observed Tyke. "There isn't anybody going to come up
here for jest a little pleasure jog--not much! That volcano's likely
to spit again 'most any time."

The party started for the lagoon with their hearts bounding with
exultation. But as they entered the forest path they were startled by
the sight of Rogers and his men hastening toward them.

The captain was about to utter a rebuke, but when he saw the pale and
frightened faces of the men he checked his tongue.

"Well, Mr. Rogers, what is it?" he asked. "Got a pretty good scare, I
suppose, like the rest of us. I guess the quake's all over now."

"I hope so, sir," replied the second officer. "I thought s