and was exceedingly difficult to
see.

A boat's crew was sent ashore to demolish the mast and also to make a
search for the light. To Eric, who went ashore with the men, it was
quite an exciting hunt, "almost like looking for Captain Kidd's
treasure," as he said afterwards to his chum, the young lieutenant of
engineers. The quest was in vain, for though every inch of the islet was
searched, there was no sign that the ground had been disturbed. So far
as that went, there was very little ground to disturb, for the islet was
little more than a coral rock, nearly covered at high tide. It was
evident that the wreckers, when they were ready for their work, brought
the light with them.

As the light for which the decoy was intended to be a substitute was
quite a powerful light, with a regular occulting flash, the decoy itself
must be powerful, and the _Miami_ was anxious to trace it. If the
native wreckers had such a lantern in their possession, probably they
had some kind of clockwork and could alter the occultation of their
decoy so that it would duplicate any one of several different lights on
the coast.

It was not until some time afterwards that the Lighthouse Service
learned that there actually had been such a light in the hands of the
wreckers at one time. In a quarrel among themselves, however, over the
division of the spoils of a small schooner which had run ashore, one of
the disgruntled wreckers had thrown the lantern overboard in deep water.

"I hadn't supposed there was anything of that sort going on now, sir,"
said Eric to one of the junior lieutenants, discussing the question of
the wreckers' lights.

"Nor had I," was the rejoinder. "The business of being a wrecker has
changed a good deal. There's plenty of it, still, but it has become a
recognized profession. A wrecker, now, has offices in a big seaport,
with a fleet of ocean-going tugs and a big bank-roll. When a ship is
reported ashore, either her owners pay him to float her, or he buys the
wreck outright and takes his chances of being able to recover the
purchase price. If luck is with him, he may get a good ship and cargo
cheap, but if fortune frowns and a storm breaks her up before he can
save the cargo, then he suffers a heavy loss. It's a good business, but
a big gamble."

"I should think there was a lot of excitement in that business, yet!"

"Yes, there is. But it is organized now and wonderfully handled
commercially. It's only in places like t