ntively around them, and
examined the shore for several hundred steps. No other articles or
pieces of wreck could be found. Herbert and Neb climbed a high rock
to survey the sea, but there was nothing in sight--neither a dismasted
vessel nor a ship under sail.

However, there was no doubt that there had been a wreck. Perhaps this
incident was connected with that of the bullet? Perhaps strangers had
landed on another part of the island? Perhaps they were still there?
But the thought which came naturally to the settlers was, that these
strangers could not be Malay pirates, for the chest was evidently of
American or European make.

All the party returned to the chest, which was of an unusually large
size. It was made of oak wood, very carefully closed and covered with
a thick hide, which was secured by copper nails. The two great barrels,
hermetically sealed, but which sounded hollow and empty, were fastened
to its sides by strong ropes, knotted with a skill which Pencroft
directly pronounced sailors alone could exhibit. It appeared to be in a
perfect state of preservation, which was explained by the fact that it
had stranded on a sandy beach, and not among rocks. They had no doubt
whatever, on examining it carefully, that it had not been long in the
water, and that its arrival on this coast was recent. The water did
not appear to have penetrated to the inside, and the articles which it
contained were no doubt uninjured.

It was evident that this chest had been thrown overboard from some
dismasted vessel driven towards the island, and that, in the hope
that it would reach the land, where they might afterwards find it,
the passengers had taken the precaution to buoy it up by means of this
floating apparatus.

"We will tow this chest to Granite House," said the engineer, "where we
can make an inventory of its contents; then, if we discover any of the
survivors from the supposed wreck, we can return it to those to whom it
belongs. If we find no one--"

"We will keep it for ourselves!" cried Pencroft. "But what in the world
can there be in it?"

The sea was already approaching the chest, and the high tide would
evidently float it. One of the ropes which fastened the barrels was
partly unlashed and used as a cable to unite the floating apparatus with
the canoe. Pencroft and Neb then dug away the sand with their oars, so
as to facilitate the moving of the chest, towing which the boat soon
began to double the point, to wh