hock of earthquake, causing the crack across the upper end,
which had dislodged the stone in the centre, and disclosed the
buccaneers' treasure. So, then, on Sam's producing a good big piece of
salt junk, with some ship's biscuit, which he had wrapped up in a yellow
bandana handkerchief and stowed away in one corner under his sailcloth,
we all imitated the American, and `put our teeth through' the unexpected
food, finding ourselves, now that we had something to eat before us,
with better appetites than might have been thought possible after what
we had gone through.

Sailors, though, do not trouble themselves much over things that have
happened, looking out more for those to come!

The next day, it seemed very strange to wake up and find ourselves alone
there, especially after the stirring time we had recently, with the
discovery of the treasure, and getting the ship afloat, and all; so,
when we crawled out of the cave and went down to the beach, we five
forlorn fellows felt more melancholy than can be readily imagined at
seeing this bare and desolate, and hearing no sound but that of our own
sad voices.

Even the coo of the doves was now unnoticeable, the birds having
deserted their haunt in the grove after the earthquake shock, as I
believe I have mentioned before. Lucky it was for them that their
instinct warned them to do this in time; for the tidal wave had swept
completely over the place, and the little dell was now all covered with
black and white sand, like the rest of the shore--the sloping strand
running up to the very base of the cliff, and trees and all traces of
vegetation having been washed away by the sudden inrush of the water.

Jan Steenbock, whose place it was naturally to be our leader, but who
had been so superstitiously impressed by the belief that our calamity
was entirely owing to our having anything to do with the buccaneers'
buried treasure, which he supposed, in accordance with the old Spanish
legend, to be accursed, now once more reinstated himself in our good
opinion, showing himself to be the sensible man that he always was,
despite the fact of his having hitherto, from the cause stated, been
more despondent than any of us.

"My mans," said he bravely, turning his back on the beach and away from
the treacherous, smiling sea, "we moost not give vays to bat toughts and
tings! Let us go inlants and do zometing dat vill make us dink of
zometing else! We vill go oop to dat blace vere ze