treasure away from us."

"We shall have to protect ourselves as well at we can," said Mr.
Rover.

After that it rained so hard they were forced to seek shelter under a
thick bunch of palms. The rain continued for half an hour longer and
then the sun came out strongly, and the jungle became steaming hot.

With Bahama Bill to guide them, they walked around what had been the
top of the treasure cave. From some landmarks which had not been
totally destroyed by the earthquake the old tar felt certain that
there could be no mistake and that the treasure must be buried beneath
them.

"But how far down you'll have to go to reach it I can't tell," he
added. "It's like them ile well diggers--sometimes they strike ile
near the top o' the ground, an' then ag'in they have to bore putty
deep down. It's my hope ye won't have to roll away more'n two or three
rocks to git into the hole an' put your hands on the boxes with the
gold and jewels."

"If we only had to roll away two or three rocks I'd be for doing the
rolling right now!" cried Tom.

"I'd like to see you roll a rock weighing ten or fifteen tons,"
observed Songbird. "You'd want about twenty horses to even start it."

Now that the first disappointment was over, the Rovers began to
consider getting down into the cave from a purely practical point.
They looked over all the big rocks with care, making a note of such as
ought to be blasted away and of others that could be removed with the
aid of a rope and pulleys.

"Let us see if we cannot gain the shore of the bay in a straight line
from here," said Mr. Rover, after the examination of the ground had
come to an end. "If we can it will make it so much easier to go back
and forth from the steam yacht."

They had a compass with them, and leaving the vicinity of the
shattered cave, struck out in a direct line for Horseshoe Bay. Much to
their surprise they found an easy path, and came out on the sandy
beach almost before they knew it.

"Well, I never!" cried Dick. "If we had known of this before, what a
lot of trouble we might have saved ourselves."

"Well, we know it now," answered Tom. "And as we marked the path it
will be an easy matter in the future to go back and forth from the
cave to the bay."

It took them some time to get their boat, and it was almost nightfall
before they reached the steam yacht. It can readily be imagined that
the Stanhopes and Lanings awaited their coming with interest.

"What success, Dic