Five on a Treasure Island (8 page)

"We'll tie our boat up to the wreck itself," she said. "And we'll get on to the deck quite easily by climbing up the side. Look, Julian!— throw this loop of rope over that broken bit of wood there, sticking out from the side."

Julian did as he was told. The rope tightened and the boat was held in position. Then George clambered up the side of the wreck like a monkey. She was a marvel at climbing.

Julian and Dick followed her, but Anne had to be helped up. Soon all four were standing on the slanting deck. It was slippery with seaweed, and the smell was very strong indeed.

Anne didn't like it.

"Well, this was the deck," said George, "and that's where the men got up and down."

She pointed to a large hole. They went to it and looked down. The remains of an iron ladder were still there. George looked at it.

"I think it's still strong enough to hold us," she said. I'll go first. Anyone got a torch? It looks pretty dark down there."

Julian had a torch. He handed it to George. The children became rather quiet. It was mysterious somehow to look down into the dark inside of the big ship. What would they find? George switched on the torch and then swung herself down the ladder. The others followed.

The light from the torch showed a very queer sight. The under-parts of the ship were low-ceilinged, made of thick oak. The children had to bend their heads to get about. It seemed as if there were places that might have been cabins, though it was difficult to tell now, for everything was so battered, sea-drenched and seaweedy. The smell was really horrid, though it was mostly of drying seaweed.

The children slipped about on the seaweed as they went round the inside of the ship. It didn't seem so big inside after all. There was a big hold under the cabins, which the children saw by the light of their torch.

"That's where the boxes of gold would have been kept, I expect," said Julian. But there was nothing in the hold except water and fish! The children couldn't go down because the water was too deep. One or two barrels floated in the water, but they had burst open and were quite empty.

"I expect they were water-barrels, or barrels of pork or biscuit," said George. "Let's go round the other part of the ship again— where the cabins are. Isn't it strange to see bunks there that sailors have slept in— and look at that old wooden chair. Fancy it still being here after all these years! Look at the things on those hooks too— they are all rusty now, and covered with seaweedy stuff— but they must have been the cook's pans and dishes!"

It was a very queer trip round the old wreck. The children were all on the look-out for boxes which might contain bars of gold— but there didn't seem to be one single box of any kind anywhere!

They came to a rather bigger cabin than the others. It had a bunk in one corner, in which a large crab rested. An old bit of furniture looking rather like a tablet with two legs, all encrusted with greyish shells, lay against the bunk. Wooden shelves, festooned with grey-green seaweed, hung crookedly on the walls of the cabin.

"This must have been the captain's own cabin," said Julian. "It's the biggest one. Look, what's that in the corner?"

"An old cup!" said Anne, picking it up. "And here's half of a saucer. I expect the captain was sitting here having a cup of tea when the ship went down."

This made the children feel rather queer. It was dark and smelly in the little cabin, and the floor was wet and slippery to their feet. George began to feel that her wreck was really more pleasant sunk under the water than raised above it!

"Let's go," she said, with a shiver. "I don't like it much. It is exciting, I know— but it's a bit frightening too."

They turned to go. Julian flashed his torch round the little cabin for the last time. He was about to switch it off and follow the others up to the deck above when he caught sight of something that made him stop. He flashed his torch on to it, and then called to the others.

"I say! Wait a bit. There's a cupboard here in the wall. Let's see if there's anything in it!"

The others turned back and looked. They saw what looked like a small cupboard let in level with the wall of the cabin. What had caught Julian's eye was the keyhole. There was no key there, though.

"There just
might
be something inside," said Julian. He tried to prise open the wooden door with his fingers, but it wouldn't move. "It's locked," he said. "Of course it would be!"

"I expect the lock is rotten by now," said George, and she tried too. Then she took out her big strong pocket-knife and inserted it between the cupboard door and the cabin-wall.

She forced back the blade— and the lock of the cupboard suddenly snapped! As she had said, it was quite rotten. The door swung open, and the children saw a shelf inside with a few curious things on it.

There was a wooden box, swollen with the wet sea-water in which it had lain for years. There were two or three things that looked like old, pulpy books. There was some sort of glass drinking-vessel, cracked in half— and two or three funny objects so spoilt by sea-water that no one could possibly say what they were.

"Nothing very interesting— except the box," said Julian, and he picked it up.

"Anyway, I expect that whatever is inside is ruined. But we may as well try and open it."

He and George tried their best to force the lock of the old wooden box. On the top of it were stamped initials—H.J. K.

"I expect those were the captain's initials," said Dick.

"No, they were the initials of my great-great-greatgrandfather!" said George, her eyes shining suddenly. "I've heard all about him. His name was Henry John Kirrin. This was his ship, you know. This must have been his very-private box in which he kept his old papers or diaries. Oh,we simply
must
open it!"

But it was quite impossible to force the lid up with the tools they had there. They soon gave it up, and Julian picked up the box to carry it to the boat.

"We'll open it at home," he said, his voice sounding rather excited. "We'll get a hammer or something, and get it open somehow. Oh, George— this really is a find!"

They all of them felt that they really had something mysterious in their possession.

Was there anything inside the box— and if so, what would it be? They longed to get home and open it!

They went up on deck, climbing the old iron ladder. As soon as they got there they saw that others besides themselves had discovered that the wreck had been thrown up from the bottom of the sea!

"Golly! Half the fishing-smacks of the bay have discovered it!" cried Julian, looking round at the fishing-boats that had come as near as they dared to the wreck. The fishermen were looking at the wreck in wonder. When they saw the children on board they halloo-ed loudly.

"Ahoy there! What's that ship?"

"It's the old wreck!" yelled back Julian. "She was thrown up yesterday in the storm!"

"Don't say any more," said George, frowning. "It's
my
wreck. I don't want sightseers on it!"

So no more was said, and the four children got into their boat and rowed home as fast as they could. It was past their breakfast-time. They might get a good scolding. They might even be sent to bed by George's fierce father— but what did they care? They had explored the wreck—and had come away with a box which
might
contain—well, if not bars of gold, one
small
bar, perhaps!

They did get a scolding. They had to go without half their breakfast, too, because Uncle Quentin said that children who came in so late didn't deserve hot bacon and eggs—

only toast and marmalade. It was very sad.

They hid the box under the bed in the boys' room. Tim had been left with the fisher-boy— or rather, had been tied up in his back yard, for Alf had gone out fishing, and was even now gazing from his father's boat at the strange wreck.

"We can make a bit of money taking sightseers out to this wreck," said Alf. And before the day was out scores of interested people had seen the old wreck from the decks of motor-boats and fishing-smacks.

George was furious about it. But she couldn't do anything. After all, as Julian said, anybody could have a look!

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THE first thing that the children did after breakfast was to fetch the precious box and take it out to the tool-shed in the garden. They were simply longing to force it open. All of them secretly felt certain that it would hold treasure of some sort.

Julian looked round for a tool. He found a chisel and decided that would be just the thing to force the box open. He tried, but the tool slipped and jabbed his fingers. Then he tried other things, but the box obstinately refused to open. The children stared at it crossly.

"I know what to do," said Anne at last. "Let's take it to the top of the house and throw it down to the ground. It would burst open then, I expect."

The others thought over the idea. "It might be worth trying," said Julian. "The only thing is— it might break or spoil anything inside the box."

But there didn't seem any other way to open the box, so Julian carried it up to the top of the house. He went to the attic and opened the window there. The others were down below, waiting. Julian hurled the box out of the window as violently as he could. It flew through the air and landed with a terrific crash on the crazy paving below.

At once the french window there opened and their Uncle Quentin came out like a bullet from a gun.

"Whatever are you doing?" he cried. "Surely you aren't throwing things at each other out of the window? What's this on the ground?"

The children looked at the box. It had burst open, and lay on the ground, showing a tin lining that was waterproof. Whatever was in the box would not be spoilt! It would be quite dry!

Dick ran to pick it up.

"I said, what's this on the ground?" shouted his uncle and moved towards him.

"It's— it's something that belongs to us," said Dick, going red.

"Well, I shall take it away from you," said his uncle. "Disturbing me like this! Give it to me. Where did you get it?"

Nobody answered. Uncle Quentin frowned till his glasses nearly fell off. "Where did you get it?" he barked, glaring at poor Anne, who was nearest.

"Out of the wreck," stammered the little girl, scared.

"Out of the
wreck
!" said her uncle, in surprise. "The old wreck that was thrown up yesterday? I heard about that. Do you mean to say you've been in it?"

"Yes," said Dick. Julian joined them at that moment, looking worried. It would be too awful if his uncle took the box just as they got it open. But that was exactly what he did do!

"Well, this box may contain something important," he said, and he took it from Dick's hands. "You've no right to go prying about in that old wreck. You might take something that mattered."

"Well, it's my wreck," said George, in a

defiant tone. "Please, Father, let us have

the box. We'd just got it opened. We

thought it might hold— a gold bar— or

something like that!"

"A gold bar!" said her father, with a

snort. "What a baby you are! This small

box would never hold a thing like that! It's

much more likely to contain particulars of

what happened to the bars! I have always

thought that the gold was safely delivered

somewhere— and that the ship, empty of

its valuable cargo, got wrecked as it left the

bay!"

"Oh, Father— please, please let us have

our box," begged George, almost in tears.

She suddenly felt certain that it did contain

papers that might tell them what had

happened to the gold. But without another word her father turned and went into the house, carrying the box, burst open and cracked, its tin lining showing through under his arm.

Anne burst into tears. "Don't blame me for telling him we got it from the wreck," she sobbed. "Please don't. He glared at me so. I just had to tell him."

"All right, Baby," said Julian, putting his arm round Anne. He looked furious. He thought it was very unfair of his uncle to take the box like that. "Listen— I'm not going to stand this. We'll get hold of that box somehow and look into it. I'm sure your father won't bother himself with it, George— he'll start writing his book again and forget all about it.

I'll wait my chance and slip into his study and get it, even if it means a spanking if I'm discovered!"

"Good!" said George. "We'll all keep a watch and see if Father goes out."

So they took it in turns to keep watch, but most annoyingly their Uncle Quentin remained in his study all the morning. Aunt Fanny was surprised to see one or two children always about the garden that day, instead of down on the beach.

"Why don't you all keep together and bathe or do something?" she said. "Have you quarrelled with one another?"

"No," said Dick. "Of course not." But he didn't say why they were in the garden!

"Doesn't your father
ever
go out?" he said to George, when it was her turn to keep watch. "I don't think he leads a very healthy life."