Page:Barbour--Lost island.djvu/407

 "It may have been the man who owned the platinum," said Dave.

"More than likely. I can quite imagine that if he did land with the stuff, and the crew wanted to make Christmas Island in an open boat, he might prefer to stop on dry land with his blessed treasure until they sent a steamer of some kind to pick him up."

"If that's what did happen," said Dave, "the dory they went off in must have been lost, and that accounts for nobody ever hearing what happened to the Hatteras."

Pon my word, Dave, you're getting me quite excited about the thing again!" declared Tempest. "It's only a theory, but it fits in with the facts perfectly. I don't know who the chap was who died here, but I do wish he'd been considerate enough to leave a message of some sort corked up in a bottle, giving us instructions how to find his old treasure."

"Perhaps he did," said Dave. "Anyway, let's