Page:Fairview Boys at Lighthouse Cove.djvu/29

Rh Mrs. Bouncer said you told her about it. Where is it—we'd like to dig for it!"

The old man did not answer for a few seconds. He was too busily engaged in chuckling silently. He chuckled so hard that he took a wrong breath on his pipe, some smoke went down his throat, and he coughed and spluttered so wildly that the boys thought he was having a fit. But finally he regained control of his breathing, though he was rather red in the face, and there were tears in his eyes.

"Excuse me," he said. "Excuse me, boys. I didn't mean to be impolite, but I'm sorry you took so much stock in that pirate treasure yarn."

"Isn't there any?" asked Sammy, in disappointed tones.

"Well, there is and there isn't," said the old sailor. "That is to say there's a story all right enough, but as to there being any treasure I don't know. Nobody does, for sure, I guess."

"Will you tell us about it?" pleaded Sammy.

"Yes, go ahead," urged Frank. "That's the only way we'll have any peace—to get it out of Sammy's system as soon as we can."

"Huh! I guess you're as anxious as I am!" exclaimed Sammy. "Go ahead, please," he added, to the sailor.

"Well, I don't mind spinning the yarn for you," was the answer. "It won't take long. The story's been going the rounds of this beach ever since I can remember. To sum it all up, some of the old-timers claim that a good many years ago a pirate ship was wrecked here."

"Right here?" asked Sammy.

"Well, out where you see them rocks," spoke the sailor, pointing with the stem of his pipe. "There wasn't any lighthouse in them days, and you wouldn't know the rocks were there, especially at high tide, when they're covered.

"Anyhow there was a ship wrecked on 'em. That part's