Edward Stratemeyer

“ The boys had moved along the shore of the second cove for a short distance when both of them set up a shout.
“There is something!”
“It’s the wreck of a vessel!”
The shouts attracted the attention of the others and all came hurrying forward to learn what the cries meant. For answer, Jack and Randy pointed across the cove. Here there was a small sandbar and numerous trees and bushes, and half hidden by the latter rested a dismantled yacht almost ready to fall to pieces.
“It must be the Margarita!” exclaimed Fred joyfully. ”

“ Every red-blooded boy will enjoy the thrilling adventures of Don Sturdy. In company with his uncles, one a big game hunter, the other a noted scientist, he travels far and wide—into the jungles of South America, across the Sahara, deep into the African jungle, up where the Alaskan volcanoes spout, down among the head hunters of Borneo and many other places where there is danger and excitement. Every boy who has known Tom Swift will at once become the boon companion of daring Don Sturdy. ”

“ Most of them don’t own a thing outside of what is in their chests and their ditty bags. If Olesen was really contemplating getting his hands on that treasure for himself, it might be an easy matter for him to start a mutiny on board and get some of the men to stand in with him simply by promising them a nice share of the loot.”
“My gracious, what a pack of rascals there must be in this world!” sighed Fred. “If the head diver and his bunch did that, they wouldn’t be any better than those bandits who held up the offices in Wall Street.” ”

“ They at last settled on an oil-burning yacht named the Firefly, the property of a rich cotton merchant who was now on a tour around the world.
“She’s certainly a dandy looking craft,” remarked Jack, as he and his brothers walked around the boat, a yacht nearly two hundred feet in length and rather broad of beam. “She looks as if she could stand real service, too.”
“I’m glad she doesn’t look too fancy,” answered Fred. “There may be a lot of rough work to do if we ever do locate the Margarita. This isn’t just an outing for fun, you know.” ”

“ Waiting to make certain that there would not be a second explosion, they moved forward with caution and soon stood close to the spot where the Margarita had lain. Split timbers and bits of woodwork lay in all directions and many of the pieces floated on the surface of the cove.
But neither the boys nor the captain were interested in these pieces of woodwork. With eager eyes they scanned one section of wreckage after another. ”

“ The automobile was a two-seated open affair and had evidently seen hard service. Both the mudguards and the sides, as well as the rear, were dented and the cushions were torn in several places.
“Looks as if it had about come from the ark,” was Andy’s remark.
“An old model, but one with a fine engine,” returned Jack. “I’ll bet this old bus could make forty or fifty miles an hour easily.”
“Well, those hold-up men would probably want [205] something that could make speed,” answered Fred.
The boys looked over the car with care, but for some time discovered nothing out of the ordinary about it. ”

“ Well, to cut a long story short, Captain Corning knows all about this affair of the Margarita and he’s now looking for somebody to finance him so that he can go on a hunt for this missing yacht.”
“But if she’s at the bottom of the ocean how are you going to get to her?” demanded Jack. “Even the best of the divers find it impossible to get down beyond a certain depth. If they could get down as far as they wanted to, they could raise all sorts of sunken ships and get treasures worth billions.”
“Well, I believe that Captain Corning has his own ideas as to where the steam yacht is located. ”

“ He had a flashlight in his hand, and this he now played on a large box in a corner of the shed. Here in a pile of rubbish were several small animals, all barking in a peculiar fashion.
“What are they—dogs?” questioned Spouter, coming up.
“Dogs nothing!” cried Fred. “Don’t you know what they are? Foxes!”
“That’s what they are,” answered Jack, giving a careful look. “Some old mother fox has been using this corner for her den.”
“Say, if that’s so, we’d better look out for the mother fox!” exclaimed Randy, in alarm. “No wild animal will allow any one to molest her young without a fight.” ”

“ As soon as the divers were gone Captain Corning set sail once more, this time for a place further up the coast, called Progreso.
“I’m going to look for another diver,” said he. “I understand that some of these Mexicans are very good at the game. This time I’ll hire a fellow who’ll do exactly what I order—no more and no less.”
On going ashore at Progreso, from which a number of Gulf ships run to various points in the United States and the West Indies, the boys were delighted to learn that they could get into communication by telegraph and cable with the folks at home. ”

“ The Firefly sailed early the following morning, the course being now southwest to the coast of Yucatan. The sun was exceedingly hot, but the heat was tempered by a fair breeze, for which all on board were thankful. Now that they were getting closer to the spot where the Margarita was supposed to be resting, the boys became more interested than ever in the drawing and charts which Captain Corning possessed, and pored over the papers by the hour, trying to figure out just where the ill-fated steam yacht had gone down. ”

“ Did she go up the coast or down, was she blown ashore or on a sandbar or the rocks, or did she slide down into the depth of the center of the Gulf?”
“Let’s hope she went on a sandbar or on the rocks,” answered Fred.
“Yes, and that she is still there,” added Andy.
“Well, boys, you mustn’t be too much disappointed if we fail to find the Margarita,” warned the captain. “I’ll hate to lose my money, just the same as you’ll hate to lose yours. But we’ve got to be prepared for a failure just as much as for a success.” ”

“ Left to himself, Jack walked slowly up to his own room where his bag had been placed by one of the servants. The former major of the Colby Hall battalion had never been in a more serious mood than at present.
He realized that the hold-up in Wall Street might be fraught with dire results. If the securities were not recovered The Rover Company might go bankrupt and the fortunes that it had taken years to accumulate might be completely swept away.
“Dad and the rest of us would have to start all over again,” he told himself. ”

“ Here the boys had often gone hunting and fishing.
“We can’t do much in the way of hunting,” declared Jack. “Nearly everything is out of season. Of course you might get a crow, or something like that. But who wants a crow, anyway?”
“I’d like to haul in a good mess of trout,” said Gif wistfully.
While at Dexter’s Corners and at the railroad station the boys had made a number of inquiries concerning Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell, but obtained no trace of these unworthies. Now in the pleasure of getting ready for their outing their former enemies were forgotten. ”

“ The nerves of each were at a high tension, and with good reason.
“If it was only our own stuff I wouldn’t say so much,” said Dick, with something like a groan. “But to have our best friends suffer too—well, it’s something I can hardly stand.”
“I don’t believe Songbird Powell or Fred Garrison will blame us,” returned Tom. “But what Mr. Stevenson will do is another matter. I’m afraid it may rough up matters between Jack and Ruth, Dick,” and he gazed at his older brother questioningly.
“Well, if Mr. Stevenson gets sore I suppose we’ll have to bear it,” answered Jack’s father. ”

“ Of course we can go fishing again; but why not go over to the nearest end of the lake and have a good swim? We can laze around in the sun and have lots of fun.”
This proposition met with instant approval, and the boys got ready to start out immediately after breakfast had been eaten and the lodge tidied up.
“I’ll tell you what we can do,” suggested Randy. “Why not have a swimming race? I don’t mean a little two-cent affair, but a real race, say, across the lake and back.” ”

“ Hi! Stop the bombardment!” cried Andy, in mock terror. “Don’t you know the war is over and nothing is left of it but the debts? Stop, I say!” and he dodged behind Jack.
“Listen! We’ve got something to tell you,” said Randy suddenly and thereupon he and his twin related what they had heard when they had gone on deck to get the air.
“Well, there may be something in that,” said Jack slowly.
“And on the other hand we may be doing Olesen an injury,” put in Fred. “I don’t think I’d find fault with him until I had more evidence.”
“Then you don’t think you’d speak to Captain Corning about this?” ”

“ Hurrah!” shouted one of that young man’s admirers.
“Oh, don’t tell me Jack’s going to lose!” murmured Martha.
“Come on, Jack! Come on! You’ve got to win!” shouted Fred. “Come on!”
As the two riders drew closer there were all sorts of shouts and cries. In the midst of this the girls, and also several other spectators, prepared to take snapshot pictures of the finish.
“Joe Sedley is still ahead! He wins the race!”
“Jack Rover is crawling up!”
“It’s neck and neck!”
“Come on! Come on! Let the best man win!” ”

“ While at Colby Hall Jack had worked his way up until he became the major of the school battalion, while Fred became captain of Company C. Andy and Randy had been too full of fun to go in for military honors, but had taken their part in numerous sporting contests. When the time came for graduating from the school all of the boys had passed with flying colors, much to their parents’ delight.
“The kids are all O. K., even if they’re full of fun,” said Tom Rover proudly to his wife, Nellie. ”

“ Valley Brook Farm, where the Rover boys were spending a vacation, was located in the heart of New York State and was the property of their great-uncle, Randolph Rover, after whom Randy had been named. The neighborhood for miles around was exceedingly picturesque and since a new state highway had been put through the land had been in active demand for country residences, by people of means. Below the farm a young man named Joe Sedley, who had inherited a large amount of money from his parents, had purchased an estate of two hundred acres and built himself rather pretentious bachelor’s quarters. ”

“ And then, all of a sudden, he gave a low whistle. “I guess this means good-bye to Captain Corning’s hunt for the Margarita,” he added.
“The only thing we can do is to get down to New York as soon as possible,” declared Jack. “Gee, I wish I was down there now! I’ll bet there’s plenty of excitement.”
“If only they catch those bandits and get back the stuff they took!” murmured Fred. “A hundred thousand dollars! Just think of it!” ”

“ Jack. “Wouldn’t you like to be on the ballfield at the Hall to-day?”
“Indeed I would!” answered Gif, his eyes glistening. “How we would knock the stuffing out of Tommy Flanders and his bunch!”
“I’ll tell you, those days at Colby Hall were certainly great!” put in Spouter wistfully. “No matter what happens to me, I don’t believe I’ll ever forget the many good times we had at that school. And I’ll never forget what a good sport Colonel Colby always was!”
“Never a better man!” declared Fred. “And never a better school. It’s too bad we had to graduate. ”

“ It may be taken for granted that Grace Rover, as well as her sister Nellie, and Dora, were astonished when they discovered who the visitor was. None of them had forgotten how Josiah Crabtree had tried to harm them in the past nor the fact that the old man had spent two terms in prison.
“Just wait outside the door, Johnson,” said Sam to the chauffeur. “And tell Rankin to go to the rear of the house. This man must not be allowed to escape under any circumstances. He’s one of the rascals wanted for that hold-up.” ”

“ Looking from the cabin, the boys saw that the storm was passing. Here and there the blue sky [96] was showing, and presently the rain stopped falling and they saw a bit of sunshine drift across the water-soaked trees and bushes.
“We might as well be going,” declared Jack. “You know these storms have a way of working around and coming back, and we want to make that hunters’ lodge before night if we possibly can.”
“I’d like to get another look at that old fox,” declared Fred, as he adjusted his roll.
“Nothing doing!” declared Jack. “You leave well enough alone. ”

“ When the boys went out into the cabin they encountered Captain Corning who was also going on deck. Ordinarily the captain would not have shown himself, having every confidence in his mate. But the yacht was new to the commander, just as it was also new to his first officer, and the captain thought it the better part of wisdom to inspect the Firefly and see how the craft was standing up to the storm.
“If you young men go on deck, let me warn you to be careful,” said the commander of the yacht. ”

“ I’ll stay with Andy,” said Gif. “I don’t think he ought to be left just yet.”
“You’re right,” answered Jack. Then he and Fred, as well as Spouter, hurried back on the road in the direction where they thought they might find the missing lad.
Ten minutes later, by calling and whistling, [116] they located Randy while he was taking a picture of a fallen tree and some shapely rocks which had struck his fancy.
“What’s the excitement?” he demanded, as they came up and he saw that they were much disturbed.
“A touring car just tore along the roadway and knocked Andy down,” answered Fred. ”