Down the stairs they went, and it did not take them long to discover a tar-hued rope coiled in one of the empty feed bins. "Here's our treasure," said Berwick; "it belongs to the old sea dog evidently. I suppose you want me to hold it, while you climb gracefully down." "Hardly," mocked Jim. "I'd land so suddenly that it would drive my heels into my head. Here's a sliding window at the back here. Let's see how it looks below." At the word, Jim pushed back the window and poking his head out took a good long look. "Overhangs the water," exclaimed Jim as he pulled back. "Let me have a peek," said the engineer, and looking down he saw the waves rushing in against the black rock of the cliff a hundred feet or more beneath. When the water withdrew there was a wet stretch of sandy cove, and then the waves came in with a foaming rush. "It's pretty near high now," said Berwick, as he pulled his head in. "I don't think it would be much of a trick to get around that projection of the cliff to the beach," remarked Jim. "Maybe," replied Berwick noncommittally, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "You can swim like a fish," put in Jim who had noted the shrug of his comrade's shoulders. "But I was thinking of you, my poor friend," replied the engineer. "What would become of you if the hungry ocean should seize upon you with its white and foaming teeth?" "Oh, I'd wade out," remarked Jim nonchalantly. "Humph," grunted Berwick; "by the way, Jim, I think I can find something of real interest here." He got down on his knees and began very carefully to brush away with his hands the debris on the floor. "You ain't lost that diamond ring I gave you?" questioned Jim in mock anxiety. He, too, got down on the floor and began to dust for himself. "I've found it," cried Berwick; "just get your hulk off this door." Jim obeyed promptly, exclaiming, "Hully Gee, it's a trap!" "What would you expect?" replied the engineer. "The captain could use this nicely in his line of trade I'm thinking." "That is where that poor fellow would have been sent, whom we found in the gulch," exclaimed Jim. "Certain thing," agreed his friend. "I've got an idea," said Jim, lying flat on the floor. He stuck his head through the trap door while his friend held him solicitously by his legs so he could not do the sudden disappearance act. "I can fix it," declared Jim as he pulled his head back; "just let me have the end of that rope." The engineer did as requested, and Jim slipped the rope's end around one of the log joists and tied it securely. "It will be a good thing to have this fastened here, in case we should have to come back," remarked Jim. "Which I hope we won't until we get something to eat," said Berwick, who was not so young and enthusiastic as to find sufficient food in an adventure as Jim did. "Might fish through here," remarked Jim. "Yes, with a bent pin," replied the engineer caustically, "as far as getting anything to eat." Jim laughed gleefully.