"No, indeed," cried Doris. "That's just the beauty of Father. He'd never
ask me _why_ I want them in a hundred years. If I choose to explain to
him, all right, and if I don't he knows that's all right too, for he
trusts me absolutely, not to do anything wrong. So, when he comes down,
as I expect he will in a week or so, he'll probably say, 'Pirates all
right, daughter?' and that's all there'll be to it." Sally was at last
convinced, though she marvelled inwardly at this quite wonderful species
of father.
"But now, let's look at the books," went on Doris. "I'm perfectly
certain we'll find something in them that's going to give us a lift."
She unwrapped the bundle and produced three volumes. One, a very large
one, was called "The Book of Buried Treasure." Another, "Pirates and
Buccaneers of Our Own Coasts," and, last but not least, "The Life of
Captain Kidd." Sally's eyes fairly sparkled, especially at the last, and
they hurriedly consulted together as to who should take which books
first. At length it was decided that Sally take the "Buried Treasure
Book," as it was very bulky, and Doris would go over the other two. Then
they would exchange. This ought to keep them fully occupied till fair
weather set in again, after which, armed with so much valuable
information, they would again tackle their problem on its own ground--at
Slipper Point.
It was two days later when they met again. There had not been an
opportunity to exchange the books, but on the first fair morning Sally
and Genevieve rowed up in "45," and Doris leaped in exclaiming:
"Let's go right up to Slipper Point. I believe I've got on the track of
something--at last! What have you discovered, Sally?"
"Nothing at all,--just nothing," declared Sally rather discouragingly.
"It was an awfully interesting book, though. I just devoured it. But it
didn't tell a thing that would help us out. And I've made up my mind,
since reading it, that we might as well give up any idea of Captain Kidd
having buried anything around here. That book said he never buried a
thing, except one place on Long Island, and that was all raked up long
ago. All the rest about him is just silly nonsense and talk. He never
_was_ much of a pirate, anyway!"
"Yes, I discovered the same thing in the book I had about him," agreed
Doris. "We'll have to give up Captain Kidd, but there were some pirates
who did bury somewhere, and one I discovered about did a lot of work
right around these shores."
"He _did_?" cried Sally, almost losing her oars in her excitement. "Who
was he? Tell me--quick!"
"His name was Richard Worley," answered Doris. "He was a pirate about
the year 1718, the same time that Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet were
'pirating' too."
"Yes, I know about them," commented Sally. "I read of them in that book.
But it didn't say anything about Worley."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account