One entire side of the tower top was searched without result. Then, on the far side, they spied a number of boards piled up in a peculiar manner. They did not look as though they had been flung there carelessly or accidentally, but rather as though they had been placed to hide something. Like a terrier after a bone, Joe made for it. Frantically, he tore away the boards. There, in a neat little hiding place formed by the wood, lay a bag. It was an ordinary gunny sack, but when Joe dragged it forth he knew at once that their search had ended. "We've found it!" he exulted. "The Tower treasure!" "This must be it." Joe dragged the gunny sack out into the light beneath the trapdoor. They did not even wait to go out on top of the water tower. "Hurry!" exclaimed Frank, as with trembling fingers Joe began to open the sack. It was tied with a piece of twine, and Joe tugged at the stubborn knots. At last, however, the twine fell away, and the bag sagged open. Joe plunged his hand into the recesses of the sack and he first withdrew an old-fashioned bracelet of precious stones. "Jewelry!" "How about the bonds?" Again Joe groped into the sack. His fingers encountered a bulky packet. He withdrew it and the packet proved to be comprised of long, imposing-looking documents, held together by a rubber band. On the surface of the outer document, when they held it up to the light, they read the information that it was a negotiable bond for $5000 issued by the City of Bayport. "That settles it," said Frank. "We've found the treasure." The boys looked at one another in triumph. "Jackley wasn't lying after all. He _did_ hide the stuff in the old tower. And Mr. Robinson wasn't in league with him and didn't find it after it was hidden," ruminated Joe. "We can clear up the whole affair now." "Let's start, then!" Frank exclaimed. "No use sitting here all day patting ourselves on the back. It's up to us to get right back to Bayport and turn this treasure over to the Applegates." Hastily, he scrambled up through the trap, and Joe passed the bag of treasure up to him. Frank put the sack carefully to one side, then helped his brother up to the top of the tower. After that he tied the treasure sack to his belt, in order that he might have the full use of his two hands in descending the precarious ladder. They were so excited by their momentous discovery, by the knowledge that all the days of fruitless search had now ended, that they descended the ladder at break-neck speed. The last two rungs of the ladder snapped under Frank's feet and the boys were obliged to undertake a drop of six feet in order to reach the ground, but they hardly noticed it. Scarcely had they picked themselves up than they were off on a run for their motorcycles, parked far back on the hillside. "We've shown 'em, eh?" gasped Joe. "I'll say we have! Oh boy, won't this surprise everybody?" "_Now_ I'd like to see dad tell us we're not cut out to be detectives!"