Just as Vee had suspected, Rupert had started out to show ’em the island where the treasure was.  Oh, he was sure he could take ’em right to it.

“And we went blithering and blundering around for half the night,” says Old Hickory, “until this marvel of marine intelligence ran us hard and fast aground here, where we’ve been ever since.”

“I—­I got turned around,” protests Rupert.

“We admit that,” says Old Hickory.  “I will even concede that you are swivel-brained and couldn’t help it.  But that fails to explain why you should invent for our benefit any such colossal whopper as that treasure-island fiction.”

“No fiction about it,” grumbles Rupert, his voice a bit husky, either from indignation or chicken sandwich, we couldn’t tell which.  “And I’ll find it yet,” he adds.

“You will have ample opportunity,” says Old Hickory, “for when we leave here you will be left also.  You may make a life job of it, if you wish.”

“We ought to be getting back,” says Auntie.  “Will that little boat hold us all?”

“Why, this one is afloat now,” announces Vee.  “The tide must have come in.”

“And here we’ve been sitting, like so many cabbage heads on a bench, waiting for someone to come and tell us about it!” snorts Old Hickory.  “Excellent!  Killam, do you think you can pilot us back without trying to cut new channels through the State of Florida?”

Rupert don’t make any promises, but he gets busy; and pretty soon we’re under way.  It’s about then that I springs this hunch of mine.

“Say, Mr. Ellins,” says I, “was this island you were lookin’ for a little one with a hump in the middle?”

“That tallies with Captain Killam’s description,” says he.  “Why?”

“Well,” I goes on, “a little while before we located you we passed one like that.  Don’t you remember, Vee?”

“That’s so,” says Vee; “we did.  I know right where it is, too.”

“We might take a glance at it,” says Old Hickory.  “Killam, give Miss Verona the wheel.”

I couldn’t have said exactly which way to go, but Vee never hesitates a second.  She steers straight back on the course we’d come, and inside of fifteen minutes we shoots past a point and opens up a whole clump of islands, with one tiny one tucked away in the middle.

“That’s it!” shouts Rupert, jumpin’ up and down.  “That’s Nunca Secos Key!”

“Maybe,” says Old Hickory.  “There does seem to be something of an elevation in the center.  Let’s run in as close as we can, Verona.”

By this time we were all grouped in the bow, stretchin’ our necks and gazin’ interested.

“The mound!” suddenly sings out Rupert, pointin’ excited.  “The treasure mound!  I told you I’d find it.”

“Huh!” says Old Hickory.  “You forgot to mention, however, that you would need Miss Verona and Torchy to do the finding for you.”

Well, no need goin’ into details, but that’s how Vee and me happened to get counted in as reg’lar treasure hunters, to share and share alike.  We was elected right on the spot.