CHAPTER XXIII
THE LOST CHARTER IS FOUND
An instant after being laid on the deck, however, Clay opened his eyesand smiled up into the faces of his friends.
"He'll be saying, 'Where am I?' in a minute!" Alex cried, dancingjoyfully about the prostrate figure. "That is the usual thing instories, you know. He'll have to say, 'Where am I?' and I'll have totell him that he mustn't talk. Look at him grin."
"What gets me," Captain Joe said, lifting the boy into a sittingposition, "is how you came up from the bottom of the river withoutever diving down to it. It looks uncanny."
"The lost channel!" answered Clay weakly.
"You found it, did you?" asked Alex.
"Boys, boys," said Captain Joe, "never mind the lost channel until weget this boy dressed and fed up."
The processes suggested by the captain were quickly accomplished, andin a short time, Clay sat in the cabin telling of the adventures ofthe morning. The boys listened wide-eyed.
"Now let me get this thing right," Captain Joe said. "You went into awhirlpool above the falls and came out into a cavern?"
"That's just it, exactly," Clay replied, still weak from hisexertions. "I landed on a ledge, where I lay unconscious for a fewmoments and then followed down the channel of the underground river.There is plenty of room in the cavern," he continued, "and plenty offresh air, but the place is shy on light. I fell many times in thedarkness."
"I thought it wasn't safe for me to be in there!" grinned Alex.
"I thought it wasn't safe for me be in there!" Clay replied with awink, "and so I made my way out as swiftly as I could. At this end ofthe channel, the water runs out just below the surface of the westriver, and I thought I'd better reduce my weight as much as possiblebefore going through the opening, so I took off my clothes and waspushed out by the current."
"Looked mighty funny to see you come floating out of the river withoutever having gone in!" laughed Jule.
"Now, boys," said Captain Joe, after the boys had discussed all phasesof the situation, "let's size this thing up together. In the firstplace, Clay has undoubtedly discovered the lost channel."
"It might have been found years ago," Clay said, "if the men who triedto describe it had only said that it was a subterranean stream."
"And now, the question is," went on the captain, "whether the charterand the family jewels are anywhere in the cavern through which thelost stream runs."
"It seemed to me," Clay broke in, "that the cavern was big enough tohold a small sized city. It is just the kind of a place where onewould naturally hide valuables."
"It seems to me," Alex complained, "that the hardest part of our jobis still to come, even if we have discovered the lost channel. Wecan't go up there and dive through the whirlpool, as Clay did, becausethe outlaws would perforate us before we got anywhere near the falls."
"I've been thinking of that," Clay said, "and I believe there is a wayto get into the cavern without getting wet. When I lay in the cavern,high up on the ridge, before being taken to the shore, the men with meemptied several tin cans of food and pitched them into a corner of thecavern. One of the cans was sent along with a kick, and I heard asplash of water when it fell."
"Je-rusalem!" cried Alex. "Show me where that cavern is, and I'll takea rope and go through the opening where the can fell!"
"What would these fellows on shore be doing all the time you werereaching the cavern?" asked Case.
"I am certain," Clay went on, "that there is an opening from the floorof the cavern to the chamber in which the lost river runs, for when Icame down, I saw a blur of light about halfway through the journey."
"That settles that part of it, then," Captain Joe said. "We'll have towait for a suitable opportunity and get into the chamber by way of thecave. And now," he continued, "I propose that we move out to the bayor the St. Lawrence, where we won't be under the guns of the enemy,and cook several square meals. Honest, boys," he went on, "I've beenso worried lately, that I've almost lost my appetite."
"Yes," Case laughed, "I notice you consumed only half a dozen of thoseBismark pancakes for breakfast."
The _Rambler_ was dropped down to the bay with the launch still by herside, and, once out of rifle shot, the boys enjoyed the freedom of thedeck.
"Now, we'll stay here until night," Captain Joe said, "and then we'llsee what we can do towards finding that cavern and dropping down intothe lost channel. We ought to explore it in one night with the help ofour searchlights."
The plan mapped out by the captain was successfully carried out.Leaving Jule on board the _Rambler_, the other members of the partycrept cautiously ashore that night, and were led directly to thecavern by Clay. They were not disturbed during the journey. Off to theeast, they saw the reflection of a campfire and the sound of manyvoices showed the boys that the outlaws were not at all anxious toconceal their presence.
The opening leading from the cavern to the channel of the stream waslarge enough for even Captain Joe to pass through with comfort.Directly under the opening was a ledge of rock and here the boyslanded. Almost at the point of entry they saw marks on the wall whichindicated that at some distant time an inscription had been carvedthere.
"We can't read the words," Clay said, flashing his searchlight overthe wall, "but at least it tells us that this is somewhere near thescene of the old-time operations."
Alex, who had been poking about around an angle of rock, now gave agreat shout of delight which called the boys to his side.
"There's your old safe!" he cried, pointing up to a niche in the wall,"and it's dollars to doughnuts that the lost charter and the jewelsare inside of it!"
It was the work of only a few moments to bring the safe down from theledge of rock to where the boys stood. It was merely a box of steel,not more than a foot in diameter each way, and was evidentlyconstructed with thin walls for its weight was not great. However, itwas tightly closed and the boys could see no means by which it mightbe opened. There was not even a keyhole or a button.
"We'll take it back to the _Rambler_," Captain Joe said. "Perhaps wecan find a way to open it there."
"We'll find a way to open it," Alex exclaimed, "when we get hold ofthe document Max was looking for in the cabin of the _Cartier_."
"Good idea!" Captain Joe replied. "If you wait long enough, you'llalways find something like intelligence in the head of a boy!"
When the party returned to the cabin, daylight was just showing in theeast and the noisy revel of those at the campfire had ceased.
"I tell you what it is," Captain Joe exclaimed, "those fellows havegiven up chasing us for the reason that they have arrived at theconclusion that we don't know any more about the lost channel thanthey do. At first, they doubtless thought the map might direct us toit, but now they have given up that idea, and are satisfied to let ushunt for the lost charter if we want to."
"Yes, but they are still watching us, all the same," Clay replied,"expecting to take the proceeds of the discovery away from us if weare lucky enough to find what both parties are seeking for."
This explanation of Captain Joe's seemed to be the correct one, forthe boys were not molested while on their way to the _Rambler_ withthe steel box. Having secured the box, the question now was how to getit open, so nearly all that day, they searched among the papers in thecabin of the _Cartier_ for some clue to the mystery. Before night itwas found in a bundle of old papers stowed away in a secret draw atthe bottom of the owner's secretary, where it had lain for a longtime.
"This is easy," Clay said holding the paper up between his thumb andfingers. "The box is only an old French puzzle box. Press on the upperright hand front corner and a button will show. Press the button andthe box will open, and there you are."
"What the dickens do you think the Fontenelles left this paper layingaround in a place like this for?" asked Case. "Do you suppose theyknew what it was?"
"Of course they knew," Clay answered, "and the paper was brought alongso that the box might be opened as soon
as found."
Although the hinges and lock of the steel box were rusted, it wasopened with little difficulty and there were the family jewels and thelost charter! In spite of difficulties, the boys had succeeded intheir quest. The search of more than three hundred years was ended!
When the _Rambler_ and the _Cartier_ started away toward Quebec, theyleft the men who had opposed them still on the peninsula. Reaching thecity, they lost no time in communicating the result of theirexpedition to the Fontenelles. It is needless to say that the latterwere overjoyed at the recovery of the charter and the jewels.
At the close of the interview between the elder Fontenelle and Clay,the former wrote a check for ten thousand dollars and passed it overto the boy. Clay smiled as he passed it back.
"You remember," he said, "that we recovered the _Cartier_, and that wesearched her papers pretty thoroughly to discover the secret of thesteel box. Well, Captain Joe, our old friend from Chicago, hasconceived a great liking for the boat, and if you can induce your sonto give us the launch, and also to make no trouble for the poor peoplewho will suffer under this charter, we shall consider ourselves amplyrepaid for all our trouble. It has been a pleasant excursion, anyway."
"So far as the boat is concerned," the old man Fontenelle replied,"you are entitled to it as salvage. Besides, now that the charter andthe jewels have been discovered, through your agency, the _Cartier_will no longer be elaborate enough for my son. He will have a handsomeyacht built, anyway, so you may as well take the launch. So far asmaking trouble for those who have occupied our lands for years goes,no one shall suffer except those who combined their wealth to obstructus.
"And so you see," he continued, "that the check is yours after all."
And the old gentleman would not accept "No." for an answer.
"One thing I should like to know," Clay said, before leaving Mr.Fontenelle, "and that concerns the mysterious map we received and themanner in which it came into our possession."
"I can set you right on that point," the old man said. "The man whogave you the map and who was drowned that same night was long in ouremploy. He finally became angry at some fancied slight and disappearedtaking with him valuable papers. It is believed that the crude mapdelivered to you was among the papers he took. At any rate, on the daybefore you saw him, he expressed to a relative remorse at what he haddone and promised to restore the papers. How he came to deliver themap to you, knowing the _Cartier_ as well as he did, is somethingwhich will never be known."
The boys left Quebec the next morning without waiting for the returnof the men who were still looking for the lost channel on Cartierisland. Therefore they never saw either Lawyer Martin or Max again,but they read later in the news dispatches of Max being sentenced tothe penitentiary for highway robbery.
The boys went over the old ground on the river again to Ogdensburg,where the _Cartier_ was fully equipped with new electrical apparatusand then the two started away on their long journey up the lakes.
Captain Joe, was, of course, overjoyed at becoming the owner of thelaunch, which is now one of the show vessels on the South Branch.
Captain Joe, the bulldog, and Teddy when in Chicago alternate betweenthe _Rambler_ and the _Cartier_, having a welcome on either boat.
The boys were not content to remain long on the South Branch. In fact,within a few days, they fitted the _Rambler_ out for a trip down theOhio river. What occurred during this trip will be related in the nextvolume of this series entitled: The Six River Motor Boat Boys on theOhio; or, the Three Blue Lights.
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