? ? ? ? "Most assuredly, my dear Professor, we are all yours to command," said the captain.
? ? ? ? And so it was arranged that on the next day Lieutenant Charpentier was to take a detail of ten men, and one of the mutineers of the Arrow as a guide, and unearth the treasure; and that the cruiser would remain for a full week in the little harbor. At the end of that time it was to be assumed that D'Arnot was truly dead, and that the forest man would not return while they remained. Then the two vessels were to leave with all the party.
? ? ? ? Professor Porter did not accompany the treasure-seekers on the following day, but when he saw them returning empty-handed toward noon, he hastened forward to meet them --his usual preoccupied indifference entirely vanished, and in its place a nervous and excited manner.
? ? ? ? "Where is the treasure?" he cried to Clayton, while yet a hundred feet separated them.
? ? ? ? Clayton shook his head.
? ? ? ? "Gone," he said, as he neared the professor.
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