"It would never have occurred to me to suspect the men to
whom we owe so much," replied Professor Porter, graciously.
"I would as soon suspect my dear Clayton here, or
Mr. Philander."
The Frenchmen smiled, both officers and sailors. It was
plain to see that a burden had been lifted from their minds.
"The treasure has been gone for some time," continued Clayton.
"In fact the body fell apart as we lifted it, which indicates
that whoever removed the treasure did so while the corpse was
still fresh, for it was intact when we first uncovered it."
"There must have been several in the party," said Jane,
who had joined them. "You remember that it took four men
to carry it."
"By jove!" cried Clayton. "That's right. It must have been
done by a party of blacks. Probably one of them saw the men
bury the chest and then returned immediately after with a
party of his friends, and carried it off."
"Speculation is futile," said Professor Porter sadly. "The
chest is gone. We shall never see it again, nor the treasure
that was in it."
Only Jane knew what the loss meant to her father, and
none there knew what it meant to her.
Six days later Captain Dufranne announced that they
would sail early on the morrow.
Jane would have begged for a further reprieve, had it not
been that she too had begun to believe that her forest lover
would return no more.
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