"That's something you've never come across, I suppose, Captain Bowers?"
he remarked at last.
"No," said the other.
Mr. Chalk, with a vain attempt to conceal his disappointment, smoked on
for some time in silence. The blue seas disappeared, and he saw instead
the brass knocker of the house opposite.
"Nor any other kind of craft with treasure aboard, I suppose?" he
suggested, at last.
The captain put his hands on his knees and stared at the floor. "No," he
said, slowly, "I can't call to mind any craft; but it's odd that you
should have got on this subject with me."
Mr. Chalk laid his pipe carefully on the table.
"Why?" he inquired.
"Well," said the captain, with a short laugh, "it is odd, that's all."
Mr. Chalk fidgeted with the stem of his pipe. "You know of sunken
treasure somewhere?" he said, eagerly.
The captain smiled and shook his head; the other watched him narrowly.
"You know of some treasure?" he said, with conviction.
"Not what you could call sunken," said the captain, driven to bay.
Mr. Chalk's pale-blue eyes opened to their fullest extent. "Ingots?"
he queried.
The other shook his head. "It's a secret," he remarked; "we won't talk
about it.
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