"Let's go," she said, with a shiver. "I don't like it much. It is exciting, I know- but it's a bit frightening too."

They turned to go. Julian flashed his torch round the little cabin for the last time. He was about to switch it off and follow the others up to the deck above when he caught sight of something that made him stop. He flashed his torch on to it, and then called to the others.

"I say! Wait a bit. There's a cupboard here in the wall. Let's see if there's anything in it!"

The others turned back and looked. They saw what looked like a small cupboard let in level with the wall of the cabin. What had caught Julian's eye was the keyhole. There was no key there, though.

"There just might be something inside," said Julian. He tried to prise open the wooden door with his fingers, but it wouldn't move. "It's locked," he said. "Of course it would be!"

"I expect the lock is rotten by now," said George, and she tried too. Then she took out her big strong pocket-knife and inserted it between the cupboard door and the cabin-wall. She forced back the blade- and the lock of the cupboard suddenly snapped! As she had said, it was quite rotten. The door swung open, and the children saw a shelf inside with a few curious things on it.

There was a wooden box, swollen with the wet sea-water in which it had lain for years. There were two or three things that looked like old, pulpy books. There was some sort of glass drinking-vessel, cracked in half- and two or three funny objects so spoilt by sea-water that no one could possibly say what they were.

"Nothing very interesting- except the box," said Julian, and he picked it up. "Anyway, I expect that whatever is inside is ruined. But we may as well try and open it."

He and George tried their best to force the lock of the old wooden box. On the top of it were stamped initials-H.J. K.

"I expect those were the captain's initials," said Dick.

"No, they were the initials of my great-great-greatgrandfather!" said George, her eyes shining suddenly. "I've heard all about him. His name was Henry John Kirrin. This was his ship, you know. This must have been his very-private box in which he kept his old papers or diaries. Oh,we simply must open it!"

But it was quite impossible to force the lid up with the tools they had there. They soon gave it up, and Julian picked up the box to carry it to the boat.

"We'll open it at home," he said, his voice sounding rather excited. "We'll get a hammer or something, and get it open somehow. Oh, George- this really is a find!"

They all of them felt that they really had something mysterious in their possession. Was there anything inside the box- and if so, what would it be? They longed to get home and open it!

They went up on deck, climbing the old iron ladder. As soon as they got there they saw that others besides themselves had discovered that the wreck had been thrown up from the bottom of the sea!

"Golly! Half the fishing-smacks of the bay have discovered it!" cried Julian, looking round at the fishing-boats that had come as near as they dared to the wreck. The fishermen were looking at the wreck in wonder. When they saw the children on board they halloo-ed loudly.

"Ahoy there! What's that ship?"

"It's the old wreck!" yelled back Julian. "She was thrown up yesterday in the storm!"

"Don't say any more," said George, frowning. "It's my wreck. I don't want sightseers on it!"

So no more was said, and the four children got into their boat and rowed home as fast as they could. It was past their breakfast-time. They might get a good scolding. They might even be sent to bed by George's fierce father- but what did they care? They had explored the wreck-and had come away with a box which might contain-well, if not bars of gold, one small bar, perhaps!

They did get a scolding. They had to go without half their breakfast, too, because Uncle Quentin said that children who came in so late didn't deserve hot bacon and eggs- only toast and marmalade. It was very sad.

They hid the box under the bed in the boys' room. Tim had been left with the fisher-boy- or rather, had been tied up in his back yard, for Alf had gone out fishing, and was even now gazing from his father's boat at the strange wreck.

"We can make a bit of money taking sightseers out to this wreck," said Alf. And before the day was out scores of interested people had seen the old wreck from the decks of motor-boats and fishing-smacks.

George was furious about it. But she couldn't do anything. After all, as Julian said, anybody could have a look!

Chapter Nine. THE BOX FROM THE WRECK

THE first thing that the children did after breakfast was to fetch the precious box and take it out to the tool-shed in the garden. They were simply longing to force it open. All of them secretly felt certain that it would hold treasure of some sort.

Julian looked round for a tool. He found a chisel and decided that would be just the thing to force the box open. He tried, but the tool slipped and jabbed his fingers. Then he tried other things, but the box obstinately refused to open. The children stared at it crossly.

"I know what to do," said Anne at last. "Let's take it to the top of the house and throw it down to the ground. It would burst open then, I expect."

The others thought over the idea. "It might be worth trying," said Julian. "The only thing is- it might break or spoil anything inside the box."

But there didn't seem any other way to open the box, so Julian carried it up to the top of the house. He went to the attic and opened the window there. The others were down below, waiting. Julian hurled the box out of the window as violently as he could. It flew through the air and landed with a terrific crash on the crazy paving below.

At once the french window there opened and their Uncle Quentin came out like a bullet from a gun.

"Whatever are you doing?" he cried. "Surely you aren't throwing things at each other out of the window? What's this on the ground?"

The children looked at the box. It had burst open, and lay on the ground, showing a tin lining that was waterproof. Whatever was in the box would not be spoilt! It would be quite dry!

Dick ran to pick it up.

"I said, what's this on the ground?" shouted his uncle and moved towards him.

"It's- it's something that belongs to us," said Dick, going red.

"Well, I shall take it away from you," said his uncle. "Disturbing me like this! Give it to me. Where did you get it?"

Nobody answered. Uncle Quentin frowned till his glasses nearly fell off. "Where did you get it?" he barked, glaring at poor Anne, who was nearest.

"Out of the wreck," stammered the little girl, scared.

"Out of the wreck!" said her uncle, in surprise. "The old wreck that was thrown up yesterday? I heard about that. Do you mean to say you've been in it?"

"Yes," said Dick. Julian joined them at that moment, looking worried. It would be too awful if his uncle took the box just as they got it open. But that was exactly what he did do!

"Well, this box may contain something important," he said, and he took it from Dick's hands. "You've no right to go prying about in that old wreck. You might take something that mattered."

"Well, it's my wreck," said George, in a defiant tone. "Please, Father, let us have the box. We'd just got it opened. We thought it might hold- a gold bar- or something like that!"

"A gold bar!" said her father, with a snort. "What a baby you are! This small box would never hold a thing like that! It's much more likely to contain particulars of what happened to the bars! I have always thought that the gold was safely delivered somewhere- and that the ship, empty of its valuable cargo, got wrecked as it left the bay!"