They rowed to the rocks on which the wreck lay. The tide washed over them. George took a look round.
“We’ll tie our boat up to the wreck itself,” she said. “And we’ll get on to the deck quite easily by climbing up the side. Look, Julian!- throw this loop of rope over that broken bit of wood there, sticking out from the side.”
Julian did as he was told. The rope tightened and the boat was held in position. Then George clambered up the side of the wreck like a monkey. She was a marvel at climbing. Julian and Dick followed her, but Anne had to be helped up. Soon all four were standing on the slanting deck. It was slippery with seaweed, and the smell was very strong indeed. Anne didn’t like it.
“Well, this was the deck,” said George, “and that’s where the men got up and down.” She pointed to a large hole. They went to it and looked down. The remains of an iron ladder were still there. George looked at it.
“I think it’s still strong enough to hold us,” she said. I’ll go first. Anyone got a torch? It looks pretty dark down there.”
Julian had a torch. He handed it to George. The children became rather quiet. It was mysterious somehow to look down into the dark inside of the big ship. What would they find? George switched on the torch and then swung herself down the ladder. The others followed.
The light from the torch showed a very queer sight. The under-parts of the ship were low-ceilinged, made of thick oak. The children had to bend their heads to get about. It seemed as if there were places that might have been cabins, though it was difficult to tell now, for everything was so battered, sea-drenched and seaweedy. The smell was really horrid, though it was mostly of drying seaweed.
The children slipped about on the seaweed as they went round the inside of the ship. It didn’t seem so big inside after all. There was a big hold under the cabins, which the children saw by the light of their torch.
“That’s where the boxes of gold would have been kept, I expect,” said Julian. But there was nothing in the hold except water and fish! The children couldn’t go down because the water was too deep. One or two barrels floated in the water, but they had burst open and were quite empty.
“I expect they were water-barrels, or barrels of pork or biscuit,” said George. “Let’s go round the other part of the ship again-where the cabins are. Isn’t it strange to see bunks there that sailors have slept in-and look at that old wooden chair. Fancy it still being here after all these years! Look at the things on those hooks too-they are all rusty now, and covered with seaweedy stuff-but they must have been the cook’s pans and dishes!”
It was a very queer trip round the old wreck. The children were all on the look-out for boxes which might contain bars of gold-but there didn’t seem to be one single box of any kind anywhere!
They came to a rather bigger cabin than the others. It had a bunk in one corner, in which a large crab rested. An old bit of furniture looking rather like a tablet with two legs, all encrusted with greyish shells, lay against the bunk. Wooden shelves, festooned with grey-green seaweed, hung crookedly on the walls of the cabin.
“This must have been the captain’s own cabin,” said Julian. “It’s the biggest one. Look, what’s that in the corner?”
“An old cup!” said Anne, picking it up. “And here’s half of a saucer. I expect the captain was sitting here having a cup of tea when the ship went down.”
This made the children feel rather queer. It was dark and smelly in the little cabin, and the floor was wet and slippery to their feet. George began to feel that her wreck was really more pleasant sunk under the water than raised above it!
“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!