The Mercer Boys on a Treasure Hunt

ck at that ball," said

eir home town one morning late in June. They had been home from Woodcrest Military Institute for a week now on their summer vacation, and this particular day, having nothing more exciting to do, they had wandered around the town, coming at len

ys and Don said: "Wonder how much further I can hi

we certainly got quite a bit of p

re well known the boys felt no alarm or resentment at the approach of the la

one crack at the ball

it of embarrassment in his look. "Sure,

as he turned to face a boy who held the ba

gsters who stood far afield, waiting for flies to be batted to the

r easily batted it out and one of the youngsters caught it triumphantly. D

hand. When the ball had been turned over to young Tommy he wound his arm

at!" he

d met the ball, and the muddy spheroid sailed in a mounting curve up into the air. It passed high above the fi

d Jim. "Right thr

h a disconcerting crash the ba

t. "Well, I'll be jiggered!" he exclaimed. "How is that

and in that room," said Jim. "Guess we

Don. "Thanks for the h

sor Scott's house. The gentleman mentioned had been their history teacher while they were in grammar school, and they knew him quite well, so th

d by now. But we'll go over and see, and if he isn't we'll le

e they had had some adventurous events in their lives, some of which were related in the first volume of this series, The Mercer Boys' Cruise in the Lassie, when they ran down a marine bandit gang, and later when solving a baffling mystery at the military school, details of which were related in

aced toward the empty lot. There appeared to be no one at home, but when they came opposite to the window Don r

said, in a low tone. "He's si

etter?" aske

ed his brothe

t the desk in what appeared to be a study, busily engaged in reading a letter. Near him, almost at his feet, lay the b

en seem to know that the window is broken! We always knew that he was s

the professor came to the window and looked down at them. He still held

rong white teeth in an engaging smile. "I'm gla

rofessor Scott," answered Don. "I was batting out the ball for some boys, an

," admitted the profes

ould think that you might have!

was going to throw the ball back to them in a minute." He picked the ball

ere watching from the field. "Are you sure we wo

utes ago!" smiled the teacher. "C

questions about their school life and studies. All the time he held the letter in his hand

egan. "Well, I remember how interested you boys were in history while in my classes, and I'm glad you came along when you did. Thi

homestead in Lower California near the mines at San Antonio and Triunfo, where he tests the ores and carries on general scientific studies. He tells me that the ores are refractory and not easy to test, but he enjoys the wor

decorated quite extensively, you know, and this one was distinguished by its hand-sewn leather covering. It was evident that somewhere in the neighborhood a Spanish galleon had gone to the bottom, and it is always a safe conclusion that where there is galleon there is also a treasure. Those ships carried gold, silver and jewels from Old Mex

ound nothing. The mystery is not that they didn't find any treasure, but that they didn't find any more of the ship. You might think that perhaps that particular piece had been washed there from some point further out, and it is possible, but the piece, when netted, had be

s deeply absorbed in the story. "So

go was that

no more about it. The piece of wreckage is a treasure in itself and was sent up to San Francisco, where it was subsequently placed in a museum. Realizing that I would be interested in it all he first wrote to

d soil. I don't know if you were ever aware of the fact or not, but although Lower California has a dry climate and is mostly barren, there are spots where it is tropical and jungle plants and trees grow there in luxurious profusion. Altho

use I believe it has a direct bearing on the most amazing part of Ned's

Jim stirred in eager interest. "What i