Harry opened Silas’s front door and sniffed appreciatively. Behind him, Joe said, “Smells good.”
“Come on in,” Silas called out. “Lunch is ready.” He started spooning chili into bowls and passed them along to Joe to set on the table.
Harry placed the bag of rolls and a pie in the centre of the table, “Freshly baked apple pie for dessert,” he said.
“You went to Janet’s,” Silas said as they sat down, and Harry grinned.
“Fit for a king,” said Joe.
When they had finished eating, Harry leaned back in his chair. “That’s it. I can’t eat another bite. What more have you learned, Silas?”
Silas grinned. “I called Ben Williams. He said there was a tunnel branching off from the cave, but he never knew exactly where.”
“Smuggler’s tunnel,” Joe said.
Harry looked at him. “You’ve heard this too? Why didn’t you say something?”
“Didn’t seem important,” Joe replied.
“Not important?” Harry echoed. He shook his head. “Continue, Silas.”
“According to what Ben heard, it was used by smugglers long ago, including several who were forced into service to pay off some gambling debts.
“They had intended to jump ship at the first chance, and didn’t know about the tunnel from the cave up to the top. They thought the person buying the rum would come and get it the same way it was dropped off and hoped he’d take them to town.
“But while they were pulling in the crates, they took turns searching for another way out and found a short tunnel, that opened into another tunnel, running at right angles to the first one. They saw light at one end of the new tunnel and went towards it.”
“Had gold,” Joe said.
Silas nodded. “It was rumoured that each man had a handful of gold pieces in his pocket, that they killed the man who was there to guard and ensure their return to the boat, tied a boulder to his body and sank him there in the cave, keeping the bag of gold coins he always carried with him.
“They broke a hole in one of the crates, removed one bottle and replaced it with the bag of coins. Then they took a piece of rope from the rowboat and tied it to the top of the crate. With a rock, they hammered a stake into the beach, tied the other end of the rope to the stake, and sank the crate.”
Joe was nodding. “Heard that too… didn’t believe it.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Harry said. “How many runaways were there?”
“I heard four,” Joe said.
Silas nodded. “That’s what I heard, too.”
“Where did they go after they got out?” Harry asked.
“Left town… at night…” Joe said.
“I heard that also,” Silas said. “But I heard that one man stayed and settled down here.”
“More rumours…” Joe said
“Well,” Silas said, “rumours also said that in their haste to get away and find a better hiding place, the men lost some of their coins. Every few years when someone new heard the story, they’d search and, apparently, several coins were found over the years.”
“Did anyone ever try diving in that cave?” Harry asked.
