Captain Josh and the boys had a great time that afternoon. The island was about one hundred acres in size, and for the most part wooded. They tramped all over it, and their excitement was intense when they saw the holes which had been dug there by gold-seekers. The boys longed for picks and shovels, that they, too, might dig. But the captain laughed at them.
"There's no gold here, lads," he told them, "and ye'd be only fooled like others."
"But did anybody ever find gold here, captain?" Rod enquired.
"Not that I know of. But there have been some good jokes played upon people here, though," and the captain chuckled as some funny incident came into his mind.
After supper was over that night, the scouts gathered around the bright camp-fire, and asked Captain Josh to tell them a story abou
