Treasure Map

The Captain was proud of his crew. They had fought hard and won! They had captured a ship bearing gold from the New World to Spain. They had an entire load of gold weighing down their boat. The crew bailed water out of the ship, but the boat was so heavy that it was barely afloat.

What to do? If a storm comes along, we will be sunk! The Captain thought. He used his spyglass to look all around the boat. In the distance he saw a speck, a spot, a mote! He wiped the lens clean and looked again. There was an island there!

“Turn us south, we are headed to that island.” He called to his crew. They worked hard to keep the boat above the waves all through the long afternoon. The boat finally came close enough to the island for them to drop anchor. The Captain sent some men to scout the island. See if it would be safe for us to bury some of this gold. If we bury it we can always come back for the rest.

The crew rowed out to the island. It was a very small island. It had palm trees and it had sand. No people, no houses, no giant mountains or rocks.

“Perfect!” said the Captain when they reported back.

The crew loaded the rowboat with gold. One load, two loads, three loads, and four loads of gold they took to the shore. The Captain said “We will have to bring six more!”

The crew groaned and moaned. They loaded up more gold. One load, two loads, three loads, four loads and then they loaded the boat twice more. Six more loads they rowed to the island.

Now we have to dig a hole here in the sand. We need to make it far away from shore!

They carried the ten heavy loads of gold away from the water. They rested through the afternoon. When the sun set and the gold glittered underneath the moon, the Captain said “The sun is down, it is cooler now. Now is the time to dig!”

The crew moaned and groaned. They got their shovels out. They dug a hole in the sand. The Captain shook his head. “Deeper still” he said!

The crew dug and dug and dug some more. They dug until they thought they would dig right through the world. The Captain finally called down to them “I think that is deep enough!” They were so far down into the ground, they could barely hear the sound!

The crew put the gold into the hole, they buried it with sand.

The Captain went bright red just then. He ran back to the row boat, he rowed to the ship. He searched high, he searched low. He could not find paper! He could not find a pen!

“How will we make a treasure map if we have nothing to use?” The crew began to mutter. They began to sputter!

“I have a plan!” The Captain said. He took the shirt from the cabin boy. He took charcoal from the fire.

He carefully noted where the stars were in the sky. He made the weirdest treasure map!

The crew sailed back to England as happy as could be. They had a hold full of gold. They had a hidden hole full of gold. What more could any pirate want?

When they got to shore, the crew went out to celebrate. The Captain and the crew slept in late…

While they slept and while they snored, the Captain’s wife went on the ship.

“They have returned with gold. They deserve a good reward, so I think I will clean their ship!” She said as she stepped on the gangway. She made her way onto the ship.

The ship was filthy! Dirt was everywhere she looked. She rolled up her sleeves, she got a scrub brush, and she took out a bar of soap. She sang as she worked.

She scrubbed the floors, she scrubbed the walls, she scrubbed the dishes too. She found the dirty laundry strewn around the boat. She scrubbed the laundry too.

When the Captain woke up and made his way back to the ship, he stopped in shock seeing how the boat sparkled in the sun.

“What happened?” He said as he stepped onto the ship. His wife came out of the hold, she was the only thing left on the boat covered from head to toe with dirt.

She wore a triumphant smile and she said “I wanted to surprise you, to thank you for bringing back the load of gold. I have scrubbed the floors, scrubbed the walls, scrubbed the dishes and the clothes.”

When she said that the Captain’s face went pale and his eyes became quite huge.

“You scrubbed the clothes?” He shouted, horrified as he ran down to his desk. Sure enough, the shirt was clean. She had gotten out the charcoal marks. There was no trace of the map!

He told her that the shirt had been a treasure map. They meant to use the shirt to navigate to where they hid the rest of the gold.

The pirates sail the sea, they search for an island with palm trees and sand. They look for an island with no people and no mountains, just sand and trees. The Captain said “I wish I had made a better map!”

*If you make a treasure map make it hard to wreck. If you make a treasure map, do not make it easy to wash away! *

Mallard ducks do not swim on the sea!