"I--I only saw him for the tiniest part of a second," exclaimedClaire, glancing nervously through the unlitness behind her."And yet I'm almost sure he was a Caesar. He--"

"A Caesar?" queried Gavin, in real perplexity.

"That's the name the Floridian fishermen give to the familywho live on Caesar's Estuary," she explained, almostimpatiently. "The inlet that runs up into the mangroves,south of Caesar's Rock and Caesar's Creek. Caesar was anoldtime pirate, you know. These people claim to be descendedfrom him, and they claim squatter's rights on a tract ofmarsh-and-mangrove land down there. They call themselves allone family, but it is more like a clan, Black Caesar's clan.They have intermarried and others have joined them. It's asort of community. They're really little much better than conchs,though they fight any one who calls them conchs."

"But what--?"

"0h, Milo and Rodney Hade leased some land from thegovernment, down there. And that started the trouble."

Brice whistled, softly.

"I see," said he. "I gather there had been rumors oftreasure, among the Caesars--there always are, along thecoast, here--and the Caesars hadn't the wit to find the stuff.They wouldn't have. But they guarded the place and alwayshoped to trip over the treasure some day. Regarded it astheir own, and all that. 'Proprietary rights' theory, passedon from fathers to sons. Then Standish and Hade leased theland, having gotten a much better hint as to where the treasurewas. And that got the Caesars riled. Then the Caesars get aninkling that Standish and Hade have actually located thetreasure and are sneaking it to Standish's house, bit by bit.And then they go still-hunting for the despoilers and fortheir ancestral hoard."