SAM REMEMBERS SOMETHING
"Alike?" cried Grant in amazement. "What do you mean?"
"Just what I said," returned Fred. "The numbers on these two papers are
exactly the same from start to finish."
"That's the strangest thing I ever heard of in my life," exclaimed
Grant. "Let me look at them."
"Didn't I tell you fellows that that piece of parchment Petersen had was
a code of some sort?" demanded Fred.
"Does the fact that we found one like it prove that?" said George
skeptically.
"It certainly seems so to me," Fred exclaimed. "At any rate, it is a
very odd coincidence."
"It's that all right," admitted George. "Are they exactly alike, Grant?"
"They seem to be," replied Grant, who had been carefully studying the
two papers.
"We can soon find out, anyway," said John. "Let me have one of them and
I'll read it aloud. One of you fellows can watch the other and check up
the numbers."
"That's a good scheme," Grant agreed. "Here, String, you take this one
and I'll keep my eye on the numbers on the other as you call them off."
"All ready?" said John.
"Go ahead," and this is what John read:
"20-1-11-5-1-3-15-21-18-19-5-4-
21-5-14-15-18-20-8-15-14-15-18-21-
14-4-18-5-4-6-5-5-20-6-18-15-13-
20-8-5-19-15-21-20-8-5-18-14-5-
24-20-18-5-13-9-20-25-15-6-19-8-
1-18-11-18-15-3-11-20-8-5-14-5-1-
19-20-6-9-6-20-25-6-20-25-6-5-
5-20-1-14-4-14-15-18-20-8-2-25-
5-1-19-20-20-8-9-18-20-25-20-8-
18-5-5-4-9-7."
"Exactly the same," announced Grant when John had finished. "Now what do
you think about that?"
"I believe it's a code which tells where some pirates have buried
treasure," announced Fred decidedly. "I also believe that this is the
island where it was done. How else do you account for our finding that
duplicate in the chest here?"
"It's strange all right," said George. "I can explain it all in a
different way, though."
"What's that?" asked Grant curiously.
"Just this. Suppose all those numbers do make up a code and that they do
give the key to some treasure or something. Isn't it possible that the
treasure was once in this empty chest, and some one found it and took it
away? Evidently there were at least two people in the secret, as the two
codes show. One of them got here first and took it away and as long as
he had no more use for the code he left it. Doesn't that sound
reasonable?"
"Yes, it does," Fred admitted. "It's not very cheerful, though, and I
hope you are wrong about it."
"I hope so, too," exclaimed George heartily. "It's just as well to look
at both sides, though."
"I don't believe your idea is right, Pop," said Grant.
"Why not?"
"Petersen got this code from his father, didn't he? Well, if his father
and the men he was with buried that treasure on this island it seems
strange that this old powder-horn and flint-lock pistol should be here.
Such things as that were used a good many years before Petersen's father
was alive."
"Who said his father was the one who buried the treasure?"
"I thought that was what some one said back there on the
_Josephine_."
"No, indeed. They said Petersen's father had the code, but I never heard
that he was one of those who were supposed to have buried the treasure."
"At any rate," put in George, "no matter who buried it, it doesn't say
that my theory is wrong. The pistol and the powder-horn may have been in
the chest along with the treasure. Whoever found it thought they weren't
worth taking, so they were just thrown to one side."
"Why was the chest locked again?" asked John.
"I don't know, I'm sure," laughed Grant. "I give up."
"Not at all," exclaimed Fred. "Don't say that. We can at least try to
make out this code. That will give us something to do and I guess we are
going to have plenty of time on our hands before we get away from here."
As he finished speaking he turned to scan the horizon, but nothing was
in sight save the endless expanse of ocean. As far as appearances went
they might have been alone in the world. The occasional note of a bird
and the soft murmur of the waves as they caressed the beach below were
the only sounds to be heard.
"Yes, I guess we will," said Grant. "As you say, we can at least try to
decipher it."
"I'm no good at such things," exclaimed George. "I don't believe I ever
worked out a puzzle in all my life."
"That doesn't say you can't do this, though, does it?" demanded Grant.
"Oh, no. Perhaps I'll get an idea some day and work the whole thing out
for you."
"I have an idea right now," said John.
"Better tell us what it is, quick," urged George. "You may lose it."
"I am not like some other people I know," said John loftily.
To this remark George made no intelligible answer, though he muttered
something under his breath. "I'm glad of it," was what two of his
companions made out his reply to be.
"What's your idea, String?" asked Grant.
"I say to take possession of this cave and live here."
"That's a good scheme," exclaimed Fred heartily. "Let's go and get our
few belongings just as soon as we can and bring them up here."
"A fine idea," agreed George. "String, I didn't think you knew so much."
"That proves that you know very little yourself, then," replied John
scornfully.
"Ha, ha. Good one, String," cried Fred laughingly. "Give him another."
"He is not worth bothering about," said John. "Let's get our things."
Down the side of the hill they scrambled, slipping and sliding down the
steep decline. They came to the bottom in safety, however, and it was
not long before they reached the spot where the baggage had been left.
"Where's Sam?" exclaimed Grant. "He certainly can't be sleeping still."
"There he is," said Fred, pointing down the beach.
"What's he got in his hand?" said George curiously. "It looks like a
knife."
"Where could he get a knife?" exclaimed John. "Just as I told you a few
minutes ago, Pop, you've certainly got something missing in that head of
yours."
"I thought maybe he'd gone around to the hardware store and bought it,"
drawled George soberly with a wink at Grant. He loved to stir up his
companions, and none of them more so than his tall friend, John, who
almost invariably rose to any bait he might happen to offer.
"What have you got there, Sam?" called Fred when the negro was within
earshot.
Sam merely grinned and waved the object he held in his hand to the boys.
"As I said before it certainly looks like a knife," murmured George.
"What is that, Sam?" asked Fred again when Sam had come up to the spot
where the four boys were standing.
"Ah's makin' a knife," said Sam proudly.
"Where did you get the steel?"
"Dat ain't steel," grinned Sam. "Dat am one o' dem iron hoops off o' dat
dere bar'el o' water. Ah is gwine sharpen her up and den we'll hab a
sho' nuff knife."
"I'm afraid it'll never cut much," laughed John. "No knife with a blade
made of iron is apt to be much good. It'll be all right to dig holes in
the ground with, though."
"Wait 'til she's sharpened," warned Sam.
"How are you going to sharpen it?" asked Grant curiously.
"On a big black rock Ah done discovah roun' dat dere point."
"The rock that looks like a shark," exclaimed George. "That ought to be
a good one, for it certainly seemed hard enough."
"Dat rock look lak a shark, yo' say?" remarked Sam suddenly.
"Yes," said George. "Didn't you think so?"
"Now dat Ah comes to think on it, it sho' did," said Sam. "Ah wondahs if
dis yere can be de island."
"What do you mean?" demanded Fred eagerly. "What island?"
"Well," said Sam, "evah sence Ah done commence to foller de sea Ah has
heard tales of some island where dey is treasah buried. Dat island was
said to hab a big rock on it what done look lak a shark. Mebbe this am
de one."
"Where was this island?" asked George eagerly.
"No one ebber knew," said Sam. "All Ah knows is dat on dis island dey
said dere was all so'ts ob treasah. Yo' could tell de pahtikelah island
by its habbin' a big rock on it what done look lak a shark. Dat's all Ah
knows."
"Did you ever meet any one who had seen the island?" inquired Grant.
"Nebber," replied Sam. "Some say dat de island done disappeah or dat de
ocean had swallowed 'er up. Dese was all stories Ah heard."
"Well!" exclaimed Fred, his eyes shining with excitement. "I certainly
am in favor of finding out what those codes mean. Perhaps we'll find
something on this island after all. I'll bet this is the one Sam has
heard about all right."
"Seems so, doesn't it?" agreed Grant. "We may get rich yet."
"The treasure was in that chest up there in the cave, I tell you," said
George. "Some one has been here and taken it away."
"Not at all," cried Fred. "At any rate there's more of it here. Didn't
you hear Sam say that he has heard about this island for years and
years?"
"You're not sure this is the one."
"Well, I'm pretty sure there aren't two islands with rocks on them like
that," exclaimed Fred. "A rock shaped just like a shark is so unusual
that you see they identify the island by it."
"But why has no one ever found it?"
"You just said they had," Grant reminded him. "You also said that the
treasure was gone. You are contradicting yourself."
"Well, you'd think some one would find it," exclaimed George. "An island
as big as this one couldn't very well be overlooked if any one came near
it at all."
"Apparently no one does come near it," said Fred. "How many boats have
we seen since the _Josephine_ burned?"
"Not one," said Grant.
"Why is it?" demanded Fred. "In this day and age, when the ocean is so
covered with ships, you'd certainly think we'd see at least one."
"We never even saw any of the other lifeboats," said John.
"That's true," Fred exclaimed. "How do you account for it?"
"I don't," said Grant. "It's a strange thing all around."
"Well, if we're going to be stranded here for a few years we might just
as well spend part of the time looking for the treasure," said Fred.
"Everything seems to point to the fact that there is some here. That
cave and the chest and the two codes and the queer rock that fits in so
well with what Sam has heard, everything about it sounds like treasure
and lots of it."
"If we could only be the ones to find it," sighed John. "Just think of
going home rich; rich with pearls and diamonds and emeralds and gold
doubloons and bars of gold all dug up from some old pirate's hiding
place. If we only could!"
"Perhaps we can," exclaimed Fred, much thrilled by John's description of
the wealth that might be theirs. "My opinion is that we must translate
those codes first, though. Wouldn't it be awful if they didn't apply to
this island after all."
"But they do," insisted Grant. "I know they do."
"And I think so, too," exclaimed John. "Let's go to work."