CHAPTER XV
SAM REMEMBERS SOMETHING
"Alike?" cried Grant in amazement. "What do you mean?"
"Just what I said," returned Fred. "The numbers on these two papers areexactly the same from start to finish."
"That's the strangest thing I ever heard of in my life," exclaimedGrant. "Let me look at them."
"Didn't I tell you fellows that that piece of parchment Petersen had wasa code of some sort?" demanded Fred.
"Does the fact that we found one like it prove that?" said Georgeskeptically.
"It certainly seems so to me," Fred exclaimed. "At any rate, it is avery 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 thetwo papers.
"We can soon find out, anyway," said John. "Let me have one of them andI'll read it aloud. One of you fellows can watch the other and check upthe numbers."
"That's a good scheme," Grant agreed. "Here, String, you take this oneand 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 doyou think about that?"
"I believe it's a code which tells where some pirates have buriedtreasure," announced Fred decidedly. "I also believe that this is theisland where it was done. How else do you account for our finding thatduplicate in the chest here?"
"It's strange all right," said George. "I can explain it all in adifferent way, though."
"What's that?" asked Grant curiously.
"Just this. Suppose all those numbers do make up a code and that they dogive the key to some treasure or something. Isn't it possible that thetreasure was once in this empty chest, and some one found it and took itaway? Evidently there were at least two people in the secret, as the twocodes show. One of them got here first and took it away and as long ashe had no more use for the code he left it. Doesn't that soundreasonable?"
"Yes, it does," Fred admitted. "It's not very cheerful, though, and Ihope you are wrong about it."
"I hope so, too," exclaimed George heartily. "It's just as well to lookat 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 fatherand the men he was with buried that treasure on this island it seemsstrange 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 fatherwas 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 heardthat 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 saythat my theory is wrong. The pistol and the powder-horn may have been inthe chest along with the treasure. Whoever found it thought they weren'tworth 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 tomake out this code. That will give us something to do and I guess we aregoing 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 wasin sight save the endless expanse of ocean. As far as appearances wentthey might have been alone in the world. The occasional note of a birdand the soft murmur of the waves as they caressed the beach below werethe only sounds to be heard.
"Yes, I guess we will," said Grant. "As you say, we can at least try todecipher it."
"I'm no good at such things," exclaimed George. "I don't believe I everworked 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 outfor 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 mutteredsomething under his breath. "I'm glad of it," was what two of hiscompanions 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 ourfew 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 Johnscornfully.
"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 thesteep decline. They came to the bottom in safety, however, and it wasnot 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 aknife."
"Where could he get a knife?" exclaimed John. "Just as I told you a fewminutes ago, Pop, you've certainly got something missing in that head ofyours."
"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 hiscompanions, and none of them more so than his tall friend, John, whoalmost invariably rose to any bait he might happen to offer.
"What have you got there, Sam?" called Fred when the negro was withinearshot.
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 spotwhere 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' datdere bar'el o' water. Ah is gwine sharpen her up and den we'll hab asho' nuff knife."
"I'm afraid it'll never cut much," laughed John. "No knife with a blademade of iron is apt to be much good. It'll be all right to dig holes inthe 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 bea 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 ifdis 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 hasheard tales of some island where dey is treasah buried. Dat island wassaid to hab a big rock on it what done look lak a shark. Mebbe this amde one."
"Where was this island?" asked George eagerly.
"No one ebber knew," said S
am. "All Ah knows is dat on dis island deysaid dere was all so'ts ob treasah. Yo' could tell de pahtikelah islandby its habbin' a big rock on it what done look lak a shark. Dat's all Ahknows."
"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 deocean had swallowed 'er up. Dese was all stories Ah heard."
"Well!" exclaimed Fred, his eyes shining with excitement. "I certainlyam in favor of finding out what those codes mean. Perhaps we'll findsomething on this island after all. I'll bet this is the one Sam hasheard 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," saidGeorge. "Some one has been here and taken it away."
"Not at all," cried Fred. "At any rate there's more of it here. Didn'tyou hear Sam say that he has heard about this island for years andyears?"
"You're not sure this is the one."
"Well, I'm pretty sure there aren't two islands with rocks on them likethat," exclaimed Fred. "A rock shaped just like a shark is so unusualthat 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 thetreasure was gone. You are contradicting yourself."
"Well, you'd think some one would find it," exclaimed George. "An islandas big as this one couldn't very well be overlooked if any one came nearit at all."
"Apparently no one does come near it," said Fred. "How many boats havewe seen since the _Josephine_ burned?"
"Not one," said Grant.
"Why is it?" demanded Fred. "In this day and age, when the ocean is socovered 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 justas well spend part of the time looking for the treasure," said Fred."Everything seems to point to the fact that there is some here. Thatcave and the chest and the two codes and the queer rock that fits in sowell with what Sam has heard, everything about it sounds like treasureand lots of it."
"If we could only be the ones to find it," sighed John. "Just think ofgoing home rich; rich with pearls and diamonds and emeralds and golddoubloons and bars of gold all dug up from some old pirate's hidingplace. If we only could!"
"Perhaps we can," exclaimed Fred, much thrilled by John's description ofthe wealth that might be theirs. "My opinion is that we must translatethose codes first, though. Wouldn't it be awful if they didn't apply tothis island after all."
"But they do," insisted Grant. "I know they do."
"And I think so, too," exclaimed John. "Let's go to work."