by Ross Kay
CHAPTER XVI
THE RIDDLE
Days passed and weeks rolled by. The four friends and their coloredcompanion still remained on the mysterious island. The flag still flewfrom the hill and all day long one or another of the boys kept a lookoutfrom a spot near by. No boat came to rescue them, however, and thelittle party of castaways had almost come to believe that the rest oftheir days were to be spent on this little island somewhere in anunknown sea.
Once John on watch had seen smoke. Far off on the horizon appeared asmudge from the funnels of some passing steamer. It was too far awayhowever to discover their signal or even to see their island. He hadwatched it hopefully until it finally disappeared over the rim of theocean. That was the only sign of a vessel that had been sighted so far.
However, the boys were not in want. Their clothes were becoming raggedand their hair unkempt, but they were well fed and healthy. If it hadnot been for the fact that they knew they could not leave they mighthave been measurably contented. They were now living in the cave as snugand comfortable as could be desired. The fact that they were short ofclothes did not bother them, either, for the weather was warm andclothes were more of a burden than a necessity.
As yet they had discovered no treasure. Hour after hour they had puzzledover the mysterious numbers on the parchment, but as yet no one had beenable to solve their riddle.
"It makes me mad," said John one day. "I sit and stare at those crazyfigures until it seems as if I must go crazy myself. I never get even aclew as to what they mean, but at the same time the more I study themthe more sure I am that they have a meaning."
"And I, too," agreed Grant. "I know they mean something. I'm sure ofit."
"Until we discover what it is we are practically helpless," said John."We can't dig up the whole island looking for buried gold, you know. Wemust have directions."
"I certainly would laugh," exclaimed George, "if some one did find outwhat those figures mean and then we discovered that it didn't apply tothis island at all."
"What would be so funny in that?" demanded Fred.
"Think how you'd all be fooled."
"Yes, and you'd be just as badly off as any of us," said Fred. "If wedon't find any money, you won't get anything any more than we will."
"Maybe he doesn't like money," said John. "He seems sort of hopeful thatwe won't find any."
"You've got to prove to me that you are going to find any first," saidGeorge. "A set of funny looking numbers and a queer looking rock thatSam says he remembers hearing about and a cave with an empty chest in itdoesn't necessarily mean money, in my opinion."
"Dey does in mine," exclaimed Sam, rolling his eyes rapturously towardsheaven. "Ef we only could find dat treasah Ah sho' would show dem freshcoons back dar in Richmond a thing or two. Oh, Lawdy!" and Sam executeda few steps of a clog dance just to show his delight at the merethought.
"What would you do if you had a lot of money, Sam?" asked Grantsmilingly.
"Well," began the enthusiastic darky, "de berry fust thing dat Ah woulddo would be to buy mahself de grandes' lookin' suit ob clothes yo' ebberdid see."
"What kind of a suit?" inquired Grant.
"A checked suit," said Sam. "A checked suit wif black an' white checksas big as a postage stamp. Den Ah would get mahself some ob dem darepatent leather shoes. Den," and Sam drew in his breath luxuriously, "Ahwould purchase a bran' span red necktie an' square in de middle ob datAh would place de bigges' an' de grandes' diamon' ho'shoe yo' ebber setyo' eyes upon."
"Is that all you'd buy?" laughed George.
Sam gave him a scornful look. "No, indeedy," he maintained stoutly."Nex' Ah would buy one o' dem high shiny hats and den a cane, den a pairof dem yaller gloves, an' say, mebbe dem niggahs back home wouldn' bejealous ob Samuel."
"I guess they would, all right," exclaimed Grant, much entertained bySam's description of the way he would spend his money. "Wouldn't you buyanything but clothes, though?"
"Ob co'se Ah would," said Sam. "Not at de fust, though. Ah'd jest getmah new clothes on an' den walk down de street so't ob cahless like an'in two minutes yo' gwine see ebbery wench in town jes' a follerin' me.Oh, say, golly, mebbe dem niggahs wouldn't be jealous!" and Sam laughedaloud, the thought was so pleasant for him to contemplate.
"Well, I hope you get it, Sam," said Fred heartily. "If you get it weall do."
"Except Pop," added Fred.
"Why not me?" demanded George in an aggrieved tone. "Why don't I getany?"
"Because you don't think there's anything here worth taking," said Fred."You keep making fun of us all the time and telling us there is notreasure on the island. If you aren't interested enough to do some workit seems only natural that you won't want any of the treasure."
"Why, you little shrimp," exclaimed George, pretending to be very angryand glowering down upon his stubby companion, "don't you know that Ihave been joshing you fellows all this time? If there's anything hereworth working for you can be dead sure I'm willing to do my share. All Isay is that you prove it to me first."
"Why should we prove it to you?" inquired Grant. "Why don't you get towork and help us prove it to ourselves? After we have found where thestuff is any one can go and get it. What we want to know is the spotwhere it's hidden."
"Quite true," George admitted. "At the same time you must admit that youare all taking a great deal for granted. You seem to think that there isno doubt about there being treasure on the island and also that thiscode when deciphered will tell you just where it is."
"We hope that's the case," said Grant. "Of course we can't tell untilwe've found out what the code says. That's what we're trying to do now."
"You're right," agreed George. "We must get to work on it at once."
"We've been at work on it ever since we struck this island," said Fredwarmly. "Where have you been all this time?"
"Well, when I get down to business we'll soon solve the riddle," saidGeorge pompously. "I'll soon get an idea."
"Hit him, Grant," cried John. "You're nearest to him and we ought not tolet such things live."
George burst out laughing. "Forget those old numbers for a while," headvised. "So far no one has been able to do anything with them, but ifwe let them alone for a few days we can go back to them with our mindsfresh. Who knows, somebody might get an idea all of a sudden that wouldsolve the whole business."
"I wish somebody would," sighed Fred.
"Think of this, though," exclaimed Grant. "Suppose we do forget it allfor a few days, as Pop suggests. In the meantime a boat might come alongand take us away and our chance of ever finding the treasure would begone."
"That's right, Grant," cried John. "We don't want to lose an opportunitylike this."
"Can't we take the code home with us?" said George. "We have all therest of our lives to find out what it means and if it is worth while wecan always come back."
"How can we tell whether it is worth while or not until we see it?"asked Fred.
"Probably that code contains a description of what it is."
"Perhaps it does," said Grant. "We'll know better when we find out justwhat it does say. I'm in favor of keeping right at it."
"So am I, Grant," exclaimed John. "Don't let it rest for a second."
"Dat's de boy!" cried Sam heartily. "Ah get dat diamon' ho'shoe yet."
"Yes, and I hope you get a big automobile to go with it, Sam," saidGrant.
"Ah hopes so mahself," grinned Sam. "Say, wouldn't dat be gran'?"
"We'll all have them," said John. "We'll have motor-boats and yachts,too, and maybe flying-machines."
"Stick a pin in that fellow, Fred," urged George. "He's asleep."
"Is that so?" exclaimed John. "At any rate, it's cheap enough to dream."
"That's true," laughed George. "Go ahead and dream if you like."
"Some one of us ought to be able to read that code," said Grant. "Whyshould a lot of figures get the better of us? We ought not to let them."
"Maybe the numbers mean letters,"
George suggested.
"We've all thought that ourselves," said Grant grimly. "Just whatletters, though?"
"Let me see the thing," exclaimed George. "What number occurs oftenest?"
"I don't know," mused Grant, looking over his shoulder. "I guess fivedoes."
"All right then," said George quickly; "now what is the commonest letterin the alphabet?"
"I thought of that, too," said Grant. "The trouble is that none of usknow."
"That might be an idea, though."
"Yes," admitted John, "but if we don't know those things I don't see howwe can get very far."
"Nor I," said George. "We might try some experiments, though."
"Go ahead," urged Grant. "Try everything you can think of. We've nothingto lose and everything to gain. No matter how silly an idea may seem toyou, try it. That's the only way we can ever get anywhere."
"Right you are, Grant!" exclaimed Fred. "That's the way to talk. If westick to it, I know we'll find out all about it some day."
"Perhaps we will 'some day,'" said George mournfully.