their "ink". Dipping the improvised pen
in his own blood, Roger began to write under the groups of figures the
letters which corresponded to them; and, prompted by Harry, it was not
long ere he had the whole translation written down. And when this was
completed he wiped the blood off his arm, and hid the pen in the lining
of his jerkin. Then with much satisfaction he read out the true meaning
of the cryptogram which he had held for so long a time in his
possession, and which Alvarez would have sold his soul to secure. It
ran as follows:--

1581.

This is the key to the Treasure of me, Jose Leirya. This Treasure which
is--"`of' is here understood, I suppose," put in Roger--great worth is
of jewels most part of much price, taken by me in the South Seas. Many
emeralds I took from a Prince of Mejico. Much gold also, buried deep
hole under stone. Iron ring cave lonely inlet 75 degrees west. 20
degrees north. North-East end island Cuba. Stone 14 paces mouth 5
paces right wall entering.

"There!" said Roger in tones of exultation; "what do you say to my
method now, Harry? We now have the treasure in our power, or rather
when we get free once more."

"Yes," agreed Harry, "always providing that someone else has not got
there before us."

"Which is not at all likely," answered Roger. "We are almost certain
that this and the other are the only two copies of the cryptogram now in
existence, and, as soon as we have learned by heart its translation, we
will destroy the papers; and then nobody will ever come at it except by
accident, which is most unlikely. Why, Harry!" he continued in excited
tones; "lonely inlet must mean that very identical bay where we careened
the ships, and where the savages attacked us. Just imagine, we may
actually have walked over the spot where the treasure lies buried; you
see it says `hole under stone iron ring cave'. It may have been the
very cave that we were in when the natives besieged us, and we were
rescued by the sailors. But I saw no iron ring anywhere in it; did you,
Harry?"

"No," answered Harry, "I did not. But that stands for nothing, for
there might have been a hundred stones and iron rings in that very cave
on that occasion, and we should never have noticed them; we were
otherwise much too fully occupied," he concluded with a smile.

"I remember now," continued Roger, "that old Cary told me a yarn about
Jose Leirya--you, too, were present by the way--that night after