hows
that the sailor was telling the truth. But there doesn't seem to be
anything in the map that he hadn't already described."

"That's so," admitted Teddy, his enthusiasm a little dampened.

"Don't be too sure that there's nothing else," said Fred. "It's so dark
in here that we can't see anything but the rough outlines. Who has some
matches?"

"Here you are," replied Lester, producing an oilskin pouch from an
inside pocket.

Fred struck one, and as it flared up, five eager pairs of eyes scanned
the wall in front.

But while it brought into greater distinctness the main features that
they had already seen, the map seemed to reveal nothing more and there
was a general sigh of disappointment.

"Why didn't that fellow go a little further while he was about it?"
groaned Teddy.

"If he had only told us not only what it looked like, but where it was,"
mourned Lester.

"It's maddening to get so close and yet miss the one thing that would
clear it all up," complained Bill.

"I can understand now how Tom Bixby felt, when Dick was just on the
point of telling him where the gold was hidden," said Lester.

"I'm not giving it up yet," declared Fred with determination, "and I'll
not, until I have used up every match we have with us. Even after that,
I'll get a torch somewhere and keep on looking."

But several more matches struck in quick succession were of no more
value than the first, and the boys' hearts went down.

Just as the fifth match was burning low, Bill gave utterance to a sharp
exclamation.

"I saw something down in the corner that time," he declared. "It looked
like figures of some kind."

The boys had a deep belief in Bill's sharp eyes, and it was with renewed
hope that Fred struck another of the precious matches and held it with
fingers that trembled.

"I was right!" exulted Bill. "See there," and he pointed to some
scarcely legible marks in the lower right-hand corner.

"They're figures, all right," he confirmed. "I can make out a 'four' and
a 'seven' and, yes, a 'six.' But they're very faint and I can't make
sense of them."

"Try again, Bill," begged Teddy.

"Wait a minute," cried Ross. "I've got a small magnifying glass in the
cabin of the _Sleuth_. I'll get it in a second."

"That's the stuff!" gloated Fred. "Now, we'll make it out, sure."

It was less than two minutes, but it seemed a long time to the
impatient boys before Ross dropped into the forecastle, holding a small
but powerful