aper inside, so old and mildewed that they
had to be handled carefully to prevent their falling to pieces.

One of the papers seemed to be an official statement written in
Spanish. The other consisted of rude tracings, moving apparently at
random, with here and there a word that was almost illegible.

The three men looked at this blankly. Drew was the first to speak.

"It's a map!" he exclaimed eagerly.

CHAPTER VII

A MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT

The two captains scanned the document closely.

"It certainly is a map," pronounced Captain Hamilton decisively.

"That's what it 'pears to be," admitted Tyke.

"And it's the map of an island," went on Hamilton. "See," he pointed
out, "these wavy lines are meant to represent water and these firmer
lines stand for the land."

The others followed the movement of his finger and agreed with him.

"Well, after all, what of it?" asked Tyke, leaning back in his chair
with affected indifference.

"There's this of it," said his visitor throwing his extinguished cigar
into the waste-basket and drawing his chair still closer. "I feel that
we have a mystery on our hands, and we should examine it fore and aft
to find what there is in it."

"I s'pose the next thing you'll be saying is that's it's a guide to
hidden treasure or something like that," jeered Tyke feebly, to conceal
his own growing excitement.

"Stranger things than that have happened," replied the captain
sententiously.

"Have it your own way," assented Tyke, rising and going to the door.

"Winters," he called, "jest remember that I'm not in to anybody for the
rest of the afternoon."

"Yes, sir," replied Winters dutifully.

Having locked the door as an additional guard against intrusion, Tyke
rejoined the two at the desk.

"Fire away," he directed. "What's the first move?"

"The first thing is to make out what's written on this other paper,"
said the captain, handling it gingerly.

The three bent over and studied the document closely.

"Why, it's some foreign lingo; Spanish probably!" exclaimed Grimshaw.
"Not a word of English anywhere, as far as I can make out."

"That's so," agreed the captain, a little dismayed at the discovery.
"We've struck a snag right at the start. If we have to call in any one
to translate it, we'll be taking the whole world into the secret, if
there is any secret worth taking about."

"Don't let that worry you," Drew intervened. "I think I know enough
Spanish to be a