Sally, pointing to the scrap of paper. "I believe it's buried somewhere, and this is the secret plan that tells where it is. If we could only puzzle it out, we'd find the treasure." A great light suddenly dawned on Doris. "Now I know," she cried, "why you were so crazy over 'Treasure Island.' It was all about pirates, and there was a secret map in it. You thought it might help you to puzzle out this. Wasn't that it?" "Yes," said Sally, "that was it, of course. I was wondering if you'd guess it. I've got the book under the bow seat of the boat now. Let's compare the things." She lifted the seat, found the book, which fell open of its own accord, Doris noticed, at the well-known chart of that well-loved book. They laid their own riddle beside it. "But this is entirely different," declared Doris. "That one of 'Treasure Island' is a[Pg 61] map or chart, with the hills and trees and everything written plainly on it. This is nothing but a jumble of letters and figures in little squares, and doesn't make the slightest sense, no matter how you turn or twist it." [Pg 61] "I don't care," insisted Sally. "I suppose all secret charts aren't alike. I believe if we only knew how to work this one, it would certainly direct us straight to the place where that treasure is buried." So positive was she, that Doris could not help but be impressed. "But pirates lived a long time ago," she objected, "and I don't believe there were ever any pirates around this place, anyway. I thought they were mostly down around Cuba and the southern parts of this country." "Don't you believe it!" cried Sally. "I've heard lots of the old fishermen about here tell how there used to be pirates right along this coast, and how they used to come in these little rivers once in a while and bury their stuff and then go out for more. Why there was one famous one they call 'Captain Kidd,' and they[Pg 62] say he buried things all about here, but mostly on the ocean beach. My father says there used to be an old man (he's dead now) right in our village, and he was just sure he could find some buried treasure, and he was always digging around on the beach and in the woods near the ocean. Folks thought he was just kind of crazy. But once he really did find something, way down deep, that looked like it might have been the bones of a skeleton, and a few queer coins and things all mixed up with them. And then every one went wild and began digging for dear life, too, for a
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