ble to make out the paper."

There was an exclamation of delight from Captain Hamilton and a snort
of surprise from Tyke.

"Why, I never knew that you knew anything about that lingo!" the latter
ejaculated.

"I don't know any too much about it," returned Drew, modestly. "But
the South American trade is getting so big now that I thought it would
be a good thing to know something of Spanish; so I've been studying it
at night and at odd times for the last two years."

"Well, don't that beat the Dutch!" cried Tyke delightedly. "Now if I
was superstitious"--he stared truculently at the suspicious working of
Drew's mouth--"I'd be sure there was something in this that wasn't
natural. We want to look into the box, an' it busts open in front of
us. We want to read that Spanish lingo, an' you know how to do it.
I'll be keelhauled if it don't make me feel a little creepy. That is,"
he corrected himself quickly, "it would if I believed in them things."

"Well, now that we know you don't believe in them," said Captain
Hamilton, with the faintest possible touch of sarcasm, "and since our
young friend here is able to read this paper, suppose we go to it."

"You bet we'll go to it!" cried Tyke eagerly. "You jest take a pencil
an' write it down in English as Allen reels it off."

"There won't be any 'reeling off'," warned Drew, as with knitted brow
he pored over the document. "In the first place, the Spanish used here
is very old, and some of the words that were common then aren't in use
any more. I can see that. Then, too, the ink has faded so much that
some of the words can't be made out at all. And where the paper has
been folded the lines have entirely crumbled away."

"Sort o' Chinese puzzle, is it?" queried Tyke dismally.

"A Spanish puzzle, anyway," smiled Drew. "I need something to help out
my eyes. I wish we had some microscopes in our stock, as well as
telescopes."

"We'll get the best there is in the market if necessary," declared
Tyke. "But jest for the present, here is something that may fill the
bill."

He reached into a drawer and brought out a reading glass that could be
placed over the paper as it lay on the desk.

"The very thing!" exclaimed Drew as he applied it. "That helps a lot."

There was a tense air of expectancy over all three as he began to read.
Tyke kept nervously polishing his glasses, and Captain Hamilton's hand
was the least bit unsteady as it guided the pencil. Drew's voice