"Must have been at least twelve years ago. I'm not sure of the exact year."
"But what do these things mean?" questioned Miss Minerva, pointing to the strange characters in the silver-work.
"They're Chinese characters, certainly, but I don't know what they mean. You see them on lots of their jewelry and gimcracks—generally mean 'good luck,' or 'happiness,' or some such motto. Can't say whether these mean anything of that kind or not."
"But tell me, Father, don't you honestly believe that if we could get these translated—find out what they mean—it might give us some clue to the puzzle?" Marcia appealed to him.
"It might—or it might not," he answered skeptically. "So many of these characters might be meaningless, as far as any personal application was concerned."
"Well, anyway, could we get them translated, just for our own satisfaction?" demanded Marcia.
"Nothing simpler!" smiled Captain Brett. "My boatswain is a Chinese—very learned man—reads his Confucius in off hours! He'd be sure to help you with it."
"Oh, goody! And when can we have it done?" cried Marcia, aglow with anticipation.
"Well, you're all coming down to visit the ship to-morrow. Bring the bracelets along, and I'll see that Lee Ching is on hand to give you his assistance. But—I warn you—don't count too much on what you may discover from it! I don't want you to have a bad disappointment."