“That’s ‘I,’ ” said Jack. Then the boy slanted his two first fingers together and crossed them with a middle finger.
“That’s ‘A,’ ” said Jack. Then the boy turned his hands the other way and made the letter M with four fingers.
“ ‘M’! ” said Jack. “ ‘I AM’ he has spelt out so far, Nora.”
The boy went on making the letters very cleverly with his fingers - and he spelt out the message “I AM A PRISONER.”
By this time Mike and Peggy had come upstairs to get their bathing-suits, which they had forgotten - but when they saw what was going on they sat down excitedly on Mike’s bed, whilst Jack spelt out the prisoner’s message.
“Jack, ask him who he is!” cried Nora, dancing up and down in excitement. So Jack spelt out the question with his black letters. And, dear me, what a surprising answer he got!
The Rope-Ladder
Jack had been watching the boy’s answer through the field-glasses. The others sat near him, waiting eagerly to know who the boy was. They could see him making letters with his fingers, but they could not see what letters they were for, unlike Jack, they had no glasses to help them.
“Who is he, Jack? Who is the prisoner?” cried Nora impatiently.
“Well,” said Jack, turning to them, “he has just spelt out in his fingers that he is Prince Paul!”