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 able 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."