But upon the cabin table lay a long telescope and a brass-bound chest.
This Frank knew was such as the log-book of a ship is usually kept in.
At the table was a chair.
In the seat of this was a heap of bones. The skull lay face up.
Evidently a man had sat at the table when the ship went down.
There was no doubt in Frank’s mind but that this was the ship of some exploring party.
He knew that the latitude was such as is rarely attempted by the whaler or ordinary ship.
Frank picked up the box and tried the lock.
Time had rusted it and it yielded.
Opening it, Frank saw what he had expected.