“What’s up?” he questioned when they were beyond the hearing of the others. “You’ve learned something about that youngster?”
“We were hanging up his clothes, and sort of went through his pockets,” Brad confessed. “Maybe we shouldn’t have—”
“On the whole, I think I might have done the same,” Mr. Hatfield reassured him. “The boy evidently has no intention of telling us anything about himself. So I figure it’s up to us to puzzle out a few facts for ourselves.”
“Here’s what we found,” Dan said, offering Mr. Hatfield a scrap of heavy wrapping paper.
The Cub leader snapped on his flashlight to study the writing. Only two words appeared, preceded by a string of puzzling numerals.
“020614 7552845 24
Skeleton Island.”
“Queer,” Mr. Hatfield commented. “You say this paper came from the boy’s pocket?”
“Yes, it was wadded up inside an old cigarette case,” Dan explained. “That’s, why it wasn’t water-soaked.”
“Find anything else?”
“Only a couple of handkerchiefs, a pocket knife and a few odds and ends,” Brad replied.