"Was the grass about the hut as high as the grass round about the place?"
"It seemed to be. We made a pretty careful examination all over, so as to give us a fair idea of the condition of things."
"How far was the spring from the hut?"
"Less than a hundred feet."
"By the way," remarked Harry, "we forgot to say that close to the small hut we found some vegetables growing in several rows, and weeds all over the place and between the vegetables."
"Do you think," asked George, "that the vegetable garden is any sign that white people have been living there?"
"It may be; but the lowest savages have usually some form of knowledge about raising and caring for vegetables, so we should not count too much on that. This cup here seems to indicate the presence of some civilized being, whoever he may be."
"It is just as likely, is it not, that the savages may have captured a prisoner who had the cup?"
"That is one solution. This writing is the most important piece of information we have had up to this time. It is not at all likely that the natives would preserve it, so that the only conclusion I can draw from it is, that the one who wrote the message, or the one who got the paper, was at the hut, and now the important thing is to arrive at some sort of idea when, and what the message means."
"It does not seem," remarked Harry, as he carefully scanned the paper, "that we can make out more than a few of the words. Here is the word which looks like 'river.' Yes; I am sure of that."