“Not necessarily,” laughed Fred. “He was only trying to protect his property.”
“Well, I guess he did that all right,” exclaimed Grant. “He certainly did as far as I am concerned.”
“The joke of it is,” said John, “that probably the whole thing is as simple as rolling off a log. All we need is the key.”
“Yes,” cried Grant, “but if we can’t find the key what good does it do us?”
“None, I’ll admit,” replied John, “but we must find it.”
“Oh, it’s easy enough to say that,” exclaimed Grant bitterly. “I don’t notice anybody doing it, though.”
“You’re not going to give it up are you, Grant?” asked Fred in surprise. “Why this is the best encouragement we’ve had yet.”
“Give it up! Of course I’m not going to give it up. I don’t see much encouragement here though. I think it’s only more maddening. What we’ve found to-day only goes to prove that this code does tell where treasure is buried, but it doesn’t tell us how to read the code, does it? It only tantalizes us, but you can make up your mind that I’m not going to give up, even for a second.”
“What Pop said was probably true,” remarked John.
“What was that?” asked Grant.