“Oh—I see how everything begins to fit in!” cried Garry. “Somebody had a map, or chart, or plan of some ship supposed to be in this swamp. Well, then, Doc heard about the skeleton being found—or saw it found! He read the news hints about the possible treasure buried here.”
“Yes—and he either found the tracing or saw it!” agreed Don. “Then he went to the ‘medicine man,’ because he told us that your father had taught him all he knew about herb medicines, John.”
Nodding, the Indian added:
“But he wanted us to divine where the ship was buried, and we did our best. Then—when the two young gentlemen here—” he indicated Don and Garry—“came there, with their injured pilot, and Father learned by putting two-and-two together—or however you choose to say he did—that there was a stolen tracing of a ship, we took the contract your theatre man had offered, and I came on ahead a week ago to look over the ground and see what was what.”
“And what was ‘what?’” demanded Chick.
“I can’t give you that answer,” the youth declared. “I’ve trailed the tracing, but some one took it before I could get a chance to see it. I was hiding, listening and watching, in the airport, this evening—or last night, to be correct. I heard it said that the map was gone, and I ran and hid, but the young man you call Chick discovered me. I was so afraid I’d be accused of theft of the tracing I’d never seen that I lost my head and ran—and when I was chased, and saw something in a disguise going to start into the air in a helicopter, I swam to it and went up—and you know the rest.”
“All but this!” Don said. “You were close to that fellow in the disguise. You were in the helicopter with him——”
“Only for a minute!” interrupted the Indian youth, then he checked himself, as though a sudden idea had occurred to him.
“What has struck you?” demanded the control chief.
“I—” the youth hesitated, while Don, Chick and Garry listened with a feeling that they were about to hear a revelation.