“Tell us what you mean!” cried Tom.
“Well,” said Nicky, enjoying their suspense, “I told them exactly what Captain Kidd was reported to have said—except for one word that I changed. It didn’t change the real meaning, but I had a sort of flash of something inside, whatever it was, and I thought maybe if I changed that one word I could fool them—lead them on a false scent, and still tell the truth.”
“What word was it you changed?” cried Tom, and Cliff echoed the question in slightly different words but with no less eagerness.
“Repeat the message!” demanded Nicky. Cliff spoke.
“‘At the end of the line, in the lowest part of——’”
“Wait,” commanded Nicky. “What did you say after ‘in’?”
“The lowest part,” replied Cliff.
“And what is ‘the lowest part’ of a dipper?”
Tom saw it first.
“The bottom!” he almost yelled.