It seemed as though the dinghy was away a long time; the queer light shone for awhile but suddenly vanished.
After a wait there came a hail.
“What do you think we found?” called Nicky, excitedly.
Tom couldn’t guess. When they all assembled and the riding lantern was hauled down to show their discovery better, Tom gasped.
“Right where the light had been, we found this!” stated Nicky, showing a rusted, broken and almost completely disintegrated old can, such as vegetables are preserved in. From it he drew an old, torn slip of some sort of thin leather or parchment. Time seemed to have eaten into it, or else the washing of the water had rotted it.
Nevertheless, faint, distinguishable marks were on it.
“Why, it’s a message or something!” exclaimed Tom.
“Dat’s what the light was for,” said Sam, his teeth chattering. “It marked where the can was, sars.”
“Well, it did us a good turn,” Nicky stated joyfully. “Read it, will you, Mr. Neale?”
Their captain put the parchment very close to the light.