“By names, yes, sir.  But I’m afraid I’ve got lots yet to learn.”

“I should say you had.  You know about as much how to sail a ship as I would how to run a steam-engine from seeing a tea-kettle boil.”

Captain Spark believed in making boys know their place, and he made up his mind he had a hard subject in Bob.  Still, he was determined to reform him if it was possible.

“When do you expect to get into the Southern Pacific?” asked Bob, as he thought of the secret map Captain Obed had given him.

“It all depends on what weather we have.  Why?”

“Here’s something a friend of mine gave me,” said Bob, pulling out the wrinkled piece of parchment.  “He says there is treasure buried on an island in the Southern Pacific.”

“Treasure?  Let me see.”

Captain Spark looked critically at the rather faint tracing of lines on the yellow sheet.

“I’m afraid somebody has been playing a joke on you, or on Captain Obed,” he remarked, handing the parchment back, after Bob had told him how he became possessed of it.

“A joke?”

“Yes.  That’s a map, sure enough, but no sailor could ever find the island by those directions.”

“Why not?”

“I said he never could.  Perhaps I should have said he might by accident.  Why, look, Bob.  Whoever made this map only marked the location of the Island by degrees; that is the degree of longitude and that of latitude.  Every circle is divided into three hundred and sixty degrees, and as the earth is round, It follows that a circle drawn around it would be the same.  Each degree therefore means a distance at the equator of about seventy miles.  So unless whoever drew this map is positive that the island is exactly at the intersection of the degrees of latitude and longitude which you have given me, it might be seventy miles one way or the other off from the location given here.  And seventy miles is a good distance on the water.  Besides, the map only states that the location is ‘about’ right.  I guess we’ll never find that treasure, Bob.  I don’t believe it’s there.”

“Would you think it worth trying for?”

“I don’t believe I would.  I might have to sail around for a week merely to locate the island, and the chances would be I’d miss it.  Then if I did find it, it would be very unlikely that anything would be buried there.  I don’t take any stock in those Captain Kidd yarns.  There’s too many of ’em being spun by retired sailors.  If Captain Kidd had any money, he took good care of it, you can wager.  Besides, I haven’t any time to fool around looking for an island.  I have to get my cargo to port on time.”

Bob was a little disappointed that he could not take part in a search for Captain Obed’s treasure, but he reflected that what Captain Spark said was probably right, resides, no one ever believed the stories Captain Obed told.  The aged man’s mind was not to be depended on.