He closed his thick lips tightly, as if to say he would not allow himself to be coaxed into speaking again, and Gil was on the point of trying to soothe him, when a shout from above caused him to remain silent.
“The captain says the boys are to come on deck and see what we have picked up.”
Gil and Nelse obeyed hurriedly, and were not a little surprised at seeing nothing more than a dead bird lying on the main hatch.
“Did you shoot it?” Gil cried, in surprise, wondering how it happened that they had not heard the report of firearms.
“It was dead, floating, and we picked it up,” Captain Mansfield replied.
“I saw something red had been tied under the poor thing’s wing, and wanted to find out what it meant. By doing so, we shall be able to rescue several unfortunate men from considerable suffering, if not death.”
“What do you mean?” Gil asked, in astonishment, and in reply his father held up a small piece of brown paper.
“This was what we found wrapped in a tarred cloth, with a bit of red flannel to attract attention. The cord was a piece of gut, which has swelled until the messenger choked to death.”
Gil took the paper almost reverentially, and, as Nelse looked over his shoulder, read the following:
Shipwrecked men on Walker Key at the northern slope of Little Bahama Banks, dying from thirst.
This message from the sea, brought by a bird, and discovered only by the merest chance, caused the boys the most intense astonishment, and Gil asked, breathlessly:
“People do not do such things for sport. It must have cost them considerable labor and ingenuity to catch this gull, and if they are yet alive, we’ll soon relieve their sufferings.”
“Yes, and it is very nearly a true course for us. We had only to shift the helm a couple of points.”
“To-morrow noon, if this wind holds. Go into the cabin, and by looking at the chart which is spread out on the table, you will learn exactly where the sufferers were when this gull was set free.”
The boys went below, after looking once more at the bird which had performed its mission, even in death, and then it was not difficult to ascertain very nearly the position of the schooner, for the course had been traced in pencil on the chart up to that morning.