23

“What could that possibly mean?” asked Carrie.

“Let’s see,”  David started to think.
“The legend says that the pirate wrote this  poem  before l820 or so. That was  between about  185 and 200 years ago. The legend says that the pirate planted a tree. So probably it was small when he planted it.  Trees are usually quite small when planted. The poem says  that  some day the tree would grow  taller. We know trees grow taller. But Captain Patch points that out. ‘Hmm.’ It must mean something important.”

“I can guess about that,” said Carrie.  “Maybe he meant that if he didn’t take the treasure himself,he didn’t want anyone to find it for a long time.”

“You’re right, Carrie.” replied David. “  This must be a sort of treasure hunt, and the starting point is the  tree that Captain Patch planted which had grown over the years. 

 

 

24

Perhaps no one could solve the riddle in the poem until the tree was taller. That seems to make sense to me.

See what it says next---

          "You’ll FIGURE out the very one,
           Before the August setting sun." 

 “Before the setting sun— Does that mean we have to see the tree before the sun sets?" Beth asked the others.

“Actually,” Aaron piped in, “that wouldn’t help us pick out the tree we need to find. Captain Patch wanted us to find the tree. So perhaps we have to see which tree is standing in front of the setting sun. ‘Before’  might mean ‘in front of.’ ”  

The other children agreed with Aaron on that.

CLICK