receptacle issued the strange sound that I had heard.

How had it come here?

What did it contain?

In attempting to lift it from its burying place I dis-covered that
it seemed to be held fast by means of a very small insulated cable
running farther into the sand beneath it.

My first impulse was to drag the thing loose by main strength;
but fortunately I thought better of this and fell to examining the
box. I soon saw that it was covered by a hinged lid, which was
held closed by a simple screwhook and eye.

It took but a moment to loosen this and raise the cover, when, to
my utter astonishment, I discovered an ordinary telegraph instrument
clicking away within.

"What in the world," thought I, "is this thing doing here?"

That it was a French military instrument was my first guess; but
really there didn't seem much likelihood that this was the correct
explanation, when one took into account the loneliness and remoteness
of the spot.

As I sat gazing at my remarkable find, which was tick-ing and
clicking away there in the silence of the desert night, trying to
convey some message which I was unable to interpret, my eyes fell
upon a bit of paper lying in the bottom of the box beside the