Part 4:  The Seaman's Treasure

That night, when he was about to close his stall, Rizal noticed a plastic bag on the bench where the old man had sat.  The old man must have forgotten to take it with him when he left.  Rizal picked up the plastic bag and peeped inside to look at the contents. 

Just some old clothes, trinkets and miscellaneous wrappers.  He poured everything onto the table and sieved through them one by one.  There were some old medals, a few odd shaped pebbles, some ‘banana tree money' and a small worn-out leather bag.  He unzipped the bag and saw something that looked like a coin.  Rizal picked it up scrutinised it. It seemed very old and was covered with some dark brown and green patches here and there.  There were inscriptions on the coin but he could not understand what they were or meant.  He had never seen any similar coins before.  Where did the old man get this?   Then he noticed a carefully folded brownish looking piece of paper sandwiched between the old clothes.  He opened it.  It was a map. 

Carefully he studied the map.  The place looked familiar. It was a map of well known diving sites at Sipadan Island.  He guessed that the map was probably 10 years old but looked ancient; the moisture might have turned it brown.   Rizal began to wonder.  What was the map for and why did the old man carry a map of the island? It was a well known island. Everybody knows about the island. 

The call for prayers stopped him from further wondering.  He scooped up all the things on the table and put them into the plastic bag.  He closed his stall and made his way to the nearby mosque.