The Wonder Island Boys: Adventures on Strange Islands

  CHAPTER XVII

  HUTOTON; THE PLACE OF DEATH

  But the boys knew that they had some important things to attend to. Thepleasures of life have an important part, but they were now engaged inserious work. The fact that they had accomplished so much was a greatincentive to go on and investigate other things which were stillmysteries, and which might be of great value to them.

  The coming of the Professor had been a great pleasure to them. Thedevelopments of the past two weeks were ever in their minds and theycould not repress the curiosity to visit the other islands, if suchcould be found.

  Now that Sutoto was married they knew he would not be with them for atime, and they had not talked over the future plans. When, the next day,they and the Professor and John were together to consider the next step,it was with joy that the Professor informed them of the purpose of Johnto continue the investigations throughout that part of the ocean.

  "It seems that your interpretation of Walter's note was entirely wrong,"said John. "In any event it is certain that we are more than thirtyleagues from Wonder Island, and not in the direction he pointed out."

  "Then it is likely that if there is an island which will fit the place,it must be to the north," said Harry.

  "That would be a natural conclusion," he answered. "It has occurred tome that the natural place for an island would be to the north."

  The boys looked at him with surprise. "What makes you think so?" askedGeorge.

  "I judged so, merely from the conformation of this island."

  "What is there in the island that makes you think so?"

  "You have noticed that the island is very narrow east and west, and verymuch longer north and south."

  "Yes; but that still does not make it plain to me."

  "The island may be like the ridge of a mountain cropping out of theocean. For instance, the Andes and the Sierras in the United States runnorth and south. Now suppose the ocean should cover the land, thosemountains would form islands which would naturally be north and south ofeach other, and the islands themselves would be longer north and souththan east and west."

  "I see the idea. But we might find them to the south of this island, aswell."

  "Certainly; but as the northern section brings us nearer the supposedthirty leagues, we should, I think, make the investigation there first."

  It was necessary that Sutoto should go back to Wonder Island. Hisposition as Chief of the Berees made this essential. Furthermore, theage of the Professor made traveling and the hardships of investigatingon foot a hard task, and besides it was necessary to take back thevisitors.

  "I have suggested to the Chief that we shall return, and have invitedhim to accompany us, and I am gratified to say that he has accepted. Weshall, therefore, be ready to return within a few days," said theProfessor.

  "Have you said anything to him about the contemplated visit to Hutoton?"asked John.

  "No; but I shall do so at once."

  "Oh! that will give us an opportunity to take the paralytic back withus," suggested Harry.

  "Yes; that will be the reason for our stopping there."

  "Wouldn't it be a good idea to sail to the north, and investigate inthat direction, on our way home?" remarked George.

  "That has occurred to me."

  The Chief gave careful instructions to his son, Calmo, in view of hisproposed trip, and informed the Professor that he was anxious toaccompany them at the earliest opportunity.

  Two days thereafter, the entire party boarded the ship, and the coursewas set for the northern part of the island. There the Chief had thefirst opportunity to see the dreadful place where the criminals of hiscommunity had been sent.

  There was no resentment on the part of the convicts. On the other hand,there was the most effusive welcome extended, and when the Chief saw thehappiness and prosperity there, which he could not help but contrastwith his own people, he was amazed.

  The unfortunate patient was carefully taken to the ship, and during hisremoval did not in the least indicate by any sign that he knew what wasgoing on about him.

  John took many stores from the ship, and particularly garments, andarticles of food for the people. All participated in the division, andthe old man was delighted when he saw the gifts, the more so when Johntold him that they would soon be visited and other stores provided.

  When the rolling motion of the boat was felt by the stricken man, heshowed the first symptoms of consciousness. Sometimes he would lookabout him, and try to grasp something. On several occasions theProfessor saw him open his eyes with a sort of questioning look.

  But we cannot dwell too long on the result of the patient's progress, atthis time. John felt, as did the Professor, that from that man theywould be able to learn something, if he could ever regain his faculties.The boys gathered that much from the conversation, so that, for thepresent, he must be left to the tender care of the Professor, untillater events are recorded.

  From Hutoton the ship sailed directly north, it being understood that ifno land was sighted before evening it would be useless to go farther inthat direction. The _Pioneer_ was a good sailer, and could easily, witha fair wind, make ten miles an hour, so they would have fully sevenhours' run to test out their theory of land in that direction.

  Before five o'clock John, who was constantly on the watch, came to theProfessor and remarked that he believed the haze to the north indicatedthe presence of land. This was soon communicated to the boys, and therewas no more idleness from that time on.

  John's theory was correct. Slowly certain fixed objects appeared andsome outlines that looked like mountains, and the boys could not represstheir anxiety at the anticipated shore.

  "Then we were right, after all," said Harry.

  John smiled, as he replied: "I do not know; the calculations have notyet been made."

  "I would like to know how our position can be found out from anexamination of the sun," remarked George.

  "That will require a long answer to explain fully but I shall try toanswer it in a simple manner. The sailor takes an observation of the sunin two directions, namely, north and south, and east and west. You know,of course, that the sun moves north in the summer and south in thewinter, and that the extreme southern point is in midwinter, Dec. 20:that in the spring, or March 20, it is directly above the equator, andin midsummer, or, on June 20, it is as far north as it can go."

  "You mean," said George, "that it would be north of the equator."

  "As we have the same calendar over the entire world, it is trueeverywhere. The difference is, of course, that summer and winter, andspring and autumn are reversed, north and south of the equator. Allestimates as to locations are made by measuring angles."

  _Fig. 15. Getting Angle from Position of the Sun._]

  "Then it must be something like surveying?"

  "Yes; the same principles are applied. Here is a sketch, which shows theearth A, and B is the equatorial line. C is the position of the sun onSeptember 20, or on June 20."

  "Why are they in the same position on both days?"

  "Yes; the sun crosses the equator September 20, on its way south, andthen it again recrosses the equator coming north six months afterwards.On either of those days, if a person should stand at D, and look at thesun, there would be a line E, which projects out from the earth to thesun, and that is called the equatorial line."

  "It is exactly at right angles to F, which passes through the poles. Nowthe drawing shows two other positions, namely G and H. These representthe extreme points of the travel of the sun north and south, or thepositions that the sun occupy on Dec. 20, and June 20 of each year."

  "I see," said Harry. "The points G and H are just 23 degrees north andsouth of the equator."

  "That is correct, and there is another thing which can be learned fromtheir positions."

  "I know what it is."

  "What?"

  "It gives another line, or angle."

  "So now we have two angles, this, and the equatorial line. Then, we kno
wthe exact distance of the sun from the earth, and this gives the firstmeasurement, and with the angle formed by the line I, taken inconnection with the line E, it is easy to determine just where, or howfar the sun is to the north or to the south, and if you did not, forinstance, know the time of the year, a man could by such a measurement,tell, by the angle thus formed, the exact date."

  "I understand that now," remarked George. "The sailor, in getting theangle, simply measures that, and if he knows where the sun is on thatday he will then have two angles, one that he knows beforehand, and theother that he finds out by looking at the sun."

  "That is correct. The Nautical Chart gives all that information, so thatit saves a large amount of work in making the calculations."

  "That gives the way to determine positions north and south. But howabout east and west?"

  "In the same manner exactly so far as the angle measurements areconcerned, but in this case, instead of taking the time, in days or inmonths, as in reckoning north and south, we must take time in minutes,and to do that the entire globe is laid off in minutes and degrees,which the nautical tables give, and the mariner knows when he obtains acertain angle just how far east or west he is located by the chart."

  "But if he has no chart?"

  "Then he must figure out the position for himself, which he can do if hehas what is called Greenwich, or standard time, and has, also thecorrect time of the day where his ship is."

  Land was beyond; there was no question of that. It rose out of the waterhigher than the island they had just left, which the boys had named_Venture_ Island.

  The Chief knew nothing of the land before them. He had told John thatyears before he learned that there was a land where there were many badpeople, who killed and ate each other, but he did not know the exactdirection.

  The vessel was sailed along the coast, and the field glasses were usedto scan the land. It had the appearance of the other islands which theynow knew. Vegetation was magnificent, and growing everywhere, but therewas not the sign of a habitation anywhere.

  After an hour's sail they rounded a point, and beyond was the firstcove, or indentation along the coast. To that John directed the courseof the vessel, and they ran in very close, since he knew from the abruptsloping beach that it must be a deep bay.

  The men could scarcely man the boat quickly enough. A dozen of them,together with John, Muro and Uraso, took the first boat, while a secondboat was filled with the warriors who also were accompanied by some ofthe natives of Venture island.

  The Professor and the others remained on board, while the party made thepreliminary examinations of the immediate neighborhood. John formed twoparties, one under command of Muro, and the other of Uraso. The boyswere with Uraso, while he was with Muro. The object was to find out asquickly as possible what they would have to meet, and the result wouldenable them to determine the future plans.

  "It is understood, now," remarked John, "that the two exploring partiesshall take the two courses outlined, Muro and his men, to go directlyeast, while Uraso will take a course to the northeast, and proceed inthat direction for three hours, and then the two parties are to turntoward each other, and mutually report. This will give us anopportunity to find out something, unless the island is a very largeone, and requires subsequent exploration to ascertain whether it isinhabited."

  John had purposely selected the route to the east, as he saw the highelevation in that direction, and George laughed, as he said, slyly:"John is still after the caves," and Harry laughed, as he recalled thekeenness with which John had arranged the trips.

  John did make his way to the highest points, and soon learned, from theobservations, that the island was inhabited, but the trip of the boyswas more exciting, so we shall more particularly detail theiradventures.

  Before they had gone two hours evidences grew thick and fast that tribesinhabited the island. Muro, and the different men, were continuallyfinding traces, none of them, however, which indicated that the peoplewere near at hand, or that the telltale marks had been recently made.

  But now signs began to be apparent to the boys also; the bones ofanimals, lying around the spot where a fire had been gave them the firstreal sensation. Muro glanced at the boys, and at some bones, and theaction on his part was so peculiar, that George quietly remarked:

  "Muro looked so peculiarly at me when I glanced at the bones, overthere, that I wonder what he meant?"

  "I saw it too," answered Harry. "Let us have another look at them;" andacting on the suggestion they went over. Muro followed. They did notappear to pay any attention to him; but he was quick to join them, andas he did so he slowly nodded his head.

  "Are they human remains?" said Harry, as he turned to Muro,questioningly.

  "Yes; and this is not the first we have seen," he answered. "We may findthem now at any time. I am now sure that there are several tribes here."

  "What makes you believe so?"

  "Because we have found different kinds of hair, which is usually thebest evidence of the differences in the tribes, as each has its ownpeculiarity."

  "Savages, and cannibals!" said George reflectively.

  "But we must go on. We have still an hour in this direction before weturn to the south and east," said Harry.

  There was more caution now exercised, and the speed was accordinglyreduced, in view of the especial care which they took. In order tounderstand what happened the reader should know something of the natureof the country.

  Some places in Wonder Island had the same sort of timber andundergrowth, and they went through some dense forests, in which vinesand small brush made traveling difficult. They had to cut their waythrough some of this vegetation.

  The land was not low or flat. If it had been there would have been adense jungle. Sometimes they passed through half-grown forests, andthese places were the most difficult to scour, because an enemy mightbe within fifty feet, and not be discovered.

  It was in just such a place that they received their first surprise; ashower of arrows, so thick that they instantly knew it could not havebeen made by only a dozen or so. Some of the arrows found their marks,and two of the men sank down, while Muro coolly drew one of the crudemissiles from his arm.

  "Drop down!" cried Muro.

  There was not a savage in sight; still a number of arrows fell aroundthem. "Remain quiet, and I will find them?" said Muro, as he creptforward quietly through the dense grass.

  George and Harry followed, although it was evident it was not Muro'swish. Before they had gone ten feet, Muro turned, and pointed ahead."They are there; at least one party. Get ready for a shot."

  The savages, noting the quiet in their front, now cautiously peeredthrough the bush, and the boys saw the most hideous countenances. "Wemight give them a round," said Muro, and after carefully aiming, theguns spoke.

  The simultaneous explosion of the three guns, raised pandemonium on allsides. They were now surrounded by at least a hundred of the savages,but for some reason the little party of twenty awed them, and instead ofmaking a charge, they rushed toward the place where the three victims ofthe gunshots lay.

  "_She ... found herself standing in front of a tall ovalmirror_" [See p. 204]]

  Muro's arm was bleeding profusely, and George quickly bound it up,while the enemy were hesitating. "Do not shoot, unless they rush at us.I will talk: to them, and try to get an understanding."

  Then, in a loud voice Muro called to them, saying they were friends, andnot enemies. There was no response. Thinking that they knew nothing ofthe dialect, he tried another, and the only response was the evidentdetermination of the savages to attack again.

  The boys and Muro could plainly hear their chattering, but the lattersaid that what they were saying was not intelligible to him, and thatthey must now prepare for a fight.

  "Get your guns ready, and be prepared for a charge. If they come soclose that you cannot use the guns, then we must be prepared to meetthem with our knives, and we must all stand together, and not becomeseparated."


  Instead of attacking, however, there was silence, after the firstexcitement. "They are trying to find, out what struck their comradeswhen we fired," remarked Muro.

  "Yes; I think it was a big surprise."

  "I recall," continued Muro, "when we had our first brush with you thatwe could not find the arrow which we supposed was made by your bullet.That frightened us more than anything else."

  There was not the slightest movement on the part of an enemy for a fullhalf hour. This is the most trying sort of tactics. If you can see theenemy, or note that he is doing something, there is some relief to thetension, but where he can neither be seen, nor heard, it tries thenerves of the strongest man.

  Muro knew that this inactivity on the part of the savages had itspurpose. Probably, they intended to remain there until night, andoverwhelm them in the rush. Muro had other plans, however.

  "We cannot remain here. We must make the attack. Remain here, and permitme to feel out their positions, and also to determine what they aredoing." He glided away from them noiselessly, and how he kept the tallgrass and weeds from swaying, the boys could not determine at that time.

  It did not take Muro long to see the situation. They were surrounded bya cordon of savages, and while spying, saw a new lot of them coming up.The plan was plain enough, and it meant a fight now, or a night defense.

  When he returned, he had his plans formed. "They are being reinforced,and we have, probably, a hundred and fifty, or more, around us. John is,no doubt, too far away to come to our assistance, and our only hope isto attack them now, so we might as well take the necessary steps."

  While on his investigations Muro had discovered a fallen tree, which wasnot more than fifty feet to their left. "We must reach that tree, and bydigging a shallow trench at one side, can easily defend ourselves, aswell as pick them off at our leisure."

  Slowly they moved, in crawling attitudes, toward the place indicated.The tree was not a large one, but it made an admirable breastworks, andwith their knives each man dug out a shallow hole, piling up the earthbeyond the hole, so as to shelter them from the arrows, which they knewwould be rained on them.

  This work required a full half hour, and when it was completed, and Murohad satisfied himself that each one was supplied with sufficientammunition, he was ready for the second stage of the game.

  "We must attract them, by some form of action. I will take three withme, and crawl forward, until we can catch glimpse of some of thewatchers. Those we will attack, and then fall back, and do the same onthe other sides."

  Muro indicated those who were to follow, and after going only a shortdistance the boys heard the shots, then four more. This brought thesounds of voices from every direction. Muro and his men, during theexcitement, crawled to another portion of the line, and repeated themanoeuver.

  This, for the moment threw them into consternation, but they quicklyrallied, and now it was plain that they were pressing forward to rushthe position occupied by the boys. It was now obvious that theprecaution of making the defensive position, as Muro had suggested, wastheir only salvation.