The Wonder Island Boys: Adventures on Strange Islands

  CHAPTER III

  THE ARROW ON THE SHEET

  When the boys reached their rooms they set to work to decipher thecolored paper. It was about four by six inches in size, and had beenfolded twice, as the creases plainly showed. Assuring themselves that itwas paper which had been crossruled, as suggested by John, they tried todecipher the straggling letters and form them into some coherent form.

  The paper had the following appearance when they received it:

  _Fig. 1. The Mysterious Message._]

  The words, or parts of words "dire," in the first line, and "30 gues" inthe second line, together with the letters "Walt" are the onlyabsolutely clear things to be noticed.

  "The writing is right across the V-shaped marks, and the arrow is plainenough. It may be though, that the arrow has nothing to do with theV-shaped mark." And George held the paper away from his eyes to get theproper effect at a distance.

  "I wonder how close the mountain is to the sea?" ventured Harry.

  "I don't see what difference that would make," replied George. "That_30_ must mean some measurement. It is either feet, or miles, or yards,or,--"

  "Why can't you see that 'gues' is a part of the word 'leagues.'"

  Harry jumped up as though shot. "Well, that was stupid of us, sureenough."

  "With that key before us, we can make some headway. I believe theV-shape is the lower end of the mountain, probably a headland, and thearrow points to a place 30 leagues to the,--see here, in the last lineis a W. and there is a blur before it and after it. That may be SWE,EWS, SWW, SWS, and,--"

  "Don't go so fast," shrieked Harry. "What do you suppose the capital Istands for at the beginning of the third line?"

  "I--I--, why,--_Island_, of course," said George, with an air ofsuperiority. "But it cannot be west."

  "Well, the arrow points southeast."

  "How do you know?" asked George, dubiously.

  "Why, that word at the extreme top must be 'north,' and if so then thearrow is pointing south, and the 'W' belongs to something in thatdirection."

  "There, in the second line is a word that looks like 'land.' Can it be apart of the word 'Island'?"

  "It doesn't seem so, as there is too much space before the letters. Itseems to me though, that it reads 'land 30 leagues' but what does 'se'mean?"

  The boys were up late that night, and they went to bed with the missivestill unsolved. Before retiring Harry said: "Let us wait until daylight.The sun may help us out."

  When they awoke the first thing that occurred to George was the originalWalter letter, so that the writing could be compared. It was found, andGeorge came in with an exultant bound.

  "I am sure now that it was Walter. Here it is." The original letter wasas follows:

  _Fig. 2. Walter Letter._ Go directly south from the large river which flows to the east, west of the mountains. We are too closely watched to escape. The tribe at war with our captors are to the west of. If I escape I will follow the river to the sea so you will understand where I am. Walter. ]

  "Compare the two and you will see they look alike," said George.

  "What shall we tell the Professor!" asked Harry.

  "Well but I am not yet through with the paper. Suppose we moisten it,and that may bring out something we didn't see before."

  This was done, but it made the entire document worse than before.

  "Too bad we have spoiled it," remarked Harry, "but I think we are safein telling the Professor and John what we have found out."

  For the time being, however, the boys had other urgent work to do. Theday for launching had been set, and every working hour was valuable, sothey were over at the ship yard early, and the boys did not see eitherJohn or the Professor during the day.

  The vessel as designed by Harry, and supervised by John, was ninety feetlong, and had a beam of eighteen feet, with a very deep keel, and highbulwarks. It was constructed of a species of oak, found in abundance inthe forest west of the town, and was cut up into boards, and dried inspecially-prepared kilns which were put up for the purpose.

  While lumber dried in this way is not the best for ordinary uses, itwill serve for shipping purposes, because there is always more or lessmoisture present in the hull of the vessel, and the object was to enablethem to get the material in the speediest way.

  The saw mill was one of their first experiments in building machinery,and it was in constant service from the day it was first erected,getting out lumber for building purposes.

  The engine was designed only for auxiliary purposes, and the boiler wasintended to use coal, of which they found an ample supply in thenorthern portion of the island, as explained in a previous book.

  When the boys returned to their rooms late that afternoon, the firstthing that interested them was the message. When it was brought in itwas dry, and a slight change was noticed in its appearance. Now, whatappeared to be the first word of the message, was discernible, the word"Take," and the word "Head" could be made out before and as a part of"land," in the second line.

  "We have it," cried Harry, as he jumped up. "Now let them know aboutit."

  They were across the open space, without any ceremony, and withouttaking trouble to announce themselves, were in the Professor's room.

  "We have it,--we have made it out," was the announcement, as Harry heldup the message.

  "Does it tell you where the Copper mine is located?" asked theProfessor.

  "Copper mine!" exclaimed George. "What has a copper mine to do with it?"

  "John and I concluded, from certain markings on the paper, that itcontained a diagram of the mine!"

  "Well, you were mistaken," said Harry with a chuckle. "It is somethingabout an island, thirty leagues to the southeast, somewhere."

  "Is that so?" exclaimed the Professor in surprise. "Get John. He will besurprised."

  John came hurriedly at the announcement, and the contents of the missivepointed out. "This is certainly good news," he said. "That was fine workon your part."

  "You see the arrow, and the part of the word 'leagues.' That couldn'tmean feet or yards, or miles."

  "Quite evident," said John, as he mused for a while. "This confirms, ina measure, the information that we have as to the proximity of theseislands, but the charts show them farther away."

  "Undoubtedly, if Walter knew what he was talking about, we have aninteresting problem to decipher, and the determination to make thevoyage is a wise and timely one," interposed the Professor.

  "Now for the ship," said Harry. "Every day is a hundred, in my mind."

  As may be imagined, the boys now worked with feverish haste. Otherislands here, and waiting for them! Sometimes they were almost temptedto give up the trip home, but the Professor would not hear of it.

  "Do not change your plans, if you have any good conclusions when youstart out. Don't oscillate from one thing to another. Always make upyour minds and then take a wise, persistent course. It is that whichalways serves you best."

  "No; we will go home first, and _then_ for the islands," said Harry, whofelt relieved that the impetuous nature of George could be brought totheir way of thinking, although George was by far the most homesick ofthe entire lot.

  All the boys were on hand when the vessel was launched. It rode thewater beautifully, and the natives were the most enthusiastic helpers.They felt proud of their work. Uraso and Muro, the two chiefs, who werethe most prominent men in the community, and particularly Sutoto, theintelligent Beree, and Stut, the brother-in-law of Muro, were on hand.

  It was a great feast day for the people. Tears actually flowed from theProfessor's eyes, as he saw the women and children crowd about him. Hewas almost a God to them. They were accustomed to receive visits fromhim in his weekly rounds, and how at such times he loved to tell themhow to make and arrange things about the house, which contributed totheir comfort.

  Everybody was at work; all were happy, and no one appreciated this morethan the women, who had been lifted out o
f the bonds of slavery andelevated through the wise administration of the Professor.

  Angel, too, was in evidence. He was the first to climb the mast, as theship floated in the stream.

  "I wonder whether Angel remembers the first trip he took with us on boatNo. 1?" asked Harry.

  Angel bestowed a knowing look on Harry. "I believe he knows what yousaid," remarked George.

  In another week the rigging had been put up, and the boiler and enginewere installed before the launching, so that the necessary workrequired to enable the ship to sail, was the provisioning. Johnsuggested that what was of far more importance would be the work oftraining a crew to handle the ship, so they turned their minds towardthe solution of this question.

  The selection of a crew was a most difficult task, because all the menwere willing to volunteer. It was decided, however, that only theunmarried men should be taken, and this at once eliminated many whomight otherwise have been selected.

  For three days the ship was taken out to sea, under sail only, and Johnfound no trouble in maneuvering the vessel with his new crew. John was asailor, and had once been owner of a vessel, so that they were incompetent hands.

  But the final day came, when they must go. It was a most trying time forthe poor boys. Almost at the last moment, Harry and George walked backto the Professor's room, and broke out into tears.

  "Everybody is leaving you," said Harry, "and I cannot bear to go andleave you in this way."

  All the rescued boys were on board, as well as Blakely, since theProfessor had insisted that the latter should go, for business reasons,so that the Professor was left alone, the only white man on WonderIsland, when the ship sailed down the river.

  True, there was no reason to fear for his safety. The natives loved himtoo devotedly, but the boys felt that he must often be lonely in his newsurroundings, with no one but the natives about him. They little knewthat the solace and comfort of the grand old man was the knowledge thathe had helped his fellow man, though the color of the skin was darkerthan his own.

  * * * * *

  Their voyage was accompanied by favoring winds and perfect weather.Valparaiso, Chile, was the first port at which they landed, and as atrip around the Horn, or even through the Straits of Magellan, and upalong the Atlantic coast, would mean several months, with their ownvessel, they shipped in one of the line steamers, and within seven weeksthey saw Sandy Hook lightship, and then the forts which lined theopposite shore at the Narrows.

  Telegrams to their parents created paroxysms of joy in many homes whichhad been robbed when the _Investigator_ went down. There were no happierhomes than the ones Harry and George were welcomed to.

  The papers told the stories of the boys in pages and pages ofdescriptions, and they showed the photos, and told what the boys haddone in their temporary home. The hero of all this wonderful home-comingwas Angel.

  The people, the houses, the wonderful automobiles which he saw on everyhand, at first alarmed him, but when he saw that George did not seem abit afraid, he reconciled himself to the situation.

  His first automobile ride was a revelation to him. He held on tightly toGeorge, at first, but soon the sensation became one of joy, and he couldnot get enough of it. The boys were certainly feted, but when they toldtheir parents that they must go back, the proposition met with strongopposition.

  The parents forgot that the boys were now over two years older than whenthey went away, and it seemed singular that the surroundings did notseem the same to them as before the happy boyhood days before they lefthome.

  For business reasons the parents knew that it would be prudent to permitthem to return and they were influenced by the remarkable change theysaw in the manners and actions of the boys. They saw the youths werestrong and self reliant, ever ready to act and to carry out theirresolutions. These boys had been transformed into men.

  They spent many days going over old scenes and visiting friends. Theyenjoyed to the utmost the reunion with their families, but they couldnot cease talking about the Professor. They now realized in full what hehad been to them, and what his example and teaching meant to them. Therewas really a feeling amounting almost to jealousy on the part of thepeople at home against the Professor, but it was not one of bitterness.

  One who could exert such a healthy influence on the lives of the young,as he possessed, was worthy of the adulation that the boys bestowed. ButJohn was not forgotten in these periods of happiness.

  They were never happy when telling the tales of their adventures exceptwhen John was present, and the latter was the most sought-forindividual, because when he once began to tell some of his vivid talesthe people would not let him stop.

  Finally the time for departure came. A merry party gathered upon thedock when the explorers were about to depart. They would write at leastonce a month, as Blakely had assured them that he would arrange to havea steamer run a round trip each four weeks, to take care of thecommodities which would be made up by the natives.

  The steamship _Panama_ slowly moved out into the bay, and the boysremembered the memorable event which took place at that same dock thirtymonths before. Then they left with a sort of half joy in their hearts,and now they were going away to finish up the great adventures whichthey had started when they reached the island of Wonder.

  All hearts were anxious as the ship neared Valparaiso, because therethey would leave the liner from New York, and again ship in the boatthey had built. They keenly scanned the pier as the vessel was beingwarped in.

  "Ah! there is Blakely on the dock," said Harry.

  "But I don't see the _Pioneer_ here!" responded George.

  _Pioneer_ was the name of the vessel they had built, and which broughtthem to that port from their island home.

  The moment the vessel came alongside the dock, George called to Blakely:"Where is our boat?"

  "At Wonder Island," was the reply.

  "At Wonder Island?" said Harry, and the boys looked at each other inamazement. And now they must wait several weeks, probably, until itreturns. This was disappointing, indeed.

  The boys rushed off. "And where shall we go now?" asked Harry.

  "Over to our ship," replied Blakely.

  They followed his gaze to a dock beyond, where lay a beautiful vessel, asteamer, all decked out with flags.

  "Is that our vessel!"

  "Yes, and I have been to Wonder Island on her since you left. We justarrived two days ago. We are ready to steam out within two hours."

  "Then don't let us waste a moment's time," said Harry.

  "I thought you might want to take a look over the town," said Blakely.

  "I have no wish to do so, as long as we have the islands in view,"remarked George. "And how is the Professor," he continued in an eagertone.

  "He is well and happy. But I have no doubt he longs for you, as hefrequently goes over to your rooms, and wanders around the shop, a thingwhich he never did while you were there."

  This was joyful news to the boys. How they longed to sail up EnterpriseRiver. The steamer which Blakely had bought, and which was destined toply between Wonder Island and the nearest trans-shipping point, wascalled the _Wonder_, a thing which the boys had not noticed until theywere nearing the vessel.

  It was a saucy little steamer, and as they drew near Blakely said: "Whatspeed do you think she will make?"

  "Fifteen miles at least," remarked Harry.

  "I am guaranteed eighteen miles an hour at the least."

  "Isn't that fine," said George. "What does she burn?"

  "Either wood, coal or petroleum."

  "Now would be the time to look up the oil deposits on the island,"remarked Harry.

  Within an hour the ship was under way, greatly to the delight of theboys.

  Notwithstanding the ship was sent forward under full steam, the speedwas far too slow for the impatient boys. They were on the bridge most ofthe time with the Captain who had been employed to run the vessel. Heproved to be a jolly, red-faced tar, who loved t
he antics of the boys.