The Wonder Island Boys: Exploring the Island Part 31

"Less than a hundred feet."

"By the way," remarked Harry, "we forgot to say that close to the small hut we found some vegetables growing in several rows, and weeds all over the place and between the vegetables."

"Do you think," asked George, "that the vegetable garden is any sign that white people have been living there?"

"It may be; but the lowest savages have usually some form of knowledge about raising and caring for vegetables, so we should not count too much on that. This cup here seems to indicate the presence of some civilized being, whoever he may be."

"It is just as likely, is it not, that the savages may have captured a prisoner who had the cup?"

"That is one solution. This writing is the most important piece of information we have had up to this time. It is not at all likely that the natives would preserve it, so that the only conclusion I can draw from it is, that the one who wrote the message, or the one who got the paper, was at the hut, and now the important thing is to arrive at some sort of idea _when_, and what the message means."

"It does not seem," remarked Harry, as he carefully scanned the paper, "that we can make out more than a few of the words. Here is the word which looks like 'river.' Yes; I am sure of that."

"And besides that the words 'of' and a capital letter 'B,' and something that looks like 'r-e-n,' which may be simply part of a word," added George.

"As this is simply ordinary wrapping paper, it is likely that it may have no meaning whatever. Still, I have been trying to recall whether anyone on s.h.i.+pboard had a name that these initials would fit. My limited knowledge in that direction does not help me, I confess."

"What do you suppose the cup is made of?"

"That is undoubtedly silver, or some alloy of metals of which silver is the princ.i.p.al part. It is very hard, as you notice. It is certainly a singular thing that a vessel of this kind should be left at the springs, if the owner of it was there, and it is just as remarkable that the natives would permit it to remain there. I now regard the finding of the cup as of far more importance than the paper, because of these considerations."

"Well, the finding of the huts, and these articles, are pretty strong arguments in favor of our purpose to find the people who owned the things we found there," responded Harry.

"But I have also a little news to impart," said the Professor.

"What is it?" asked the boys in concert.

"I have found a companion to the skeleton we discovered on the beach, and also some information about the inhabitants of the island."

"Tell us about it. Where did you come across it?"

"It isn't much of a story, but an hour or so after you left, I felt like taking a little stroll, so I crossed the valley east of us, and skirted the incline beyond, going toward the cliffs fronting the sea. Ever since we found the skeleton I felt that, unless washed out to sea, there might be some other traces of the wreck.

"I was quite unprepared to make any searches along the hillside, except for evidences of minerals, and particularly to note the peculiar outcropping of the rock on this side of the ridge which terminates at Observation Hill.

"The backbone of the ridge is limestone, and after I had reached a certain level I noted, all along, that the rock had remarkably wide cleavages; that is where there had been breaks in the rock the seams opened, and in some places I found recesses fully six feet wide, and thus caverns, sometimes thirty or forty feet in length, would be formed.

"I explored some of them in the hope that it would lead me to a cave of some extent, but in this I was disappointed. Such may be the case, but I have not discovered anything which leads me to believe that there are other caves than the one we explored.

"I entered one of those, which was a long way this side of Observation point, and there, on a rude sort of improvised wooden cot, was a skeleton. I found a half dozen arrows, lying near, but neither a bow nor any other kind of weapon was anywhere in sight.

"The skeleton showed that it was the remains of a tall man, past middle age, undoubtedly, and there was no evidence that he came to his death by any wound which effected a fracture of any of his bones. The cot on which the skeleton reposed was made of pieces of wood, in a complete state of decay, and there was not a vestige of clothing, jewelry or pocket articles at or near the bones.

"I found two of the arrows near one hand, and the others lying about.

Here they are. Handle them carefully, as they are decayed, and will readily fall to pieces, unless you use the utmost care. That is my story. I hunted all about the vicinity, hoping that I might find some additional clues, but I was disappointed."

"Do you think he had any connection with the skeleton we found on sh.o.r.e?"

"No; it does not seem likely. My reason for saying so is, that it would take several years for wood to decay, as you see in the case of these arrows, and the cot had the heaviest portions all rotted. In my opinion this skeleton shows greater age."

"Under conditions of that kind, what sort of story could you weave out of it, so as to determine what happened to him?"

"It is decidedly more interesting than our adventure, and about as difficult to gather any information from," answered Harry.

"In my opinion, the man died from starvation, as you say he had no tools or implements of any kind," replied George.

"That may be; but it appears entirely different to me. The man was, undoubtedly, cast ash.o.r.e, or was s.h.i.+pwrecked. We have evidence that this island is noted for taking in people that way. He may or he may not have had clothing, but in either event, he could not starve in a place like this, with vegetation around him everywhere and at all seasons of the year.

"I am picturing this condition of affairs in my mind: He was, no doubt, out in quest of food, when he was attacked by the natives and escaped from them. He was wounded by them, and when he reached his shelter, removed the arrows, as I found them near his bones. It is probable that his wounds proved fatal shortly after he reached the cave."

"But how do you account for the cot on which he was lying?"

"It would be the most natural thing for him to find a place to shelter himself. That would be the first thing to do; just as he had a place to retreat to, and was fortunate enough to elude his pursuers, who were not aware of the hiding place."

"That seems reasonable," remarked George. "But it seems to point one way sure; that we have a pretty tough lot of people on the island to deal with, and satisfies me that we are going about it the right way, in making the proper preparations for the time when we must meet them."

CHAPTER XVIII

STRANGE DISCOVERY OF A COMPANION LIFEBOAT

The greatest activity was now manifested in every direction. The Professor was here, there and everywhere, taking part in every sort of labor which the different work required. Part of the time he was in the meadow where George was engaged in plowing up an acre of ground for the garden.

It must not be concluded for one moment, that the scheme of eventually leaving the island had been forgotten and that their preparation for planting crops foreboded an indefinite stay.

It will be recalled that the Professor knew what idleness and an unoccupied mind would do to the boys in their situation. He tried in many insidious ways to stimulate the boys to think out and carry forward original work, and in almost every instance he succeeded in doing this in such a way that the boys themselves suggested the work to be done.

Harry was the builder, and the utilizer of the knowledge gained, and George was content at the arrangement which kept him in the workshop with the tools, while he gladly did the most of the outdoor duties.

For two weeks the boys worked without a thought of relaxation, and on this occasion, as on many others, it was inc.u.mbent on the Professor to suggest a day of sport. It was the only direction in which he at any time tried to wield the energies of the boys, and from this you may infer how intensely they were interested in the marvelous developments day by day, of which they were the important factors.

"Well," said Harry, "I must confess that I had entirely forgotten our arrangement to devote a day each week to hunting and explorations, and I didn't miss it."

"Nor did I," was George's reply: "I suppose we shall have to go, as I imagine the Professor wants to have some sport," and he laughed at the sly dig which he had given him.

The Professor smiled. "You are right, George, old as I am, I am in for sport, and fun of any kind. Why, I am just as young as you are in feeling and desires, but the difficulty is that getting old is a habit with many people. It gets on their nerves; they get some reminder of old age every day of their lives, and sometimes hourly during the day. When this goes on for three, four, five or ten years, it is too much for the most of humanity. It is taken as an accepted fact that old age means infirmity, and the break comes, not really because the body is weak and worn out, but because the mental state has contributed too much to the idea that they are no longer young and cannot be youthful, and are getting too old to enjoy things that others delight in."

The all-absorbing topic at the evening conference was to determine where the hunting exploits should next take place; whether to the west, where they had witnessed the fight between the bears for the honey tree, or to the other side of the South River, which they called their hunting preserves.

Heretofore, George had been anxious to do all the hunting along the river, but now he kept suggesting the forest to the west, and it eventually turned out that the real reason was on account of the supply of honey giving out; and he had an idea that, as they had not seen any trees with honey indications anywhere else in their wanderings, that would be the proper place to go.

His views prevailed, but it was a two-days' journey, there and back.

That was the only objection; and considering that they had not taken a vacation for two weeks, this was not an extraordinary thing to do, notwithstanding the urgent work which they had started on the boat and in the agricultural line.

The next morning the yaks were yoked, the wagons supplied with their usual camping equipment, tools, weapons, provisions and the like, and a start was made before ten o'clock.