CHAPTER I
THE STRANGE OARS AND ROPES
"I am awfully anxious to know where the charted islands can be that Johnspoke about," remarked George, as Harry was consulting the plans of theboat they were building.
"They must be in this section of the southern seas, or his partywouldn't have sailed in this direction," answered Harry, after a pause.
"Do you think he would be offended if we spoke to him about it!"
"No;" answered Harry, after some reflection. "He has spoken to me aboutit several times. But why do you ask!"
"For the reason that I think it would be a grand thing to hunt them up."
Harry laughed, and then slowly said: "That would be a big thing toundertake. But what about going home?"
"I hadn't forgotten that. I meant that when we came back it would beproper for us to undertake."
"Well, haven't you had enough trouble during the past two years?" AndHarry laughed, just as though they hadn't gone through sufficient trialsto last a life time.
"I wouldn't mind going through the same experiences, when I rememberwhat we have learned and what all of us have accomplished," respondedGeorge, as he looked through the window, reflectively, and watched thenatives at work.
* * * * *
It will be difficult to understand the force of the above conversation,unless the reader knows the situation in which the boys were placed atthe time it took place, and the locality of the scene where theconversation was held.
Over two years previously two boys, George Mayfield and Harry Crandall,were members of a school training ship which left the Harbor of NewYork, for a cruise in southern waters, the object being to instruct thecrew of seventy boys in the art of seamanship, as well as to give them afoundation knowledge in the arts and sciences.
On board they became intimate with a gray-haired Professor, who becamevery ill. They were particularly attracted to him, and waited upon him,until they reached the Pacific Ocean, where, for some reason the shipmet a catastrophe, and the crew were compelled to take to open boats.
The two boys, with several companions, and the Professor, were togetherin one of the life boats, and after leaving the sinking ship a terrificgale, one of the great monsoons, separated them from the companionboats, and for six days they were driven about in the vast ocean,absolutely helpless. During this time all their young companions werewashed overboard, and they were driven to the point of despair, whenthey were cast ashore on an island.
They were thus placed on an unknown land, with nothing but their scantyclothing, and devoid even of a knife. There is no indication that theland was inhabited, and for the first three months, while recuperating,they had no opportunity to go far from the spot where they landed.
After the Professor had regained his health, they began to make a fewnecessary things, and hunt for the food which was necessary to preservelife. As they grew bolder, however, they fashioned crude implements,like bows and arrows, and primitive articles of utility.
They made a few trips into the interior, and then saw the firstindications which pointed to the presence of inhabitants. From some ofthe traces it was evident that the people must be savages, and then theysaw the necessity of preparing themselves to meet hostile neighbors.
Then began the most remarkable series of adventures on the part of theboys, under the instruction of the Professor, to provide not only thenecessaries of life, but many of the luxuries. While engaged in thedifferent enterprises they undertook numerous excursions, all of whichconfirmed them in the first intimations that they had landed on anisland, and that it contained one or more savage tribes.
To recount all that the boys did, even in the briefest space, would beimpossible in this book, and it is not necessary, in order to relate thehappenings from this time on; but some things are necessary, because weshall have to deal with incidents which took place during theiradventures, and this volume also brings into the scene severalcharacters, in addition to the three which have been named, as theprincipal participants.
The incidents referred to were called by the boys "the mysteries." Whenthey landed on the island they erected a flag pole, and improvised aflag which was kept at half mast, and mounted on a high point, so thatit would attract passing ships, if their island chanced to be in thepath of vessels. During one of their excursions the flag pole and staffdisappeared.
For the purpose of making one of the trips by water a boat was built,and they sailed it up a large stream, only to find that within ten milesof their home was an immense cataract, or falls, around which they couldnot porter the vessel. It was left below the falls in a secure position,and ten days later, when they went for it, were surprised at itsdisappearance.
Later on it was found miles away, but the little closets which they hadbuilt in to hold their food and clothing, had disappeared, and they werestill more startled to find a pair of oars, which they could not havemade, attached to the boat.
In repairing the boat a note was discovered, written by some one whocould not have been a member of their ill-fated vessel. This added totheir perplexities, for it indicated that white people had been on theisland, as well as savages.
Then they found strange ropes, evidently fashioned by a crude hand; askull of a well-developed man was picked up on the shore not far fromtheir home; part of the wreckage of a vessel was discovered; a herd ofyaks was captured and a mysterious brand deciphered on one of them.
But in their wanderings they found the entrance to a cavern, and thiswas explored, resulting in finding that it was formerly a pirates' lair,and they were astounded at finding immense wealth in its hiddenrecesses.
They industriously searched the island, and found numerous ores whichwere dug out and smelted and from which they were able to build manythings that added to their comfort; and finally, firearms wereconstructed, and powder made.
They spent much of the time in chemical experiments, in hunting for andgathering the different vegetables, and fibres, and from the latterlearned how to weave cloth, to make felt, and to turn skins into leatherfrom the animals which they hunted.
Their adventures were not wholly devoid of the amusing things of life.In one of the expeditions they captured a young Orang-outang. This wascarefully taught to do many things, and it became not only a valuableassistant, and a wonderful scout in their wanderings, but it affordedthem immense amusement, which was appreciated by the boys.
And now, having been provided with suitable weapons, they determined togo on voyages of discovery, being prompted in this course, because theyfound in the wreckage along one of the rivers, and far in the interior,a life boat which was a companion to their own which had been lost whenthey were stranded in the great tempest.
It was evident to them that some of their companions were on the island,and probably, captives. This made the quest a most exciting one, soevery energy was bent toward the end of helping the unfortunates.
On the initial expedition, after the completion of the first weapons,they came into contact with several tribes of savages, one of whom wascaptured, after being wounded. It developed that he was a chief of oneof the tribes which at that time were at war with each other.
Returning from this trip they discovered at their home a distinguishedlooking white man in rags, totally devoid of intellect, and unable tospeak. It was evident that he had met with some accident, but he wasentirely harmless, and obediently took up and performed every sort ofmanual labor,--in fact, was an expert in any sort of mechanicaloperation required of him.
In hunting, or in scouting, he was a perfect specimen of the hunter, orthe soldier. It seemed to be an instinct with him to render every kindof service that might be needed, with the gun, or the tools which wereall about him. In the absence of a better name they christened him John.
On the second trip into the unknown portions of the island they metthree of the savage tribes, with whom they had several battles, and oneof the natives was wounded and captured. While wandering through theforests, in t
heir efforts to return to their home, they ran into asavage village, where they were successful in rescuing two boys who hadbeen shipmates on the _Investigator_ which went down months before.
While this was a source of joy it was clouded by the information thatthey were not the ones who came to the island in the life boat that theboys had found in the river. This was evidence that others must still bein the island, and probably held as captives.
Some months after the silent John came to them, his reason and theability to speak returned to him, and he told a wonderful tale of hiswanderings, and that which impressed the boys most was the informationthat he had shipped in a vessel which was designed to search out thetreasures hidden in the islands of the South seas.
From hints which he dropped from time to time, the islands containingthe treasure were charted, and later on, one of the caves so charted wasfound on the island they now occupied, although they also found severalwhich were not alluded to and could not be recognized by thedescription, according to the story told by John.
John was an educated man, an archaeologist, and, next to the Professor,had the most varied knowledge of any one the boys ever met, and it canbe understood, that their association with men of that class made themremarkably active in seeking out and understanding the wonderful thingsthat nature presents in every field of human activity.
In order to be as brief as possible with this part of the story, it isnecessary to add that the rescue of the two boys, and the restoration ofJohn's faculties, made a strong party, and new weapons were made, andthe real expeditions through the island begun.
During the first extended trip, the Professor was captured. Out of thismisadventure grew some of the most remarkable series of events, butfinally, they were successful in rescuing four more of their formercompanions, and two of John's shipwrecked companions.
The capture of the Chief, formerly alluded to, and the subsequent rescueof a chief who was about to be offered up as a sacrifice, served as ameans to bring two of the tribes to the rescue of those in theexpedition, and the Professor, by his wisdom, was able to enlist theservices of the tribe which had captured him.
The events which lead directly up to the beginning of this volume werebrought about by the enmity of two of the most bitter and vindictivetribes, which compelled the Professor and the boys to form an expeditionagainst those hostiles, in which four other tribes assisted.
They captured the Chief, and rescued two of their former companions, andthen built a town called Unity, where the advantages of civilizationwere taught the natives, and to which place many of the families of thenatives emigrated.
All the chiefs formed an alliance of peace, and the Professor was madethe chief magistrate. After peace and order had been restored, the boysagain began to long for home. Prior to this they had determined to builda ship large enough to take them to the nearest shipping point, and theywere now feverishly engaged in the work with the aid of the natives, whowere eager to learn how the white men built the wonderful things whichthey saw all about them.
It will, therefore, be understood, that the remarks of George, at theopening of this chapter, had reference to the fact that the mostimportant of the islands, or the ones having the most of the treasurescould not be the one on which they resided, but pertained to some otherlocalities.
"Well, if there is anything I am interested in, it is to know why thewonderful buildings we found at the Illyas' village were put up at thatplace, and what caused all trace of them to be lost," said Harry, afterGeorge had expressed his last opinion.
"Do you remember what John said, after we came out of the cave below thevillage?"
"No; what was it!"
"He said the copper in the cave might explain it."
After the capture of the last tribe, John demanded that the Chief informthem of the location of the Hoodoo, or Medicine Men of the tribe, andhe reluctantly consented, but the Chief warned them, that to attempt toenter the cave would mean Death.
John knew that the Chief and the people believed the death tales told bythe Medicine Men, as it was tales of this kind which enabled them tomaintain such a hold on the people. In order to destroy the power ofthose people, who really had been the cause of much of their troubles,John announced that he would take the Chief and his followers to thecave, and that he would then go into the cave alone, and come out again,to prove that the Medicine Men had lied to him.
John entered the cave, and single-handed captured the Krishnos, as theywere called, and brought them out, thus verifying his statement thatthose men had deceived the people. Soon thereafter John and the boysentered the cave, which, from the description he had, contained animmense amount of treasure, but they were unable to discover any traceof it if it existed.
By accident the calcareous deposit was broken off at one part in theirsearch, and below was found a dark material, which, after examination,was found to be copper. It was not in its native state, but was aproduct produced by smelting the ore, and they uncovered an immensequantity of it, sufficient to show that the portion of the cave in whichit was found was really a storehouse.
Not more than a mile away was the Native village, where they held thetribe captive. The village was absolutely unlike anything else in theform of habitations found in the island. Three of the buildings werelarge structures, built in three of the well-known types ofarchitecture, and the other parts of the village were laid offregularly.
Surrounding the village was a strong embankment, as though originallyused as a fortification, and the village itself was located on the sideof a hill, betokening sanitary considerations.
"But I do not see," observed George, "what the copper in the cave had todo with the town?"
"Nor do I," responded Harry. "Suppose we see John at the firstopportunity. There are other things besides the copper I would like toknow. John has asked every one that he has come into contact with aboutthe different wrecks that have come ashore within the past two years,and no one seems to have any idea that more than two of the_Investigator's_ boats came ashore."
"Well, if they did it isn't at all likely that they could come to thesouthern shore, when the wrecked vessel was to the north of the island."
"It is just for that reason," responded George, "that I believe we shallfind other islands in the vicinity, and who knows but some of the boatsreached those islands?"
"I am with you," said Harry. "Shall we talk to John about it?"
"By all means. But stop! Why not have a talk with the Professor first?"
"Good idea. We owe everything to him."