The Wonder Island Boys: Conquest of the Savages Part 33

The three new boys were initiated into the crafthood which was ever widening and gaining new recruits. The natives showed remarkable apt.i.tude for the various branches of work. But the Professor and Blakely had other ideas than to train too many of them to labor in the mechanical lines.

Here was a land, rich in soil, capable of growing any crop, or adapted to give up its bounty in the form of many valuable kinds of produce.

Rubber, coffee, spices, cocoanuts, the finest fibers, in variety, and all of them now growing wild.

This land must be occupied and tilled by a people adapted to the soil and climate. The principles of agriculture must be instilled. What a wonderful work to contemplate!

The schoolhouse was ready, but there were no books. Robert had taken the preliminary lessons as an artist, and was very handy with the brush and pencil. Entirely on his own initiative, he prepared a set of letters, containing the caps of the alphabet, and these were cut out by him, and the work so delighted the Professor that he instructed the boys how to cast the whole series at one time, so that a good stock of type was finally turned out.

"I have an idea," said Robert, "that it would be a good thing to put some pictures in the primer; just enough to make it look attractive."

"That would be fun," answered Min. "Don't say anything to the Professor about it."

The latter had already arranged a simple press, but when the latter was nearing completion, Roy burst out laughing, as he remarked: "Type is a good thing, and so is a printing press, but I am interested in knowing where we are going to get the paper."

"Paper?" exclaimed George; "lots of it growing all about here." And he looked at the boys a little maliciously. "All we need to do is to go out and gather it."

"Paper growing? Well, I have seen many things here, but that is something new to me."

"Do you know what the plantain tree is, the tree, with the big sprawling leaves? Those leaves will make good sheets for printing on."

The Professor heard the last part of the conversation, and remarked: "We might as well make paper, and I have already asked Harry to make a grinder for furnishing the pulp. We have the finest paper stock in the world."

"Yes," exclaimed George; "the ramie."

"No; not that. There is a reason why hemp, and many other fibers are better than that. Do you recall the peculiarity about ramie?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: "_The party plunged into the forest, taking the direction which Tom and Ralph had gone on the former trip_"

[See p. 235]]

Harry remembered. It resists moisture, and while it makes an excellent paper would be difficult with their crude means to turn it out satisfactorily. The grinding machine was a simple affair, and the fiber was fed through again and again, until it was cut up into short lengths.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fig. 22. Paper Making Machine._]

The princ.i.p.al thing, however, in paper making is to get it the same thickness. "It will take too long to make a cylinder, which makes the paper even, and distribute the pulp perfectly, and in the absence of that I have ordered an apparatus which will turn out a sheet at a time."

The Professor then exhibited a drawing, and continued: "Notice the box, which is two feet square inside and two feet high. See this cleat all around the inside, six inches from the top. That is to hold the frame of a cloth web, which fits in the box exactly."

"At the bottom of the box is a pipe, right in the middle. This pipe is for the purpose of carrying the water into the box. Below the box is a larger box, and this contains the water which has the pulp mixed with it, just enough of the pulp to make it look cloudy.

"The water in the box is carried into the box by the pump. When the screen, or web, is placed in position, and the pump set to work, the water, carrying the pulp, moves upwardly in the box, and the fine particles of pulp are caught by the screen and held there, the little fibers lying crisscross over each other.

"Every minute or so the screen with the paper mat on its underside must be taken out and another put in, and the matted paper on each screen put under a press, and the water squeezed out, after which it will readily peel off the screen, and when it is dried it makes a good blotting paper. To make a writing paper of it, the sheet must be run through a number of heavily weighted steel rollers, but we don't need that for printing our books."

The paper was made in that manner, and the Professor was delighted when he saw the ill.u.s.trations. Thus the first serious attempt was made to begin the teaching of the children, and when the books were ready the boys were all happy to undertake the work of teaching. It was here that the Tuolo medicine men were utilized, and it may be said to their credit that they found the new calling agreeable and pleasant.

But there is still so much to be said about the town, the people, the actions of the chiefs, the work that was being prosecuted, the farms and plantations that were started, the manufactured articles turned out, the new houses erected everywhere, and the intense interest exhibited by the people under the new order of things.

The boys knew they had been a great factor in the regeneration of the island, and were proud of it. Lolo, and boys of like ages with our boys, were given special training, due to the suggestion of the Professor.

Some were taught the theory of medicine, as the necessity of proper medical treatment was essential. Many received the rudimentary knowledge of carpentry and other occupations from John.

The ship was the princ.i.p.al topic of conversation, and to that the main energies were directed. The finest oak trees were cut and brought in; a new and larger sawmill installed; the machine shop was busy day and night in the making of two new lathes, a planer, and several drilling machines.

During the rush and the excitement of all these new enterprises, the boys could not forget their earlier experiences, and about the mysterious things which formed parts of their adventures.

To enumerate all of them would take too much s.p.a.ce, and be unnecessary, but some of them had an intense personal interest, and they recalled how the missing flag was accounted for when John appeared; the removal of their boat at the Palls of South River was explained; the discovery of the light beyond the West River really indicated the location of the savage village.

But there were other things still unaccounted for, and the boys craved a solution to the mysterious happenings. Who wrote the message found in the _Investigator's_ lifeboat, No. 3? Who took the flagstaff at Observation Hill? Who placed the crude oars and the strange ropes in their boat which was found stranded on the sea beach ten miles from the place where they left it?

The boys determined to know these things, and they trusted to the future to be able to give the answers.

Little of the time was devoted to pleasure now. The great forest to the west was looked on by the boys with longing eyes many times. They had heard about the experience at Blakely's old home on the hill. One day Harry said: "There is one thing lacking in the town."

"What is it?" asked Tom.

"The American flag."

"Good! We must get a fitting flag pole for that."

All the boys conspired together that night.

They would go to the great forest and bring in the finest pole to be found. Jack and Jill and Angel must go with them; and Lolo and his best boy friend were invited.

Early in the morning, without giving anyone an idea of their intentions, the guns and the bolos were loaded on the wagon, and plenty of provisions, you may be a.s.sured. George and Ralph manned the large boat, so that the crossing of the river would be facilitated. The wagon still had the fort sections, which were taken along so that could be floated across.

Within an hour the main river was reached and the float sections attached, so that the yaks plunged in and drew the wagon across, while the boat was drawn up on sh.o.r.e to await their return.

The party plunged into the forest, taking the direction which Ralph and Tom had gone on the former trip. Quant.i.ties of game were bagged, but there was no exciting incident. The pole was the main thing, after all, and when they tramped in every direction the selection was narrowed down to two fine specimens of sh.e.l.lbark hickory, and one was felled and trimmed, and after hoisting one end on the wagon, the other was put on the truck and the party drove into Unity in the afternoon.

The inhabitants swarmed the streets at the novel spectacle. The Professor, John, Blakely and Rogers instantly divined the meaning of the pole.

"Where shall we put it up?" asked Harry.

"Right in the center of the town," was the Professor's response.

"To-morrow is flag-raising day, and it shall be a holiday!"

Before night the hole had been dug, and the immense pole erected.

When "Old Glory" went up the next day there was nothing lacking but the music; the hats of everyone came off as the flag slowly ascended, and the cheers that came from the throats of the natives could not have been more intense, nor the enthusiasm greater, if partic.i.p.ated in by genuine Americans.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Stars and Stripes]

THE END

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