The Wonder Island Boys: The Tribesmen Part 9

The shots which were plainly heard indicated something good to eat, and before the hunters arrived the stove was removed from the wagon, and George had a good fire started.

A woodchuck and two pheasants were the trophies. What a feast they made.

The chief was now inclined to be more communicative. The neat trick of crossing the river was a most enjoyable spectacle for him, and he tried to exhibit his delight. Ralph and Tom didn't have much use for him; as they were no doubt thinking of the miseries that the islanders had given them, and the Professor smiled as he appreciated their feelings.

The disposition of the warrior was a leading subject of discussion, and some favored letting him go, but he was not in a condition to travel, and they were now fully ten miles or more from the point where he was captured. Humanity prompted them to take him with them rather than set him adrift in his condition, which might mean exposure to his enemies, and as a result the subject was dropped.

Red Angel was a source of wonder to the boys. He had so many attractive ways, and it was the first time that either had been thrown into close a.s.sociation with such an animal, and besides Angel was not an ordinary orang. He had been educated, and it amused the boys to see how much intelligence he exhibited when he was told to do certain things.

After the meal the march was taken up, and Harry, ever solicitous for his team, as he called them, was anxious to get water for them. He was a.s.sured that during the day they would without doubt cross some of the streams which they had previously found in that section of the country.

While thus moving along Ralph and Tom were inexpressively happy at their liberty. Weak as they were they frequently got out of the wagon, trudging along, running races with Angel, and jolly as boys out of school.

And this gives the first opportunity to describe them. Ralph was tall, and strongly built, but his emaciated frame did not show his full strength. Tom, on the other hand, was shorter and bulkier, so that the two boys were really the counterparts physically, of Harry and George, respectively. Both were educated fully up to their years like the average youths who had graduated from the high school.

Tom was the most observant of the two, and in that respect resembled George, and as they moved through the forest and over the table land, he would frequently stop and look around, and finally went to the Professor and said: "This part of the island looks very familiar to me." Then calling to Tom, he continued: "Isn't this the place we traveled through after we were wrecked?"

Tom looked about him, and finally answered: "It does look familiar like.

We came from that direction." And he pointed to the north.

"If that is the case you landed on the island fifty miles west of our position, and it is a remarkable thing that we never ran across your tracks," answered the Professor.

The wagon was driven forward slowly, because there was now no need for haste. The part of the country through which they were pa.s.sing was free from savages, so there was no anxiety from that source, and the Professor, as well as the boys, took delight in examining the country through which they pa.s.sed, and in trying to discover new vegetables and fruit, as well as learning all about the mineral resources of the different sections.

Before night they came to a small stream, which was an admirable camping spot, and the yaks fairly reveled in the sweet, fresh water. There was no hesitancy in building a fire for the evening meal, and the hunting bags showed a good supply of game. That evening sitting under the great southern dome, with its glittering stars, the Professor had a most attentive audience when the various questions were brought up for discussion.

To those who are fairly observant, the heavens in southern lat.i.tudes cannot fail to attract attention because of the different arrangement of the stars. People living in the northern hemisphere have never seen the southern cross, nor the great fixed stars, Canopus or Achernar; and those below the equator have never viewed the polar star, and do not know the beauty of the brilliant star Vega.

The most intent listener, on all occasions of this kind, was George.

"Tell us, Professor, how the mariner knows the direction of the south pole when there is no south polar star to show him?"

"Practically the same method is used as in the northern hemisphere. The north polar star does not in itself indicate which is north, but it is one of the points used in connection with another star which points out the direction.

"In the northern hemisphere there is a star called Alpheratz and another called Zaph, which are in direct line with the polar star. The two first stars named are exactly on what is called the equinoctial line. But the southern hemisphere of the heavens does not have a polar star to indicate the south, so that if you will now look directly above us you will notice two very bright stars. One of them is the fixed star Sirius, the most brilliant in the heavens; the other is Canopus, and a line along these two stars would go around the celestial sphere and point to the poles."

"But suppose we should be on the sea, and would not have anything else to guide us, what would there be to show which way is north and which direction south?"

"Sirius is easily distinguished, because it is, apparently, the largest of all the fixed stars. It cannot be mistaken. By taking that as a starting point, and following with the eye along past Canopus, you will be looking to the south pole."

"Isn't Sirius called the Dog Star? And hasn't it some connection with the dog days?"

"Yes; in the remote ages of the world, when every man was his own astronomer, the rising and setting of this star was watched with deep solicitude. The astronomers of Egypt determined the length of the year by the number of its risings. It foretold to them the rising of the Nile, which they called Siris, and admonished them when to sow. At that season of the year Sirius rises with the sun, and owing to its intense brilliancy, the ancients supposed that it blended its heat with the sun and thus was the cause of the intense heat; hence during that time were called dog days. At present what are so designated are the days between the 3d of July to the 11th of August."

CHAPTER VIII

THE CATARACT AND ITS MARVELS

The tramp through the forest was a leisurely one, as constant stops were made to examine the country. The rescued boys were wonderfully recuperated by the influence of two days of good food and the peace of mind and contentment that had come into their lives after a stormy and hazardous fourteen months' struggle.

Ralph brought in several specimens of fruit and vegetables, of the kind they had seen the natives use, and one specimen which had a long, tapering root. "Here is something they always had on hand," he remarked as he handed it to the Professor.

"That would be a valuable addition to our vegetable diet. It is a species of Salsify, or vegetable oyster, and by some called Goat's beard, on account of the peculiar top."

"I should like to know what this is. It seems to me that we saw plants of the same kind down near the South River." George produced a plant with beautiful large leaves at the end of each stem, which grew in cl.u.s.ters.

The Professor smiled. "You have at last found the real rubber tree. This was taken from one of the small trees, but they grow to considerable height, and many of the trees yield about eight gallons of milk, when first cut, which produces two pounds of rubber.

"But," continued the Professor, "I have something here that is more of a curiosity than anything else." He drew forth a stem with a number of leaves, and peculiarly marked. "Do you notice anything odd about this?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fig. 8. Salsify._]

All of them examined it intently, and finally Tom remarked: "Why don't you remember, Ralph, we saw these branches in the savage huts frequently, but I have no idea what they used them for."

"This is the carricature plant. If you will look closely the outline of human faces can be seen. Look at this leaf, the resemblance is plain.

Among the savages these leaves are plucked as charms, and the more distinctly they are marked the more potent they consider them. It is something like the ideas of many people about the four-leaved clovers.

So civilized people are not so very far above the savages, after all."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fig. 9. Rubber._]

In the afternoon of the third day they approached the vicinity of the Cataract, and Harry and George were wild to make their way forward, so the yaks were constantly urged to go on, and it frequently made traveling difficult for those who were walking. Ralph and Tom were kept in the wagon, but insisted that the Professor and John should take their places there, and would not listen to their protestations.

About three o'clock Observation Hill was sighted, and there, proudly floating, was the flag. When the attention of the boys was called to it they almost wept for joy at the sight.

"Oh, how good it feels to see that old flag again," was Tom's comment, as he tried to brush away something that looked like a tear. "How far are we away now?"

"Not more than two miles from home, but the hill is three-quarters of a mile farther."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fig. 10. Carricature Plant._]

Angel was in his element now, as the home was sighted, and he danced and capered, just as George did. The Professor and John were in the wagon, and Harry asked the Professor to take the reins, and before any of them knew what he was about was out of the wagon and on a run down the hill, followed by George and Angel.

Ralph and Tom followed suit, and they made a procession that gave great pleasure to the Professor, as he saw their joyous spirits exhibiting themselves.

John's eyes lighted up, and the Professor noted the look of pleasure on his face. It was so good to see the steady increase in the developing intelligence. When they left two weeks before John was listless, and often entirely without any indications of what was going on all about him. The only characteristics were shown at intervals, where he would, probably, recall something, or instinctively be brought into contact with a former phase of his life; but now those periods seemed to be vanishing, and he became a more normal being at all times, without showing the marked eccentricities.

The boys reached the home, and Harry opened the door, and stood ready to receive and welcome their new companions.

When the wagon came up John and the Professor marched up, and the latter approached with the deference of a courtier, and John, noting the att.i.tude of the Professor, made a like obeisance, and this act, so gracefully performed, was such a wonderful and startling thing that the boys were completely stunned. After making a show of welcome to the Professor, they walked over to John and offered him a welcome that was most touching to him.

The Professor and the boys now felt that they could not, in their future conversations, make any allusion to him, as there was an evident dawning of his intellect, and nothing must be said to attract his attention to it by discussing his condition.

Angel was in the rafters for a moment only, and then down and darted into the kitchen. Not for a moment did he rest content at any spot until he had investigated every corner. Wasn't that a boyish trait? When the whole house had been exhausted, he was over at the water wheel, and the boys followed, but they did not take in every arm and blade of the wheel, as he did. Then to the shop, and always leading the boys, who were after him with shouts of merriment.

"Oh, isn't this wonderful!" exclaimed Tom. "What a glorious time you must have had in building these things? And just to think of it, we were so near you, and in misery all the time;" and he said it in such a regretful manner that it drew forth the sympathy of all.