The Wonder Island Boys | Page 4

tied
before we left them?"
"I was particularly careful," answered Harry, "to tie both of them."
"I am pretty sure that both were securely fastened, and they were in that
condition when I came back the last time," was George's reply.
To understand the peculiar situation above referred to, it will be
necessary to go back and briefly relate some of the remarkable events
which had taken place in the lives of the three people concerned in this
history.
George Mayfield and Harry Crandall, together with a Professor, were
mates on a ship training school, which sailed from New York one year
before. A terrific explosion at sea cast them adrift in mid-Pacific Ocean,
and after five days of suffering they were cast ashore on an apparently
uncharted island, without any food, and entirely devoid of any tools,
implements or weapons.
Exercising the knowledge of the Professor, and the ingenuity of the
boys, they gradually dug from mother earth and from the rocks and
trees the articles necessary to sustain life, and eventually they found
different ores from which various implements and weapons were made.
They constructed numerous machines, crude, at first, and gradually
developed them. They succeeded in capturing yaks, a bovine species of
animals, some of which were trained like oxen; wagons were built; a
shop constructed; a water wheel installed; a primitive sawmill put up; a

primary battery made; articles of clothing woven; felt made; and
numerous things of this character originated from material which nature
had furnished in its crude state.
While doing all this the desire to explore the island was a
predominating one. Four trips into the interior had been made in order
to ascertain whether or not it contained any human beings. During
those trips numerous evidences were found to show that savages were
there, and some indications that civilized people had visited the island.
The peculiar happenings which excited their interest were the
mysterious things that occurred at various times, among which the
following may be briefly enumerated: The disappearance of a boat,
which they built, and which was left at the place where the team was
lost; the subsequent finding of the boat among debris on the seashore,
having oars and rope in it which were strange to them; the removal of
the flagpole and flag which had been erected up on a high point near
the ocean, called Observation Hill, and the fire in the forest.
To the foregoing may be added the discovery of a prospecting hole,
which had been dug, evidently, by some one in the hope of finding
mineral; a yak with a brand on it; wreckage of a boat, which,
undoubtedly, belonged to their ill-fated ship; a gruesome skeleton on
the seashore; and finally one of the lifeboats of the schoolship and a
companion to their own, found on the shore of the stream where they
now were.
All these things were sufficient not only to cause alarm, but the greatest
consternation on the part of the boys. It must be said, however, that the
trials of the boys, under the calm, calculating deportment of the
Professor, had done much to make them self-reliant. George, the elder,
was of an exceedingly inquisitive turn of mind; he was a theorist, and
tried to find out the reason for everything. On the other hand, Harry
was practical in all his efforts; he could take the knowledge obtained
and profit by it, as the previous volumes show. It was fortunate,
therefore, as the Professor put it, that theory and practice were
personified in the two boys, who, although companionable, were the
exact opposites as types.

The Professor never showed a preference, in any manner, for either.
Like the true philosopher he saw the value of the two distinct qualities,
the one useless without the other.
When they had fully recovered from their astonishment, George was
the first to speak. "They may have broken the fastenings."
The Professor, who had been intently examining the tree to which they
were hitched, said: "I can find no evidence of any undue wrench which
might show that they had gotten away by their own exertions. Let us
see whether we can follow the trail."
The ground was covered with leaves, so that no earth was visible, and
the only sort of trail left in a forest, under those conditions, is the
slightly depressed tracks which the wheels make. They examined this,
noting also the overturned leaves, which are usually left in the wake of
cattle.
The latter means seemed to be the only available way in which any
trace could be made out, and this they followed. It led directly to the
west, and toward the section they were desirous of exploring at the time
the present trip was inaugurated.
"How fast do you suppose