The Wonder Island Boys: Exploring the Island

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"We heard it in this direction, didn't we? Don't let us waste any more
time. Get the guns and ammunition. Hurry up; and let us take a spear; it
may be useful."

Each boy took a spear, as a matter of precaution, and set out. At
intervals the boys shouted, and after wandering about for fully a half
hour, determined to try another shot. This was answered by a shot
apparently from the direction of the team, and the boys turned about and
hurriedly made their way back.

It happened that the boys had actually lost their way, and in the
excitement all sense of direction. The Professor had made a complete
circle and the boys in their wanderings had executed a complete loop
within that circle, and were actually going back to the river instead of
to the team.

"I can't understand this business," said George, in a despairing tone.
"We have traveled far enough to get back to the team twice over. Let's
try another shot." It was answered by a shout from the Professor, close
by, to their left, and when they appeared in sight he was seated on the
log leisurely driving the yaks, laughing in a quiet way, and apparently
not noticing the discomfiture of the boys.

"We thought you were lost," said George; "didn't you hear us firing?"

"How does it happen you are going in this direction?" was the
Professor's quizzical remark, which he uttered with a faint suspicion of
a smile. As the boys did not reply, he continued: "Did you expect to
find the team at the river?"

[Illustration: _Fig. 35. CHART SHOWING HOW THE BOYS WERE LOST_]

Of course, they all had a good laugh at this, because the direction they
were taking, and the position in which the Professor found them, were
sufficient to indicate that they were really lost, and that he knew it.

"I felt satisfied," was his final remark, "that you had not a
well-defined idea of your direction when you fired the last time, but
you will learn in time how to keep your direction, and what is more, you
will never again permit an excited condition of the mind to make you
take a crooked path."

The boys looked wonderingly at the Professor.

"How," asked Harry, "does an excited mind make anyone take a crooked
path?"

"When the mind is excited, it is, for the time, deranged, like soldiers,
frequently on the field of battle, who are wounded, without having the
least knowledge of it. The sense of direction is a well-developed trait
in some people; in others, it does not exist at all. But in the case of
either, the moment the mind is excited, it becomes abnormal; some lose
the ability to judge distances, some are unable to talk, and others
can't do anything but talk. All judgment for the time disappears. Now,
take that person in a forest, and highly excite him, and he has
absolutely no judgment of distance or direction, and is not in a good
position to mark and follow a course with intelligence. I have spoken
thus fully on the subject, in order to warn you, that under no
circumstances should you ever set out on such a mission as you have with
the least cloud of excitement. It is far better not to go at all."

It was a warning the boys never forgot.

CHAPTER XIV

THE RAISING OF THE FLAG AND ANGEL'S PART IN IT

On the return home that evening they were surprised to find Red Angel
absent. Frequently he would go with them on their trips, but he was
purposely left at home on this occasion. He had ample opportunity to
roam at will during their absence, and had never strayed away.

"It is very singular he cannot be found. I searched the house, the shop,
and the cattle range, and he is nowhere in sight."

It was a grief to all to miss him, as all had learned to appreciate his
mischievous tricks, and George had taken a delight in "educating" him.
Probably now, that he had grown to a more mature age, the spirit of the
wild life possessed him, and he had taken French leave at the first
opportunity.

George missed him more than Harry, because as cooking was one of
George's accomplishments, and as honey was the weak spot in Red Angel,
the kitchen was an attraction, and the reward for service in the kitchen
was this delicious sweet.

Their stock of this was running low. George was not as liberal with
honey of late, and after ruminating on the subject of the disappearance,
he concluded that Red Angel had cause for "running away."

The next morning while at breakfast, who should appear at the door but
Red Angel, his long fingers and palms holding a quantity of nuts. He
evidently saw that the welcome was most enthusiastic on the part of all.
With the utmost gravity he shambled across the floor and deposited the
nuts on the table and took his usual place in the most matter-of-fact
way, and commenced on the nuts as though it was part of a solemn duty.

George's hand reached out for the honey; Angel saw it, a quizzical look
came on his face--a real orang smile--and he forgot about the nuts.

In a spirit of fun George helped himself without offering any. This was
too much for the animal, and with a shrewd, calculating look he pushed
the nuts over to George.

Did he get any honey after this? George could not resist this appeal;
and after Angel got it, and George helped himself to nuts, the Simian
approval was very marked. Do you think he reasoned?

Preparations must now be made for "pole-raising day." In the absence of
a sufficient amount of rope the last bearskin was cut up into strips, as
it was necessary to have nearly a hundred feet, and the bearskin was a
much-needed addition to the small quantity of ramie cord which they had
on hand.

The Professor took a keen interest in the proceedings. "We must get a
half dozen forked poles of good wood; they should be of different
lengths, to support the pole as it goes up. Then, Harry, as we have a
pretty tough job before us, I suggest that you make two capstans,
something like those you saw on shipboard, around which the two raising
ropes can he wound, each to have a crank, and a means for holding the
crank at any position."

The preparations occupied the greater part of the day. Several boards,
five feet long, were required, and at least a dozen stakes to hold the
capstans in position.

Early the following morning the yaks were brought out, yoked up, and the
pole and truck hitched on. A luncheon was provided, the flag and all
paraphernalia assembled and loaded, and Red Angel invited to attend the
ceremonies.

[Illustration: _Fig. 36. Pole raising._]

Reaching Observation Hill, a spot for the pole was selected, and a hole
three feet in diameter and five feet deep was laboriously dug out. It
was, indeed, a trying task, with the tools they had, but it was a labor
of love. It was more than that to them. They were now making
preparations to notify the world that they still lived.

The top of the pole had been provided with a pulley, which was mounted
between the crotch, and a guard put over the pulley, so it would prevent
the halliards from coming off. When it had been placed in position, with
the foot across the hole, the two boards were stood down in the pit so
the end of the pole was against them. The halliards were then strung
over the pulley and looped down, and the three ropes were attached to
the pole, twenty feet from the lower end. Together they raised it up, so
that it was about five feet from the ground at the point where the ropes
were tied. Two of the ropes were then carried out past the hole, and
branched out, and attached to the capstans, while the other was allowed
to hang. As the capstans turned, the pole was gradually drawn up, and
the Professor stood ready with the forked standards to prevent the
flagstaff from falling back. In less than an hour it was erect, and the
work of tamping in the dirt and stone around the base was in order, and
soon completed.

And now for the flag!

"Tell us, Professor, why the attaching of the flag on the cord, or
halliards, is called _bending_ it?"

"The term comes from heraldry, and it originally designated two diagonal
lines across the field of an escutcheon. Later on, sailors bent the ends
of the flags or ensigns on the halliards, or around the yards, and also
called the fastening of a cable to the anchor a bend; a knot is also
designated by them as a bend; the form of the ship from the keel to the
top of the side is called a bend, as, the midship bend."

A strong rope had been seamed in the end of the flag, and eyelets worked
at intervals, so that the task of attaching it to the halliards was soon
performed.

"The raising of the national emblem for the first time in any new
country has always been regarded as an event of the greatest importance,
as it represents sovereignty and responsibility. On this occasion," said
the Professor, as he removed his hat, "let us honor the flag with
appropriate ceremonies."

At that moment Red Angel concluded he would also take part, and in an
instant was at the pole and scrambled upwardly. When the top was reached
he caught sight of the wheel. It moved. Every time he grasped the rope
the wheel would turn.

This seriously interrupted the program. The Professor could not help
laughing. A moment before he was particularly grave, and the boys had no
feelings of mirth; but now this new element in the proceedings added
gaiety to the occasion.

"Come down, you rascal! Come down! Do you hear me?" cried George. Red
Angel didn't hear. He hung there and smiled; yes, smiled, as he looked
down, while playing with the wheel. "We can't put up the flag while he
is there." George walked over to the wagon, and took out the honey pot.
Red Angel saw it, but made no motion to come down. The honey pot was
held up as an inducement, but there was nothing in the world so
fascinating just then as that wheel.

Harry and the Professor laughed at the situation. Just to think of it!
An orang-outan actually preventing a foreign power from hoisting the
emblem of possession over his native land! It was too ludicrous for
words.

George actually became almost hysterical as he threw himself back on the
seat of the wagon and held up the honey pot, while laughing. "What do
you think that little scamp has been doing? He has eaten every bit of
the honey." That only added another fit of laughter, and when it
subsided, and George could recover his voice, he added, "and wasn't this
a smart thing to do?" as he held up the vessel.

"What?" asked Harry, momentarily straightening out his face.

"He actually put the lid back after he got through."

But this could not last indefinitely. No one suggested a remedy, if
there was one. The United States must take possession in the proper way;
hats must come off; the flag must go up slowly, and the band must play
the national air;--the music, they had not thought of it before.

"Can you climb the pole, George?" asked the Professor.

"I think so, with the aid of the halliard."

He approached the pole. "Do you hear me, Baby, come down! Come down, I
say!"

Red Angel saw George's design, and without saying a word he slowly
descended, shambled over to the wagon, and hanging on the side of the
box, looked around to the company in the most reproachful manner.

[Illustration: _"Red Angel saw George's design, and without saying a
word he slowly descended"_]

The hoisting of the flag was, indeed, a solemn thing, but it had its
amusing side, and when, with uncovered heads, the flag went up to the
masthead and stopped there, the Professor said: "We should have had
music to make it more appropriate, but as we have no band, let us sing
'The Star-Spangled Banner.'"

The boys were both good singers, as the Professor knew. The song was
started, but before the first line was finished, they broke down and
tears began to come; the Professor, with his hands clasped and head
bowed, did not look up, nor was he surprised when they stopped. The boys
had a suspicion that even he could not have carried that song a single
bar. They were powerless to go on.

When the Professor did look up and gaze on the flag, the boys saw his
tears; they were ashamed no longer, and their eyes looked up, too.

In a voice which sounded almost strange to the boys, the Professor said:
"We take possession of this land in the name of the United States of
America, and give notice that we shall defend the same against all
powers."

Then, as the beautiful flag unfurled itself, and threw its waving shadow
on the ground that it now protected, they looked down, and there was Red
Angel, close beside them, looking up at the flag as though he understood
what it meant, and his silence gave consent to the solemn act which
transferred his allegiance to a greater power.

As they were about to descend the hill the Professor called them to a
halt. "Do you intend to leave the flag at full mast?"

They had entirely forgotten to half mast it. "And now," said Harry, "if
they can't see that flag we'll make one big enough next time."

As they went down the hill, they could not help looking back over and
over, to admire the flag and the pole, and everything connected with it.
They knew every thread and every piece of it. Somehow it seemed to be a
part of them.

There was always a sentimental streak in George. "I can't help thinking
that is the most beautiful flag in the world; I suppose other people
think the same of their flag. How did flags come to be used by people?"

"The flag is the successor of the banner, which is taken from the Celtic
word 'band.' The Bible mentions banners, showing they were used early in
scriptural history. The banners of the Romans, used in their warfares,
were essentially different from modern flags, colors and ensigns; they
were carvings of wood or metal, some of them representing eagles, like
the Persian standard described by Xenophon. In the Middle Ages it was a
connecting link between the military and the clergy. The crescent and
the cross symbols typified the two great contending forces of the world
at that time."

Returning to their home, tired with the exertions, they sat in the
living room and talked over the events of the day. Somehow, they felt
that the day was too sacred to be desecrated with further toil. They
congratulated each other at the success in raising the pole, as that was
a matter which had given them a great deal of concern.

Ever since the day on which they commenced work on the electric battery
the boys deplored the lack of glass. If they could make that it would be
of such immense importance to them in many ways. It would be of great
service for their tableware; they could use it for their electric work,
which interested them more than any branch to which their time had been
given, among the mechanical arts; with that they could make thermometers
and testing instruments; and give their house the air of a modern home,
because windows could be put in.

"Will it be difficult to make glass?" asked George.

"It is an exceedingly simple matter to make glass--that is, to fuse or
melt it. The difficult part is the art of making it, either by the
blowing process, or by making the flat forms, like window panes and the
like. Owing to the simplicity in preparing it, the making of glass
articles was known at a very early date, certainly fifteen hundred years
before the beginning of the Christian era. In the first stages only
opaque glass was produced, and it was not until eight hundred years
later that the first transparent product was manufactured. Under Pharaoh
it was one of the products extensively made and exported to Phonecia and
other Mediterranean ports. Five hundred years before Christ,
Aristophanes mentions glass or crystal vessels, but as its value at that
time was next to gold it could not have been a common article."

"What is glass made of?"

"Simply common sand. Sand is the ground up particles of quartz, and may
be found almost everywhere. The principal thing is to get the pure
quartz. In connection an alkali of some kind must be used."

"What is an alkali?"

"A substance which is the exact opposite of an acid. Potash, soda and
hartshorn (or ammonia) are the best known. They have most remarkable
chemical activities, and an alkali united with an acid entirely
neutralizes or destroys the activity of both. The compound produced by
the union of an acid and an alkali is termed a salt."

"What is the effect of using an alkali with the quartz sand?"

"Quartz possesses all the qualities of an acid, so that when the alkali
is fused with the quartz a neutral substance, unlike either, is formed."

"What kind of alkali is best to use?"

"That depends on what it is to be used for. Quartz and lime make a fine
window glass product. Bottle glass is usually made of soda and quartz;
window glass is also made of quartz, soda and lime; plate glass of
quartz, lime, soda and potash; and flint glass has only the alkalis,
potash and oxide of lead."

"Well, for our purposes, wouldn't it be better to make the glass out of
quartz and lime if windows can be made out of it?"

"By all means, for several reasons: We have the lime on hand, and also
because it makes a very hard article."

"What can we melt it up in?"

"The clay retort or crucible will just be the thing for the purpose, and
the first thing in the morning I will make a tour to a point close at
hand, where I think we shall be able to get a good quality."

The boys were astir in the morning earlier than usual. They had a new
impulse--something to learn and to do. Harry busied himself with putting
the crucible in order, and in getting the fuel. George, after his usual
morning's work, brought in the lime, and broke it up preparatory to
grinding it up into small particles, so that it would intimately mix
with the sand.

Within an hour the Professor returned with several samples of sand,
either of which, he thought, would make a good article. The yaks were
hitched up, and George went with him to get a good supply.

"How much do you think we ought to make up at first?"

"Several gallons of the sand will do for the experiment."

"What kind of article should be made with the first trial?"

"We might make some window glass. It is true it will not be transparent,
but it will be translucent, and so will give us light, as well as though
it should be transparent."

"What is translucent glass?"

"Where the surface of a cast plate is polished the material is such that
you can see through it, but if it is left rough it is impossible to see
through it, although it will permit light to go through. The term
applied to such glass is translucent."

"If light will pass through, why is it the eye cannot see through it?"

"A powerful magnifying glass shows that the surface of unpolished glass
is formed by a layer of crystals, or of sand, with the faces projecting
out in all directions and at all angles. The result is, that a beam of
light from the eye strikes one or more of these faces and is diverted
from a straight line through the glass. As all the rays are thus changed
from a direct course, confusion results, and the eye distinguishes
nothing."

Several bushels of the sand were brought to the laboratory, and the
Professor then directed the preparation of a half dozen slate slabs,
each slab being nearly two feet square. He explained that in practice
iron plates were used, but as they had nothing of that kind available,
slate would answer admirably.

"The slate slabs must be heated, and when the fused material is poured
on the slabs, the heat must be kept up for a short time and gradually
cooled down."

"What is the object in doing that?"

"If cooled too suddenly the plates, will crack, but by heating the
slates and then cooling them down gradually, we anneal the glass, in a
measure. You remember how we annealed the steel by gradually cooling it
down? Glass, however, cannot be annealed so that it will not fracture,
although attempts have been made for years to find a means for doing it.
The man who can discover a process that will enable it to bend without
breaking, can command any price for the discovery."

CHAPTER XV

MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS ON THE ISLAND

The Professor supervised every part of the operation with the utmost
care. "Before the plates are heated you must put a raised margin around
each slate square, so the molten material will not run off."

"How high shall we make the margins?"

"About a quarter inch above the surface of the slate."

"As we are now ready to heat up the crucible, how shall the materials be
mixed?"

[Illustration: _Fig. 37. Making Sheet Glass._]

"For this trial, measure out eight quarts of sand and two quarts of the
lime, and after depositing it in the crucible, we are ready for the
heat."

In a short time, with the assistance of the blower, which has already
been described, the sand began to melt. It was now stirred so that the
elements were thoroughly mingled. During the melting period the dross or
impurities which came to the top were skimmed off, and when no more of
the impurities collected the Professor stated that they might remove the
crucible and pour the melted mass into small pockets, which they had
previously formed with clay.

"Why not pour this on the slate forms we made?"

"Because we must know that we have a good sample of glass, and for the
further reason that the product we are now to make should have some
glass in it that has already been fluxed before, and we now have such a
manufactured material."

The material which had been cast in the pockets was broken up with a
hammer, as soon as it had cooled, and its appearance noted.

"I see we shall have to use less lime."

"Why?"

"You will note that it is too white or milky-like. This shows too much
lime and consequently it is very brittle."

"Suppose, on the other hand, there was too little lime, what would be
the result?"

"We should then have a glass which would not hang together at all. In
the one case, as with the present sample, with too much lime in it, we
have made a product which is closely allied to the alkaline base; and if
we had, on the other hand, too little lime, we should have something
which is nearly like quartz, hence not suitable for our purpose."

"It seems, then, we have to do in this case just as Red Angel did, make
a test sample?"

This allusion to their pet caused a smile all around.

Since the trip made by our colonists two months before they made no
effort to gain any additional knowledge of their island. What they
really knew of the country, aside from two of the trips made in the
interior, under very unfavorable circumstances, was of no value as a
means of locating the natives.

That the island was inhabited there could no longer be any reason to
doubt. The fire plot on the banks of the Cataract River, the lights near
the woods beyond the West River, the finding of the arrows, and the
mysterious use of the boat which had so strangely disappeared from the
falls in South River, to say nothing of the removal of the flag and
flagstaff, were evidences which could not be disregarded.

The further investigations which they must make for their own safety was
one of the impelling steps which determined them to build another boat.
The discovery of the wrecked portion of the life-boat and the decision
to utilize the recovered portion for the new craft had facilitated their
preparations somewhat, but there was still a great deal of work to do.

They had six imperfect guns, as they called them, mere pistols,
muzzle-loaders, with barrels eight inches long, and the powder was not
the best which could be made. Everything was crude and imperfect, and to
boldly venture out among savage tribes with such an equipment would not
be wise.

All these things were considered in their conferences. But another
matter was suggested by the Professor, which carried some weight. A sail
had been seen by them. There could be no question on that point. Other
ships might come again, and now that they had a flag of such proportions
that it would be seen miles further than the original one, it was
possible that the opportunity of rescue might be more likely from their
side of the island than anywhere else.

It was certain that if a ship should, in their absence, reach the port,
and even discover their home through the instrumentality of the evidence
which they had left at the signal flag, there was no assurance that the
vessel would await their return, or undertake the mission of rescuing
them from the savages, if they should be so unfortunate as to be
captured.

It was a most distracting thing to solve. It was not only perplexing,
but exceedingly trying, to feel that at any moment a visit might be
expected from the natives.

Nevertheless, after all considerations, and giving due weight to the
likelihood that some ship might visit them, the building of the boat was
decided on, and it was to be of such a character that it could
circumnavigate the island. They believed it to be their first duty to do
this.

This was the Professor's view: "If we can build a boat large enough, and
make it of sufficient strength to carry us and the provisions we must
take with us, on such a voyage, we should, at some point in our tour,
find the natives, and determine their character."

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