Read Ebook: The Wonder Island Boys: The Mysteries of the Caverns by Finlay Roger Thompson

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Ebook has 1099 lines and 56244 words, and 22 pages

be overlaid with thin boards running fore and aft, as in Fig. 2, as they had no means for matching the boards and thus putting them together tightly.

The sides were two and a half feet high. Six and a half feet from the forward end was a cross beam , into which the mast was to be stepped. At the stern the bottom was sloping upwardly at an angle and brackets were extended back and joined at their rear ends, to which the lower end of the rudder post was attached.

Amidships a keel was formed, projecting down from the bottom, this keel being, at its widest part, two feet, and tapering down to merge with the bottom, fore and aft. The cross section shows how well he had formed the vessel, proportionally.

In addition to the cross seats, similar arrangements for comfort were made along the sides, and beneath the side seats were spaces in which their supplies were to be placed. The space forward of the mast was entirely closed over with a roof which sloped in both directions, and here provision was made for two berths. This would also afford them protection and serve as a means to keep out the water and insure at least one dry spot for their comfort.

As usual, George had some inquiries to make about the boat. "It has always been a matter of wonder why all boats are made with the big bulging part nearest the forward end?"

The Professor's eyes twinkled. "Probably there are a great many others who have had such thoughts. There is really no reason for it. It is not known how the custom originated, except that in sailing vessels the claim is that the ship can be maneuvered more easily by such construction."

"In what way does it make it easier to handle?"

"When a ship is driven forward by the wind, all the force exerted on the sails is transferred to the forward part of the ship, hence if made narrow at its forward end it would be driven down into the water, and the hull would, therefore, be submerged more at the forward than at the rear end. Furthermore, by having a tapering rear end, the rudder has a better opportunity of veering the ship around and you can see that the bulging part, being located forward of the middle portion of the ship, acts as a sort of pivot."

"But it seems to me that none of the reasons given will apply to a steamship, and still all the ships I have seen are made in the same way as the sailing vessels."

"That is exactly what I inferred in my answer to your first question. The truth is, that in experiments which have been made, it is shown that to have the widest part of a steamer near the stern, gives lines to a hull which has less resistance than if made in the conventional way."

"I thought probably the reason for making them so was just the same as in the case of an arrow, where the heaviest part is at the forward end."

"In that case an entirely different principle is involved. A body falls, or is projected through the air, with its heaviest end foremost, because of the greater momentum in that portion."

"It is the force of a body in motion. When a body is projected through the air it meets with the resistance of the atmosphere, and this also serves to turn the heavy side around to the forward end, because the force of momentum in the heavy end is much less affected by the resistance of the air than the lighter end."

Red Angel had now been with them more than six months, and he was probably a year old. When first captured he was a scrawny infant, dull and stupid, like all of his class. He had wonderful powers in the way of imitating habits and customs. The boys were very good vocalists, and while at work Harry would sing, but George whistled. It was an amusing sight to watch Red Angel when the boys engaged in the frequent concerts at night.

But of all the screamingly funny exhibitions, the attempt of Angel to imitate whistling was the most ludicrous. The orang's lips project too much to a point, and the jaws are so narrowed that the lips will not pucker. Whenever the boys commenced their concert Angel would be on hand, and enjoyed every moment of the time, and the boys had many a concert purely for his benefit.

At the end of each concert the whistling would begin. This invariably brought Angel to the front, and his exhibitions would be given with the utmost gravity and earnestness. The invariable result would be such uproarious fits of laughter on the part of all that he would take part in the jollification, little suspecting that the laughter was at his expense.

The only sound which he could emit during these performances sounded like a high-pitched stick rattling along a pale fence; but he was inordinately proud of it. It had always been on one key, heretofore, and without variation; but this evening Angel startled himself, as he did the others, by actually sounding two additional notes. He repeated this over and over.

"I wonder if we could make him talk?" asked George, after the laughter had subsided.

"There is no reason why some tones cannot be imitated. As the orang possesses wonderful powers of imitation and has, in captivity, developed many traits, I see no reason why simple words, or sounds, cannot be taught."

"I know there are words which he does understand. Time and again I have told him things, which he seems to understand. Now see if he understands this: 'Angel, do you want some honey?'"

His attempts at whistling ceased, and in a moment more was in the kitchen. Harry, who by this time had recovered from his mirth, thought it would be a good idea to attempt to teach him.

"If canary birds and dogs can understand language, I do not see why Angel shouldn't."

"Unquestionably, any animal, by patience, will learn the meaning of sounds. Constant repetition of certain notes causes birds to repeat them. I have known dogs to perform almost anything they were told to do, although they are not able to utter a single sound of the words emitted in giving the command."

"Well, what is it that causes sound?"

"The most wonderful thing in nature is, that she manifests herself in only one way, namely, by a movement, or a motion of some kind. Vibration is the term used to designate this. Sound, light, heat, taste, smell, and everything which becomes sensible to us is produced by vibration. The movements of the heavenly bodies, swinging back and forth around the sun, like huge pendulums, the movement of the sap in trees, up and down, the beating of the heart, the winking eyelids are all motions which show energy, development, life."

"But what is it that makes us understand one sound from the others?"

"Simply the difference in the kind of vibration. There are three things which characterize sounds; namely, pitch, intensity and character. Pitch depends on the rapidity of the vibrations; intensity on the extent or the amplitude of the vibrations; and character on the substance or instrument producing them. To illustrate: When you sing a very high note the vibrations may be five thousand vibrations a second, or there may be only two thousand during that time. That represents the pitch. In singing that note you may sing it so loud that, like a pendulum, it will swing way over to one side, or it may move only a short distance. That represents intensity. If either you or George had sung that note I should have been able to detect it, whatever its pitch or intensity, because your voices are as unlike as different musical instruments, and that is character, or timbre, as the French call it."

THE HIDDEN MESSAGE

While the work of getting out the planking for the boat was going on, and the plowing had now been resumed, since the new yoke of oxen were fitted to do the work, the boys were not forgetful of the usual weekly outing. They had several quite important things right at home which needed looking into, if they wanted to solve some of the things on the island. First, the cave, which they had twice attempted to explore; the search for their lost boat, which had the strange rope and oars; and the mystery of the flag and pole.

"It does seem to me that we should not delay an hour in making some effort to explore the direction the boat came from," was George's view of the situation as they canvassed the subject.

"That is my idea, also, and I am not in favor of giving much more time to hunting or other forms of recreation until we know how that boat came to South River."

"Yes; I can appreciate how anxious you are," said the Professor, after the boys had given their views. "What we are doing, however, is essential from every point of view. We must prepare provisions, so that we shall be able to know where we can get them in case of need. On the other hand, weapons are necessary, which take time to construct. If, however, it is thought advisable, we might make a trip of explorations along the South River, beyond the falls, the time to be limited to a week; but I have my doubts of the wisdom of such a course."

This suggestion appealed strongly to the boys, who were always keen for anything which savored of adventure, and it was some time before the boys could reconcile themselves to the saner and more business-like course of completing the boat and making the trip by water.

The weather was beautiful, and vegetation was springing up in abundant profusion everywhere. Magnificent showers fell at intervals, and the rainbows, more beautiful than any they had ever heretofore seen, spanned the heavens after the showers.

This had been noticed during the previous year, but now, after nine months of their life, with the wonderful insight which their needs had instilled into them, made them very observant of every phenomenon.

"I have often wondered," observed George, as he gazed at the beautiful broad band which formed a crescent across the heavens, "why there are never any rainbows in the middle of the day. They are never seen except in the morning or in the evening, and usually only in the evening."

"In order to understand that it will be necessary to explain what a rainbow is. As I stated previously, light is merely vibration. Now colors are formed by the different lengths of the vibrations, just the same as the different musical notes are made by the different vibratory lengths. To understand this more fully, I make a sketch , which shows just what I mean. You will see that red is the lowest musical pitch, which we will call C, and to the right is a long, wavy line. D, the next pitch higher, might resemble orange, with the wavy line a little shorter, and so on, until we reach the highest note in the scale, where the wave lengths are very short. You have probably noticed that a drop of water in the sunshine glistens, and, if closely observed, may have seen that it was colored, particularly blue or green. As the rays of the sun strike the globe of water, they produce different wave lengths, and in that way make it appear to you as being possessed of colors. Now, a rainbow is nothing more nor less than sunlight passing through the drops of water which are suspended in the air and causing a refraction of the light. At noon the sun shines down from overhead, and we are not in the proper position to see this refracted light; but in the morning or in the evening the sun shines against the earth at an angle. At those times we are able to see the effect of refraction by the colors produced.

"When you throw a ball against a wall at an angle, it bounds away at the same angle. That is reflection, and is just exactly what light does when a ray strikes a mirror. If, on the other hand, the glass had no mercury on it to reflect the light, the ray would not go straight through, but would bend, just as you have seen a stick in a glass of water appearing as though it was bent below the water line. That is refraction."

Two weeks of very vigorous work had now been put in since the yaks had disappeared, and the wagon was still at the edge of the forest. George was anxious to recover it, with the new team, and with Harry started out early in the morning to make up as much as possible lost time, as every hour was considered valuable in their enterprises.

The yaks could be ridden as well as horses, but the greater part of the way were driven. One of the guns which had been completed was taken along, as well as the only pistol which the Professor had saved. In less than three hours the forest was reached and they were soon within sight of the wagon.

"What have we there?" cried Harry, as they neared the spot.

"Our yaks! And where do you suppose they have been?"

Close by the wagon were the yaks, as though patiently waiting for the boys. They made no resistance, nor show of fright, when the boys approached. One of them, Jack, still had the strap tied to the horns, and it was the halter which had been attached to the tree at South River.

A hasty examination was made, but if either of the boys came to any conclusion concerning it, nothing was said. Without wasting time, the team brought with them was yoked up and the broken wheel replaced by a new one. The repairs to the wagon tongue did not take long, and they were ready for the return.

"What shall we do with Jack and Jill?" Those were the names bestowed on the first team. "Let us see if they will follow us."

They had gone fully one hundred feet before the yaks made any sign, and then slowly followed, thus assuring them that no care or attention would be required in that direction. Both boys were intensely delighted at the recovery of their favorites and could not get home fast enough to give the Professor the good news.

Nearing home, the Professor, who was on the watch, came out to meet them, waving his hat at the sight of Jack and Jill. When the latter came up he went over and affectionately petted the creatures, who seemed to realize the welcome.

"I hope they are as glad as we are; I can understand why they got away; look at the end of this thong." It plainly showed the teeth of some animal which had gnawed the leather of which it was made.

"So you have been out prospecting, too?" was Harry's query, as he saw the queer-looking reeds on the table in the laboratory that evening. "What do you call that?"

"Our honey has been getting low, and I took the occasion to-day to bring in some samples of sugar."

"Is that sugar cane?"

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