The Wonder Island Boys | Page 8

finally prevailed, and at noon of that day they camped at
the mouth of a little stream which flowed into the West River. Beyond
was a forest, and on the opposite side of the West River the wood had
all along been dense. At that point the trees did not come down to the
stream, and there was considerable lowland between the river and the
forest.
The Professor and George wandered up the banks of the little stream on
a prospecting tour, as had been their constant practice. When they
returned Harry knew something unusual had occurred from the excited
appearance of George.
"What is it? Any animals?"
"No; only this." And George held up an arrow made of flint. The
wooden portion of the arrow was really of good workmanship, and of
hard, stiff wood.
"Where did you find this?"
"Not more than five hundred feet from here."
Harry looked at the Professor for an explanation, but he was silent. By
common consent they now agreed upon making a more extended
investigation of the vicinity for other traces, if possible. Within an hour
Harry stumbled across the skull of an animal. This was not an unusual
sight, as bones had been found at various places in their travels, but
here was a specimen, lying on a rocky slope, with but little vegetation
about it.
[Illustration: Fig. 2 Types of Arrow-Heads.]

"I should like to know what animal this belonged to?"
The Professor examined the bones critically, without venturing an
opinion. "What is this?" were his first words. Directly behind the ear
cavity was a split or broken cleavage in which they found a round piece
of dark wood.
"Get the bolo, George; we may find something interesting here." With a
few strokes the skull was opened, and embedded within the brain
receptacle was an arrow.
"This animal was, as you see, killed by the inhabitants of the island. I
infer that there are several tribes living here."
The boys looked at each other in astonishment.
"Why do you think so?"
"This arrow is different in shape and in structure from the sample we
found this morning."
The boys now noticed the difference.
"Do different tribes make their implements differently?"
"There is just as much difference among savages in the way they make
their weapons and different implements, as among civilized people.
Our customs differ; our manufactured articles are not the same; and
sometimes the manner of using the tools is unlike; and the divergence
is frequently so wide that it has been difficult in many cases to trace the
causes and explain the reasons. Such an instance may be found in the
Chinese way of holding a saw, with the teeth projecting from the
sawyer. For years all tools and machinery made in England could be
instantly recognized by those versed in manufacturing, on account of
the bulk, as their tools were uniformly made larger and heavy, as
compared with the French and American manufacture."
This conclusion verified the Professor's observation, and you may be

sure that the new discovery gave an air of gravity to the camp which it
did not have before.
"I also wanted to say to-day," was the Professor's last remark that night,
"I am satisfied that there is no intimate intercourse between the
different tribes on the island." The boys looked at each other without
questioning, as usual; but the next morning, as soon as George awoke,
his first observation was: "I can't understand what makes you think that
the natives of the different tribes do not associate with each other."
"Simply for the reason that the styles of the arrows differ so greatly.
With them, as with civilized people, the intermingling of the races
should tend to make their tools and implements alike."
The next night, after the evening meal, they sat in the wagon until late,
discussing their future course. It was now fully nine months since they
left home. The thought that their parents and friends would consider
them lost was the hardest thing to bear. Did the boys ever get homesick?
I need not suggest such an idea to make it more real than it was to them.
With beautiful home surroundings, loving parents and brothers and
sisters, absence, uncertainty; the fear that they would never again be
able to return; danger all about them; the belief that perils still awaited
them, which fears were now, in all probability, to be realized, all these
things did not tend to produce a pleasant perspective to the mind.
But the Professor was a philosopher. He knew that the human mind
craved activity. If it could not be exercised in a useful direction it
would invariably spend its energies in dangerous channels. He knew
this to be particularly true of young people.
Boys are naturally