Read Ebook: The Wonder Island Boys: The Tribesmen by Finlay Roger Thompson

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Ebook has 684 lines and 26240 words, and 14 pages

"Look over there; see who is coming," said George, with a laugh.

Red Angel was on the way with his gun. "You little rascal! How did you find out we were over here?" He didn't answer, but he went up to George and looked up into his face, as though he didn't quite understand that kind of a greeting.

The boys picked up the lamps and went back to the house, and the Professor was surprised at the early return, but he did not make any mention of it to either of the boys, and nothing more was said about it during that day or evening.

THE ACCIDENT TO JOHN AND THE RESTORATION OF MEMORY

The island yielded an abundance of nuts of various descriptions, the most prolific being the Brazil nut, which grows in the form of a large sphere, from three to four inches in diameter, the shell being very hard, like the cocoanut, and when broken open is found to be filled with the segmentally formed nuts which we all know.

This was gathered in large quantities, and was the principal source of oil which was used for the lamps, as they had no other means of illumination. To people in the habit of using the lighter mineral oils, and electricity, this was certainly primitive enough. The difficulty, however, with the gathering of the nuts was this: Unless gathered at a certain time it is almost impossible to express the oil, and if kept for any length of time, particularly in an unripe state, they would become very rancid.

George pondered over this for some time, and asked the Professor the cause of it. In response, he said: "Nature has a very peculiar way of protecting her products. It is the same with nuts, as it is with potatoes and fruit. Have you ever noticed how unripe fruit withers, when taken from the tree, and that potatoes shrivel up when they are dug up before fully matured?"

"That is the trouble with the whole batch of potatoes we now have."

"Unripe fruit and vegetables have an exterior coating which is porous and pervious to water when it is unripe. But when it fully ripens this coating is chemically changed into a thin, impervious coating of a cork-like structure, through which water cannot pass, and as a result potatoes, and fruit, will keep through an entire winter and become mellower and better as time goes on."

The colony was dependent for its supply of eggs on the numerous flocks of prairie chickens which were found in the abounding fields of grain, particularly barley. It was no trick to bag a half dozen of these birds at a shot, on account of their numbers, and, as before related, while Angel never ate any of them, he was the most persistent gatherer because the beautiful oval eggs attracted him, and George's cakes always appealed to his fancy.

The difficulty with Angel was he did not discriminate between the good and the bad eggs, and George was desirous of knowing how to distinguish between the fresh and spoilt ones.

As usual, the Professor was appealed to and he gave a standard rule for determining this: "As Angel brings in the eggs put them in a pail of water, and select only those which fall to the bottom and rest on the side. An egg several weeks old will remain at the bottom, but the large end will be much higher than the small end. If it is several months old the large end will be uppermost, with the small end pointing down; and if it is thoroughly rotten it will float at the top of the water, with the pointed side down."

"That is a very curious way of finding it out. I would like to know why the egg acts in that manner?"

"After an egg is laid, a chemical change begins to take place, and more or less gas is formed. This gas finds its way to the large end, and as the decomposition increases the egg becomes lighter at the heavy end, and finally enough gas is evolved to bring it to the surface."

The most important work on hand was the construction of the addition to their home. After considering the matter in all its details, it was concluded to put up a building entirely separate from the other structures, to contain four rooms, one of them to be large and utilized as a common living room, and the others as sleeping apartments.

The material had been taken out for the building, and the Professor, John, George and Ralph were engaged at this work, while Harry and Tom were engaged in the machine shop and were busy in turning out the barrels for new guns, as well as preparing the ammunition.

The tools in the machine shop were not numerous enough to advantageously utilize more of them there, and the building was now very important to them, as the four boys were compelled to sleep in the shop, for want of room in the house.

The joist had all been laid for the lower floor and the studding now being put up and the upper joist laid on preparatory to erecting the rafters. John was an expert in building, and was really the directing hand at the various steps in the operation. While engaged in the drawing up of the rafters, one of the floor pieces gave way, and John was precipitated to the floor below, striking as he fell one of the lower joist, which cut a terrible gash in his head and rendered him unconscious.

The Professor rushed over to the fallen man, and the boys were on the spot to render assistance. Chief, who was also an interested worker, was the first to grasp him with his powerful arms, and disdaining the assistance of the others, carried him to the house and gently laid him down, as the Professor directed.

Without a word he rushed for the jar of water and brought it to the Professor, who bathed his wounds, but the blow was so severe that he exhibited no signs of returning consciousness.

Harry and Tom rushed over to the house in consternation, and exhibited the greatest grief.

"Do you think he has been badly hurt? Do you think it is fatal?"

"It is still too early to determine that. See this wound? It was a terrible blow. As it is, directly above the ear, it may not be as serious as if he had been struck forward nearer the temples."

During the entire day John lay there, breathing with some degree of regularity, but with a greatly accelerated pulse, and the Professor was constantly watching this phase of the case.

There was little sleep that night. All were too anxious to retire. Chief was on hand without a moment's intermission. George prepared the meals, but the native never left the room even for the purpose of taking refreshment, and it was really pathetic to see this exhibition of sympathy, which was constantly alluded to by the Professor.

"The Chief has in him the making of a man. The surest indication of a real human trait is just what he is showing. The lower man is the less he cares for his fellows."

During the night the fever was close to the danger point, and the Professor never left his side. As the day advanced the fever abated, and his breathing became more normal. Before noon there was a marked change. On the day of the accident, and during the night, John lay there motionless, and, aside from his regular breathing and a few periods of spasmodic twitchings, there was nothing to indicate that he was living.

But he now became restless, and occasionally opened his eyes, and all stood intently watching him. All through this period his face was pale and drawn, but a color began to come, and he turned his head from side to side, and the intervals between the openings of the eyelids became shorter. At first the eyes gave a glassy stare, but now at each recurring stare the eyeballs would turn and search the room, and although he would gaze in the faces of the watchers, the look did not indicate recognition.

Suddenly he opened his eyes wide, and grasping the covers drew himself forward and upward slowly, turning his head around from side to side. The Professor held out his hand, as a warning not to disturb him. He sat up and gazed first at one and then at the other.

What a wonderful difference was exhibited in the eye. It was bright and lustrous, and every glance betokened a question. Not a word was spoken. It was so tense that the boys appeared to be hypnotized. When he had fully taken in his surrounding, he grasped the Professor's hand, and said: "Where am I? Who are you?" Without another word he sank back on the pillow exhausted, and the Professor leaned over him and quietly said: "You are yourself again; and we are your friends."

"Friends; friends," he muttered to himself. "Yes; yes, I remember," and his eyes closed, his limbs relaxed, and he passed off into a quiet sleep.

The boys filed out of the room, and the Professor, with a smile, despite the tears that fell, walked out without saying a word, nor did the boys ask any more questions. The Chief never moved, but kept his eyes on John, and he did not even heed Angel, who came down from the rafters quietly, and passed out the door, and stood beside George, and leaned his head against him, as the boys began to whisper to each other.

The boys had witnessed a scene which it falls to the lot of few to experience. The awakening of the faculty of remembrance is one of the greatest mysteries of human existence.

John slept for three hours, and there was no thought of work or play. Barring the occasional visits of the Professor to see the patient, they were together. It was one of the most remarkable events in their lives.

"Isn't it singular," asked George, "that he has never been able to talk since he has been with us?"

"The medical term applied to the loss of that faculty is called aphasia. The function of speech seems to have its seat in a portion of the left side of the brain, and when that portion is diseased or injured, it affects the speech in many ways. Sometimes the sufferer knows what he wants to say, but cannot utter the word; at other times he will say the wrong thing, knowing that he is doing so, but utterly unable to prevent it; it also shows several other phases where the sentences become disjointed, or meaningless, not due to lack of intelligence."

"Has no way been discovered whereby the diseased part can be cured?"

"Operations have been performed with remarkable results, but not with uniform success. In some cases where the speech center is destroyed, a new brain center has been developed, and the lost power of speech recovered."

"I cannot understand Chief's intense interest in John," said Tom.

"That is a peculiar thing. The savage, no doubt, considers him demented, and it is a singular thing that people of low intellectual order among many people, believe the insane person is exalted, and are sometimes treated as deities."

Before noon the patient began to move about uneasily, and soon thereafter awoke. The moment his eyes opened he looked at the Professor, who said: "You are so much better. Are you hungry?"

In anticipation of this event the Professor had asked the boys to prepare some delicacies for him the moment he awoke.

As he had eaten nothing since the morning of the day before he replied affirmatively, and after he had eaten and the wound in his head was dressed, he began a series of questionings on every conceivable subject.

"We are on an island, and there are a number of tribes here, with incessant tribal warfares between them, and it appears that the principal occasion of the wars is due to the possession of the captives which they take from the toll of the sea. I was one of several unfortunates shipwrecked here over a year ago, during one of the worst storms that I ever saw at sea."

"It was undoubtedly the one which we experienced, although we were the occupants of a ship which had an explosion, and we were left adrift when this storm was brewing. But I must advise you to remain quiet for the day, until you regain your strength, and we can then tell our story, and we shall be glad to learn yours."

It was a joy to all to know that John had recovered his memory, and Harry was anxious to present the match box, to see whether it was his, but the Professor advised against exciting him in the least until the following day.

The Professor had not even asked his name, as he wished all to be present when the revelations were made. During the most of the day John slept. It appeared as though nature had exhausted herself in bringing about the cure. The wound, however, was a most serious one, and the Professor knew that the utmost care must be taken with a fractured skull, to prevent the setting in of complications which might injuriously affect the brain.

"Do not feel any alarm about him now," was the Professor's injunction; "he is not at this time in a serious condition, and I believe his remarkable constitution will pull him through without any further trouble. In the meantime, let us proceed with our work, and give him ample time to recover without any sort of harassment."

All returned to their duties with more cheerful hearts. It seemed as though something had been lifted from their minds. The second day after the event following the restoration of his reason, John would not be left in quiet any longer.

He sat up in his couch, and looked over the boys, as he greeted them heartily.

"Do you remember me?" asked Harry, as he held his hand.

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