Chapter I: Front Matter

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The Wonder Island Boys

THE MYSTERIES OF THE CAVERNS

by

ROGER T. FINLAY

Illustrated

The New York Book Company New York Copyright 1914

CONTENTS

I. MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF THE TEAM

The runaway team. Circumstances leading up to the present
condition. The singular occurrences. Examining the tree. The search
for the yaks. Red Angel as a scout. On the tracks. Losing the
trail. Red Angel's discovery. The wrecked wagon. The lost weapons
and ammunition. Breaking in new steers. The planting program.
Different plants and soils. Prospecting for ores and vegetation.
Discussing hunting trip. How people of different countries select
soils. Wild fruit and vegetables. Lessons from the actions of their
animals. Propagation of fruit and vegetables. Chemical changes
produced by different soils. The wild potato.

II. WORKING ON THE NEW BOAT

Determine to bring in the newly discovered lifeboat. Trip to South
River. Finding the broken yoke of their team. Recovering the
lifeboat. Uses for the bolo. Decision to row the boat around the
point. Making more guns. Preparing new tools. Alloys and their
uses. Hardness of metal. Bronze. Ancient guns. Manganese. Making
stocks for the guns. Commencing the hull of the new boat. Size of
the vessel. About shape or form of hulls. Momentum. Resistance. Red
Angel's attempt to whistle. Amusing performance. Teaching Red Angel
accomplishments. Vibration, the universal force.

III. THE HIDEEN MESSAGE

The new yoke for the yaks. Some of the mysteries. Discussion
concerning future discoveries. Rainbows. Musical pitch and colors.
Reflection and refraction. Riding the yaks. Completing some of the
guns. The trip after the wrecked wagon. Finding their runaway team.
Accounting for their disappearance. Prospecting. Sugar cane
discovered. Sorghum. The Tamarisk. Rigging up the lifeboat with
sails. Discovery of a hidden message in the lifeboat. Examining the
place where it was found. Determining the time when the message was
written. Rushing preparation of guns and ammunition. Galena. Lead.
Getting rid of the sulphur. Making bullets.

IV. THE TERRIBLE MONSOONS

Completing the guns. Description of the new ones. Polishing grit.
Emery. Corundum. Laying the keel of the big boat. Terrible winds.
The monsoons. Trade winds. Length of summers north and south of the
Equator. Disappearance of the flag from Observation Hill. George
and Angel's hunt for the flag. Disappointment. Angel finding the
flag. Angel's laugh. Facial expression in animals. Brass. The form
of bullets. Why pointed at one end and hollow in the other. Rifling
guns. Spiral movement. Molds for castings. The Professor's desire
to fully explore the cave. Weaving the sails for the new boat.
Angel's work on the loom.

V. THE VOYAGE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ANGEL, AND THE DISCOVERY

Completing the hull of the new boat. Making manilla rope. Decide to
take Angel along. Enticing him aboard. His consternation. Rounding
the cliffs. Discovering their first boat among debris. Taking it
along as a trailer. Sailing up Cataract River. Evidence that their
boat had been used by some one. Proof of its use by the natives.
One of the signs of civilization. Leverage. Fulcrum. Mechanical
powers. Delay of voyage owing to weather. Tourmaline. Harry's
invention. The bamboo tubes. Testing how fast the guns could be
loaded and fired. Cartridges. The marine works. The boats. Three
cheers for the new ship.

VI. THE GRUESOME FINDS IN THE CAVE

The cave. Taking the boat to explore the interior. The air pocket.
A board for charting the cave. The boat on the wagon. Entering the
cave. The lights. Returning for the boat. The peculiar noise at the
cave entrance. Methods for searching the cave. The domed chamber.
Making a circuit within it. The outlet. The second chamber. The
chalk icicles. Limestone. Volcanic action. Carbonic acid, and what
it produced. The caves of the world. What is learned in searching
caves. Their archaeological knowledge. A peculiar formation in the
large chamber. A platform within a recess. Skulls and skeletons.
Ancient weapons. Evidences of a terrible conflict. Musket balls.
Dirks and unknown forms of weapons. Singular copper receptacles.
Curiously wrought knives. Articles of furniture. Decayed clothing.
Kitchen utensils. Why the cave takes care of the smoke.

VII. THE TREASURES OF THE CAVE

The couch in the recess. Chests of gold. A pirates' lair. The
ancient coins. Peculiar articles of ornament. The lid with mocking
lock. Rings; bracelets. The buccaneers. The sermon. Ghastly relics.
A perceptible movement in the atmosphere. Startling supposition. A
possible outlet in the side of the hill. The slab of carbonate. The
writing on it. An accident and the finding of other skeletons. The
light shining into the cave. Discovery of the outlet. View of the
cataract from the opening in the hillside. The boat in the cave.
Taking it out by the hillside opening. The Professor's search.
Return of the boys with the team. Re-enter the cave. The Professor
lost. Hunting in the unknown passages. Return of the Professor.
Taking two of the skeletons to the laboratory.

VIII. REMOVING THE VESSELS FROM THE CAVERNS

Completion of the boat. Making a trial voyage. Rounding the cliffs.
Trip to the south. The forests and the mountains. On the south
coast. A raging storm. Seasickness and dizziness at great heights.
The calcareous slab from the cave. The letters on it. Photography.
Reagents. Photographic light. X-rays. Taking the copper vessels
from the cave. Gathering up the bones. Evidences of the strife.
Spanish inscriptions. Gold bullion. Silver ornaments and vessels.
Decayed chests. The coins. Peculiar guns. Non-effective powder.
Disappearance of Angel. Return of Angel with a rusted modern gun.
Iron or steel guns. Powder as a factor in making weapons.

IX. MAKING ELECTRICITY

Their present condition. What they had accomplished. Working for
love. Contemplating the hoard in the cave. Selfishness at the
bottom of the pirates' lives. Gathering sugar cane. Honey, and its
uses in ancient times. Beets and various tubers. Fattening
properties. Nitrogenous matter. The load of cane. Making a sugar
mill. Lime in sugar-cane juice. Clarifying sugar. A candy pulling.
Granulating sugar. The earth as a magnet. Electricity. Positive and
negative. Magnetic poles. Likes and unlikes. Making a magnet.
Retaining magnetism in a bar.

X. STARTING ON THE VOYAGE TO THE WEST

A barometer. Air pressure. A compass. The atmosphere. Dry weather.
Observing weather conditions. Providing compartments in the boat
for provisions. Bedding. Water supply. Faith. Preparing a tablet
for the Cataract. A terrific storm. A delayed departure. How delays
have often proved valuable to investigators. Starting the voyage to
the west. Striking a course. Observations on speed. Going with the
wind. Tacking. Angles of incidence. The action of air on a surface.
Determining the pressure of air by its velocity. Flying machines.
Time and speed in a vessel. Qualities necessary in a sailor.

XI. A TERRIBLE VOYAGE AND THE SHIPWRECK

The shadows of night. Recalling memories of their shipwreck. The
charting board. Cardinal points of the compass. How direction
traveled is laid out on the chart. Measurement by angles. A weary
night. The watches. The wind changing. The second day. Cliffs
beyond. Sailing against the wind. Rounding the northern point. The
fourth day. The increasing gale. Night. The lights to the south.
The gale turning to a storm. Driven back. A night without sleep. An
appalling monsoon. Springing a leak. The Professor exhausted.
Danger ahead. The cliffs. A maelstrom in sight. Averting the
danger. Recovery of the Professor. Steering for shore. Striking the
beach. The vessel shattered. Stranded miles from home. Taking up
the march. Putting an inscription on the boat. Nearing home.

XII. THE RETURN TRIP. THE ORANG-OUTANS

The blackened fire space. Discovery of their own camp in the
forest. An adventure in the woods. A huge bear. George's shot.
Charging the Professor, and his shot. Attacking George. Safety
behind a fallen tree. Search for the luggage. The cries of Angel.
The bear finding their packages. The bear making use of their
things. What they had left. The yellow pear. Guava. The coffee
tree. Cherries. Gathering coffee berries. How Angel made himself
understood. His excitement. The discovery of a number of
orang-outans. Red Angel visits them. He is not welcomed. Return of
the animal. The clearing in the woods. Recalling the fight of the
bears over the honey.

XIII. THE STRANGE VISITOR

The flag on Observation Hill. Approaching Cataract. The alarm by
Red Angel. The house intact. Discovery of a man at the stable. His
peculiar actions. Lost memory. Aphasia. Unable to speak.
Recognizing the signal flag on the strange man. Provided with
clothing. A peculiar malady. The instinct of self-preservation.
Going with George to Observation Hill. The actions of a sailor. The
stranger visits the workshop. Expert with the use of tools.
Projecting an exploring trip by land. Naming the stranger John.
Startled at sound of the name. Mechanically performing work.
Examining the skulls.

XIV. AN EXCITING TRIP TO THE FALLS

The food supply. Butter. Cream. Centrifugal motion. Difference in
specific gravity between cream and milk. Making a cream separator.
Vegetables. Onions. Chives. The stranger as a prospector. Procuring
samples. Peculiarities of his malady. An exciting encounter with a
bear. John's skill as a hunter. Another honey tree. Killed with a
spear. The bear pelt. Visiting the falls. Action to indicate that
John recognizes the falls.

XV. THE STORY OF THE CAVE

Mystery about John. Humanity's search. The desire to know and
acquire. Gathering supplies for an extended trip by land. The boys
visit the cave. Determine to search the chamber visited by the
Professor. Gorgeous calcareous hangings. The ghosts of past
centuries. Gold and silver vessels. Skeletons. A recess. A row of
chests. Spanish guns. The chained skeletons in the recess. An
arsenal. The struggle. Locked in the embrace of death. Ancient
origin of the cave. Paleontology. Stone and bronze ages. Atlantis,
the great continent in the Atlantic, which disappeared. Story of
the Egyptian priests. The actinic rays. Purifying action of
sunlight. Bacteria. Glass houses. The eye. How it expresses
character. Laughter. How it brightens the eye. Fishhooks. A fishing
party. The salmon.

XVI. MUSIC AND ANIMALS

Preserving fish. Why heat is used. The use of tin for cans. Music.
The violin made by the boys. Violin strings; what they are made of.
How they are prepared and treated. The concert. How the music
affected Red Angel. John enraptured. How it touched him. The change
in his eyes. The field mouse. How different animals are moved by
music. The lion. Hippopotamus. Tigers. Monkeys. Momentary flashes
of intelligence in John. Building a new wagon. Finding and making
paint. Lead. Fermentation. Flax. Driers. Turpentine. Synthetic
food. Analysis. Tubes for powder. Completing the guns. Stocking the
wagon with provisions. Starting on the trip. Jack and Jill. The
sixth trip.

XVII. THE TRIP THROUGH THE DENSE FOREST

The trip along Cataract River. The great forest. How Angel
traveled. Reaching South River. Discovering a second falls. Where
the debris on a seashore comes from. The jungle. Leaving the river.
The two animals in the night. The camp aroused. A fight in the
dark. The puma. The frightened team. The injured yak. Animal
language. The panther. Trying to avoid the forest. Growing denser.
John and Harry scouting through the forest. Blazing a trail. The
hidden luncheon. End of the forest. Returning to the wagon. The
noise in their path. The wagon following the trail. The injured yak
improving.

XVIII. SEEING THE FIRST SAVAGES

Teaching Angel. Finding a campfire. Determine from the conditions
that it was recently made. Prospecting from the tops of trees. A
climbing ring. How made and used. The climbing operation. Harry
sees another forest to the south. Clear in the west. The wounded
yak calls a halt. Resuming the journey. Harry in the grasp of a
giant anaconda. John severs its body with a bolo. Boa constrictor.
The python. The Cashew tree. Gum arabic. Seeing the West River.
Discovering signs of habitations to the south. Course to be
followed in meeting the natives. Hearing voices in the night.
Crackling of twigs. A party of savages. The next morning. Examining
the tracks made by the midnight party. Following the trail thus
made. The open country. The first view of the inhabitants.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"The Professor was reading the scrap, and silently handed it to George"

"'We have probably found a pirate's lair, and here is the booty'"

"The Professor walked toward him and held out his hand"

"With a single stroke the body of the snake was severed above the last coil"

LIST OF FIGURES

1. The Broken Yoke

2. Top View of Boat

3. Side View of Boat

4. Cross Section of Boat

5. Force of Momentum

6. Red Angel

7. The Color Spectrum

8. Reflection Angle

9. The Hidden Message

10. The First Gun

11. The Bullet

12. The Sea-going Boat

13. The Cave

14. The Slab Found in the Cave

15. Old Coins Found in Cave

16. Cane Crusher

17. A Magnet

18. Magnetic Induction

19. The Two Magnets

20. Making a Permanent Magnet

21. Illustrating Wind Pressure, 1

22. Illustrating Wind Pressure, 2

23. Mariner's Compass

24. Chart of the Voyage

25. The Charting Board

26. Guava

27. Coffee

28. Cream Separator

29. The Lion and Cubs

30. The Puma

31. The Acajou

THE MYSTERIES OF THE CAVERNS