The Wonder Island Boys: Exploring the Island

as determined, sooner or later, to find out something more about it. With this end in view he made secret preparat

kind of illuminating material they had been used to. When people knew nothing better than tallow candles, that li

ntained asphaltum, hinted at a possible source of petroleum, and through the persistent eff

day of the week which had been set apart for exploration purposes. Within an hour the team was tethered at

ll have to depend on

e on the little hill beyo

much farther away,"

e, and we can probably get

er knew how to determine the direction of the "hole" from that point, time might be saved by each taking a d

to the northwest and the Professor directly west. The ridge on which they were ran north and south, and to the west wa

rge declared he had passed through at the time he was deposited in the "hole." When the bot

appointed, and going to the left, considerably farther down the hill, was rewarded by the rediscovery of

ee, that is the pla

ushes were swept aside and George went in, followed by the Pr

xurious vegetation a

e. There is a big ro

indeed

he Professor and Harry had a good l

hole." The rock was about ten feet across, and flat on top, and the

e must t

lates around a stone, or around a hole, and

d about the other day. Did you ever notice the mu

e often wondere

e readily bred, and as they form carbonic and nitrogenous gases, which the p

le it is drier, and the

food; some places the bacteria go down only one or two feet; at other places, where it is warm, as in the tropics, they have been found five or six feet below the surface. When a hole is made, an

o they get t

ed up the earth. You did this, as you were told, to keep down the weeds. That was one reason, but it is not the principal one. A dry crust forms over the surface of the ground, owing to the heat of the sun. When

is I am glad we di

t from the surface, but here was a depression, or hole, fully fifteen feet square, with rocky sides, the wall on the upper side of the hill being fully fifteen feet high, w

nse that it made the hole dark, but there was an unmistakable odor of asphaltum. Some

nk made this? Wa

hole," was the Pr

you think it

show that. Look at the marks of

se it was mad

to get

ds, do yo

ver; most li

nk we have

ave some samples of i

id you

amples we have it is rich in silver. It is likely that the indications of lead and silver all along this

you say, where did they put the di

low and you

the surface of the hill was examined there was no

t again be visited by some wanderers on the sea. This was a comforting assurance. It had the effect of giving new coura

an get kerosene here?

g, found in many places, and it generally indicates petroleum at some depth, bu

e of a bette

of minerals, and George, in one of his searches, brought a sample of very peculiar greenish

ect us to the place we must take a quantity of it. I

t uncovered to complete their load, and late that

observation. "The ore we found yesterday is too good a thing to lie idle. You will rem

ke the g

y, but nevertheless

the different things do all the work t

u thin

one or two elements can be made to do our work, the time may com

dir

es

or thinking are not the only things which man

ess is wrong, and that people are happier wh

e as crude and primitive as the people used to make them a thousand years ago. T

e he was contented. The first applicant wanted the fortune, because he said he was contente

s not human nature to be so. That is one of the qualities w

of labor-saving tools has caused

t on the mortar; the bolo or the knife is just as much a labor-saving tool as the planing machine; the sickle saves labor and so does the reaper.

ry in our furnac

do is to crush it up as fine as possible. When

the firebri

at. Almost any furnace would do, as the roas

e best way

iron plates, and great care must be taken to

sults. When this was done the next step was to take the roasted ore, and mix it with half its

nd also some fire clay dust, and moisten the dust so we can make a stiff mortar fro

nto the furnace, after it had been charge

re and roast it, and then afterwards put

ertain of the impurities are driven off in gases, and mixing it with charcoal or coke and then applying he

hite smoke began to appear at the mouth of the cl

pan here, so w

an out and came into contact with the ai

t is sold to refiners, who take out all the dross or impurities so i

can use this metal,

ight that you wished

xious to see whether we couldn't

ng petroleum we shall have to

ight out

by the zi

r new developme

we have just completed; then, if you have not forgotten it, we had quite a time in converting our copper ore into a copper which we could use. We were compelled to make charcoal, and then coke, with the aid of the charcoal; and now that we have coke, we must again grind it up and make a mort

contribute to their pleasure and comfort. The boys now learned what they had never dreamed of before; that life is a most complex problem; that to secure pleasures toi

essor? I have been

Where did you

, where I was cut

n at hand. "What is t

ike a big cat, ab

ave a poi

like the American civet. It is a cat, but not wh

ere is any dange

s, and cats have been known to be infected. I do not think we need to h