The Wonder Island Boys: Treasures of the Island.
by Roger Thompson Finlay.
CHAPTER I
THE PECULIAR SIGNALS
"Do you remember, Harry, after discovering the treasure and the skeletons of the pirates in the cave near the Cataract, that we heard the doleful sound of some bird while going down the hill?"
"Yes; that cry was something like it. Do you recall the name of the bird, George?"
"It was the Alma Perdita."
"I remember, now; it means the "Cry of the Lost Soul.""
"Yes; but I don"t think that came from a bird. It is more like an animal of some kind. Don"t you hear a sound that seems to be answering it?"
"It does seem so; I think John would know what animal it is; but it is too late to speak to him about it to-night, George."
As Harry ceased speaking, the boys heard a noise, and George arose holding up his hand as a warning. "I think I see something, so we ought to call John."
The boys quietly moved forward, and noted two figures moving about a short distance beyond. The boys crawled over to the place where John was sleeping, and found that the place he occupied, as well as that of Uraso"s vacant.
"That must be John and Uraso over there," remarked Harry in a whisper.
They were confirmed in this on approaching the moving figures, and saw that both were armed, and also that they were watching another moving figure beyond.
"Is that a bird or an animal?" asked George.
"An animal," replied John, in an undertone.
"That was my opinion from the first," remarked George, who turned to Harry with a sort of "I told you so," expression.
"But it is a two-legged animal," responded John.
"How long have you been up?" asked Harry.
"More than an hour," said Uraso. "Muro is now coming back, and we shall know something more definite."
"Then that is Muro?" asked George, in surprise.
"Yes; he has been stalking the ones making that noise, and was the one who called our attention to it."
Muro disappeared, and the peculiar cries were repeated, then, most startlingly, a sound, similar in character, appeared to come from a point very close to where they were now crouching.
John turned to Uraso in astonishment. The latter did not seem at all perturbed, but after the second cry Uraso imitated the sound, and John smiled.
"Muro has the exact tone now," said John.
"Yes," replied Uraso, "and the cry I gave was an answer, which Uraso understands."
In a few minutes Muro appeared, but he was not smiling. His face was grave, as he said: "We have come upon the terrible Konotos. I feared that when I heard the first cry several hours ago."
"Have you been near them?" asked John.
"Near enough to know that there are quite a number, and what is more, they are now engaged in their regular feast, and if they have any captives, this is the time that they will be sacrificed," said Muro.
"Why do you think this is the time for that?" asked Harry.
"Because it was now nearing the _dark of the moon_, as you call it, and that time is chosen because the Great Spirit, out of anger, is hiding the light."
The boys now understood that this was a rite practiced by some of the tribes on Wonder Island, during that season of the Moon"s phase.
"Did you talk with them in that strange language?" asked Harry.
"No; but I tried to find out the key to the language they used."
"Is that their regular language?"
"Oh, no! That is simply the special language which they use on certain occasions," answered Muro.
"The savages here, as everywhere, have a sort of code language, or a species of wireless telegraphy, used by them only when in the presence of enemies," commented John.
"Harry and I thought it might be the Alma Perdita, that we heard at the cave near Cataract."
"No; but it shows the ingenuity of the savages, when I explain that their most favored method is to a.s.sume the cry of some bird or animal, and in so doing make it difficult for the enemy to distinguish the a.s.sumed from the real."
"But on Wonder Island we had several methods of talking to each other,"
remarked Uraso. "For instance, we would perfectly imitate the cries of a number of birds, and also of certain animals, and of the wood insects.
Thus, a nightingale would mean _watchfulness_; the chirrup of a cricket would be the signal that the enemy was not dangerous, or that there were not many of them; the cry of the Lost Soul bird would indicate that there was great danger, and so on with the birds and animals that make noises."
"But I have discovered another thing," remarked Muro.
"And what is that?" said John.
"The natives here are cannibals."
"That merely confirms my knowledge of the matter," said John.
The boys looked at John in amazement. How did John know there were cannibals on the island?
"When did you learn that?" asked Harry.
"Yesterday," was his reply.
"What did you find that makes you believe that?"