Part 4 (1/2)

CAPTURE OF THE VILLAGE

The most trying time for all adventurers and explorers, is after night has set in. During the daytime there is always plenty to take up one's attention and energies, but as the sun goes down the world seems to contract into a very small s.p.a.ce, and when enemies are near the burden of waiting is a doubly trying one.

The boys had spent many such nights. Whenever John or the Professor were about these hours were always enjoyed, because like all healthy boys, they were ever on the alert to ask questions which happened to be suggested by the experiences of the day.

Now, it is a singular thing, that there is no selfishness in education.

True education is charitable. Those who crave it with the most eagerness, are always the foremost in wis.h.i.+ng to impart it to others.

The honest learner does not resent the listening ear of his fellow pupils.

Uraso and Muro, the two chiefs, who were the first to conceive the advantages of education at the hands of John and the Professor, were always on the alert at the evening meetings, whenever their duties permitted it, and hundreds of the natives of Wonder Island craved the privilege of hearing the conversations which took place on all sorts of topics.

In Unity, the capital of Wonder Island, schools had been established and were flouris.h.i.+ng, and all the children were pupils, so that within another generation there would be a tremendous change for the better among those people.

There was nothing more enjoyable to the boys than to see the intense interest manifested by the common natives, when night came on, and they expected one of the treats which they knew would be in store for them.

On these occasions George and Harry were usually the questioners, but many times they saw that some of the men seemed to desire additional information, and by degrees the boys encouraged them to put the questions, and to seek inquiries.

This had a very stimulating effect. John was delighted at the spirit thus developed, and he gave it a still broader range by refusing sometimes to answer the questions, and thus inviting answers from the men themselves.

Thus discussion developed. It taught them to begin to think for themselves. If men know that the ready answer is always at hand, it prevents the mind from expanding. The evenings, therefore, were seasons of enjoyment, alike to the men as well as to the boys.

After they had reached the cove in the rocks, and all the dispositions had been made for the night, John warned the men that while the natives were no doubt, in consternation, the utmost care must be observed to prevent any surprises.

The moon had not yet arisen, but there was a beautiful clear sky. The great Southern Cross hung in the heavens like a giant lantern. On one side, and on line with each other, shone the two brightest stars in the heavens, the first being the Dog Star Sirius, and the next in order, Canopus, the one white, and the other a yellowish white.

Then, on the other side of the Great Cross, sparkled Antares, the brilliant red star, of the first magnitude, while Spica, another star made up a most remarkable combination of heavenly orbs.

George had always been impressed with the appearance and the arrangement of the stars, and he was struck by the intense interest which all savages manifested in astronomy.

”Your observations are correct,” said John, when the discussion began.

”Almost all of the savage rites, their feasts and religious ceremonials, have something to do with the appearances and the movements of the heavenly bodies.”

”I suppose the grouping of the stars, when they named these groups of the planets after animals, and the like, was done by the ancients, and really meant something in a religious way,” ventured Harry.

”It is difficult really to determine the origin of what is called the Zodiac. From the evidence attainable it was known to the Babylonians, over 2300 years before the Christian era. They divided the heavens into twelve parts, each cl.u.s.ter of stars representing some fanciful animal or being, such as the Lion, or the Bear, or the Dragon.”

”Isn't it funny that the tribes here, as well as some on Wonder Island have an idea that the dark moon is caused by the Great Spirit trying to hide it in anger?” asked George.

”It is singular when it is considered that the same superst.i.tion is found in many, many tribes, on different continents, and it induces the belief that this idea had one common origin, and that the people all sprang from one source, or, that the different peoples worked out the ideas independently of each other.”

This statement caused considerable discussion, the natives being of the opinion that the idea was worked out by the different peoples and could not have been spread broadcast by one set of people.

”Why do you think it could not have come from one race?” asked George, as Uraso urged.

”Because,” he answered, ”how did the people in olden times cross the big ocean? Even now, people like my own, dare not venture on the sea, for any distance from sh.o.r.e.”

”But,” said John, ”the surface of the earth was not originally like it is now. In many places over the earth, new lands have appeared,--that is, they come up out of the sea, and other lands have disappeared. We have records of islands, and parts of continents, hundreds of times larger than Wonder Island, which have disappeared in a single day. One of those, near j.a.pan, sank, and engulfed over 200,000 people.”