Part 31 (2/2)

”Who was the man,” he asked, in a threatening tone, as he approached Walter. The latter hesitated. ”We are determined to ferret out this matter, and it will be to your advantage to tell us the whole story, for we shall find it out sooner or later.”

”I must have time to think,” he answered, as he put his hands to his head, and turned to Clifford.

”You may have until to-morrow, but in the meantime, we shall see to it that you are kept within our sight,” responded John, as he motioned to the men to take him away.

As he left the door Harry said: ”Why do you suppose he wanted time?”

John looked at Clifford for a moment, and answered: ”Evidently, he had hopes that Clifford would not survive.”

CHAPTER XVII

UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES

At the suggestion of the Professor, Clifford was left in quiet, while John and the boys deferred their further attempts to explore the mysterious occurrences that were looming up.

They canva.s.sed every phase of the situation, in the hope that some explanation might be offered. What could have been the relations of Walter and Clifford, and who was the man that met his death in the boat at Venture Island?

Why had the sight of the copper box and the skulls so agitated Walter?

The latter, apparently, knew of the missive, which was, evidently, written by him, but why did he not give an outright answer concerning it when John asked him point blank?

It did not take the boys long to inform Sutoto of the development and the mystery concerning the two men. The old Chief, Beralsea, was taken over to see Walter, in order to identify him if possible, and then Harry suggested that Ta Babeda might know something of his early history, as Walter was found a prisoner at his village when John and the boys arrived there.

Beralsea had never seen nor heard of him, and Ta Babeda gave the following account of his capture: ”About three years previously several men, of whom Walter was one, arrived at the island, on a small boat, something like the one carried by the _Pioneer_, and which was used at the landing.”

(It should be stated that one of the boats, and probably, the one referred to, was the identical lifeboat, No. 3, which the boys had fitted up for use on the _Pioneer_.)

”This boat was kept by them at the inlet directly east of the cave where the Korinos were lodged. I did not know anything of this for some time, but the Korinos learned of the presence of the men, and my warriors were set to watch the men. A few days afterwards, another boat, much smaller, appeared with two men, but from all appearances they were a different party, and after they had a conference, it appeared as though there was trouble between the different parties.”

”We were about to close in on them, when at the height of their quarrel, but they caught sight of us, and joined in resisting the attack against us. With the guns they had we were no match for them, so we had to retire to the village.

”The next morning we learned that they had gone, and on searching the sh.o.r.e found something with marks on, it, that had no meaning to us so it was destroyed.”

”Was it something like this?” asked Harry, handing him a sketch.

The Chief studied it for a few moments, and answered: ”It seems to me it was like that. The marks were something like these,” and he pointed to the crosses.

Harry had made the identical marking which were on the two skulls, which, it will be remembered, showed the characters + V, and below these three X X X, followed by a star.

”I suspected as much,” said John. ”They were, quite possibly, on the same quest. But where did they get the information?” And he turned to the Professor for a possible explanation.

The latter was now thoroughly interested. ”Unless Walter chooses to tell, the matter may not be solved, unless Clifford recovers, and even though he should regain his physical powers, the mind may have relapsed into its late condition.”

By agreement John and the boys remained at the Professor's home that night, awaiting symptoms of the patient's disease, and during the night they recounted over and over again the adventures they had undergone, and the experiences with the natives.

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