Roger T. Finlay

“ Fruit and Flower of Vanilla.
"I think I have found vanilla; or it is something that smells like it, but I did not know that the vanilla was a climber."
"You have found the wild vanilla, the flowers of which have, as you see, disappeared and the bean is the product."
"I have often wondered why it is that we are able to smell or to recognize different odors."
"Smell, like everything else in nature, is produced by vibrations. So is sound, and light, and taste. Each odor has its particular rate of vibration. ”

“ Before Harry reached the hut, George cried out: "Come here, Harry; I have found something." And he held up a scrap of paper. "If the savages have been here they have left something that looks like writing."
Harry was back in an instant, and leaned over George's shoulder as he tried to make out the scrawls on the piece of blackened and crumpled sheet which he was smoothing out. The paper was about four by six inches in size, and evidently a good quality of wrapping paper, known as manilla. ”

“ Why should the sight of the skeleton bring sorrow to you? Probably the Egyptians had the right idea when they always had a skeleton at the feast."
"Skeleton at the feast? What was that for?"
"As a reminder of death?"
"There is one thing I could never make myself understand. Why is death necessary? Why couldn't man have been made so he could live always?" was Harry's query. ”

“ Do you know of any tools that are not labor-saving? The mason's trowel is a labor-saving tool, invented to prevent him from using his hands to put 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. The difficulty is that some people do not stop to think that the saving of labor applies just as forcibly to a simple tool as to a complicated one. ”

“ You are right, George, old as I am, I am in for sport, and fun of any kind. Why, I am just as young as you are in feeling and desires, but the difficulty is that getting old is a habit with many people. It gets on their nerves; they get some reminder of old age every day of their lives, and sometimes hourly during the day. ”

“ The boys looked wonderingly at the Professor.
"How," asked Harry, "does an excited mind make anyone take a crooked path?"
"When the mind is excited, it is, for the time, deranged, like soldiers, frequently on the field of battle, who are wounded, without having the least knowledge of it. The sense of direction is a well-developed trait in some people; in others, it does not exist at all. But in the case of either, the moment the mind is excited, it becomes abnormal; some lose the ability to judge distances, some are unable to talk, and others can't do anything but talk. ”

“ Red Angel didn't hear. He hung there and smiled; yes, smiled, as he looked down, while playing with the wheel. "We can't put up the flag while he is there." George walked over to the wagon, and took out the honey pot. Red Angel saw it, but made no motion to come down. The honey pot was held up as an inducement, but there was nothing in the world so fascinating just then as that wheel.
Harry and the Professor laughed at the situation. Just to think of it! An orang-outan actually preventing a foreign power from hoisting the emblem of possession over his native land! ”

“ My reason for saying so is, that it would take several years for wood to decay, as you see in the case of these arrows, and the cot had the heaviest portions all rotted. In my opinion this skeleton shows greater age."
"Under conditions of that kind, what sort of story could you weave out of it, so as to determine what happened to him?"
"It is decidedly more interesting than our adventure, and about as difficult to gather any information from," answered Harry.
"In my opinion, the man died from starvation, as you say he had no tools or implements of any kind," replied George. ”

“ In their minds it was a daring enterprise.
"If we should fire a gun the noise would likely startle them, and the first impulse of the savages would be to extinguish the lights."
George, who had the spirit of adventure more strikingly developed than Harry, was the first to concur.
"I am going to try it at any rate; we might just as well know what we have to face now, as later on."
"So you are really going to shoot?" said the Professor.
"If you so urge it, yes."
"Then let me suggest what to do. All savages have a keen sense of direction. It is one of their chief accomplishments. ”

“ And now for the flag!
"Tell us, Professor, why the attaching of the flag on the cord, or halliards, is called bending it?"
"The term comes from heraldry, and it originally designated two diagonal lines across the field of an escutcheon. Later on, sailors bent the ends of the flags or ensigns on the halliards, or around the yards, and also called the fastening of a cable to the anchor a bend; a knot is also designated by them as a bend; the form of the ship from the keel to the top of the side is called a bend, as, the midship bend." ”

“ Before we can utilize this agency for lighting purposes, we must make a machine which will produce a vacuum; we must make glass; we must learn to carbonize threads; and the art of blowing glass would be a necessary accomplishment."
"As usual," said Harry, "something must be made to make something that makes something else."
"But can we make electric light without putting it in a glass bulb?" ”

“ When he sleeps he lies on one side, rolls himself up so that his snout lies on his breast, places all his feet together, and covers himself with that bushy tail. As the hair of the tail resembles hay, or the surrounding dried grass, it is likely to be passed by without being noticed."
"I wish we could get a shot at him."
"There is a fine pole," said Harry, whose keen interest was as great in that quarter as in the hunting. ”

“ Don't get excited. Remember the Professor's warning; a shot close at hand, deliberately aimed, is more positive than a dozen shots excitedly fired at a distance."
When all was ready Harry whispered, "Now!"
With a whoop both started forwardly on a run as fast as the dense underbrush would permit. Before they had gone twenty feet a large leopard-like animal sprang transversely across their path, then, seeing the boys, crouched for a spring. The guns were cocked and ready, and it is a wonder that in the excitement there was not a premature shot.
"Now, steady," said Harry. "Aim, fire!" ”

“ The barley field had been exhausted.
"If there is anything I missed on the journey, it was the clock. I don't like guessing at time," was George's comment, after they had fully gone over their experiences on the trip.
"I suppose," said Harry, "we can make watches, but they will be rather cumbersome, because our tools are not very delicate. What do you think, Professor?"
"That is for you to decide. I am of the opinion that as we have a pretty good clock, and as it is susceptible of being nicely regulated, we could put in our time more profitably in doing some other much needed work." ”

“ George was the first watch, and, by agreement, Harry was to be the next, in two hours, for the second period. Before that time passed Baby was very restless, and George tried to soothe him; but before long he began crying. A lusty orang, however small, in a still night, makes an awfully loud noise. The boys never heard anything as loud and as frightful as that cry appeared to them.
All were awake, of course, but the Baby refused to be quieted for fully a quarter of an hour.
"Don't you think Baby's cries will direct the savages to us?" ”

“ No provision had been made for a lengthy trip, but, fortunately, they had plenty of ammunition, and as to food, they could supplement what they had by forage along the way, as they had often done before.
"What shall we do with the boat?"
"Let us find a place for it far enough from the shore to be beyond reach of the river, and hide it, so there will be no further danger of its disappearance."
"We are so used to have things get away from us that it has become a habit," said Harry, laughing. ”

“ The removal of the flag and flagstaff; the "hole" in the hill; the fire in the forest; the branded bull, all indicated that people had, at various times, visited the island. But the finding of their boat, with the positive evidence furnished by the oar and the rope, was conclusive, and what made it the more interesting was the fact that the island must have had such a visit within two, or at the most, not over three months ago.
Each was too busy to give much time for discussing the probabilities. They had entirely forgotten the cave. ”

“ As they had definitely planned to go north along the coast line to the cliff rocks, the explorations to the south must be reserved for some future day.
The sea front showed delightful stretches of beach, but at intervals small trees and bushes grew close to the ocean on the elevated spurs which broke up the otherwise smooth beach line.
The clam, as a source of food supply, had practically been neglected, because it was quite a distance from the Cataract home to the beach, and principally for the reason that other foods were so plentiful. ”

“ He did not need to be told that he must run for his life, and was wise enough to seek the security among the cows, but he could not foresee a stampede. It was fortunate that the big bull was behind the herd when the stampede began, and it was lucky that there was plenty of room for the animals, or he surely would have been trampled to death. Naturally, the noise of the rushing animals drowned the roar of the fighting bulls, but the stampeded yaks gradually checked themselves, and George was the most surprised individual imaginable when he found the bull was not behind them. ”

“ The wise man answered by saying, that if he was contented he would not want the fortune."
"Quite true; the contented man does not exist, because it is not human nature to be so. That is one of the qualities which distinguishes man from the rest of the animal creation."
"But is it true that the invention of labor-saving tools has caused a lot of misery to working people?" ”

“ As long as they were on the island it was the part of prudence to act like sensible business men, and prepare for the future.
"We haven't a very big variety of vegetables, and I wish we could find some real good sweet potatoes and peas; and tomatoes would come in handy."
"Of course, variety, or the wish for different kinds, is largely a matter of desire. It is not a necessity."
"But does not the desire for different kinds grow out of the need of man to get the different substances which vegetables have?" ”

“ During the day the boys had turned out a nice sample of bread, and George, as usual, began the questioning:
"Professor, you said the other day, that fermentation caused a change in the dough, and that it was due to heat. I am curious to know why heat should cause it to ferment?"
"Heat develops bacteria, a tiny germ, which grows so rapidly in a short time, that millions are produced. These living organisms cause gases to form, and they continue to breed and grow and multiply so long as they have anything to feed on." ”

“ Sound means a succession of vibrations produced in their regular order, like music, whereas noise is a disorganized vibration. For instance, falling water, like our cataract here, is sound, but the report of George's gun was a noise."
"I can see the difference. Would a wagon going rapidly over a pavement be a noise or a sound?" ”

“ Baby was sure to be present whenever George occupied the kitchen. And help! Why certainly! He knew what flour meant, and particularly honey. The truth is, that he knew what that meant if George merely looked in the direction of the honey pot.
And talking about eggs! Harry found out about this accomplishment in Baby. In the tall grass beyond the barley fields were flocks of prairie chickens, and during one of the hunting expeditions he found several nests of eggs. They are just as much more delicious than the common egg as the prairie chicken is more delicate than the hen. ”

“ The boys looked at each other without questioning, as usual; but the next morning, as soon as George awoke, his first observation was: "I can't understand what makes you think that the natives of the different tribes do not associate with each other."
"Simply for the reason that the styles of the arrows differ so greatly. With them, as with civilized people, the intermingling of the races should tend to make their tools and implements alike." ”

“ The root is dug up before the plant shoots into flower, and is washed, sliced and dried! it is then roasted until it is of a chocolate color. Two pounds of lard are roasted with each hundredweight; and afterwards, when ground and exposed to the air, it becomes moist and clammy, increases in weight, and smells like licorice. When put into cold water it gives a sweetish bitter taste, not unlike coffee."
"Let me try some of it, and don't say anything about it to Harry. And now, while I think about it, why couldn't we make some crocks out of our clay, so we can use them for our milk. ”

“ Most germs are of the harmless type, and it is because of the vast numbers of the harmless ones that the few poisonous or disease germs are killed. Water has millions of them in every cubic inch. Professor Dewar, a great English chemist, calls them nature's policemen. If a typhoid fever germ, for example, should be introduced among so many germs, as is the case every day, a fight at once takes place, and where a person is finally attacked with the fever, it is because the germs escaped the policemen who were on duty. ”