n enough," grunted Trendon. "Deserted ship. Billy Edwards.
Mysterious lights. Slade and his story. Any explosives in those? Good
enough, far as it goes. Don't go far enough."

"It certainly leaves gaps," admitted the other.

He turned over a few more pages.

"Formulas, formulas, formulas. What's this? Here are some marginal
annotations."

"Unbehasslich," read Trendon. "Let's see. That means 'highly
unsatisfactory,' or words to that effect. Hi! Here's where the old man
loses his temper. Listen: _'May the devil take Carroll and Crum for
careless'_--h'm--well, _'pig-dogs.'_ Now, where do Carroll and Crum come
in?"

"They're a firm of analytical chemists in Washington," said the captain.
"When I was on the ordnance board I used to get their circulars."

"Fits in. What? More English? Worse than the German, this is."

The writing, beginning evenly enough at the top of a page, ran along for a
line or two, then fell, sprawling in huge, ragged characters the full
length. Trendon stumbled among them, indignantly.

"_June 1, 1904_," he read. "_It is done. Triumph_. (German word.) _Eureka.
Es ist gefillt. From the_ (can't make out that word) _of the
inspiration--god-like power--solution of the world-problems_. Why, the
old fool is crazy! And his writing is crazier. Can't make head or tail of
it."

The captain turned several more pages. They were blank. "At any rate, it
seems to be the end," he said.

"I should hope so," returned the other, disgustedly.

He took the book on his knees, fluttering the leaves between thumb and
finger. Suddenly he checked, cast back, and threw the book wide open.

"Here beginneth a new chapter," said he, quietly.

No imaginable chirography could have struck the eye with more of contrast
to the professor's small and nervous hand. Large, rounded, and rambling,
it filled the page with few and careless words.

_June 2, 1904. On this date I find myself sole occupant and absolute
monarch of this valuable island. This morning I was a member of a
community, interesting if not precisely peaceful. To-night I am the last
leaf. 'All his lovely companions are faded and gone,' the sprightly
Solomon, the psychic Nigger, the amiable Thrackles, the cheerful Perdosa,
the genial Pulz, and the high-minded Eagen. Undoubtedly the social
atmosphere has cleared; moreover, I am for the first time in my life a
landed proprietor. Item: several square miles of grass land; item: several
dozen head of sheep; item: a