y, and it had to
be found and prepared. It could not be bought. All the gold in the cave
would not purchase a single meal. More barley had to be ground and the
stock of honey was almost exhausted. Their duties in the shop,
consequent on the haste exhibited to get the boat and weapons ready,
contributed to the low state of supplies.

George announced that there was less than two pounds of the honey left,
and proposed that a trip be taken to the flats, where the Professor had
found the sugar cane. All joined in the journey to the cane field, and
Angel was invited to join, which invitation was accepted by him
gleefully.

The bolos were taken for the purpose of cutting the cane, and on the way
George's inevitable question point was in evidence. "What did people use
for sweetening purposes before cane was discovered?"

"Honey was the principal source of the world's sweets. But cane is not
the only kind of vegetable from which the principle has been extracted.
There are many kinds of reeds which furnish a sweetish substance. Sugar
cane was first made known in eastern Europe by the conquest of Alexander
the Great. Nearchus, one of his admirals, in sailing down the Indus,
found the reed, and it was, previous to that time, known throughout the
greater part of India. He described it as a kind of honey growing in
canes and reeds. From this you may infer that honey was the principal
source of sweets in his time."

"What are the other principal plants or substances that sugar is made
from?"

"Mainly from beet, tubers of various kinds, such as the common dahlias,
and numerous vegetables, from milk, fruit, gum arabic, as well as fish."

"I have heard it said that sugar contains all that is necessary to
sustain life. Is that true?"

"That is a mistaken idea. It will sustain life for quite a time and with
the addition of nitrogenous matter has great fattening properties, but
without that it is not valuable as food."

"What do you mean by nitrogenous matter?"

"Meat, fish, eggs, milk, beans, peas, and the like, all contain a large
amount of nitrogen."

"I remember my arm being burned on one occasion, and mother made a syrup
out of sugar and put it on. In what way was the sugar beneficial?"

"In the first place, sugar is one of the most powerful antiseptics
known. It acts, therefore, as an aid to healing, since it protects the
wound from foreign substances and from poisonous and harmful germs. In
the next place, it is a grea