ow that it was Walter. Here it is." The original letter was
as follows:

[Illustration: _Fig. 2. Walter Letter._
Go directly south from the large river which flows to the east,
west of the mountains. We are too closely watched to escape. The
tribe at war with our captors are to the west of. If I escape I
will follow the river to the sea so you will understand where I am.
Walter. ]

"Compare the two and you will see they look alike," said George.

"What shall we tell the Professor!" asked Harry.

"Well but I am not yet through with the paper. Suppose we moisten it,
and that may bring out something we didn't see before."

This was done, but it made the entire document worse than before.

"Too bad we have spoiled it," remarked Harry, "but I think we are safe
in telling the Professor and John what we have found out."

For the time being, however, the boys had other urgent work to do. The
day for launching had been set, and every working hour was valuable, so
they were over at the ship yard early, and the boys did not see either
John or the Professor during the day.

The vessel as designed by Harry, and supervised by John, was ninety feet
long, and had a beam of eighteen feet, with a very deep keel, and high
bulwarks. It was constructed of a species of oak, found in abundance in
the forest west of the town, and was cut up into boards, and dried in
specially-prepared kilns which were put up for the purpose.

While lumber dried in this way is not the best for ordinary uses, it
will serve for shipping purposes, because there is always more or less
moisture present in the hull of the vessel, and the object was to enable
them to get the material in the speediest way.

The saw mill was one of their first experiments in building machinery,
and it was in constant service from the day it was first erected,
getting out lumber for building purposes.

The engine was designed only for auxiliary purposes, and the boiler was
intended to use coal, of which they found an ample supply in the
northern portion of the island, as explained in a previous book.

When the boys returned to their rooms late that afternoon, the first
thing that interested them was the message. When it was brought in it
was dry, and a slight change was noticed in its appearance. Now, what
appeared to be the first word of the message, was discernible, the word
"Take," and the word "Head" could be made out