xperience, particularly if you have ever had
stomach troubles, as my friend Wright here has had all his life. Isn't
that so, Wright?"

"Do you think I have been to a health cure?" he asked.

"Certainly; the best kind, for one in your condition." And John laughed.

"Probably you took me away before the cure was effected; but as I always
was magnanimous, I shall forgive you this time."

There was a continuous fire of conversation, which cheered the patients,
and added greatly to their store of knowledge.

Harry, who had been outside, rushed in, and exclaimed excitedly:

"Did you have _Investigator's_ Lifeboat No. 3?"

"Yes," exclaimed the boys.

"Who wrote the note we found in it?"

"Did you find our boat? Where did you get it?" asked Robert.

"We found it on a river to the north of this place."

"How in the world did it ever get there?"

"But who wrote the note?"

"What note?"

"The message signed Will."

The boys looked at each other, as they all shook their heads.

"That is one of the mysteries which George and I thought you could
solve."

"Mysteries! Did you have many of them?"

"Many of them! We had over a dozen, and some of them are still on the
puzzle board. Do you remember Raggy, the drawing teacher? He always
liked to call some of our drawings the unsolved puzzles. I wonder where
he is? We had enough mysteries the first three months to supply
headaches for a year."

"We want to know about them."

"We'll tell you all about them; and some were mighty thrilling. We had
some just as exciting as any you ever read of in the last boys' series
that we had about two years ago."

"You see," said George, in a sage-like tone, "Harry and I don't read
books of that kind any more; we simply act them." And the boys, and men,
too, laughed at this sally.

"Stop your talking for a while and eat something," continued George.

"Good, but it's awful hot," said Min, as he puckered up his mouth and
drew in a breath of cool air.

"I made it hot so you wouldn't eat too fast," chuckled George.

Just then a great commotion was heard on the outside, and George, Harry
and Robert rushed for the door. Beyond the village a scrimmage was
taking place, and a few shots were fired.

John and Uraso were racing across the open place, and dozens of warriors
were following. Muro was seen as he emerged from the combatants, and he
was smiling as John came up.

"The reinforcements from the south village came too late. I s