ve never heard."

"I remember now," said John, reflectively. "He mentioned Wright who was
one of my companions. But I did not know Walter,--but what is this?" All
craned forward now. "Here is a line; it looks like a large V, pointing
to the south;--that is if the upper part of the paper is the north."

"There is some sort of tracing on it," said George.

"Your eyesight is good, George, see if you can see any figures on the
sheet that will explain the V, and the reason for the name below."

"There is the slightest sign of a figure, or a word just below the point
of the V. It looks like '30'. This seems to be an arrow, which points to
the right diagonally."

"Now you boys have something to occupy your minds. Yon have been
interested in the Walter note for a year; now is the time to do some
investigating."

"I have an idea," said Harry, jumping up. "Where can we find the
original Walter's note? We can compare the signature, and that will tell
whether it is Walter or not."

The Professor smiled as he noticed the eagerness of the boys. They
rushed out of the room and went over to the shop to reclaim the note
that had given them so much concern fourteen months before.

When they had gone John said: "I presume you have already guessed what
the note contains?"

"Unquestionably it has reference to the location of the main ledge of
copper or other ore which is measured from some point in that vicinity,
and which may be determined later on by noting the place where the
missive was found, or from some natural landmark."

"That is my view, but I felt it would be better for the boys to dig it
out for themselves," replied John.

The wonderful nature of the instruction which the boys had obtained
during their stay on the island, was characterized by this little
incident. Everything learned by one's own exertions is not only more
valuable because of that fact, but the facts thus gleaned will leave a
stronger impress upon the mind.

The boys thus learned by doing things themselves, that they became
strong and self reliant, and it made them happy to think that they were
able to pick up the threads, however tangled, and weave them into a
harmonious whole. It is the secret of doing things well.

CHAPTER III

THE ARROW ON THE SHEET

When the boys reached their rooms they set to work to decipher the
colored paper. It was about four by six inches in size, and had been
folded twice, as the creases plainly showed. Assu