as crisp and
invigorating in the hours before the sun had risen high. But by noon
the heat grew blistering, and they were still soaring above the river
without a trace of Rattlesnake Island being visible.

However, that afternoon they sighted a group of islands of which the
largest at once attracted their attention. A prominent feature of
Rattlesnake Island, as outlined on the map, was a big dead pine,
situated like a beacon, at the summit of the peak into which the
island rose.

The river at this point broadened out. Great cliffs overhung it. They
were made up of strata of brilliant colors. It looked from above as if
they had been painted by some titanic sign painter--nature, the
artist.

Jack was the first to call attention to the island which had caught
his eye while he scanned the river below them with the binoculars. He
at once noticed its formation, long and narrow, with a high, rocky
peak rising out from amongst trees and bushes which clothed it almost
to the summit.

Then his eye caught a great white pine trunk, standing like a
flagpole almost at the apex of the peak.

"Hurrah, boys!" he cried. "I guess that's the place. Welcome to
Rattlesnake Island!"

Tom was steering, "spelling" Jack at the wheel.

"You can see the island?" he demanded.

"Yes, or if it isn't it, it's like enough to be its twin brother."

Everybody began to get excited. Zeb took the glasses and after a
careful scrutiny and a reference to the map, declared that the island
below them tallied in every way with its description.

"Then down we go," said Jack.

"All right," nodded Tom, who was almost as good an air pilot as his
cousin.

The Wondership dropped rapidly. Soon they were immediately above the
island, which was now seen to be rocky and precipitous, except at one
end where there was a great open place, bare and desolate looking.

On the edges of this cleared spot, which looked swampy and
unwholesome, were serried rows of trees, every one of which was dead
as if from a blight, and offering with their gaunt, leafless branches
a sharp contrast to the green leafiness of the rest of the island.

Jack scanned the place sharply as they dropped down and Tom prepared
to land on the edge of the swamp. As they got closer to the ground, he
suddenly became aware of something that caused him a sharp shock of
surprise.

"Why there's somebody on the island!" he exclaimed.

"Somebody on the island?" echoed Zeb incredulously.

"Yes,