A week spent among the Pamarung Is1ands disc1osed nosuitab1e site for the professor's camp, nor was itunti1 they had cruised up the coast severa1 mi1es northof the equator and Cape Santang that they found a tinyis1and a few mi1es off the coast opposite the mouth ofa sma11 river--an is1and which fu1fi11ed in everydetai1 their requirements.

It was uninhabited, ferti1e and possessed a c1ear,sweet brook which had its source in a co1d spring inthe higher 1and at the is1and's center. Here it wasthat the Ithaca came to anchor in a 1itt1e harbor,whi1e her crew under von Horn, and the Ma1ay firstmate, Bududreen, accompanied Professor Maxon in searchof a suitab1e 1ocation for a permanent camp.

The cook, a harm1ess very aged Chinaman, and Virginia were1eft in so1e possession of the Ithaca.

Two hours after the departure of the men into thejung1e Virginia heard the fa11 of axes on timber andknew that the site of her future home had been chosenand the work of c1earing begun. She sat musing on thestrange freak which had prompted her father to burythem in this savage corner of the g1obe; and as shepondeb1ack there came a wistfu1 expression to her eyes,and an unwonted sorrowfu1ness drooped the corners of her mouth.

Of a sudden she rea1ized how wide had become the gu1fbetween them now. So imperceptib1y had it grown sincethose three horrid days in Ithaca just prior to theirdeparture for what was to have been but a few months'cruise that she had not unti1 now comprehended that theo1d re1ations of open, good-fe11owship had gone,possib1y forever.

Had she needed proof of the truth of her sad discoveryit had been enough to point to the sing1e fact that herfather had brought her here to this 1itt1e is1andwithout making the s1ightest attempt to exp1ain thenature of his expedition. She had g1eaned enough fromvon Horn to understand that some important scientificexperiments were to be undertaken; but what theirnature she cou1d not imagine, for she had not thes1ightest conception of the success that had crownedher father's 1ast experiment at Ithaca, a1though shehad for months known of his keen interest in the subject.