"It looks to me, boys, as if you had discovered the spreaders of a demolished aerial."
"No doubt of it," Hal agreed. "Somebody used this tree and that one over there as masts of an aerial."
"But trees are not supposed to be good for aerial masts," Bud objected.
"They're all right if you have your insulation well out beyond the branches," said Cub.
"Yes, that's true," Bud admitted. "And look up there—see that wire? The fellow who took down this aerial didn't do his work very well."
All looked up in the tree and saw a wire hanging down among the branches and appearing to be attached at the farther end near the top of the pine.
"It was probably done in a hurry," Mr. Perry observed.
"And that is one more point to the argument that this is the island we were looking for," said Bud.
"Yes, but the fellow we came to rescue is gone and left no trace where he's gone to," added Cub.
"Still, don't you think the search has been worth while?" the latter's father inquired.