Here they had thought themselves so far removed from civilization that the only persons within a range of miles might be set down as a wild man and some lawless counterfeiters, who had chosen this region because of its inaccessibility.
And now they had learned that one of the latest inventions of the day had been moving above the island, with the pilot actually looking down on the camp, and so discovering the fact of the Boy Scouts having returned after their banishment from the place.
No wonder they all stared at each other, and that speech was denied them for a time.
Jack was the first to speak. He had read the message, being nearly as good a signalman as Paul or Jud.
"Things seem to be picking up at a pretty lively clip for us; eh, fellows?" was the way he put it.
"Picking up?" gasped Bobolink; "Seems to me they're getting to the red hot stage about as fast as they can. An aeroplane! And up here on our desert island at that, which folks said was given over to spooks and wild men! That is the limit, sure! Hold me, somebody; I think I'm going to faint!"
But as nobody made any movement in that direction, Bobolink changed his mind.
"Let's look into this thing a little closer, fellows," said Paul, always prompt to set an investigation going.
"That's what!" echoed Bluff, surprising himself by not stammering a particle, even though he was still quivering with excitement.
"Jud says an aeroplane passed over the camp; but he didn't tell whether it rose from the island or not, though the chances are that it did," Paul continued.