"But how do you account for the oars and the rope which we found in it?"
"He must have put them there."
"Where do you suppose he got the oars and the rope?"
"That is the peculiar part of the problem. The rope, if you will remember, looked as though it was made by savages. At any rate, it was not a regulation rope; but the oars were undoubtedly taken from the Investigator's lifeboat."
This was interesting news to the boys. It did seem probable, after all, that John had something to do with the lifeboat as well as their own boat.
CHAPTER XV
THE STORY OF THE CAVE
An hour or more was spent on the shore of the river, passing along its banks and investigating the proximity of the falls, but if there was a glimmer of intelligence, John did not exhibit it. All realized this one thing: that if his memory could be brought to its normal condition, he would be able, undoubtedly, to reveal some of the mysteries they longed to unravel. For all they knew, he might have been one of the crew of the Investigator, but this, after all reflections, was out of the question, because life on shipboard is rather intimate, and boys, above all others, are most likely to remember faces.
Neither had the slightest knowledge of ever having seen him, and it was now felt that they must await the time when he would again regain his consciousness by the orderly course of nature.