That day he and Ta Babeda had a long conversation, and together they visited John and Ephraim, and then called in Blakely. The boys were present, of course, and it then turned out that they had agreed upon a plan to start the agricultural work in the two islands conjointly, and the only question which remained was to take care of the management of the work.
Both of the Chiefs declared that they did not possess the qualifications to direct the work, and Ephraim pleaded age as the reason why it would be impossible to undertake the burdens.
"I have an idea," he said, "that the best solution would be to make George and Harry the managers for the islands. I have been with the boys for some time, and see what they are capable of, and every one would be glad to work under them."
The boys were, of course, somewhat confused at the encomium, and the Professor came to their rescue. "These are my boys," he said. "I have known them ever since they came to the island. They have been with me under every condition of service. We have had hours and days of pleasure, and of trials, such as few have undergone, and al[p. 204]ways, whatever the circumstances, they have been manly, and never gave up, although sometimes things seemed hopeless.
"You have seen how, through their ingenuity, they have built the water wheel, the mills and the factories. Fortune has been kind to them; they do not need the money that may come to them, as they have found riches here, far greater than you know, but they have loved the work, for the pleasure it has brought them, and it is for them to decide."
"Harry and I have talked about these things many times," answered George. "When we first came to the island, we had nothing. For our own preservation we set about to better our condition, began to build the things necessary to maintain life, and to protect ourselves.
"What at first was a necessity, later became a pleasure, because we could see, day after day, how we built the shop and the machinery out of the crude things; it would be hard to leave that work now."
Harry approvingly nodded his head, as he responded: "I consider it a pleasure to do anything which would help the people here. George and I feel that it would be wrong to leave them, so long as we can be of service to them.
"The money we have will not make us happy; that I know, unless we can use it to do some good. And it is so with our time, also. I am as willing to give that as money, because we have been amply rewarded and now our duty is to the people here."
As a result of the conference it was agreed that George and Harry should take up the management of the affairs on Venture and Rescue Islands, they to[p. 205] decide which should be the particular sphere of each.