“Where did you get the date?”
“Well that date is as good as any. We know it is about a year and a half after we landed here, and that will be pretty good notice if any of our boys get hold of it.”
The Professor and John heard the conversation with amusement, and the former inquired: “What was your object in putting it ‘Sunday’?”
“I thought that would be a good time to date a message of that kind.”
All laughed at Harry’s smartness in thinking of putting a message on the litter, as by that means it might fall into the way of some one in distress.
John was especially amused and remarked: “Harry was absolutely right. I know it is Sunday to-day, and there is an invariable rule by which it can be proven, wherever you are, and whatever time you awaken, without ever asking the question of anyone.”
This was certainly an interesting thing, and the boys crowded around John. “Let us know the method.”
“What we all understand by Sunday is the Sabbath, or day of rest. Among Christians their Sabbath is on Sunday; the Greeks have theirs on Monday; the Persians on Tuesday; the Assyrians on Wednesday; Egyptians on Thursday; the Turks on Friday; and the Jews on Saturday. With this understanding you may be sure to strike the right day in some particular creed. It is the only day of the week about which there is any question.”
The besieging party was still in position as night fell, but when the sun rose in the morning they were nowhere in sight, and John, beckoning to Ralph, took their guns and set out on an exploring expedition to the southwest. They went eight miles in the direction of the falls, and failed to find more than the traces of the trail which they had left.
It was a relief to learn this, as it now enabled them to perfect the plans for a more determined invasion of the country inhabited by their would-be enemies.