_My treatment here has been all that anyone might desire--even more, I might say._ _The climate is delightful. My cough has left me, and I am entirely a well man--more robust than I ever recall having been in the past._ _At present I am sojourning in the mountains, having but run down to the sea shore today, where, happily, I chanced to find the Sally Corwith in the harbor, and am taking advantage of Captain Dobbs' kindness to forward this letter to you._ _Do not worry, dearest mother; my obligations will soon be fulfilled and then I shall hasten to take the first steamer for Boston._ _I have met a number of interesting people here--the most interesting people I have ever met. They quite overwhelm one with their attentions._ _And now, as Captain Dobbs is anxious to be away, I will close, with every assurance of my deepest love for you and father._ _Ever affectionately your son, Waldo._ Mrs. Smith-Jones' eyes were dim with tears--tears of thanksgiving and happiness. "And to think," she exclaimed, "that after all he is alive and well--quite well. His cough has left him--that is the best part of it, and he is surrounded by interesting people--just what Waldo needed. For some time I feared, before he sailed, that he was devoting himself too closely to his studies and to the little coterie of our own set which surrounded him. This experience will be broadening. Of course these people may be slightly provincial, but it is evident that they possess a certain culture and refinement--otherwise my Waldo would never have described them as 'interesting.' The coarse, illiterate, or vulgar could never prove 'interesting' to a Smith-Jones." Captain Cecil Burlinghame nodded politely--he was thinking of the naked, hairy man-brutes he had seen within the interior of the island. "It is evident, Burlinghame," said Mr. Smith-Jones, "that you overlooked a portion of this island. It would seem, from Waldo's letter, that there must be a colony of civilized men and women somewhere upon it. Of course it is possible that it may be further inland than you penetrated." Burlinghame shook his head. "I am puzzled," he said. "We circled the entire coast, yet nowhere did we see any evidence of a man-improved harbor, such as one might have reason to expect were there really a colony of advanced humans in the interior. There would have been at least a shack near the beach in one of the several natural harbors which indent the coast line was there even an occasional steamer touching for purposes of commerce with the colonists. "No, my friends," he continued, "as much as I should like to believe it my judgment will not permit me to place any such translation upon Waldo's letter. "That he is safe and happy seems evident, and that is enough for us to know. Now it should be a simple matter for us to find him--if it is still your desire to send for him."