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to signal our location.”
    â€œExcellent,” said Professor Bullfinch. “Now then, let’s all empty our pockets. Almost everything we own may turn out to be useful.”
    He himself was the first to do so. He had a handkerchief, many scraps of paper and old envelopes covered with scribbled notes and formulae, a small slide rule, a pocket watch—ruined by the salt water—some loose change, a few pencils, a fountain pen with no ink in it, a wallet, the stub of a ticket to a lecture, and some keys.
    â€œWe could use these,” Danny said, picking up one of the keys, “for arrowheads, if we sharpened them.”
    Dr. Grimes was next. The contents of his pockets were much the same as those of the Professor, except for dozens of membership cards to various scientific organizations, and a small volume entitled The Home Gardener’s Handy Handbook .
    Joe’s pockets contained some Life Savers, a pocketknife, a single peanut, a couple of bottle caps, the top of a cereal box with a contest jingle on it which Joe had forgotten to mail before they left home (“Ooh, there goes my chance for a Geiger counter,” he grumbled when he found it), some string, a Second-Class Scout badge with the pin broken off, and several erasers.
    â€œWhy so many erasers, Joe?” the Professor asked gently.
    Joe shrugged. “Because I’m a pessimist, I guess.”
    Danny’s pockets, however, made up for everything. He had some wire and some strong cord, a few nails, several foreign coins, an airmail stamp, a magnifying glass, a few watch gears, some nuts and bolts, two pieces of very dry chewing gum, and best of all, a small emergency kit in which were a needle and thread, some gauze and adhesive tape, and a dozen waterproof matches.
    â€œThis is a regular treasure trove,” said the Professor cheerfully. “Every expedition should have a Danny with it.”
    They carried everything up what was rapidly becoming a cleared trail, to their camp on the ledge. They stored the food and emergency chest away in the rear of the lean-to. They spread out the blanket as a ground sheet. A little distance away they built a fireplace of stones. It began to look quite cozy and homelike when they had finished.
    â€œWhy don’t you boys go fill your canteens so we’ll have extra water?” the Professor suggested. “Then we can have some lunch and set up the transmitter.”
    â€œWhat’s for lunch?” Joe asked.
    â€œThe papayas you brought back, and K rations.”
    â€œThat’s what I was afraid of. Maybe Danny and I ought to go fishing this afternoon.”
    â€œNot a bad idea. And by the way, Joe, try to wash some more of that mud off yourself. As a scientist I’m used to peculiar smells, but…”
    â€œIt’ll wear off after a while,” Joe said carelessly.
    â€œMmhm. I suppose it will.”
    The two boys went off, and the Professor opened the raft chest and took out the work list they had made.
    â€œThere is one more thing I want to put on this list,” he remarked to Dr. Grimes. And in large letters he wrote: SOAP.

CHAPTER NINE
    Adventure at Sea
    When lunch was over, Dr. Grimes got the waterproof bag and took out the emergency transmitter. It was about a foot high, with a folding crank on the top of it. In front were some switches and a small, round door which Dr. Grimes opened; inside was a reel of aerial wire.
    â€œThis radio,” he said, examining the instruction booklet, “puts out a signal on the international distress frequency of five hundred kilocycles. All ships keep a constant watch—or rather, listen—on that frequency, so that sooner or later one is bound to hear us. To begin with, we must put up the antenna.”
    A balloon for raising the antenna was included in the kit, and when they had inflated it with the hydrogen-making device that came in the bag, they attached the antenna wire to it and let it go