These he hoped to exchange for furs or feathers or
weapons, or for whatever other curious and valuable trophies
the Island of Opeki boasted. He already pictured his rooms on
his return hung fantastically with crossed spears and
boomerangs, feather head-dresses, and ugly idols.
His friends told him that he was doing a very foolish thing,
and argued that once out of the newspaper world, it would be
hard to regain his place in it. But he thought the novel that
he would write while lost to the world at Opeki would serve to
make up for his temporary absence from it, and he expressly
and impressively stipulated that the editor should wire him if
there was a war.
Captain Travis and his secretary crossed the continent without
adventure, and took passage from San Francisco on the first
steamer that touched at Octavia. They reached that island in
three days, and learned with some concern that there was no
regular communication with Opeki, and that it would be
necessary to charter a sailboat for the trip. Two fishermen
agreed to take them and their trunks, and to get them to their
destination within sixteen hours if the wind held good.
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