CHAPTER XXV

THE TRAIL THROUGH THE JUNGLE

"Sid Merrick is certainly in deadly earnest," was Mr. Rover's comment, after the boys had finished their tale. "He means to get hold of that treasure by hook or by crook, and he will stop at nothing to gain his end."

"We want to go after him and his gang," said Dick. "We ought not to lose a minute doing it."

"Can you walk, Dick?"

"I guess so, although being tied up made me rather stiff."

"I see your wrist is bleeding."

"Yes, and I tried pretty hard to free myself."

"And I tried, too," added Sam. "But I couldn't budge a single knot."

"We could not unknot the knots," added Tom, who was bound to have his joke.

It was now morning, for which all were thankful. The lights were put out, and the whole party partook of some of the provisions on hand.

"I believe Merrick would have left us to starve," said Sam. "He is the greatest rascal I ever knew!"

The Rover boys pointed out the direction Sid Merrick and his party had taken. Bahama Bill said that trail was new to him, and if it led to the treasure cave he did not know it.

"But I'll know the cave as soon as I see it--if it is still there," he added.

"Well, you won't see it if it isn't there," said Dick, grimly. "That earthquake may have changed the whole face of that portion of the isle."

The trail appeared to make a wide sweep to the westward, and led them over ground that was unusually rough. The trailing vines were everywhere and they had to brush away innumerable spider webs as they progressed. Once Songbird came upon some spiders larger than any he had yet seen and two crawled on his shoulder, causing him to yell in fright. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. How many boys are mentioned?
2. What are their names?
3. Why does Dick have trouble walking?
4. Why?
5. Does he have any injuries?
6. What?
7. How did that happen?
8. Did the other children try, too?
9. Were they successful?
10. Who did this to them?
11. What is he after?
12. Where does he expect to find it?
Answer: 1. Three
2. Dick, Sam & Tom
3. He is rather stiff
4. He was tied up.
5. Yes
6. His wrist is bleeding
7. When he tried to free himself
8. Yes
9. No
10. Merrick
11. Treasure
12. A cave

CHAPTER XVI.

HAL ON THE WATCH.

"Let up there, you brute!"

Dick Ferris looked around with a startled air.

When he caught sight of Hal his face fell, and he released the girl.

"What, you!" he exclaimed.

"Exactly. What do you mean by treating this girl so rudely?"

"You are following me," went on Ferris, ignoring the question which had been put to him.

"What if I am?"

"You think you're smart, don't you?" sneered Ferris.

"He's a mean, ugly thing!" put in the girl, between her sobs. "I wish he was arrested."

"Shut up!" roared Ferris, turning to her. "You ran into me on purpose."

"I didn't. We've got a right to coast in this alley; mamma said so."

"You ought to be arrested for striking the little girl," said Hal. "I am awfully glad I arrived in the nick of time to save her from more punishment."

"Good fer you, mister!" cried a small youth standing near. "Give him one in der eye!"

"Yes, do him up, mister," cried several others.

Ferris turned upon them like a savage animal.

"Get out of here, every one of you," he howled, "unless you want to be hammered to death."

"Don't you move," said Hal. "You evidently have more right here than he has."

"Indeed!" said Ferris, turning to Hal. "I wish you would keep your nose out of my affairs."

"Don't let him sass you, mister," put in one of the urchins. "He didn't have no cause ter hit Katie."

Ferris pounced upon the boy at once, and cuffed him right and left. In the midst of the castication, however, Hal caught the bully by the arm, and a second later Dick Ferris measured his length in the gutter. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who was startled?
2. What name was he called?
3. Who said it?
4. Who was Ferris restraining?
5. Was she upset?
6. What names did she call Ferris?
7. Whose side did the crowd take?
8. Where did they suggest he should hit Ferris?
9. Did Ferris threaten them back?
10. What did he threaten?
11. What was he compared to?
12. Who did he attack?
13. Who came to the boy's rescue?
14. Where did he grab Ferris?
15. Where did he end up?
16. Had he hit the young girl?
17. Why was he angry with her?
18. Did Ferris think she did it intentionally?
19. Did the girl agree?
20. Where did they collide?
Answer: 1. Dick Ferris
2. brute
3. Hal
4. a girl
5. yes
6. a mean, ugly thing
7. Hal
8. the eye
9. yes
10. hammering them to death
11. a savage animal
12. a boy
13. Hal
14. by the arm
15. in the gutter
16. yes
17. she ran into him
18. yes
19. no
20. in the alley

Children who spend more time reading with their parents have a greater chance of becoming better readers than those who don't. With help from their parents, children can learn techniques to improve their reading skills.

"A lot of parents think after their child learns to read, they should stop reading to them," Donna George said. "They are sadly mistaken."

George offers her services to parents at the Title I Learning Centers. She said reading aloud to children may be the most valuable thing parents can do. "It is better for children to hear things at a higher level than where they are," George said. "Parents are their child's first teacher." Parents help their children build listening, phonics , comprehension and vocabulary skills when they read aloud to them.

Before parents can identify reading problems, they should escape the enemy----television and limit the time their children spend watching television. George suggested not allowing kids to have a TV in their bedrooms, setting a schedule of when kids can watch or keeping a list of how many programs children watch. Louise Joiners said while her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son enjoy reading, the television sometimes becomes a _ . So she tries to build the situation by suggesting books the entire family will enjoy reading together, like the Harry Potter series.

Parents who do not read themselves should not depend on their children being enthusiastic about it. If parents would read to their children at least 15 minutes every day, children would not have so many problems in school. It is the parents' job to help build that desire in their children, and of course to know what kind of books to read is also important. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Once a child learns to read is a parents job with that done?
2. Who is Donna George?
3. Who does she consider a child's first teacher?
4. What does she think of as the enemy?
5. Is reading to kids important?
6. Does this build any skills?
7. What is one?
8. Should children have a tv in their room?
9. What is the minimum time parents should read to kids?
10. How often?
11. What would this curtail?
12. How can children gain techniques for reading?
13. What level is it good for kids to hear things on?
14. What should parents schedule?
15. watch what?
16. What should they have a list of?
17. Is Louise a mother?
18. to how many kids?
19. what ages
20. Do they like to read?
Answer:
1. no
2. she runs a Title I Center
3. Parents
4. television
5. yes
6. yes
7. vocabulary
8. no
9. 15 minutes
10. every day
11. problems in school
12. With parent's help.
13. a higher level
14. when to watch
15. TV
16. programs
17. yes
18. two
19. 14 and 10
20. yes