The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-06-15

II
way. The stalk of each fan leaf Is
furnished on either side with sharp
hooks. which point down the hill, and
these have way Of taking toll from
the flesh and wearing apparel Of the
climber which is, to say the least, irri-
tating.
| The part of the island which they
were now exploring was made up Of
low hillocks and shallow gullies, and on
all the upper ground this rank scrub
fourished luxuriantly. In the hollows
there was less Of 1t, and its place was
taken by a tall, coarse grass which
often grew shoulder high. To force a
passage through this and through the
palm scrub, whose graceful fronds not
infrequently arched completely over the
searchers' heads, was sultry work
enough, and the burly farmer who had
made 1t necessary was at the moment
in danger Of becoming distinctly I'M
popular
The West Indian sun was blazing in
acloudless sky DIP above them like a
great furnace Of brass, and the gentle
breeze was not strong enough to pene-
trate the dense, leafy covers and give
them relief. However, occasionally
they came across projecting knoll Of
barren rock, SO smooth that the rains
allowed no soil to collect upon its sur.
face, and at such places as these they
found that they could get refreshing
breath Of purer, cooler air.
"There doesn't seem to be much in
the way Of sport for friend CAIN" OBJ
served Guthrie during one of the breath
ing halts. Barring sea gulls and small
green parrots, we haven't seen living
thing"
Dolly gave her cheek hasty smack.
"You forget the mosquitoes" she
said. "I'm sure they're very much
alive. What with them and the sand
flies and the other denominations, I'm
just being walked away with piece
meal Can't we get out of this place Of
torment3"
at seems all much Of muchness,"
said Guthrie, "but over there, to tho
left bit, there's knoll which, from
what one may Judge from here, should
be about the highest point Of the island
Ivote we 60 up there and prospect. We
may find, at least, paradise moderate.
ly free from mosquitoes
The underground thinned little as
they neared this slight upland, as though
the soil were poorer and would not sup.
port such rank heritage as grew on the
lower slopes and in the bosky hollows
between them, and when the climbers
gained the crest their way was impeded
by nothing worse than sparse tufts Of
grass which rarely reached to the knee.
"Hello!" exclaimed Guthrie, as he
stumbled and nearly fell over something
lying in the cover just below the top
most curve Of the summit. "What have
we here2"
A fine brown dust which had spurted
out under the influence Of the young
mans involuntary kick said "wood,"
and further examination showed that
the wood had once been dressed by cut
ting tools
"It's a spar Of some kind" pro-
nounced Henrietta, who had come up
behind him.
They examined it curiously. 1t was,
they found, several spars. fished togeth-
er into one piece, which could not have
been less than 100 feet in length. At
the end of it were the remains of plat
form or stop" Evidently the thing had
been upreared on end at one time and
held in position by shrouds and guys
indeed, Henrietta actually found its
"step." The summit had been alook-
out station, perhaps belonging to the
mysterious Piper, perhaps even to
Nicholas the First himself
"There have been some rum sights |
viewed from the top of this before it
was blown down." opined Guthrie.
Every probably, replied Dolly, '"but |
as the top of it showed the seas all |
around, surely the foot Of it should |
show US most of the island"
"Well2"
"Well, if Gains on the surface, we
ought to see him if we look hard
enough"
$50 we ought, missl" exclaimed
Henrietta, "and if we do, mayhap we
needn't tramp through any more of
them nasty palms.
eff it does that, it's worth the ef-
fort, declared the undergraduate with
conviction.
They settled themselves down there.
fore on big bowlder and commenced
scrutinizing the greenery below care
fully and methodically. On one side Of
them, away down by the coast, could
be seen Hans Spiedernichel and the
doctor toiling through the scrub about
quarter Of mile apart, and near the
opposite shore blue cloud rising from
patch of tall grass showed where Cap
tain Colepepper was waging by means
Of smoke an unequal war with the
mosquitoes Half way between them
and the captain was Tom Jelly sitting
on a bowlder and tanning himself with
his cap, and, excepting for few wheel
ing sea fowl, there was not another liv-
ing thing in sight
Away out farther was the calm blue
water Of the lagoon, dotted here and
there with points of black and SHIN
mering white, where the reefs cropped
out and broke the seas from the out
side, and beyond this again was the
great sweep of the ocean, unbroken to
the horizon. Except where the Eureka's
people made patches in the solitude, the
place was deserted by man and beast
alike.
"No sign Of the farmer anywhere,
pronounced Guthrie at length, after a
long and careful scrutiny.
mo" said Dolly. "but there's q
thing down there which. puzzles me-
down on the beach near that big black
bowlder. What do You make of it,"
She pointed to the place. about half
a mile away, where the cleaning,
white fore shore was nearest to them
Guthrie made telescope Of his hands
to avoid the binding glare from above,
and stared for some time at the thing
which had attracted Dolly's attention.
at looks like an oa-," he declared
presently.
"That's exactly what I thought"
replied the girl. "Supposs we 60 near