The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-10-30

up ana drawing back again unelr nana.
fuls OF coral single in a rhythm Of
never ceasing effort The sand flies,
Which the doctor had predicted, were
there in swarms, though his estimate
of their size proved to be, fortunately,
a little bit exaggerated. There were
mosquitoes, too, booming away like
regiment of drummers, but the larger
insects were quieter and so more insidi-
GUS in their attack and, as in addition
to all this, the suns heat was like the
draft from blast furnace, the walk
was not quite the picnic ramble which
they had expected it to be-
The foreshore was, for the most part,
wide enough to form a pathway, but
occasionally some outcrop of rock rose
across it and ran sheer down into the
river These barriers necessitated scram-
bles which under such sun as now
blazed down upon them, proved some
what trying. Indeed, as the obstacles
increased in frequency, the two explor-
| ers began to consider that the shore
route was not worth following after all
So they decided that if after crossing one
more rocky wall the path did not seem
to improve they would strike inland at
once and try their luck among the palm
scrub and scattered cocoanut trees
/ 'sLook here, Dolly, . said Guthrie as
they reached the foot of new obstruc-
ton. projecting ridge of black, shiny
| rock, from whose baked surface the
heat rose visibly through the air in
shimmering, tremulous waves, 81 tell
4 you that if the roads no better
farther on there's no need for you to
claw up this beastly wall I'll go first
and prospect and let you know.
Dolly nodded and sat down with a
sigh of relief upon bowlder. The
young man set eff aloft. using hands and
knees indiscriminately and sometimes
pretty hard put to it to get along with
both After five minutes climbing, he
gained the sharp, overhanging ridge
and straddled it. He was glad enough
to Sit there for space, to regain his
wind, for the ascent had been pretty
stiff work
/ From his vantage point he could
trace the sea brink ahead of them 1t
Tapped the edge Of honeycombed cliffs
as far round as he could follow it,
There was no more foreshore. The land
ended abruptly in a chaos of tumbled
rocks.
i "No use going on. Dolly" he sang
out, land no use your scrambling up
here. Walk up the rise to that palm
tree with the twisted stem. and I'll
climb along the ridge and join you
there
For another hour they scrambled
/ slowly along, and the sun grew hotter
and hotter. They We're making for Pc
4 cullarly shaped rock, which showed out
I! boldly at what seemed to be one Of the
/ highest points of the island, for they
hoped that from it they might perhaps
be able to mark down the position of
the spring by noting The brighter green
of the heritage which would probably
surround it, or even, it might be, by
catching the CLINT of the sun on its sur
| face.
! But they were not fated to reach
1 that objective without halt and as it
turned out a very long halt.
| They came upon a cave suddenly-so
suddenly. indeed, that they were almost
| startled at seeing it, for the mouth
did not show till they were straight in
| front OF it, and as spine of rock rose
| up directly before it the cave could not
be seen at all from the water Nature,
its sole architect, had hidden it with
| cunning which seemed almost inten-
| tional
It was evidently one of the caves for
which DR.. Tring had said that Piper's
cay was celebrated, and the explorers
Interest," archaeological interest Dol
ly called twas promptly relighted
Visions of hidden treasure, guarded
perhaps by grim skeleton sentinel,
occurred to them both as they pressed
forward.
Come along, Alanl" cried Dolly
eagerly cts most deliciously excit.
ingp And she waved him aside with
her hand and led the way into the cave.
The entrance was wedge shaped and
narrow at first But the sides very soon
began to retreat from one another
though the roof still remained low.
Stalactites had evidently hung from
above at one time, for the stumps of
cdCAA oUA1l AC1adluSO, Uub Gu0y udu D66u
broken off and carted outside; perhaps,
suggested Dolly, because they obstruct
ed the treasure hiders road Underfoot
the rocky. path, though not altogether
smooth, was still passable, and the pair
got along without much trouble.
The light from the entrance behind
grew DINNER as they advanced. But
here and there were gaps in the stone
ceiling, shafts reaching to the open air,
whose upper edges they could see were
garlanded with thick growth of ferns
and creepers Through these shafts
there came gentle twilight glow. and
as the rock walls of the cave were al
most white the reflection from them
gave light enough for the explorers to
see the grotto's outlines
There We're plenty Of evidences of
human agency. Every here and there
footmark could be seen in some dried,
muddy patch of the floor, and it was
an eerie thought that the foot which