Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-04-21
on the shattered floors above his

= =. 8 d H.-f
on the shattered floors above his
| head.
Through the long night Mr.. Pence
remained in this cavern and heard
the storm flashing above his head.
No sleep came to his eyelids. When
| day came and the last rumble of the
thunder died away in the north,
he was so cramped he could hardly
move. He succeeded in wading
| through the water, and after much
effort crawled out into the open
air bringing one of the idols with
him. In the warmth of the sun his
clothes soon dried. He sat down
beneath tree where he could watch
the opening of the cave. He closed
his eyes for moment and fell
asleep.
When Vincent awoke and found
himself alive and not much injured.
except for confusion on the back
of his head, he hunted for the idols
and soon found them. He was lust
starting to return to the ruined CITY
when he heard shout to the north.
and the next instant the report Of
gun. Vincent shouted in return.
and in few minutes saw Sidney
Hammond and Palmer j. Morton
coming towards him. Briefly he eS-
planned what had happened, and the
three set forth for the temple where
Mr.. Pence was guarding the treas
ure. The Indignation of Sidney and
Mr.. Morton was tempered by a fear
that the millionaire had not sur
vived the fate which his avarice had
tempted.
They soon reached the temple. At
hrst they did not observe Mr.. Pence.
Vincent had crawled down into the
cavern and announced that no one
was there before Sidney discovered
the slumbering guardian under a
calabash tree.
1t was pathetic figure which these
three men approached. His hat had
fallen to the ground, and the matted
gray hair half covered the eyes of
the sleeping fnancier. One hand
was firmly clutched to the idol. In
the relaxed fingers of the other hand
was a stout club. The linen clothes
We're bedraggled in mud and slime.
The right foot was in a pool of wa
ter. Were it not for the slight but
regular heaving of the soiled shirt
bosom they would have thought him
dead.
Mr.. Morton pushed the idol with
his foot. The hand of the sleeper
1nstinctively frightened its grip. ne
awoke with start, and with sur
prising agility sprang to his feet
Back! back" he shouted. 'You
shall not have it! l will die first."
He brandished the club defiantly
and swung a blow at Mr.. Morton,
who stepped back, and narrowly
evaded it,
Wake up, Mr.. Pence" said Sidney
hammond. You are all right! Come
out OF your trance; it is time to go
home.' ~.
Simon Pence blinked his eyes, ran
his hand over his forehead and came
to his senses. He;'threw himself into
sidney's arms and gave way to his
emotions. When ihe recovered there
was no difficulty in persuading him
to go back to the bungalow. In
TACT, he was eager to go. The ex-
periences of the night had overmas-
tered his rapacity Each of the four
carried one of the images, and an
hour later were on the raft and soon
after all the members of the Social
Island Colony once more were be-
meath the roof of the. bungalow.
After meal they repaired to their
rooms and enjoyed several hours of
refreshing sleep. 1t was late in the
afternoon before the castaways re-
covered from the effects of the hur-
ricane.