Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-26

/ How did you find out? Is there any
| thing-nasty--in there?"
Yes; the remains of animals and othe,
things. l would not have told you were i,
| not imperative
/ Are you keeping other secrets from
me %
"Ol, quite a number
/ He managed to, conjure up smile. and
| the ruse was effective She applied the
/ words to his past history.
Il hope they will not be revealed so dra-
matically,' she said
You never can tell" he answered. They
were In prophetic vein that morning. They
returned IN silence to the cave.
| Il wish to go inside with a lamp. May
~ he asked.
Certainly. Why not?'
He had an odd trick of blushing. this
bronzed man with a gnarled soul. He could
not frame a satisfactory reply but busted
himself in reiilling the lamp.
May come, too?" she demanded.
de hung aside the temptation to answer
her In kind, merely asserting, with an ex-
PLANTATION of his design. When the lamp
was in order he held it close to the wall
and conducted systematic survey. The
geological fault which favored the con-
to the left at the further end. The face
Of the rock exhibited the marks of per-
sistent labor. The stone had been hewn
away by main force when the dislocation
OF strata ceased 20 he helpful
His knowledge was limited on the SUBJ
Ject yet jerks believed that the material
here was hard limestone rather than the
external basait. Searching each inch with
exclama ton.
What is it?" cried Iris.
cannot be certain" he said doubtful
"; Would you mind holding the lamp
Whtie l use crOwbar?"
In the stone was visible thin vein
Diulsh white in color. He managed to
break off fair-sized lump containing n
w tr,l specimen of the foreign metal
lhed the fragment with curious eyes, The
sailor picked it with his knife, and the
substance IN the vein came off in Illuminated
layers. small, brittle scales
rs 1t silver?'' Iris was almost excited
Il do not think So 1 am no expert. but
nave vague ideal have SEEM
he wr1nkled his brows and pressed away
tne burrows with his hand-that physical
hanlt Oh his when perpleXed
Il have it," he cried 1T is anti,nonv
MISS Deane pursed her lips in disdain
Antimony! What was anthony?
.. 30 niuch russ Tor nothing she said.
II is used in alloys and medicines he
explained. TO us it is useless,
ne Threw the piece of rock contemptuous-
~ among the pushes. But, being thorough
IN an tnat he undertook, he returned to the
GdFe ana again conducted an inuuisjtion
Inc sliver-hued vein became more strongly
marked at the point where it disappeared
downward into collection of rubpie and
50 - h no. mat was all Did men give their toll,
ti i'Ves. Tor this? So it would appear
Be that as it might he had more press
ing work If the cave still held a secret il
must remain there
Iris had gone back to her sago-kneading.
Necessity had made the lady a bread-maid.
F1fteen hundred years of philoloey
pridged by circumstance" unused jerks.
How Max Muller would have reveled In
the incident"
peach The tide was low and the circular
sweep OF the reef showed up irregularly it's
black outlines sticking out of the wildly
green water like jagged teeth.
Much debris from the steamer was living
nigh and dry. 1t was an easy task for an
athletic man to reach the palm tree, yet
the sailor hesitated. with almost impercept-
ible Qualms.
"A baited rat-trap," he muttered. Then
he quickened his pace. With the first ac-
tive spring from rock to rock his unae-
knowledged doubts vanished He might
lind stores of priceless utility. The refiec-
ton inspired him. Jumping and climbing
like cat, in two minutes he was near the
tree.
He could now see the true explanation of
It's growth in a seemingly impossible place.
Here the bed of the sea bulged upward in
small sand cay, which silted round the
base of limestone rock, SO different In
color and formation from the coral reef.
Nature, whose engineering contrivances can
force springs to mountain tops managed
to deliver to this isolated refuge a sufficient
supply of water to nourish the palm, and
TIC TOOtS, uTIuIy lOOgeQ IN deep creV1ceS,
were well protected from the waves.
Between the sailor and the tree inter-
vened a small stretch of shallow water
Landward this submerged saddle sheved
steeply into the lagoon. Although the wa
ter In the cove was twenty fathoms in
depth, its crystal clearness was remarkable
The bottom, composed of marvelously white
sand and broken coral, rendered other OBJ
jects conspicuous. He could see plenty of
fish, but not a single shark, while on the
inner slope of he reef was plainly visible
the destroyed fore part of the Sirdar. which
had struck beyond the tree, relatively to
his present standpoint. He had wondered
why no boats were cast ashore. Now he
saw the reason. Three of them were still
fastened to the davits and carried down
with the hull.
waves created patcAes of foam, and long
submarine plants swayed gently in the .un-
dercurrent.
/ To reach Palm-tree rock-anticipating its
subsequent name-he must cross a space
of some thirty feet and wade up to his
waist.
He made the passage with ease.
Pitched against the bole of the tree was
a long, narrow case, very heavy, IRON
clamped, and marked with letters in black
triangles and the broad arrow of the Brit
ish government.
rifles, by all the godsr' shouted the
sailor. They were really by the Enfield
small arms mandatory, but his glee at
this stroke of luck might be held to ex-
cuse verbal inaccuracy.
The Sirdar carried a consignment of arms
and ammunition from Hongkong to Singa-
pore. Providence had decreed that prac-
tically inexhaustible store of cartridges
should be hurled across the lagoon to the
island. And here were Lee-Medfords enough
to equip half company. He would not risk
the precious ak in an attempt to open the
case. He must go back for crowbar.
What else was there in this storehouse.
thrust by Neptune from the ocean bed?
chest of tea, seemingly unchanged. Three
barrels of flour, utterly ruined. saloon
chair, smashed from its pivot A battered
chronometer. For the rest fragments of
timber intermingled with pulverized coral
and broken crockery.
A little further on the deep-water en-
trance to the lagoon curved between sunk
en- rocks. On one of them rested the Sir
dar's huge funnel. The northwest section
of the reef was bare. Among the wreckage
he found coil of stout rope and pulley.
He instantly conceived the idea of con-
structing an aerial line to ferry the chest
OF tea across the channel he had forded.
He threaded the pulley with tine rope and
climbed the tree, adding touch of artistic
completeness to the ruin of his trousers by
the operation. He had fastened the pulley
high up the trunk before he realized how
rul1oh more siyunla would ha RI lr