The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-08-18

the note of d~istyust, in his voice. Ru
the carpet of sand and leaves on which
! she lay was very seductive. Her eve.
closed. She nestled into a comforta
Die position and slept.
The man moved the revolver out q,
harm's way to a spot where she mus,
see it instantly. pulled his sou'westel
well over his eyes and walked of
quietly.
They We're flung ashore on the north
west sid Of the island. Except 70,
the cove formed by the coral reef, with
It's mysterious palm tree growing an
parently In the midst Of the V the
shape OF the coast was roughly that
! or TIE concave side Of a bow, the two
visible eXtremities being about three.
quarters of Il mile apart.
lie guessed by the way in which the
sea raced past these points that the
land DID not extend beyond them. Be.
nlnd him it rose steeply to a considera.
BILE height, $50 or 200 feet. In the cen.
ter was the tallest hill, which seemed
to end abruptly toward the southwest,
On the northeast side it was connect.
ed with a rocky promontory by a ridge
OF easy grade. The sailor turned to the
southwest as Offering the most likely
direction for rapid survey.
He was not surprised to find that
the hill terminated in a sheer wall of
rock, which stood out, ominous and
massive. from the wealth Of verdure
clothing the remainder Of the ridge.
Facing the precipice and separated
from 1T by a strip of ground not TWEEN
ty feet above the sea level in the high.
est part was another rock built emf
n quite bare Of trees, blackened by
the weather and Scared in a manner
that attested the attacks of lightning.
The intervening belt was sparsely
dotted with trees. casuarinas, pooh and
other woods he did not know, resem-
bling ebony and cedar. A number of
stumps showed that the ak had been
at work, but not recently. He passed
Into the cleft and climbed a tree that
offered easy access. AS he expected.
after rising a few feet from the ground
his eyes encountered the solemn blue
line OF the sea, not half q mile distant.
He descended and commenced a sys-
tematic search. Men had been here.
Was there a house? Would he sudden
~ encounter some hermit Malay or
Chinaman2
At the foot of the main cliff was a
cluster of fruit bearing trees-plan-
tains, areca nuts and cocoa palms. A
couple of %cinchonas caught his eye. In
one spot the underground was rank
and wildly green. The cassava, or
tapioca plant, reared its high passion
flower leaves above the grass, and
some sago palms thrust aloft their
thick stemmed trunks.
Here is a change of menu at any
rate" he communed.
Breaking a thick branch of a pooh
tree, he whitfield away the minor
stems. A strong stick was needful to
explore that leafy fastness thoroughly.
A few cautious strides and vigorous
whacks with the stick laid bare the
cause Of such prodigality in a soil COW
cred with drifted sand and Jumps Of
black and white speckled coral. The
trees and bushes inclosed a well-safe-
guarded, in fact, from being choked
with sand during the first gale that
blew.
Delighted with this discovery, more
precious than diamonds at the mo-
ment - for he doubted the ACCESSIBILITY
Of existing on the water supply Of the
pitcher plant-he knelt to peer into the
excavation. The we'll had been proper
~ made. Ten feet down he could see
the reflection Of his face. Expert hands
had tapped the secret reservoir of the
island. BY stretching to the full ex-
tent Of his arm he managed to plunge
the stick into the water. Tasting the
drops, he found that they were quite
sweet. The sand and porous rock pro-
vided the best Of filter beds.
He rose, well pleased, and noted that
on the opposite side the appearance
of the shrubs and tufts Of long grass
indicated the existence of a grown over
path toward the cliff. He followed it,
walking carelessly, with eyes seeking
the prospect beyond, when something
ratified and cracked beneath his feet.
Looking down, he was Mortified to find
he was trampling on a skeleton.
Had a venomous snake coiled its glis-
tening folds around his leg he would
not have been more startled. But this
man of iron nerve soon recovered. He
frowned deeply after the first involun-
tary heart throb.
With the stick he cleared away the
underground and revealed the skeleton
of a man. The bones We're big and
strong. but oxidised by the action Of
the air. jerks had injured the left
tibia by his tread, but three fractured
ribs and a smashed shoulder blade told
some terrible unwritten story.
Beneath the mournful relics were
fragments of decayed cloth. 1t was
blue serge. Lying about were a few
blackened objects, brass buttons mark
ed with an anchor. The dead mans
boots were in the best state of preser-
walton, but the leather had shrunk. and
the nails protruded like fangs.
A rvcta1 mock atkn ifa Inv there and