The Red Cloud chief., 1905-07-21

west, and nothing short of dynamite
or regular quarrying operations would
render ii untenable by hostile marks.
men.
During the day his rifles ut ninety
yards range might be trusted to keep
the place clear of intruders. But ut
night 49, that was the difficulty. He
partially solved II by fixing two rests
on the ledge to support Il rifle In exact
line with the center OF the encmy's
| supposed position, and rs Il variant on
the outer rest he marked lines which
correspondent with other sections Of
the entire front available to the foe.
Even then he was not satisfied. When
time permitted, lie made many expert.
ments with ropes reeved through the
pulley and attached to- "A rifle action.
He might have succeeded in his main
object had not his thoughts taken a
new line. His aim was to achieve
some method of opening and closing
the brcech block by means of two
ropes. The difficulty was to secure the
preliminary and final lateral movement
of the lever bolt, but 1t suddenly oc.
Cured to him that if he could manage
to convey the impression that Iris and
he had left the island the Dyaks would
go away after Il fruitless search. The
existence of ropes along the face of the
rock-an essential to his mechanical
scheme would bctray their where
abouts or at any rate excite dangerous
curiosity. SO he reluctantly abandoned
| 1t, L,i-t,,,1 .1,asr,, tI,A,txI, not, ,,.l,,l1,.
as will be seen in due curse.
In pursuance OF his latest idea he
s%edulouSly removed from the foot of
the cliff all traces of the clearance
effected on the ledge, and, although he
provided supports for the tarpaulin
covering, he did not adjust it. Iris and
he might lie pcrdu there for days with.
out their retreat being found out. This
development suggested the necessity OF
hiding their surplus stores and am
munition, and what spot could be more
suitable than the cave?
SO jerks began to dig once more in
the interior. laboring manfully with
pick and shovel in the locality of the
fault with its vein of anthony.
Rainbow island had given him the
one thing a man prizes above all else
a pure yet passionate love for a woman
beautiful alike in body and mind. And
now 1t was to endow him with riches
that might stir the pulse of even a
South African magnate. for the sail
or. unmindful of purpose other than
providing the requisite cache, shovel
ing and delving with the energy pecul-
lar to all his actions, suddenly struck u
deep vein OF almost virgin gold.
To facilitate the disposal at a dis
lance Of the disturbed debris he threw
each shovelful on to a canvas sheet,
which he subsequently dragged among
the trees in order to dislodge its con-
tents. After doing this four times he
noticed certain metallic specks in the
fifth load which recalled the presence
Of the anthony. But the appearance
of the sixth cargo was so remarkable
when brought out INTO the sunlight
that it invited closer inspection.
Though his knowledge of geology was
slight, he was forced to believe that
the specimens he handled so obviously
contained neither copper nor iron
pyrites, but glittering yellow gold.
Their weight. the distribution of the
metal through quartz in a transition
state between an oxide and a telluride,
compelled recognition.
!, Somewhat excited. yet half skeptical,
. he returned to the excavation and
scOoped out yet another collection,
This time there could be no mistake
Natures own alchemy had fashioned
a veritaDle ingOt. There were small
Jumps In the ore which would only
need alloy at the mint before they
, could be issued as sovercigns, SO free
, from dross were they.
|, Iris had gone to Venus bath and
, would be absent for some time. jerks
sat down on II tree stump. He held il
/. his hand a small bit OF ore worth per
haps go. Slowly the conjectures al
+, ready pieced together in his mind dur
/, ing early days on the island came
, back to him.
I The skeleton of an Englishman ly
\ Ing there among the bushes near The
+, well, the Golgotha OF the poison filled
p hollow, the mining tools, both Chimes
q and European; the plan on the piece
of tin-ah, the piece Of tin! Mechan
ically the sailor produced it from thu
. breast pocket Of his jersey. At las
:, the mysterious sign go divided by L
. revealed It's significance. Measure thir
ty-two feet from the mouth of the tun
a mel. dig one foot in depth, and yor
came upon the mother lode Of this golt
bearing rock. This, then, was the Sc
= cret of the cave.