Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-04-28


Climb tie hill t. >urlc: or domain
want to find better quarters than we
now POSSESS
Perhaps were she less fat-ucI size
would have caught the vague anxiety,
the note OF diStruSt. in his voice. But
the carpet of sand ana leaves on which
she lay was very seductive. IIcrryes
closed. She nestled into Il conforta
bic position and slept.
The nan moved the revolver out Of
harms way to II spot where she must
see II instantly, pulled his sou'wester
we'll over his eyes and walked off
quietly.
They were flung ashore on the north
west side of the island. Except for
the cove formed by the coral reef. with
its mysterious palm tree growing ap-
parently IN the midst of the waves, the
shape Of the Coust was roughly that
Of the concnve side of a bow, the two
visible eXtremities being about three
quarters of n mile apart.
He guessed by the way In which the
sea raced past these points that the
iulIu ulu llOt cAtCii tAVlli. pS-
hind him 1t rose steeply to considera
Die 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 n rocky promontOry by 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 sheer wall Of
rock, which stood out, ominOus and
massive, from the wealth Of yerdure
clothing the remainder Of the ridge.
Facing the precipice and separated
FROM 1t by strip of ground not TWEEN
ty feet above the sea level In the high
est part was another rock built emil
hence 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, poon and
other woods he did not know, resem-
bling ebony and cedar. A number Of
stumps showed that the AK had been
u WOEh, Dut llOl lcNcIlly. A1c RuoSSb
into the cleft and climbed tree that
offered easy access. AS he expected,
after rising few feet from the ground
his eyes encountered the solemn blue
line Of the seq. not half q mile distant.
He descended and commenced a sys
tematic search. Men had been here.
Was there house? Would he sudden
~ encounter some hermit Malay or,
Chinaman?
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 Sage palms thrust aloft their
thick stemmed trunks.
Here is a change of menu, at any
rate" he communed.
Breaking u thick branch of q poon
| 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 specified 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 p1ant-he knelt to peer into the
excavation. The well had been proper
ly 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. we'll pleased, and noted that
on the opposite side the appearance
Of the shrubs and tufts Of long grass
indicated the existence Of q grown over
path toward the cliff. He followed 1t,
walking careaessly. 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 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 man. The bones We're big and
| strong, but oxidized by the action of
the air. jerks had injured the left
tibia by his tread, but three fractured
| ribs and q smashed shoulder blade told
| some terrible unwritten story
Beneath the mournful relics were
fragments of decayed cloth. 1t was
blue serge. Lying about We're a few
blackened objects, brass buttons mark
ed with an anchor The dead mans
boots were in the best state Of preser-
vation, but the leather had shrunk, and
the nails protruded like fangs.
A rusted pocketknife lay there and
on the left breast of the skeleton rest
ed round piece of tin, the top Of a
canister. which might have reposed in
a coat pocket. jerks picked it up.
Some curious marks and figures were
punched into Its surface After a hasty
glance he put it aside for more leisure
| ly examination.
| No weapon was visible. He could
form no estimate as to the cause Of the
death Of this poor unknown nor the
time since the tragedy had occurred.
jerks must have stood many min
utes before he perceived that the skel-
eton was headless. At first he imag-
ined that In rummaging about with the
stick he had disturbed the skull. But
the most minute search demonstrated
that 1t had gone-had been taken away,
In factor the plants which so effectu-
ally screened the lighter bones would
not permit the skull to vanish.
Nl.ry,