Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-06-23
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night - that WIS the difficulty. He
partially solved ii 10y fixing two rests
on tie lcl@C L. support 4 rifle in exact
line with the center OF the enemy's
SUPPOSED position. and as a variant on
the outer rest lie marked lines which
correspondent with other sections of
the entire front available to the foe.
Even then he was not satisfied. When
time permitted, he made many expert
mcntS 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 breech 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 fruitless search. The
existence Of ropes along the face Of the
rock essential to his mechanical
scheme - would betray their where
abouts or ut any rate excite dangerous
curiosity. So he reluctantly abandoned
his original design, though not wholly,
as will be seen in due course.
In pursuance of his latest idea he
sedulously 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 perdu 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
q pure yet passionate love for woman
beautiful alike In body and mind. And
now it was to endow him with riches
that might stir the pulse Of even q
South African magnate. for the sail
or. unmindfui Of purpose other than
providing the requisite cache, shovel
ing and delving with the energy pecul-
lar to all his actions, suddenly struck a
deep vein Of almost virgin gold.
To facilitate the disposal ut q dis
lance of the disturbed debris he threw
each shovelful on to q 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 80 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 Transition
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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
veritable ingot. There were small
Jumps In the ore which would only
need alloy ut the mint before they
could be issued as sovereigns. SO free
from dross were they.
Iris had gone to Venus bath and
would be absent for some time. jerks
sat down on tree stump. He held in
his hand small bit Of ore worth per-
haps EGO. Slowly the conjectures al
geady pieced together in his mind dur
ing early days on the island came
back to him.
The skeleton Of an Englishman ly-
ing there among the bushes near the
well, the Golgotha Of the poison filled
hollow, the mining tools, both Chinese
and European; the plan on the piece
! Of tin-ah, the piece Of tin! Mechan-
| ically the sailor produced 1t from the
breast pocket Of his Jersey. At last
the mysterious sign "82 divided by I"
revealed its Significance. Measure thir-
| ty-two feet from the mouth Of the tun-
mel, dig one foot in depth. and you
| came upon the mother lode Of this gold
bearing rock. This, then, was the &C.
cret Of the cave
The Chinese knew the richness of the
deposit and exploited its treasures by
| Quarrying from the outer side Of the
hill. But their Grass ignorance Of mod
ern science led to their undoing. The
accumulation Of liberated carbonic acid
gas in the workings killed them in
scores. They probably fought this I'M
seen demon with the tenacity Of their
race until the place became accused
and banned Of all living things. Yet
had they dug a little ditch and per-
United the invisible terror to flow quiet
" downward until its potency was dis
sipated by sea and air they might
have mined the whole cliff with i'm
punity.
| The unfortunate unknown, J. She
Of the whitened bones-might have
done this thing too But he only DOS
sessed the half knowledge Of the work
ing miner and while stunning the
plague stricken quarry adopted the
more laborious method Of making an
adit to strike the deposit. He succeed
ed. to perish miserably in the hour
when he saw himself q millionaire.
Was this portent Of the fate about
to overtake the latest corners? jerks,
Of course. stood up. He always stood
square on his feet when the volcano
within him fred his blood.
mo" he almost shouted. Il will
break the spell. I am sent here by
Providence. not to search for gold, but
to save q woman's life, and If all the
devils Of China and Malay are in league
against me will beat themw
The sound Of his own voice startled
him. What was all the fuss about?
With a barrow load Of gold he could
not buy an instant's safety for Iris,
not to mention himself. The language
difficulty was insuperable. Were 1t
otherwise the Dyaks would simply
humbug him until he revealed the
source of his uoalth opd fhop ,,urdov