The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1905-05-10

the intervening forty miles in five
hours
He could not be positive that they
were actual Inhabitants of the islands
to the south. The China sea swarms
with wandering pirates, and the tribe
whose animosity he had earned might
be equally noxious to some peaceable
fishing community on the coast. Again
and again he debated the advisability
of constructing a seaworthy raft and
endeayoring to make the passage. But
this would be risking all on a fright
full uncertainty, and the accidental dis
covery Of the eagles nest had given
hin new hope. Here he could make
determined and prolonged stand, and
in the end help must come. So he dis
missed the navigation project and de
voted himself wholly to the perfecting
of the natural fortress in the -ock.
That night they finished the rope lad
der. Indeed jerks was determined not
to retire to rest until it was placed. He
did not care to try a second time to
carry Iris to that elevated perch.
One Of the first things he contem-
plated was the destruction if possible
of the point on the opposite cliff which
commanded the ledge. This, however,
was utterly impracticable with the ap-
pIiances at his command. The top Of
the rock sloped slightly toward the
west, and nothing short Of dynamite
or regular quarrying operations would
render it untenable by hostile marks
men.
During the day his rifles at ninety
yards range might be trusted to keep
the place clear Of intruders. But at
night that was the difficulty. He
partially solved it by fixing two rests
on the ledge to support rife in exact
line with the center Of the enemy's
supposed position, and as variant on
the outer rest he marked lines which
corresponded with other sections Of
the entire front available to the foe.
Even then he was not satisfied. When
time permitted, he 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 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 a fru1tless search. The
existence of ropes along the face Of the
rock-an essential to his mechanical
scheme = would betray their where
abouts or at 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 antimony.
Rainbow island had given him the
one thing a man prizes above all else
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 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 a
deep vein Of almost virgin gold.
To facilitate the disposal at dis
tance 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 antimony But the appearance
Of the sixth cargo was 50 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 dubiously
contained neither copper nor iron
pyrites. but glittering yellow gold.
Their weight, the distribution Of the
metal through quartz in transition
state between an oxide and telluride.
compelled recognition.
Somewhat excited, yet half skeptcal,
he returned to the excavation and
scooped out yet another collection.
This time there could be no mistake.
No+uro,s own alchemy had fashioned