The Red Cloud chief., 1905-06-23

~ hope they will not be revealed so
dramatically, she said.
You never can tell he answered.
They were in prophetic vein that
morning. They returned in silence to
the cave.
81 wish to go inside with n lamp.
May II" he asked.
"May | CONE too?" she demanded.
He asscntcd, with an explanation OF
his design. When the lamp was I'm or
der he held ii close to- the wall and
conducted n systematic survey. The
geological fault which favored the con-
struction of the tunnel seemed to di-
verge to the left ut the farther end.
The "facc" of the rock exhibited the
marks of persistent labor. The stone
had been hcwn away 10y main force
when the dislocation Of strata ceased
to be helpful.
His knowledge was limited on the
subject, yet jerks believed that the
material here was Il hard limestone
rather than the external basalt. Search.
ing each inch with the feeble light, he
paused once, with an exclamation.
what Is IT." cried Iris.
81 cannot he certain" he said doubt
fully. would you mind holding the
lamp while | use Il crowbarI"
In the stone was visible II thin vein.
blush white in color. lie managed to
break off Il fair sized lump containing
a well defined specimen of the foreign
metal.
They hurried into the open air and
examined the fragment with curious
eyes. The sailor picked it with his
knife. and the substance In the vein
came off in laminatod layers, small,
brittle scales.
as it silvcr?" Iris was almost OK
cited.
81 do not think so. | nm no expert,
but I have II vague idca-I have seem
lie wrinkled his brows and pressed
away the burrows with his hand, that
physical habit of his when pcrplcxed.
II have It," he cried. ut is anti
mony."
Miss Dcane pursed her lips in dis
dain. Anthony. What was anti
mony?
$50 much fuss for nothing" she said.
at is used in alloys and medicines"
he explained. "To us it is useless"
He threw the piece Of rock contemp-
tuously among the bushes. But, be
ing thorough In all that he undertook,
he returned to the cave and again
conducted an inquisition. The silver
hucd vein became more strongly mark
ed at the point where It disappeared
downward into n collection Of rubble
and sand. That was all. Did men
give their toll, their lives, for this? So
ii would appear. BE that MS It might,
he had more pressing work. If the
cave still held a secret 1t must remain
there.
Iris had gone back to her sage knead-
ing. S~houldering the AK. he walked to
the beach. Much debris from the steam
err was lying high and dry. 1t vas an
easy task for an athletic man to reach
the palm tree, yet the sailor hcsitatcd
with almost impcrceptible qualms.
"A baited rat trap" he muttered.
Then he %quickened his pace. With the
first active spring from rock TO rock
his unacknowledgcd doubts vanished.
He might find stores of priceless util.
ity. The reflection inspired him.
Jumping and climbing like II cat, in
two minutes he was nea the tree.
He could now see the true eXplana-
ton of its growth in Il seemingly i'm
possible place. Here the bed Of the
sea bulged upward in n small sand
cay, which silted round the base Of n
limestone rock so different In color and
formation from the coral reef. Ma
ture, whose engineering c~ontrivances
can force springs to mountain tops,
managed to deliver to this isolated ref
uge a sufficient supply of water to
nourish the palm, and the roots, firmly
lodged in deep %crevices, were well pro-
tected from the waves.
Between the sailor and the tree in
tervened n small stretch Of shallow wa,
ter. Landward this submerged saddle
shelved steeply into the lagoon. Al
though the water in the cove was TWEEN
ty t. hons in depth, its crystal clear
ness was remarkable. The bottom
composed Of marvelously white SAND
and broken coral, rendered other oh
jects conspicuous. He could see plentJ
of fish, but not n single shark, while
on the inner slope of the reef was
plainly visible the destroyed fore part
Of the Sirdar, which had struck be
yond the tree, relatively to his present
standpoint. He had wondered why nc
boats were cast ashore. Now he saw
the reason. Three Of them were still
fastened to the davits and carried