The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-08-12

lights thrown upon the rugged face Of
the prccipice into which the cavern
burrowel. Suddenly he uttered star
tied exclamation.
by Jovc." he murmurad Il never
Eoticeu that before"
Inc feature which SO earnestly claim.
ed his attention was Il deep ledge Iii
rectly over the mouth Of the cave, but
some forty feet from the ground. lie
hind it the wall of rock Slopel dark
~ inward. suggesting a recess extend
ing by haphaZard computation at least
couple Of yards. 1t occurred to him
that perhaps the fault i'll the interior
of the tunnel had its outcrop here, and
the Influences of rain and sun had eX
tended the weak point thus exposed in
the bold panOply Of stone.
He surveyed the ledge from different
points of view. II was quite inacCes
sible and most difficult TO estimate ac
curatcly from the ground level. The
sailor was Il man of action. He chose
the nearest tall tree and began to
climb He was not eight feet from the
ground before several birds few out
from its leafy receSses, filling the air
with shrill cluCking.
THE devil take them" he growled.
for he feared that the commotion
would awaken Iris. He was still la
borioUsly worming his way through
the inner maze of branches when a
we'll known voice reached him from
the ground.
Mr.. jerks. what on earth are you
doing up thcre?"
oh! SO those wrctched fowls arous-
ed YOU" be replied.
Yes, but why did you arouse them?'
Il had a fancy to roost by way of a
change"
"Please be serious"
Il am more than serious. This tree
grows variety Of small sharp thorn
that induces n maximum of gravity
before one takes the next step"
But why do you keep on climbing?"
1T is sheer lunacy. admit Yet on
such a moonlit night there is some rea-
sOnable ground for even a mad ex-
cuse"
Mr.. jerks, tell me at once what you
are doing
Iris strove to be severe but there was
a touch of anxiety i'll her tone that in
Stantly made the sailor apologize. He
told her about the ledge and explained
his half formed notion that here they
might secure q safe retreat in case of
further attack, a refuge from which
they might defy assault during many
days. 1t was. he said. absolutely i'm
possible to wait until the morning. He
must at once satisfy himself whether
the project was impracticable or wOr-
thy of further investigation.
SO the girl only enjoined him to be
careful, and he vigorously renewed the
climb. At last. some twenty-five feet
from the ground, an accidental parting
in the branches enabled him to get a
good look at the. ledge. One glance set
his heart beating joyOusly. 1t was at
least fifteen feet in length. 1t shelvei
back until its depth was lost in the
blacknoSS of the shadows, and the floor
must be either nearly level or sloping
slightly inward to the line of the fault.
The place was Il perfect eagles nest
a chamois could not reach it from any
direction. IT became accessible to man
only by means of Il ladder or a balloon
More excited by this discovery than
he cared for Iris to know, he endeav-
ored to appear unCOncerped when he
regaincd the ground.
'Well,' she said, tell me all about
it,
He described the nature of the cavity
as well as he understood it at the mo-
mcnt and emphasized his previous ex-
plnEatiOn of its virtues. Here they
might reasonably hope to make sue
cessful stand against the Dyaks.
Then you feel sure that those awful
creatures will come back?" she said
slowly.
"Only too sure, unfortunately"
How remOrselcss poor humanity is
when the veneer is stripped off. Why
cannot they leave us in peace? Per-
haps If l had not been here they would
not have injured you. Somehow l seem
to be bound up with your misfortunes''
Il would not have it otherwise were
it in my power" he answered. For an
instant he left unchallenged the girls
assumption that she was in any way
responsible for the disasters which
had broken Up his career. He looked
into her eyes and almost forgot him
self. Then the sense of fair dealing
that dominates every true gentleman
rose within him and gripped his waver-
ing emotions with ruthless force. Was
his time to play upon the high strung
sensibilities of this youthful daughter
of the gods, to seek to win from her a
confession of love that a few brief
days or weeks might prove to be only
a spasmodic but mOmentariIy. all pow
erful gratitude for the protection he
had given her?
And he spoke aloud, striving to
laugh, lest his words should falter:
You can console yourself with the
thought, Miss Deane. that your pres
ence on the island Will in no way affect
my fate at the hands of the Dyaks
Had they caught me unprepared today
my head would now be covered with q
solution of the special varnish they
carry on every foreign expedition"
And yet these men are human be-
ingS.'
For purposes OF classification. yes.
Keeping to strict fact, ii was lucky for
me that you raised the alarm and gave
me chance TO discount the odds of