Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1908-04-17

fell We all looked up in spite of our
selves. An opaque veil had been
drawn quite across the heavens,
even the shape Of the sun. 1t was like
thunder cloud except that its under
surface instead of being the usual gray
black was deep earth brown. AS we
looked up deep below stirred the air,
which had fallen quite still, long forks
of lightning shot horizontally from the
direction of the islands interior, and
flashes of dull red were reflected from
the canopy of cloud.
The men stared with their mouths
open. Undoubtedly the change had
been some time in preparation, but all
had been so absorbed in the affair of
the doctors assistant that no one had
noticed. 1t came to our consciousness
with the suddenness Of a theatrical
change. A dull roaring commenced,
grew in volume, and then great ex-
plosion shook the very ground under
our feet.
We stared at each other, our faces
whitening.
What kind of hell has broke loose?"
muttered Pull.
The niger fell fat on his face, utter
ing deep lamentations.
"Voodoo! Voodoow he groaned.
A gentle shower of white flakes be-
gan, powdering the surface of every
thing. Far out to sea we could make
out the sun on the water Gradually
the roaring died down. The lightning
ceased. Comparative peace ensued.
We looked again toward the cliff.
Percy barrow had not for one instant
ceased to climb. He was just topping
the edge Of the bluff. Handy Solomon
with a cry of rage seized another rifle
and emptied the magazine at him as
fast as the lever could be worked. The
dust flew wild in a half dozen places.
barrow drew himself up to the sky
line, raised his hat ironically and dis
appeared
ID his soul!' cried Handy Solo
mon, his face livid. He threw his rifle
to the beach and danced on It in an
ecstacy of rage.
What do we care?" growled .Thrac-
kles. Hes no good to us. Wat /
want to know is watts up here any
howr'
did you ever see a volcano go off,
you swab?" snapped Handy Solomon.
Easy with your names, mate No.
never did. We better get out"
without the chest?'
"S'pose we go up the gulch and get
it, them" suggested Thrackles.
But at this Handy Solomon drew
back in evident terror.
up to that hole?" he objected. mot
I. You an Pull go.''
They wrangled over it, Pull joining.
Perdosa, shaken to the soul, crept in
and made bee line for the rum barrel.
He and the niger were frankly scared.
They had the nervous jumps at every
| little noise or unexpected movement,
and even the natural explanation Of
these phenomena gave them very little
| reinsurance. knew that barrow
would hurry as fast as he could back
to the valley by way of the upper hills.
| l knew that he had there several sport
Ing rifles, and l hoped greatly that he
Il
and DR.. Schermerhorn might accom-
plish something before the men had
recovered their wits to the point of
foreseeing his probable attack The
uncanny cloud In the heavens, the
! weird half light and the explosions,
which now grew more frequent, had
their strong effect in spite of explana-
ton. The men were not really afraid
to venture in quest of the supposed
treasure, but they were in frame of
mind that dreaded the first plunge.
And time was going by.
But the fates were against us, as al
ways in this i'll starred voyage. l,
watching from the sand dune saw a
second figure emerge from the arroyo's
mouth. 1t appeared to stagger as
though hurt, and every eight or ten
PAGES 1t stopped and rested in a bent
over position. The murky light was
too dim for me to make out details.
But after moment rift in the veil
enabled me to identify DR.. Schcrmer-
horn carrying, with great difficulty,
the chest
ITO be continuedl