Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-02-14

in advance, stopped and pointed to the crest of the hill A file of animals moved along the sky line.
 Mutton" said he, "or the devils preacher!'
 "Sheepv cried Thrackles. "Where did they come from?"
 Golden Horn," I suggested. Re member that wide, empty deck for ward? They carried sheep there"
 The men separated, intending fresh meat. The affair was ridiculous. These sheep had become wild as deer. Our surrounding party with it's silly barred knives could only look after them open moutheu us they skipped nimbly between its members.
 "Get a gun off the old man, MT. Eagen," suggested Pulz, "and we'll have something besides salt horse and fsh."
 I nodded.
 We continued. The island was like this as far as we went. When we climbed ridge we found ourselves looking down on spider web of other valleys and canyons of the same na- ture, all diverging to broad downs and jump into the sea, all converging to the outworks that guarded the vol cano with its canopy of vapor.
 On our way home we cut across the higher country and the heads of the canyons until we found ourselves look ing down on the valley and Dr. Scher- merhorn's camp. The steam from the volcanic blowholes swayed below us. Through its rifts we saw the tops of the buildings. Presently we made out Percy Darrow, dressed in oyeralls, his sleeves rolled back and carrying re- tort. He walked, very preoccupied, to one of the miniature craters, where he knelt and went through some opera tion indistinguishable at the distance. looked around to see my companions staring at him fascinated, their necks craned out, their bodies drawn back into hiding. In moment he had fin lshed and carried the retort carefully into the laboratory. The men sighed and stood erect, once more themselves. As we turned away Perdosa voiced what must have been in the minds of all
 "A man could climb down there," said he.
 "Why should he want to-" I de- handed sharply.
 ."Quien sabe?" shrugged he.
 We turned in silence toward the beach. Each brooded his thoughts. The sight of that man dressed in over alls. carrying on some mysterious busi- ness, brought home to each of us the fact that our expedition had an ob- ject as yet unknown to us. The thought had of late dropped into the background. For my part had been so immersed in the adventure and the labor and the insistent need of the hour that I had forgotten why I had come. pr. Schermerhorn's purpose was as inscrutable to me as at first. What had l accomplished?
 The men, too, seemed struck with some such idea. There were no yarns about the campfire that night. Percy Darrow did not appear, for which I was sincerely sorry. His presence might have created a diversion. For some unknown reason all my old ap- prehensions, my sense of impending disaster. had returned to me strength ened. In the firelight the nigger's sulen face looked sinister, Pulz's nerv- ous white countenance looked vicious. Thrackles' heavy. bulldog expression was threatening, Perdosa's Mexican cast fit for knife work in the back. And Handy Solomon, stretched out. leaning on his elbow, with his red headgear, his snaky hair, bis hook nose, his restless eye and his glitter Ing steel claw-the glow wrote across his aura the names of Kidd, Morgan, Blackboard.
 They sat smoking, staring into tho Ire with mesmerized eyes. The si- lence got on my nerves. I arose im- patiently and walked down the pale beach. where the stars gllmmered fin splashes along the wettest sands. The black silhouette of the hills against the dark blue of the night sky, the white of breakers athwart the indis- tinct heave of the ocean, a faint light marking the position of the Laughing Lass-that was everything in the world. l made out some object roll ed about in the edge of the wash. At the cost of wet feet rescued 1t It was an empty brandy bottle.