The Falls City tribune., 1909-01-01

the rock which was overlooking with
the cool, pure rainwater, and started
off at his sharpest pace. Winthrope
and Miss Leslie. seated side by side
in dripping misery, watched him swing
away through the rain without energy
enough to call out q parting word.
Beneath the cliff the sand beach
was succeeded by a talus OF rocky
debris which in places sloped up from
the water 10 or Is feet. The lower
part OF the slope consisted of powders
and ~water-worn stones, over which the
surf, reinforced by the rising tide,
was beginning to break with an angry
roar.
Blake picked his way quickly oyer
the smaller stones near the top of the
slope, now and then bending to snatch
up a fragment that seemed to differ
from the others. Finding nothing but
limestone he Don turned his atten-
ton solely to the passage around the
headland. Here he had expected TO
find the surf much heavier. But the
shore was protected by a double line
VI iOVlo, 81 1iONt III that III u
tween did not show a w~hitecap. This
was fortunate, since in places the talus
here sank down almost to the level OF
low tide. Even a moderate surf would
have rendered farther progress i'm
practicable.
Another 100 PAGES brought Blake to
the second corner of the cliff, which
jutted out in a little point. He clam
bered around 1t and stopped to sur
vey the coast beyond. Within the last
few minutes the squat had blown
owe and the rain began to moderate
through the clouds, told that the
storm was almost past, and its food
OF direct light cleared the view.
Along the south side of the clif the
sea extended in twice as far as on the
north. From the end of the talus the
the south-southwest in a shallow
blight, whose southern extremity was
bounded by a second limestone head
land. This ridge al inland parallel
to the first, and from a point some lit
tie distance back from the shore was
covered with a growth of leafess
trees.
Between the two ridges lay a plain,
open along the shore, but a short dis.
lance inland covered with a jungle
of tall yellow grass. above which,
here and there, rose the tops Of scrub.
Ixr IaaaAnz taAna an1 thu ornnnf11
crests of slendershafted palms,
Blake's attention was drawn to the
latter by that feeling of a~rtiiciality
which their exotic appearance so often
wakens in the mind of the northern.
bred man even after long residence in
turned away with a growl. More oil
those darned feather-dusters!" He
was not looking for palms.
The last ragged bit of cloud, with
its showery accompaniment, drifted
past before the breeze which followed
the squall, and the end of the storm
was proclaimed by a d~eafening chorus
of squawks and screams along the
higher lodges of the cliff. Staring up
ward, Blake for the first time observed
that the face of the cliff swarmed with
seafowl.
That's luck" he muttered. Guess
haven't forgot how to rob nests. Be:
our fine ladyll shy at sucking them
raw. All the same, she'll have to il
| don't run across other rock than this,
poor girl"
He advanced again along the talus,
and did not stop until he reached the
sand beach. There he halted to make
a careful examination, moi only of the
loose debris, but of the solid rock
above. Finding no sign of flint or
quartz, he growled out a curse and
backed off along the beach to get q
view of the cliff top. From a point q
little beyond him, outward to the ex
tremity of the headland, he could see
that the upper lodges and the crest
of the cliff, as well, were fairly
crowded with seafowl and their nests
His smile Of satisfaction b~roadened
when he glanced inland and saw, less
than half a mile distant, a wooded
cleft which apparently ran up to the
summit of the ridge. From a point
near the top a gigantic baobab tree
lowered up against the skyline like a
Brobdingnagian cabbage.
Say, we may have a run for our
money, after all he murmured.
Shade, and no end of grub, and, by
the green OF those trees. "a spring
limestone water at that. Next thing,
III find a flint"
He slapped his leg, and both sound
and feeling reminded him that his
clothes were drenched.
Guess We'll wait about that flint
he said, and he made for a clump of
thorn scrub a little way inland.
AS the tall asass did not grow here
within a milesS the shore. there was
nothing to obstfuct him. The creeping
plants which during the rainy aso
had matted over the sandy soil were
now leafiess and withered by the heat
of the dry season. Even the thorn
scrub was half bare of leaves.
DloIya uoIEad around tho n1upnp 70