The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-06-23

tOhCACu bno ulSIduI passing VI
steamer. But no spot of the globe
could forever remain unvisited, she
thought, and some day that pile of
wood might make a beacon light to
call civilization to them. He was glad
to comply with her suggestion, glad
for occupation, and so he promised
and went his way.
When he had disappeared, she
turned the edge Of the cliff in the Sc
cluded amphitheater where her cave
fronted the ocean. She threw aside
her tunic of woven grass and plunged
into the cool, delightful pool, which
fortunately the earthquake had not
disturbed. Her clothes, the scanty
garments she had improvised from her
underclothing, had long since worn
out. 1t had not been difficult, how
ever, to plat of certain pliable rushes
which grew in plenty upon the island,
the loose and shapeless garments they
both wore. She had used strips torn
from what had remained of her cloth
ing for binding and edging and prac-
tice had made her dextrous and skill
full in the rude weaving. She still
however, the blouse and
skirt of serge, her only pair of stock
ings and the canvas boating shoes.
Sometimes in idle moments she tried
those shoes on. Fortunately for her,
they were loose and easy. Going bare
foot three years had enlarged her
small and slender feet to something
like those human and proper proper
tions which, from the standpoint of
nature at least, had greatly enhanced
their beauty. She kept these clothes,
she hardly knew why, perhaps for one
reason since she had been able to
weave the wattled garment so we'll
suited to her needs she had had no
use for them; perhaps against the day
of the arrival of other civilization
than her own.
Greatly refreshed by her bath-and
it shows her absolute confidence in
him and his worth that interruption
never occurred to her; it had never
come and therefore it never would
she resumed her tunic and walked
toward the cave. The tide was very
low. The sands terminated on one
side in a rocky ledge where a loDg
arm of the lagoon ran to the foot of
the cliff. The cliff had been tremen-
dously shaken, apparently, and she no
ticed just above the water line a mar
row opening. She had thought from
noises during storms that there was
hidden cave in the cliff with an
opening under the water. She had
imagined that possibly she could enter
it by diving, but she had never cared
to make the attempt, although by this
time she had become as much at home
in the water or under it as if she had
been native of the south seas. Some
times in the morning they swan in
the lagoon together, oftentimes she
swan alone. 1t was great pleasure
to her and a necessity as well in that
low latitude.
Curiosity induced her to inspect
more closely this opening near the
waters edge. Again throwing aside
her garment, she plunged into the arm
the cliff. There was just room enough
between the waters level and the top
of the opening for her head. She
found herself in straight passage
way perhaps eight or 10 feet long and
as many wide. Cautiously she swan
through it and discovered herself in
an immense cave. Light filtered
through the opening and one or two
fissures had been opened here and
there, by the earthquake or by some
convulsion of nature before, through
the rocky wall, invisible on the face of
the cliff from the outside but quite
distinct within. There was even a
stretch of sandy beach on one side.
She swan to it, clambered upon it
and sat down to rest.
Here was an excellent haven of ref
uge. instinctively occurred to her, al
though refuge from what she
scarcely knew. Except at the very
lowest of the ebb the entrance would
be covered, and even then it would
take a curious and familiar eye to dis
cover the entrance or to imagine it
anything more than deep rift in the
face of the sea wall. At any other
hour the entrance would be invisible,
and even at low tide if the wind blew
from the sea which it generally did,
the breaking waves would cover the
entrance completely. OF to one side,
quite accessible from the sand strip,
which rose sufficiently high to afford
full shelter above the high water mark
a little stream plunged down the cliff
She tasted the water and found it
fresh and sweet. All that one would
lack would be food and the hiding
place could be occupied indefinitely.
She stayed in the cave some little
time, and when she finally decided to
return to the outer world she disccv-
cred that the tide had turned and that
the entrance was now completely un,
der water. This gave her no disquiet
Light still came from the outside to
mark the way. She had acquired the
faculty of swimming beneath the sur.
face with her eyes open and the dis
tance was short. She dove into it con
tidently and presently emerged in the
lagoon outside. 1t was the one place
on the island, so far as she had dis
covered-she had always thought there
was cave there but had never been
able to verify her knowledge-which
provided her with shelter absolutely
secure and inaccessible, as she be
lieved. She had no less trust in heI
man than she had before, but the
knowledge gave her strange comfort
When she met him that night she
did not impart her secret to him