The Southern herald., 1910-07-29

had 70 Be obeyed. And 80 they parted.
But parted As they had never parted
before. torn asunder by their own
compliance with their own petty rules.
their hearts protesting.
Long before the earthquake they
had erected on the topmost hill Of the
island a huge pile Of dead wood from
the groves beneath.
When they. had parted she had sug-
gested to him-and Il was significant
that now il was a suggestion; yester-
day il would have been a command
that he should take time to ascend the
hill and rearrangs the great heap Of
wood which they had builded. During
all the time that had elapsed since she
had been there no sail had whitened
the horizon. no curl Of smoke had be-
tOkened the distant passing Of a
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 amphithester where her cave
fronted the ocean. She threw aside
her tunie 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. II had not been dificult, how
ever, to plait 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
preserved, 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
email and slender feet to something
like those human and proper propor
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 1t 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 long
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
a hidden cave in the cliff with an
opening under the water. She had
imagined that possibly she could enter
1t 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 1t as II she had
been a native of the south seas. Some
times in the morning they swan In
the lagoon together, oftentimes she
swan alone. 1t was a great pleasure
to her and a necessity as we'll in thai
low latitude.
Curiosity induced her to inspec
more closely this opening near thC
waters edge. Again throwing aside
her garment, she plunged into the arm
Of the sea and swan boldly towarC
the cliff. There was just room enough
between the waters level and the tol
Of the opening for her head. Sht
, found herself in a straight passage
, way perhaps eight or 10 feet long AMI
as many wide. Cautiously she swan
through it and discovered herself Ii
, an immense cave. Light fllteret
: through the opening and one or tw
/ assures had been opened here an
r there, by the earthquake or by som
J. convulsion Of nature before, throug
, the rocky wall, invisible on the face {
! the cliff from the outside but quit
1 distinct within. There was even
n stretch of sandy beach on one sid,
/. She swan to 1t, clambered upon
g and sat down to rest.
e Here was an excellent haven Of re
+ uge instinctively occurred to her, a
i though a refuge from what sh
l. scarcely knew. Except at the yer
e lowest of the ebb the entrance woul
t be covered, and even then it woul
s take curious and familiar eye to di
It cover the entrance or to imagine
It anything more than deep rift in Ii
y face of the sea wall. At any othC
r hour the entrance would be invisibl
9 and even at low tide II the wind BILE
from the sea which it generally di