Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-18

cfung TO her, and with her left hand
she began to wiring the water from her
haid behind her head.
THE rubies are there" she said.
thousands upon thousands of them.
FIJI the sack quickly, but do not take
! more than you can carry, for they are
very heavy"
/ The traveller waded out upon the
| beach, and the water from his clothes
ran down in small rivulets and made
| little round holes in the white sand.
/ He put down his revolver in a dry
| place, and both his hands felt for the
precious stones in the shadowy hol-
| low, loosening small fragments of g.
| sort Of brittle crust in which they
seemed to be clustered.
You cannot choose" Baraka said.
| ''for you cannot see, but I have been
here by daylight and have seen. The
largest are on the left side of the hoi-
low. near the top"
By the stars the traveller could see
the pieces q little. as he broke them
out, for the white rocks collected the
light; he could see many dark crys-
tails. but as to what they were he had
to trust the girl.
do not take more than you can
carry" she repeated. for you must
not throw them away to tighten the
burden"
you can carry some of them" an
swered the traveller
He broke up the crust of crystals
with small biologists hammer and
tore them out like a mailman, and his
hands were bleeding for though he
was philosopher the thirst for wealth
had come upon him when he felt the
riches of empires In his grasp, and
the time was short; and although he
knew that he might some day come
back with armed men to protect him,
and workmen to help him, he know
also that to do this he must share the
secret with the overload of that wild
country, and that his portion might be
the loss of his head So he tore at the
ruby crust with all his might, and as
he was very strong, he broke out
great pieces at once.
We cannot carry more than that
both of us together" said Baraka,
though she judged more by the sound
of his work than by what she could
see
He lifted the sack with both his
hands. and he knew by its weight
that she was right. Under the water
it would be easy enough to carry. but
it would be a heavy load for a man to
shoulder
Come" Baraka said, ct will go back
first"
She moved down into the deeper
water again, till It was up to her
neck; and feeling the way with her
hands she went in once more under
the rock. The traveller followed her
cautiously. carrying the heavy sack
under water with one hand and hold
ing up his revolver with the other to
keep it dry,
Il begin to see the starlight on the
water" Baraka said, just as before,
when they had been going in.
When she had spoken, she heard a
heavy splash not far off, and the wa
ter in the subterranean channel rose
suddenly and ran past her in short
waves, three of which covered her
mouth in quick succession and
reached to her eyes, and almost to the
top of her head. but sank again in
stantly; and they passed her COM
panion in the same way, wettirfH his
weapon.
60 back" Baraka said, when she
could speak; the rock is falling"
The traveller turned as quickly as he
could, and she came after him, gaining
on him because he carried the heavy
sack and could not move as fast as
she. He felt his damp hair rising
with fear, for he believed that, after
all, she had brought him into trap.
They reached the opening and came
out into the pool again.