Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-01-26
THE DIAMOND SHIP
MAX PEMBERTON
f Author Of doctor Xavier" The HundredsDsya- seaAs
Copyright by D. Appleton q Co. ~

Appleton 4 Co.
as cleverly to h rock upon our side.
he made a bridge by which any strong
lad could have crossed with the pool
as low as 1t then was; and no sooner
had ne given the signal than I swung
myself out and almost Immediately
found a footing upon the farther shore.
HIS passage. when first he crossed.
must have been very perilous, I thought
and I could but imagine that he had
thrown the rope over first n trusted
to Inc graphing iron affixed to the end
upon the garden side. This. however,
was but a speculation. He crossed now
as ! had done, n together we cast
the knot from the bowlder and threw
the rope in. II all our acts were cool
and collected. I set the fact down to
the knowledge that we were prisoners
Of the valley no longer. and that h
hills were before us. What matter the
alarm now sounding through the gar
dens. the hoarse cry Of voices. the
blowing of whistles. the running to and
fro OF excited men More omnibus by
far was a second riheshot. awakening
crashing echoes in the mountains. This
l believed n OF my w yachts COM
pany had fired. Plainly, our men had
either stumbled upon an ambush or
1allen IN some snare set upon the road
we follow. The truth Of h issue
could not but be momentous to US.
Either we must find them prisoners or
free men who stood in instant danger.
There could be no moment Of delay
which was not hazardous. and we per-
mitted none, directly our foothold had
been secured n the rope drawn in.
Did o come alone, Okyada?" I
asked my servant presently.
He dissented as he gathered in the
coils Of rope.
The honorable Scotchman. he is
waiting with the lantern. e~xcellency."
Of that which was due to so great a
person as Balaam. the Scotch boat
swain.
Would it be far from here. Okyada?"
That which your excellency could
walk In a minute"
I said no more but followed him up
the cliff side, scrambling and slipping
like q boy upon a holiday jaunt and no
less eager for the heights. To the
darkness OF the night n the quick
ness OF our movements my faithful SER
want n I undoubtedly owed our lives.
Remember that the valley now raised
the cry Of alarm from one end to the
other. Whistles were blown. bells were
rung. rifles fred wildly. That the bull
let's struck h rocks both above and
below us. by ears told me Enthusiastically.
Had we been an open mark moving in
S"O SAS1 AA6AAS VI O1y ZIG SO6U0IlS0 OI
this flight, h doubt and the hazard Of
1t. had been easier to support. AS It
was. we went on blindly, our hands
clasping the rough powders. our feet
scattering the pebbles of the path, and
conscious through it all that q wild bull
let might find a lucky billet, and grass
either OF both Of VS. as though we had
been hares in q tricky covert. Never
was q mar more thanRful than T when
q vast assure in the cliff side appeared
before US suddenly. Nature herself
had here cut a path, and it appeared
to lead into the very heart OF the
mountain.
Now this path we followed. It may
have been. for some 200 yards in a di-
rection parallel to that of the valley we
q Quilted. Its gentle declivity brought
US. in the end. to a low cavern Of the
rock. and here we found the boatswain.
Balaam. sitting with his back to the
clin. smoking his pipe and guarding his
ships lantern as calmly as though the
scene had been R%otherhithe and the
approach. he bestirred himself SUM-
GENTLY to fend the light and to ask a
question.
Would It be the doctor and the wild
MANI" he asked; and without waiting
for an answer he ran on: II kenned
your step; doctor. and said you were
doing finely. There's firing on the hill.
sir. and We would be wise not to bide.
I'm no gleg at the running myself, but
yon NANNY can take the LIGHT, and ri
make shift for myself"
I told him to show the way and not
to talk. though I was glad enough to
hear the good fellows voice. His name
was Mackie, but a donkey ride at
CoWes christened him BALKAN irreyoc-
ably aboard the White Wings. Very
methodtcally now, and with a seaman's
Widening march. he set out to cross the
cavern. Okyada ana I upon his heels.
and all the mesh Of s~ubterranean won
der about US. Here, for a truth, a man
might have feared to go at all, lantern
or no lantern in his hand; for the
cavern revealed the source Of the boil
Ing springs. IN there was one great
chamber Of the rock so dreadful to
breathe In. SO white with steam and
boiling spray, that my own courage
would have recoiled from it but for the
example set me by these brave fell
without a word spoken and. coming to
q clearer air presently, they indicated
to me that we were approaching some
place OF danger and must now 70 with
circumspection. Then I saw that the
cavern roof narrowed rapidly, until we
stood In q p~assageway so regularly
nodded that tho hand Of man
might have e1cavated It. And
beyond this vas the Atlantic,
plainly visible. though the night was
moonless; Never did a glimpse Of the
open water cheersmy hear so rave.
~! Liberty, home my friends-a man
10 q man upon the sea. though every
port but n be shut against him. And
the breath Of lifefls in his lunes. and
the desire Of life at his heart. Nav
who shall deny it