Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-26
CHAPTER XIII-Continued.


the touch Of each others hand; at least
I did. I always felt happier when
touched her little hand, but in this In
stance the feeling was somewhat differ
emf. In a certain sense it seemed Ike
PROCLAMATION for us to be there. yet we
went ON steadily, if slowly. We passed
nv the colonnade of statues around the
irner n,atform and deliberately mounted
the stairs.
Something. know not what. MADE me
hid nv mistress pause before we reached
the top. and 1 looked to my pistol ana
Ioosened nv sword in it's sheath as dld
so although why l did SO and what an
ticipated I cannot say. At any rate,
mounted to the top alone. There before
me Law a platform which was sunk be,
meath me for a depth of two feet anu
which was surrounded by a low wall Oh
The TOP of which l stood Inc thiee
images rose from smaller Pia,i , IN .Sa
q level with the top of this wall In the
midst and the whole place was hiied
with a horrible and frightful mass OF hu,
man bones. Skulls. legs, thlSns anu
smaller bones, heaped in terrible coIIu
sion, lay bleaching before me ana the
snace between them was filled Win
fne dust doubtless the dust or Garner
bones which had moldered away throush
centuries. Those that still preserved theiI
bleached perfectly white. They lay IN
ali directions as if they had been cast
aside carelessly and at random, Yet uhere
were indications that there mad peen
path from where / stood TO the platIoIis
Of the three images, which l perceived
was lust about long enough TO lay hu-
man body on.
/ stared apprehen5ively, / must con.
fess, at this frightful charmed house OF
the centuries The only evidences or hu-
manity we had discovered We're these
friyhtful skeletons. l would have pre-
vented it. but my mistress suddenly came
and stood by my side. Then 1 Thought
she would have tainted as the 1uii horror
of the scene burst upon her
Men have been here, she 1aitereu'
"horrible, cruel men.
yes" said l. but centuries ago. Look,
the bones are bleached white You nave
Let us leave this frightful place. she
said. -,
presently" / answered: but you will
remember the directions of the chart. l
must stand upon that altar and get my
bearings. The treasure cave should De
in line with the statues and nick or de-
preston in the wall on the farther sue.
Yes" she replied. Il remember.
well then" I said. Twill you go down
to the platform out of sight of this nor
rible place and wait for me-
NO" she answered. nervously. Mas
ter Hampton, wherever you go l must
go. / can never be left alone.
I tried gently to dissuade her. but, as
usual. she would have her way, so that at
last j gave in
wei. them" said I, sat least let. me
go before
7 stepped down into the great recep-
tacle, intending to clear the way with my
feet by kicking away the layer OF bones,
and then, extending my arm behind me
with both her hands caught in mine. she
followed me down into the inclosure- Or
toI % NJ
remnants of humanity, but thrust aside
as well as I could the larger pieces and
skulls, and she, l afterward learned, 1oi-
lowed with her eyes tightly closed, trust
ing entirely to my guidance. Indeed, she
chung to my hand with all the nervous
strenth and power she possessed.
So We finally reached the PLATFORM 1
lifted her up on IL and followed myseif.
We were not the first human beings VINO
had been lifted to that CHASTITY platform
] was sure. and as 1 stood there l could
hear i'm my imagination the shrieking,
protesting struggles Of the captives about
to be inundated. / could close my eyes
and see the blood dripping down the
sides of the altar as the breast of the
bound victim was pierced with the stone
knife and his beating heart torn out and
lifted up by the terrible priests of the
hideous sacrifice. 1t required little effort
TO reconstruct the fearful cannibalistic
orgies on the platform below. for what
ever awful god they worshiped. l did not
let myself dwell upon it. nor did l say
anything about il. And my mistress
knew too little about such matters in her
sweetness and innocence and purity to
have such thoughts as mine-thank God!
i led my lady carefully around the plat
form, therefore. until we could stand at
the rear end by the side Of the line of
statues and look across the island. Sure
enough there was the nick or depression
in the wall which Sir Philip had mention
ed. although the "bigge palmme tree" was
gone, or else lost amid hundreds OF trees
like II. Beneath il careful scrutiny
showed a rough pyramid of stone lead
ing up to what seemed to be openings in
the cliff wall
So far every detail in the old buc-
cancers parchment was absolutely cor
rect. I was certain now that the treas
ure was there and that we could find 1t.
And certain exultation filled me. At
least We had not come upon a FOOLS err
rand, though what good the treasure
would do US did not stop to consider
Sec I pointed out to my mistress,
following the line of the edge of the
three statues here. the nick or break in
the wall of the cliff is right in line"
IT Sec" she said
And below it, I continued your
bright eyes are perhaps keener than mine
which have looked into the salt seas and
over the glare of water blazing in the
make QUIZ
Il see above the trees what looks like
a pyramid of stones. The stones of
which Sir nilp spoke. perhaps
Yes" / replied, land at the top, at
the apex
There is a darker mark in the wall
between two others
1.-The treasure will be there said i,
confidently.
Let us go TO it," she said; ~ don't
wonder that Sir Philip came hack a mad
man il he lived for long in the presence
Of this"
I'VE have nothing more to do here"
i answered, L led the way to the edge
of the low altar.
L ieaped down and then turned to help
my little mistress. She was very white
and / thought she was going tn faint. ]
don't blame her, the scene was so ter
rble. acted promptly. l reached up
and took her in my arms and carried her
as il she had been baby, and indeed
head dropped to my shoulder. i didn't
eyes were closed. l ran swiftly across
the Enclosure, descended the steps, and,
without hesitation, turned to the edge of
tho cliff. / stopped there, cursing myself
for not having brought any water, but
as stopped she opened her eyes.
You are safe" said l, gently: ''the
horrors are all behind us. See there is
before you naught but the beautiful
Sreenery of the island, and
An expression of gratitude came across
her face.
Let us go down." she replied; I'VE
must never come near here again.
please God, no. / repeated. as we re-
traced our steps down the cliff and along