The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1913-11-27

these Things Jnan 1, anu presenteu
handful to her.
why, they are precious stonesp she
cried In an awe struck whisper.
"Lookr She held up diamond as
biz as her thumb nail. 1t sparkled like
sun in the candlelight "And there
is an emerald" she cried, picking up
one of the green stones. "This blue
one is sapphire; this a ruby. Why"
she exclaimed. here Is fortune alone
These jewels must be Of fabulous val
ue. The gold and silver we might
leave behind, but these we can carry
with US"
In my heart l was sorry we had
found them, yet had the grace i'm
mediately to say:
81 am glad for that. We must
gather them up. but where shall we
put themr'
"In the pockets Of your coat for the
present" she answered
Now there were not so many of
them-perhaps three or four handfuls-
not nearly enough to Gil the casket |
figured that it had been a jewel box
with little trays or drawers and that
the stones bad been wrapped separate
ly, but had all fallen together when
the partitions rotted away. ! easily
found room for them in the capacious
side pockets of my coat, and then we
turned back to the outer room. Pass
ing by the hideous altar, we gained the
light 1t was now late in the after
noon. we found to our surprise.
! We had spent hours over the treas
ure and we had just time to retrace
our steps and get back to the boat on
the beach and partake of our evening
meal when night fell AS we sat by
| the fire that night | made little bags
out of a piece of canvas taken from
| a bread bag and we put the jewels into
/ them. dividing them into equal parts.
| One bag she wore constantly thereaf-
ter on her person and the other She
| insisted that the rough and ready divi-
sion we had made was permanent;
that the bag carried belonged to me
and the bag she carried belonged TO
her But | refused to have 1t so in
/ spite of her argument. and there We
| left it.
During the next two or three days
we leisurely explored the island. There
was nothing else on it to see which
merits any particular description. We
did not again visit the central hill, nor
did we enter any other cave. We did
not even go near the treasure cave
again. On the contrary, we kept to
the open. We chose to live near the
sea on the beach. which was high
above all tides and which was remov-
ed from the charnel spots which made
mockery of the sylvan groves with
in the walls. The island was well pro-
vided with tropical fruits, many being
good for food. as ! knew. We caught
fish in the lagoon and turtle on the
sand. We lacked nothing to make us
comfortable, even happy, except the
means of escape.
We spent our days in trying to de-
wise some means of getting across the
reef and back home again-that is,
when | was not idly lying at the feet
or following the footsteps of the wo-
man / loved | didn't want to get
away, 50 far as | was concerned. |
didn't care whether we ever got away.
| had wit enough not to let her see,
not to let her suspect that for mo-
ment. however and | tried to convince
her by my conduct toward her that my
kissing her on the ship had been but
momentary madness. but learned lat
er that | failed Ianentably. She says
now that a baby could sea that | was
dying for her, and | suppose it is true,
but at least | didn't say anything. Aft
er that outbreak in the cave | kept ST.
| lence
| Late one afternoon we stood at the
head OF the stairs looking seward
We had come from a long rambe
throughout the cup of the island, and
as we stood on the top our gaze as
usual instinctirelv turned toward the
sea. perhaps seeking for the sail OF
some rescuinc ship The water was
black with great savage war canoes
Great God" | cried: look yonder!'
81 see. ! seer she cried in turn.
who can they be?''
| DWtlleTS lTOD lne OtueT lhldhub W
the westward" ! answered.
They could not see us yet. fortunate
ly; but after all that mattsred little.
Ny little lady did not seem to be near
ty as disturbed as l.
'"rhe reef will protect u.s." she said
at last, looking at me confidently.
Not for a moment" answered
'"They will ride that reef in those ligh,
canoes more easily than we did"
And you think"- she instantly be
gan.
"Our lives are in Gods hands. If
know anything these will be ferocious
bloodthirsty savages. See! They are
armed"
| pointed to one tall brown man
who stood up in the bow of the nearest
canoe, fOurishing a broad bladed spear
1--WE must hide" she said
But where? They will search the
island"
"ln the treasure cave" she answered
And indeed that was the most likely
| aDot We had hrnuUhf hut littla uyitI