Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1914-01-09
hands and ran to the onen,n.

opening and the light filtered aroundi
It. | stood painting. staring at it.
Are we to be ended now" cried
alter having come thus far? Stand
clear, | shouted. not giving her time
to answer.
1nen with all my strength | swung
the ak and struck the rock fair and
square and by good fortune upon some
assure. for it shivered and crack
started. Once again. this time with
tremendous force. swung and struck
The ak sank into the stone. the helye
Shivered in my hand 1t was right
good blow. if / do say it myself for
the rock was by this time fairly split
IN two. the pieces falling to the right
and left Still it was we'll in the en-
trance. We had not yet clear pas
sage
| was mad now. as mad as | had
been in the inner cave fighting for her.
The blood rushed to my face. a mist to
my eyes. | stopped down and with
my hands | seized one piece of that !
rock and. with such strength as Her !
''uIes might have used thrust it aside. !;
My mistress stood staring at me in
| awe, also in terror The way was
| opened
We stepped out upon the sand My
clothes were torn to rags: blood was
clotted in my hair and on my fore
head: my face was black with sweat
and dust. There were wounds on my
arms and legs. was CORY and hor-
rible spectacle Mistress Lucy had
suffered no wounds, but her clothes
were rent and torn. Her face was
grimy and beneath the dust and earth
stain it was as white as the cap of a
wave.
Thanks to God" she said at last.
land you. we have won"'
l thought she would have tainted.
caught her by the arm. sat her down
upon the island and sprinkled the wa
ter from the brook in her face until
| presently she revived.
I'VE are not safe yet" / urged.
There were hundreds Of savages upon
e the island. They could not all have
been in the cave. We must 90 warily
q We cannot rest now"
j II am ready" she said with great
spirit. getting to her feet and stretch
ing out her hand: III you will help me
can go anywhere"
o l still had my sword drew it and
o led on. keeping well under the shelter
q Of the cliffs. We walked up the END
d toward the giant stairs. There were
men. islanders. at the top Of the wall
(. but my first glance told me that W.
8 had nothing to fear from them. for thu
It stairs were gone. They were but
scattered heap Of stones. The earth
, quake had crumbled the work of tn,
n builders of bygone years. and as tn
.. stairs had fallen away they had lief
the cliff sheer and bare for a hundred
20 feet. They couldn't come at us.
= 1T is an act Of God" said l. "tha
has broken down the stairs
# But there may be another way o
descent" she said after a moment
"Oh. let us leave this dreadful island!
had no hope that the dinghy hat
- been spared. but its place was not ia
away. and we walked to it in silence
1t was gone A tidal wave had follow
ed the earthquake. The canoes il
which the islanders had come had bee
LII dashed to pieces and their keepers kill
ed The survivors were prisoners o.
the island unless their friends came t
~ their help and even then until the
III rouid devise some way of getting dow
the cliff. And we. too. were prisoners
Some of our gear. the compass. som
provisions which | had stored in tn
ty crannies OF the rock were still there
but they were useless to us. Some
10 thing else had happened. The earth
y. quake had broken the vast barrie
ay reef Before us was practicable pas
in sage to the sea.
al If we only had a boat. l turned t
ID, the canoes hopeful Of finding one sea
on worthy. and as ! did SO my little mis-
lot tress caught me by the arm.
re Look" she cried. pointing far u
re the horizon.
it l turned. and there. bottom upwart
he Goated the dinghy. The sight Of he
Al was like draft of wine. turned an
ed ran up the sand. followed by my lad.
is. When opposite the boat l kicked o
oh nv shoes-I had on little else but shl1
| and trousers-jumped into the lagoon
ISIS swan to the dinghy and towed be
err, ashore Assisted by Mistress Lucy,
he turned her over. then hunted up tt
we few things we had saved. with lit
il store of cocoanuts which we had a
ed cumulated in one Of the caves. shippe
the oars. which. being tied to the ROY
NV locks, had not been washed away, ar
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