The Washington times., 1921-04-17
CHAPTER XII.

sic p, and saw the great
lamp blazin. away in the daylight,
which had forced Itself beneath
doors and shutters, l could not un
derstand Why ! had been so fool
ish as to be frightened. What was
there to be afraid Of. IN q. quiet
island like this1
got up and dressed, ate my
breakfast and went out to explore.
II I could assure myself. In the
bright morning hours. that the
whole island was as safe and as
pleasant as Hiliwa Dara itself. then,
I thought, L should not be troubled
by nervous fears when the dark
came down once more.
Doubtless l made q curious fig
ure. starting out for my tour in a
selection Of "Lily's" beautiful silk
negligees. tied together by big
blue sash and crowned by the un-
happy remains Of my white sailor
hat. But l was assured that there
was nobody to see.
went down to the beach ano
climbed the big ironwood once
moro. making this time more de-
tailed survey of the place.
judged the island to be about a
mile and a half long. by a mile in
breadth. The cleared portion
much exceeded the forested part,
there was only about q quarter OF
q mile Of heavy timber.
I thought. on the whole. that
the island had never been very
heavily forested: It's grass lands
locked almost natural. In the CEN
tire there was something like gray.
ruins that excited my curiosity;
I promised myself ! would explore
1t.
could see no traces Of a plan.
tation anywhere. There were
few rough fences, suggesting pro-
vision for cattle;s but no beasts
were to be seen.
"Tf they are going to plant they
will have the boys houses up by
this time" thought and | looked
for the ranges Of brown roots one
expects to see near plantation
house. / saw one roof only.
"That would not put up more
than twenty or thirty boys" |
thought, with the critical feeling
of one who was an owner herself
81 don't think much Of their man.
ager. He seems to have done him.
self and his family pretty well, but
left the place to look after itself.
Unless, perhaps, he is a shelter
But the beach would smell Of pear
shell. and. besides. saw nothing
that looked like 1t about the reef. :"
Indeed 1t seemed that, so far asI
one could Judge. the island was al
home. and nothing more. Certain
clearings and carryings OF earth
suggested that q garden had BEEN
under way when the owner left
she place. There was q nice little
jetty on the side nearly opposite
to that by which I had come. II
noted a patch Of young bananas,
set out in a shallow gully: and al
wide space Of earth was nettedl
over with the level green OF the
sweet potato.
One thing that I saw puzzled
me extremely. II looked like al
road that led to nowhere at all. II
had decided to spend the day ex.
ploring the island, and I noted this
down for the FIRST place to be in
vestigated.
Then I climbed down again from
the tree, with a map Of the island
fairly marked out in my head, and
started.
found the mysterious road; butt
When I had found 1t l was not anyI
wiser. It was about three yards
wide. very well made of beaten
earth and sand. with o slight rise
In the centre to throw off rain. III
had q sort Of guidepost at the
beginning. but there was no In
scription on the post.
| walked along to the end-itl
took me ten or twelve minutes
and found that the road broke
tc) ie2i, International