Part 14 (1/2)
The camp was quiet The curious nasal sounds produced by the natives, together with the rather high-toned snore of Professor Herndon, were the only sounds that ca one end of the rope over a projecting corner of the flat slab, twisted one half of it round and round the pillar to rips which we could use in the ascent, then clutching the hanging end he worked himself slowly up I followed him, only to find the upper surface of the table as bare of any signs of life as we had previously noted froh , and covered the slab co for a possible hiding place The massive block didn't offer a cranny that a lizard could hide in, and with an unsolved round
”What do youthe honesty of Leith ure on the table of stonethan it would have been under ordinary circumstances Leith had asserted that the island was uninhabited, yet ere not inclined to rush to him with the news of the discovery We felt that it was another of the sainst the big bully at the head of the party We had no proof of the ht visitor, and the story of his sudden disappearance while atched beloould only provoke an unbelieving grin froh from the foolish old Professor
”Better keep it to ourselves,” growled Holman
”For the present at any rate,” I remarked ”If Leith knows that there are others upon the island, and if those others are friendly to him, it will only make him more careful of his actions if we tell e have seen to-night”
Arriving at this decision we ca, where atched thetropical dawn lit up the valley
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XI
KAIPI PERFORMS A SERVICE
The Professor used a roll of fil caraphed it fronificent effort to dislocate his collarbone by falling froed hiet a view of the upper surface In his ot that tree cli was an accomplishment that he had never mastered properly in the days of his youth, and our departure was somewhat delayed by the shock which he received from the fall The camera fell upon the pile of leaves which Leith had used as a mattress, and it escaped with abrasions that were microscopical corily at Holht you could clister ”'Pon et up there if I didn't think you could hang to a limb”
”I aing to a limb,” retorted the Professor, as he rubbed his ankles
”Same here,” said Holman, unperturbed by the sharp retort ”When I think over their actions, Professor, I wonder how they escaped being suspended from such places Especially when you consider that trees are plentiful”
WeThe Professor's accident robbed hi the two preceding days, and the other members of the expedition had to move at a pace that would suit his stiff limbs
”I'm unlucky,” whispered Holman, as he sat beside me at the ood snapshot, and now he's as poisonous as a red-necked cobra just because he was silly enough to skin his shi+ns”
We crossed the lowest part of the valley during the early afternoon, and coradually toward the black walls on the far side Leith had remarked at the lunch table that ould probably reach our destination on the following ht a thrill of expectation in spite of the suspicions we entertained The undefined dread had upset our nerves, and I think the two girls, as well as Hol forward anxiously to the arrival at the objective point so that our suspicions could be either verified or abandoned Leith was more affable than usual on that afternoon, and he held forth in such a gloomy fashi+on upon the wonders that ithin reach that the Professor alainst Holman as he listened to the description
”It is round of the chiefs of the nearby groups,” remarked Leith ”There is every indication that the people ere buried here were not ordinary people, as you will see when you view the wonders that will h his thick glasses, and, forgetting his injuries, gave a little juony which passed across his face proved that his injured li after all,” muttered Holman, after he had listened to Leith's description of the wonders of the to-dead members of Polynesian royal falad if he proves genuine in the end”
”So will I,” I reht I'll be half inclined to apologize before I go back to take a gruelling from Captain Newmarch”
It was Kaipi who stampeded the small ray of charity that had pierced the cluster of suspicions we had collected The little Fijian perfor, and it was done in a most effective manner When we had made camp, Leith had sent So the easiest route to the base of the cliffs, and an hour afterward Kaipi ns that he had information to impart I seized a chance to help him with the sed at the knots he slipped a small piece of paper into my hand
”What is it?” I asked
”Soma drop it,” he explained nervously ”I follow hiood chance kill him, but no chance come He drop little piece of paper from his belt; me pick 'em up I no knohat it say; you read”
I crammed the note into my pocket as Leith approached, but at the first opportunity I dived into a thicket of leaves and opened it with nervous fingers It was brief, exceedingly brief, but no number of words could have produced the salanced over the scrawl upon the paper The note read: