The Frontier, May 1926 — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

34 “I go down und get a look,” said the captain, on the second morning. “Maype, if all is drunk, ve surbrise ‘em some.” Nothing we could say would dis- stiade him from the risk, so he and my uncle set out. But they returned with- in the hour, saying that, drunk or not, old Skull Face maintained discipline. But on that same day we made two important discoveries. The bluff face above the mouth of our cave, it will be remembered, rose perpendicularly for fifty feet or more. At the top a ledge overhung several feet. O’Don- nell, who was aloft with a telescope, was moving about to stretch his legs and walked to the edge. A cracked fragment on which he stepped began to teeter with his weight, and he leaped back just in time. The great stone, weighing several tons, rocked a little, then settled back into place. Thereupon O’Donnell reported to the skipper; a stout pole was cut and taken up, and it was found that one man could easily tip the slab over. “Ha!” chuckled the skipper. ‘“Vot a surbrise dey get now if dey attack.” And he looked below at the spot where the slab would probably strike. It was fairly in front of the cavern mouth. 3 I made the other discovery. Chanc- ing to look behind a huge rock at the back of the cavern, I found that it covered a hole, We rolled the rock away, and exploration disclosed the fact that we had unearthed a natural tunnel. There were some tight squeezes here and there, but no by- passages ; and it wound on, and slightly upward to an exit on the west side of the knoll, some three hundred feet from the cavern. . “Tt vill help us scouting ven dey t’ink ve’re cooped,” said the skipper. Meantime the Anthony Wayne did not move until noon observation. Then she weighed anchor and, with the can- oes trailing, came sailing round Kidd's Mauley once more and up to a posi- tion opposite our cavern. CHAPTER XVII I SCOUT FOR TREASURE ==) ONG before the An- thony Wayne let go her anchor — which was at about two o'clock, or four bells — a warning shot from my uncle, aloft on the bluff, had brought in our last foragers, THE FRONTIER and all was made ready for an attack. My uncle remained on the biuff; the captain took the first watch at the bar- ricade; and the rest of us, in two par- ties, stood ready behind the walls on either side of the breastworks. My party, which included five of the Usagos and O’Donnell, took the right side; the judge and Killifer, who insisted they were quite able to fight, were on the left with the remaining six allies. Johannsen and Gunderson were placed behind them, though Johannsen grumbled audibly and swore he would be into it, leg or no leg, if they succeeded in boarding us. But almost immediately we con- cluded that Gentry did not contemplate immediate hostilities. The cannibals came up the bay shouting drunkenly at their paddles and beached to the northeast of us behind the trees. A few of them came to the edge of the forest to shout at us; one planted a spear at the foot of the slope, with the head of their last victim upon it; but they soon had a fire going and could be heard chanting and gibbering in drunken abandon. Then, too, a gig put off from the ship. Gentry, the Busca chief, two of his cannibals, Dumphey, and three sailors were in it, and they were headed up toward the river’s mouth, to northward. It was then that I made a mad pro- posal. It seemed reasonable to believe that there would be no attack with the two chieftains away, and I was some- how certain that their trip had to do with the treasure. “They’re headed up to the waterfall, T’ll wager,” I argued. “Probably to make plans for the treasure’s removal. They feel sure they have us bottled up, But why not let me spy on them and learn what I can?” At first the skipper frowned. It seemed a mad risk; he did not want to expose me unnecessarily, nor weaken our party. But, I pointed out, I had an excellent chance to slip out behind the knoll through the tunnel; the Buscas were in all probability watching only the front of the cave, thinking we had no other outlet; and I was a good runner, and enough of a woods- man to take full advantage of cover. At last he yielded. “T vouln’t do it,” he said, patting me awkwardly on the shoulder, with a suspicion of moisture in his eyes, “only —TI haf a feeling you come back. Und Gott go mit you—jess.” Even as I had expected, there were no signs of the Buscas when I emerged from the tunnel. The knoll was now. between me and them, and I ran down the slope to westward and plunged into the trees. There, safely hidden from their view, I turned northward till I ran into the trail we had so re- cently cut and headed westward again, intent on mounting the plateau. For the sake of lightness I had taken only a musket, a pistol, a com- pass, and a few ship’s biscuits. So I made rapid progress and within the hour was at the top of the plateau. From there I had little trouble in reaching the falls. There were no vines to hinder me here; the footing was good, and the thunder of the tumbling waters served as a guide. For caution’s sake, I proceeded carefully when I neared the falls; for, though I reasoned that, if they were coming here, they would not hurry, as I had done, there was always the chance that I had miscalculated. The chart showed a great bend in the river between the falls and the mouth; ac- cording to this they had much the greater distance to travel; yet I had no means of knowing how far they would be able to row against the cur- rent, nor whether Gentry knew of a shorter route and a less precipitate slope to mount. But I reached my destination without mishap; to all ap- pearances I was alone upon the pla- teatt. I was brought up standing the in- stant I came within view of the brink. Wry) HE river, at this <4} point, was about fifty feet wide. At the brink and ex- tending up-stream was a rocky projec- tion. It was shaped somewhat after the fashion of a ship, turned keel up, with the bows heading up-stream. This acted as a delta, splitting the stream in two. In length the projection was not over fifty feet, while the top of the ridge rose ten or twelve feet above the water; and it was approximately but ten feet through at the thickest part, so that the channel on the north side was about ten feet wide, and that on the south—the side on which I was standing—something near ten yards in width. Splitting at the beak of the delta, the blue waters raced through these channels pell-mell, plunging on and downward over the brink in two distinct falls to the rocks some seventy feet below. Well, this in itself was nothing to marvel at; but there, on the northern. COnniclboooxKxSs. com