Adventure, November 1915 — page 62: what you’re looking at

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

replied Winton. “I thought it was astar at first.’ Addams picked up the light, rising and falling, lost now and then, to appear again close to the horizon. . “It’s the Lei Lehua,” he said. ‘“She’ll get close enough to hear the breakers pretty soon and stay off and on till daylight. Come on let’s get busy!” | They clambered down the lava to the little beach. The flood-tide that had cov- ered it was beginning to recede, leaving a narrow strip against the cliff in which they expected to find the caves. It was very dark still, a warm, almost tangible dark- ness, the ‘ebony cliff on one hand and the dark sea on the other, out of which came the phosphorescent combers, seething to their feet. And it was very quiet, so that they talked involuntarily im whispers, se- cure from interruption or from being over- heard as they were. Addams had provided half a dozen elec- tric torches with bull’s-eye lenses and bat- teries of unusual strength. With these they sprayed the black face of the cliff with light, searching for the caves told of by Fellowes. Peggy was the Secoreres of the first of them, a low archway chocked by sand. “There are six,’ she said, “all close to- gether, with the gold in the third, counting seaward from the cape.” The rest of the openings were discovered, all level with the floor of the beach. Wet sand and shingle, with clumps of seaweeds still damp, made it evident that at high tide the floors were covered. Spiny crabs with long pipe-stemmed leg’s scuttered away indignant under the electric rays and scraped across the shingle. The height of the archways varied, but, at the fourth, the third from seaward, there was room to enter without even Foo Chin having to bow his head, and ample space inside for them all to assemble. The floor was covered with hard-packed sand, the lower walls festooned with weeds in streamers and pods that cracked under foot with reports like pistol shots. TSA EAGERLY they swept the walls ) with the blue-white electric rays. The rock around and above them was covered with the rudely graven picto- graphs of men and animals, and symbols that might hold some hidden meaning, or Adventure represent the vagaries of some embryo Rodin of the South Seas. Foot by foot they exploited the crude de- signs but nowhere could they find anything that the vividest imagination could twist into an interpretation of a fish. Addams had explained the signs they were looking _ for to the Chinamen and all feverishly searched the rock chamber for the totem that should show where the gold lay hidden. The gold lust had possession of all of them, white and yellow, man and girl. They scraped off the shiny seaweed with flat stones and fingernails till the rock was bare, without success. The eyes of all shown unnaturally as they reflected the angled beams of the torches, all were breathing hard and dripping with perspira- tion in the muggy cave as they finally faced Addams in questioning despair. “You’re sure it was the third cave from the seaward, from the cape, that Fellowes said?” he asked Peggy. ‘‘Wasn’t it the third from the crater?”’ “T’m sure he said from the Cape,’ she answered wearily, tears of vexation in her eyes.” “Let’s take a look anyway,” said Jim. Outside, the air felt comparatively cool and refreshing. The lazy phosphorescent sea idly rolled the shingle back and forth as it had done through all the ages, sounding a lullaby to its own rocking of the world’s great cradle, the sea. The sky had cleared somewhat and the stars glowed in the sky, reflected in the lagoon, serene above the ad- venturers who sought for the gold that meant so much of comfort and happiness, and even of love, so successful has man been in applying one currency for all things desirable. The neighboring cave was smaller and easily covered. The carvings were scarcer and there was no sign of the group for which they were seeking. It looked as if their quest was to be fruitless after all. Addams looked at his watch. It was close to mid- night. They had been searching for over two hours. The tide was well out now, rock pools rising here and there from the crescent beach. As they came out of the smaller cave the moon looked over the ragged rim of the crater-bowl and threw ragged shadows clear-cut on the sand, its reflection shining in the pools. By one of these a dark spur COPMICLOOOKS (CO)