The Argosy — page 138: what you’re looking at

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

330 THE ARGOSY, “PI be all right ina moment. My nerves went back on me ; that’s all.”’ He glanced toward the shore with a shudder, and then filled the palm of his hand with water and drank it. ‘‘ Come on,’’ he said bravely ; ‘‘ don’t be alarmed. It’s nothing that can harm us.’’ His companions followed him timidly up the sandy siope. The torch threw a bright light on the scene, and every one of them shuddered as Guy stopped and pointed before him. On a flat, rocky plateau, three or four feet above the level of the lake, lay a gleaming mass of bones, all dried and whitened by age. ‘Human skeletons, by gracious!’’ burst from the colonel, and it was easy to see that he spoke the truth. Human skeletons they were, but instead of being joined together, skulls, arms, and legs lay scattered about in awful confusion. ‘This is horrible,’’ said Forbes. ‘‘ Who were these unfortunates, and what could have caused such mutilation ?”’ Guy advanced to the center of the plateau, flashing the torch around him, and turning to his companions, he cried: ‘‘ This is an island ; there is water all around it.”’ “Look here,’’ exclaimed Canaris eagerly; ‘‘ here lies a raft of logs, half buried in the sand.”’ This new discovery promised some light on the mystery, and they crowded hastily around the Greek, who was bending over the rude structure. It lay half way up the beach, and over the lower extremities of the logs a thick layer of sand had been washed. (Close by were half a dozen coarse sacks, which proved on inspection to contain skins of leopards and tigers, bright colored feathers, coffee, and aromatic gums. All were in fairly good condition. ““Here is something else,’’ cried Forbes. ‘‘ Arms, by Jove! Spears and axes, torches and paddles. Weill, by gracious, what does this mean?’”’ An inkling of the truth flashed upon them simultaneously, and they stared at each other in frightened silence. : “This was the last load of natives to go down the river,’’ said Canaris quietly. ‘‘ Here is their raft, their trading goods. Yonder lies their bones. Their journey ended here.”’ ‘“And why did it end here ?’’ demanded the colonel. “Yes, why ?’’ echoed Chutney, and then no one spoke for a full minute. ‘What was to prevent them from continuing on their way?’’ resumed the colonel finally. ‘‘ They had a raft and paddles; the water was all around them. What caused their death? ’’ ‘““Starvation,’’ suggested the Greek, and they snatched eagerly at this solution. , “It was not starvation that killed them,’’ exclaimed Guy, who had turned back to the center of the island. ‘‘ Here is a bag of dates and dried meat all shriveled and moldy. ‘They met their death in some horribly sud- den fashion, that is certain. How do you account for their skeletons being torn apart and the bones flung together? Could starvation do that ?”’ (S@) Eomicbooks