storm bound under the lee of the cliffs, we passed long and anxious hours the next day, although our only misfortune was in the inclemency of the weather which kept us close and prevented our further exploration of the island and a search for the treasure. we were completely sheltered and we had plenty of the refreshing milk of the cocoanut to vary our other food. nor did we neglect to improve the rainy hours by much pleasant converse and by further work upon my lady’s tunic and shoes. also i made her a sort of hat out of palm leaves which she could tie upon her head by further strips from that invaluable and seemingly inexhaustible skirt of hers. and i made myself a head covering of some of the cloth, letting it fall low over my neck, as i had observed the arabs at aden do, it being there that the fierce heat of the tropic sun centers its attack—at least i have heard so.
[236]the second day after it began the tempest finally blew itself out, although the great surging seas still broke tremendously over the barrier reef and the spray shot a score of feet or more above the crests of the highest waves. it was only the reflex of the storm, however, for during the night the wind had subsided into a gentle breeze. all was calm and peaceful; nature never looked so bright and smiling, it seemed to me, as at the dawn of that eventful day.
when we scanned the sea early in the morning there was of course no sign of the ship. i imagined that the hazy islands dimly seen in the bright sunlight on the far-off horizon could tell a tale of sea disaster if they would. any way, i did not believe that we should ever see the rose of devon or her crew again. in both those beliefs i was mistaken, as you shall find out, if having read thus far, you have patience to continue until the end.
our first inclination, and there was none now to intimidate us, was to mount the stairs again, cross over the wall once more and look for that cave. we had neither chart nor record left, we had but our memories to trust to, but we[237] were both agreed that the cave lay in the inner wall, and that the parchment said it was the central one of three adjacent openings which gave entrance to the treasure chamber.
now i had noticed that the great coral wall, both on the outer and inner sides, was honeycombed with openings, rifts, fissures, and caves which, by the way, were more frequent and deeper on the inside face; why, i knew not. we should have been hard put to it to decide where the cave lay, and should have been compelled painfully and laboriously to search the whole face of the cliff in its extent of fifteen miles or so, but for the further direction of the parchment. i remembered that, sailorlike, old sir philip had given us a bearing. how did his words run? something like this my memory told me:
toe fynde ye mouthe of ye tresor cave take a bearing alonge ye southe of ye three goddes on ye altar of skulles on ye middel hille of ye islande. where ye line strykes ye bigge knicke in ye walle with ye talle palmme, his tree, bee three hoales. climbe ye stones. enter ye centre one. yt is there.
plainly, our first duty was to descend into the[238] enclosed valley and explore the hillock in the center. i made no doubt but that we should find some sort of an altar and more of those curious and hideous stone images there. if they still remained, the rest of our task would be comparatively easy.
with this determination, therefore, we set out. as i did not know how long our exploration would require, and as i rather thought we should have to make a day of it, we started betimes after a very early breakfast; indeed, as we invariably retired shortly after sunset, we naturally rose at break of day. i took along food enough for the day, knowing that we could get water from the brooks, and fruit which i judged would be good for us from the trees.
we went directly to the stairs, mounted them, and stared about us in amazement. the storm had been a frightful one. we had not been able to estimate its power from where we had been sheltered on the lee side of the island, but here the uprooted trees and the wide swaths cut in the jungle on the top of the wall showed its terrific force. i had no need for my axe. there were cocoanuts upon the ground and other fruit[239] which would all rot away before we could consume a hundredth part of it. within the shelter of the island cup, as we were presently aware, less damage had been done, still even there the ravages of the tempest were widely manifest.
delaying but little on the top of the wall, we crossed it rapidly and finally entered the valley. it was with a feeling of awe that we stood for the first time fairly within the vast cup at the foot of the inner stairs, completely shut out from the world by the great towering rampart of rock which entirely enclosed us. i had never felt so far removed from the world as then. outside, of course, the limitless ocean ran beyond the barrier reef, but one could follow it unto the dim, far-off distance with his vision; within the cup the glance fell upon the rocky wall on every hand. it was almost like being in a prison, for all its tropic loveliness. it was strangely still, too. there was no wind down where we were. we could no longer hear the ceaseless splash of the breakers on the barrier. the calm must have been like that of the world’s first morning, when god walked in the garden and saw that it was fair. we were alone in it too. ah, this[240] adam dared not look at this eve, lest he should find her all too fair.
beneath the trees and quite invisible from above, a paved road or path, barely wide enough for four to walk abreast, extended straight across the island to the hillock in the middle, while smaller paths seemed to follow the course of the walls on either side. the ground was gently rolling, and the road, though overgrown in places and badly broken, was in much better condition than the broader path on the top of the wall. i suppose the fact that it was sheltered protected it. we passed along it for a mile and a half without much difficulty; as usual, hearing nothing, except the breeze in the palms and the birds in the thicket. we went in silence mainly. we had so far progressed in good comradeship that talking, unless we had something especial to say, was not necessary. and the stillness about us did not move us to speech.
finally we arrived at the foot of the hillock. as i observed from the wall, it was grass-grown and palm tree clad. indeed we should have been hard put to it to have ascended it, so dense was the vegetation, had it not been for the fact[241] that the path was continued around the hill constantly mounting. where it ran the somewhat shallow earth had been cut away on the hillside, and the rocky surface laid bare. of course, this path was frightfully overgrown, and rendered further impassable by the trunks of trees which had fallen across it; some, from their freshness, probably cast there by the storm of the night before. we managed it, however, and as our identification of the place of the treasure depended upon our reaching the crest of the mound, we were compelled to climb it or give over the search. leaving most of our baggage behind, including my coat, for the day was now hot, we began the ascent.
we went on with the utmost care. i cautioned my lady that she must on no account move recklessly. a broken leg or a sprained ankle would place us at a terrible disadvantage, and be a most serious hardship, and she must avoid the possibility at all costs. i assure you i was equally careful of myself, too. it was intensely hot under the thick shade of the trees where the breeze had no chance to penetrate, and i was sweating mightily when i finally drew my companion,[242] her face bedewed almost as much as my own, up the last steep ascent and stood upon the crest.
we could see now why the top of the hill had seemed level when we first looked at it from the wall. indeed, the coral rock rose in a kind of sharp, bold escarpment eight or ten feet above the adjacent tree tops, making a sort of tableland or platform. this level, probably artificial, had been paved with the reddish-gray rock of the stairs and statues, and pathways and trees, perhaps artificially planted or more probably the result of nature’s sowing, grew here and there in open places in the pavement. i may say in passing, that in all our exploration of the island, which however was not very thorough or complete owing to our limited stay upon it, we saw no quarry whence this hard, pink rock could have been taken.
the only satisfactory solution was that it had been brought there across the seas by the makers of the monuments and stairs, whoever they might have been. they must have had large, seaworthy vessels and adequate means of land transportation, to say nothing of a most considerable[243] engineering ability to accomplish these mighty works.
well, the level top of the hillock was in shape a parallelogram, in extent perhaps an acre and a half. it was the most curious place i have ever seen. in the middle of it, with its four sides parallel to the sides of the plateau, was a huge stone platform or altar, perhaps one hundred feet long by seventy feet wide. completely surrounding this altar, some distance away from it so as to make an aisle perhaps ten feet in width, rose a line of huge statues carved, like those at the foot of the stairs, into the semblance of monstrous and repulsive human faces. i judged that some of them were at least thirty feet from mid breast to the top of their crowns. not one of them was like another. there was variation in each just as there is variation in human faces.
all were ugly and horrible, namelessly evil, but all were lifelike and were, singularly enough, european. yet that a european could have carved these statues was beyond the wildest possibility. i have since thought, and others have thought also, that perhaps the primitive men[244] who erected that altar to some unknown god might have been men of the same racial stock as ourselves way back in the dim days of the world’s first morning.
at any rate, these statues or images rose at the breast from a kind of terrace a foot or so above the level of the platform, paved as elsewhere. they formed a sort of cloister or colonnade around the central platform which rose twenty or twenty-five feet above. a few of them had fallen down, but the more part were standing as their carvers or builders had left them. on the center of the raised platform or altar, stood three more of the same monster busts, placed one after another, the largest one being in the middle. they were in line, all looking in the same direction which my pocket compass told me was somewhat to the north of northwest by west. they were staring, therefore, into the general direction of the setting sun.
at the front, or west, end, the great platform was approached by a flight of steps. the stones of the pavement were so cunningly fitted together that only here and there had a seed lodged and grass-grown, except where the palm trees had[245] sprung up, breaking the pavement. the stones of the platform or altar and the approaching stairs were also laid up without mortar and fitted in the same way. how savages with probably nothing but stone knives could have so perfectly trued and fitted the surfaces of such huge stones, to say nothing of moving them at all, was, i confess, beyond me; but so it was. the altar was in good repair, indeed so massive was it, and so well made, that nothing short of an earthquake could disturb it.
standing so high, the fierce winds that swept over the plateau and platforms had probably assisted in keeping it clear of vegetation, of anything in fact, for save for the few scattered palm trees, it was as bare as the palm of my hand. and indeed, cleaner, for although my lady had brought with her some soap, i, not knowing how long we should be on the island and realizing her dainty habit and what a deprivation it would be to her to be without it, refrained from using it and cleaned myself as well as i could with water and sea sand, a poor substitute for soap as you can well imagine.
well, we stood upon the platform and surveyed[246] the scene in silent awe. nothing in the parchment had led us to suspect all this, although i recollected the mention of the stone faces looking toward the niche under the big palm tree, the spot in the wall by which we were to locate the treasure cave.
“come,” said i at last, breaking the silence, “we will have a nearer look at these gentry.”
“it seems like the temple of a vanished race,” breathed my lady softly, staring about her in growing wonder.
“aye, and of vanished gods,” said i, extending my hand.
there was something weird and eerie about the plateau and we felt better for the warm touch of each other’s hand; at least i did. i always felt happier when i touched her little hand, but in this instance the feeling was somewhat different. in a certain sense it seemed like profanation for us to be there, yet we went on steadily, if slowly. we passed by the colonnade of statues, around the inner platform, and deliberately mounted the stairs.
something, i know not what, made me bid my mistress pause before we reached the top,[247] and i looked to my pistol, and loosened my sword in its sheath as i did so, although why i did so, and what i anticipated, i cannot say. at any rate, i mounted to the top alone. there before me lay a platform which was sunk beneath me for a depth of two feet and which was surrounded by a low wall on the top of which i stood. the three images rose from a smaller platform on a level with the top of this wall in the midst, and the whole place was filled with a horrible and frightful mass of human bones. skulls, legs, thighs and smaller bones heaped in terrible confusion lay bleaching before me, and the space between them was filled with a fine dust, doubtless the dust of earlier bones which had moldered away through centuries. those that still preserved their shape were the top layer and were bleached perfectly white. they lay in all directions as if they had been cast aside carelessly and at random, yet there were indications that there had been a path from where i stood to the platform of the three images, which platform i perceived was just about wide enough to lay a human body on it at the base of the first image.
[248]i stared apprehensively, i must confess, at this frightful charnel house of the centuries. the only evidence of humanity we had discovered on that island were these bleached and moldering skeletons. i would have prevented her, but my mistress suddenly came up and stood by my side. then i thought she would have fainted as the full horror of the scene burst upon her.
“men have been here,” she faltered, “horrible, cruel men.”
“yes,” said i, “but centuries ago. look, the bones are bleached white. you have naught to fear.”
“let us leave this frightful place,” she whispered.
“presently,” i answered, “but you will remember the directions of the chart. i must stand upon yonder altar and get my bearings. the treasure cave should be in line with the statues and a niche or depression in the wall on the further side.”
“yes,” she replied, “i remember.”
“well then,” i said, “will you go down to the platform out of sight of this horrible place and wait for me there?”
[249]“no,” she answered nervously, “master hampdon, wherever you go i must go. i can never be left alone upon this island.”
i tried gently to dissuade her, but, as usual, she would have her way so that at last i gave in perforce.
“well then,” said i, “at least let me go before.”
i stepped down into the great receptacle meaning to clear the way with my feet by kicking aside the layer of bones, and, on my extending my arm behind me with both her hands caught in mine, she followed me down into the enclosure. of course we had to walk upon the broken remnants of humanity, but i thrust aside as well as i could the larger pieces and skulls, and she, i afterward learned, followed with her eyes tightly closed, trusting entirely to my guidance. indeed she clung to my hand with all the nervous strength and power she possessed.
so we finally reached the platform. i lifted her up on it and followed myself. we were not the first human beings who had been lifted to that ghastly platform, i was sure, and as i stood there i could hear in my imagination the protesting,[250] shrieking, struggling captives about to be immolated. i could close my eyes and see the blood dripping down the sides of the altar, as the breast of the bound victim was pierced with the stone knife and his beating heart torn out and lifted up in the face of these devilish and horrible gods by the terrible priests of the ghastly sacrifice. it required little effort to reconstruct the fearful cannibalistic orgies on the platform below, in honor of whatever awful deity they worshiped. i did not let myself dwell upon it, nor did i say anything about it; and my mistress knew too little about such matters in her sweetness and innocence and purity to have such thoughts as mine—thank god!
i led her carefully around the altar platform therefore, until we could stand at the rear end by the side of the line of statues and look across the island. sure enough, there was the niche or depression in the wall which sir philip had mentioned, although the “bigge palmme tree” was gone, or else lost amid hundreds of trees like it. beneath it, careful scrutiny showed a rough pyramid of stone leading up to what seemed to be openings in the cliff wall.
[251]so far every detail in the old buccaneer’s parchment was absolutely correct. i was certain now that the treasure was there, and that we could find it. and a certain exaltation filled me. at least, we had not come upon a fool’s errand, though what good the treasure would do us in our present case after we had found it, i did not stop to consider.
“see,” i pointed out to my little lady, “following the edge of the three statues here with your eyes, the nick or break in the wall of the cliff is right in line.”
“i see,” she said.
“and below it,” i continued, “for your bright eyes are perhaps keener than mine which have looked into the salt seas and over the glare of water blazing in the sun for so many years, what can you make out?”
“i see above the tree tops what looks like a pyramid-shaped heap of stones, the stones of which sir philip spoke, perhaps.”
“yes,” i replied excitedly, “and at the top, at the apex, what?”
“there is a darker opening in the wall between two others.”
[252]“the treasure will be there,” said i confidently.
“let us go to it,” she shuddered, looking about her. “i don’t wonder that sir philip came back a madman if he lived for long in the presence of this.”
“we have nothing more to do here,” i answered, as i led the way to the edge of the low altar.
i leaped down and then turned to help her. she was very white and i thought she was going to faint. i don’t blame her, the surroundings were so terrible. i acted promptly, reaching up and taking her in my arms and carrying her as if she had been a baby; and indeed she was no great burden for me. her head dropped to my shoulder. i did not know whether she had fainted or not. her eyes were closed. i ran swiftly across the enclosure, descended the steps and without hesitation turned to the edge of the cliff. i stopped there, cursing myself for not having brought any water, but as i stopped she opened her eyes.
“you are safe,” said i gently, setting her on her feet again, “the horrors are all behind us.[253] see, there is before you naught but the beautiful greenery of the island, and—”
an expression of gratitude came across her face.
“let us go down,” she replied. “we must never come near here again.”
“please god, no,” i repeated, as we retraced our steps down the cliff and along the winding path, mistress lucy gaining strength and color as we passed at last out of sight of the hideous platform.
