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COmiNTJKD.
"What a beautiful placer murmurer
Iris. "1 wonder what It is called."
"Suppose wo clirl iton it Rainbow Is
land';" "Why 'Hainbow?' "
"That is the Kngllsh moaning of
lrl in Latin, yon know."
"So it is. How clovir of you to think
of it: Toll im what is tho moaning of
Robert in Ciiei-kV
II o turned to survey the northwest
side of the Island. "I do not know," he
answered. "It might not he farfetched
to translate Is us 'a ship's steward, a
menial.' "
Miss Iris had meant her playful re
tort as a mere light hearted quibble. It
annoyed her, a young person of much
consequence, to have her kindly con
descension repelled.
"I suppose so, she agreed, "but I
have gone through so much In a few
hours that I am bewildered, apt to for
get these nice distinctions."
.Tenks was closely examining the reef
on which the Sirdar struck. Some
square objects were visible near the
palm tree. The sun. glinting on the
waves, rendered it dllllcult to discern
their significance.
"What do you make of those?" he In
quired, handing the glasses nnd bland
ly ignoring Miss Deane's petulance.
Iler brain was busy with other things
while she twisted the binoculars to
suit her vision. Rainbow island Iris
It was a nice conceit, but "menial"
struck a discordant note. This man
was no menial in appearance or speech.
Why was lie so deliberately rude?
"I think they are boxes or packing
cases," she announced.
"Ah, that was my own idea! I must
visit that locality."
"How? Will you swim?"
"No," he said, his stern lips relaxing
in a smile: "I will not swim, and, by
the way, Miss Deane, be careful when
you are near the water. The lagoon
Is swarming with sharks at present.
I feel tolerably assured that at low
tide, when the remnants of the gale
have vanished, I will be able to walk
there along the reef."
"Sharks!" she cried. "In there!
What horrible surprises this speck of
land contains! I should not have im
agined that sharks and seals could
live together!"
"You are quite right," he explained,
wmi lioentolmr gravity. "As a rule.
sharks infest only the leeward side of
these Islands, .lust now they are at
tracted In shoals by the wreck."
"Oh!" Iris shivered slightly.
"We had better go back now. Tho
wind is keen here, Miss Deane."
She knew that he purposely mlsun
,wstnnd her gesture. Ills attitude con
veyed a rebuke. There was no further
room for sentiment In their present ex
istence. They had to deal with chill
necessities. As for the sailor, he was
Slnd that the chance turn of their con
versation enabled him to warn her
against the lurking dangers of the la
goon. There was no need to mention
the devilfish now. He must spare her
all avoidable thrills.
Tliev gathered the stores from the
first dining room and readied the cave
without incident. Another fire was
lighted, and while Iris attended to the
kitchen the sailor felled several young
trees. He wanted poles, and those
were the right size and shape. He
soon cleared a considerable space. The
timber was soft and so small In girth
that three cuts with the ax usually
sufficed. He dragged from the beach
the smallest tarpaulin he could find
and propped It against tho rock in
such manner that it effectually screen
ed the mouth of the cave, though ad
mitting light and air.
He was so busy that he paid little
heed to Iris. But the odor of fried
ham was wafted to him. Ho was
lifting a couple of heavy, stones to stay
the canvas and keep It from flapping
In the wind when the girl called out:
"Wouldn't you llko to have a wash
before dinner?"
He straightened himself and looked
at her. Her face nnd hands wero
shining, spotless. The change wns so
groat that his brow wrinkled with per
plexity.
"I am a good pupil," she cried. "You
see I am already learning to help my
self. I matlo a bucket out of one of
the dish covers by slinging it in t.vo
ropes. Another dish cover, some aand
and leaves supplied basin, soap and
towel. I have cleaned the tin cups and
the knives, and, see, here is my great
est treasure."
She held up a small metal lamp.
"Whoro In tho world did you find
that?" he exclaimed.
Buried In tho sand Inside the cave."
"Anything, else?"
Ills lone was abrupt. She was so dis
appointed by the seeming want of ap
preciation of her industry that a gleam
of amusement died from her eyes, and
she shook her head, stooping at once to
attend to the toasting of some biscuits.
This time he was genuinely sorry.
"Forgive me, Miss Ilea no," he said
penitently. "My words are dictated by
anxiety. I do not wish you to nmko
discoveries on your own account. This
Is a strange place, you know an un
pleasant one In some respects."
"Surely I can rummage about my
own cave?"
"Most certainly. It was careless or
me not to have examined Its Interior
more thoroughly."
"Then why do you grumble because I
found th lamp?"
"I did not mean nny such thing. I
am sorry."
"I think vou are horrid. If you want
to wash vou will find the water over
there. Don't wait. The ham will be
frizzled to a cinder."
Unlucky Jenks! Was ever man fated
in I, .,..!,. ani'li unmerited odium? He
savagely laved his face and neck. The
fresh, cool water was delightful at
first, but when ho drew near to the
lire he experienced nn unaccountable
sensation of weakness. Could It bo
possible that ho was going to faint?
It was too absurd. He sank to the
Norwegian matches he threw away as
useless, but Iris recovered them.
"You never know what purpose they
may serve," she said. In after days a
weird significance was attached to this
simple phrase.
"Why do you cany about a bit of
tin?" she went on.
"I found It here, Miss Deane," ho
answered.
Luckily she interpreted "here" is
applying to the cave.
"Let me see it. May I?"
He handed It to her. She could mako
nothing of it, so together they puzzled
over it. The sailor rubbed It with a
mixture of kerosene and sand. Then
figures and letters and a sort of dia
gram were revealed. At last they be
came decipherable, By exercising pa
tient ingenuity some one had indented
tho metal with a sharp punch until the
marks assumed this aspect:
IN
( 113. 80 fc )
A' Ts ' .' V -
: i -::''
r
ground. Trees, rocks and sand strewn
earth Indulged in a mad dance. Iris'
vnteit unniuUwl weak nnd Indistinct. It
seemed to travel In waves from a great
distance. He tried to brush away
from his brain these dim fancies, but
'his Iron will for once failed, and he
pitched headlong downward Into dark
ness. When he recovered, tho girl's left
arm was around his neck. For one
blissful instant he nestled there con
tentedly. Ho looked Into her eyes and
saw that she was crying. A gust or
anger rose within him that he should
be the cause of those tears.
lie tried to rise.
"Oh! Are you better?" Iler ':;n
quivered pitifully.
"Yes. What happened? Did I faint?"
"Drink this."
She held u cup to his mouth, and ho
obediently strove to swallow tho con
tents. It was champagne. After the
first spasm of terror and when the ap
plication of water to his face failed to
restore consciousness Iris had knocked
the head' off the bottle of champagne.
He quickly revived. Nature had only
given him a warning that he was over
drawing his resources. lie wits deep
ly humiliated. He did not conceive the
truth, that only a strong man could
do all that ho had done and live. Kor
thirty-six hours he had uot slept. Dur
ing part of the time ho fought with
wilder beasts than they knew at ipne-
sus. The long exposure to tho sun, tne
mental strain of his foreboding that
the charming girl whose life depended
upon him might be exposed to even
worse dangers than any yet encounter
ed, the physical labor he had under
gone, tho Irksome restraint he strove to
place upon his conduct und utterances
all these things culminated in utter
relaxation when the water touched his
heated skin.
"How could you frighten mo so?" de
manded Iris hysterically. "You must
have felt that you wero working too
hard. You made mo rest. Why didn't
you rest yourself?"
He looked at her wistfully. This col
lapse must not happen again for her
sake. These two said more with eyes
than lips. She withdrew her arm. Iler
face and neck crimsoned.
"Good gracious." she cried. "The
ham Is ruined I"
It was burnt black. She prepared a
fresh supply. When It was ready
Jenks was himself again. They ate In
sllenco and shared the remains of tho
bottle. A. smile Illumined his tired
face.
Iris was watchful. Sho had never
In her life cooked even a potato or
boiled an egg. The ham was her first
attempt.
"My cooking amuses you?" she de
manded suspiciously.
"It gratifies every sense," ho mur
mured. "There is but one thing need
ful to complete my happiness."
"And that is?"
"Permission to smoke."
"Smoke what?"
He produced n stool bos tightly
closed and a pipe.
"Your pockets arc absolute shops,"
said tho girl, delighted that his temper
had Improved. "What other stores do
you enrry about with you?"
IIo lit his pipe nnd solemnly gave nn
Inventory of his worldly goods. Be
yond the Items sho had previously seen
ho could only enumerate a silver dol
lnr, a very soiled nnd crumpled hand
kerchief, and n. bit of tin. A box of
Iris was quick wltted. "It is n plan
of the Island," she cried.
"AIbo the latitude and the longitude."
"What does M. S.' moan?"
"Probably tho initials of a man's
name. Let us say John Smith, for In
stance." "And tho figures on tho island, with
the 'X' and the dot?"
"I cannot toll you at present," he
said. "I take it that the line across tho
Island signifies this gap or canyon, and
the small Intersecting line tho cave.
But HI! divided by 1 and an X' sur
mounted by a dot are cabalistic. They
would cause even Sherlock Holmes to
smoke at least two pipes. I have bare
ly started one."
"It looks quite mysterious, like tho
things you read of in stories of pirntes
und buried treasure."
"Yes." he admitted. "It Is unques
tionably a plan, a guidance, given to a
person not previously acquainted with
the Island, but cognizant of some fact
connected with it. Unfortunately none
of tho buccaneers I can bring to mind
frenuented these seas. Tho poor beg
gar who left it hero- must have had
some other motive than searching for a
cache."
"Did he dig tho cave and tho well, 1
wonder?"
"Probably the former, but not thu
well. No man could do it unaided."
"Why do you assume he was alone?"
lie strolled toward tho lire to kick a
stray log. "it is only Idle speculation
at Mie best, Miss Deane," he replied.
"Would you like to help me to drag
some timber up from the beach? If wo
get a few big planks we can build a
lire that will last for hours. We want
some extra clothes, too, and It will soon
bo dark."
The request for co-operation gratified
her. Sho complied eagerly, and with
out much exertion they hatded a re
snectable load of firewood to their new
camping ground. They also brought a
number of coats to servo as coverings.
Then Jenks tackled tho lamp, it was a
most dllllcult operation to open it
Before tho sun went down he suc
ceeded and made a wick by unraveling
u few strands of wool from his Jersey.
Whew vhiUt fell, with tho suddenness
of the troiiics, Iris was able to illumi
nate her small domain.
Thev wero both utterly tired and
ready to drop with fatigue. Tho girl
said "good night," but instantly re
appeared from behind the tarpaulin.
"Am I to keep tho lamp alight?" sho
Inquired.
"Please yourself, Miss Deane. Bet
ter not, perhaps. It will only burn
four or live hours anyway."
Soon the light vanished, nnd ho lay
down, his pipe between his teeth, close
to the cave's entrance. Weary though
ho was he could not sleep forthwltn.
Ills mind was occupied with tho signs
on the canister head.
"il'2 divided by 1; an 'X' and a dot,"
he repeated several times. "What do
they signify?"
Suddenly he sat up, with every sense
nlert, and grabbed his revolver. Some
thing impelled him to look toward the
spot, a few feet away, where the skele
ton was hidden. It was the rustling of
a bird among the trees that had caught
his car.
He thought of the white framework
of u onco powerful man, lying there
ninoni: tho bushes, abandoned, forgot
ten, horrific. Then he smothered a
cry of surprise.
"By Jove!" he muttered. "There Is
no 'X' nnd dot. That sign Is meant
for a skull and crossbones. It lies
exactly on the part of tho island whoro
we saw that queer looking bald patch
today. First thing tomorrow before
tho girl awakes I must examine that
place."
IIo resolutely stretched himself on
his share of tho spread out coats, now
thoroughly dried by sun and fire. In
a minute ho waB sound asleep.
(Contluuod on Sixth Pago )
"HAVE
LOOK"
i
AT THE
International
GomspondenGe
Sehools Exhibit
To be held from
June 19 to 24, at
Gotting's Drag stoie
Iioui Hates to Success
20 per eent DisGoact
0J1 Mlt GODHSES
Come and Let Us Tell You How
We Do It.
R. SUBMITT TAYLOR,
Division Supt.,
SIOUX CITY, - IOWA
A. C. CRONK,
Local Representative,
CONCORDIA, KANSAS
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