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Show I THE ISLAND OF REGENERATION ISSS fj . (Copyright In Great Britain.) I? (, CHAPTER X. j Hearts AwaJtanod. f lror the moment sho forgot whore she vas and fancied horselC back on tliu I ship or moro naturally tossing about in that smnll boat after that. loC ovent-I ovent-I ful voyage. Yet no molion to which she had e'fir been subjected, nol even the wildest pitch of the storm which had finally rust her away, produced in her such " strange emotions as she experienced experi-enced then. For the earth itself was I remblinc. quivering rocking, rlio rave, wall above her, seen dimly by the. n -tering light of very early dawn which came through Iho opening, partook, ol. the mad. fantastic motion. In another second she realized that it was an earthquake. The air scorned filled with a peculiar ringing sound ot storm. Her bed. of course, was the solt sand over which grass had been strewn. Sho lav, therefore, on the floor and could not be thrown down, but she was Ironed trom sino uj hir u , v ' paralvzed her senses. Never in nil hei experience had she known such a sick feeling of iervor. WIi-mi the fo . nidations nida-tions of things are shaken, when no t I merelv the preat deep but the solid ! earth is broken up. humanity stands ab if in the presence of the power of Owl. She lav resistless, si a ri ng, praying, w ondering"" on-dering"" whether the shaking rock over i her head would fall and crush her Tn a moment the .instinct ot "fo i quickened her lo action, hhe rose to her knees, staggered to her feet and tried to make her way to the entrance. Walking was terrible The cart seomcd to have shaken for hours, ami ct the duration of the shock was than a minute. Its violence wis err. fic Just before she reached tno open ing. it stopped with, one r-Mnondous shock as suddenly as it had begun. Hie next second, with a roar that PO'imto.l in her ears'liko a thousand pieces or artillerv. the gray hazy light .m front of her wa. blotted out by a f: hng mass of rock which .inst escaped hei. Tho face of the cliff ld given away. Tn deepe? intenser terror titan hoioro sl.j threw herself attains! the. barnci. H was as hard and. as unvielding -ns the other walls. No light came to her een. She was imprisoned alive in this rocky scnulchor She sank down on hei Ke's and buried her face in her hands. She murmured words of Prf . , f Her "mind flew to the other side of the island, to the Man. ns lie. ton entombed? Was this the ei i of her labors? Outside she could hear the wind roar and the waves t '"rn g with awful violence on tho shore. Before Be-fore the earthquake had corny the storm. There was still some connection between tho cave and the outer air. it seemed, for she was now conscious of lightning flashes. After the storm, came the fire. Her mind went nek to what she had read unm the bible, a ' ,1;,.; wr nf "E ah "s despair. I Therefore, in like ease, she listened with all her heart for the st.l voice of comfort to her awestruck soul. It did not seem to come. She was. doomed; she would never kcc h.m again, if indeed in-deed he were yet alive. She blippc forward and fell fainting on the sandy floor of the cave. And still heoiee was there. Presently it came to her, as the voice of God usually comes to humanity, hu-manity, through the lip? of mn. fter a space, how long n-ttcr she could not tell, she was conscious of a human cry through the wild clamoi of tho storm. A voice that she know and loved was calling her by name. Was it some wraithlikc fancy of the storm V She rose to her knees, sick and taint, and listened. No. it was a human voice, his voice, her name. " he cry was fraught with frantic appeal. It thrilled and vibrated with passion. Lt told her in that awful moment a story whieh she had not read. Tt revealed 10 her imaginations of which she had not dreamed. She was fascinated with what she heard. She forgot for the moment to answer. All the woman in her. the olernal feminine in her, listened. lis-tened. Her bosom rose and fell, her heart throbbed, her pulses beat. Alone with that wild, passionate, appealing, frantic cry, she forgot the earthquake, she forgot the prison, she forgot the storm, she forgot, the world. She only rcalized that there out in the dawn, a man. the man of all the world, who loved her. was calling her name. The old call of manhood t.o womanhood, of mate to mate. She rose instantly to her feet. This time ir. was the beating of her heart that pitched and tossed her body. Sin leaned against the rock wall and then she called his name. I "Man." she cried, "arc you safe?' 'Yes.'.' was the answer. "And yo'is" 'T'niircly so, ave for this prison." "Thank God! came faintly to her from beyond the wall. "Tha'nk God, I hear your v,ojco, . .1. shall, vhnyc you out. never fear. ' She pressed her ear- close- to- the hean of huge loose stones which filled the opening. She could hear him working outside. . . ''Don't be afraid.'' he said al. last. "T fear nothing,51 she answered, "if von are there." Tn one Instant the 'situations of life had been reversed. Tie was the master mas-ter now and she hung upon his words and actions oven as he had done in dav$ gone by. She had no knowledge of what task was before him. hut she could hear the progress that he was making. It was evident that he was working furiously, furi-ously, and yet he stopped once in ery little while ot rcafsiiro himself i to her presence. "Woman," he cried, "are von still here?" "Here and waiting," was the answer. an-swer. Tie needed that assurance of her safety to enable him to achieve his prodigious task. How terrible were the efforts he. put forth, sho did not know until afterward, but his was the work of a Titan. He was moving mountain? with his bare hands. Inspired In-spired by love, mightiest of passions, tie was tearing asunder, like the earthquake, earth-quake, the rocky foundations ,of the Torld. WcTl for him that lie was so I hewed and sinewed. Well for her flint God hnd added strength and power and energy to all his other splendid qualities. He had never done anv work in his life harder than the climbing of a tree, but no toiler with a heritage of earth's whole experience of labor could have struggled as did fl He had been awakened at the Helf- ' iH ?ame instant in bin lonely coll upon Mie other side of Hie island. With the rjrst shock he remembered that somo line in bis days of darkness before iHl ihe came there had been a similar ipheaval. He realized instantly what it was. Less 'timorous than the woman, more agile, he did not lie su-pine su-pine for a single second. His thoughts were inula ntlv for her Ho had 1 Hj thrown himself from his cave and had ! rfV'"1, "Crpfs the shaking, quivering iHand without the hesitation of a mo-mcnt- cv,cr P as ho might, live could he forget the shock that; fl name to him when he saw his' way to. il '' I her barred by thai great heap of rock, ! fallen from the face of the cliff, which lay over Ihe entrance to the cave. For one moment he had stood appalled and (hen he hud gnl lo work. How much timo had elapsed before ho arrived ar-rived at her door, how much time it look him lo clear it away, ho had. no idea. He had no thought but Mint ho must open a passage and get to her dead or alive. It was nol wise for him to expend breath in cries, but until he had some replv he. could not keep silent. Alle.r thaC when her answer came to mm, he worked more quietly save for those, periods when he fell that he. must hear her voice to enable Mm to go on. Such was I ho furious energy of his toil that bv and by the great mass of rode was cleared awav save J or one huge boulder which fairly blocked the. cnlrnnce. It was light outside now. A. grav dawn and full of storm. Through the" wider inlerslices she could see hnn pin inly. She knew now that her rescue res-cue was only a malter of lime. A branch of a tree, for a lever ami his strength would roll the rock away. Sho slnrled to tell him. but he caught a glimpse of her while race pressed, against a crevice and the sight inspired in-spired him. With n great burst of strength. I ho like of which possibly had nover been compassed by morlal inan since Samson pulled apart, the pillar.-of pillar.-of the temple, he. rolled tho great rock .aside and stood in Ihe entrance, gasping, panting, with outstretched jrms. But a step divided them. That stop she took. With a sob of relief she fell upon his breast, naturally, inovit- abb. His splendid arm? swept her close to him. Her own hands met about his Jicck. With upturned face sho looked upon him in all the abandon- nienl of perfect passionnre surrender. He bent his head and kissed her, the :... :.. ..11 1,:,. 1,: iiiri iiiiii.- 111 4 1 j in? ';ui? in. ii 111.1 jiia had been pressed upon another mouth. Ho clung to hur there in that kiss as if to make up in one moment for all the neglectod possibilities of Ihe past, as if never in all the bringings forth of ihe future should such another opportunity op-portunity be afforded him. He felt for the 'first lime in his life the beat of another human henrf against his own, the- rise and fall of another hn-man hn-man breast, the throbbing of another human soul. Tighter and tighter his arms strained her to him. Sho gave herself up in I hat mad, delirious, awful aw-ful moment to the full flow of long checked passion and kiss for kiss, pressure pres-sure for pressure, and heart beat for heart beat, she made response. H wn.s too much. Tr was. the man who broke away. There wn.s uothing, no experience, no remembrance to teach him. It was all surprise. He thrust her from him slowly. Her hands nngercu anout. 111s neclc, lull his backward back-ward pressure would not be denied. He held her a I: arms' length, her hands outstretched, to him; her bosom pauliii", her eyes shining, her cheeics aflame fn the gray dawn. Yielding, giving up to him absolutely, yet something, the magnificent metal of the man. the restraints re-straints through which ho had gone. U10 long battles with his own passion, rose lo his soul and gave him mastery once more. "Woman! woman!'" he whispered no mere local name would represent her now. She was humanitv to him "Woman," he whispered, "mv God! my God!" He turned away, sank down on one of ihe great boulders that he hail thrown aside and buried his face in his hands, his body shaking with emotions emo-tions he. could acnrcelv define but well understood. The woman threw herself down on her knees before h'ini and took him once more ,in her arms. 'JMan," she said, "J love you! " bhe drew his hands awav from his face; she laid her own face in his bleeding palm and kissed it. "Man," she said, her lips wet with us own blood in a sort of wild, barbaric bar-baric sacrament, "man, I love von'" i He stared at her as ono disf raught. He had dreamed of this, ho had iniag-incd iniag-incd U. ho had prayed for it. ho had hoped for n. but. no revelation that had come fo him in the years of I heir association equaled in its' blinding brilliancy, bril-liancy, in its intense illumination, the revelation iu that womnir? voice, in that woman's eyes, in Hint woman's touch. "Man," she said again, "I love you. Do you understand? TJo von know what it means?" Then he found voice. He look her hand and pressed it against his heart. I know. ' - he whispered. "I understand under-stand here." He rose to his feet, stooped, caught her by he. shoulders and lifted her to his level. A piece of rock ill balanced bal-anced on the edge of tho cliff fell crashing. L'hc place was dangerous. Without a word he slipped his arm beneath her, lifted her up as he might have done a child and carried her out upon the sand away from the beetling crag, of the rocky wall. . She .nestled in Ins arms with a sense of jov and tatisiacuon and helplessness cared for ?o exquisite that it was almost pain, lie sat her down presently on Ihe sand and. knelt before her. 'The sun-ight sun-ight sijrang througli the gray haze on the horizon's edge and lighted her face as he peered into it. Suddenly he threw himself prostrate before ncf and laid hislips upon her feet. "Not there," she whispered, la vine her hniid upon his bent head, '"'but m, ra"' J Vi' VOll!'T Then kneeling by her side he took her once more within his arms. But you. have not said!" she beau af hst. "that you loved me." '; 'hV' ,s m, 1'C said softly. in tha speech that you have taught me which is equal to what I feel. You don't know how I have looked upS von and longed for you ever since yo made mo 1 know and feel that T was I mn with a man's soul. Night after night I have watched you .na ToU weni to your nook in the rocks, "nut th-ir er"iio,nVw&,,t:;fc-,nC1 hTr o, T liV.? f,iiir . i ,S 10 Vc ,l Kcnllc.ua n. h.n followed you , caught von in the dark within mv ;mns " im ,n vuiat I have taught vou " sho asked, "you will no. fnv Si Hl "Never! Never'" the beat of hi heart aSeV: i'bo'dote."11" "wm "'"I "bufy V'i0 a,,STrrrPl Piteously, ,M-;n,iUii,,C V0U wnr Go'1 heaven t everything I hat is pure, that is holy, that is lovely," "No! No!" she whispered, a look of terror coining into her face. "Yes," he paid. "Through you L know God, through you I know woman. You arc sacred to 'me. Never again, unloss you give me leave, will I press my lips lo yours; never again, unless you say I may, will I take you in my arms; never again will 1 even touch your hand. Indeed, indeed. I cannot ilo these things. And yet I will love you in ways of which yon cannot dream so long as I can draw the breath of life." He rose lo his feet as he spoke and turned nwa.y from her and stood with clasped hands and bowed shoulders. In one moment, the whole course of I heir lives had changed. Jl. had Inken an earthquake shock to do il, but so terrific had been Ihe submerged fires of mutual passions that- a whisper opportunely op-portunely uttered would have effected i.nv i r in M i imi . one paL aim watched him, wondering what-would be. (he end of it. She knew at last what love was. not tho pale philosophic philo-sophic emotion she had experienced in Ihe cabin of that vnehl. God. how she. hated that recollection. How sho wished that il had never been. If untouched un-touched by man sho could have been cast upon (hat island In bo given to (his man who looked upon her as a goddess. She, had told him somo of her hislory, but nol the part which was vila). It, had been easv not lo enlighten him wholly as lo f'hat. Ho knew nothing about conditions. Ho had never seen a ship or a noal within his recollection and the storv she had settled upon nnd told him" was one that received instant acceptance from him. Indeed I hero was nothing thai she hnd told him, or could have, told him, (hat he would not iniplicilly have accepted and believed. The king could do no wrong. Sho was incarnate truth. And she would have, to tell him all now. Sho would have to pul into that pure soul alive with passionato devo-1 lion, admiration, respect, every feeling feel-ing that can make up the sum of mighlv love, this story of ovil and shame, rhoio was no help for it. She would have to tell him. Bui she could not loll him now, not on this day. Sho would have a few perfect hours. Sho would stand for a little wh;Io within the vales of Eden. She would look for a Jit He timo through the gates of hcavon. Tomorrow! Tomor-row! I oday she would have and sho would enjoy it to the full. Sho rose sottly to her feet as well and stepped closer to him. She laid her hand upon his shoulder. She could sec the muscles mus-cles 111 his arms lighten as ho clenched his hands the harder. She turned him gently about and lifted her perfect lips o his. She kissed him again. Her hand sought his: her li his iron grasp. She drew his arm about her and nestled against him "1 trust you." sho said, "as 1 love you. I shall be safe with you. You shall not draw away from me in such isolation. You have wailed long for kisses like this." And then the man spoke. Ihe man in him. "Woman." he said, "yours arc-xthe only lips that have been pressed upon n"' s?ive Pcrl,aPS my mother's as a child Has any other man ever kissed your She could not lie to him. "Don't ask me," she said, the futile request. The man had turned awav with a groan. IS0 happiness is unalloyed; no ,o.y comes into our lives t lint somo pain docs not dog its footsteps. With love cumo jealousy before tho Hood. At least," she said, pressing eloser to him, and he did not repulse her, " have loved no man but von." "Oh! " he said, taking" her once more within his arms, "that T might know for one moment what is out there, how you have lived, who saw vou, who followed fol-lowed you. who loved vou!" "T shall tell you." said the woman. "But you have told me." "Not all." "When the rest then?" f'Tomorrow Meanwhile let us enjoy en-joy the day' the old, old human prayer, let us enjoy the day despite, the morrow "let it suffice that I love you; that I never loved anyone else-that else-that no kisses like yours have ever bcon pressed upon my lips, no I believe be-lieve not upon Ihe lips of mortal woman. Let us pass the day in hap-pincss hap-pincss together. Come, wo must breakfast. We mn n... earthquake has done to our island Wo have things to think about, things to do." H "I have nothing to think about but you; nothing lo do but to love you." Hand in hand, they stepped across the sand lo the shade of tho trees a royal and noble couple, the splendid woman nobly planned, fit mate for tho godlike man, children of God and Nature, Na-ture, both of them in loose tunics which she had woven from the. long soft grass, which left neck and arms bare and fell to knee and wcro bolted in; at the waist. Unhampered by anv J lie .debasing or degrading garment's ot civilization, they were a pair lo cxcito the admiration and envy of tho gods. CHAPTER XI. Tho Conscicnco Quickened. They hail spent . the morning together, to-gether, but not as usual. Things were different, conditions had changed. For the first time in years tho daily lesson which she had given him was intermitted. inter-mitted. I oday they were both at school Willi Love for preceptor and such willingness in their hearts as made them ideal pupils. The storm which had accompanied tho earthquake, had died away as suddenly as it had arisen. No visible evidence of it was left save the .tremendous thunder 0f Ihe long undulating seas upon tho outward barrier. bar-rier. The earthquake hnd not greatly damaged the island, the fallen cliff a few prostrate palms here and there, that, was al . But there was visible evi-dence evi-dence in them of the storm through which they. had passed and which still held t hem in it:j throes, in I ho tumult ol their kouIs. To Ihe man (he experienco of the morning. was absolutely new and lo the woman, it was so different from what had hil herto transpired that it was practically so. Thov luxuriated ;,, n'.l emotions. They sat side by side, hand wis Ihe bolder he woman who made the advances. Tho man was not passive. pas-sive. K,8 lor kiss, look for look, word or word, puch for touch, he gave, but Ihe. initiative was hern, not his. He was putting a constraint of steel upon Inmsolt. She saw that and was glad I made her hold. Woman-like, slPe. tried and lesled the blado that she had Jorged again and again, growing daring in her immunity, -bra ver in her frut no experience lo him was a torture ot such Mirpassiiig sweetness that he could have cried aloud with the ex-quisi ex-quisi e pain .of il.. Shu was glad when she ihvmed something of what was going on 111 his soul. lie was proving his worth lo her. When memory forced Die recollection of another upon her, she. contrasted the conduct of the presenl with the conduct of (ho pnnf. I She contrasted the nclions and char-acleristies char-acleristies of I his, what the world I would call, half.uaked ravage, with tho brutal vulgnrilv of Iho lino .specimen of modern civilization with which sho had gone away. And even in her shame at the recollect inn she exulted. This was indeed ;t man. When the great passion did come in full Hood 111I0 her heart, she loved, sho realized, worthily. And was she worlliy of him? Aye. but for that, worthy of any man. She was loo clear headed to cunvicl herself of moral obliquity, but there was in her a. sense and it hnd never bcon so keen and so powerful and so penetrating as at I his moment when she loved of personal per-sonal pollution, which by hard fori line.' little of I In blame being hers, sho hnd to suffer under. She luxuriated in her consciousness of his qualities, in his love ot iu 1, in jut love 1 or 111111. oui, as no suffered so, loo, did she. His suffering was of Ihe present, hers was of the past. Which is Iho worse, Ihe more unendurable, un-endurable, is a question to which no solulion is apparent. Yet hers was the harder case in the particular instance, for hers was filled wilh shamo and dread and his was only begot by a. prayer that he might not fortret his manhood. man-hood. They stood in one part of their wanderings wan-derings before the door of what had been her cave. Hand in hand they looked down upon the heap of rocks that he had inrn away. It was nothing noth-ing lo him; to her.it was incredible. She could better estimalo what human strength was capable of than he. Sho had standards of comparison which he lacked. "Tt cannot be possible that you lifled that boulder and that one. alo'nc?" she said, gazing at .him wondoringly. Ii At I I... I ...I -lx .... T -11. Linn- iiiirjui-ii 1 , in jiinm: . mi, 1 could have torn Iho rock asunder," lie cried, throwing out his arms in a magnificent mag-nificent gesture of strength and force. She caughl his hand with her own and onco more pressed her lips within his palm. 'I don't know how to saj' how much I love you." she cried. I "Say that you will try lo euro as much lor me as I do for you and I will be content," ho answered. And so there was a nrettv rivalry between them as to which loved tho more. In the midst of the strife of tongues, the woman spoke. She could not keep away from tho subject. "You love me," she said at last, "because "be-cause .you think me more than I am. because." she ran on in spite of his protesting gesture, checking his deny, ing word, "because you have seen no othor woman, because " "I. will not hear another word," he ened, Uniting voice at last and stopping stop-ping her. "T know not woman or man save as T know you and myself, savo as you have taught me by the women ot whom you have read tno in that single book wc have, the women of whom you have told me who have played their parts iu the world. All of them together are not like you." "That is because 1 ani alive and here and they aro dead and away." "If they all stood here by ine'on the sand, if all their excellencies and virtues vir-tues were centered upon one and sho stood by you on tho sand, mv heart would turn to you. It isn't "because you arc beautiful. You aro beautiful are you nof.?V Poor man, ho had no standards of comparison, only the instinct for the lovely. . "Men said so." she answered, smiling smil-ing at him and blushing in confusion. Men " ho cried. "What men?" ''I will tell you tomorrow." She sighed deeply at Iho thought of the revelation. "Woll. then," ho continued, "it isn't becauso you arc beautiful, or because you aro wise, or because you arc learned, or because vou are kind; it is because you arc you that I love you." "And if I were none of ' theso things?" "I would love you just Iho same." "But T am not what you think me 111 somo ways." "J. could never think highly enough of you, I know that." ' " "No. no, it isn't that. When I tell you " . Sho slopped and looked at him, paling. pal-ing. After all the. greater (est was to come then. "To err," she rcmein- uvivu ua- iineicui; naun proverp, "was human; to forgive, divine." Would he be human or divine in this trial? Had she so trnincd him that he could forgive the unforgivable? In more ways than one her happiness depended upon what would be his course. Tf he forgave her aud condoned her fault, I heir love could have free course if ever opportunity for benison upon it presented. But and if he followed tho common course of men, not only would any future union between thoin on the onlj- terms to which she could consent con-sent be impossible, but he would kill her heart, her trust in man sometimes, she wildly belioved. her trust in God. 'rsotlupg, nothing," he repeated, 'that you could tell me would make any difference." So lovers have protested, she recalled, re-called, sinco time and tho world began. And yet things told have made differences. differ-ences. What would it do for their future, fu-ture, this revelation of the morrow? And again she realized I hat the test, if she herself were compelled to mako il. would be not exactly fair, for she would be at once prosecuting attorney, advocate for the defense, even in some, phase the passer of judgment. She would be the criminal and Ihe world to him. It would hardly be possible for hnn to arrive at a correct view and conic to a determination unbiased and rcc. II she could have transported hi m by some magic power among the children ol men. and with them for auditory have told her story, tho test would bo a true one. What he would do then after having heard the world's voices, the world's appeals, the. world 's mockeries, would truly determine what, lie was. and in no other way could that determination be arrived at. Though Hie strove to be as impartial as divinity, di-vinity, she eon Id not but make her do-ienso do-ienso coincident with her revelation, her justification at Ihe same time with hei condemnation. If0 knew nothing of Iifo but what she :ml ;,,ui;. . . .. . V !",. and neither would bo safe guideS 111 this oniorgeIlcy. rie nmil(1 pro, t yho could behove his prolest. but , , less they were utiered not merely lie. foro high heaven but before .Wound 1 nig men, hey would be of little value. ! She put this by resolutely at lasl ' , "w.lho creatures of circumstance u and environment. She would have To do 'the best that she. could on the norrow Meanwhile she would, as li e had said enjoy the day. And ? 0 morning hours wore awav unf 1 e time ea,e for the euslomarv ; -,i ' fho luvurv0 r,i'W hnV0 nbn'ndJii". in iho luxury of the new passion or the. new revelation of tho old passion tha customary rule, but sho stifl preierv d ! some lingering rdinui,,s 0jr K com. mou sense and sho clearly perceived that it was necessary to go 011 as they had. Society cannot proceed without its conventions and lhese,implo regulations regu-lations were their conventions which hnd lo bo obeyed. And so they parted. Bui parted as they had never parted before, torn asunder by I heir own compliance, com-pliance, with their own petty rules, their hearts protesting. Long before the carthquaJio I hey had erected on the topmost hill of tho island a huge pile of dead wood from Iho groves beneath. She had lighted fires with her flint and uteol for him from time lo lime to bleach him what they were. She had even managed to cook some of tho vegetable growths of the island as well us the eggs oT the turtle, oysters and mussels which they could gather from the rocks at low lide. And she had I aught him slningo whimsy! to eat of these things on occasion with Hie use 0r salt will) a sort of dim anticipation that fame day he might eome into the land of cooked food and of flesh food and find Ihe power capable of development nnd useful. She hnd laught him all sorts of lit- tie refinements and niceties of civilization. civiliza-tion. He hnd iMl accurate idea of a fork, although ho had never seen ono. He knew that to eat with a knife was a thin."' lo bo avoided, although ho knew no knifo excopt the sailor's Khealh knife, which sho Ktill wore at her waisl. A dninty person, she had taught him lo comb his hair. Indeed, she had done that -first herself, marveling marvel-ing at the brilliant golden curls that adorned his head. She had taught him to trim his beard and to care for his person, smiling tho while lo find how much more inherent dninlinesi; and nicety and refinement are than, as some would have us believe, only external ex-ternal acquirements of civilization. Ho had had lessons in manners and etiquette, eti-quette, this half-naked savage. Indeed tho timo had been all too short for what sho would have him learn. But sho had gone about it systematically, persist en y. and given days and days without broak to her task, and tho rc- Killlu trnm ii.n,..ln.l'..l When they had parted she had suggested sug-gested to him and it was significant that now it was a suggest ion; vcslcr-day vcslcr-day it would have been a command that he should tako time lo ancend the lull and rearrange the great heap of wood which thov had builded. During all Ihe time that had elapsed since she had been there no sail had whitened the horizon, no curl of smoke, had betokened be-tokened tho distant passing of .1 steamer. steam-er. But no spol of tho globo could forever for-ever remain unvisitcd, she thought, and some day that pile of wood might make a beacon light to call civilization to them. He was glad to comply wilh her suggestion, jr,i for occupation, and so he promised and went his way. I When he had disappeared. sho turned Ihe edge of the cliff in the secluded se-cluded amphitheater where her cave fronted the ocean. She threw aside her tunic of woven grass and plunged into the cool, delightful pool, which forlu- ll..-. l. 1 I . ,. n.iii-i.v mi- mi 1 inu,iur nan nor ms-turbed. ms-turbed. Her clothes, the scant- garments gar-ments she had improvised from her'nn-derclothing, her'nn-derclothing, liad long since worn out. It hnd not been difficult, however, to plait of certain pliable, rushes which grew in plentv upon the island, the loose and shapeless garments thev both wore. She had used strips lorn from what had remained of her clothing for binding and edging and practico had made her dexterous and skillful in the rude weaving. She still preserved, however, how-ever, the blouse and skirt of serge, her only, pair of stockings and the ennvns bpating shoes. Sometimes in idle moments mo-ments she tried I hose shoes on. Fortunately Fortu-nately for her, they wore I0050 nnd easy. Going barefoot tlireo years had enlarged en-larged her small and Blonder feet to something- like, those human and proper proportions which from the slandpoint of nature at least, hnd grcatlv enhanced their beauty. She kept these clothes, she hardly knew why, perhaps for one reason since she had been able to weave tho wattled garment so well suited to her needs she hnd had no use. for them; perhaps nguiimt the day of the arrival of other civilization than her own. . Greatly refreshed bv her bath and it shows her absolute confidence in him and his worth that interruption nover occurred to her, it had never eome and therefore it never would she resumed her tunic, and walked toward the cave. Tho lide was very low. The sands terminated on one side in a rocky ledgo where a long arm of the lagoon ran lo Iho foot of the cliff. Tho cliff had been tremendously tremen-dously shaken apparently and sho noticed no-ticed just above tho water line a narrow nar-row opening Sho had thought from llAlQrtC .lllt-im 1 I ..... r- 4 1. I ..v...--,.. iiiuiii oiuiiiio in. 11. iiii;iu iao a, hidden cave in the cliff with an opening open-ing under water. She had imngined that possibly she could enter it by diving, but she had never cared fo make the alloihpt, although by 1 his time she had become a? much at home in the wafer or under it as if sho had been a. native of tho South Seas. Sometimes Some-times in the morning they swam in Iho lagoon together, oftentimes sho swam alone. It wns a great pleasure to her and a necessity as well in that low latitude. furiosity induced her to inspect more closel' this opening near the water's edge. Again throwing aside her garment, she plunged into tho arm ol tho sea ami swam boldly toward the cliff. There was just room enough botweon tho water's level and flic top of Iho opening for her head. She found herself in a straight passageway perhaps eight or ten feet long and as many wide. Cautiously she swnm ( Ii rniifh il. :mrl diienv-ft-rl lim-cnir an immense cave. Light filtered through the opening and one or two fissures had been opened hero nnd fhere by the earthquake or by some convulsion of nature before, through tho rocky wall, invisible on tho face of tho cliff from the outside, but quite distinct within. There was even a stretch of saudy beach on ono side. She swam to ii., clamberod upon it and sat down to rest. Here was an excellent haven of refuge, ref-uge, instinctively occurred to her, although al-though a refuge from what sho scarcely scarce-ly know. Except at Iho very lowest of the ebb tho entrance would be covered, cov-ered, and even then it would tako a curious and familiar eyo to discover the entrance or lo imagine it anything more than a deep rift in the face of tho sea wall. At any other hour the entrance would bo invisible, and even al low tide if the wind blew from tho sea, which it generally did, the breaking break-ing waves would cover the entrance completely. Off to one side, quite nc-cessiblo nc-cessiblo from the sand strip, which rose sufficiently high to afford full shelter above the high water mark, a little stream plunged down the cliff. She tasted the water and found it fresh and sweet. All that one would lack would be food and the hiding place could bo occupied indefinitely. She stayed iu the cave some little time, and when she finally decided to return lo the outer world she discovered discov-ered that the tide had turned and that the entrance was now completely .paiBH der water. This ga.vo her no disnuiotjHH Light still came from tho outsido WHgl mark the way. She hnd acquired thejHS faculty of swimming beneath tho sufH face with her eyes open and 'tho dis-B tan co wan short. Sho dove into it. cnn-jR fidenlly and presently emerged iu th'UH lagoon outside, It was the one plnc.oVH on Ihe island, ho fnr as he had dis-H covered she had always thought thcreH was a cave there but, had never becnHI able lo verify her knowledge whieh'HK provided her with a shelter absolutolyiH secure and inaccessible, as she bc-JflP lieved. She had no less trust in her'Kjfl man than she had before, but thojflff knowledge gave her a slrange comfort JBP When she met him that night sho didlBB not impart her .secret lo hnn. Wlmt-&K ever happened now. she had a place oCflR refuge, 5I10 realized, and she was glad.RS , ;" gorgeous golden night in (.hiifBg ."Minth Pacific Thny wandered nndSft played and loved together under tholES' tropic moon and stars in the gem liktf Blf island. Yet when they parted each was.'tlSlF unaccountably fad; sho because of'flBi.' what she mitpl tell him on the morrow,:iB and he because he must hear, mP There were more things to happeniJPl 011 that morrow than either she in herlfiff philosophy or ho in his inexperience, " could have dreamed of when (hen thcv$B$ kissed again at parting and together Et' said good night. jfwr (Continued next Sunday.) 'Bil |
