Show N 0 0 00 RM abad V SYNOPSIS the atory tor opens wit with the shipwreck ol of tile st steamer earner on which miss genevieve Le leslie tille an american Ameil can heiress lord ope lin an englishman as a boin boin blake a brusque be american AmerL can were passengers enKers th three W were ere tossed upon nn an uninhabited hati irete 1 island and a nd were the only ones not drowned blake shunned sh on the boat because of his roughness became a hero t 0 B preserver vp server or of the helpless pair th the 1 rnell geishman n gl sliman ishman was suing for cor tite the itan hand I 1 ot of miss leslie winthrope wasted ills hla last match on a cigarette cl Karette for which lie ho was scored b by y illace all AH three constructed hats to shield themselves from the sun bun they then feasted on coco anuta t the he only procurable ro curable food miss leslie showed I 1 low a liking king r for blake but detested hla his roughness led by blake they established a home in some cliffs blake found a fresh water spring miss bliss isha faced tin an unpleasant situation blake recovered lila his surveyors magnifying glass thus insuring ire fire ile ha started a jungle fire kila n a large leopard and aing sev several r 1 auba in the loo leopards cavern they built ft a small home they hey rained gained the cliffs by burning the bottom ot of A tree until it fell against tho tha heights the trio secured eggs from the cliffs miss lesliea Le white skirt was decided upon as a signal Elj nal anas bealle I ealie made a dress prom from the leopard skin overhearing a e conversation 0 in between blake and W winthrope 1 n th rope miss bliss leslie became frightened became ill with fever blake was poisoned it by a tish and almost died jackals jackala attacked attacked the camp that night but were driven off by bs genevieve Gen eleve make blake constructed rn nn ant inal trap it killed hilled a hyena on a tour the trio discovered honey and oysters miss bliss lenlie was attacked by a poisonous snake nake blake killed it anti and saved its poison on to kill game fame for F or bitte second time winthrope was attacked by rev fever e r lie he and blake disagreed the latter made a strong door for the private compartment of miss bliss bealles Le alles cave home CHAPTER continued mir mr mr blake pray do not get excited I 1 1 mean pleaze please excuse me im youre coming down sick he be said no nol no I 1 have no fever ever then its the sun yet you ought to keep up there where the air to la freshest ill make mahe you a shade she protested and withdrew somewhat hurriedly to her tree in tho the morning blake was waa gone again but instead ot of a note beside the fire stood the smaller antelope skin converted into a great bamboo ribbed sunshade she spent the day as usual on the headland there was no wind and the sun was scorching hot but with her big sunshade to protect her from the direct rays the heat beat was at least endurable she even found energy to work at a basket which she was attempting to weave out ol of long lone coarse grass yet there were frequent intervals Inter vala when her hands sank idle in her hep lap up and she sha gazed away over the shimmering glassy expanse 0 of the ocean in the afternoon the heat became oppressively sultry and it a long slow swell began to roll shoreward from beyond the distant horizon showing no trace of white along its oily crests until they broke over the coral reefs there was not a breath of air stirring and for a time the reefs so checked the rollers that they lacked force to drive on in and break upon the beach steadily however the tha swell grow grew heavier though not so much as a cats paw ruffled the dead surfaces sui facea of the watery hillocks by sunset wey they were rolling high over both lines of reefs and racing shoreward to break upon the beach and the cliff toot foot in furious curf the still air reverie reverberated rated with the booming of the breakers yet the girl inland bred and unversed in weather lore sat heedless and india indifferent her eyes fixed upon the horizon la in a vacant stare iler her reverie was at last disturbed by the peculiar behavior of the seafowl sea those lit in the air circled around in a manner strange I 1 to tier her while their nates mates on oil the ledges waddled restlessly about over and between their nests there wits was a a shriller sh riller note than usual in their discordant clamor yet oven even when she gave heet heed to the birds the girl tailed failed to realize their alarm or to sense the impending danger it was only that a feeling of disquiet and broken tile the spell pell of tier her rey reverle reverie it did not obtrude upon the field of her conscious thong thou glit she sighed and rose losa to return to the cleft idly wondering that hat the air should seem more sultry than at midday mid day the peculiar appearance of the die sun suit and the western sky meant nothing more to ier er than an odd effect of color and light site smilingly compared it with an attempt at n u sunset painted by an artist friend of the impressionist chool neither winthrope nor blake was in sight when she reached the baobab and neither appeared though she de ayed supper until dark it was quite ios possible lossl sible lile that they had eaten before her eburn and had bad gone off again the englishman to doze and blake on an hunt at last tired of waiting she ghe covered the fire and retired into her greave tr tree eave cave the air in the cleft was still more 41 fling than on the headland she paused with her hand upraised to lose ilose the swinging door she had propped al it open when she eho came out in he morning after a moments hesitation she went orr on acids the hollow leaving the door wide ulde open 1 I will rest a little and close it later she sighed she was feeling weary and depressed an hour passed an ominous still less lay upon the cleft even the cicadas had hushed their shrill note the sound bound was waa a muffled rauf fied re in echo ot of the surf 1 go V rag wa 41 4 I 1 I 1 of A V 4 U 4 4 44 vi OL of 0 va tp ar 1 I I 1 know all upon the seashore beneath the giant spread ot of the baobab all was blackness something moved in a bush a little wity way down the cleft A crouching figure appeared dimly outlined in the starlight the figure crept stealthily across into the denser night ot of the baobab the darkness closed about it ilka a shroud A blinding flash of light pierced the blackness the figure halted and crouched lower though the flash had gone again in a fraction ot of a second A dull rumbling mingled with the ceaseless boom of the surf A second flash lighted the cleft with its dazzling coruscation this time the creeping fleure did not halt again and again the forked lightning streaked across the sky every stroke more vivid than the one before the rumble of the distant thunder deepened to a heavy rolling which dominated the dull roar of the breakers the storm was coming with the onrush on rush ot of a tornado yet the leaves hung motionless in the still air and there was no sound other than the thunder and the bleming ot of the surf burt the lightning flared one stroke upon the other with a brilliancy that lit up the caves interior brighter than at midday mid day in the white glare the girl saw winthrope crouched beneath liar her upswing door and his face was as the faco face of a beast CHAPTER the hurricane blast OIL OH a moment that seemed a moment of eternity she jay on her bed staring into the blank darkness the storm burst with a crashing uproar that brought her to her feet with a shriek ifer her giant tree creaked and strained under tho the impact of tho the terrific hurricane blasts that camo came howling through the cleft like a rout of shrieking fiends tho the peals of if thunder merged into one continuous roar beneath which the solid lodges ledges of rocks jarred and quivered the sky was a pall of black clouds meshed with a dazzling network ot or forked lightning the girl stood motionless stunned by the uproar appalled by the blinding glare ot of ohp thunderbolts thunder bolta yet even more fearful of the figure which every flash showed tier her still lurking beneath the door A gu gull it borne bough struck with ith numbing force against her upraised was aria ann hut but she eho took no heed she was unaware of the swirl of rain and sticks and leaves that was wait driving in through the open entrance on a sudden the tho d door s shook hook itco free from its props and violently around on its balance bar there was a shriek that pierced above the shrilling of tho the cyclone a single human shriek the girl sprang across the cave tho the heavy door up before her bar and down again its lower edge all but grazing hereace her face for a moment it t stopped in a vertical position n au and d hung quivering liko like a beast about t leap upon its prey too excited t comprehend the danger of the set act UK the girl aprano forward and shot one 0 the thick bars bara into its ita socket A fierce gust leaped against the out er face ot of tho the door and thrust in upon it striving Jo oberst ob burst it bodily from its ita bearings tho the top and the free side of tho the bottom bowed in but the branches were still green and tough the bamboo like whalebone and the shrunken creepers held the frame together as though the joints joint were lashed with wire ropo rope falling to smash in the elastic clastic structure or to snap the crossbar it were as if the blast lung flung itself alternately against the ibe top and bottom in a fierce attempt to again whirl the frame about the white glare streaming in through the interstices showed the girt girl her opportunity she grasped another bar and shot it into its socket at as the lower part of the door gave back with the shifting of the pressure to the top it was then a simple matter to slide th tho 0 remaining bars bara into tho the deep sunk holes within halt half a minute she hail had made tile the door fast train from the first bar to the sixth A heavy spray was beating in upon her through tho the chinks of 0 the framework she drew back and sought bought shelter in a niche at the side narrow as was the slit silt above the top of at the door it let in a torrent of water which spouted clear across and against the far wall of 0 the cave it gushed down upon her hei bed and was already flooding the cave floor she plied piled higher lil glier the cocoanuts cocoa nuts stored in her niche and perched hersell herself upon tho the heap to keep above the witter water but eean in her sheltered corner tho the eddying wind showered her with spray she waded across for her skin covered sunshade and returned to huddle beneath it in the still misery and terror of a hunted animal that has crept wounded into a hole during the first hurricane there had been companions to whom eliom she could look for help and comfort and she had been to a degree unaware ot of tho the greatness of the danger dut but la in the few short weeks since she had caught more than one of primeval nature slie sho ot of the bloody tang blind remorseless In insensate sennate destroying ever destroying true this was on solid land while before there had been the of the sea aea hut but now the girl was waa alone outside the straining walls walla of liar her refuge the hurricane yelled and shrieked and roared a lit ht adless formless mo monster uster furious to burst in upon liar her to overthrow her stanch old tree giant that in his fall Us 1118 shattered trunk might crush and mangle her or at any instant a thunderbolt thunder bolt might rend open the atit tower of living wood and hurl tier her blackened body into the pool on the cavo cave floor once she fancied that she heard blake shouting outside the door but when she screamed a shrill res pongo the e blut mocked her with shirl shrieks iks and she dared not venture ventura to free the door if it were make blake he did not shout again after a time she horar an i it think mink tj alja tile the bound had been no moro more than a freak of tho the shifting shit ting wind yet the thought of him out in the full fury or of the cyclone served to turn her thoughts tram from nor liar own danger silo sho prayed aloud for his safety beseeching god that lie ho bo be spared sho she sought bought to pray ovon even tor for winthrope nut but the vision of that beastly face roso rose up before liar her and sho could not hot then presently site she aware awara of a change la in the storm the terri terrilla fla gusts low blow b with yot yet greater violence the thunder crashed heavier ho aylor tho the lightning filled tho the air with a name of at dazzling white light but the tha rain min no ino longer gushed across on tho the spot hero liar her bed had been it was en nt at a different angle and its force was broken by the bend in tho the thick wall of tho the ent entrance ranco after a time the delugo deluge dashed aslant the entrance gushing down the door in a cataract of foam another interval and tho the driving downpour no longer struck yen oven tho the edge ot of tho the opening the wind wan waa veering rapidly as tho the cyclone center moved past on ono one side tho the area ot of the hurricane was little more than thrice that of a tornado and it was advancing along its course at groat great speed an hour moro more and tho the outermost armost rim of tho the huge whirl was wan passing eye dovec the cleft quickly the hurricane gusts fell away to a gale the gale became a breeze tho the breeze lulled and died away stifled by the torrential rain within the baobab all was again dark and silent utterly exhausted tho the girl had sunk back against the friendly wall of tho the tree and fallen asleep sho she was wakened by it a hoarse call misa jenny I 1 miss jenny answer mel are you all right sho she started up barely saying saving herself from a fall as the big biff nuts rolled beneath liar her feet tho the morning sunlight was streaming istre arning in over her door she sprang down anide deep into tho the mire of at the cavo cave floor and ran to loosen the bars As the door swung UP lip she aho darted out with a cry of delight you are sate safe batol oh I 1 was so BO afraid tor for youl you hut yo youre r d drenched drench edl you must ab build ull d a alre iry yourself at once welt walt said wake blake tie ive got tot to t tell ell 1 you something ire ile caught her outstretched hands hand and pushed thorn them down with gentle force ills face was grave almost soi so dmn think you can stand bad a sli ock 1 1 I what la is it itt you look so me st strange rangel its about win boino something it ing 1 very bad i she turned with a gasp and hid lit liar her face in her ter hands shuddering with h horror 7 and loathing oh ohl I 1 oh I 1 sho she cried 1 I know already I 1 know aill all all demanded blake staring blankly yes slit all and and lie mado made me ma think it was waa you she gasped and fell silent blakes t face ce went white while ho spoke in a clear vibrant voice tense as an overstrained over strained violin string 1 I aro am speaking about winthrope understand me winthrope ile ho has haa been badly hurt tile the door swung down and struck him bin when lie ha was waa creeping in godi roared blake 11 1 1 I 1 picked him up like a sick baby the beast stead of grinding my heel in his bacel cod ill dont dont even speak ol of lt godt I 1 when it a helpless help tesa girl when a 1 lie he choked beside himself with rage she sprang to him and caught hit bill sleeve in a convulsive grasp hush flush for marcya sake tom blake remember youre a marill man JIG ho calmed like a ferocious dog at al the tha voice of its master but it was several minutes before he could bring himself to 0 o obey her insistent urging that ho he should return to the injured man ill go lie he at last growled do it even for you but hes good as aa dead lucky for him dead 11 dying you stay away ile ha went around the baobab and a few paces along the cleft to the place |