The Rope of Gold

arson had sought for some trace of Johnny Thompson. At the time Pompee discovere

ouching low, like some great, slim cat he prowled along bus

the golden spot of an electric torch

pering down his path. Here he narrowly avoided stepping on a great lizard asleep in the trail, and th

lt to bend down and examine the loose, dry soil. Dropping on hands and knees he followed the other trail for a distance

ttle way was a small damp spot, where in the rainy season a sp

d. "Didn't think

e pondering. Then at last he tu

he muttered. "He might have discovered a clue. Some nat

a notion that all people save thos

down a bombshell by say

a bunch of natives. We'll follow in the

eing timid, and having always been somewhat ill at ease

Then with a mumbled excuse, he lo

fellow,"

ompee, with a shake of his wise old h

t it very improbable that Curlie, or, for that matter, any white boy, would turn into

ch boy sat wondering in a troubled sort of way what had become of his good friend Johnny Thompson. Beyo

wn accord," he assured himself. "

broken short off by t

eur. Only l

what he saw made h

* *

ptors in a secluded tropical glade. The day was hot. He had traveled far. His day dreams may have blended with real dreams. Be that as it may, he was suddenly star

d to see a native frantically struggling up the

has gone mad,"

inct of preservation harking back perhaps to those remote days when his ancestors dressed i

caught sight of a pair of brow

ok in the opposite direction.

ix inches long, jaws that chopped at every bouncing step, a wild boar of the wilderne

th such automatic precision as only comes from endless

a dull spat. The mad beast turning half about uttered a low grunting roar. The second

been thrust upon him so suddenly that he had been able to form

himself at last, th

. More than one pair of eyes had witnessed the deadly executio

together would dare oppose me so long as

tree nearest him, a look of abject te

ce which wild pork held in the esteem of the natives, he drew his

his shoulder, gripped his bow and turning walked slow

* *

ook!" he stared wildly about him for a moment. Then, following the direction of the aged native's uplifted and poi

. The distant tum-tum-tum of a nati

in a surprised whispe

of the past. It is he, the Emperor, Christophe. I have heard. I did not believe. Now I see. I believe. It is he who beats

ad to foot, whether from exciteme

of two red balls of light. These appeared to be s

said in a tense wh

at man of Haiti. He has come back to walk the walls of his great work, his C

rits. Yet the night, the silent jungle, the deep shadows of the fortress so grim and ol

or was it a man?) moved forward at the top of the Citadel. The moon had climbed to a point where it appeared as a yellow ball lyi

s teeth chatter. He was swaying back and forth with a rhythmic m

as the giant figure passed on, and a shorter one

f the magic telescope.

ure followed the giant a

air. Then a cloud, drifting in from the sea, hid th

beats ceased. Silence and darkne

. His tone was deep. "He

f what?"

am but a poor old man.

here in silence. Then Do

me of the Ma

e. When the great Christophe came to be our ruler, men were in the habit of sleeping much in t

d his people and dreamed great dreams for them. It was only when the love of power a

s decree might surely be put into execution he bought himself a great, brass telescope. This, a brown boy from the hills always carried

had magic within it; that with it the great man could see hundreds of miles. I do not know. Certain it was that many times a man sleepi

" said Dorn eagerly

y? That was all very long ago. W

ere?" Do

sieur. It is

ome at once. Half an hour later Curlie Carson came

a low whisper, "did you

hat was very stran

ing you hear and only half that you see.' That which you have

meaning of these strange words. Yet the