The White Waterfall

its mad pranks of the preceding three days, was a shimmering stretch of placid blue water, and the shattered

ng along under as much canvas as we could spread. The storm being directly from the southwes

t in the mornin

rose Islan

f Tears," he an

of Tears?"

t was kept a little secret by the orders of my employers, but we are so close to

he Professor will condu

rofessor Herndon," he replied. "I know

e I had heard of the Isle of Tears. Strange stories floated across the Pacific concerning the little islet east of the Suvaroff Group, and out of the reticule of the mind I attempted to drag these stories and piece them together during the minutes that passed after Newmarch had given me the information. They were not pleasant stories as I remembered them at that moment. The island had a "past." The mention of it brought hazy recollections to natives-reco

to remember all the story that the sailor had told, a

has just told

out in the cabin," he cried. "They must have

to say that he was ignorant of the fact that it was the Isl

im some tall stories about the camp, judging by the way the old man's eyes shine when he mentions it. Yesterday he read me Leith's description of stone hamungas and things that are supposed to have been built before Julius Caesar invaded Britain, and he's pop-eyed with joy as

y in the morning," I said, "and then we'l

he girls are aboard. I felt sorry when I saw him climb to his feet yesterday. If you hit him again hit him with

s Barbara Herndon came on deck at that moment h

, the clutch of fear was upon me. On The Waif I felt that I had some little power, but on land, more especially on the lonely island toward which we were heading, that feeling of protectorship which the sailorman has for his passe

ry as I would to fight off the impressions that Holman's tongue had fixed within my mind, I was unable to alter the opinion I had formed of the man the moment I met him. There was an atmosphere about the yacht that was unexplainable. Try as I could to find legitimate grounds for fears I could not. The Professor was a scientist who wished to study certain things the whereabouts of which were known to Leith. Apparently the Professor was satisfied with the bargain he had made. Leith, as the two girls had informed Holman, had called upon their father at the Langham Hotel in Wynyard Square, Sydney, and, after fascinating the old

ad looked at the matter from every side, that I would ask her point blank if I could be of any assistance. Leith

d his eldest daughter were leaning over the rail, but the moment I joined them the old man informed us that he had to see to his scien

Somehow I felt that her intuition had already told her that I wished to speak about th

the yacht, I suppo

rch hasn't spoken to me about the matter.

is only a few miles to the spot where Mr. Leith says that father can see all the sights and obtain all the specime

I stammered. "You do not d

e in the face, the big amber eye

d quietly. "It is foo

ht. A native chanted a Samoan love song in the fo'c'stle, but that and the soft whine of the pulleys were the only sounds that disturbed the night. We se

thing to help you, please tell me. I might help

e yacht you can do n

o?" I cried. "You woul

said softly. "Mr. Holman is com

I will go with the

arch orders you to s

oing where Leith is going, that is as long

ckly. The moon made every inch of the yacht as bright as day, yet I was not quick enough in my

o us," I explained as I r

us," she murmured. "I am dragging you into ou

arth where you can get no one else to help you bear them. You see I can claim a right in this spot. T

the piled masses of hair and giving one the impression that her head was

as you say, the jumping off place of the world down here at the very outposts of civilization,

ked the captain's permission to go along with the expedition. He plu

do you want to g

fun of th

he muttered. "

rdinary. The yacht seemed to be veneered with a soft luminous paint tha

gth and sobbing mightily. He walloped his head against the planks when

he matter

ni he gone. Toni, my brother, all

e helped," I said. "He sho

eners he dried his eyes and crawled upon his knees to the spot where I was standing. "He not washed ove

?" I

see him do it. Very bad thing. Toni, m

n late in the night; I told the youngster w

ed him?"

d Leith out of the scuppe

ngth of things on board this boat. Why, that big nigge

say

his afternoon," answered Holman. "I was t

he captain had shielded him the night he jerked the knife at me when I droppe

empting to convince th

them. He's a maniac, that's what he is. He doesn't know what those two women are suffering through his darned foolishness, and if he did know it wouldn't

appens," I said. "If Leith refuses t

gripped it fiercely, th

those few short conversations that had chased the loneliness and morbid thoughts from my mind. Her very presence stimulated me in a manner that I could not express, and as I stared out across the moon-whitened ocean I started nervously at the thought which had sprung suddenly into my brain. It was an insane thought, and I tried to laugh it away. Edith He

ized, and the quivering yacht went bounding on as I a