The White Waterfall

when we camped near the table of stone. The polished slide and the ledge along which we had passed to the cavern stirred his ima

d with countless suppositions regarding its uses and its probable date of construction. Soma gathered in some easily earned shillings by raking his mind in search of traditions and retailing them to the scientist by the

his glasses upon the end of his silk coat. "The chance of enlightening the wor

ink the old world cares three cents about anything

issfully ignorant of the look which the angry arch?ologist favoured him with. The youngster was watching the fireligh

only one who showed conversational powers of any note. With the notebook already partly filled he felt certain of a niche in the Pantheon of Fame, and he could not resist a desire to prattle childishly about the sensation which his disc

at last became tired of firing questions at the wonderfully well-informed Soma, and the Kanaka, finding that the market for legends wa

mewhere in the coral rocks one of those red-striped lizards that are sometimes found in the rocky parts of the Carolines sent his unearthly shik-shuck into the stillness, where one fancied it a little projectile of sound crushed in its efforts to pierce the tremendous silence of the night. One's imagination pictured the places where there were lights and music, the tinkle of glasses, and the laughter of men and w

the fire for some twenty minutes, turned

asked the

n that," I

s tur

of leaves which the carriers had scraped together, pulled a rug

inst my short rib, and I sat upright. The moonlight made it possible to see

y bed, and I put a question breat

t's

s place was uninhabited

answere

that stone table," whispered Holman. "He put his head up, looked

ren't d

aven't closed my ey

m the Professor snored dismally, probably dreaming dreams of the greatness that would be thrust upon him in the near future. No sounds came from th

he niggers," whispere

eye upon the sleeping Leith that we crept quietly over the coral rocks toward the tremendous stone piers of the structure that rose like a monster gateway against the gray sky. The atmosphere of that place was indescribable. We seemed to be in the midst of relics that were older than the pyramids. The temple of Luxor may seem impressive by moonlight, but the knowledge we possess of Thebes in its glory somewhat modifies the awe which we would feel if we knew nothing of the people who had raised the great monuments in the city of Amen-Ra. And Holman and I knew nothing of the dead race that erected the mighty stone tab

front of the stone table, but just when I took a step into the m

led. "Look! the

d shoulders rose suddenly above the black line of the immense flat stone, remained there for the spac

whispered Holman. "I'll watc

olumns. It was impossible for any one to descend unless we saw him, and with nerves on a tensi

e was no sign of the spy. Around us the massive structure cast a pa

ding. "I'm going to climb that chestnut tree and see if the beggar is

d and round the square pillars and strained my ears for the slightest sound that would

olman pierced the si

cried softly. "He's

s position he had a clear view of the top of the big table, and as I reached him

down while I was climbing

" I answered. "It would

ully two feet higher than the rear. This was the only peculiarity in its construction, and although we sat in silence, staring at its moss-covered surface, we were utterly unable to put forward the slightest supposition that would account for the di

n get the rope from the camp. Come along! I'd

in reaching the Ledge of Death. The camp was quiet. The curious nasal sounds produced by the natives, together

elf slowly up. I followed him, only to find the upper surface of the table as bare of any signs of life as we had previously noted from our perch in the chestnut tree. The tough moss upon the stone was fully four inches long, and

make of it?"

d asserted that the island was uninhabited, yet we were not inclined to rush to him with the news of the discovery. We felt that it was another of the small discoveries that made us pile up suspicions against the big bully at th

to ourselves,"

hers upon the island, and if those others are friendly to him, it will only

wled quietly under the rug, where we watched the mystical