pillars and strained my earsfor the slightest sound that would give a hint that the person on theroof of the mysterious table was preparing to descend.
A low whistle from Holman pierced the silence, and I answered.
"Come up here," he cried softly. "He's given us the slip."
I climbed the tree to the branch where the young fellow sat awaiting me.From his position he had a clear view of the top of the big table, andas I reached him I looked through an opening in the thick leaves. Thetop of the stone was empty!
"Do you think he slipped down while I was climbing the tree?" askedHolman.
"I'm certain he didn't," I answered. "It would have been impossible."
We stared at the stone in silence. The top was covered with short mossthat had gathered there through the centuries, and instead of being flatas we had surmised there was a noticeable slope, so that the part thatwas directly behind the camp was fully two feet higher than the rear.This was the only peculiarity in its construction, and although we satin silence, staring at its moss-covered surface, we were utterly unableto put forward the slightest supposition that would account for thedisappearance of the watcher. The incident was an extraordinary one. Theman could not have dropped from the table before we reached thesupporting piers, and we were equally certain that he had not slippeddown the pillars while we stood guard beneath.
"I'm going up there," muttered Holman. "We can get the rope from thecamp. Come along! I'd like a look at that place at closer quarters."
We climbed hastily down the tree, crept cautiously back to the camp andtook the stout rope which we had used in reaching the Ledge of Death.The camp was quiet. The curious nasal sounds produced by the natives,together with the rather high-toned snore of Professor Herndon, were theonly sounds that came through the still night.
Holman flung one end of the rope over a projecting corner of the flatslab, twisted one half of it round and round the pillar to makeoccasional grips which we could use in the ascent, then clutching thehanging end he worked himself slowly up. I followed him, only to findthe upper surface of the table as bare of any signs of life as we hadpreviously noted from our perch in the chestnut tree. The tough mossupon the stone was fully four inches long, and covered the slabcompletely. In vain we stamped around looking for a possible hidingplace. The massive block didn't offer a cranny that a lizard could hidein, and with an unsolved mystery upon our hands we descended to theground.
"What do you make of it?" asked Holman.
I shook my head. The enigma baffled me. Our suspicions regarding thehonesty of Leith made the strange appearance of the figure on the tableof stone more perplexing than it would have been under ordinarycircumstances. Leith had asserted that the island was uninhabited, yetwe were not inclined to rush to him with the news of the discovery. Wefelt that it was another of the small discoveries that made us pile upsuspicions against the big bully at the head of the party. We had noproof of the midnight visitor, and the story of his sudden disappearancewhile we watched below would only provoke an unbelieving grin fromLeith, and an idiotic laugh from the foolish old Professor.
"Better keep it to ourselves," growled Holman.
"For the present at any rate," I remarked. "If Leith knows that thereare others upon the island, and if those others are friendly to him, itwill only make him more careful of his actions if we tell what we haveseen to-night."
Arriving at this decision we came back to the camp and crawled quietlyunder the rug, where we watched the mystical monument till the flamingtropical dawn lit up the valley.
CHAPTER XI
KAIPI PERFORMS A SERVICE
The Professor used a roll of films in snap-shotting the stone tablewhile we were breaking camp. He photographed it from every point of thecompass, and made a magnificent effort to dislocate his collarbone byfalling from a tree up which Holman had urged him to climb so that hecould get a view of the upper surface. In his mad pursuit of antiquitiesthe Professor forgot that tree climbing was an accomplishment that hehad never mastered properly in the days of his youth, and our departurewas somewhat delayed by the shock which he received from the fall. Thecamera fell upon the pile of leaves which Leith had used as a mattress,and it escaped with abrasions that were microscopical compared to thosereceived by the Professor, who glared angrily at Holman as Edith Herndonattended to his injuries.
"I thought you could climb," murmured the youngster. "'Pon my word Idid. I wouldn't have urged you to get up there if I didn't think youcould hang to a limb."
"I am acquainted with a number of persons who would look well hanging toa limb," retorted the Professor, as he rubbed his ankles.
"Same here," said Holman, unperturbed by the sharp retort. "When I thinkover their actions, Professor, I wonder how they escaped being suspendedfrom such places. Especially when you consider that trees areplentiful."
We made slow progress during the morning. The Professor's accidentrobbed him of a lot of the nimbleness which had been noticeable duringthe two preceding days, and the other members of the expedition had tomove at a pace that would suit his stiff limbs.
"I'm unlucky," whispered Holman, as he sat beside me at the midday halt."I tried to show him how he could get a good snapshot, and now he's aspoisonous as a red-necked cobra just because he was silly enough to skinhis shins."
We crossed the lowest part of the valley during the early afternoon,and commenced to ascend gradually toward the black walls on the farside. Leith had remarked at the lunch table that we would probably reachour destination on the following morning, and the information brought athrill of expectation in spite of the suspicions we entertained. Theundefined dread had upset our nerves, and I think the two girls, as wellas Holman and myself, were looking forward anxiously to the arrival atthe objective point so that our suspicions could be either verified orabandoned. Leith was more affable than usual on that afternoon, and heheld forth in such a gloomy fashion upon the wonders that were withinreach that the Professor almost forgot his injuries and his animusagainst Holman as he listened to the description.
"It is my opinion that the island was the burial ground of the chiefs ofthe nearby groups," remarked Leith. "There is every indication that thepeople who were buried here were not ordinary people, as you will seewhen you view the wonders that will meet your eyes to-morrow."
The Professor beamed through his thick glasses, and, forgetting hisinjuries, gave a little jump in negotiating an obstruction, but the lookof agony which passed across his face proved that his injured limbobjected to useless gambols.
"We may be wrong after all," muttered Holman, after he had listened toLeith's description of the wonders of the tombs of the long-dead membersof Polynesian royal families. "I hate to be suspicious of a fellow, andI'll be glad if he proves genuine in the end."
"So will I," I remarked. "If he measures up all right I'll be halfinclined to apologize before I go back to take a gruelling from CaptainNewmarch."
It was Kaipi who stampeded the small ray of charity that had pierced thecluster of suspicions we had collected. The little Fijian performed thetrick about seven o'clock in the evening, and it was done in a mosteffective manner. When we had made camp, Leith had sent Soma on aheadwith the ostensible purpose of locating the easiest route to the base ofthe cliffs, and an hour afterward Kaipi managed to attract my attention,and he indicated by signs that he had information to impart. I seized achance to help him with the small tent which sheltered the two sisters,and as we tugged at the knots he slipped a small piece of paper into myhand.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Soma drop it," he explained nervously. "I follow him just little waythink get good chance kill him, but no chance come. He drop little pieceof paper from his belt; me pick 'em up. I no know what it say; youread."
I crammed the note into my pocket as Leith approached, but at the firstopportunity I dived into a thicket of leaves and opened it with nervousfingers. It was brief, exceedingly brief, but no number of words couldhave produced the same cold chill of dread which took posses
sion of meas I glanced over the scrawl upon the paper. The note read:
"Five babies for kindergarten. Arrange everything. Meet at the LongGallery."
I stumbled out on the clearing in a half stupor. The arrival of thelong-expected confirmation of our suspicions had the same effect upon meas a blow from a sandbag. Leith was apparently everything that Holmanand the girls had suspected him of being, and as I looked around at thenearly impenetrable jungle growth upon which the night had come downwith that appalling swiftness of the tropics, I understood the helplesscondition in which we were placed. Soma and the other five carriers wereevidently tools of the big bully; the person or persons to whom the notewas addressed would also stand behind him in a fray, and against