THE TWIN SLABS
Within half an hour the gig had reached the mouth of the cave. As thecoxswain had predicted, the seas ran into the lofty entrance. Elsewherethe surf fell whitely, but through the arch the waves rolled unbroken intoa heavy stillness. Only as the boat hovered for a moment at the face ofthe cliff could the exploring party hear, far within, the hollow boom thattold of breakers on a distant, subterranean beach.
"Run her in easy," came the captain's order. "Keep a sharp lookout forhidden rocks."
To the whispering plash of the oars they moved from sunlight intotwilight, from twilight into darkness. Of a sudden the oars jerkedconvulsively. A great roar had broken upon the ears of the sailors; theinvisible roof above them, the water heaving beneath them, the walls thathemmed them in, called, with a multiplication of resonance, upon the nameof Darrow. The boat quivered with the start of its occupants. Then one ortwo laughed weakly as they realised that what they had heard was nosupernatural voice. It was the captain hailing for the marooned man.
No vocal answer came. But an indeterminable space away they could hear alow splash followed by a second and a third. Something coughed weakly infront and to the right. Trendon's hand went to his revolver. The men sat,stiffened. One of them swore, in a whisper, and the oath came back uponthem, echoing the name of the Saviour in hideous sibilance.
"Silence in the boat," said the captain, in such buoyant tones that themen braced themselves against the expected peril.
"Light the lantern and pass it to me," came the order. "Keep below thegunwale, men."
As the match spluttered: "Do you see something, a few rods to port?" askedthe captain in Trendon's ear.
"Pair of green lights," said Trendon. "Eyes. Seals!"
"Seals! Seals! Seals!" shouted the walls, for the surgeon had suddenlyreleased his voice. And as the mockery boomed, the green lightsdisappeared and there was more splashing from the distance. The crew satup again.
The lantern spread its radiance. It was reflected from battlements offairy beauty. Everywhere the walls were set, as with gems, in broad walesof varied and vivid hues. Dazzled at first, the explorers soon were ableto discern the general nature of the subterranean world which they hadentered. In most places the walls rose sheer and unscaleable from thewater. In others, turretted rocks thrust their gleaming crags upward. Overto starboard a little beach shone with Quaker greyness in that spectaculardisplay. The end of the cavern was still beyond the area of light.
"Must have been a swimmer to get in here," commented Trendon, glancing atthe walls.
"Unless he had a boat," said the captain. "But why doesn't he answer?"
"Better try again. No telling how much more there is of this."
The surgeon raised his ponderous bellow, and the cave roared again withthe summons. Silence, formidable and unbroken, succeeded.
"House to house search is now in order," he said. "Must be in heresomewhere--unless the seals got him."
Cautiously the boat moved forward. Once she grazed on a half submergedrock. Again a tiny islet loomed before her. Scattered bones glistened onthe rocky shore, but they were not human relics. Occasional beachestempted a landing, but all of these led back to precipitous cliffs exceptone, from the side of which opened two small caves. Into the first thelantern cast its glare, revealing emptiness, for the arch was wide and thecave shallow. The entrance to the other was so narrow as to send a visitorto his knees. But inside it seemed to open out. Moreover, there were fishbones at the entrance. The captain, the surgeon, and Congdon, thecoxswain, landed. Captain Parkinson reached the spot first. Stooping, hethrust his head in at the orifice. A sharp exclamation broke from him. Herose to his feet, turning a contorted face to the others.
"Poisonous," he cried.
"More volcano," said Trendon. He bent to the black hole and sniffedcautiously.
"I'll go in, sir," volunteered Congdon. "I've had fire-practice."
"My business," said Trendon, briefly. "Decomposition; unpleasant, but notdangerous."
Pushing the lantern before him, he wormed his way until the light wasblotted out. Presently it shone forth from the funnel, showing that theexplorer had reached the inner open space. Captain Parkinson dropped downand peered in, but the evil odour was too much for him. He retired,gagging and coughing. Trendon was gone for what seemed an interminabletime. His superior officer fidgeted uneasily. At last he could stand it nolonger.
"Dr. Trendon, are you all right?" he shouted.
"Yup," answered a choked voice. "Cubbing oud dow."
Again the funnel was darkened. A pair of feet appeared; then the surgeon'schunky trunk, his head, and the lantern. Once, twice, and thrice heinhaled deeply.
"Phew!" he gasped. "Thought I was tough, but--Phee-ee-ee-ew!"
"Did you find--"
"No, sir. Not Darrow. Only a poor devil of a seal that crawled in there todie."
The exploration continued. Half a mile, as they estimated, from the open,they reached a narrow beach, shut off by a perpendicular wall of rock.Skirting this, they returned on the other side, minutely examining everypossible crevice. When they again reached the light of day, they hadarrived at the certain conclusion that no living man was within thosewalls.
"Would a corpse rise to the surface soon in waters such as these, Dr.Trendon?" asked the captain.
"Might, sir. Might not. No telling that."
The captain ruminated. Then he beat his fist on his knee.
"The other cave!"
"What other cave?" asked the surgeon.
"The cave where they killed the seals."
"Surely!" exclaimed Trendon. "Wait, though. Didn't Slade say it wasbetween here and the point?"
"Yes. Beyond the small beach."
"No cave there," declared the surgeon positively.
"There must be. Congdon, did you see an opening anywhere in the cliff aswe came along?"
"No, sir. This is the only one, sir."
"We'll see about that," said the captain, grimly. "Head her about. Skirtthe shore as near the breakers as you safely can."
The gig retraced its journey.
"There's the beach, as Slade described it," said Captain Parkinson, asthey came abreast of the little reach of sand.
"And what are those two bird-roosts on it?" asked Trendon. "See 'em? Deadagainst that patch of shore-weed."
"Bits of wreckage fixed in the sand."
"Don't think so, sir. Too well matched."
"We have no time to settle the matter now," said the captain impatiently."We must find that cave, if it is to be found."
Hovering just outside the final drag of the surf, under the skilfulguidance of Congdon, the boat moved slowly along the line of beach to theline of cliff. All was open as the day. The blazing sun picked out eachdetail of jut and hollow. Evidently the poisonous vapours from the volcanohad not spread their blight here, for the face of the precipice was brightwith many flowers. So close in moved the boat that its occupants couldeven see butterflies fluttering above the bloom. But that which theireager eyes sought was still denied them. No opening offered in thatsmiling cliff-side. Not by so much as would admit a terrier did the massof rock and rubble gape.
"And Slade described the cave as big enough to ram the Wolverine into,"muttered Trendon.
Up to the point of the headland, and back, passed the boat. Blankdisappointment was the result.
"What is your opinion now, Dr. Trendon?" asked the captain of the olderman.
"Don't know, sir," answered the surgeon hopelessly. "Looks as if the cavemight have been a hallucination."
"I shall have something to say to Mr. Slade on our return," said thecaptain crisply. "If the cave was an hallucination, as you suggest, theseal-murder was fiction."
"Looks so," agreed the other.
"And the murder of the captain. How about that?"
"And the mutiny of the men," added the surgeon.
"And the killing of the doctor. Your patient seems to be a romanticgenius."
"And the escape of Darrow. Hold hard," quoth Trendon. "Darrow's noromance. Nothing fictional about the flag and ledger."
"True enough," said the captain, and fell to consideration.
"Anyway," said Trendon vigorously, "I'd like to have a look at those bird-roosts. Mighty like signposts, to my mind."
"Very well," said the captain. "It'll cost us only a wetting. Run her in,Congdon."
With all the coxswain's skill, and the oarsmen's technique, the passage ofthe surf was a lively one, and little driblets of water marked the trailof the officers as they shuffled up the beach.
The two slabs stood less than fifty yards beyond high water tide. Nearingthem, the visitors saw that each marked a mound, but not until they wereclose up could they read the neat carving on the first. It ran as follows:
Here lies SOLOMON ANDERSON alias HANDY SOLOMON who murdered his employer, his captain, and his shipmates, and was found, dead of his deserts, on these shores, June 5, 1904.
This slab is erected as a memento of admiring esteem by the last of his victims.
"And you can kiss the Book on that."
"Percy Darrow fecit," said the surgeon. "You can kiss the Book onthat, too."
"Then Slade was telling the truth!"
"Apparently. Seems good corroboration."
The captain turned to the other mound. Its slab was carved by the samehand.
Sacred to the memory of an Ensign of the U. S. Navy, whose body, washed upon this coast, is here buried with all reverence, by strange hands; whose soul may God rest. "The seas shall sing his requiem." June the Sixth, MXMIV.
"Billy Edwards," said the captain, very low.
He uncovered. The surgeon did likewise. So, for a space, they stood withbared heads between the twin graves.