en under ordinary
circumstances. Leith had 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 the head of the party. We had no
proof of the midnight visitor, and the story of his sudden disappearance
while we watched below would only provoke an unbelieving grin from
Leith, 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 there
are others upon the island, and if those others are friendly to him, it
will only make him more careful of his actions if we tell what we have
seen to-night."

Arriving at this decision we came back to the camp and crawled quietly
under the rug, where we watched the mystical monument till the flaming
tropical dawn lit up the valley.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XI

KAIPI PERFORMS A SERVICE

The Professor used a roll of films in snap-shotting the stone table
while we were breaking camp. He photographed it from every point of the
compass, and made a magnificent effort to dislocate his collarbone by
falling from a tree up which Holman had urged him to climb so that he
could get a view of the upper surface. In his mad pursuit of antiquities
the Professor forgot that tree climbing was an accomplishment that he
had never mastered properly in the days of his youth, and our departure
was somewhat delayed by the shock which he received from the fall. The
camera fell upon the pile of leaves which Leith had used as a mattress,
and it escaped with abrasions that were microscopical compared to those
received by the Professor, who glared angrily at Holman as Edith Herndon
attended to his injuries.

"I thought you could climb," murmured the youngster. "'Pon my word I
did. I wouldn't have urged you to get up there if I didn't think you
could hang to a limb."

"I am acquainted with a number of persons who would look well hanging to
a limb," retorted the Professor, as he rubbed his ankles.

"Same here," said Holman, unperturbed by the sharp retort. "When I think
over their actions, Professor, I wonder how they escaped being suspended
from such places. Especially when you consider that trees are
plentiful."

We made slow progress during the morning. The Professor's accident
robbed him of a lot of the nimbleness which