The island of the stairs

by Cyrus Townsend Brady

Our first inclination, and there was none now to intimidate us, was to mount the stairs again, cross over the wall once more and look for that cave. We had neither chart nor record left, we had but our memories to trust to, but we were both agreed that the cave lay in the inner wall, and that the parchment said it was the central one of three adjacent openings which gave entrance to the treasure chamber.

Now I had noticed that the great coral wall, both on the outer and inner sides, was honeycombed with openings, rifts, fissures, and caves which, by the way, were more frequent and deeper on the inside face; why, I knew not. We should have been hard put to it to decide where the cave lay, and should have been compelled painfully and laboriously to search the whole face of the cliff in its extent of fifteen miles or so, but for the further direction of the parchment. I remembered that, sailorlike, old Sir Philip had given us a bearing. How did his words run? Something like this my memory told me:

Toe fynde ye mouthe of ye tresor cave take a bearing alonge ye southe of ye three Goddes on ye Altar of Skulles on ye middel hille of ye islande. Where ye line strykes ye bigge knicke in ye walle with ye talle palmme, his tree, bee three hoales. Climbe ye stones. Enter ye centre one. Yt is there.

Plainly, our first duty was to descend into the enclosed valley and explore the hillock in the center. I made no doubt but that we should find some sort of an altar and more of those curious and hideous stone images there. If they still remained, the rest of our task would be comparatively easy.

With this determination, therefore, we set out. As I did not know how long our exploration would require, and as I rather thought we should have to make a day of it, we started betimes after a very early breakfast; indeed, as we invariably retired shortly after sunset, we naturally rose at break of day. I took along food enough for the day, knowing that we could get water from the brooks, and fruit which I judged would be good for us from the trees.

We went directly to the stairs, mounted them, and stared about us in amazement. The storm had been a frightful one. We had not been able to estimate its power from where we had been sheltered on the lee side of the island, but here the uprooted trees and the wide swaths cut in the jungle on the top of the wall showed its terrific force. I had no need for my axe. There were cocoanuts upon the ground and other fruit which would all rot away before we could consume a hundredth part of it. Within the shelter of the island cup, as we were presently aware, less damage had been done, still even there the ravages of the tempest were widely manifest.

Delaying but little on the top of the wall, we crossed it rapidly and finally entered the valley. It was with a feeling of awe that we stood for the first time fairly within the vast cup at the foot of the inner stairs, completely shut out from the world by the great towering rampart of rock which entirely enclosed us. I had never felt so far removed from the world as then. Outside, of course, the limitless ocean ran beyond the barrier reef, but one could follow it unto the dim, far-off distance with his vision; within the cup the glance fell upon the rocky wall on every hand. It was almost like being in a prison, for all its tropic loveliness. It was strangely still, too. There was no wind down where we were. We could no longer hear the ceaseless splash of the breakers on the barrier. The calm must have been like that of the world’s first morning, when God walked in the garden and saw that it was fair. We were alone in it too. Ah, this Adam dared not look at this Eve, lest he should find her all too fair.

Beneath the trees and quite invisible from above, a paved road or path, barely wide enough for four to walk abreast, extended straight across the island to the hillock in the middle, while smaller paths seemed to follow the course of the walls on either side. The ground was gently rolling, and the road, though overgrown in places and badly broken, was in much better condition than the broader path on the top of the wall. I suppose the fact that it was sheltered protected it. We passed along it for a mile and a half without much difficulty; as usual, hearing nothing, except the breeze in the palms and the birds in the thicket. We went in silence mainly. We had so far progressed in good comradeship that talking, unless we had something especial to say, was not necessary. And the stillness about us did not move us to speech.

Finally we arrived at the foot of the hillock. As I observed from the wall, it was grass-grown and palm tree clad. Indeed we should have been hard put to it to have ascended it, so dense was the vegetation, had it not been for the fact that the path was continued around the hill constantly mounting. Where it ran the somewhat shallow earth had been cut away on the hillside, and the rocky surface laid bare. Of course, this path was frightfully overgrown, and rendered further impassable by the trunks of trees which had fallen across it; some, from their freshness, probably cast there by the storm of the night before. We managed it, however, and as our identification of the place of the treasure depended upon our reaching the crest of the mound, we were compelled to climb it or give over the search. Leaving most of our baggage behind, including my coat, for the day was now hot, we began the ascent.

We went on with the utmost care. I cautioned my lady that she must on no account move recklessly. A broken leg or a sprained ankle would place us at a terrible disadvantage, and be a most serious hardship, and she must avoid the possibility at all costs. I assure you I was equally careful of myself, too. It was intensely hot under the thick shade of the trees where the breeze had no chance to penetrate, and I was sweating mightily when I finally drew my companion, her face bedewed almost as much as my own, up the last steep ascent and stood upon the crest.