“No,� she answered nervously, “Master Hampdon, wherever you go I must go. I can never be left alone upon this island.�
I tried gently to dissuade her, but, as usual, she would have her way so that at last I gave in perforce.
“Well then,� said I, “at least let me go before.�
I stepped down into the great receptacle meaning to clear the way with my feet by kicking aside the layer of bones, and, on my extending my arm behind me with both her hands caught in mine, she followed me down into the enclosure. Of course we had to walk upon the broken remnants of humanity, but I thrust aside as well as I could the larger pieces and skulls, and she, I afterward learned, followed with her eyes tightly closed, trusting entirely to my guidance. Indeed she clung to my hand with all the nervous strength and power she possessed.
So we finally reached the platform. I lifted her up on it and followed myself. We were not the first human beings who had been lifted to that ghastly platform, I was sure, and as I stood there I could hear in my imagination the protesting, shrieking, struggling captives about to be immolated. I could close my eyes and see the blood dripping down the sides of the altar, as the breast of the bound victim was pierced with the stone knife and his beating heart torn out and lifted up in the face of these devilish and horrible gods by the terrible priests of the ghastly sacrifice. It required little effort to reconstruct the fearful cannibalistic orgies on the platform below, in honor of whatever awful deity they worshiped. I did not let myself dwell upon it, nor did I say anything about it; and my mistress knew too little about such matters in her sweetness and innocence and purity to have such thoughts as mine—thank God!
I led her carefully around the altar platform therefore, until we could stand at the rear end by the side of the line of statues and look across the island. Sure enough, there was the niche or depression in the wall which Sir Philip had mentioned, although the “bigge palmme tree� was gone, or else lost amid hundreds of trees like it. Beneath it, careful scrutiny showed a rough pyramid of stone leading up to what seemed to be openings in the cliff wall.
So far every detail in the old buccaneer’s parchment was absolutely correct. I was certain now that the treasure was there, and that we could find it. And a certain exaltation filled me. At least, we had not come upon a fool’s errand, though what good the treasure would do us in our present case after we had found it, I did not stop to consider.
“See,� I pointed out to my little lady, “following the edge of the three statues here with your eyes, the nick or break in the wall of the cliff is right in line.�
“I see,� she said.
“And below it,� I continued, “for your bright eyes are perhaps keener than mine which have looked into the salt seas and over the glare of water blazing in the sun for so many years, what can you make out?�