Copyright
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1913
Published November, 1913
Copyrighted in Great Britain
This story is affectionately
dedicated to my far-off adventurous
Brother-in-law,
E. S. BARRETT
EDITOR’S NOTE
In order to safeguard the reputation of that worthy seaman and most gallant gentleman who writes this memoir, the editor thereof deems it proper to call attention to the fact that Master Hampdon has described accurately the Island of Mangaia of the Cook, or Hervey, group in the South Seas. It is still completely encircled by the unbroken barrier reef, over which the natives ride in their light canoes. The stairs still exist despite the earthquake to which Master Hampdon refers—and other upheavals which may have followed—and are still traversed by the feet of curious, if infrequent, visitors. For the rest, such altars and platforms as he and his little lady found still abound in the South Seas. Also on Easter Island, and on others, too, such statues of the grotesque and hideous “Stone Goddes� as he describes may be seen. Who made them and why, as well as when they were put there, are as much mysteries today as they were when, in that far-off time, Master Hampdon and his lady sailed those then unknown seas in that brave little barque The Rose of Devon.
C. T. B.
Mount Vernon, N. Y.
ILLUSTRATIONS
| The flight from the place of horror | [ Frontispiece] |
| PAGE | |
| “The treasure is thereabouts� | [ 122] |
| Then she bent over me | [ 190] |
| She had stepped out by my side | [ 290] |
BOOK I
WITHIN THE CASTLE WALLS
The Bequest of the Old Buccaneer
THE ISLAND OF THE
STAIRS