Kaipi nodded his head and trudged forward as Soma came sidling toward us. The Fijian's desire to get revenge for his "all same brother's death" was something that might be to our advantage later on, and I looked upon Kaipi as a staunch ally in the event of trouble.
We ate our midday meal in the sombre silence and again plunged forward. The appearance of gayety which Barbara Herndon had tried to assume after we had left the Vermilion Pit had passed away, and once again there was the look of pathetic helplessness upon the faces of the two girls. During the luncheon Holman and I endeavoured to make conversation, but the thoughts of both were upon their surroundings, and they answered questions with an effort. The prison-like appearance of the valley, and the utter absence of sound, both of bird and insect life, had a depressing effect upon their nerves.
Holman's face showed that the mental sufferings of the two sisters had worked him into a decidedly unfriendly state of mind toward the Professor and the big brute who was leading the old scientist on the mad hunt, and another quarrel was barely averted during the early afternoon. Leith suggested that Edith Herndon should walk beside him so that he might assist her over the rough parts of the way, and in the conversation that ensued the youngster asserted that the girl was in better company when she was walking with her sister and himself. Leith's voice rose to a roar as he made another threat regarding what he would do if the youngster did not hold his tongue, but Holman was defiant, and an immediate conflict was only averted by the tact of Edith Herndon.
The afternoon closed in with us still tramping on. The blood-red sun slipped hurriedly toward the basalt barriers that encircled the valley, and as I glanced at the cliffs the picture of the creepy ledge, that was our only way back to the outer world, was continually in my mind. The knowledge that the velvety polish upon the block of porphyry was brought there by the hands of thousands who had once peopled the island or visited it from the adjacent groups was not provocative of mirth, and I knew that the feeling that they were journeying in a place that had been of special veneration in long past centuries was producing a depressing effect upon the two girls.
As the tropical twilight fell upon the valley we came to one of the strange stone structures that are to be found in the Tongan and Cook groups, and which have puzzled explorers who have sought in vain to find a reason for their construction or an explanation of the methods by which a savage people lifted the huge blocks of rock into position.
The one that suddenly appeared before us was situated on a small slope that was free from trees and creepers, and as it stood there, black and massive, one could fancy it part of the ruins of Karnak instead of a relic left by a people that were much below the intelligence of those who raised the wonders in the land of the Nile. The four supporting piers of stone were about four feet square and fully fifteen feet in height, while the immense flat rock that was laid upon them was more than twelve feet in length and breadth, with a six-foot thickness. It was moss-grown and gray, but the supporting pillars had not deviated one inch from the perpendicular, although the weight upon them was tremendous. The bed of coral rock on which they rested had proved a reliable foundation, and the singular structure had scoffed at time.
The Professor started a lengthy discourse on sacrificial altars the moment we halted, ranging from Stonehenge to Toluca in search of comparisons, but we were too tired to give it much attention. Holman remarked in a whisper that Soma could probably outpoint the Professor if it came to an array of facts concerning the probable uses of the gigantic table, and when I glanced at the Kanaka, as he stopped to listen to the scientist's discourse, I felt inclined to agree with the scoffer. Soma had an intelligence that lifted him above his class, and I was convinced that many of the Professor's surmises caused him secret merriment.
