the
mountains across the broken country.

Then she shaded her eyes.

Beyond the fringe of the beach and amongst the high broken rocks stood a
cross.

CHAPTER X

THE CROSS

The thing itself startled her less than the fact that she had not seen
it before. It was as though it had been put up whilst she sat to rest.

It was so striking, so palpably evident that anyone coming along towards
the figure-head as she had done must have been attracted by it. To
verify this she walked a few yards away and even as she did so the cross
vanished, shut out from sight by the rock to the left of it. Only from
the point of view of the figure-head could it be seen.

It was as though the beach had tried to frighten her again.

She came towards it, noticing as she came the shortness of the arms. It
was less a cross than a sign-post, a sign-post raised on a mound of
small rocks; it was tarred to preserve it from the weather. From the
left limb close to the post a metal box was hanging by a wire, and on
the post itself, a few feet from the base, there was a plate of
galvanised iron nailed to the wood. On the plate were stamped some
words.

She stepped upon the mound and read: "Kestrel Expedition. Cache I. Don't
disturb 19--"

The date was three years back.

The cache, whatever it might be, was under the mound. Also, this thing
had evidently nothing to do with the wreck, for the embossed metal plate
must have been prepared in some civilized country for the purpose to
which it had been put.

She reached up and tried to detach the box and pulling on it brought
down the slat of wood that formed the arms of the cross, the nails that
had held it having rusted away.

Then, having detached the box, she examined it. It was an ordinary
sailor's tobacco box, she pressed the spring, opened it, and found a
piece of paper folded in four and inscribed as follows, the writing done
with a purple indelible pencil:

Opened the cach.
Took nuthing out.
Stuck in som extry goods
Put the ship about.
To any one that finds it in this blasted hole
Sam Slacum,
Master Mariner. Thresler 19--

Then as an after thought:

"Keep up your spirits."

The date was a year after the date on the post. The cache had not been
visited evidently since then. For three years it had lain here, and for
three years, evidently, only one ship had put in. This dismal thought
took