Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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THE ORACLE 11 with the man, for all our efforts to find it went to naught, though, I guess, we lost our bearings. We crawled back to the pagoda soaked thru’ and resolved to stand watch the rest of the night. I certainly must have fallen very soundly asleep, for all I remember was Carl, here, kicking me in the ribs and firing over the rail of the pagoda. Then there was a groan and he fell limply to the floor. I had just time to see a shadowy form thru’ the sights of my rifle when they got me. Sandbagged both of us. “When I regained consciousness it was broad daylight. The two of us, Mason and I, were lying on couches at either side of a small room. The walls were hung with silks and the ornate carving on the furniture gave a suggestion of days when workmen worked with greatest care rather than by the hasty modern methods. ‘The house seemingly belonged to a wealthy mandarin or merchant. “We had the liberty of that one room only, for the door of strong solid wood was securely locked and the one window, little more than a peep-hole, was heavily barred. Mason was sleeping, and, remembering the happenings of the night, I decided not to wake him, but did a little exploring on my own hook. My head ached a good deal and my walk was rather unsteady, but I got over this by nightfall. “T had nearly completed my inspection and was about to rouse Mason when the door opened and a man, who appeared to be the owner of the place, entered followed by a servant bearing food. We ate and the servant, at the command of the aged Chinaman, had left with the dishes before he spoke. “You are Americans, I judge,’ he said, speaking English easily and with almost no accent. We replied in the affirmative, and, at his request related our experiences in finding our way there. He grew greatly excited and his worn face became very sad when we told him of the death of the priest that had given Cole the manuscripts and when we told of the death of the messenger. He sank into a gloomy reverie and did not seem to hear a word of our other adven- tures until we came to the fight at the pagonda. Here he interrupted us saying: “ T am very sorry this thing should have happened. My men acted without my orders and did as they thought best. No other white man has ever reached the valley and the way you came will never be used again. I am known to the people of China aa, the priest, of whom you spoke, was my brother.’ “Carl started up with a cry of surprise, but the name was unfamiliar to me. “The Chinaman ignored our interruption and continued. ‘I have given my life to the people of this valley, have brought modern inventions for their use and made them prosperous and happy. ‘They are Christians, for, as you know, I was brought up in England, and have taught them the belief of the whites. I do not attempt to defend my methods, but I accomplished my purpose. The ruins you seek are in this valley further to the south. It is a village once used by the people’s ancestors from the time of the beginning until a few centuries ago when it was destroyed by earthquakes and fire. You will find a road leading east from the ruins of the temple. Follow it and you will come to the village just south of the one you left. Tonight you may go, only beware of my men for they are suspicious of strangers as you can readily imagine and would not permit your escape.’

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10 THE ORACLE what appeared to be the entrance to a cave. Not an ordinary cave, however, for the arch of the door was of crumbling masonry and closely fitted rock. A dark narrow passage led straight into the side of the mountain on a slight upward slant. There was no sign of recent use, but both believed it to be worth exploring. The weight of the packs was forgotten, strone bruises were unheeded as they hurried along the underground corridor of the ancients. “he excitement of discovery possessed them, hurried them on. Once away from the. entry-way it was necessary to use Ted’s flash. They traveled steadily until the hands of Mason’s radium showed it to be about midnight, when they both stopped suddenly. The cave had widened out into a small square room decorated with carved paneling. This seemed the end of the passage, for at first no means of going further was apparent, but a careful inspection with the pocket flash disclosed the fact that one of the larger panels really acted as a door. This opened smoothly and they stepped out into a small pagoda situated at the top of a low cliff facing a broad valley. The moon, just rising over the hills to the east, shed a wierd gray light thru’ the silver ake whose twisted branches stood out black and enarled. The valley, deep in-the diane of the peaks, which rose majestically on either hand, was shrouded in midst from a®river to the left, blanketing all in a cloak of mystery and silence. | What seemed to pervade the spot that made it so ghostly and quiet and still? “The whole atmosphere seemed to speak of the dead, of aut filling the hearts of the two adventurers with instinctive dread. |. Outlined vaguely against the dark precipice and spanning the river rose a narrow stone bridge. Suddenly out on this bridge a dot of light’ shown, then the form of a man carrying a lantern resolved out of the fog. He was nea upon them, and, not knowing who he was, nor whether their welcome in the valley would be friendly or not they both automatically turned for the door thru’ which they had entered but a moment before. It was gone! Evidently they had walked lightly thru’ a solid wall of stone. “There was no perceptible opening nor sign of crack nor crevice. The shrine offered no concealment and there was no way of egress save by the one which the man with the light traveled. The Chinaman, for his garb showed him to be an Oriental, stopped, lamp upraised, regarding them with a countenance in which fear and surprise were strongly mingled, then with a loud cry, hurling the lamp from him, he whirled and vanished into the mist. DB The rest is better told as Ved related it to the missionary at their next meeting. They had been gone longer than expected and Cole determined to set out in search of them. The two parties luckily met at the forks of the trail where Stone and Mason had left their guides and horses to continue the journey on foot. “Tt clouded over right after that leaving everything in pitch dark and rain. Some water got in the flash light, putting that out of commission, and all our exploring had to be done in the dark. The bridge seemed to have vanished

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LZ THE- ORACLE “Then with a low bow he withdrew without another word. Of course, | was fairly itching to know the identity of the man and Mason explained. It seemed that he and his men had been about the worst band of smugglers who ever defied a feeble Government. | Why he was letting us escape to report h im I don’t know, probably thought to have his men stationed where they could end us with the least possible commotion, so that he could wash his hands of the whole affair. “That evening, bringing to our rooms our packs and rifles and food for the journey, a servant guided us from the house. A little hamlet of paper-like huts lay by the river, but we saw no one and the servant, after showing us our road, turned and reentered the house. “We hiked swiftly algng keeping a sharp watch about us and also off the beaten roadway, though parallel to it. We made camp that night in a secluded corner of the ruins, which, by the way, were so far destroyed as to be of little interest, and one of us stood guard and watched all night. When morning | came we set out across the mountains to the eastward, stopping only for a hasty inspection of the ruins, and, as the going was not as hard as the trip up the river valley, we reached here in three days without mishap.” “And Cole,’ Ted added, “Carl and I have decided to keep this matter dark, for though a criminal, he has undoubtedly accomplished a great deal for those isolated people. | We hope you will agree with us.” ‘Their hands met across the embers of the fire and there the secret rests.