The Rope of Gold

e fortress which the dwellers on the island of Haiti have always called the Citadel hung like a mountain cliff

n three thousand feet above the sea here in

ome forty feet up the perpendicular wall of the massive abandoned fortification, something

re no snakes to speak of and certainly not one as long as that

s breath, then began to cou

buratory' as he calls it. It-why,

up the mountain side. Then he sett

big as a house. Too far around, take a full hour to come in from the rear

a good yew bow. The arrows at his side were tipped with triangles of steel sharp as razo

k against the trunk of the tree, "it's an easy shot. I would

ion to the task, had mastered the difficult art of archery. And this boy, resting here at the edge of a tropical forest in that mysterious island of Haiti, was none other than your old frien

w, was, he thought, a rope. Later he decided it must be a ladder, a rope ladder of henequin. The natives of Haiti are e

ladder. "We've been about the place for five days and have seen no one. It's been quiet here-too quiet. Ghostlike. Fellow can hard

ons against Curlie. Of course, it may be only curiosity. And who wouldn't be curious? Got me guessing. All that stuff-batteries, boxes, canvas bou

ad thus far cared to mention, he had come into Johnny's life on the way down to Haiti from the States. From that time until

ften told himself. "But he has a splendid present and f

d. Keeping his eye on the dangling ladder, Johnny allowed his mind to

's science professor had become, in a way, his pal. His natural interest

y had traversed all of the New World and much of the Old. All of this, of course, on m

orbing history, and most tempting mountain jungles. Johnny," he had always pounded the table at this juncture, "I'l

e wandering on his own account, but as soon as he heard th

ed along without aid from her sister republic, Johnny's own beloved land. But now the United States had taken a hand and Professor Star had been given a share in the work. A splendid, kind-hear

sk without money. See that mason-work?" he had said one day

t?" Johnny

richest in the world. Irrigated it was, by water from the mountain streams. And, Johnny, if we had money for

an be bought for an incredibly small sum. And with water for irrigation it can be reclaimed and sold-for who knows how much? Get an American plan

rd of it. And he was for it from the start. But where wa

ad smiled back, "is to

need, he is tempted to believe in fables, even in pots of gold at the foot of the rainbow. Do you

el, the massive fortress which was so near

went many times to work alone on those walls at night. And they say that he built boxes and boxes of gold into the twenty foot walls, together with mortar and stone. Men often have dug for it, but they never found the place.

e wall where the rope ladder still dangled and where a pale light gleamed

crumbling fortress, he fancied he saw a figure moving there. It s

s the natives tell of the ghost emperor who returns from time to time to w

had appeared at the upper opening

ent far or near, listening for a sound, the figure

on the muzzle of a century old brass cannon that had once barked its d

told himself. "But who

ts dungeons and secret passages for four days and had not so much as seen a sign of a

ken in upon them. Just as the native, having cast fears aside, had swung out upon the slender r

imself, thrilled to the very center of his being. The figure of the native

ms our 'Rope of Gol

as dark as before. It lasted long enough for the boy to see that

pecting," he told himself,

ould he shout, warning his pal and

ves wore machetes at their sides. Besides, there was his own bow and arrow, a very use

rst comes

ed an arrow, then sat th

the next sixty seconds wa

eed the native glid

! He-he's l

ng the arrow of warning. And yet-he wanted to know more. So he waited. The bronze figure,

within there came a sudden flash of blinding red lig

seen it all. The native, his eyes distorted by fright, had leaped backward and dow

ed!" Johnny ex

next moment he saw the man plainly. He went skulking along the wal

e to take a long breath. "I must be getting back to camp. D

own a slope and up the other side, then through

imself. "May never have existed. Anyway, we'll never find it. Fascinat

ion, they had taught native children the simplest rudiments of learning, had assist

hoped to be going back to the States. And Curlie Carson, the strange la

y rope it had been, hand-wrought with flowers of white gold

l the way down the sides of the massive steps that led up to his palace. A hundred feet long it was. When rolled up it required two men to carry

made no headway. The ancient walls, the dungeons, and secret passages h

ot likely soon to forge

of that native emperor and t

end he forgot his great dreams for his people and began worshipping gold and that immense pile of brick and stone. Had he put his trust in God instead of in power and gold," the kindly old prof

hnny thought. "If one could

ught sight of something unusual, a white thing

me along an hour ago." His curiosi

put out a hand to touch it. The

ought. "A native d

a three foot section of a hollowed-out log with a goat skin strung across one en

sounding roars that s

warning, the boy was seized an