Nebraska advertiser., 1882-06-08

Show no signs OF fear.
She obeyed; the people made no at
tempt to oppose her return; Captain
Holstius helped her into the boat. I'M
fortunately Dick did not obey. He
stood on the beach waiting.
Then Rex began, still talking to the
people, to walk slowly toward the boat.
He was promising to bring them
presents from the ship; he begged them
TO stay where they were, and not to
crown round the boat; he babe them re-
member the bad man who had stole two
of their brothers, and he promised To
find out where they were and bring
them back. They listened, nodded, and
answered that what he said was good
When he ncarcd the boat they stood
irresolutc, grasping the idea that they
were going to lose the white man who
had been among them so long,
| believe that he would have got off
quietly, but for the zeal of Dick, who
could not restrain his impatencc. but
sprang forward and caught his old master
in his strong arms, and tried to carry
him into the boat.
Then the islanders yelled and made
for the beach all together,
No one but Lal could tell. afterward,
exactly what happened at this moment.
IT was this. Two of the islanders,
who were in advance Of the rest, arrived
at the beach just as Dick had dragged
his master into the boat. Captain Hol-
stus had pushed her off and was stand
ing by the bows, up to his knees in
water, on the point of lcaping in. In n
moment more they would have been in
deep water.
The black fellows, seeing that they
were too late, stayed their feet, and
poised their spears, aiming them, in the
blind rage of the moment, at the man
they had received amongst themselves
and treated hospitably ly--at Rex. But rs
the weapons left their hands, Captain
HOlStiuS Sprang into the boat, and stand
ing upright, with outstrctched arms, re-
ccived in his own breast the two spears
which would have pierced the heart of
Rex. The action, though so swift rs to
take but moment, was rs deliberate as
if it had been determined upon all along.
Then all was over. Rex was safely
seated i'm the stern beside his sweet
heart; Dick was crouching ut his feet;
the boat was in deep water; the men
were rowing their hardest; the savages
were yelling on the beach; and ut Lal' $
feet lay, pale and bleeding, the man who
had saved the life of her lover at the
price of his own.
| She laid his pale face in her lap; she
took his cold hands in her own; she
kissed his cold forehead, while from his
breast there flowed the red blood of his
life, given, like his labor and his sub
stance, to her.
He was not yet quite dead, and pre-
sently he opened his eyes--those soft
blue eyes which had so often rested
upon her AS ii they were guarding and
sheltcring her in tenderne ss and pity.
They were full of love now, and even
of joy, for Lal had got back her lover.
1--WE have found him, Lal," he mur.
mured-" we have found him. You
will be happy again-now--you have
got your hearts desire.'
What could she sayP How could she
reply?
"Do not cry, Lal, dear. What mat
ters for me-if-only-you-are hap
pyP'
They were his last words.
Presently he pressed her fingers; his
head, upon her lap, fell over on one
side; his breath ceased.
So Captain Holstius, alone among the
three, redeemed his pledge. If Lal was
happy, what more had he to pray for
upon this earth? What mattered, as
he said for him?
At sundown that evening, when the
ship was under weigh again and the
reef of the lonely unknown atoll low
on the horizon, they buried the Captain
in the deep, while Rex read the Service
of the Dead.
The blood of Captain Holstius must
be laid to the charge of his rival; the
blood Of all the white men murdered on
Polynesian shores must be laid to the
charge of those who have visited the
island in order to kidnap the people, aud
those who have gone among them only
to teach them some of the civilization
out of which they have extracted moth
ing but its vices.
As regards this little islet, the people
! know, i'm some vague way, that they
have had living among them man who
was superior TO themselves, who taught
them things, and showed them certain
small arts by which he improved their
mode of life; if ever, which we hope
may not be their fate, they fall in with
the beach-combers of Fiji, Samoa OF
Hawaii, they will easily perceive that
Rex Almiger was not one of them. They
will remember that he was a person of
such great importance that two chiefs
came TO see him; one of them carried OIL
two of their people, the other, with
whom was great princess, carried oil
their prisoner himself.
In few years time the story will be-
come a myth. Some of the missionaries
are great hands at collecting folklore.