Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-27

| them to the rigid bar, and a few rapid
| turns OF piece of wreckage passed be-
| tween the two lines strung them into
| tautness that could not be attained by any
! amount of pulling.
| Iris watched the operation in silence.
/ The sailor always looked at his best
when hard at work The half
! sullen, wholly self-ccntained expression left
| his face which lit up with enthusiasm and
| concentrated intelligence. That which he
| essayed he did with all his might. VIII
| power and physical force worked harmoni-
| ously. She had never before seen such
| man. AT such moments her admiration of
/ him was unbounded.
He toiling with steady persistence, felt
| not the inward spur which sought relief in
! speech, but Iris was compelled to say some
| thing.
Il suppose she commented with an air
/ of much wisdom. you contriving an
overhead railway for the safe transit of
yourself and the goods
| yves
why are you so doubtful about it?''
| Because i personally intended to walk
| across The ropes will serve to convey the
| packages"
| She rose imperiously. II absolutely for
bid you to enter the water again. Such
| suggestion on your part is quite shameful.
You are taking grave risk for no very
great gain that l can see, and if anything
happens to you shall be left all alone in
| this awful place.
She could think of no better argument.
Her only resource was q woman's eXpedi-
ent-a plea for protection against threaten
The sailor seemed to be puzzled how best
| to act.
Miss Deane," he said. there is no such
serious danger as you imagine. Last time
the cutie caught me mapping. He will
not do so again. Those rifles / must have.
| Ii 1t will serve to reassure YOU l will go
along the line myself
He made this concession grudgingly. In
very truth, if danger still lurked in the
lelRibOrjnP No ha for Lass,
10 avoid 1t while clinging 10 rope that
sagged with his weight. and thus working
SLOW progress across the channel than if
he were on his feet and prepared to make
rush backward or forward
NOT until Iris watched him swinging
aiohS with vigorous overhead clutches did
| TINS phase of the undertaking occur to her.
| Stop! she screamed.
He let go and dropped into the water
| turning toward her.
What is the matter now?' he said.
| Go on do"
| He stood meekly on the further side to
listen to her rating
| You knew all the time that 1t would
De better to walk yet to please me you
| did you do it?'
You have answered your own question"
WeiI am very, very angry with you"
| III tell you what" he said, 'if you will
forgive me will try to jump back. | once
dld nineteen feet three inches in-er-in a
meadow, but it makes such d difference
"hen you look at a stretch of water the
same width"
wish you would not stand there talk
ing nonsense. The tide will be over the
reef in half an hour" she cried.
"ithout another word he commenced op-
eEatiohs. There was plenty of rope, and
when each package was securely fas
tened he attached it to a loop that
passed over the line stretched from
Inc .,a Tree -. TO y, the crow5ar. To this loop
I,
threw the other end to Iris BY pulling
signify she was able to land al her feet even
the cumbersome rife chest, for the travel
ing angle was SO acute that the bea yier the
level. -'o A'"0i
They toiled in silence until jerks could
Jay hands on nothing more of value. Then,
OBSERVING due care, he quickly passed the
channel For an instant the girl gazed af
Ir'ghtediy at the sea until the sailor stood
at her side again.
You see" he said, you have scared
every cutie within miles" And he Thought
that he would give many years Of his life
10 De able to take her in his arms and kiss
away her anxiety
But the tide had turned; in a few minutes
the reef would be partly submerged To
carry the case of rifles to the mainland was
a manifestly impossible feat so jerks now
dld that which. done earlier, would have
saved him some labor-he broke open the
chest and found that the weapons were an
parently in excellent order.
He snapped the locks and squinted down
the barrels of half a dozen to test them
These he laid on one side. Then he rapidly
constructed small raft from loose tim
| bers, binding them roughly with rope and
to this argosy he fastened the box of tea
the barrels of -four the broken saloon chair
and other small articles which might be of
use He avoided any difficulty in launching
the raft by building it close to the waters
edge When all was ready the rising tide
Heated 1T for him; he secured it to his
longest rope, and gave it vigorous push
of into the lagoon. Then he slung four
rifles across his shoulders, asked Iris to
carry the remaining two in like manner
and began to maneuver the raft landward.
wv lille you land the goods L will prepare
dinner" announced the girl.
rocks he said
Indeed l will. Ny ankle gives me a re-
hinder at each STEP
Il was more concerned about the rifles
If you fell you might damage them and the
incoming tide will so hopelessIy rust those
leave behind that they will be useless"
She laughed. This assumption at brutal
ity no longer deceived her.
II will preserve them at any cost though
with six in our possession there is margin
for accidents. However. to reassure you /
will go back quickly. If / fall second
time you will still be able to replace any
deficiencies In our armament"
Before he could protest she started off at
run. jumping lightly from rock to rock
though the effort cost her good deal #
vered until she stood safely on the sands
Then saucily waving a farewell, she set off
toward the cave.
Had she seen the look of fierce despair
that settled down upon jerks face as he
turned to his task of guiding the raft
ashore she might have wondered what 1t
meant. In any case she would certainly
have behaved differently.
By the time the sailor had safely landed
his cargo Iris had cooked their midday
meal. She achieved a fresh culinary tri-
I nh a pyaf fri lodi
Il seriously thinking of trying to
boil ham," she stated, gravely. Have
you any idea how long it takes to cook
one properly?'
"A quarter of an hour for each pound"
Admirable! But we can measure neither
hours nor pounds
Il think we do both. / will con-
struct a balance of some kind Then, with
\ a ham slung to one end and a rife and
some cartridges to the other / will tell
you the weight of the ham to an ounce.
| To ascertain the time / have already de-
| termined to fashion sun-dial / remem-
| Der the requisite divisions with reason
| able accuracy, and a little observation
| will enable us to correct any mistakes"
| You are really very clever Mr.. jerks"
\ said Iris with childlilye caudOr Have