The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1904-04-06


intiative-who was the leader. The
brief fight upon the shore had changed
all that. 1t was Wilbur who was now
the master; il was Wilbur who was
aggressive. lie had known what il
meant to kill, He was no longer afraid
Of anything no longer hesitating. lie
had felt sudden quadrupling of all his
strength, moral and physical.
All that was strong and vlrile and
brutal in him seemed TO harden and
stiffen in the moment after he had seen
the beachcomber collapse Imply on the
sand under that last strong knife blow,
and a sense of triumph, of boundles&
self confidence, leapcd within him, so
that he shouted aloud in very excess
of eXhilaration, and, snatching zip Il
heavy cutting-in spade that had been
dropped in the fight near the burning
cabin. tossed it high into the air, catch
ing it again as it descended, like any
cXultant savage.
Come on" he cried to Moran.
where are the bcachcombcrs gone:
I'm going to get one more before the
show is oven"
The two passed out of the zone OF
smoke and reached the other side of
the burning cabin just in time TO SET
the last of the struggle. The whole
affair had not taken more than quar-
ter Of an hour. In the end the beach.
cnmbers had been beaten. Four had
fed into the waste Of sand and sage
that lay back of the shore and had not
been pursued, a fifth had been almost
hamstrung by one Of the Berlha's
coolies and had given himself up. Il
sixth, squealing ana shricking like a
tiger eat. had been made prisoner, and
Wilbur himself had accounted for the
seventh.
AS Wilbur ana Moran came around
,hc cabin they saw the Bertha Mill
ners Cinnamon in group not fan
from the waters edge. reassembcd
after the fight, painting ana bloody
some of them bare to the belt their
weapons still In their hands Here and
there was 4 bandaged arm or head
but their number was cunplete-or, no
was II complete?
Ought 10 10 one more" said VII.
bur. anNiously fastening forward
IS the two came up the coolies part
cd, and Wilbur saw one Of them, hls
head propped up on rolled up blouse
lying ominously still on the tramped
s,ul,
'Its Charlie" exclaimed Moran.
where's be hTt?' cried Wilbur to
tie group Of coolies. Jim where's
Jim? Where's be hurt, Jm?"
Jim, the only member Of the crew
besides Charlie who could understand
or speak English answered:
"kai-gingh him fin pistol, you pls
toll. Charlie him fight plenty Bimeby.
when be no see, one piccec kai-ghing
he come up benin, shoot um Charlie ID
side savyy"
did he Kill him? Is he dead"
"No. tlnkum die plenty soon Him
no sayvy muffin now. Him nil same
sleep. Plenty soon bimcby him sleep
for good, tink."
There was little blood TO be seen
when Wilbur gently unwrapped the
torn sleeve Of n blouse that had been
used as q bandage. Just under the
armpit was the mark Of the bullet, a
small puncturc already closed, half
hidden under a eliot or two Of blood.
The cody lay quite unconscious his
eyes wide open. drawing a faint, quick
breath Mt irregular intervals.
what do you think. mate?' asked
Moran in low voice.
II think he's got It through the
lungs" answered Wilbur, frowning In
distress and perplexity. Poor old
Charliew
Moran went down on knee ana
put finger on the slim. corded wrist.
yellow as old ivory.
"Charlle." she called. Charlie,
Here. Don't you know me? Wake up,
old chap! It's Moran. You're not hurt
so very bad, are your
Charles eyes closed and opened
couple Of times
NO can tell" he answered feebly.
Hurt plenty big" Then he began to
cough.
Wilbur drew n sigh of relief. Hes
all right" he exclaimed.
ayes. think he's all right" assented
Moran.
"First thing TO do now is TO get him
aboard the schooner" said Wilbur.
wen take him right across in the
heachcombors dory here by Joye"
lie exclaimed on a sudden. The am
bcrgris. I'd forgotten all about IT.
His heart sank In the hideous confu-
sion Of that mornings work all thought
of the loot had been forgotten. Had
TIE ba tile been for nothing, after allH
The moment the beachcombers had
been made aware Of the meditated at
tack IL would have been an easy mat
ter fer them To have hidden the amber
girls destroyed it even.
I'm two strides Wilbur had reached
the beachcombers' dory and was crop
ing in the forward cuddy Then he
uttered great shout Of satisfaction.
The STUFF WAS there all Of it. though
the mass had been cut into quarters.
three parts Of it slowed in tea fails.
the fourth still reeved UP in the ham
mock netting.