The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-03-19
CHAPTER XIu-Continued.
Reality VS.. Romance.

And SO the sun sank to rest In the
sea, and the stars pierced the deepen
ing blue Of the celestial arch, whilst
the man and the woman awaited pa
tiently the verdict Of the fates.
Before the light failed, jerks gath
cred all the poisoned arrows and
ground their venomed points to pow
der beneath his heel. Gladly would
Iris and he have dispensed with the
friendly protection of the tarpaul1n
when the cool evening breeze came
from the south. But such @ thing
might not be even considered. Sew
eral hours Of darkness must elapse be-
fore the moon rose, and during that.
period, were their foes SO minded. they
would be absolutely at the mercy or
the sump1tan shafts If not covered. by
their impenetrable buckler. -
The sailor looked long and earnestly
ct the we'll. Their own bucket, i'm
provised out Of a dish-cover and a
rope, lay close to the brink. A stealthy
crawl across the sandy valley, half a
minute Of grave danger, and he would
be up the ladder again with enough
water to serve their imperative needs
for days to come. s.-
There was little or no risk in de-
scending the rock. Soon after sunset
it was wrapped in deepest gloom, for
night succeeds day in the tropics with
wondrous speed. The hazard lay In
twice crossing the white sand. were
any Of the Dyaks hiding behind the
house or among the trees.
He held no foolhardy view OF his
own powers. The one-sided nature OF
the conflict thus far was due solely to
his possession of Lee-M etfords as OPP
posed to muzzle-loaders. Let him be
surrounded on the level at close quar-
tiers by a. dozen determined men ana
he must surely succumb.
Were If not for the presence OF Iris
he would have given no second
thought to the peril. It was just one
of those undertakings which. a soldier
Jumps at Here goes for the Y. G..
or Kingdom Comet" is the pithy phil
osophy of Thomas Atkins under such
circumstances. 49,.
Now, there was no v. c.. but there
was Iris. ,
To act without consulting her was
impossible, SO they discussed the pro-
joct. Naturally she secuted 1t.
''The Mahommedan may be able to
help u.s. she pointed out. In any
event let us wait until the moon Wanes.
That is the darkest hour. We do not
know what may happen MEANWHILE
The words had hardly left her
mouth when an irregular Volley was
fired at them from the right flank OF
the enemy's position. Every bullet
struck yards above their heads, the
common failing Of musketry at night
being to take too high an aim. But
the impact of the missiles on rock
80 highly impregnated with minerals
caused sparks to fly, and jerks saw
that the Dyaks would obtain by this
means a most dangerous index Of thel1
faulty practice. Telling Iris to a
once occupy her safe corner, he rap
idly adjusted a rifle on the Wooder
rests already prepared in anticipation
'of an attack from that quarter, anc
fred three shots at the opposing crest
whence came the majority of gun
flashes.
T, One, at least, of the three found {
human billet. There was a shout O.
surprise and pain, and the next vol
ley spurted from the ground level. Thi:
could do no damage owing to thu
angle, but he endeavored to disconcer
the marksmen by keeping up a stead!
fire in their direction. He did no
dream Of attaining other than mora
effect, as there Is a lot Of room tt
miss when aiming in the dark. soo1
he imagined that a burst of f1am'
from his rifle helped the Dyaks, be
cause several bullets whizzed close tt