Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-08
who christened you had the wisdom of the

tainty.
'.As I cannot get you to talk reasonably,
she protested, Il must appeal to your SYM
pathy. / am hungry, and, oh, so thirsty.
The girl had hardly eaten morsel fof
her midday meal. Then she was despond-
emit, utterly broken-hearted. Now she was
filled with new hope. There was a fresh
motive in existence. Whether destined to
live an hour or half a century, she would
never, never leave him, nor, of course
could he ever, ever leave her. Some things
were quite impOssible-for example, that
they should part.
jerks brought her biscuit, tin of meat
and that most doleful cup of champagne.
TT is not exactly frappe," he said, hand
ing her the insipid beverage, but under
other conditions it is a wine almost wor-
thy to toast you in"
She fancied she had never before noticed
what charming smile he had.
Toast is a peculiarly suitable word,
she cried II am simply frizzling In these
warm clothes'-
She stopped. For the first time since that
prehistoric period when she was Miss
Deane" and he Mr.. jerks she remem-
bered the manner of her garments.
1T is not the warm clothing you feel so
much as the want Of air., explained the
sailor readily. This tarpaulin has made
the place very stuffy, but we must put up
with it until shutdown. By the way, what
is that?"
A light tap on the tarred canvas directly
over his head had caught his ear. Iris,
heard the noise three or four times, but
fancied it was caused by the occasional rus
Ting of the sheet on the uprights.
jerks had not allowed his attention to
wander altogether from external events.
Since the Dyaks' last escapade there was
no sign of them in the valley or on either
beach. Not for trivial cause would they
come again within range of the Lee-Met-
fords.
They waited and listened silently. An
other tap sounded on the tarpaulin in a
different place, and they both concurred III
the belief that something had darted in
curved flight over the ledge and fallen on
top of their protecting shield.
Let us see what the game is ex-
claimed the sailor. He crept to the back
of the ledge and drew himself up
until he could reach over the sheet He re-
turned, carrying in his hand a couple of
tiny arrows.
There are no less than seven of these
things sticking in the canvas he said
They don't look very terrible. 1 suppose
that is what my Indian friend meant by
warning me against the trees on the right
He did not tell Iris all the Mahommedan
said. There was need to alarm her
causelessly. Even whilst they examined
the curious little missile another flew up
from the valley and lodged on the roof or
their shelter.
The shaft of the arrow made of some ex-
tremely hard wood, was about ten inches in
length. Affixed to it was a pointed fish
bone, sharp, but not barbed, and not fasten-
ed in a manner suggestive of much
strength The arrow was neither feathered
nor grooved for a bowstrng. Altogether II
seemed to be childish weapon to be used
by men equipped with lead and steel
jerks could not understand the appear
ance of this toy. Evidently the Dyaks be-
lieved in its efficacy, or they would not keep.
on pertinaciously dropping an arrow on the
ledge.
How do they fire it?" asked Iris. do
II will soon tell YOU" he replied, reach
ing for a rifle.
DO not go out yet" she entreated him.
They cannot harm us. Perhaps We may
learn more by keeping quiet. They will not
continue shooting these things all day..
Again a tiny arrow travelled toward them
in graceful parabola. This one fell short.
the girls outstretched hand. She picked it
UP. The fishbone point had snapped by
contact with the floor of the ledge.
She sought for and found the small tip.
dipped in something 1t is quite discoI-
ored."
jerks frowned peculiarly. A startling ex-
PLANTATION had suggested itself to him.
Fragments of forgotten lore were taking
cohesion in his mind.
+ Put 1T down. Quickr' he cried
Iris obeyed him, with wonder in her eyes.
He spilled a teaspoonful Of champagne into
small hollow of the rock and stepped one
of the fish bones in the liquid. Within
few seconds the champagne assumed
greenish tinge and the bone became white.
Then he knew.
poisoned arrows shot through d blowpipe.
have never before seen one but L have
often read about them. The bamboos the
Dyaks carried were sumpitans. These fish
bones have been stepped in the juice of the
upas tree. Iris, my dear girl, if one OF
them had so much scratched your finger
nothing on earth could save you"
She paled and drew back in sudden hor-
had fnlyn no Cny,n-
blance of a snake. A vicious cobra cast at
her feet would be less alarming, for the
reptile could be killed, whilst his venomous
fangs would only be used in self-defense.
Another tap sounded on their thrice-wel-
come covering. Evidently the Dyaks would
persist in their efforts to get one of those
poisoned darts home.
jerks debated silently whether 1t
would be better to create a commo-
ton, thus inducing the saVages to believe
they had succeeded in infiicting a mortal
wound. or to wait until the next arrow
fell, rush out and try conclusions with
dumdum bullets against the sumpitan
blowers
He decided in favor of the latter course.
He wished to dishearten his assailants.
to cram down their threats the belief
that he was invulnerable and could visit
their every effort with deadly reprisal.
Iris OF course, protested when he ex-
planned his project. But the fighting
yield to the needs of the hour.
He had not long to wait. The last arrow
fell, and he sprang to the extreme right
of the ledge First he looked through
that invaluable screen of grass. Three
Dyaks were on the ground and a fourth
in the fork of a tree. They were each
armed with blowpips. He in the tree
was just fitting an arrow into the bamboo
tube. The others were watching him.
jerks raised his rifle, fired, and the
warrior in the tree pitched headlong to
the ground A second shot stretched a
companion on top of him. One man
jumped into the bushes and got away,
but the fourth tripped over his unwieldy
sumpitan and bullet tore a large section
from his skull. The sailor then amused
himself with breaking the bamboos by
firing at them. He came back to the
white-faced girl.
Il fancy that further practice with blow
pipes Will be at discount on Rainbow
Island, he cried cheerfully
But Iris was anxious and distract
1T Is very sad" she said, that we are
obliged to secure our own safety by the
ceaseles slaughter of human beings. Is
there no offer we can make them, no
promise of future gain, to tempt them to
abandon hostilities?"
None whatever. These Borneo Dyaks