Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-04
CHAPTER K.
Reality VS.. Romance-The Case for the
p1oivfiH

sailor perfected his defenses and anxiously
scanned the ocean for sign of friendly
smoke or hostile sail. This respite would
not have been given him were 1t not for
the lucky bullet which removed two fingers
and part of third from the right hand
of the Dyak chief. Not even a healthy
savage can afford to treat such a wound
lightly. and ten days elapsed before the
manned robber was able 10 move the in
jured limb without a curse.
Meanwhile, each night jerks slept less
sounoiy; each day his face became more
careworn. He began to realize why the
island had not been visited already by the
vessel which would certainly be depuled TO
search Tor them-she was examining the
great coast line of China and Siam.
1t was his habit to mark the progress of
time on the rudely made sun dial which
sufficiently served their requi ements as
clock. Iris happened to watch HIM chip
ping the forty-fourth notch on the edge of
the horizontal block of wood.
Have We really been fortyfour days
here2' she inquired, after counting the
marks with growing establishment.
Il believe the reckoning is accurate" he
said. THE Slrdar was lost on the 18th of
March. and 1 make this the LIST of May
May Day.
Eyes. Shall we drive to birmingham this
afternoon?
Looked at in that way it seems to be a
tremendous time. though indeed, in some
years. That is when / am thinking.
Otherwise. when busy. the days fly like
hours"
ut must be convenient to have such an
elastic scale
Most useful. I strive to apply the quick
rate when you are grumpy.
Iris placed her arms akimbo, planted her
feet widely apart, and surveyed jerks with
an expression that might almost be termed
1mpudent- They were great friends, these
two. now. The incipient stage of love-
making had been dropped entirely, as lu-
dlcrouSly unSuited TO their environment.
When the urgent necessity for continuous
labor no longer spurred them to exertion
during every moment of daylight. they
tackled the box of books and read, not vol
umes which appealed to them in common,
but quaint tones in the of which
jerks was tutor and Iris the scholar.
1t became fixed principle with the girl
insisted that the sailor should teach
her. For instance. among the books
he found treatise on astron-
omy; it yielded a keen delight to both
to identify a constellation and learn all
sorts OF wonderful things concerning it.
But to work even the simplest problem re-
CURED knowledge of algebra, and Iris
had never gone beyond decimaIs So the
stock of notebooks. instead of recording
their experiences. became covered with
symbols showing how plus equaled x2
minus 100000.
AS variant jerks introduced a study of
Hindustani. His method was to write a
short sentence and explain in detail it's
component parts. With certain awe Iris
surveyed the intricacies of the Urdu COM
pound verb. but about her fourth lesson
she broke out into ordinations of extrav-
agant joy.
What on earth is the matter now" de-
manded her surprised mentor.
Don't you see?' she exclaimed de-
1ightedy. of course you don't, People
who know lot about thing often miss
its obvious points. 1 have discovered how
to write Kiplingese. All you have to do
is to tell your story in Urdu, translate it lit
orally into English. and there you arei''
Quite so. Just do it as Kipling does and
the secret is laid bare. BY the same rule
you can hit upon the oiiltonic Adjective
Iris tossed her head
Il don't know anything about the Miltonic
adjective, but am sure about kipling"
This ended the argument. She knitted her
browS In the effort to master the ridiculous
complexities of language which. instead
of simply saying take" or bring compeIs
one to say 'take-go' and "take-come''
One problem defied solution-that of pro-
yiding raiment for Iris. The united skill of
the sailor and herself would not induce I'M
raveled cordage to supply the need of
thread. 1t was either too weak or too knot
", and meanwhile the girls clothes We're
1alhng to pieces. jerks tried the fibers of
trees, the sinews of birds-every possible
expedient he could hit upon-and perhaps,
after experiments covering some weeks he
might have succeeded. But modern dress
ed with Chinese clay, permit of no such ex-
haustive research. 1t must be remembered
that the lady passengers on board the Sir
dar We're dressed to suit the tropics and the
hard usage given by Iris to her scanty stock
was never contemplated by the Manchester
or Bradford looms responsible for the dura-
bility of the material.
AS the days passed the position becap,e
irksome. 1t even threatened complete col
lapse during some critical moment and the
two often silently surveyed the large num-
Der OF merely male garments in their pos
session. OF course, in the matter of coats
and waistcoats there was no difficulty what
ever. Iris had long been wearing those por-
tons of the doctors uniform. But when it
came TO the rest
At last. one memorable morning she
crossed the Rubicon. jerks had climbed
as usual to the Summit Rock He came
back with the exciting news that he thought
he could not be certain. but that there
were indication inspiring hopefulness-that
toward the west of the far-off island he
could discern the-smoke of a steamer
Though he had eyes for faint cloud of
vapor at least fifty miles distant he saw
nothing of remarkable change effected
nearer home Outwardly, Iris attired
In her wontSd manner. but If her COM
panions mind were not wholly monopoliZed
by the blush haze detected on the horizon
he must have noticed the turned-up ends of
pair of trousers beneath the hem of her
tattered skirt.
1t did not occur to him that Iris received
his momentous announcement with an odd
air OF hauteur. and IL was passing strange
she did not offer to accompany him when
after boiling his breakfast he returned to
the observatory.
He came back in hour and the lines
on his face were deeper than before
"A false alarm, he said curtly in re-
Spouse to her questioning look
And that was ALL though she nerved her
self to walk steadily past him on her way
TO the well This was disconcerting even
annoying to a positive young woman like
Iris. Resolving to end the ordeal. she
stood rigidly before him.
Well she said. I've done it,"
Have your he exclaimed blankly.
Yes They're little too long, and
feel very awkward. but they're better than
than my poor old dress unsupported"
She blushed furiously to the sailors
complete bewilderment but she brayely
perseyered and stretched out an unwilling
foot.
"Oh. i seep' he growled. and he too
Redeemed
II can't help 1t, can I?'' she demanded
piteousiy. ut is not unlike riding habit,
is it?"
Then his ready wit helped him.
An excellent compromise he cried. "A
process of evolution. in fact Now. do
n lice na, nal hot IA