Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-05-10


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 BAN.
boos by firing at them. He came back
to the white faced girl.
81 fancy that further practice with
blOwpipes will be at discount on
Rainbow island" he cried chccrfully.
But Iris was anxious and distract.
at is very sad" she said, chat we
are obliged to secure our own safety
by the ceaseless slaughter of human
beings. Is there no offer we can make
them, no promise of future gain, to
tempt them to abandon hostilitics?"
"None whatever These Borneo Dy.
aks are bred from infancy to prey OH
their fellow creatures. To be strangers
VAL defenseless is to court pillagc and
massacre at their hands. l think no
more of shooting them than of smash
ing clay pigeon. Killing mad dog
is perhaps a better SMILE"
"But, Robert dear, how long can we
hold out?"
what! Are you growing tired of
me alrendy?"
He Hoped to divert her thoughts from
this constantly recurring topic. Twice
within the hour had it been broached
and dismissed, but Iris would not per-
nit him to shirk 1t again. She made
no reply, simply regarding hinrMith
wistful smile.
So jerks sat down by her side and
| rehcarsed the hopes and fears which
| pcrpleyed him. He determined that
there should be no further concealmcnt
between them. If they failed to secure
water that night, if the Dyaks main
| tanned n strict siege of the rock
throughout the whole of next day, well
| they might survivc-it was profile
NAUTICAL. Best leave matters in Gods
hands.
With feminine pcrsistency she chung
to the subject, detecting his unwilling
ness to discuss possible final stage in
their sufTcrings.
Robert" she whispered fearfully,
"you will never let me fall into the
power of the chief, will your"
mot Willie live
you must live Don't you under
stand? l would 20 with them to save
you. But l would have died by my
own hand Robert, my love, you must
do this thing before the end must be
the first to die"
The sailor wrestled with the great
problem. Hc may be pardoned If his
heart quailed and he groaned aloud.
Iris" lie said solemnly, whatever
happens, unless l am struck dead at
your feet, l promise you that we shall
pass the boundary hand in hand. BE
mine the punishment if we have de-
cided wrongly. And now," he cried,
tossing his head in defiant access of
energy, "let us have done with the
morgue. For my part refuse to &C.
knowledge / am inside until the gates
clang behind me-"
They chatted in lighter vein with
such pendulum swing back to noncha-
lance that none would have deemed il
possible for these two to have already
determined the momentous issue Of the
pending struggle should it go against
them
And so the sun sank to rest in the
sea, and the stars pierced the deepen
ing blue of the celestial arch, while the
man and the woman awaited patiently
the verdict of the fates.
Before the light failed jerks gath
Il .n
ground their venomed points to powder
beneath his heel. Gladly would Iris
and lie have dispensed with the friend
ly protection of the tarpaulin when the
cool evening breeze came from the
south. But such Il thing might not be
even considered. Several hours of dark
ness must elapse before the moon rose,
and during that period, We're their foes
SO minded they would be absolutely at
the mercy of the sumpitan shafts il not
covered by their impenetrable buckler.
The sailor looked long and earnestly
at the well. Their own bucket, impro-
vised out of Il dish cover and rope,
lay close to the brink. A stealthy crawl
across the sandy valley, half minute
VI toiaNS NtiiSSls anu Nouil bS w
the ladder again with enough water to
serve their imperative needs for days
to come.
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
l fp-t 1,n
any OF the Dyalis hiding behind the
house or among the trees.
lie held no foolhardy view of his
own powers. The one sided nature of
the conflict thus far was due solely to
his possession of modern rifles as op-
posed to muZzle leaders. Let him be
surrounded on the level at close quar-
tiers by dozen determined men and
he must surely succumb.
Were it not for the presence of Iris
lie would have given no second thought
to the peril To act without consult
ing her was impossible, SO they dis
cussed the project Naturally she
secuted it.
1.-THE Mohammedan may be able to
help u.s." she pointed out. SIN 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 en-
emy's position. Every bullet struck
yards above their heads, the common
| failing of musk try Mt night being to
take too high an aim. But the impact
of the missiles on a rock SO highly i'm
pregnated with minerals caused sparks
to fly, and jerks saw that the Dyaks
would obtain by this means most
dangerous index Of their faulty prac-
tice. Telling Iris to at once occupy
her safe corner he rapidly adjusted a
rifle on the wooden rests already pre-.
pared in anticipation of an attack from
that quarter and fired three shots at
the opposing crest whence came the
minority of .rI1n Gncbac