The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-11-03

Its my dear girl, II one Of them had
20 as scratched your finger moth.
ing on earth could save you"
b paled and drew back in sudden
horror. Another tap sounded on their
1nrice welcome covering. Evidently
d Dyaks would persist in their efforts
10 get one Of those poisoned darts
home.
debated silently whether It
would be better to create a commotion.
thu inducing the savages to believe
tney had succeeded in inficting a NOR
tai wound, or to wait until the next ar
row fell, rush out and try conclusions
with dumdum bullets against the sum.
pitan blowers.
he decided in favor Of the latter
course. He wished to dishearten his
assallants, to cram down their threats
the belief that he was invulnerable
n could visit their every effort with
a deadly reprisal.
Iris, of course, protested when he ex-
planned his project. But the fighting
spirit prevailed. Their love idyll must
yield to the needs of the hour.
lie had not long to wait. The last
arrow fell, and he sprang to the ex-
IRENE 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 q
Dlowpipe. He in the tree was lust At
ing 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
q companion or top of him. One man
Jumped into the bushes and got away.
put the fourth tripped over his unwieldy
sumpltan, and a bullet tore a large
section from his skull. The sailor then
amused himself with breaking the bam-
DOCS by firing at them. He came back
to the white faced girl.
Il fancy that further practice with
bloWpipes will be at a discount on
Ra1nbow 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 ceaseless 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 DIV.
AXIS are bred from infancy to prey on
their fellow creatures. To be strangers
and ~defenseless is to court pillage and
massacre at their hands. 1 think no
more OF shooting them than of smash
Ing a clay pigeon. Killing a mad dog
Is perhaps a better smile"
"But, Robert dear, how long can we
hold out?"
What! Are you growing tired of
me already?"
He hoped to divert her thoughts from
this constantly recurring topic. Twice
within the hour had it been preached
and dismissed, but Iris would not per
NIT him to shirk it again. She made
no reply, simply regarding him with a
wistful smile.
So jerks sat down by her side and
rehearsed the hopes and fears which
perplexed him. He determined that
there should be no further concealment
between them. If they failed to secure
water that night, if the Dyaks main
tanned a strict siege of the rock
throughout the whole Of next day, well ,
they might survive-it was preble- !
NAUTICAL. Best leave matters in Gods
hands.
With feminine persistency she chung
to the subject, detecting his unwilling
to discuss a possible final stage in
their sufferings.
Robert" she whispered fearfully,
"you will never let me fall into the
power Of the chief, will you?"
"Not while l live"
"You must live. Don't you under
stand? l would go with them to save
you. But / would have died by my
own hand. Robert, my love, you must
do this thing before the end. l must be
the first to die"
The sailor wrestled with the great
problem. BE may be pardoned If his
heart quailed and he groaned aloud.
"Iris," he 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 a defiant access of
energy, .let us have done with the
morgue. For my part l refuse to &c
I 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 1t
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
cred all the poisoned arrows and
their venomel points to powder
beneath his heel. Gladly would Iris
and ha have diSnanSed with the friend