The Red Cloud chief., 1905-08-11

Perhaps he had used too fine II sight
and plowed a furrow beneath the by.
axis EAR. He only heard II faint yell.
but the e~nterprislng head vanished, and
there were no more volunteers for tha,
particular service.
He was still pcering ut tho place
when a cry of unmitigatcd anguish
came from Iris:
"Oh, come quick! Our wateri The
casks have burst"
1t vas not until jerks had torn the
%tarpaulin from off their stores and lie
was wildly striving with both hands to
scoop up some precious drops collected
in the small hollows OF the ledge that
he realized the full magnitude OF the
disaster which had bcfallen them.
During the first rapid exchange OF
fire before the enemy vacated the cliff
several bullets had pierced the tarpau.
lin. BY q stroke of exceeding bad for.
tune two of them had struck each of
the water barrels and started the
slaves. The contents quietly cbbctl
away beneath the broad sheet and,
flowing inward by reason of the sharp
slope of the ledge, %percolatcd through
the fault. Iris and he, Notwithstanding
their frenZied efforts, were not able to
save more than n pint of gritty discol.
ored fluid. The rest, infinitely more
valuable to them than all the diamonds
Of De Beers, was now oozlng through
the natural channel cut by centuries OF
storm, dripping upon the headlcss skcl-
eton in the cave, soaking down to the
very heart Of their buried treasure.
jerks was so paralyzed by this ca
tastrophe that Iris became alarmed.
AS yet she did not grasp It's awful sig.
nincance. That he, her hero, so brave,
so confident In the face Of many dan.
gers, should betray such sense OF ire.
deemable loss frightened her much
more than the incident itself.
Her lips whitened. Her words be.
came incohcrent.
Tell me-" she whispered. 81 can
bear anything but silence. Tel me, |
implore you. Is 1t so badf'
The sight OF her distress sobercd
him. He ground his teeth together rs
n man does who submits to Il painful
operation and resolves not to finch be.
meath the knife.
ut is very bad" he said, not quite
the end, but near it,"
1.-THE end" she bravely answered, us
death! We are living and uninjurcd.
You must fight on. II the Lord wills 1t
we shall not die"
He looked in her blue eyes and saw
there the light Of heaven. Her glance
lid not droop before his. In such mo-
ments heart speaks to heart without
concealment.
I'VE still have a little water" she
cried. FORTUNATELY we are not thirsty.
You have not forgotten our supply Of
champagne and brandy"
lie could only fall in with her upre-
Elective mood and leave the dreadful
truth to its own evil time. In their lit
tie nook the power of the sun had not
yet made itself felt. BY ordinary COM
putation ii was about 8 o'clock. Long
before moo they would be grilling.
Throughout the next few hours they
must suffer the torture OF Dives with
II meager pint of water to share be-
tween them. OF course the wine and
spirit must be stunned like a pesti-
lencc. To touch either under such con-
ditions would be counting heat, apo.
pleXy ana death. And text day!
He frightened his jaws before be an,
swered:
1--WE will console ourselves with a bot.
tie Of champagne for dinner. Mean.
while | hear our friends shouting TO
those left on this side of the island. I
must take an active interest in the
conversation"
the ledge, already gratefully warm.
There was a good deal Of sustained
shouting going on. jerks thought he
recognized the chiefs voice giving in
structions to those who had come
from Sniugglers' cove and were now
standing on the beach near the quarry.
II wonder II he 10 bulg-y," he
thought. IF so, ! will interfere with
the commissariat."
Iris peeped forth at him.
"Mr. Jenks!"
YES" without turning his head. He
knew it was an ordinary question.
MAY / come tooI"
What, expose yourself on the ledger
"ies, even that. l am so tired of
sitting here alone"
We'll, there is no danger at present.
But they might chance to see you, and
you remember what T.