Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-05-12
CHATTER " Continued

ne tried 10 rise.
oh. Ar" you bctter:" Her lips
qv,vrrcd rltifully.
YES What happened? Did I'fa!nt?"
Drink this"
She held a cup TO his mouth. and he
oh,r!icntly strove to swallow the con
tents. 1t was champagne. After the
first spnsm of terror and when the ap-
pllcation of water TO his face failed to
restore Consciousness Iris had knocked
the head off the bottle OF champagne.
He quickly revived. Nature had only
given him n warning that he was over
drawing his resources. He was deep
~ Inundated He did not conceive the
truth. that only strong man could
do all that he had done and live. For
fhirty-siX hours he had not slept. Dur
ing part Of the time he fought with
wilder beasts than they knew ut Ephe
sus. The long exposure to the sum- the
mental strain of his foreboding that
the charming girl whose life depended
upon him might he exposed to even
worse dangers than any yet encounter
ed, the physical labor he had under
gone. the irksome restraint he str0ve to
place upon his conduct and utterances
all these things eliminated In utter
relaxation when the water touched his
heated skin.
How could you frighten me soT de-
manded Iris Historically. You must
have felt that you were working too
hard. You made me rest. Why didn't
you rest yourselff"
He looked at her wistfully. This col
lapse must not happen again for her
sake. These two said more with eyes
than lips. She withdrew her arm. Her
face and neck crimsoned.
Good graciousr' she cried. 1.-THE
ham is ruined"
1t was burnt black. She prepared n
fresh supply. When it was ready
jerks was himself again. They ate in
silence and shared the remains Of the
bottle. "A smile illumined his tired
face.
Iris was watchful. She had never
In her life cooked even q potato or
boiled an egg. The ham was her first
attempt.
MY cooking amuses your she de-
manded suspiciously.
1T gratifles every sense" he muir
INJURED. There is but one thing need.
ful to complete my happiness"
And that Isl"
Permission to smoke"
Smoke whatT
He produced a steel box tightly
closed and pipe.
"Your pockets are absolute shops"
said the girl, delighted that his temper
had improved. what other stores do
you carry about with your"
He lit his pipe and solemnly gave an
inventory Of his worldly goods. Be-
yond the items she had previously seen
he could only enumerate a silver dol
La, a very soiled and crumpled hand
kerchief and bit of tin. A box Of
Norwegian matches he threw away as
useless, but Iris recovered them.
"You never know what purpose they
may serve" she said. In after days a
weird significance was attached to this
simple phrase.
"Why do you carry about a bit Of
tnF' she went on.
II found 1t here, Miss Deane," he
answered
Luckily she interpreted "here" as
applying to the cave.
Let me see 1t. May II"
He handed it to her. She could make
nothing Of 1t. SO together they puzzled
over 1t. The sailor rubbed it with a
mixture Of kerosene and sand. Then
figures and letters and sort of dia-
gram were revealed. At last they be-
came decipherable. By exercising pa
tient ingenuity some one had indented
the metal with q sharp punch until the
marks assumed this aspect: