The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1905-05-17

| SIKH OF tQo Sa1!OT anu ueISell Wou1N
not induce unraveled cordage to supply
the need Of thread. vt was either too
weak or too knotty. and meanwhile the
girls clothes were falling to pieces.
jerks tried the fbers Of trees. the
sinews Of birds-every possible e1ped-
ent he could hit upon-and perhaps
after experiments covering some weeks
he might have succeeded. But modern
dress stuffs, weakened by aniline dyes
and stiffened with Chinese clay, per-
NIT Of no such exhaustive research. 1t
must be remembered that the lady
passengers on board the Sirdar were
dressed to suit the tropics, and the hard
usage given by Iris to her scanty stock
was never contemplated by the Man
chester or Bradford looms responsible
for the durability of the material.
AS the days passed the position be-
came irksome It even threatened
complete collapse during some critical
moment, and the two often silently sur
veyed the large number Of merely male
garments in their possession. OF course
in the matter Of coats and waistcoats
there was no difficulty whatever. Iris
had long been wearing those portions
Of the doctors uniform. But when 1t
came to the rest
At last one memorable morning she
crossed the Rubicon. jerks had climb
ed, as usual, to the Summit rock. He
came back with the exciting news that
he thought-he could not be certain,
but there were indications inspiring
hopefulness-tha toward the west OF
the farof island he could discern the
smoke Of 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
was attired in her wonted manner, but
if her companions mind were not Who'll
" monopolized by the blush haze de-
tected on the horizon he must have no
ticed the turned up ends Of pair OF
trousers beneath the hem Of her tat
tered skirt.
It did occur to him that Iris re-
ceived his momentous announcement
with an odd air Of hauteur, and it was
passing strange she did not offer to
accompany him when. after bolting his
breakfast, he returned to the obserya-
tory.
He came back in AN hour, and the
lines on hist face were deeper2than be.
fore.
"a false ALARM" he said CURLY In re-
spouse to her questioning look.
And that was ali, though she nerved
herself to walk steadily past him on
her way to the well. This was discon-
certing, even annoying, to q positive
young woman Ike Lris. Resolving to
end the ordeal, she stood rigidly before
him.
sWeil," she said, 'I've done it!'
s.Have you?" he exclaimed blankly.
Eyes. They're little too long, and ]
feel very awkward, but they're better
than-than my poor old dress unsup-
ported"
She blushed fur1ously, to the sailors
complete bewilderment, but she brave
" persevered and stretched out an un-
willing foot.
ooh, seer he growled. and he, too,
redeemed.
:, And during the remainder OF the day
he did not once look at her feet In
deed, he had far more serious matters
to distract his thoughts, for Iris. fe-
verishly anxious to he busy, suddenly
suggested that it would be good
thing were she able TO use rife If a
fight at close quarters became neces-
say.
The recoil Of the Lee-Metford is so
slight that any woman can manipulate
the weapon with effect, provided she
Is not called upon to fire from stand
ing position, in which case the weight
is liable to cause bad aiming. Though
it came rather late In the day, jerks
caught at the idea. He accustomed
her in the first instance to the use OF
blank cartridges. Then when fairly
proficient in holding and sight1ng-a
child can learn how to refill the clip
and eject each empty shell-she fired
ten rounds Of service ammunition. The
target was q white circle on rock at
eighty yards. and those Of the ten
shots that missed the absolute mark
would have made an enemy at the
same distance extremely uncomforta-
ble
Iris was much pleased with her pro-
ficiency. Now she cried, "instead Of
being hindraDce to you may be
some help. In any case, the Dyaks will
think there are two men to face, and
they have good reason to fear one of
u.s."
Then a new light dawned upon
jerks.
'Why did you not think Of it be-
fore?" he demanded. Don't you see.
Miss Deane, the possibility suggested
by your words? 1 am sorry to be COM
PEELED to speak plainly, but I feel sure