Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-04-12
CHAPTER X.

n Night after night the pleialcs
N swung higher in the firma-
ment. Day after day the sailor
~ perfected his defenscs and anX-
1ously scanned the ocean for sign of
friendly smoke or hostile sail. This re.
spite would not have been given to
him were it not for the lucky bullet
which removed two fingers and part of
a third from the right hand of the
Dyak chief. Not even a healthy saw
age can afford to treat such wound
lightly, and ten days elapsed before the
manned robber was able to move the
injured limb without curse.
Meanwhile each night jerks slept
less soundly. Each day his face be-
came more careworn. He began to
realize why the island had not been
visited already by the vessel which
would certainly be deputed to search
for them. She was examining the
great coast line of China and Siam.
1t was his habit to mark the progress
of time on the rudely made sundial,
which sufficiently served their require
ments rs clock. Iris happened to
watch him chipping the forty-fourth
notch on the edge Of the horizontal
block of wood.
Have we really been forty-four
days here?" she inquired after count
ing the marks with growing astonsh-
ment
Il believe the reckoning is accurate"
he said. "rhe Sirdar was lost on the
18th Of March, and make this the LIST
Of May"
ut seems to be tremendous time;
Indeed, in some respects, it figures in
my mind like many years. That is
when am thinking. Otherwise, when
busy, the days fly like hours"
'It must be convenient to have such
an elastic SCALE"
"Most useful. strive to apply the
quick rate when you are grumpy"
Iris placed her arms akimbo, plant
ed her feet widely apart and surveyed
jerks with an expression that might
almost be termed impudent. They
were great friends, these two, now.
When the urgent necessity for con-
'tinuous labor nd longer spurred them
to exertion during every moment of
daylight, they tackled the box of books
and read, not volumes which appealed
to them in common, but quaint tones
in the use of which jerks was tutor
and Iris the scholar.
1t became a fixed principle with the
girl that she was very ignorant, and
she insisted that the sailor should
teach her. For instance, among the
books he found treatise on astrono-
my. 1t yielded keen delight to both
to identify constellation and learn
all sorts Of wonderful things concern
ing it.
AS variant jerks introduced a
study of Hindustani His method was
to write short sentence and explain
in detail Its component parts. She
knitted her brows in the effort to mas
ter the ridiculous complexities of a
language which, instead of simply say
ing Take" or Bring" compels one to
say "Take-go" and "Take-come."
One problem defied solution-that Of
providing raiment for Iris. The united
skill Of the sailor and herself would
not induce unraveled cordage to supply
the need Of thread. 1t was either too
weak or too knotty. and meanwhile the
girls clothes were falling to pieces.
jerks tried the f1bers of trees the
sinews Of birds-every possible expedi-
emit 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-
init of no such exhaustive research 1t
must be remembered that the lady
passengers on board the Slrdar were
dressed to suit the tropics, and the herd
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. 1t 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 faroff island he could discern the
smoke of a steamer.
Though he had eyes for faint cloud
Of vapor ut least fifty miles distant,
he saw nothing Of n remarkable change
effected nearer home. Outwardly Iris
was attired in her wonted manner, but
If her companions mind were not Who'll
ly 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.
1t did occur to him that Iris re-
ccived his momentOus announcement
with an odd mir of hauteur, and it was
passing strange she did not offer to
accompany him when, after boiling his
breakfast, he returned to the observa-
tory.