The Princeton union., 1905-08-03

! q / 10
ders. Such was their talk when LETT
them VA s8 Iss seS ~
Will they nct miss you ~
They will miss the goatskin, sahib.
1T was the last full one'
Mir Jan. do as I bid and you shall
see Delhi again. Have you ever nsed
"a Lee-NIetford ~
have seen them, sahib, but | bet-
ter understand the Mahtini.''
- will give you a rife, with plenty
OF ammunition. Do you go inside the
cave, there, and''
Mir Jan was startled.
Where the ghost is, sahib?'' he said
Ghost! That is tale for children.
There is no ghost, only few bones
of man murdered by these sconn-
drels long ago. Have you any food?"
Some rice, sahib; sufficient for a day
or two at a pinch
Good! We will get water from the
well. When the fighting begins at
dawn fire at every man you see from
the back Of the cave. On no account
come out. Then they can never reach
you if you keep a full magazine. Wait
here"
Il thought you were never coming"
protested Iris when jerks reached the
ledge. II have been quite creepy. I
| am sure there is some one down there
And, please, may have another
drink ?"
The sailor had left the crowbar he
meath. He secured rifle, spare clip
and dozen packets of cartridges.
meanwhile briefly explaining to Iris
the turn taken by events so far as Mir
Jan was concerned. She was natural
ly delighted and forgot her fears in
the excitement caused by the appear
ance Of so useful an ally. She drank
his health in a brimming beaker of
water
She heard her lover rejoin Mir Jan
and saw the two step out into the
moonlight, while jerks explained the
action of the rifle. Fortunately Iris
was now much recovered from the
fatigue and privation of the earlier
hours. Her senses were sharpened to
a pitch little dreamed Of by stay-at-
home young ladies of her age, and she
deemed it her province to act as sentry
While the two men conferred. Hence
she was the first to detect, or, rather. to
become conscious Of, the stealthy crawl
of several Dyaks along the bottom of
the cliff from Turtle beach.
"RObert!" she screamed. "The Dv-
AXIS! On your left!'
But Iris was rapidly gaining some
knowledge Of strategy. Before she
shrieked her warning she grasped
rifle. Holding it at the ''ready''-about
the level of her waist-and depressing
the muzzle sufficiently, she began firing
down the side of the rock as fast as
she could handle lever and trigger.
Two of the nickel bullets struck a pro-
lection and splashed the leading saw
ages with molten metal. ..
Unfortunately jerks rifle beneath
was unloaded, being in Mir JAMS pos
session for purposes Of instruction.
oSAAo w VAAppCu OuI LIS IcFOlVCT.
ITO the cavev' he roared, and Mir
JAMS unwillingness to face a goblin
could not withstand the combined i'm
petus of the sahib's order and the on
ward rush of the enemy. He darted
headlong for the entrance.
jerks, shooting blindly as he, too,
ran for the ladder, emptied the revolv-
er just as his left hand clutched a
rung. Three Dyaks were so close that
it would be folly to attempt to climb.
He threw the weapon into the face of
the foremost man, effectually stopping
his onward progress.
The sailor turned to dive into the
cave and secure the rifle from Mir
Jan, when his shin caught the heavy
crowbar resting against the rock. The
pain of the blow lent emphasis to the
| swing with which the implement de-
scended upon some portion of a Dyak
anatomy. jerks never knew where he
hit the second assailant, but the place
| cracked like an eggshell.
He had not time to recover the bar
| for another. blow, so he drove the point
in the gullet of a gentleman who was