Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-12-14
Copyright. 1905. by
Edward J. Clode

house or among the trees.
He held no foolhardy view of his
own powers. The one sided nature of
the conflict thus far was due solely to
his possession Of modern rifles as OPP
posed to muzzle leaders. Let him be
surrounded on the level at close quar-
tiers by dozen determined men and
he must surely succumb.
| Were it not for the presence of Iris
he would have given no second thought
| to the peril. To act without consult
ing her was impossible, so they dis
cussed the project. Naturally she
secuted it.
''The Mohammedan may be able to
help u.s." she pointed out. "1n any
event let us wait until the moon wanes.
That is the darkest hour. We do not
know what may happen meanwhile
4 The words had hardly left her mouth
when an irregular volley was fired at
them from the. right flank of the en-
emy's position. Every bullet struck
yards above their heads, the common
| failing of musketry at night being to
| take too high an aim. But the impact
| of the missiles OH rock so highly inn
pregnated with minerals caused sparks
| to fly. and jerks saw that the Dyaks
would obtain by this means most
| dangerous index of their faulty prac-
tice. Telling Iris to at once occupy
her safe corner, he rapidly adjusted a
| rifle on the wooden rests already pre-
pared in anticipation Of an attack from
| that quarter and fired three shots at
the opposing crest whence came the
| majority Of gun flashes.
! One at least of the three found q hui
man billet There was shout Of sur
! prise and pain. and the next volley
(! spurted from the ground level. This
could do no damage owing to the angle,
but he endeavored to discomfort the
marksmen by keeping up steady fire
| in their direction He did not dream
| of attaining other than a moral effect,
| as there is lot of room to miss when
| aiming in the dark. Soon he imagined
that the burst of fame from his rife
helped the Dyaks, because several bull
lets whizzed close to his head, and
i ILLS llluC AlAu6 lCSVAAAASASOu
| from the crest.
| Notwithstanding all his skill and ma
nipulation Of the wooden supports he
failed to dislOdge the occupants. Ev.
cry minute one or more ounces of lead
pitched right into the ledge, damaging
the stores ard tearing the tarpanlin,
while those which struck the wall of
rock were dangerous to Iris by reason
Of the molten spray.
He could guess what had happened.
By lying fat on the sloping plateau or
squeezing close to the projecting shout
der Of the cliff the Dyaks were so little
exposed that idle chance alone would
enable him to hit one of them. But
they must be shifted, or this night
bombardment would prove the most
serious development yet encountered
care you all right, Iris?" he called
out.
eyes, dear" she answered.
"Well, want you to keep yourself
covered by the canvas for little
while, especially your head and shout
J ders. l am going to stop these chaps.
They have found our weak point, but
I can battle them"
She did not ask what he proposed to
do. He heard the rustling of the tar
paulin as she pulled it. Instantly he
cast loose the rope ladder and, armed
only with revolver, dropped down the
rock. He was quite invisible to the en-
envy. On reaching the ground he lis
tened for a moment There was no
sound save the occasional reports nine
ty yards away. He hitched up the low
er rungs Of the ladder until they We're
six feet from the level and then crept
noiselessly close to the rock for some
forty yards.
He halted beside small pooh tree
and stopped to find something imbed-
ded near it's roots. At this distance he
could plainly hear the muttered con-
versation of the Dyaks and could see
several Of them prone on the sand. The
latter fact proved how fatal would be
an attempt on his part to reach the
well. They must discover him instant
~ once he quilted the somber shadows
Of the cliff He waited perhaps few
seconds longer than was necessary,
endeavoring to pierce the dim atmos-
phere and learn something Of their dis
| position.
!! A vigorous outburst of firing sent
him back with haste. Iris was up there
alone. He knew not what might hap
pen. He was now feverishly anxious
to be with her again, to hear her voice
and be sure that all was well.
To his horror he found the ladder
swaying gently against the rock. Some
| one was using 1t. He sprang forward.
careless of consequence, and seized the
swinging end, which had fallen free
again. He had his foot on the bottom
rung when Iris voice. close at hand
and shrill with terror, shrieked:
Robert, where are you?"
| "Here! lie shouted. The next IN
slant she dropped into his arms.
| A startled exclamation from the vi.
cinity of the house and some loud cries
from the more distant Dyaks on the
| other side of Prospect park showed
that they had been overheard.
"Up! he whispered. "Hold tight
and go as quickly as you cant"
"Not without you"
up, for Gods sake! follow al
your heels.'
She began to climb. BE took some