The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1905-02-24
CHAPTER V-Continued.

when he answered.:
1T is best 10 tell you at once that
before help reaches us we may be Wis
tied by cruel and bloodthirsty saw
ages. | would not even mention this
III 1t were Il remote contingency AS
matters stand. you ought to know that
such thing may happen. Let us
trust in Gods goodness that assist
ance may come soon. The island has
seemingly been deserted for many
months, and therein lies our best
chance of escape. But I am obliged to
warn you lest you should be taken
unawares."
Iris was serious enough now.
How do you know that such dan
ger threatens us? she demanded.
He countered readily. Because /
happen to have read good deal about
the China sea and its frequenters," he
said. 81 am the last man in the world
to alarm you needlessly. All / mean
to convey is that certain precautions
should be taken against risk that is
possible, not probable. No more"
She could not repress a shudder. The
sailor wanted to tell her that he would
defend her against n host of savages
if he were endowed with many lives,
but he was perforce tongued tied He
even reviled himself for having spo-
ken, but she saw the anguish in his
face, and her woman's heart acknowl-
edged him as her protector, her shield.
"Mr. fJenks," she said simply, 1--WE
are in Gods hands. put my trust in
him and in you. am hopeful-nay,
more, confident. I-thank you for what
you have done, for all that you will do.
If you cannot preserve me from threat
ening perils no man could, for you are
as brave and gallant gentleman as
: lives on the earth today"
4. Now, the strange feature of this ex,
traordinary and unexpected outburst
of pent up emotion was that the girl
: pronounced his name with the slightly
I emphasized accentuation of one who
knew il to be mere disguise. The
man was SO taken aback by her dec
laration Of faith that the minor incl
dent, though It did not escape him, was
sniothered in a tumult of feeling.
He could not trust himself to speak.
He rose hastily and seized the ak to
deliver a murderous assault upon a
sago palm that stood close at hand.
Iris was the first to recover degree
Of self possession. For moment she
had barred her soul With reaction
came sensitive shrinking. Her deli
cate nature disapproved these senti-
mental displays. She wanted to box
her own ears.
With innate tact she took keen in
terest I'm tile feHing of the tree.
"What do you want it forY she in
quired when the sturdy trunk creaked
and fell.
jerks felt better now.
'srhis is a change of diet" he ex-
planned. mo; we don't boil the leaves
or nbble the bark. When l split this
palm open you will find that the in
terror is full of pith L will cut it out
for you, and then it will be your task
to knead it with water after well wash
ing it, pick out all the fiber and finally
permit the water to evaporate. In n
couple of days the residuum will be-
come white powder, which, when
boiled, Is sago."
"Good graciousv' said Iris.
"The story sounds unconvincing, but
/ believe am correct. 1t is worth a
trial"
II should have imagined that sage
grew on stalk like rice or wheat"
"Or Topsyw
She laughed. A difficult situation
had passed without undue effort. IN
happily the man reopened 1t. While
using crowbar as a wedge he en-
deavored to put matters on a straight
forward footing.
"a little while ago." he said, 'you
seemed to imply that 1 had assumed
the name of jerks"
But Miss Deane's confidential mood
had gone. Nothing of the kind" she
said coldly. II think jerks Is an ex-
tellent name"
She regretted the words even as they
fell from her lips. The sailor gave a
mighty wrench with the bar, splitting
the log to fits clustering leaves.
"You are right" he said. ut Is dis
tinctive, brief, dogmatic 1 cling to 1t
passionately."
Soon afterward, leaving Iris to the
manufacture of sage, he went to the
lesward side of the island, search for
turtles being his ostensible object.
When the trees hid him he qulckened
his pace and turned to the left In or
der to explore the cavity marked on
the tin with n skull and crossbones.
To his surprise he hit upon the rem
nants of roadway-that is. line
through the wood where there were no
well grown trees, where the ground
bore traces of humanity in the shape
of a wrinkled and widowed pair of
Chinese boots, wooden sandal, even
the decayed remains of a palki, or lit
ter.
At last he reached the edge Of the
DIT, and the sight that met his eyes
held him spellbound,
The labor Of many hands had torn
chasm, quarry, out of the side of the
hill. Roughly circular In shape, 1t had
a diameter of perhaps hundred feet
and at its deepest part, toward the
cliff. It ran to a depth Of forty feet
On the lower side, where the sailor