Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-05-02

/ y
you have done. for all that you will do.
II you cannot preserve me from threat
ening pcrils 10 man could, for you are
as brave and gallant gentleman as
lives OH the earth today"
Now, the strange feature of this ex.
traOrdinary and unexpected 0utburst
Of pent T., e::otion was that the girl
| nroYounccd his name with the slightly
emDhG3iZed accentuatiOn Of one who
,,:::::,c;r:... II to BE- mere disguise. The
m...l was SO taken aback by her dec
a::'::.. on of f:.tl! that the minor incl
dent 4: gh t did not escape him, was
smotl.c.ed in Il tumult of feeling.
lie cd rot t:ust himself to speak.
lie rccc hastily and seized the Ak to
dclivc" Il nurderous assault upon a
sas rail:! that stood close Mt hand.
| Iris w.; tie first to recover degree
OF self possession. For moment she
had barred her soul. With reaction
came Il sensitive shrinking. Her dell.
cate nature disapproved these senti-
mental displays. She wanted to box
her own ears.
With innate tact she took keen in
terest In the telling Of the tree.
What do you want it fOr!" she in
quired when the sturdy trunk creaked
and fell.
jerks felt better now.
This is change Of Diet he ex-
plained mo; we don't boil the leaves
or nibble the bark. When l split this
palm open you will find that the in
te:ior 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 ard finally
permit the water to evapOrate. In q
couple of days the residuum will oe-
come Il white powder. which, when
boiled. is sago."
Coed ;racious.' said Iris.
"The story sounds unconvincing, but
| | believe l am correct. 1t is worth
trial"
Il should have imagined that sago
grew OH stalk like rice or wheat"
"Or Topsy"
She laughed 4 difficult situation
had passed without undue effort I'm
happily the man reopened it. While
using crowbar as wedge lie en-
deavorcd to put matters OH Il straight
| forward footing.
a little while ago." he said, "you
seemed to imply that 1 had assumed
the name of jerks"
But Miss Deanes confidential mood
had gone. Nothing Of the kind" she
said coldly. II think jerks is an ex-
cellent name"
She regretted the words even rs they
fell from her lips. The sailor gave
mighty wrench with the bar, splitting
the log to its clustering leaves.
You are right" he said. ut is dis
tinctive, brief, dogmatic. cling to 1t
passionately."
Soon afterward, leaving Iris to the
manufacture of sago. he went to the
leeward side of the island Il search for
turtles being his OstenSible object.
When the trees hid him lie quickened
his pace and turned to the left In or
der to explore the cavity marked on
the tin with skull and crossbones.
To his surprise he hit upon the rem
nants of roadway-that Is, a line
through the wood where there were no
well grown trees, where the ground
bore traces of humanity in the shape
of q wrinkled and mildewed pair OF
Chinese boots, q wooden sandal, even
the decayed remains of paiki, or lit
ter.
AT last he reached the edge Of the
pit and the sight that met his eyes
held him spe!lnound.
The labor of many hands had torn
chasm, a quarry, out Of the side OF the
hill Roughly circular in shape. 1t had
diameter Of perhaps hundred feet,
and at its deepest part, toward the
cliff, it ran to depth Of forty feet.
On the lower side, where the sailor
stood. it descended rapidly for some
fifteen feet.
Grasses, shrubs, plants of every va
riety. grew in profusiOn down the
steep slopes wherever seeds could find
precarious nurture until point was
reached about ten or eleven feet nom
tic bottom. There all vegetation ceas-
ed. as IL forbidden to cross magic
circle.
Below this belt the place was Il charnel
house. The bones of men and animals
Mingled in weird confusion. Most were
mere skeletons. a few bodies-n!ne
the sailor counted-ye: preserved some
resemblance of humanity. These lat.
ter were scattered among the older rel
les. They wore the clothes of Dyaks.
Characteristic hats and weapons de-
noted their nationality. The others.
the first harvest Of this modern Col.
gotha, might have been Chinese COO
lies. When the sailors fascinated VI
sion could register details lie distin-
guished yokes, baskets. odd looking
spades and picks strewn amid the
bones. The animals were all Of one
type-small, lanky, with long pointed
skulls. At last he spied withered
hoof. They were pigs.
Over all lay thick coating Of fine
sand, deposited from the eddying winds
that could never reach the silent
depths. The place was grewsome, hor-
ribly depressing jerks broke out into
clammy perspiration. He seemed to
be looking at the secrets of the grave.
At last his superior intelligence as
serted itself. His brain became clear
er, recovered Its power Of analysis. He
began to criticise, reflect, and this Is
the theory he evolved:
Some one, long ago, had discovered
valuable minerals in the volcanic rock.
Mining operations were in full blast
when the extinct volcano took its re-
venge upon the human ants gnawing
at it's vitals and smothered them by
q deadly outpouring of carbOnic acid
gas, the bottled up poison Of the ages
A horde of pigs, running wild over the