Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-11-23
~:
6be Wings Of the
"a - By LOUIS
nv ~ r@NM a "a ~ TRACY
AVA 4EQ2 ~ Copyright. 1905 by
~ J. Codc

Copyright. 1905. by
Edward J. Clodc

but lie was nerf0rce t0nRueu tleu. III
even reviled himself for having spn
ken, but she saw the anguish In HI
face, and her woman's heart acknowl
edged him us her protector, her shield
"NIr. jerks" she said simply, w
are In Gods hands. put my trust
him and in you. am llopeful--na
more. confident thank you for VIII
you have done, for all TINT you will d
If you cannot preserve me from thres
ening perils no man could. for you Il
as brave and gallant gentleman
lives on the earth today"
Now, the strange feature Of this eN
traordlnary and unexpected outburst
Of pent up emotion was that the girl
pronounced his mime with the slightly
| emphasized accentuation of one who
knew 1t TO be mere disguise. The
| man was so taken aback by her dec
laration of fifth that the minor Incl
dent, though 1t did not escape him. was
smothered in II tumult of feeling.
He could not trust himself to speak
He rose hastily and seized the ak to
deliver u nurdcrous assault upon n
sngo palm that stood close ut hand.
Iris was the first to recover a 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 in the telling Of the tree. :.
what do you want 1t for?" she in
Quired when the sturdy trunk creaked
ard fell.
jerks felt better now.
'This is a change of diet" he ex-
planned mo; we don't boil the leaves
or nlbble the bark. When split this
palm open you will find that the In
terror is full Of pith will cut it out
for you, and then 1t will be your task
to knead it with water after well wash
Ing 1t, pick out all the fiber and finally
permit the water to evaporate. In q
couple Of days the residuum will be-
come white powder, which, when
boiled, is sngo"
Good gracious!' said Iris.
"The story sounds unconvincing, but
| believe am correct. It Is worth a
trial"
II should have imagined that sage
grew on stalk like rice or wheat"
"Or Topsy!'
She laughed. A difficult situation
had passed without undue effort I'm
happily the man reopened 1t. While
using crowbar as wedge he en-
deayored to put matters on q straight
forward footing.
"a little while ago." he said, ''you
seemed to imply that l 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-
cellent name"
She regretted the words even as they
fell from her lips. The sailor gave q
mighty wrench with the bar, splitting
the log to it's clustering leaves.
"You are right" he said. 1T is dis
tinctive, brief, dogmatic. I cling to 1t
| passionately."
Soon afterward, leaving Iris to the
manufacture Of sage, he went to the
leeward side of the island, search for
turtles being his ostensible object.
When the trees hid him he 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, 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 widowed pair of
Chinese boots, q wooden sandal, even
the decayed remains of palki, or lit
ter
At last he reached the edge Of the
pit and the sight that met his eyes
held him spellbound.
The labor of many hands had torn a
chasm, a quarry, out of the side of the
hill Roughly circular in shape, it had
diameter of perhaps hundred feet,
and at it's deepest part, toward the
cliff, it ran to a 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 from
the bottom. There all vegetation ceas-
ed, as If forbidden to cross n magic
circle.
Below this belt the place was charnel
house. The bones of men and animals
mingled in weird confusion. Most were
mere skeletons. A few bodies-nine
the sailor counted-yet 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 he distin-
no nd