Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-07-31

pcIAcCICu hlS ucicuScS duO duA- iously scanned the ocean for sign of friendly smoke or hostile sail. This re- spite would not have been given to him were it not for the lucky bullet which removed two fingers and part of third from the right hand of the Dyak chief. Not even a healthy sav- age can afford to treat such wound lightly, and ten days elapsed before the maimed robber was able to move the injured limb without a curse.
 Meanwhile each night Jenks slept less soundly. Each day his face be- came more careworn. He began to realize why the island had not been visited already by the vessel which would certainly be deputed to search for them She was examining the great coast line of China and Siam.
 It was his habit to mark the progress of time on the rudely made sundial, which sufficiently served their require ments as a clock. Iris happened to watch him chipping the forty-fourth notch on the edge of the horizontal block of wood.
 Have we really been forty-foqr days here" she inquired after count ing the marks with growing astonish- ment.
 q believe the reckoning is accurate" :" he said. "The Sirdar was lost on the 18th of March, and make this the 1st of May"
 "It seems to be a tremendous time; indeed, in some respects, 1t figures in my mind like many years. That is when am thinking. Otherwise, when busy. the days fly like hours"
 Tt must be convenient to have such an elastic scale."
 Most useful. I strive to apply the quick rate when you are grumpy"
 Iris placed her arms akimbo. plant ed her feet widely apart and surveyed Jenks with an expression that might almost be termed impudent. They were great friends, these two, now.
 When the urgent necessity for con- tinuous labor no longer spurred them to exertion during every moment of daylight, they tackled the box of books and read, not volumes which appealed to them in common. but quaint tonnes in the use of which Jenks was tutor and Iris the scholar.
 It became a fixed principle with the girl that she was very ignorant, and she insisted that the sailor should teach her. For instance. among the books he found a treatise on astrono- my. It yielded q keen delight to both to identify a constellation and learn all sorts of wonderful things concern Ing it.
 As variant Jenks introduced a study of Hindustani. His method was to write a short sentence and explain in detail its component parts. She knitted her brows in the effort to mas ter the ridiculous complexities of a language which. instead of simply say ing Take" or Bring" compels one to say ''Take-go" and ''Take-come.'
 One problem defied solution-that of providing raiment for Iris. The united skill of the sailor and herself would not induce unraveled cordage to supply the need of thread It was either too weak or too knotty. and meanwhile the girls clothes were falling to pieces. Ienks tried the fibers of trees. the sinews of birds-every possible expedi- ent he could hit upon-and perhaps after experiments covering some weeks be might have succeeded But modern dress stuffs. weakened by aniline dyes and stiffened with Chinese clay. per nit of no such exhaustive research It must be remembered that the lady passengers on board the Sirdar were dressed to suit the tropics. and the hard usage given by Iris to her scanty stock was never contemplated by the Man chester or Bradford looms responsible for the rsbflity of the material
 As the day. paced the petition be- came irksome- It even threafened complete collapse during some criticAi moment and the two often dlenfiy sur v-x~a x,>. r~ = uunhnr ~ nnrn1v nell