Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-06-06
Copyright. 1905. by
Edward J. Clode
Arranged Il Iearsome Dogy

But how?"
ut was not exactly a pleasant oper
ntion, but the only laws of necessity
are those Which must be broken"
She understood that lie did not wisf
her to question him further. Perhaps
curiosity, now that he was safe, nigh,
have vanquished her terror and led tc
another demand for enlightenment, but
ut that instant the sound Of an angry
vuce and the crunching of coral away
to the left drove all else from hel
mind.
"They are coming by way Of the
beach, after ALL" whispered jerks.
He was mistaken in sense. An0th
er outburst Of intermittent firing
among the trees on the north side OF
the ridge showed that some at least OF
the Dyaks were advancing by thei.
former route. The appearance Of the
Dyak chief on the fiat belt Of shingle
with his right arm slung across his
breast. accompanied by not more than
half Il dozen followers. showed that a
few hardy spirits had dared to pass
the valley of death. with all its name
less terrOrs.
They advanced cautiously enough. as
though dreading a surprise. The chief
carrie. bright parang In his left
| hand. the others were armed with
guns. their swords being thrust through
belts. Creeping forward Oh tiptoe,
though their distant companions were
making tremendous row, they look
ed murderous gang as they peered
across the open space, now brilliantly
Illuminated by the moon.
jerks had sudden intuition that
the right thing to do now was to shoot
the whole. party. He dismissed the
thought ut once. All his preparations
were governed by the hope that the
pirates might abandon their quest after
hours of fruitless search. 1t would be
most unwise. he told himself, to pre-
cipitate hostilities. Far better avoid a
conflict altogether. if that We're pOssi-
bic. than risk the immediate discovery
of his inaccessible retreat.
In other words, he made grave mis-
take, which shows how q man may err
when oyeragonizei by the danger of
the woman lie loves. The bold course
was the right one. BY killing the Dyak
leader he would have deprived the ell
emy of the dominating influence in this
campaign of revenge. When the main
body. already much perturbed by the
unseen AID intangible agencies which
opened fire ut them in the wood, ar
rived iii Prospect park to find only the
dead bodies of their chief and his small
force their CONSERVATION could be turn
ed into mad panic 10y vigorous bonn
barrlment from the rock.
Probably in less than an hour after
t!eir landing tae Whole tribe would
have rushed pelmcil to tie boats, curs-
ing tie folly which led them to this
devil haunted island. But it serves no
good purpose to say what might have
been. AS it WIS, the Dyals. silent now
and moving with the utmost caution,
passed tie well and were about to ap-
proach the cave when one Of them saw
the house.
Instantly they changed their tactics.
Retreating hastily to the shade Of the
opposite cliff. they seemed to await the
coming Of e-enfOrcements. The sailor
fancied that messenger was dispatch
ed by way of the north sands to hur-
ry up the laggards. because the dis
tant firing slackened. and five minutes
later fierce outbreak of yells among
the trees to the right heralded COM
bined rush on the Belle Nue castle.
The noise made by the savages was
so great. the screams Of bewildered
birds circling overhead so incessant'
that jerks was compelled to speak
quite loudly when he said to Iris:
"They must think we sleep soundly
not to be disturbed by the volleys they
have fired already"
She would have answered. but he
placed restraining hand OH her shoul-
der, for the Dyaks. quickly discovering
that the hut was empty, ran toward
the cave and thus came in full view.
AS well as jerks could judge the
foremost trio of the yelping horde were
impaled on the bayOnets Of the cheval
de frise, learning too late its formida-
BILE nature. The wounded men SHREK
ed in agony, but their cries were
drowned in a torrent Of amazed shouts
from their companions. Forthwith
there was stampede toward the well,
the cliff, the beaches, anywhere to get
away from that awesOme cavern where
ghosts dwelt and men fell MANNED at
| the very threshold. The sailor, lean
ing as far over the edge Of the rock
as the girls expostulations would per.
NIT, heard couple of men groanine
beneath, while third limped away
with frantic and painful haste.
"What is it," whispered Iris, eager
herself to witness the tumult. "What
has happened?"
"They have been routed by box OF
matches and few dried bones" ne
| answered.
There was no time for further speech
He was absorbed in estimating the
probable number Of the Dyaks. Thus
far he had seen about fifty. More
| over, he did not wish to acquaint Iris
| with the actual details Of the artifict
that had been so potent. Her allusior
to the box of water sodden matches
had given him the notion of utilizing
as an active ally the bleached remains
of the poor fellow who had long agt
fallen a victim to this identical mol
Of cutthroats or their associates. III
had gathered the principal bones from
their resting place near the well, rub
bed them with the ends of the matche!
after damping the sulphur again ant
arranged them with CHASTITY effect oI
the pile Of rubbish at the farther ent
Of the cave, creeping under the cheva
de frise for the purpose.
Though not so vivid as he wished
the pale glimmering headless skeleton
In the intense darkness of the interio
was appalling enough in all conscience
Fortunately the fumes Of tile sulphu
fed OH the bony substance. They en-
dured a sufficient time to scare ever.
Dyak who caught glimpse of tn
monstrous object crouching In luminou
horror within the dismal cavern.
Not even the stirring exhortations o
the chief, whose voice was raised II