Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-06-10

G perfected his defenses and anx-
lousy scanned the ocean for sign OF
friendly smoke or hostile sail. This re.
spite would not have been given &c
him Were IL not for the lucky bullet
which removed two fingers and part OF
third from the right hand OF the
Dyak chief. Not even healthy say
age can afford % treat such wound
lightly. and ten days elapsed before the
MANNED robher was able u move the
injured limb without curse.
Meanwhile each night jerks silent
less Soundly. Each day his face be
came more careworn. lie began C
realize why the island had not been
visited already by tie vessel which
would certainly Ice dcputcd 20 search
Tor them She wus examining the
great coast line OF China and slam.
IL was his habit 10 mark the progress
OF time on the ruJcly made sundial
which sufficiently served their require
ments as a CLOCK Iris happened 10
watch him chipping the forty-fourth
notch on Tie edge OF the horizontal
block of wood
Have wee really been forty-four
days hcrct she inquired after count
ing the marks with growing astonish-
ment
Il believe the reckoning is accurate"
he said. THE Sirdar was lost on the
18th OF March. and / make this the lst
OF May"
1T seems 10 be- a tremendous time.
indeed, IN some respects. il figures in
my mind Ike many years. That is
when am thinking Otherwise. when
busy, the days fly like hours"
1t must be convenient 10 have such
an elastic scale"
Most useful. I strive 10 apply the
quick rate when YOU are grumpy"
Iris placed her arms aklmbo. plant
ed her feet widely apart and surveyed
jerks 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 eXer'ion during every moment Of
daylight they tacsiel tie box of books
and read. not Volumes which appealed
TO them in common. but quaint tones
in the use OF which jerks was tutor
and lriS the scholar.
IL became fixed principle with the
girl that size was very ignorant and
she insisted that tie sailor should
teach her For instance. among the
books he found treatise on astrono-
my. Ii yielded a keen delight 10 both
to identify a constellation and learn
all sorts OF wonderful things concern
ing it,
As variant jerks introduced
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
which. instead OF simply say
ng Take" or Bring" compels one to
say "Iake-gO" and ''rake-come"
One problem defied sOlution-that OF
providing raiment for Iris. The united
kill OF the sailor and herself would
rot induce unraveled cordage TO supply !
he need or thread. II was either too
weak or too knOtty. and meanwhile the !
girls clothes were falling to pieces.
Jerks tried the fibers OF trees the
'inews OF birds-every possible expedi-
mt he could hit upon--and perhaps s
after experiments covering some weeks
he might have succeeded. But modern
dress stuffs. weakened by aniline dyes
and stinened with Chinese clay, per.
NIT OF no such exhaustive research. II
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
Tor the durability of the material.
As the days passed the position be-
lame irksome. It even threatened \
complete collapse during some critical
and the two often silently sur /
Keyed the large number OF merely male
garments in their possession. OF course
n the matter OF coats and waistcoats
here was no difficulty whatever. Iris
-