The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-09-09
By LOUIS
TRACY
CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY
Copyright. 1905. by
Edward j. Clode

SIOuIiu anu Il Ioul III III tht iOl VI q
tree They were each armed with
blowpipe. He in the tree was just fit
ting an arrow into the bamboo tube.
The others We're watching him.
jerks raised his rife, fired, and the
warrior in the tree pitched headlong to
the ground A second shot stretched
q companion on top of him. One man
jumped into the bushes and got away,
but the fourth tripped over his unw1eldy
sumpitan, and a bullet tore a large
section from his skull. The sailor then
amused himself with breaking the bam-
boos by firing at them. He came back
to the white faced girl.
II fancy that further practice with
blowpipeS will be at a discount on
Rainbow island,'' he cried cheerfully.
But Iris was anxious and distract.
1T is very sad she said, that we
are obliged to secure our own safety
by the ceaseless slaughter of human
beings. Is there no offer we can make
them. no promise of future gain, to
tempt them TO abandon hostilities"
"None whatever. These Borneo Dy-
axis are bred from infancy TO prey on
their fellow creatures. To be strangers
and defenseless is to court pillage and
massacre at their hands. / think no
more of shooting them than of smash
ing a clay pigeon killing mad dog
is perhaps a better simile.'
but, Robert dear, how long can we
hold out?''
what. Are you growing tired of
me already?"
He hoped to divert her thoughts from
this constantly recurring topic. Twice
within the hour had it been preached
and dismissed, but Iris would not per-
nit him to shirk it again. She made
no reply, simply regarding him with
wistful smile.
So jerks sat down by her side and
rehearsed the hopes and fears which
perplexed him. He determined that
there should be no further concea lment
between them. If they failed to secure
water that night, if the Dyaks main
tanned a strict siege of the rock
throughout the whole of next day, we'll
they might survive-it was profile
NAUTICAL Best leave matters in Gods
hands.
With feminine persistency she chung
to the subject, detecting his unwilling
their sufferings.
Robert" she whispered fearfully,
you will never let me fall into the
power of the chief, will you"
Not while 1 live
"You must live Don't you under
stand? / would go with them to save
you But 1 would have died by my
own hand. Robert, my love, you must
do this thing before the end. must be
the first to die"
The sailor wrestled with the great
problem. He may be pardoned if his
heart quailed and he groaned aloud.
iris he said solemnly, whatever
happens, unless l am struck dead at
your feet, 1 promise you that we shall
pass the boundary hand in hand. Be
mine the punishment if we have de-
cided wrongly. And now,' he cried,
tossing his head in a defiant access of
energy, ''let us have done with the
morgue. For my part l refuse to &C
knowledge 1 am inside until the gates
clang behind me-"
They chatted in lighter vein with
such pendulum swing back to noncha
lance that none would have deemed it
DOSSlDlc III tllCSC tNo " hdNC dISdNs
determined the momentous issue of the
pending struggle should it go against
them.
And so the sun sank to rest in the
sea, and the stars pierced the deepen
ing blue of the celestial arch, while the
man and the woman awaited patiently
the verdict of the fates.
Before the light failed jerks gath
cred all the poisoned arrows and
ground their yenomed points to powder
beneath his heel. Gladly would Iris
and he have dispensed with the friend
ly protection of the tarpaulin when the
cool evening breeze came from the
south. But such a thing might not be
even considered. Several hours of dark
ness must elapse before the moon rose,
and during that period, were their foes
so minded. they would be absolutely at
the mercy of the sumpitan shafts if not
covered by their impenetrable buckler.
The sailor looked long and earnestly
at the well. Their own bucket, impro-
yised out of dish cover and rope,
lay close to the brink A stea1thy crawl
across the sandy valley. half a minute
of grave danger, and he would be up
the IaQOeT aSIlu WIFI euoussu water u
serve their imperative needs for days
to come
There was little or no risk in de
Scending the rock. Soon after sunset
it was wrapped in deepest gloom. for
night succeeds day in the tropics with
wondrous speed. The hazard lay in
twice crossing the white sand, were
any of the Dyaks hiding behind the
house or among the trees.
He held no foolhardy view of his
own powers. The one sided nature of
the conflict thus far was due solely to
his possession of modern rifles as OPP
posed TO muZZle leaders. Let him be
surrounded on the level at close quar-
tiers by a dozen determined men and
he must surely succumb.
Were it not for the presence of Iris
he would have given no second thought
to the peril To act without consult
ing her was impossible. so they dis
cussed the project. Naturally she
secuted it.
The Mohammedan may be able to
help us" she pointed out I'm any