Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-23

All! kissed her and held her to your
breastv'
So Suarez spoiled a pretty bit of ro-
nance by his ruff1ing agitation over some
course. would have laughed away the
girls protests that she was usurping an
other woman's place. 1t was really pity
that the man from Argentina had not
found something else to occupy his mlnd
at that precise juncture in the AFFAIRS OF
two young people who were obviously
mated by the discriminating gods. A
good deal of suffering and heartournlng
would then have been avoided; but per
haps it was just the within of fate that
the captains love affair should follow the
irregular course mapped out for his ship,
and the Kansas was not yet relaunched
on the ocean high road to London, no,
not by any manner of noanS
In fact, If the confident demeanor OF the
padding warriors IN the canoes Were dos
tined to be justified. the big steamer was
In parlous state. Her vast bulk and sheer
walls Of steel did not daunt them. They
came on steadily against the rapid cur
rent. and spread out into a crescent when
within few hundred yards of the ship.
Then three m n. crouching In the bows of
different canoes. produced rifles hitherto
invisible and began to shoot. The bullets
ricochetted across the ripples. and Courte-
nay saw that the savages did not under
stand the sighting appliances. They were
aiming point blank at the vessel, in so far
as they could be said to aim at anything.
and the low trajectory caused the inst
straight shot to rebound from the surface
of the water and strike plate amidships.
The loud clang of the metal was hailed by
the Alaculofs with shouts of delight.
Prob2 bly, they had no fixed idea of the
distance the tiny projectiles would carry.
Joey began to bark furiously. and the In
blow of the bullet. the defiance of the
dog, and the curiously accurate yelping
of the men in the canoes. mixeu in wild
medley with the volleyed echoes of the
firing now rolled back from the opposing
cliffs. In such wise did the battle open.
Courtenay, more amused than anxious,
did not silence the terrier, and Joey's
barking speedily rose to a shrill ana
breathless hysteria. Some savage. more
skilled than his fellows, reproduced this
never was death struggle heralded by
such grotesque humor; it might have been
a tragedy of marionettes, Dutch concert
On the verge OF the pit.
The long-range firing was kept up for
several minutes, much to Courteuay's re-
lief, as Suarez was certain that the In
dams stock of cartridges did not amount
to more than four hundred at the utmost.
The canoes crept gradually nearer, and
bullets began to strike the ship frequc Mt
ly. One glanced off a davit and shat
tered couple of windows in the chart
house. This incident aroused even greater
enthusiasm than the first blow Of the at
tack. There was renewed activity among
the paddle wie!ders. Two canoes were
not fifty yards from the most southerly
floating mine. Courtenay commenced to
haul in the slack of one among the half
dozen thin cords; he turned to tell Suarez
to be ready for the duty which had been
intrusted to him. when his glance hap
pened to travel toward the mouth of the
hay.
Then he learnt the significance of that
column Of smoke on the northern point.
A fleet of at least forty canoes was adj
vancing on the ship from the sea. Tide
and paddles were swinging the small
craft along at a spanking pace. They
were already much nearer the vessel than
the first batch of Indians. who had very
cleverly contrived to enlist the attention
of the defenders while the real attack
was developing without let or hindrance.
1t was smart ruse, worthy of race of
higher attainments than the tribe which
ing long days o. patient watching, they
had probably estimated to a nicely the
number of men on board. They reasoned
that show Of force to the south would
draw all eyes from the north, and the
stronger squadron Of canoes might be
enabled to run under the bows of the
ship SO speedily and quietly that the occu-
pants of the leading craft, men who could
climb like monkeys, stood some chance of
gaining the deck unobserved That this
was their design was proved by the alb
stention of the newcomers from firing or
stone singing. They were gathering with
the speed and silence of vultures.
CTo be Continued Tomorrow.)