The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-16

why did you return so soon? Did
anything alarm your
Il thought you might get into mis-
chief" she confessed.
No. On the other hand, ] am trying
TO make trouble for any unweleome
visitors. he replied. This is a
cheval de frise which / intend to set
up in front of our cave in case we are
compelled to defend ourselves against
an attack by savages. With this bar
ring the way they cannot such the po-
sition.'
She sighed. Rainbow island was a
wild spot after all. Did not thorns and
briers grow very close to the gates of
Eden2
On the nineteenth day of their resi-
dence on the island the sailor climbed,
as was his invariable habit, to the
Summit rock whilst Iris prepared
breakfast. At this early hour the ho-
riZon was clearly cut as the rim of
sapphire. He examined the whole arc
of the sea with his glasses. but not a
sail was in sight. According to his
calculations. the growing anxiety as
to the fate of the Sirdar must long ere
this have eliminated in the dispatch
from Hong Kong or Singapore of a
special search vessel, whilst British
warships in the China sea would be
warned to keep close lookout for any
traces of the steamer. TO visit all
islands on their route. and to question
fishermen whom they encountered. So
help might come any day. or it might
be long deferred. He could not pierce
the future, and il was useless to vex
his soul with questionings as to what
might happen next week. The great
certainty of the hour was Iris-the
blue-eyed. smiling divinity who had
come into his life-waiting for him
down there beyond the trees, waiting
to welcome him with a sweet-vOiced
greeting; and he knew. with a fierce,
devouTing joy, that her cheek would
not pale nor her lip tremble when ne
announced that at least another sun
must set before the expected relief
reached them.
He replaced the glasses in their case
and dived into the wood, giving a pass
ing thought to the fact that the wind,
after blowing steadily from the south
for nearly a week had veered round
to the northeast during the night Did
the change portend a storm? Well,
they were now prepared for all such
eventualities, and he had not forgotten
that they possessed. among other
treasures, a box of books for rainy
"a anu a rainy udN viii IT'S lOf
company, What gale that ever blew
could offer such compensation for en-
forced indleness?
Thee morning sped in uneventful
work. Iris did-not neglect her cher
ished pitcher plant. After luncheon it
was her custom now to carry a dish
full of water to its apparently arid
roots, and she rose to fulfil her self
imposed task.
Let me help you" said jerks. Il
am not very busy this afternoon"
No, thank you. I simply swon't al
low you to touch that shrub. The dear
think looks quite glad to see me 1t
drinks UP the water as gTeedily as a
thirsty animal"
Even cabbage mas heart Miss
Deane"
She laughed merrily. I do believe
you are offering me a compliment"
she said. Il must indeed have found
favor in your eyes
He had scnooled himself to resist
the opening given by this class of re-
tort. 50 he turned to make some cor
rectiOns i'm the scale of the sun-dial
he had constructed. aided therein by
daily observation with the sextant left
by the former inhabitant of the cave
Iris had been gone perhaps FIVE min
~
twice repeated and then there came
family 10 his ears his own name. not
jerks" but Robert" in the girls
voice. Something terrible had hap
pened. It was cry of supreme dis
tress. Mortal agony and OveTwhelm-
ing terror alone could wiring that name
from her lips. Precisely in such mo-
ments this man acted with tie deci-
sion. the unerFing judgment the in
Simultaneous acceptance of great risk
to accomplish great results. that
marked him cut as d born soldier.
He rushed into the house and
snatched from the rife rack one of the
six Lee Metfords reposing there i'm APP
ple-pie order. each with filed maya
zine attached and cartridge already
in position.
Then he ran, with long, swift strides
not through the trees. where he could
see nothing, but towards the beach,
in forty yards, the place where
Iris probably was would become Wis
ible.
At once lie saw her. struggling in tina
grasp of two Notwithstanding Dyaks
one, by his garments, a person of con-
sequence, the other a half-naked saw
age, hideOus and Tepulsive in appear
ance Around them seven men, armed
with guns ana parangS, were dancing
with excitement.
Iris capt9rS were endeaVOTing to tie
her arms but she was a strong and
active Englishwoman, with muscles
well knit by the constant labor of re-
cent busy days and frame developed
by years of horse riding and tennis
playing. The pair evidently found her
a tough handful. and the inferior
Dyak. either to stop her screams-for
she was shrieking Robert, come to
mel" with all her might-or to stifle
her into submission, roughly placed his
huge hand over her mouth.
These things the sailor noticed in
SANITY. Some men, brave to rashness,
'eady as he to give his life to save her, |
would have raced madly over the in |
ervening ground. scarce a furlong, |
md attempted heroic combat of one
against nine.
Not so jerks
With the methodicai 'exactness of the |
parade ground he settled down on one
knee and leveled the rife At that
'ange the -Metford bullet travels |
practically point blank. Usually it il |
deficient in stopping" power, butt he
lad provided against this little draw
back by notching all the cartridges in
he six rifles after the effective man
Ter devised by an expert named Thorn |
Is Atkins during the Tirah campaign. |