The Sauk Centre herald., 1908-05-28
CHAPTER XI.

CHAPTER XI.
~OURTENAY was mistaken in
thinking that the savages
" sought parley. The canoe
was padded by two women.
They changed its course with a dex-
ferrous twist of the blades when within
cables length of the ship and then
circled slowly round her. The four
men jabbered in astonishingly loud
voices. Suarez, who gathered the pur-
port of their talk, explained that they
were discussing the best method of at
tack.
1.-THE three younger men belong to
the tribe lived WITH" he said. ''The
old man sitting between the women is
a stranger. l think he must have come
from the north of the island with some
Of his friends. attracted by the smoke
signals"
From the north? Is there a road p
asked Courtenay when he learned what
Suarez was saying.
He would arrive in a canoe" was
the answer. "The Indians venture out
to sea in very bad weather. He prob
ably passed the ship late last night.
and, now l come to think of it, the ca
noe which you captured is not familiar
to me, whereas know by sight every
craft owned by the Feathered People"
"How many do they possess?'
"Twenty-three."
These statements we're disconcerting
Not only was 1t possible for the na
tives to surround the Kansas with a
whole swarm Of men, but the mere
number of their boats would render it
exceedingly difficult to repel a COM
bined assault. And nothing could be
more truculent than the demeanor of
the seminude warriors. They pointed
at each person they saw on the decks
and made a tremendous row when
they passed the canoe fastened along
side. Despite their keen sight, they
evidently did not recognize Suarez.
who now wore cap and suit Of
clothes taken from the locker of one Of
the missing stewards.
The impudence Of the Indians exas-
perated Courtenay. The sheer size Of
the Kansas should have awed them,
he thought.
At that moment the rowers permit
ted the canoe to swing round with the
tide. One Of the men stood up, and
Elsie, who seized the chance of snap
shotting the party, ran to the upper
deck, so she did not overhear Courte-
nays smothered ejaculation. He was
scrutinizing the savages through his
glasses, and he had distinctly seen the
ships name painted on a small wa
ter cask on which the Indian had been
sitting. Tollemache made the same
dramatic discovery.
"Out of one Of the ships lifeboats,
suppose?' he said in low tone to the
captain.
Eyes. Did you see the number?"
"No. 3, think"
II agree with you. That was the
first lifeboat which got away"
Christobal, startled out of his won't
ed sang froid. whispered in his turn:
"Do you mean to say that one Of the
boats has fallen into the hands Of
these fiendsY'
IT am afraid so," replied Courtenay.
"Of course that particular keg may
have drifted ashore. In any case, It
tells the fate of one section Of the
mutineers. Either the boat is swamp
ed or the crew is now on the island,
and we know what that signifies"
"Is there no chance Of bribing these
people into friendliness or at least into
a temporary truceY'
ut is hard to decide. Tollemache
and Suarez are best able to form an
opinion. What do you say, Tolle-
macheT'
"Not bit Of use. They are insatia-
BILE. The more you give the more they
want. The only way to deal with
those rotters is to stir them up with a
Calling or twelve FOUNDER"
Suarez when appealed to shook his
head.
"You might as well try to fondle q
hungry puma. I am the only man they
have ever spared, and they spared me
solely because they thought I gave
them power over their enemies. II
you had cannon you might drive
them OF. As it Is, we shall be COM
PEELED to fight for our lives. They are
brave enough in their own way"
To be continued next week.