The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-10-16
A Romance of
 The South Seas

Wu1tc. d Hdu WhO SlOOo ClCSts SiSoheAN' swaying with his weight on the steer ing sweep. This he saw, and an eighth man who crouched in the bow and gazed shoreward. But what startled Sheldon was the sight of a woman in the sternsheets between the stroke oar and the SteerSman. A woman she was, for braid of her hair was flying, and she was just in the act of recap turing it and slowing it away beneath hat that for all the world was like his own "Baden-Powell."
 { The boat disappeared behind the wave and rose into view on the face | of the following one. Again he looked into it. The men were dark skinned md larger than Solomon islanders, but the woman, he could plainly see, was white Who she was and what she was doing there were thoughts that drifted vaguely through his conscious ness. He was too sick to be vitally in- terested, and, besides, he had half feeling that it was all dream.
 Good boatmen," was Sheldon's yer dict, as he saw the boat leap forward on the face of huge breaker, the sweeps flying swiftly to keep her on that front of the moving mountain of water that raced madly for the shore. It was well done. Part full of water, the boat was flung upon the beach, the men springing out and dragging its nose to the gate posts. Sheldon had called vainly to the house boys, who, at the moment, were dosing the re- maining patients ins the hospital. He knew he was unable to rise up and go down the path to meet the new corners, so he lay back in the steamer chair and watched for ages while.they cared for the boat. The woman stood to one side, her hand resting on the gate. Occasional surges of sea water washed over her feet, which he could see were incased in rubber sea boots. She scrutinized the house sharply, and for some time she gazed at him stead fly. At last, speaking to two of the men, who turned and followed her, she started up the path.
 Sheldon attempted to rise, got half up out of his chair and fell back help lessly. He was surprised at the size of the men, who loomed like giants be- hind her. Both were six Hooters, and they were heavy in proportion. He had never seen islanders like them. They were not black, like the Solomon islanders, but light brown, and their features were larger, more regular and even handsome.
 Fhc, iVl hn cided-walked along the veranda to- ward him. The two men waited at the head of the steps watching curiously. The girl was angry. He could see that Her gray eyes were flashing and her lips were Quivering. That she had a temper was his thought. But the eyes were striking. He decided that they were not gray after all. or, at least, not all gray. They were large and wide apart and they looked at him from under level brows. Her face was cameolike, so clear cut was it. There were other striking things about her-the cowboy Stetson hat, the heavy braids of brown hair and the long bar reled 3S Colts revolver that hung in it's holster on her hip.
 Pretty hospitality, must say" was her greeting, letting strangers sink or swim in your front yard"
 "I-I beg your pardon" he stana- mered, by supreme effort dragging himself to his feet.
 His legs wabbled under him, and with suffocating sensation he began sinking to the floor. He was aware of a feeble qualification as he saw solicitude leap into her eyes; then blackness smote him, and at the mo- rent of smiting him his thought was that at last and for the first time in his life he had fainted.
 The ringing of the big bell aroused him. He opened his eyes and found that he was on the couch indoors. A glance at the clock told him that it was 6, and from the direction the suns rays streamed into the room he knew that 1t was morning. At first he puzzled over something untoward he was sure had happened. Then, on the wall, he saw Stetson hat hanging and beneath it full cartridge belt and long barrelled 3S Colts revolver.
 The slender girth of the belt told its feminine story and he remembered the whaleboat of the day before and the gray eyes that flashed beneath the level brows. She, it must have been, who had just rung the bell. The cares of the plantation rushed upon him, and he sat up in bed, clutching at the wall for support as the mosquito screen lurched dizzily around him. He was still sitting there, holding on, with eyes closed, striving to master his giddiness, when he heard her voice.
 'You'll lie right down again, sir" she said
 It was sharply imperative, voice used to command At the same time one hand pressed him back toward the pillow while the other caught him from behind and eased him down.
 You've been unconscious for twen- ty-four hours now," she went on, "and have taken charge. When I say the word you'll get up, and not until then. Now. what medicine do you take-quinine? Here are ten grains That's right. You'll make good pa tient."
 My dear madam" he began.
 "You mustn't speak," she interrupt ed, 'that is, in protest. Otherwise you can f., 1lx g