Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-21
:. The deadly mechanism gave out a

cartridge In 1t, you see. WHAT'S more -
he leaned forward and Observation-Disclosures
not one in the house. Finish! And I'm
here alone"
Something in both voice and look gave
suddenly to David an unaccountable sense
Of danger and solitude. He nodded, be-
ginning TO understand.
Bluff" he ventured.
quite so. Bluff The Englishman
patted the empty carbine. as though fit
ting the word to it. "Bluff-that describes
the past month of my life here"
He replaced the gun against the wall
and leaned back. smoking hard. Into the
bare little cell of bamboo a silence
seemed to pour. not only from the tall
grove, but from the ocean beyond the
reef, where the breakers no longer stirred.
with the toneless voice and introverted
gaze of hermit.
Fate. 1 suppose. I used to laugh at
such nonsense, but nights like these of
Late He smiled and shook his head,
slowly. Il feel certain. somehow. They're
back in this neighborhood. This time, or
soon. Yes. they'll get me. Do you re-
member Hamlet and the sparrow? Fate's
the word. If it be not now. yet it will
come-the readiness is ALL.
Once more the grove and the ocean
poured their stiffness round the ring OF
lamplight. The night was close and hot.
without breath. David, watching the
thin, resolute face. poised as if to an
any spark of resentment, but only
nameless pity. This owner of the locket.
for all his arrogant beauty. was man in
trouble. In the silence a shadow of NOR
tally seemed to, touch that shining head.
'Bukhing to myself, eh?' The gray
eyes frightened and returned to the pres
ent with a snap. "BeaStly habit. Its
your turn. DO tell us the news outside.
1 haven't seen paper since Christmas
time
For the rest of that evening the two
men talked of things from home. wars,
politics and small gossip from west of
SueZ-familiar matters, now far off and
strange in this tropic night on the rim of
a neglected island. Before midnight the
stranger rose.
"Yawn away-don't hide it, he said.
We'll save some talk for morning. Beds
the best place for you. I've another cot
in behind"
Bed seemed the best place to David. who
fell asleep as soon as he had tucked in
his netting.
Despite WEAKNESS he slept i'll. tossing in
dreams painfully vivid, swift and inter-
changeable. He swan somewhere i'll an
ugly darkness, toward a circle of ocean
lighted as if by magic lantern-which
always receded, and into which jutted
the black bows of a ship crowded high
above with glistening yellow bodies of
Cinnamon. Suddenly, close beside him in
the darkness. through an oval window OF
silver, appeared the face of the unknown
girl whom he had surrendered. and who
looked at him earnestly. as though. from
a great distance and through unspeakabie
completely she were imploring him to
help the other man. The black bow of
the ship rushed between and cut them off,
while a voice on deck called, hoarsely,
"Anito!" A ghost-the voice was right:
she was no person, but an empty likeness
blown down the wind of the world. Then
the steward of the SantO Nino was fishing
for him, trolling log line baited with
biscuit
And then David was awake. He had
blown out his candle. SO that the room
lay stuffed with a darkness dense as india
rubber. except toward the window. where
the heavy screen of palms shut out the
moon, but fiickered slowly and made a
turbid stirring of the night AS he watch
ed this David found himself wondering
who they might be. The vague pronoun
haunted him drowsily. suggesting unseen
and evil forces in ambush round the hut.
Who were they?
Another question vexed him. What
could this man be. at whose table he had
eaten. yet whose name-as he now re-
called with a start-was totally unknown?
Some trader in coprah; the rancid smell
Of cocoanut oil pervading the grove gave
the most plausible answer.
AS he lay thinking a slight noise made
him sit up in bed. suddenly but warily.
Underneath the floor Of the stilted hut
something moved with a stealthy, inter-
mittent motion. Whether beast or man. it
crawled beneath his very bed toward the
next room. David had raised his netting
and was about to slip through to the floor.
when from below, somewhere near their
dinner table. sounded a faint rapping of
knuckles against the floor boards.
Silence followed. After an interval the
knuckles raped again; and this time
brushing of bare feet told David that his
host was reused. Then the mans voice
cautiously:
From under the floor a softer voice re-
piled:
"Ginawang"
The quick flare of a match rubbed over
cloth, was converted slowly into the shak-
ing light of a candle. which passed at
once behind a low screen. With a creak
a loose board or small trapdoor was
lifted. Through the woven wall. as
through basket, David saw the tail fig
ure in white bend over the yawning
square in the floor. from which. like a
snake. glistening brown arm rose, with
fist clenched. White hand and dark fist
met. The fist opened, the hand closed;
but not before there had dropped. from
Of crushed leaves. Then the arm sank
from sight like a cobra into conjuror S
pot The man in white lowered the board
into place, crossed to the table and stood
looking down. Furtively as he had come
the visitor Scuttled away underneath.
David lay back on his pillow. somewhat
ashamed of his spying. They. whoever
they We're. had no part in the transaction.
He, therefore, had none. This secret WAS
the Englishman's affair. But though con-
science might make a guest lie down and
turn his head from the lighted wall. con-
science could not put him to sleep. He
lay for long time wondering.
Meanwhile, the man in the next room
gave no sign of returning to bed; for his
candle remained burning. dim behind the
screen, and once or twice the creak of
rattan showed that he must be sitting,
awake and restless, by his table. After a
time the lid of the iron trunk closed gen.
tly and the lock clicked. David heard the
man sigh, heard the cracl1le of stiff pa
per. and presently caught a fragrant
Whit Of hot sealing wax. Then in the
same formidable stiffness OF the palm
labyrinth and of the sea. a pen began to
scratch. like a lizard running on a wall
The silence was great, the noise tiny.
Long afterward David was to remember
them both. and the amazing reflex of
alarm, the sudden contraction and re-
bound Of muscles, which sent him head
first through the mosquito gauze, like a
clown through a hoop. in panic-stricken
The writer at the table had
cried aloud-a single cry, cut short by a
terrific Scuffle and fall.
ITO ba