Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-11-22

| man aleau. 1ney pIOuueu Ou' PoAI'
ing and sweating in the humid, stag
nant air. They were immersed in a
sea Of wanton. prodigal vegetation.
Caught by surprise fifteen feet in
the air above the path in the forks OF
q many branched tree. bushman
dropped ike a shadow. naked as on
his natal morn. 1t was hard for them
TO realize that it was man. for he
seemed a weird jungle sprite, a goblin
Of the forest. Only Binu Charley was
not perturbed. He flung his poisoned
spear over the head Of the captive at
the fitting form. 1t was a mighty
cast, well intended. but the shadow.
leaping, received the spear harmlessly
between the legs and, tripping upon
1t, was flung sprawling. Before he
could get away Binu Charley was
upon him, clutching him by his snow
white hair. He was only young man
and a dandy at that, his face black.
ened with charcoal. his hair whitened
with wood ashes. with the freshly
severed tail of a wild pig thrust
through his perforated nose and two
more thrust through his ears. his
only other ornament was necklace
Of human finger bones. At sight OF
their other prisoner he chartered in a
high querulous falsetto, with pucker-
I'd brows and troubled, wild animal
eyes. he was disposed of along the
middle Of the line, one Of the Poonga-
Poonga men leading him at the end
Of length Of bark rope.
"Close up he STOP" Binu Charley
warned them in whisper.
Even as he spoke. from high over
head came the deep resonant boom OF
village drum. But the beat was slow.
There was no panic in the sound. The
runway now became deeply worn
path, rising so steeply that several
times the party paused for breath.
Zone man with a rife could hold 1t
against a thousand" Sheldon whisper
ed to Joan. And twenty men could
hold it with spears and arrows"
They came out on the village, Sit
uated on small. upland plateau, grass
covered and with only occasional trees.
There was a wild chorus Of warning
cries from the women, and spears and
arrows began to fall among the in.
vaders. At Sheldon's command the
Tahitians and Poonga men got
into action with their rifles. The spears
and arrows ceased. the last bushmen
disappeared. and the fight was over al
most as soon as It had begun. On their
own side no one had been hurt while
half a dozen bushmen had been killed.
poor brutes," Joan said. '"They act
only according to their natures. To
eat their kind and take heads is good
morality for them"
"Rut they should be taught not to
tahe white mems heads" Sheldon ar
gued.
She nodded approval and said: III
we find one head we'll burn the VII
lage Hey, you. Charley! What fella
place head he stopT"
"s'pose he stop along devil-devil
house," was the answer. "That big
fella house, he devil-devil."
It was the largest house in the vii
lage. Into 1t they went. Crouched be-
fore slow smoking fire, in the Uttered
ashes Of thousand fires, was an old
man who blinked alphabetically at the
invaders. His task, it seemed, was to
tend the fire, and, hung in the smoke,
they found the object Of their search.
Joan turned and stumbled out hastily,
deathly sick, reeling into the sunshine
and clutching at the air for support.
"See If all are there" she called back
family and tottered aimlessly on for a
few steps, breathing the air in great
drafts and trying to forget the sight
she had seen.
Upon Sheldon fell the unpleasant
task Of tallying the heads. They were
all there, nine Of them, white mems
heads, the faces Of which he had been
familiar with when their owners had
camped in Berande compound and get
up the polling boats. Binu Charley,
hugely interested, lent a hand, turn
ing the heads around for Identification.
noting the Ratchet strokes and remark
Ing the distorted expressions.
Other heads, thoroughly sun dried
and smoke cured, were found in album
dance, but with two exceptions. they
were the heads Of blacks.
me savvee black Mary, me savvee
white Mary" quoth Binu Charley.
me no savvee that fella Mary. What
name belong him7'
Sheldon looked. Ancient and with
cred. blackened by many years Of the
smoke Of the devil-devil house, never
theless the shrunken, mummylike face
was unmistakably Chinese. How It
had come there was the mystery. It
was woman's head, and he had never
heard Of Chinese woman in the his
tory Of the Solomons. From the ears
hung two inch long earrings. and at
Sheldon's direction the Binu man
rubbed away the accrehons Of smoke
and dirt and from under his fingers
appeared the polished. green Of jade.
tho ohoon ~ ooael and %hn .va v~v, ~