Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-11-14
CHAPTER v.
SHE WOULD A PLANTER BE.

| 10 out SitueF strength. JOui
had taken the cook in hand. and
for the first time. as Sheldon remark
ed, the chop Mt Berandc was white
mans chop. With her own hands Joan
prepared the sick mans food. and be
tween that and the cheer she brought
him he was able after two days te
totter feebIy out upon the veranda
The situation struck him as strange
and stranger still was the fact that it
did not seem strange to the girl at all
She had settled down and taken charge
Of the household as matter of course
as If he were her father or brother
or as if she were man like himself.
1T is just too delightful for. any
thing" she assured him. 1T is like a
page out of some romance. Here
come along out of the sea and find a
sick man all alone with 200 slaves
Recruits" he corrected. Contract
laborers. They serve only three years,
and they are free agents when they
enter upon their contracts"
Eyes. yes," she hurried on; "a sick
man alone with 200 recruits on can
nibal island-they are cannibals. aren't
they? Or is it all TALK"
Talk he said. with smile. Its
trifle more than that Most Of my
boys are from the bush. and every
bushman is cannibal."
"But not after they become recruits
Surely the boys you have here would
not be guilty"
They'd eat you il the chance afford
ed
Are you just saying so. on theory.
or do you really know?" she asked.
II know"
why? What makes you think SO?
Your own men here?"
"Yes. my own men here. the very
house boys the cook that ut the present
moment is making such delicious rolls,
thanks to you. Not more than three
months ago eleven Of them sneaked a
whaleboat and ran for Malaita. Nine
Of them belonged to Malaita. Two
were bushmen from San Cristoval
They were. fools. the two from San
CristovaI. l mean: so would any two
Malaita men be who trusted them
selves In a boat with nine from San
Cristoval."
"Yes?" she asked eagerly. ''Then
what happened?'
1.-The nine Malaita men ate the two
from San Cristoval. all except the
heads. which are too valuable for
mere eating. They slowed them away
in the stern locker until they landed.
And those two heads are now in some
bush village back of Langa Langa."
She clapped her hands and her eyes
sparkled.
"They are really and truly cannibals
And just think, this is the twentieth
century! And l thought romance and
adventure were fossilized!'
He looked Mt her with mild amuse-
ment.
what is the matter now?" she
queried.
"Oh. nothing. only don't fancy be-
ing eaten by lot of filthy niggers is
the least bit romantic"
"No, Of course not" she admitted.
But to he among them. controlling
them. directing them. 200 Of them, and
to escape being eaten by them-that.
at least, IL 1t isn't romantic, Is certain,
~ the Quintessence of adventure. And
adventure and romance are allied, you
know"
by the same token. to go into n
nigger's stomach should be the quin-
tessence OF adventure" he retorted.
II don't think you have any romance
in you," she exclaimed. You're just
dull and somber and sordid. like the
business men at home. don't know
why you're here at all. You should be
at home ,placidly negotiating as a bank
er's clerk or-or'-
"a shopkeeper's assistant. thank
YOU
Eyes. that-anything. What under
the sun are you doing here on the edge
of things?"
Earning my bread and butter. try
ing TO get on in the world"
Dy luS ulttCt louu thC youuSSot Soh
must tread ere he win to hearth and
saddle Of his own she quoted. why.
If that isn't romantic. then nothing is
romantic. Think Of all the younger
sons out over the world. on myraid
Of adventures. winning to those same
hearths and saddles. And here you
are in the thick of it. doing it. and
here am in the thick Of it, doing it."
IL beg pardon" he drawled.
''Well. I'm younger daughter.
then" she amended land l have no
hearth nor saddle haven't anybody
or anything-and I'm just as far on the
edge Of things as you are
'In your case. then. Ill admit there
is d bit of romance" be confessed.
He could not help but think Of the
preceding nights and of her sleeping
in the hammock on the veranda under
mosquito curtains. her bodyguard OF
Tahitian sailors stretched out ut the
tar corner Of the veranda within call.