Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-12-01

There Ia only one thing to do" Shell |
don said to Joan. "I'll start the first
thing in the morning"
''we'n start" she corrected. 81 can
get twice as much out of my. Tahitians |
as you can. and. besides. one white
should never be alone under such cir
cumstances."
Sheldon sent for a gang boss and |
told him to bring ten of the biggest |
best and strongest Poonga- Poonga
men.
mot salt water boys" Sheldon eau
toned, "but bush boys-leg belong him
strong fella leg. Boy no savvee mus
ket, no good. You bring m shoot
musket strong fella."
They were ten picked men that filed
up on the veranda and stood in the
glare Of the lanterns. Their heavy.
muscular legs advertised that they
were busnmen. Killing was their nat
ural vocation, not weed cutting; and.
while they would not have ventured
the Guadalcanar bush alone, with a
white man like Sheldon behind them,
and a white Mary such as they knew
Joan to be. they could expect a safe
and delightful time Besides. the great
master had told them that the eight
gigantic Tahitians were going along.
Plenty strong fella fight" Sheldon
warned them in conclusion.
They grinned and shifted delighted
ly.
"S'pose bushmen kai-kai along your
he queried
mo fear" answered their spokes-
man, one Koogoo, strapplng, thick
Tipped Ethiopian looking man. "S'pose
! oonga-Poonga boy kai-kai bush boyT
Sheldon shook bis head, laughing,
| and dismissed them and went to over
/ haul the dunnage room for a small
shelter tent for Joan's use.
1t was quite a formidable expedi-
\ ton that departed from Berande at
break of day next morning in a feet
of canoes and dingeys. There were
Joan and Sheldon, with Binu Charley
and Lalaperu. the eight Tahitians and
the ten Poonga-Poonga men, each
proud In the possession of bright and
shining modern rife.
Binu Charley led the way onward
into the rolling foothills, following the
trail made by Tudor and his men
weeks before. That night they camp
ed well into the hills and deep in the
tropic Jungle The third day found
them on the runways of the bushnen
narrow paths that compelled single
file and that turned and twisted with
endless convolutions through the dense
underground.
Here. in the midmorning, the first
casualty occurred. Binu Charley had
dropped behind for time and Koogoo,
the Poonga- Poonga man who had
boosted that he would eat the bush
men, was in the lead. Joan and Shell
don heard the twanging thrum and
saw Koogoo throw out his arms, at
the same time dropping his rifle. stun
BILE forward and sink down on his
hands and knees. Between his naked
shoulders, low down and to the left.
appeared the bone barbed head of an
arrow. He had been shot through and
through. Cooked rifles swept the bush
with nervous apprehension, but there
was no rustic, no movement; nothing
but the humid. oppressive silence.
"Bushmen he no STOP" Binu Char
ley called out, the sound of his voice
startling more than one of them.
my word! Look m that fella," be
} continued, brushing aside the leafy
: wall of the runway, and exposing q
bow so massive that no one bushman
! could have bent it
, The Binu man traced out the me.
chanics of, the trap and exposed the
hidden fiber in the tangled under
, growth that at contact with Koogoo's
. foot had released the taut bow.
They were deep In the primeval for
est. Binu Charley took the lead as
they pushed on. and trap after trap
yielded its secret lurking place to bis
keen scrutiny. The way was beset
with a thousand annoyances, chiefest
, among which were thorns. cunningiy
concealed, that penetrated the bare
feet of the invaders. Once, during
the afternoon, Binu Charley barely
missed being impaled in a staked pi
, that undermined the trail There were
| times when all stood still and waited
for half an hour or more, while BinU
: Charley prospected suspicious parts Of
the trail
! Where a slight runway entered the
main one Sheldon paused and asked
: Binu Charley if he knew where it led
Plenty bush fella garden be stoI
along there short way little bit" wa:
) the answer. "All right you like m q
look IN along. Walk m easy" b.
cautioned few minutes later. Close
up, that fella garden. S'pose some
bush fella he stop, we catch m"
Creeping ahead and peering into thu
clearing for a moment, Binu Charlie!
beckoned Sheldon TO come on cautious
ly. Joan crouched beside him and to
gether they peeped out On one edg'
OF the clearing was a small gras
house, open sided, a mere rain shell
/ ter. In front of 1t, crouched on hi
hams before a fire, Wa gaunt anC
bearded bushman. gfe ere seemed t
smoke excessively, andy the thick o
the smoke a round dark object hum
suspended. The bushman seemed alb
sorbed in contemplation of this object