Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-10-30

no place TO 70 and that you Will not
permit me to 80. Whist is poor Sirl
to do:-
That's the trouble" be said help
{ lessly.
And the situation anuoys you"
Only for your sake"
Then let me save your feelings hy
telling you that It does not annoy me
at all-except for the row you are
making about II. I never allow what
can't be changed TO annoy me-
can't so elsewhere. by your own
count You certainly can't so else
where and leave me here alone with 4
whole plantation and 200 woOny can
nibals on my hands. Therefore, You
stay, and I stay. 1t IS very simple
Also. it is adventure. And further
more. you needn't worry for yourself
am not matTimonially inclined.
/ came to the Solomons for s planta-
ton. not a hS'band-"
Sheldon flushed. but remained silent
Il know what you are thinking"
she laughed gayly. That II were
man. you'd wiring my neck for me.
And | deserve It. too. I'm so sorry.
l ought not to keep on hurting your
, feelings"
I'm afraid 7 rather invite it," he
said. relieved 10y the signs OF the
tempest subsiding.
81 have it." she announced. Lend
me a gang OF your boys for today.
I'll build a grass house for myself
over in the far corner of the com
pound-on piles. of course. | can
move In tonight. I'll be comfortable
and safe. 1.-THE Tahitians can keep an
anchor watch Just as aboard ship.
And then I'll study cocoan nut planting
T! In return. I'll run the kitchen end OF
your household and give you some
decent food TO eat. And finally. l
won't listen to any of your protests
On the other hand. if you don't agree,
1 viii go across the river. beyond your
jurisdiction. and build village for
myself and my sailors. whom 1 shall
send in the whaleboat 10 Guvutu for
provisions. And now 1 want you TO
teach ME billiards."
Joan took ho & Of the household with
no uncertain grip. revolutionizing
things till Sheldon hardly recognized
the place. For the first time the bun
galow was clean and orderly. No
longer the house boys loafed and did
"
complained that "heud belong him
walk about too much" from the siren
nous course in cookery which she put
him through. Nor did sheldon escape
being round!y lectured for his lazi-
ness in eating nothing but timed pro
visions. She called him muddIer
and a SLOUGH. and other invidiouS
names, for his slackness and his dis
regard of healthful food.
She sent her whaleboat down the
coast twenty miles for lines and or
anges, and wanted to know scathingIy
why said fruits had not long since
been planted at Berande, while he was
beneath contempt because there was
no kitchen garden. Mummy apples,
which he had regarded as weeds,
under her guidance appeared as appe-
thing breakfast fruit, and. at dinner,
were meta mOrphosed into buildings
that elected his unqualified admira-
ton She or her sailors dynamited
fish daily. while the Ba'esuna natives
ware paid tobacco for bringing in
oysters from the mangroTe swamps.
Among other things. she burned the
pestlentiaI hospital. QuarreIed with
Sheldon over the deed ana in anger
set her own men to work building a
new and what she called n decent hos
pitGi She robbed the windows Of their
avn and muslin curtains. replacing
them with raudy calico from the trade
store and made herself several gowns
when she wrote out n list of goods
and clothing for herself. to be sent
down 10 sydney by the first steamer.
Sheldon wondered how long she rad
made I'D her mind 10 stay
She was certainly unlike any woman
he had ever known or dreamed OF. SO
FAR as ne was concerned. she was not
a woman at all. She neither ianguished
nor b'andished No feminine lures
were wasted on him. He might have
been her brother or she his brother
for I'll sex had to DO with the strange
situation. Despite his warnings about
crocOdiles and sharks, she persisted in
swimming in deep wafer OF the
beach. nor could ne persuade her.
when she was in the boat, to let one OF
the sailors throw the dynamite when
shooting fish. She argued that she was
at least a little bit more intelligent
than they and that, therefore, there
was less liability Of an accident II she
did the shooting She was to him the
most masculine and at the same time
the most feminine woman he had ever
met
y source of continual trouble between
them was the disagreement over
methods Of handling the black boys.
She ruled by stern kindness, rarely
rewarding, never Furnishing, and he
had TO confess that her own sailors
worshipped her, while the house boys
were her slaves and did three times
as much work for her as he had ever :
got out Of them. She quickly SO ~ the
unrest Of the contract laborers and
was not blind 10 the danger. always
imminent. that both she and Sheldon
ran. Neither Of them ever ventured
out without a revolver. and the sailors
nj. liz -a.nE..-