El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-08


! theless the shrunken. mummylike face
was Enthusiastically Chinese. How II
had come there was the mystery. II
was a woman's lead. and he had never
+ heard Of Chinese woman in the his
/ tory Of the SolOmous From the ears
hung two inch long earrings. and at
Sheldon's direction the Binu man
rubbed away the accretions of smoke
and dirt and from under his fingers
appeared the polished green Of Jade.
the sheen Of pearl and the warm red
Of oriental gold The other head.
equally ancient. was a white mans.
and Sheldon wondered what forgotten
beche-der-mer fisherman or sandaIwood
trader had gone to furnish that ghast
y trophy.
Telling Binu Charley to remove the
earrings and directing the Poonga-
PoOnga men to carry ont the old fire
tender. Sheldon cleared the devn-devf
house and set FIRE to II. Soon every
house was blazing merrily. while the
ancient fire tender sat upright in the
sunshine. blinking at the destruction
Of his village. Every member. Of Tu-
doris expedition was accounted for.
and it was long. dark way out OF the
head hunters country. Releasing their
two prisoners. who leaped away like
startled deer. they plunged down the
steep path into the steaming jungle,
That night found them back in camp
with Tudor. and at high noon OF tho
third day, travelling with the current
and shooting the rapids. the expedi-
ton arrived at Berande. Joan. with
a sigh, unbuckled her revolver belt and
hung It on the nail in the living room.
while Sheldon, who had been lurking
about for the sheer joy Of seeing her
perform that particular Homecoming
act, sighed. too, with satisfaction. But
the Homecoming was not all Joy to
him. for Joan set about nursing Tudor
and spent much time on the veranda
when be lay in the hammock under the
mosquito netting
The ten days Of TudOr's GONZALES
cence that followed were peaceful
days on Berande The work Of the
plantation went on like clockwork.
With the crushing of the premature
outbreak Of Gogoomy and his follow
ing all characterization seemed to have
vanished. Twenty more of the old
time boys. their term Of service up.
were carried away by the Martha.
and the fresh stock Of labor treated
fairly. was proving Of excellent quail
ity. AS Sheldon rode about the plan
tation acknowledging to himself the
comfort and convenience Of a horse
and wondering why be had not thought
Of getting one himself. he pondered
the various Improvements for which
Joan was responsible.
There were times when he was dizzy
with thought Of her and love Of her.
when he would stop his horse and with
closed eyes picture her as be had seen
her that first day In the stern sneets
of the vhaleboat. dashing madly in to
shore and marching belligerently along
his veranda to remark that It was
pretty hospitality. this letting stran-
gers sink or swim in his front yard
1t was patent to Sheldon that Tu-
dor had become interested in Joan.
Often after his morning ride over the
plantation or coming in from the
store or from inspection Of the copra
drying. Sheldon found the pair of them
on the veranda, Joan listening
intent and excited and Tudor deep in
some recital Of personal adventure at
the ends Of the earth
Sheldon noticed. too. the way Tudor
looked at her and followed her about
with his eyes. and in those eyes he
noted a certain hungry look and on
the face i certain wistful expression.
and he wondered if on his own face
he carried a similar involuntary ad-
vertisement. He was sure of several /
that Tudor was not the
right man for Joan and could not pos
sibly make her permanently happy;
next. that Joan was too sensible a
girl really to fall in love with a man
Of such superficial stamp, and, finally,