The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1912-02-14
A Romance of
The South Seas

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There was no panic in the sound. The
runway now became a deeply worn
path. rising so steeply that several
times the party paused for breath.
zone man with rifle could hold II
against a thousand" sheldon whisper
ed TO Joan And twenty men could
hold II 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 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-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 II had begun. On their
own side no one had been hurt. while
half dozen butshmen 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"
But they should be taught not to
take white mems heads" Sheldon ar
gued.
She nodded approval and said: IF
we find one head wen burn the vii
lage Hey. you. Charley! What fella
place head he stop"
"S'pose he stop along devil-devil
house." was the answer. THAT big
fella house. he devil-devil."
1t was the largest house i'm the vii
lage Into it 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. reeliug into the sunshine
and clutch az the air for support.
"SeP IL al, are there" she called back
family and tCttered aimlessly on Cor a
few steps. breathing the air in great
drafts and trying 20 forget the sight
she had seen
Upon Sheldon fell the unpleasant
task of tallying the heads. They were
all here. nine of them. white mems
beads. the faces of which he had been
familiar with when their owners had
camped in Berande compound and sci
up the polling boats. Binu Charley
hugely interested. lent hand. turn
ing the heads around for Identification
noting the hatcher 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 fela Mary. What
name belong him."
Sheldon looked. Ancient and with
cred. backened 10y many years of the
smoke OF the devil-devil house. never
theless the shrunken. mummylike face
WAS Enthusiastically Chinese How /;
had come there was the mystery II
WAS woman's head and he had never
heard of Il 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 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 white mans.
and Shelton wondered what forgotten
beche-der-mer fisherman or sanda lwood
trader had gone to furnish that ghast
~ trophy
Telling Binu Charley 10 remove the
earrings and directing the POOnga
P0Onga men 10 carry ont the old i""
tender. Sheldon cleared the devil.d
house and set fire Ia II Soon every
house was blazing mrrrily. while the
ancient fire tender sat upright In Ia"
sunshine. blinking mt the destruction
Of his village Every member Of tn
doris expedition was accounted for
and II was long. dprk way out az I've
head hunters country. Releasing rhp'i
two prisoners. who lp'ued AWAY i''''
startled deer they plunged down ~
ste"p path into the sieaming Jungle.
That night found them back IN r"r'n
with Tudor. and al high noon OF the
third day, travellng with the current
and shooting the rapids. the expedi-
ton arrived at Berande. Joan, with
a sigh. unbuckled her revolver belt and
hung II 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 he 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 tina crushing Of the premature