Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1912-01-02
CHAPTER XVI.

PLEASE DON'T De ANGRY WITH Me-"
a FTER DR.. Welshmere and the
Apostle departed and Captain
~ Oleson had turned in for a
sleep in u veranda hammock
Sheldon opened Joan's letter:
Dear Mr.. Sheldon-Please forgive me for
stealing the Flibberty Gibbet. l simply
had to. The Martha means everything to
US. Think OF 1t, only E55 for her. S275!
II don't save her. | know shall be able
to pay all expenses out Of her gear which
the natives will not have carried Off And
II do save her 1t Is the haul OF life
time And II / don't save her I'll fill the
Emily and the Flibberty Gibbet with re-
cruits. Recruits are needed right now on
Berande more than anything else.
And please. please don't be angry with
me. You said shouldn't so recruiting on
the Flibberty. and won't. III so on the
Emily.
l bought two cows this afternoon. That
trader at Nogi died of fever. and bought
them from his partner-Sam Willis his
name-who agrees to deliver them. most
likely by the Minerva next time she IS
down that way. Berande has been long
enough on timed milk.
And DR.. Welshmere has agreed to get
mo some orange and lime trees from the
them the next trip Of the Apostle. II the
Sydney steamer arrives before ! get back
plant the sweet corn she will bring be-
tween the young trees on the high bank
Of the Balesuna. The current Is eating In
against that bank. and you should do
something to save 1t.
l have ordered some fiG trees and To-
Quats. too. from Sydney. DR.. Welshmere
will bring some mango seeds. They are
To- nd mir rD1Q ~
The Martha Is registered ITO tons. She
Is the biggest schooner in the Solomons
and the best. ! saw little Of her lines
and guess the rest. She will sail like
witch. II she hasn't filled with water
her engine will be all right. The reason
she went ashore was because 1t was not
working. The engineer had disconnected
the feed pipes to clean out the rust. Poor
business unless at anchor or with plenty
Of sea room.
Plant all the trees In the compound even
II you have to clean out the palms later
on.
And don't plant the sweet corn all at
once. Let a few days elapse between
paintings. JOAN LAKELAND.
He fingered the letter. lingering over
it and scrutinizing the writing in a
way that was not his wont. How
characteristic. was his thought. as he
studied the boyish scrawl-clear to
read. painfully clear. but none the less
boyish.
He looked long at the name. Joan
Lackland-just an assemblage Of let
tiers. of commonplace letters. but an
assemblage that generated subtle
heady magic. 1t crept into his brain
and twined and twisted his mental
processes until all that constituted him
at that moment went out in love to
that scrawied signature Joan Lack
land! Each time he looked at 1t there
arose visions Of her in a myriad moods
and guises. coming In out Of the flying
smother Of the gale that had wrecked
her schooner. launching whaleboat
TO go fishing. running dripping from
the sea with streaming hair and cling
ing garments to the fresh water show
er. frightening fourscore cannibals
with an empty chlorOdyne bottle. ju-
venilely rafting on about romance
and venture. bright eyed. her face
flushed and eager with enthusiasm
Joan Lakeland. He unused over the
cryptic wonder Of II till the secrets Of
love were made clear and he felt Il
keen sympathy for lovers who carved
their names on trees or wrote them
on the beach sands Of the sea.
Then he came back to reality. and
his face hardened. Even then she
was on the wild coast of Malaita and
at Poonga Poonga. Of all villainouS
and dangerous portions the worst. PEG.
pied with teeming population of
head hunters. robbers and murderers.
For the instant ne entertained the rash
thought of calling his boats crew and
starting Immediately in whaleboet
for Poonga -Poonga. But the next in
slant the idea was dismissed. What