, 1913-04-17

man slone with zoo recruits on a ca
niDel fsland-they are cannibals. aren't
they? Or is 1t all taIkY"
"Talkr' he said. with a smile. Its
. u1ne more than that. Most Of my
boys are from the bush, and every
Dushman Is a cannibal."
But not after they become recruits !
Surely the boys you have here would
not be guilty"
AThey'e eat you II the chance afford
ed" FT
"Are you just saying 70, on theory,
or do you really known she asked.
Il know"
"Whyf What makes you think col
Your own men hereY'
Yes. my own men here. the very
house boys, the cook that at the present
moment Is making such delicious rolls.
thanks to you. Not more than three
months g eleven Of them sneaked a
whaleboat and ran for Malaita. Nine
of them belonged to Malaita. Two
were bushmen from San Cristoval.
They were. fools. the two from San
Cristoval. l mean: SO would any two
Malaita men be who trusted them,
selves In q boat with nine from ga,
Cristoval."
"Yes?' she asked eagerly. Then
what happenedT
The nine Malaita men ate the two
from San Cristoval, all except the
heads, which are too valuable for
mere eating. They sto wed them away
in the sterp locker until they landed.
And those two heads are now In SONS
bush village back of Langa Langa."
She clapped her hands and her eyes
sparkled.
They are really and truly cannibals
And just think, this is the twentieth
century! And l thought a anH
adventure were fossilizedr'
He looked at her with mild amuse
ment.
what is the matter nowT' she
queried.
"Oh, nothing. only / don't fancy be-
ing eaten by a lot of filthy niggers is
the least bit romantic"
mo. of course not" she admitted.
But to be among them. controlling
them, directing them. 200 of them, and
to escape being eaten by them-that.
at least, II it isn't romantic, is certain
ly the quintessence of adventure. And
adventure and romance are allied. you
know"
by the same token, to go into a
nigger's stomach should be the quin-
tessence of adventure" he retorted.
Il don't think you have any romance
in you," she exclaimed. You're just
dull and somber and sordid. like the
business men at home. don't know
why you're here at all. You should be
at home placidly negotiating as a bank
er's clerk or-or''-
"a shopkeeper's assistant, thank
you"
Eyes. that-anything. What unoer
the sui are you doing here on the edge
Of things?"
Earning my bread and butter. try
ing to get or in the world"
"'By the bitter road the youngest son
must tread ere he win to hearth AND
saddle of his own" she quoted. why.
If that isn't romantic. then nothing Is
romantic. Think Of all the younger
sons out over the world. on a myraid
of adventures. winning to those same
hearths and saddles. And here you
are in the thick of it, doing it, and
here am 1 in the thick of 1t, ding it."
I'll beg pardon" he drawled-
"Well. I'm a younger daughter,
then" she amended: land l have no
hearth nor saddle haven't anybody
or anything-and I'm just as far on the
edge Of things as you are"
"In your case. then, I'll admit there
IL a bit of romance" he confessed.
He could not help but think of the
preceding nights and of her sleeping
in the hammock on the veranda under
mosquito curtains, her bodyguard OF
Tahitian sailors stretched out at the
far corner of the veranda within call.
He had been too helpless to resist, but
now he resolved she should have his
couch inside while he would take the
hammock.
"You see. l had read and dreamed
ABOUT rouiahce uh my uie' she ""n
saying. "but l never in my widest
fancies thought that l should live It.
It was all so unexpected. Two years
ago 1 thought there vas nothing left
to me but She faltered and made
a moue Of distaste. well. the only
thing that remained. 1t seemed to me
was marriage"
~And you preferred a cannibal isle
and a cartridge belt?" be suggested.
II didn't think Of the cannibal Isle
but the cartridge belt was blissful."
"You wouldn't dare use the revolvei
II you were compelled to. Or" notins