Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-09-21

last he reached her side and she murmured.
with gasping sob:
Don't 20 away again. I cannot stand
He thought II best to soothe her agitation
by arousing interest. Still hauling in the
on which luminous wisps were writhing like
glowworms' ghosts.
You are responsible" he said. 'You
gave me an excellent idea, and | was
obliged TO carry IL out"
What have you done7"
Arranged fearsome bogey in the cave"
But how"
1T was not exactly a pleasant opera
tion, but the only laws Of necessity are
those which must be broken"
She understood that he did not wish her
to question him further. Perhaps curiosity.
now that he was safe, might have van
quished her terror. and led TO another de-
mand for enlightenment but at that instant
the sound OF an angry voice and the crunch
ing OF coral away to the left drove all else
from her mind
They are coming by way of the beach.
after ALL" whispered jerks
He was mistaken in a sense. Another
outburst of Intermittent firing among the
trees on the north OF the ridge showed that
some, at least, OF the Dyaks were advanc-
ing by their former route. The appearance
of the Dyak chief on the nat belt Of shingle,
with his right arm slung across his breast,
followers. showed that few hardy spirits
had dared TO pass the Valley Of Death
with all its nameless terrors.
They advanced cautiously enough, as
though dreadng n surprise. The chief car
rted n bright parang In his left hand the
others were armed with guns their swords
being thrust through belts. Creeping for
ward on tiptoe, though their distant COM
panons were making a tremendous row,
they looked murderous gang as they
peered across the open space, now brilliant
ly illuminated by the moon.
jerks had a sudden intuition that the
right thing TO do now was to shoot the
whole party He dismissed the thought at
once. All his preparations were governed
by the hope that the pirates might abandon
their quest after hours of fruitless search.
IL would be most unwse, he told himself.
TO precipitate hostilities. Far better avoid
conflict altogether. II that were possible,
than risk the immediate discovery of his in
accessible retreat.
In other words. ne made a grave mistake.
which shows how a man may err when
oVeragonized by the danger of the woman
ne loves The bold course was the right
one. BY killing the Dyak leader he would
nave deprived the enemy Of the dominating
lnnuence In this campaign OF revenge.
When the main body, already much per-
turbed by the unseen and intangible agen-
cies which opened fire at them In the wood,
arrived in Prospect Park to find only the
dead bodies Of their chief and his small
force, their CONSERVATION could be turned
into mad panic by a vigorous bombardment
from the rock
Probably. in less than an hour after their
landing the whole tribe would have rushed
| pell-mell to the boats. cursng the folly
which led them to this devil-haunted island
But IL serves no good purpose to say what
might have been. AS it was the Dyaks,
silent now and moving with the utmost
| caution, passed the well and were about to
| approach the cave when one of them saw
| the house.
Instantly they changed their tactics. Re.
treating hastily to the shade OF the opposite
| clin they seemed to await the coming OF
reinforcements. The sailor fanoied that a
| messenger was dispatched by way of the
north sands to hurry up the laggards, be-
| cause the distant firing slaclened, and five
minutes later fierce outbreak of wells
| among the trees to the right heraIded a
combined rush on the Belle Vue Castle
The noise made by the savages was SO
great-the screams OF bewildered birds
| circling overhead so ncessant-that Jonks
| was compelled to speak quite loudly when
| he said to Iris:
'"rhey must think we sleep soundly NOT
TO be disturbed by the volleys they have
| fired already"
She would have answered but he placed
| a restraining hand on her shoulder for the
Dyaks. quickly discovering that the hut
was empty, ran toward the cave and thus
came in full view.
AS well as jerks could Judge, the fore
| most trio of the yelping horde were i'm
paled on bayonets Of the cheval de frise
| learning too late It's formidable nature The
wounded men shrieked in agony, but their
| cries were drowned In a torrent OF amazed
| shouts from their companions. Forthwith
| there was a stampede toward the well, tho
| cliff, the beaches, anywhere TO get away
| from that awesome cavern where ghosts
| dwelt and men fell maimed at the very
threshold. The sailor. leaning as far over
| the edge Of the rock as the girls expostu-
lations would permit, heard couple of men
groaning beneath. while a third limped
away with frantic and painful haste