The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1916-11-24

hardly anything comes ashore. At any
rate, they are quite sure you cannot go
back"
1t would be be idle to deny that the
Spaniard's words sent a chill of ap-
prehcnsion down the spines Of some of
those present, but the captain said
quietly:
Where a ship is concerned, if she
can enter on the food she can go out
on the ebb. How came you to escape
tonight?'
Tears stood again in suarez's eyes
as he replied:
they would be driven off, provided a
watch were kept. l resolved to risk all
in the attempt to reach the company
of civilized men once more. I do not
care what the outcome may be. If l
can help you to overcome them. l am
ready to do so; if not, I will die by
your side. Tonight / followed in a ca
noe unseen. When l heard the shoot
ing I leaped overheard and swan to
the ship. 1t was lucky for me some
one seized the canoe which l found
there. The men in her had to swim to
other canoes, and two were wounded,
I heard them say. This caused some
confusion, and / had something to
grasp when ] reached the ship; other
wise l must have been drowned, as the
water was very cold"
guage?"
is that what you call them? Their
own name for the tribe is the 'Feath-
cred People, because all their chief
men and heads Of families wear these
things and he touched his %headdress.
Yes, l know nearly all their words.
They don't use a great many. One
word may have several meanings, ac-
cording to the pitch Of the voice.
Suddenly his voice failed him.
Though the words came %1uently, his
long dislsed vocal chords were I'M
equal to the strain Of measured speech.
He asked hOarsely for some hot wa
ter. When Courtenay neXt came across
him in the salon he was asleep and
changed so greatly by the removal Of
pigments from his face that it was
difficult to regard him as the same be-
ing.
His story was unquestionably true.
Tollemache, who had fought an off
shoot tribe of these same Indians:
Christobal. who vouched for the. Ar
centine accent, and Elsie, who seemed
to have read such rare books of travel
as dealt with that little known part of
the world. bore out the reasonableness
of his statements. The only individual
on board who regarded him with sus-
picion was Joey. and even Joey was
satisfied when Suarez had washed him
self.
1t was daylight again, a dawn of
dense mist. without wind or hail, ere
any member of the ships company
thought of sleep. Then Elsie went to
her cabin and dreamed of a river Of
molten gold, down which she was COM
PEELED to sail in a cockleshell boat.
while fantastic monsters swan around
and eyed her suspiciously.
When at last she awoke after a few
hours of less exciting slumber she
came out on deck to find the sun shin
HIS VII Il IAN lulNt vi Slttll anu I)1tp
and diamond white, With gaunt gray
rocks and groves of copper beeches to
frame the picture. There was no pill
lar of smoke on the lower hills to bear
silent testimony to the presence of the
Indians. but the canoe lying alongside
told her hat the previous nights
events We're no part of her dreams,
| and a man whom Shn did pnt ,o,>r,;yo
"a man with closely cropped gray hair
and a deeply lined. weather tanned
face from which a pair of srnken,
flashing eyes looked kindly at her
said in Spanish:
Good morning. senorita. I hope I
did not startle you when l came
aboard. And l said things I should
not have said in the presence Of Il
lady. But. believe me. senorita. l was
drunk with delight"
Elsie had slept long and soundly. She
found herself in a new world Of sun
shine and calm. Her brain had been
cleared. restored to the normal by re-
freshing sleep. With IL more active
perception of the curious difficulties
which beset the Kansas came a feeling
akin to despair. The brightness of ma
ture served rather to convert the ship
into a prison. Storm and stress. wheth-
CIR of the elements or of the less candid
foes who lurked unseen on the neigh
boring shores. made the Kansas a veri-
table fortress, Il steel refuge seemingly
im~pregnable. But the knowledge of
the vessels hclplessnesss and of the
equally desperate hazard which beset
her inmates was rendered only more
poignant by the smiling aspect Of land
and sea.
But she was hungry, and that was a
saving sign. She guessed that many
of the men after mounting watch until
broad daylight We're asleep. Others
We're at work below. as was testified
by q subduel Sound of hammering,
with the sharp clink of metal against
metal. Walker was tinkcring at the