Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1917-05-03

+
+ By CHARLIE EDWARD !:
+ bAN1> J.
AS the Ylang rounded the headland
I noticed off to the starboard two
hulks, red with rust, awash under the
branches Of the big trees that grew in
a dense forest far out into the shallow
water Of the lagoon One steamer was
wedged in between great boles, the tops
Of its 1nasts showing oddly above the
overhanging greenery. The other lay
well over upon its side, like some port
ly marine monster that had taken shell
ter there from the tropic sun. How
any person not a positive idiot could
have blundered into such a place pass
ed my comprehension.
The repeated blasts from our whistle
had reused the owner of the cocoanut
grove that was to furnish us our car
go, and presently the white drill suit
and pfth helmet which we always asso-
ciate with tho white man in the trop-
les appeared in the stern Of a boat
which glided out from under the trees.
Before II gangplank was fairly low
cred a tall, rawboned young English
man, distinctly of the gentleman"
type, came over the ships side and in
troduced himself as Shackleford, the
man with whom I had contracted to
carry a load of nuts to Liverpool.
mo, 1 haven't a black on the place."
he explained in response to an inquiry
Of mine HIS we took our places in his
fiat bOttomed boat, manned wholly by
Cinnamon, and started for his bunga-
low, whose corrugated roof blazed in
the intense sunlight through a rift in
the %cocoanut grove. ut costs three
times as much for Chinese labor, but
for some reason I can't get a niger to
come near the plantation"
That's strange"
"Wait till tonight and you'll hear as
AOIAlpiC u WV as you CFCI uS|dAo. Ah&h
you'll know. The mountains back there
are alive with apes. That is why I put
up a twenty-five foot high barbed wire
fence"
That evening we We're sitting in the
bungalow, slipping whisky and soda
and swapping yarns about Penang.
when RI volley Of barks, sharp as the
rattle of musketry. made me spring up
in, alarm.
Shackleford put down his glass and
haw-hawed. cts only those blasted
apes" he explained when he had man
aged to control his mirth. Take down
that rife md come along"
Armei1 with the rifles, we made our
way to the edge of the grove near
est the spur Of the mountain. AS we
approached a. chorus of snarls greeted
us, and in the clear starlight I saw
a host Of Infatuated apes hurting them
selves against the barbed wire fence.
For a time the brutes paid little heed
to our fusillade. Then, under the lead
ership of a huge gray ape, they broke
and made for cover.
The great grizzled brute "a the last
to retire, and at the edge Of the jungle
it turned and gibbered at us in a way
that made my flesh creep. 1t seemed
to voice the fathomless hatred OF the
whole jungle world for the usurper
man.
Tile next morning on our way back
to the steamer ] asked Shackleford
about the two wrecks.
"Oh, I fancy the fool captains could
not steer straight" he replied lightly.
Observation-Disclosures the chap I bought
the grove from-said that both ships
We're loaded with cocoanuts. He would
/ not talk much about it, though-too
sour to talk about anything"
Later, to satisfy my curiosity, l row.
ed over and had a look at the hulks,
and as l examined them I noted two
facts that kept me specializing for
days. Before either steamer went into
it's present position the boats had been
hastily slashed away, and there wasn't
a single cocoanut to be seen in either
hold.
That night I spent ashore again with
Shackleford, and when l returned to
my ship the following morning Ifound
it in an ominous state Of excitement.
Usually the Chinese portion of it oc-
cupied the forward part of the main
deck, eating and sleeping in the cor
ners among the steam winches. The
lascars had always claimed the fore
castle head, where their tall, gaunt
bodies and swathed heads seemed an
in%separable part of the ship. Now, how
ever, race and caste were forgotten,
and turbans and pigtails mingled pro-
miscuously in groups that whispered
eagerly in a dozen corners.
At sight of me they quickly dis
persed, but with those two rusty hulks
looming up yonder as object lessons l
took prompt measures to forestall Il
possible mutiny. Summoning the first
mate, a half caste from Calcutta that
] had picked up in Penang when Mac
PhersOn died Of cholera, l locked the
1ppp hohip1 hf,n Loft M yavnlvor On