The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-02-16
Mad Devils
What Became of a
Cargo of Cocoanuts
By CHARLES EDWARD
BANGS

~S-T-5-T~J~t-f't't-t-t-t''t-'t~
As the Ylang rounded the headland
noticed Off to the starboard two
hulks, red with rust, awash under the
branches of the big trees that grew In
q dense forest far out into the shallow
water Of the lagoon One steamer was
wedged in between great boles, the tops
Of its masts 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 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
60, and presently the white drill suit
and pith helmet which we always asso-
ciate with the white man In the trop-
les appeared in the stern Of a boat
which glided out from under the trees.
Before our 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, haven't a black on the place."
he explained in response to an inquiry
Of mine as we took our places In his
f1at 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. 1T costs three
times as much for Chinese labor, but
for some reason can't get a niger to
come near the plantation"
that's strange"
"Wait till tonight and you'll hear as
horrible row as you ever heard. Then
you'll know. The mountains back there
are alive with apes. That is why put
up a twenty-five foot high barbed wire
fence"
That evening we were sitting in the
bungalow, slipping whisky and soda
and swapping yarns about Penang.
when a volley of barks, sharp as the
rattle of musketry, made me spring up
In alarm.
Shackleford put down his glass and
haw-hawed. Its only those blasted
apes" he explained when he had man.
aged to control his mirth. "Take down
that rife and come along"
Armed with the rifles, we made our
way to the edge Of the grove near
est the, spur Of the mountain. As we
approached chorus Of snarls greeted
us, and In the clear starlight / 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 was 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.
The next morning on our way back
to the steamer 1 asked Shackleford
about the two wrecks.
"Oh, l fancy the fool captains could
not steer straight" he replied lightly.
Longstreth-thats the chap l bought
the grove from-said that both ships
were loaded with cocoanuts. He would
not talk much about 1t, though-too
sour to talk about anything"
Later, to satisfy my curiosity, row.
ed over and had look ut the hulks,
and as l examined them l noted two
facts that kept me specializing for
days. Before either steamer went into
its present position the boats had been
hastily slashed away, and there wasn't
single cocoanut to be seen In either
hold.
That night / spent ashore again with
Shackleford, and when l returned to
my ship the following morning found
1t i'm an ominous state Of excitement.
Usually the Chinese portion of it &C.
cupied the forward part of the main
deck, eating and sleeping i'm 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
inseparable part of the ship. Now, how
ever, race and caste We're 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 I
took prompt measures to forestall
possible mutiny. Summoning the first
mate, a half caste from Calcutta that
] had picked up In Penang when Mac
Pherson died of cholera, locked the
door behind him, left my revolver on
the table, where he could mediate
upon its use as we talked. and then
asked him a few pointed questions.
He turned white under his inky skin,
but soon pulled himself together and
began to lie to me. I knew 1t by
the way his eyelids flickered. The bay
was too hot for even Chinaman to
live on; the lagoon was full of sharks;
the typhoon season was coming on
these and a dozen other reasons for
leaving at once slipped from his oily
tongue and left me more puzzled than