The evening world., 1919-12-22

Wv was well down in the |
harbor, no firing since |
noon, nor need OF further hands. No |
natives had appeared in the COM
pound after We succeeded in getting |
the gates shut, and there was no
chance for them to live long in the
open around there, with all the castle |
ports 50 ensily manned, Lance was
utterly exhausted, and had tumbled !
asleep at the supper table. Shiela,
bled gray, Whimpered softly in the
sleep Of exhaustion. Magda roamed /
like q big night animal, around the
court and castle wells, and l waited
| IN different piaces-making appear
nnce OF heavy thought and cark OF
responstbility-in reality hoping for
Chireen Holt TO Join me out OF pure
accident. These things happen.
l was just crossing the grounds FOR
"A look at the bunk house OF the
| Chinese when she came and walked
with me. CattCn had his thirty-five
men down in the harOor: fifteen were
on sentry work In the court and
castle, but the rest were off duty back
in the bunk houSD, an unreasonable
division OF force, with the possibility
Of being cut off from the castle by an
'NNl ~ al lAl'At NANNpAt u tbul Sc l'l
the underground passage connecting
the castle with the Chinese quarters.
We had crossed the compound and
were out in the silent jungle AT the
blue lagoon, the furthest point Of the
grounds. The night was absolutely
sthl and heavy. The long gray-green
moss hung motionless. More in
tensely, l believe, than at any other
time in recent months 1t bore down
upon me how little and far We were
down here on our toy island, floating
like a blue gentian flower adIift in
the Pacific. Enough things had hap
pened in the past few hours to have
me completely out OF myself so that
now a Jack BOwditch in a dream
seemed to be watching the other doing
/ taltertngly the thing at hand.
The air was thick and sticky and OPP
pressive as we approached the bunk
house-a hugo concrete affair with
r barred windows like the castle, and
, a heavy iron door. There seemed al
ways a purple mist here at night
2 Twisted buttressed trunks arched
| over the path, their tops an intricate
weave of creepers and vegetable
snakes; clusters OF pandanus plant
! perchcd on sprawling stilt-like legs,
, we're like giant watching spiders
, Over all was the siclSish sweet Odor
3 that hung In pallid clusters Of pink
hpUrpiG from tho trees glUwerS go
perfect and luxurious as TO be dis
I gusting, like the hand Of the yellow
Lord. The whole feel Of tho night
> air down by this region was so still
Q and deathlike that something in the
r phi Of my chest sent out a warning
to retreat Chireen didn't miss my
tremors.
, Lamps were low-turnfd in the
. | bunk-hOuSe. We were admitted by
Tho Crane, head timclleeper of the
7 plantation. White foremen and over
: scers might come and 90; coolies
, were beaten or killed, but The
| Crane remained a fixture, q sort OF
! extension Of Hoy Mons conscious
ness beaten thin. Catten 1t was who
, had given The Crane his name from
: the iattcr's habit Of standing notion
: less on one leg for lnterminable
! periods Of timo like a Eaunt water
i bird, the flat Of ono foot cushioned
uElnBt the inner surface Of his Op-
. ! pOsite thigh How he held his equilib-
rum was n mystery to all OF US. We
laid II to his feet, which were hugo
and Splayed; also TO the comparative
. cindrIdtlOn Of the rest of his body.
9 The Crane was utterly importurbabIc
{ and the color Of old ivory. His eyes,
! behind huge horn trimmed spectacle
| AlH'N Il OIL VI Llilll Nv VI llltuls ] nav &
never seen a living creature worn SO
thin.
70 The murmuring which one might
}, take to be the night wind came really
from within-siEhs and low intOninEs
from human lips, sounds that came
y from eather in nor out Of the realm
d Of sleep In a backward fash ! re-
| called once before when | had heard
st something like this-When had spent
single night on the stone floor of q
- jail in Port Said, in company viii
some Of the darkest hoat Of three
g. continents.
It We stood presently in the centre
% the place, in tho light Of seVerR
= loR-tuFned lanterns. Over a hundred
and tittY Chinese were in these quar-,
10 ters, many having overlooked TO IN,
~ curthcn floor from the triple tier %
10 hunks. The eyes Of those sim smok
III iug turned upon us dead. injurious
"a yet glowing with dun fever, like tn,
1 stare OF patients suffering from acut
~ spinal disease. Some lifted their heads
a Tor an instant from Moor or hunks
y those who had evidently been tend
~ ing the three little stone fire hole
!" built in the moor for the cooking o
the pellets.
III For "A cu~0lc Of minutna we stood
turning slowly about, returning star
Us for stare that deaths head circle Tn
u bodies looked moro ravDged Than b.
III day-legs of bone stretched over wit
II parchment dangled over the sides o
O. hunks. The skin seemed tight ant
M shiny over yellow slvuhs and check
r bones Resting on their chaFts, o
at hanging listlcssly from bony fingers
IN were the opium pipes. In the centr
I'm were the rifles in rickety stacks.
he We were back in the jungle patti
or again.
is Put how do they get the stun
n, Chirccn? It's costly these days. |
takes lot OF manual labor to a.
t. ford TO smoke opium aid night. Cat
mt ten never speaks OF these thngs'
nd She shuddeFed.
w ITO Re Continued.)