Evening star., 1921-08-14
its head of with my knife just in

it's head of with my knife just in
| time.
ing at the moment, and on rehec.
for good.
We did not near the village till late
in the afternoon. close though it
] looked. You can never accept the
besides We had to keep under shadow
| of the bush all the way.
1t was certain that the women Of
! the place would be coming home from
their gardens about S, and If the dim
dim girl caught sight of us I was
of it. I should have been none the
| worse pleased, bat I didn't want to
disappoint Willis, since he was set
upon carrying the matter through.
| We came IN sight of break in the
! deep forest and Of little track lead.
ing to it; we concealed ourselves and
sat still
| THAT is the clearing for the gar
den," ! said. THE women will come
along by and by with the food for the
out being seenEif you keep quiet"
"Of course. shall keep quiet" said
Willis. Indignantly. He struck a
match: took it away and relieved
him Of his cigarette.
Do DO -, you suppose they have no
We sat there for some time before
they came. The sun dipped quite
suddenly behind a tall rampant of
forest. and It became greenishiy dark,
under water. Still, 1t was not really
late; there was another hour OF day.
light.
| A dog yelped at last, and I knew
| they were coming, for 1t was a young
dog. such as the women carry about
| wi NJ oor
fully than they tend their own chill
dren.
| I touched Willis to impress on him
the necessity for silence. and he said
in rustling whisper, Eyes. all
right"
Then they were upon us-a file of
small. bent, brown creatures, dressed
in the narrowest frfnges OF grass hung
about their hips, each woman loaded
| down incredibly under a mountain of
frewood. babies. sweet potatoes and
bananas, and some, in addition. carry
ing her small pet dog.
! They were not ugly women, though
their hair was short and plated into
two small black tails, each weighed
down with single white dogs tooth.
and their figures were bowed with
labor. Some Of them had the bright
est and merriest brown-black eyes
that a man could wish to laugh into,
and there were one or two men who
l
and hands, tod. small and neat, as .
squirrels little hands.
! They talked as they came in soft,
tinklfng voices, like the wind blowing
through boughs or water running on
small stones. It was harder than
and greet them in their own odd
| tongues, every word of which knew.
J Last OF all came woman, taller
by six inches than any. though she
was no more than five feet two. This
! woman was very young. but she wore
no ornaments, no shell beads or
medals. no feather necklaces. no white
dogs tooth, nor was her hair braided
/ into tails. Instead 1t hung down her
back. a glorious mass Of ruddy gold.
and half-clothed the unprotected
girlish bosom.
| Her dress was no more and NO less
than that of the others. On her shoul-
| ders she carried the heaviest load
borne by any Of the crowd. and the
! shoulder and the figure ana the slim;
narrow. pointed hands were white.
BURNED by sun and beaten by
- mountain rains, darkened almost
to the hue Of half-caste-none the
less, among those small bronze figures
| the girl, in shape. size. color alike.
proclaimed herself of Rothery's race
| and mine.
heard him catch his breath. and I
pinched him to keep him quiet. 1
knew what It was that had startled
him. The creature was beautiful. She
did not look happy; she was sulisa Ia
| expression. and her hns brown eye
6rows seemed to be permanently hxed