Evening star., 1923-08-12

in the grass or turning and running
away before our FIRE. BY the time
the three men reached US the rifles of
the police were empty. shot one
man at about twelve yards, and,
hastily jerking at the lever OF my
Winchester. threw 1t again to my
shouler and pulled the trigger at
second man who was coming straight
for me. The lock clicked. but no re-
port followed, and, dropping my rife
as the man raised his spear to strike,
I tried simultaneously to draw my
revolver and squirm out of the way
of the stab. Just in the nick of time
there came an appalling explosion
close by my ear. nearly stunning me,
and my enemy's face seemed to be
out at the back of the head. Poruma
had fired both barrels of my shotgun
into the mans face. The order to
charge was hailed by the police with
a yell, and. using the butts of their
rifles freely, they captured several
prisoners from among the now flying
islanders.
Then we returned to the Siai, drag
ging our prisoners with us. leaving
the natives to bury their dead and
succor their wounded. A small body
of freshly arrived natives followed
U.S. but a shot or two kept them at a
distance. My men had sustained only
a few bruises. I learned that night
from our prisoners that we had
rather taken the village by surprise.
as a much larger body of men than
We had yet encountered was available
from some farther back villages.
thanked my stars that we had not
met their full strength, for 1t had
been touch -and-go with US asit was
THE following morning, after let
i ting go the Siai's second anchor
ing chained all the prisoners in the
hold, I landed every man on board
viz, fifteen fighting men, the three
armed Queensland boys and Sata-
deai-for an attempt on the inland
hill villages. Mesdames Clone and
Warapas, native wives Of the cox
swain and mate of the vessel, were
left sitting on the hatch with toma-
hawks In their hands and instruc-
tions to crack any man on the head
who attempted to break loose.
We hid the Siai's boats in the man.
groves and struck inland. avoiding
tracks In order TO dodge ambushes,
and marching silently in very extend
ed order. Suddenly We came upon q
point where half a dozen, tracks from
the mountains converged upon the
main path to the coast. Here broke
lfn my into small hndfaS 20
plore the tracks. and all had orders
to move at once toward any sound Of
rifle fire. ! remained at the junction
of the track. with a lame boy. Giorgi,
an ex-private of constabulary, who,
having Injured his tendon achilles in
a fight. had been transferred to the
Siai's crew, as no longer At for severe
marches.
Giorgi knew little of the Good
enough language, and as he and sat
and smoked our pipes-while I await.
ed a report from one. or other of the
scouting parties-we heard voices.
and, secreting ourselves in the scrub.
saw emerge from II half a dozen arm
ed men only a few PAGES away. Tell
them to throw down their arms or
they die this instant" I whispered.
Giorgi yelled at them, and they stop
ped. petrified by surprise: then, in re-
sponse to a still more imperative roar
from him, dropped the spears. clubs
and slings and stood still.
Handing my Winchester to Giorgi
and taking his two handcuffs and my
own pair, I walked up to the men
and, moving them together. handcuff-
ed them one to another. Giorgi mean
while uttering blood threats
of what would happen to them IL they
moved. When I had secured them,
Giorgi emerged. and great was the
disgust of that six when they .discov-
cred that they had been taken by two
men. Every one OF these men, We
found, had been concerned
in the massacre of Thompson's boys.
Shortly after this my scouting par
ties returned and reported that the
islanders were apparently in strong
force in village approached by a
spur, to which at once
proceeded. AS we came to it's foot.
loud horn blowing and beating Of
drums showed plainly that our where
about were known. AS gazed at the
spur. wondering how on earth / could
storm the village without losing my
men, party of natives suddenly
emerged from the bush and, to our
mutual surprise, walked right into
US. A few hastily aimed shots on
our part and a few hurriedly thrown
spears on theirs ended the AFFAIR. the
natives flying into the bush. They
were evidently a party moving up to
the assistance of the threatened VIII
lage, quite unaware Of our position.
This last encounter alarmed me ex-
ceedingly; for. when all was said and
done. we numbered. only fifteen rifles;
and had that last party of islanders
discovered US before we did them. or
had they been more numerous. we
sh uld have been overwhelmed in the
first rush. At close quarters an empty
rifle is no more efficient weapon than
a club or spear, and numbers would
tell. My revolver" at the most would
last only for a couple of minutes. .Ac-
cordingly I summoned Stone, Wara-
pas and Poruma and put the case to
them.
You have seen what happened just
now" 1 said. Shall we stop and
fight the people ourselves. or shall
we ask the governor for help7. I
want your advice before we run
away"
THE man who hunts the wild boar
with a fish spear Is not strong. only
mad" said Stone. "and we are but a
Ash spear" 80.
TT has been a good fight" said
warapas; cit will be bad one for US
II we stay"
"If Mr.. Moreton were here" said