Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-02-11

we have exhausted the unpleasant
surprises of the island. Anyhow, now
for splash!'
She was hardly in the water before
she began to be afraid on account OF
jerks. Suppose anything happened TO
/ him, whilst she was thOughtlessly en-
/ loving herself here So strongly did
the thought possess her that she nur-
riedly dressed again and ran OH 10
find him.
He was engaged in fastening num-
Der of bayonets transversely to long
piece of timber.
'eWhat are you doing that for? she
asked.
.Whv did you return so soon? Did
/ anything alarm your
81 thought you might get into mis-
chief" she confessed.
.eNo. On the other hand, / am trying
to make trouble for any unwelcome
visitors" he replied. "This is cheval
de frise. which 1 intend to set up in
front of our cave in case we are COM
pelled to defend ourselves against an
attack by savages With this barring
the way they cannot rush the posi-
ton"
I u.
wild spot after all. Did not thorns and
briers grow very close to the gates OF
Eden?
On the nineteenth day of their resi-
dence on the island the sailor climbed,
as was his invariable habit, to the
/ Summit Rock whilst Iris prepared
breakfast. At this early hour the nor
lion was clearly cut as the rim OF a
sapphire. He examined the whole arc
of the sea with his glasses, but not
sail was in sight. According to his
calculations, the growing anxiety as
TO the fate of the Sirdar must long
ere this have eliminated in the dis
patch from Hong Kong or Singapore
of a special search vessel, whilst the
British warships in the China Sea
would be warned to keep close look
ont for any traces of the steamer, TO
visit all islands on their route, ana TO
question fishermen whom they encoun-
tered. So help might come any day,
or it might be long deferred. He could
not pierce the future, and 1t was use
less to vex his soul with questionlngs
as to what might happen next week.
The great certainty of the hour was
Iris-the blue-eyed, smiling divinity
who had come into his life-Waltlng
for him with a sweet-vOiced greeting;
and he knew, with a fierce deVourlng
low. that her cheek would not pale nor
her lin tremble when he announced
that at least another sun must set be-
fore the expected relief reached them.
He replaced the glasses in their
case and dived into the wood, giving
| r,I,+ 4O "a
wind. after blowing steadily from the
south for nearly a week, had Veered
round to the northeast during the
night. Did the change pOrtend
storm? Well, they were now prepared
for all such eventualities, and ne mao
not forgotten that they possessed,
among other treasures, box OF DOCKS
for rainy days. And a rainy day with
Iris for company What gale that ev-
er blew could offer such compensa~
ton for enforced idleness?
The morning sped in uneyentful
work. Iris did not neglect her cher
ished pitcher plant. After luncheon
it was her custom now to carry a
dishful of water to it's apparently
arid roots, and she rose to fulfill her
self-imposed task.
LET me help you" said jerks. Il
am not very busy this afternoon"
mo, thank you. simply won't al
low you to touch that shrub. The dear
thing looks quite glad to see me. 1t
drinks up the water as greedily as a
thirsty animal"
Even a cabbage has heart, Miss
| Deane"
She laughed merrily. 81 do believe
you are offering me a compliment,
! she said 81 must indeed have found
favor in your eyes"
He had schooled himself to resist
the opening given by this class OF re-
tort, so he turned to make some cor
rections in the scale of the sun-dlaI
he had constructed, aided therein by
daily observations with the seXtant
left by the former inhabitant OF the
cave.
Iris had been gone perhaps five
minutes when he heard a distant
shrek, twice repeated, and then there
came family to his ears his own
name, not Jerks" but Robert" in
the girls voice. Something terrible
had happened. 1t was cry of supreme
distress. Mortal agony or overwhelm-
ing terror alone could wiring that
namet from her lips. Precisely in
such moments this man acted with
the decision, the unerring judgment,
the instantaneous acceptance of great
risk to accomplish great results, that
marked hi mout as a born soldier.
! He rushed into the house and
snatched from the rifle-rack one OF
the six Lee-Metfords reposing there
in apple-pie order, each with filed
magazine attached and a cartridge al
ready in position.
Then he ran, with long swift strides,
not through the trees, where he could
see nothing, but towards the beach,
whence, in forty yards, the place
where Iris probably was would be-
come visible.
At once he saw her, struggling in
the grasp of two Notwithstanding Dy-
axis, one, by his garments, a person
of consequence, hte other half-naked
savage, hideous and repulsive in APP
pearance. Around them seven men.
armed with guns and parangs, were
dancing with excitement.
Iris's captors were endeavoring to
4 tie her arms, but she was strong
and active Englishwoman, with mus
cles we'll knit by the constant labor
/ of recent busy days and a frame de-
veloped by years of horseback riding
and tennis-playing. The pair evidently
found her tough handful, and the
/ inferior Dyak, either to stop her
4 corc., 1,7s-fOr She was Shrieking "ROb-