Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-04-15
''The Wings
of the Morning
Copyrighted by E. J. CIode)
BY LOUIS TRACY


powder beneath his heel. Gladly would
Iris and he have dispensed with the
friendly protection of the tarpaulin
when the cool evening breeze came
from the south. But such thing might
not be even considered. Several hours
of darkness must elapse before the
moon rose, and during that period,
were their foes so minded, they would
be absolutely at the mercy of the sum-
pitan shafts if not covered by their
impenetrable buckler.
The sailor looked long and earnest
ly at the well. Their own. bucket, i'm
provised out of a dish-cover and a
rope, lay close to the brink. A stealthy
crawl across the sandy valley, half a
minute of grave danger, and he would
be up the ladder again with enough
water to serve their imperative needs
for days to come.
There was little or no risk in de-
scending the rock. Soon after sunset
it was wrapped in deepest gloom, for
night succeeds day in the tropics with
wondrous speed The hazard lay in
twice crossing the white sand, were
any of the Dyaks hiding behind the
house or among the trees.
He held no foolhardy view of his
own powers. The One-sided nature of
the conflict thus far was due solely
to his possession of Lee-MetfOrdS as
opposed to muzzle-loaders. Let him be
surrounded on the level at close quar-
tiers by a dozen determined men and
he must surely succumb.
Were it not for the presence of Iris
he would have given no second thought
to the peril. 1t was just one of those
undertakings which a soldier jumps at.
Here goes for the V. G. of Kingdom
Comet" is the pithy philosophy of
Thomas Atkins under such circum-
stances.
Now, there was no V. c., but there
was Iris.
To act without consulting her was
impossible, so they discussed the pro-
ject. Naturally she secuted it.
"The Mahomm edan may be able to
help u.s. she pointed out. 'In any
event let us wait until the moon wanes.
That is the darkest hour. We do not
know what may happen meanwhile"
The words had hardly left her
mouth when an irregular vOlley was
fired at them from the right flank of
the enemy's position. Every bullet
struck yards above their heads, the
common failing of musketry at night
being to take too high an aim. But
the impact of the missiles on a rock
so highly impregnated with minerals
caused sparks to fly, and jerks saw
that the Dyaks would obtain by this
means most dangerous index of their
faulty practice Telling Iris to at once
occupy her safe corner, he rapidly adj
justed a rifle on the wooden rests al
ready prepared in anticipation of an
attack from that quarter, and fired
three shots at the opposing crest,
whence came the majority of gum
flashes.
One, at least, of the three found a
human billet. There was shout of
surprise and pain, and the next volley
spurted from the ground level. This
could do no damage owing to the angle
but he endeavored to discomfort the
marksmen by keeping up a steady fire
in their direction. He did not dream
of attaining other than moral eff
feet as there is a lot of room to miss
when aiming in the dark. Soon he inn
agined that the burst of flame from
his rife helped the Dyaks, because
several bullets whizzed close to his
head, and about this time firing re-
commenced from the crest.
MISUNDERSTANDING oil Ills ohlll dllu
manipulation of the wooden supports,
he failed to dislodge the occupants
Every minute one or more ounces of
lead pitched right into the ledge, dam
aging the stores and tearing the tar
paulin, whilst those which struck the
wall of rock were dangerous to Iris
by reason of the molten spray.
He could guess what had happened.
lxrfrN Anf t1n c1n n1ofn
or squeezing close to the projecting
shoulder of the cliff, the Dyaks were
so little exposed that idle CT ance alone
would enable him to hit one of them.
But they must be shifted, or this night
bombardment would prove the most
serious development yet encountered.
Are you all right, Iris?" he called
out
Eyes, dear" she answered.
''Well, 1 want you to keep yourself
covered by the canvas for little
while-especially your head and Shout
ders. / am going to stop these chaps.
They have found our weak point, but
l can battle them"
She did not ask what he proposed
to do. He heard the rustling of the tar
paulin as she pulled it. Instantly he
cast loose the rope-ladder and, armed
only with a revolver, dropped down
the rock. He was quite invisible to
the enemy. On reaching the ground he
listened for a moment. There was no
sound save the occasional reports
ninety yards away. He hitched up the
lower rungs of the ladder until they
were six feet from the level, and then
crept noiselessly, close to the rock, for
some forty yards.
He halted beside small poon-tree,
and stopped to find something embed
ded near its roots At this distance he
could plainly hear the muttered con-
versation of the Dyaks, and could see
several of them prone on the sand. |
The latter fact proved how fatal would |
be an attempt on his part to reach the |
we'll. They must discover him instant