The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1935-02-14
SYNOPSIS

-
Talbot sails on the SIS. Orient
for Honolulu. On board. he meets
beautiful Vanya Prokovna, profes.
sional dancer. Vanya ignores
Mark, but he cannot forget her. In
Honolulu, on Z round Of the night
clubs. he searches for her in vain.
Next morning, while standing on =
wharf, he watches Z boat steaming
BY and Is stunned to see vanya on
deck. He learns the vessel belongs
to Pearly Shene and IL undoubted.
y heading south for Tonga in 1.-THE
Friendly Islands" Anxious to get
away from Honolulu, Mark books
passage on the "Colin" sailing
west. Mark cannot resist inquir.
Ing about Vanya's destination. He
learns that 1.-THE Friendly Isles"
were once cannibal islands now In.
habited with the scum of the South
Seas . disreputabls place for
any girl. All night Marx 10 haunt.
ed By vanya's image.
CHAPTER VIII
"For thirty cents or less" he told
himself. "I'd 70 on to China. There's
always . revolution or two to be
found there, and ! should Be able to
work myself into the excitement, on
one side or the other. Besides, it's
. long way from Tonga"
He kicked the edge Of his bunk
with his heel.
"There doesn't seem to b room
In the same hemisphere for Vanya
and mel" he muttered savagely.
sTonga's one place I'll never visit. !"
He felt much relieved the next
morning, when they raised the
Radaek Chain Of the Marshall
Islands. He watched the shipping
Of cargo on Button Island, on New
Year Island, on little islands with
unpronounceable names. When it
was finished, he said Q regretful
farewell to the Colin, and watched
It steam over the horizon for San
Francisco.
Mark found . pearler bound for
the Carolines. He entered . new
phase Of his travels: week after
week slipped away and he was
happy. He was like . small boy on
summer vacation: he reveled in his
freedom, he learned avidly the OK.
otto customs and queer conditions
ef the tropic seas.
He stood in curious ruined build.
lngs on remote coral atolls, temples
raised By dead races Of which his
tory knows nothing. He watched
divers descend to mysterious blue.
green depths populated by unknown
dangers: he worked the pumps for
them; he shared the thrill when IN
opened shell surrendered . glow
In waterfront saloons he talked
With adventurous traders, or pearl.
ers from unnamed coral islets, and
heard stories Of the finding Of mar
velous pearls. Of the dangers the
divers faced in octopus and devil
Dish, in giant nlan-catching clans.
Sometimes the conversation turn.
cd on the bunyip, the strange sea-
monster Of island legend. tales sim
liar. Is nearly as Mark could gather,
to the stories Of sea-serpents in the
Atlantic. He heard It described -
man-like and hideous. as spider.
like. with many limbs, as . shell.
encrusted serpent - long and
massive o an express train. And
in the smoky light Of island taverns,
the stories seemed almost prob.
able.
At first Mark loved the life he
WAS leading. He met and drank
with men Of adventures, strange
characters that might have stepped
from the pages Of some novel. He
felt sympathy for them, - Il he
belonged to their world; and he
had, he convinced himself. forgot
ten vanys.
Then the thing began to pail.
"I'm not really living this life. "
he admitted to himself. I'm mere
" an onlooker. = good audience for
yarns and tall stories. I'm accept
ed with reservations-good com.
pany as long Is I buy the drinks
That wasn't 1t oil what he want
ed; he wanted to live the adven-
lures he heard IN stories. He
walked ont Of . saloon one night in
Suva, or the Fiji lslAndS. and