Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1905 — The Wings of the Morning [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Wings of the Morning

By LOUIS TRACY

SYNOPSIS.

Chapter I—The Sirdar,'having among her passengers Iris Deanff, daughter of the owner of the ship, and Robert Jenks, who is working as a .waiter, is wrecked. 15— AU are lost save Mias Deane and Jenks, who are cast ashore on an islet in the Pacific. Jenkins recovers stores and weapons from the wrecked vessel. He finds the skeleton of a European on the island. IV—A cave on th? island Is fitted up as a habitation. A ehart of the island, mysteriously marked, is found 'on the skeleton. V-*-Jenks finds a hollow filled with human skeletons, the remains of a mining party. He is rescued from an octopus by Iris wbUe recovering rfles from the wreck of the Sirdar. Vl—Jenks tolls Iris that his real name is Austrirther and that, through the machinations of Lord Ventnor, he has been unjustly dismissed in disgrace from the English army. Lord Ventnor has been mentioned on the Sirdar as affianced to Iris. Vll—lris is attacked by a party .of fierce Dyaks (Polynesian natives). They are beaten off by Jenks, three, however escaping in their boat. The castaways dread their return. Vlll—Anstruther prepares to defend Iris and himself, fortifying a ledge of rock above their cave. IX—A rich gold mine, indicated on the mysterious chart of the island, is discovered in the cave. X and Xl—The Dyaks attack the island. Among them is an escaped convict, an Indian Musselman. They discover the hiding place, but are defeated by the Englishman. XII. An unlucky shot costs Jenks and Iris their water supply A truce with the savages, the Mussulman speaking Hindoo to Anstruther, acting as interpreter. Mir Jan, the Indian, agrees to aid Anstruther and supply him with water.

She paled and drew back in sudden horror. Another tap sounded on their thrice welcome covering. Evidently the Dyaks would persist in their efforts to get one of those poisoned darts home.

Jenks debated silently whether It would be better to create a commotion, thus inducing the savages to believe they had succeeded in inflicting a mortal wound, or to wait until the next arrow fell, rush out and try conclusions with dumdum bullets against the sumpitan blowers.

He decided in favor of the latter course. He wished to dishearten his assailants, to cram down their throats the belief that he was invulnerable and could visit their every effort with a deadly reprisal. Iris, of course, protested when he explained his project. But the fighting spirit prevailed. Their love idyll must yield to the needs of the hour. He had not long to wait. The last arrow fell, and he sprang to the extreme right of the ledge. First he looked through that invaluable screen of grass. Three Dyaks were on the ground and a fourth iu the fork of a tree. They were each armed with a blowpipe. Ife in the tree wits just fitting an arrow into the bamboo tube. The others were watching him. Jenks raised his rifle, fired, and the warrior in the tree pitched headlong to the ground. A second shot stretched a companion on top of him. One man jumped into the bushes and got away, but the fourth tripped over bis unwieldy sumpitau, aud a bullet tore a large section from his skull. The sailor then' amused himsdlf with breaking the bamboos by firing at them, tie came back to the white faced girl. “I fancy that further practice with blowpipes will be at a discount on Rainbow island,” he cried cheerfully. But Iris was anxious and distrait. “It is very sad,” she said, “that we are obliged to secure our own safety by the ceaseless slaughter of human beings. Is there no offer we can make them, no pamnise of future gain, to tempt them to abandon hostilities?” “None whatever. These Borneo Dyaks are bred from infancy to prey on their fellow creatures. To be strangers and defenseless is to court pillage and massacre at their hands. I think no more of shooting them than of smashing a clay pigeon. Killing a inad dog is perhaps a better simile.” “But, Robert dear, how long can we hold out?” “What! Are you growing tired of me already?” He hoped to divert her thoughts from this constantly recurring topic. Twice within the hour had it been broached and dismissed, but Iris would not permit him to shirk it again. She made no reply, simply regarding him with a wistful smile. So Jenks sat down by her side and rehearsed the hopes and fears which perplexed him. He determined that there should be no further concealment between them. If they failed to secure water that night, if the Dyaks maintained a strict siege of the rock throughout the whole of next day, well —they might survive—lt was problematical. Best leave mattery in God’s hands.

With feminine persistency she. clung to the subject, detecting his unwillingness to discuss a possible final in their sufferings. “Robert,” she whispered fearfully, “you will never let me fall into the power of the chiefs will you?” “Not while 1 live.’’ “You must live. Don’t you understand? I would go with them to save you. But I would have died by my own hand. Robert, my love, you must do this thing before the end. I must be the first to die;” The sailor wrestled with the great problem. He may be pardoned if bis heart quailed and he groaned aloud. “Iris,” he said solemnly, “whatever happens, unless I am struck dead at your feet, I promise you that wo shall pass the boundary hand in hand. Be mine the punishment if we have decided wrongly. And now,” he cried, toning his head in a defiant access of energy, “let us have done with the morgue. For my puT I retire to ac-

knowledge I am Inside until the~gates chi ng behind me.” They chatted in lighter vein with such pendulum swing back to nonchalance that none would have deemed it possible for these two to have already determined the momentous issue of the pending struggle should it go against them. And so the sun sank to rest in the sea, and the stars pierced the deepening blue of the celestial arch, while the man and the woman awaited patiently the verdict of the fates.

Before the light failed Jenks gathered all the poisoned arrows and ground their venomed points to 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 a 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 sumpltap shafts if not covered by their impenetrable buckler. The sailor looked long and earnestly at the well. Their own bucket, improvised out of a dish cover and h 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 descending the rock. Soon after sunset it was wrapped in deepest gloom, for night succeeds day sh the tropics with wondrous speed. The hazard lay in twice crossing the white sand, were any of the Dyaks biding 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 modern rifles as opposed to muzzle loaders. Let him be surrounded on the level at close quarters 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. To act without consulting her was impossible, so they discussed the project. Naturally she scouted it

“The Mohammedan may be able to help us,” 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 Jenks saw that the Dyaks would obtain by this menus a most dangerous index of their faulty practice. Telling Iris* to at once occupy her safe corner, he rapidly adjusted a rifle on the wooden rests already prepared in anticipation of an attack from that quarter and fired three shots at the opposing crest Whence came the majority of gun flashes. One at least of the three found a human billet. There was a 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 disconcert the marksmen by keeping up a steady fire In their direction. He did not dream of attaining other than a moral effect, as there is n lot of room to miss when aiming in the dark. Soon he imagined that the burst of flame from his rifle helped the Dyaks, because several bbllets whizzed close to his bend, and about this time firing recommenced from the crest.

Notwithstandlng all his skill and manipulation of the wooden supports he failed to dislodge the occupants. Every minute one or more ounces of lead pitched right into the ledge, damaging the stores and tearing the tarpaulin, while those which struck the wall of rock were dangerous to Iris by reason of the molten spray. He could guess what had happened. By lying flat on the sloping plateau or squeezing jflose to the projecting shoulder of the cliff the Dyaks were so little exposed that idle chance 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 ail right, Iris?” he called out.

“Yes, dear,” she answered. “Well, I want you to keep yourself covered- by the canvas for a little while, especially your head and shoulder*. I am going to stop these chaps. They have found our weak point, but I can baffle them.” She did not ask what be proposed to do. He heard the rustling of the tarpaulin 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 bitched up the Ibwor rungs of the ladder until they were six feet from the level and then crept noiselessly close to the rock-far some forty yard*.

He halted beside a small poon tree and stooped to find something imbedded near its roots. At this distance he could plainly hear the muttered conversation 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 well. They must discover him instantly once he quitted the somber shadows of the cliff. He waited perhaps a few seconds longer than was necessary, endeavoring to pierce the dim atmosphere and learn something of their disposition. A vigorous outburst of firing sent him back with haste. Iris was up there alone. He knew not what might happen. He Was now feverishly anxious to be with her again, to hear her voice and be sure that all was well. To his horror he found the ladder swaying gently against the rock. Some one was using it. He sprang forward, careless of consequence, and seized the swinging end, which had fallen free again. He had his foot on the bottom rung when Iris’ voice, close at hand and shrill with terror, shrieked: “Robert, where are you?” “Here!” he shouted. The next instant she dropped into his arms. A startled exclamation from the vicinity of the house and some loud cries from the more distant Dyaks on the other side of Prospect park showed that they had been overheard. “Up!” he whispered. “Hold tight and go as quickly as you can!” “Not without you!” “Up, for God’s sake! I follow at your heels!” She began to climb. He took some article from between his teeth, a string apparently, and drew it toward him, mounting the ladder at the same time. The end tightened. He was then about ten feet from the ground. Two Dyaks, yelling fiercely, rushed from the cover of the house. “Go bn,” he said to Iris. “Don’t lose your nerve, whatever happens. I am close behind you.” "I am quite safe,” she gasped. Turning and clinging en with, one hand, he drew his revolver and fired at the pair beneath, who could now faintly discern them, and were almost within, reach of the ladder. The shooting made them halt. He did not know or care if they were hit To frighten them was sufficient. Several others

were running across the sands to the cave, attracted by the noise and the cries of the foremost pursuers. Then he gave a steady pull to the cord. The shyrp crack of a rifle came from- the vicinity of the old quarry. He saw the flash among the trees. Almost simultaneously a bright light leaped from the opposite ledge, illuminating the vicinity like a meteor. It lit up the rock, showed Iris just vanishing into the safety of the ledge and revealed Jenks and the Dyaks to each other. There followed instantly a tremendous explosion that shook earth and air, dislodging every loose stone in the southwest pile of rocks, hurling from the plateau some of its occupants and wounding the remainder with a shower of lead and debris. The sailor, unmolested further, reached the ledge. In a tall tree near the valley of death he had tightly fixed a loaded rifle which pointed nt n loose stone in the rock overhanging the ledge held by the Dyaks. This stone rested against a number of precussion caps extractM from cartridges, and these were in direct communication with a train of powder lending to a blasting charge placed at the end of a twenty-four inch bole drilled with a erowbar. The impact of the bullet against the stone could not fall to explode some of the caps. He hnd used the contents of 300 cartridges to secure a sufficiency of powder, and the bullets were crammed into the orifice, being tamped with clny and wet sand. The rifle was fired by means of the string, the loose coils of which were secreted at the foot of the poon. By springing this novel mine he had effectually removed every Dyak from the ledge, over which its contents would spread like a fan. Further, it would probably deter the survivors from again venturing near the fatal spot. Iris listened, only half comprehending. Her mind was filled with one thought to the exclusion of all others. Robert had left her, had done this thing without telling her. She forgave him, knowing he acted for the best, but he must never, never deceive her again in such a manner. She could not bear it. (TO B* CONTIMUBD ] Read The Democrat for new*.

A tremendous explosion.