Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 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 Deane, daughter of the owner of the ship, and Robert Jenks, who Is working as a waiter, is wrecked. ll—All are lost save Miss 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 the island is fitted up as a habitation. A chart 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 while recovering rfles from the wreck of the Sirdar. Vl—Jenks tells Iris that his real name is Anstruther 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 XI —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 Iristheir 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. Xlll—lris and Robert, in the midst of peril, avow their love for each other. The fight continues. XlV—Mir Jan is true to his word and aids the beleaguered couple. At the critical moment the three are rescued by the British warship Orient, which has been attracted to the island by the firing XV—On board the Orient is Sir Arthur Dean, father of Iris, who has been searching for his shipwrecked child. Lord Ventnor is also on board. CHAPTER XVI. ORD VENTNOR was no fool. While Iris was transforming herself from a semisavage condltion into a semblance of an ultra chic Parisienne, Sir Arthur Deane told the earl something of the state of affairs on the island. His lordship, if handsome, saturnine man, cool, insolently polite, counseled patience, toleration, even silent recognition of Anstruther’s undoubted claims for services rendered. “She is an enthusiastic, high spirited girl,” he urged upon his surprised hearer, who expected a very different expression ■oT’bpihlon. “This fellow Anstruther is a plausible sort of rascal, a good man in a tight place, too—just the sort of fire eating blackguard who would fill the heroic bill where a fight is concerned. Hang him, he licked me twice!” Further amazement for the shipowner. “Yes, it's quite true. I interfered with his little games, and he gave me the usual reward of the devil’s apothecary. Leave Iris alone. At present she is strung up to an intense pitch of gratitude, having barely escaped a terrible fate. her come back to the normal. Anstruther’s shady record must gradually leak out. That will disgust her. He is bard up—cut off by his people and that sort of thing. There you probably have the measure of his scheming. He knows quite well that he can never marry your daughter. It is all a matter of price.” Sir Arthur willingly allowed himself to be persuaded. At the back of his head there was an uneasy consciousness that it was not "all a matter of price." If it were he would never trust a man’s face again. But Ventnor's well balanced arguments swayed him. The course indicated was the only decent one. It was humanly impossible for a man to chide his daughter and flout her rescuer within an hour of finding them. Lord Ventnor played his cards with a deeper design. He bowed to the Inevitable. Iris said she loved his rival. Very well. To attempt to dissuade her was to throw her more closely into that rival’s arms. The right course was to appear resigned, saddened, compelled against his will to reveal the distressing truth. Further, he counted on Anstruther’s quick temper as an active agent. Such a man would be the first to rebel against an assumption of pitying tolerance. He would bring bitter charges of conspiracy, of unbelievable compact to secure his ruin. All this must recoil on his own head when the facts were laid bare. Not even the hero of the island could prevail against the terrible indictment of the court martial. Finally, at Singapore, three days distant, Colonel Cos tobell and his wife were staying. Lord Ventnor, alone of those on board, knew this. Indeed, he accompanied Sir Arthur Deane largely In order to break off a somewhat trying entanglement. He smiled complacently as he thought of the effect on Iris of Mrs. Costobell’s indignant remonstrances when the baronet naked that injured lady to tell the girl all that had happened at Hongkong. However, Lord Ventnor was most profoundly annoyed, and he cursed Anstruther from the depths of his heart. But he could see a way out. He came ashore with Iris and her father? The captain of the Orient also Joined the party. The three men watched Robert and the girl walking toward them from the group of officers. “Anstruther is a smart looking fellow," commented Captain Fitzroy. “Who is he?” Truth to tell, the gallant -commander of the Orient was secretly amazed by the metamorphosis effected in Robert’s appearance since he scrutinized him through his glasses. Poor Sir Arthur said not a word, but his lordship was quite at ease. “From his name and from what

Deane tells me I believe he is an exofficer of the Indian army.” . “All! He lias left the service?” "Yes. I met him last in Hongkong.” “Then you know him?” “Quite well, if he is the man I imagine.” “That is really very nice of Ventnor,” thought the shipowner. “The last thing I should credit him with would be a forgiving disposition.” Meanwhile Anstruther was reading Iris a little lecture. ‘‘Sweet one,” he explained to her, “do not allude to me by my former rank. I am not entitled to it. Some day, please God, it will be restored to me. At present I am a plain civilian, and, by the way, Iris, during the next few days say nothing about our mine.” "Oli. why not?” "Just a personal whim. It will please me.” "If it pleases you, Robert, I am satisfied." He pressed her arm by way of answer. They were too near to the waiting trio for other comment. “Captain Fitzroy,” cried Iris, “let me Introduce Mr. Anstruther to you. Lord Ventnor, you have met Mr. Anstruther before.” The sailor shook hands. Lord Ventnor smiled affably. “Your enforced residence on the island seems to have agreed with you,” he said. “Admirably. Life here had its drawbacks, but we fought our enemies in the open. Didn't we, Iris?” “Yes. dear. The poor Dyaks were not sufficiently modernized to attack us with false testimony.” His lordship’s sallow face wrinkled somewhat. So Iris knew of the court martial, nor was she afraid to proclaim to all the world that this man was her lover. As for Captain Fitzroy, his busby eyebrows disappeared into his peaked cap when he heard the manner of their speech. Nevertheless Ventnor smiled again. “Even the Dyaks respected Miss Deane,” he said. But Anstruther, sorry for the manifest uneasiness of the shipowner, repressed the retort on his lips and forthwith suggested that they should walk to the north beach in the firstinstance, that being the scene of the wreck. During the next hour he became auditor rather than narrator. It was Iris who told of his wild fight against wind and waves; Iris who showed them where he fought with the devilfish; Iris who expatiated on the long days of ceaseless toil, his dauntless courage in the face of every difficulty, the way in which he rescued her from the clutch of the savages, the skill of his preparations against the anticipated attack and the last great achievement of all, when time after time he foiled the Dyaks’ best laid plans and flung them off, crippled and disheartened, during the many phases of the thirty hours’ battle. There were tears in her eyes when she ended, but they were tears of thankful happiness, and Lord Ventnor, a silent listener who missed neither word nor look, felt a deeper chill in his cold heart as lie realized that this woman's love could never lie his. The knowledge excited bls passion the more. His hatred of Anstruther now became a mania, {in insensate resolve to mortally stab this meddler who always stood in his path. Robert hoped that his present ordeal was over. It had only begun. He was called on to answer questions without nunjber. Why had the tunnel been made? What was the mystery of the valley of death? How did lie manage to guess the dimensions of the sundial? How came lie to acquire such an amazing stock of out of the way knowledge of the edible properties of roots and trees? How? Why? Where? When? They never would be satisfied, for not even the British navy, poking its nose into the recesses of the world, often comes across such an amazing story as the adventures of this couple on Rainbow island. He readily explained the creation of quarry and cave by telling them of the vein of antimony imbedded in the rock near the vault. Antimony is one of the substances that covers a multitude of doubts. No one, not excepting the doctors who use it, knows much about It, aud in Chinese medicine it might be a chief factor of exceeding nastiness. Inside the cavern the existence of the partially completed shaft to the ledge accounted for recent disturbances on the face of the rock, and newcomers could hot, of course, distinguish the bones of poor “J. S.” as being the remains of a European. Anstruther was satisfied that none of them hazarded the remotest guess as to the value of the gauftt rock they were staring at, and chance helped him to baffle further inquiry. A trumpeter on board the Orient was blowing his lungs out to summon them to luncheon when Captain Fitzroy put a final query. “I can quite understand,” he said to Robert, “that you have an affection for this weird place< z 6ut\l am curious to know why you lay clann to the island. You can hardly intend to return here.” He pointed to Robert’s placard stuck on the rock. •

Anstruther paused before he answered. He felt that Lord Ventnor’s dark eyes were fixed on him. Everybody was more or less desirous to have this point cleared up. He looked the questioner squarely in the face. "In some parts of the world,” he said, “there are sunken reefs, unknown, uncharted, on which many a vessel has been lost without any contributory fault on the part of her officers.” “Undoubtedly.” “Well, Captain Fitzroy, when I was stationed with my regiment in Hongkong I encountered such a reef and wrecked my life on it. At least that Is how it seemed to me then. Fortune threw me ashore here after a long and bitter submergence. You can hardly blame me if I cling to the tiny speck of land that gave me salvation." "No,” admitted the sailor. He knew there was something more in the allegory than the text revealed, but it was no business of his. "Moreover,” continued Robert smilingly, “you see I have a partner.” "There cqnnot be the slightest doubt about the partner,” was the prompt reply. Then every one laughed, Iris more than any, though Sir Arthur Deane’s gayety was forced, and Lord Ventnor could taste the acidity of his own smile. Later in the day the first lieutenant told his chief of Anstruther’s voluntary statement concerning the court martial. Captain Fitzroy was naturally pained by this unpleasant revelation, but he took exactly the same view as that expressed by the first lieutenant In Robert’s presence. Nevertheless he pondered the matter and seized an early opportunity of mentioning it to Lord Ventnor. That distinguished nobleman was vastly surprised to learn how Anstruther had cut the ground from beneath his feet. “Yes,” he said, in reply to the sailor’s request for information, “I know all about it. It could not well be otherwise, seeing that next to Mrs. Costobell I was the principal witness against him.” “That must have been awkward for you,” was the unexpected comment. "Indeed! Why?” “Because rumor linked your name with that of the lady in a somewhat outspoken way.”

“You astonish me. Anstruther certainly made some stupid allegations during the trial, but I had no idea he was able to spread this malicious report subsequently.” “I am not talking of Hongkong, my lord, but of Singapore, months later.” Captain Fitzroy’s tone was exceeding dry. Indeed, some people might deem it offensive. His lordship permitted himself the rare luxury of an angry scowl. “Rumor is a lying jade at the best,” he said curtly. "You must remember. Captain Fitzroy. that I have uttered no word of scandal about Mr. Anstruther. and any doubts concerning his conduct can lie set at rest by perusing the records of ills case in the adjutant general's office at Hongkong.” “Hum!” said the sailor, turning on his heel to enter the chart room. The girl and her father wont back to the Island with Robert. After taking thought the latter decided to as'.; Mir Jan to remain in possession until ho returned. There was not much risk of another Dyak invasion. The fate of Taung S'Ali's expedition would not encourage a fresh set of marauders, ami the Mohammedan would be well armed to meet unforeseen contingencies, while on his (Anstruther’s) representations the Orient would land an abundance of stores. In any event it was better for the native to live in freedom on Rainbow Island than to be handed over to the authorities as an escaped convict, which must be his immediate fate no matter what magnanimous view the government of India might afterward take of his services. Mir Jan’s answer was emphatic. He took off his turban and placed it on Anstruther’s feet. “Sahib.” he said. “I am your dog. If some day I am found worthy to be your fnlthful servant, then shall I know that Allah has pardoned my transgressions.” (to bk contihubd 1

Wanted:—A reliable middleaged woman as helper in a family of two middle-aged women. Apply at this office.

He looked the questioner squarely in the face.