Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 31, Number 216, 2 September 1906 — Page 3

Page Threel ; The People in the Story are Real and Not Puppets, and the Plot Mr. Tracy Has Woven About Them is Most Ingenious viuiuuin; viu uiiu HllUUlU lilt; (V&A? er's Attention From the Opening Chapter MoFfflisS By LOUIS TRACY i Copyright. 1903. by ' t Edward J. Cl.de

ne Richmond Palladium, Sunday, September 2, 1906-

jenks understood, or course, tnat rve

rp.nl dnnger would nriso when they vis Ited the scene of their comrade's dis aster. Even thn the wavering bal ance of eh?n'-e might cast the isstie in Ms fator. He could only wait, with ready rifle, with the light of battle . lowering In his eyes. Of one thing at least he was certain hef ore they congnerod hiin he would levy a terrible toll. . He glanced back at Iris. Her face was pale beneath its mask of sun Drown. The chif was listening Intently to the story of the Dyak who saw the lead man totter and fall. He pave lome quick order. Followed by a score or mere of Lis men, Tie walked rapidly to the foot of the cliff where they found the lifeless body. f Jenks stole one more hasty glance at Iris. The chief and the greater number of his followers were out of sight behind the rocks. Some of them must now be climbing to that fatal ledge. Was this the end? Iris bent forward sufficiently in her Iheltering niche to permit her to gaze with wistful tenderness upon Jenks. Bhe knew he would dare all for her sake. She could only pray and hope. Suddenly a clamor of discordant j ells fell upon her ears. Jenks rose to his knees. The Pyaks had discovered their refuge and were about to open lire. He offered them a target lest perchance Iris were not thoroughly screened. "Keep close," he said. "They have found us. Lead will be flying around loon." She flinched back into the crevice; the sailor fell prone. Four bullets spat Into the ledge, of which three pierced the tarpaulin and one flattened itself igainst the rock. ' Then Jenks took up the tale. So cu rlously constituted was this man that, The Dyak hurtled through the air. although he ruthlessly shot the savage who first spied out their retreat, he was swayed only by the dictates of Etern necessity. There was a feeble chance that further bloodshed might De averted. That chance had passed Very well. The enemy must start the dreadful game about to be played. They had thrown the gage, and he answered them. .Four times did Jenks' rifle carry death, unseen, almost unfelt, acrossTLe valley. Ere the fourth Dyak collapsed limply where he stood others were there, Eriug at the little puff of smoke above the grass. They got in a few shots, most of which sprayed at various angles off the face of the cliff. But they waited for no more. When the lever of the Lee-Metford was shoved home for the fifth, time the opposing crest was bare of all opponents save two, and they lay motionless. . The fate of the flanking detachment was either unperceived or unheeded by Ihe Pyaks left in the vicinity of the house and welL Astounded by the firing that burst f jrth )iu midair, Jenks had cleared the dangerous rock before they realised that here, above their heads were the white man and the aiaid whom they sought. With stupid zeal they blazed away Furiously, only succeeding in showering fragments of splintered stone Into the eagle's nest. And the sailor smiled. He quietly picked up au old coat, rolled It Into a ball and pushed it into sight amidst the grass. Then he squirmed round on his stomach and took up a position ten feet away. Of course those who still carried loaded guns discharged them at the bundle of rags, whereupon Jenks thrust his rifle beyond the edge of the rock and leaned over. Three Pyaks fell before the lemainder tnade up their minds to run. Once conriueed. however, that running was good for their health, they moved with much celerity. The remaining cartridges in the magazine slackened the pace of two of their number. Jenks dropped the empty weapon and seized another. He Etood up now and sent a quick reminder after the rearmost pirate. The othrrs had disappeared toward the locality where their leader and his diminished troop were gathered, not daring to again come within rauge of the whistling dumdums. The sailor, holding his rifle as though pheasant shooting, bent forward and sought a belated opponent, but in vain. - There was no sound pave the wailing of birds, the soft sough of the sea and the yelling of the three wounded men in the house, who knew not what terrors threatened and vainly bawled for succor. Again Jenks could look at Iris, ner face was bleeding. The sight maddened him. "31- God:" he groaned. "Are xou

wounded ?" She smiled bravely at him.

"It is nothing," she said "a mere splash from the rock which cnt my forehead." lie dared not go to her. He could only hope that it was no worse, so he turned to examine the valley once more for vestige of a living foe. CIIArTEU XII. HOUGH his eyes, like lire coals, glowered with sullen fire at the strip of sand and the rocks In frwnt, his troubled brain paid T perfunctory heed to his task. The stern sense of duty, the ingrained force of long years of military discipline and soldierly thought, compelled hfm'tb keep watch and ward over his fortress, but be could not help asking himself what would happen if Iris were seriously wounded. There was one enemy more potent than these skulking Pyaks, a foe more irresistible in his might, more pitiless in his strength, whose assaults would tax to the utmost their powers of re; distance. In another hour the sun would be high in the heavens, pouring his ardent rays upon them and drying the blood in their veins. Hitherto the active life of the island, the shade of trees, hut or cave, the power of unrestricted movement and the possession of water in any desired quantity robbed the tropical heat of the day of its chief terrors. Now all was changed. Instead of working amid grateful foliage they were bound to the brown rock, which soon would glow with radiated energy and give off scorching gusts like unto the opening of a furnace door. This he had foreseen all along. The tarpaulin would yield them some de gree of uneasy protection, and they both were in perfect physical condi tion. But if Iris were wounded! If the extra strain brought fever in its wake! That way he saw nothing but blank despair, to be ended for her by delirium and merciful death, for him by a Berserk rush among the Dyaks and one last mad fight against overwhelming numbers. Then the girl's voice reached him, self reliant, almost cheerful: "You will be glad to hear that the cut has stopped bleeding. It is only a scratch." So a kindly Frovidence had spared them yet a little while. The cloud passed from his mind, the gathering mist from his eyes. In that instant he thought lie detected a slight rustling among the trees where the cliff shelved up from the house. Standing as he was on the edge of the rock, this wras a point he could not guard against. When her welcome assurance recalled his scattered senses he stepped back to speak to her, and in the same Instant a couple of bullets crashed against the rock overhead. Iris had unwittingly saved him from a serious, perhaps fatal, wound. He sprang to the extreme right of the ledge and boldly looked into the trees beneath. Two Dyaks were .there, belated wanderers cut off from the main body. They dived headlong into the undergrowth for safety, but one of them was too late. Jenks' rifle reached him, and its reverberating concussion, tossed back and forth by the echoing rocks, drowned his parting scream. In the plenitude of restored yigor the sailor waited for no counter Memon-1 stration. He turned and crouchingly approached the southern end of his parapet. Through his screen of grass he could discern the long black hair and yellow face of a man who lay on the sand and twisted his head around the base of the farther cliff. The distance, oft measured, was ninety yards, the target practically a six Inch bulls eye. Jenks took careful aim, fired, and a whiff of sand flew up. Terhaps he had used too fine a sight and plowed a furrow beneath the Dyak's ear. He only heard a faint yell, but the enterprising head vanished, and there were no more volunteers for that particular service. He was , still peering at the place when a cry of unmitigated anguish came from Iris: "Oh, come quick! Our water! The casks have burst!" , It was not until Jenks had torn the tarpaulin from off their stores and he was wildly striving with both hands to scoop up some precious drops collected In the small hollows of the ledge that he realized the full magnitude of the disaster which had befallen them. During the first rapid exchange of fire before the enemy vacated the cliff several bullets had pierced the tarpaulin. By a stroke of exceeding bad fortune two of them had struck each of the Water barrels and started the staves. The contents quietly ebbed away beneath the broad sheet and, flowing inward by reason of the sharp slope of the ledge, percolated through the fault. Iris and he, notwithstanding their frenzied efforts, were not able to save more than a pint of gritty discolored fluid. The rest, infinitely more valuable to them than all the diamonds of Pe Beers, was now oozing through the natural channel cut by centwries of storm, dripping upon the headless skeleton in the cave, soaking down to the very heart of their buried treasure. Jenks was so paralyzed by this catastrophe that Iris became alarmed. As yet she did not grasp its awful significance. That he, her hero, so brave, so confident iu the face of many dangers, should betray such sense of irredeemable loss frightened her much more than the incident itself. Her lips whitened. Her words became incoherent. "Tell me," she whispered. "I can bear anything but silence. Tell me, I Implore you. Is it so bad?" The sight of her distress sobered him. He ground his teeth together as a man does who submits to a painful i

operation and resolves not to nmcn De neath the knife.

"It is very bad." he said; "not quite the end. but near it." j. ne ena, sue uraveiy answered, "is death! We are living and uninjured. You must fight on'. If the Lord wills it we shall not die." ne looked in her blue eyes and saw there the light of heaven. Her glance did not droop before his. In such moments heart speaks to heart without concealment. "We still have a little water," she cried. "Fortunately we are not thirsty. You have not forgotten our supply of champagne and brandy?" He could only fall in with her unrefiective mood and leave the dreadful truth to" Its own 'evil time. " In" their little nook the power of the sun had not yet made itself felt. By ordinary computation it was about 9 o'clock. Long before noon they would be grilling. Throughout the next few hours they must suffer the torture of Dives with one meager pint of water to share between them. Of course the wine and spirit must be shunned like a pestilence. To touch either under such con ditions would be courting heat, apoplexy and death. And next day! He tightened his jaws before he answered : "We will console ourselves with a bottle of champagne for dinner. Meanwhile I hearour friejids f shouting to those left on this side of the island. I must take an active interest in the conversation." He grasped a rifle and lay down on the ledge, already gratefully warm. There was a good deal of sustained shouting going on. Jenks thought he recognized the chief's voice giving in structions to tiiose who nau come from Smugglers' cove and were now standing on the beach near the quarry. "I wonder if he is hungry," he thought. "If so, I will interfere with the commissariat." Iris peeped forth at him. "Mr. Jenks!" 4 "Yes," without turning his head. He knew it was an ordinary question. "May I come too?" "What, expose yourself on the ledger' "Yes, even that. I am so tired of sitting here alone." "Well, there is no danger at present. But they might chance to see you, and you remember what I" "Yes, I remember quite well. If that Is all" There was a rustle of garments. "I am very mannish in appearance. If you promise not to look at me I will join you." "I promise." Iris stepped forth. She was flushed a little, and, to cover her confusiou, maj-be, she picked up a rifle. "Now there are two guns," she said as she stood near him. He could see through the tail of his eye that a slight but elegantly proportioned young gentleman of the seafaring profession had suddenly appeared from nowhere. He was glad she had taken this course. It might better the position were the Dyaks to see her thus. "The moment I tell you you must fall flat," he wrarned her. "No ceremony about it. just flop!" "I don't know anything better calculated to make one flop than a bullet," she laughed. Not yet did the tragedy of the broken kegs appeal to her. i "Yes, but it achieves its purpose in two ways. I want you to adopt the precautionary method." "Trust me for that. Good gracious!" The sailor's rifle went off with an unexpected bang that froze the excla mation on her. lips. Three Dyaks were attempting to run the gantlet to their beleaguered comrades. They carried a jar and two wicker baskets. He with the jar fell and broke it. The others doubled back like hares, and the first man dragged himself after them. Jenks did not fire again. Iris watched the wounded wretch crawling along the ground. Her eyes Tht satlor'a rifle uent off with an unexpected bang. grew moist, and she paled somewhat. When he vanished she looked into the Talley and at the opposing ledge; three men lay dead within twenty yards of her. Two others dangled from the rocks. It took her some time to control her quavering utterance sufficiently to say: "I hope I may not have to use a gun. I know it cannot be helped, but if I were to kill a human being I do not think I would ever rest acain." "In that case I have indeed murdered leep today," was the unfeeling reply.

in w i mi i in i ii m mil in nyjui m

CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY ".o, no: A man must De maae 01 sterner stuff. We have a right to defend ourselves. If need be. I will exercise that right. Still, it is horrid, oh, so horrid!" She could not see the sailor's grim smile. It would materially affect hi3 rest for - the better were he able to slay every Dyak on the island with a single shot. Yet her gentle protest pleased him. She could not at the same time be callous to human suffering and be Iris. But he declined the discussion of such sentimeifts. "You were going to say something when a brief disturbance took place," he inquired. "Yes. I was surprised to find how hot the ledge ba become." "You notice it more because you are obliged to remain here." After' a paus? she said: ' "I think I understand now why you were so upset by the loss of our water supply. Before the day ends we will be in great straits, enduring agonies from thirst!" "Let us not meet the devil halfway," he rejoined, lie preferred the unfair retort to a confession which could only foster dismay. "But, please, I am thirsty now." He moved uneasily. He was only too conscious of the impish weakness, common to all mankind, which creates a desire out of sheer inability tb satisfy it. Already his own throat was parched. The excitement of the early struggle was in itself enough to engender an acute thirst. He thought- it best to meet their absolute needs as far as possible. "Bring the tin cup," be said. "Let us take half our store and use the remainder when we eat. Try to avoid breathing through your mouth. The hot air quickly affects the palate and causes an artificial dryness. We can not yet be in real need of water. It is largely imagination." Iris needed no second bidding. She carefully measured out half a pint of the unsavory fluid the dregs of the casks and the scourings of the ledge. "I will drink first," she cried. "No, no," he interrupted impatiently, "Give it to me." She pretended to be surprised. "As a mere matter of politeness" "I am sorry, but I must insist." She gave him the cup over his shoul der. He placed it to his lips and gulped steadily. "There," he said gruffly. "I was in a hurry. The Djaks may have another rush at any moment." Iris looked into the vessel. "You have taken none at all," she said. "Nonsense!" "Mr. Jenks, be reasonable! You need It more than I. I d-dont want to live w-without you." His hands shook somewhat. It was well there was no call for accurate shooting just then. "I assure you I took all I required," he declared, with unnecessary vehemence. "At least drink your share to please me," she murmured. "Y'ou Avished to humbug me," he grumbled. "If you will take the first half I will take the second." And they settled it that way. The few mouthfuls of tepid water gave them new life. Nevertheless by high noon they were suffering again. The time . passed very slowly. The sun rose to the zenith and filled tne earth and air with his ardor. It seemed to be a miracle now appreciated for the first time in their lives that the sea did not dry up and the leaves wither on the trees. The silence, the deathly inactivity of all things, became intolerable. The girl bravely tried to confine her thoughts to the task of the hour. She displayed alert watchful ness, an instant readiness to warn her companion of. the slightest movement among the trees or by the rocks to the northwest, this being the arc of their periphery assigned to her. Looking at a sunlit space from cover and looking at the same place when sweltering in the direct rays of a tropical sun are kindred operations strangely diverse in achievement. Iris could not reconcile the physical sensitiveness of the hour with the careless hardihood of the preceding days. Her eyes ached somewhat, for she had tilted her sou'wester to the back of her head in the effort to cool her throbbing temples. She put up her right hand to shade the too vivid reflection of the glistening sea and was astounded to find that in a few minutes the back of her hand was scorched. A faint sound of distant shouting disturbed her painful reverie. "How is it," she asked," "that we feelj the heat so much today? I had hardly noticed it before." "For two good reasons forced Idleness a-nd radiation from this confounded rock. Moreover, this is the hottest day we have experienced on the Island. There is not a breath of air, and the j not weatner nas just commenced. "Don't you think," she said huskily, "that our position here is quite hope less?" . They were talking to each other sideways. The sailor never turned his gaze from the southern end of the valley. "It Is no more hopeless now than last night or this morning," he replied. "But suppose we are kept here for several days?" "That was always an unpleasant probability." "We had water then. Even with an ample supply it would be difficult to hold out. As things are, such a course becomes simply impossible." Her despondency pierced his soul. A slow agony was consuming her. "It is hard, I admit," he said. "Nevertheless you must bear up until night falls; then we will either obtain water or leave this place." -

"We may be compelled to do both "But how?"

In this his hour of extremest need the man was vouchsafed a shred of luck. Before he could frame a feebl pretext for his too sanguine prediction a sampan appeared SOO yards from Turtle beach, strenuously paddled by three men. The vague hallooing they had heard was explained. The Dynks, though to the manner born, were weary of sun score hed rocks and salt water. The boat was coining in response to their signals, and the sight inspired Jenks with fresh hope. Like a lightning flash came the reflection that if he could keep them away from the well and destroy the sampan now hastening to their assistance, perhaps -conveying the bulk of their stores, they would soon tire of Piaking their thirst on the few pitcher plants growing on the north shore. "Come quick!" he shouted, adjusting the back sight of a rifle. "Lie down and aim at the front of that boat, a little short if anything. It doesn't matter if the bullets strike the sea first." He placed the weapon in readiness for her and commenced operations himself before Iris could reach his side. Soon both rifles were pitching twenty shots a minute at the sampan. The result of their long range practice was not long in doubt. The Pyaks danced from seat to seat in a state of wild excitement. One man was hurled over board. Then the craft lurched sea ward iu the strong current, and Jenks told Iris to leave the rest to him. Before he could empty a second magazine a fortunate bullet ripped a plank out and the sampan filled and went down amid a shrill yell of execration from the back of the cliff. The two Dyaks yet living endeavored to swim ashore, half a mile through shark invested reefs. The sailor did not even trouble about them. After a few frantic struggles each doomed wretch flung up his arms and vanished. In the clear atmosphere the onlookers could see black fins cutting the pellucid sea. They were quieting, down the thirst fiend was again slowly salting their veins when something of a dirty white color fluttered into sight from behind the base of the opposite cliff. It was rapidly withdrawn, to reappear after an interval. Now it was held more steadily and a brown arm became visible. As Jenks did not 'fire, a turbaned head popped into sight. It was the Mohammedan. "No shoot it," he roared. "Me English speak it." "Don't you speak Hindoostanee?" shouted Jenks in Urdu of the higher proficiency. "Yes, sir!" was the joyful response. "Will your honor permit his servant to come and talk with him?" "Y"es, if you come unarmed." "And the chief, too, sahib?" "Yes, but listen! On the first sign of treachery I will shoot both of you!" "We will keep faith, sahib. May kites pick our bones if we fail!" Then there stepped into full view the renegade Mussulman and" his leader. They carried no guns; the chief wore his creese. "Tell him to leave that dagger behind!" cried the sailor imperiously. As the enemy demanded a parley he resolved to adopt the conqueror's tone from the outset. The chief obeyed, with a scowl, and the two advanced to the foot of the rock. "Stand close to me," said Jenks to Iris. "Let them see you plainly, but pull your hat well down over your eyes." She silently followed his instructions. Now that the very .crisis of their fate had arrived she was nervous, shaken, conscious only of a desire to sink on her knees and pray: The two halted some ten paces in front of the cavern, and the belligerents surveyed each other. It was a fascinating spectacle, this drama in real life. The yellow faced Dyak, gaudily attired in a crimson jacket and sky blue pantaloons of Chinese silk, a man young and powerfully built, and the brown skinned, white clothed Mohammedan, bony, tall and gray with hardship, looked up at the occupants of the ledge. Iris, slim and boyish In her male garments, was dwarfed by the six foot sailor, but her face was blood stained, and Jenks wore a six weeks stubble of beard. Holding their rifles with alert ease, with revolvers strapped to j their sides, they presented a warlike and imposing tableau in their inaccessible perch. In the path of the emissaries lay the bodies of the slain. The Dyak leader scowled again as he passed them. "Sahib," began the Indian, "my chief, Taung S'Ali, does not wish to have any more of his men killed in a foolish quarrel about a woman. Give her up, he says and he will either leave you here in peace or carry you safely to some place where you can find a ship manned by white men." "A woman!" said Jenks scornfully. "That is idle talk! What woman is cerei This question nonplused the native. "The woman whom the chief saw half a month back, sahib." "Taung S'Ali was bewitched. I slew his men so quickly that he saw spirits." The chief caught his name and broke In with a question. A volley of talk between the two was enlivened with expressive gestures by Taung S'Ali. whot several times pointed to Iris, and Jenks now anathematized his thoughtless folly in permitting the Dyak to approach so near. The Mohammedan, of course, had never seen her and might have persuaded the other that in truth there were two men only on the rock. His fears were only too well founded. The Mnssu'man salaamed respectfully and said: "Protector of the poer, I cannot gainsay your word, but Taung S'Ali says that the maid stands by your side and is none the less the woman he seeks in that she wears a man's clothing."

addled." retorted the sailor. vny

does ne come nere to seek a woman who is not of Lis race? Not only has he brought death to his people and narrowly escaped it himself, but he must know that any violence offered to us will mean the extermination of his whole tribe by an English warship. Tell him to take away his Imats and never visit this isle again. Perhaps I will then forget his treacherous attempt to murder us while we slept last night." The chief glared defiantly, while the Mohammedan said: "Sahib, it is test not to anger him oo much. He says he means to have the girl. He saw her beauty that day, and she inflamed 'his heart. She has cost him many lives, but she is worth a sultan's .'ransom. He cares not for warships. They cannot reach his village in the hills. By the tomb cf Nizam-ud-din. sahib, he will not harm you if you give her up, but if you refuse he will kill you both. And what is one woman more or less in the world that she should cause strife and bloodletting?" The sailor knew the eastern character too well not to understand the man's amazement that he should be so solicitous about the fate of one of the weaker sex. It was seemingly useless to offer terms, yet the native was clearly so anxious for an amicable settlement that he caught at a straw. "You come from Delhi?" he asked. "Honored one, you have great wisdom." "None but a Delhi man swears by the tomb on the road to the Kutub. You have escaped from the Andamans?" "Sahib, I did but slay a man in self defense." "Whatever the cause, you can never again see India. Nevertheless you would give many, years of your life to mix once more with the bazaar folk." The brown skin assumed a sallow tinge. "That is good speaking," he gurgled. "Then help me and my friend to escape. Compel your chief to leave the The belligerents surveyed each other. island. Kill him! Plot against him! I will promise you freedom and plenty of rupees. Do this, and I swear to you I will come in a ship and take you away. The miss sahib's father is powerful. He has great influence with the Indian government." Taung S'Ali was evidently bewildered and annoyed by this passionate appeal which he did not understand. He demanded an explanation, and the ready witted native was obliged to invent some plausible excuse. Yet when he raised his face to Jenks there was the look of a hunted animal in his eyes. "Sahib," he aid, endeavoring to conceal his agitation, "I am one among many. A word from me, and they would cut my throat. If I were with you there on the rock I would die with you. for I was in the Kumaon regiment wheu the trouble befell me. It is of no avail to bargain with a tiger, sahib. I suppose you will not give up the miss sahib. Pretend to argue with me. I will help in any way possible." Jenks' heart bounded when this unlocked for offer reached his ears. The unfortunate Mohammedan was evidently eager to get away from the piratical gang into whose power he had fallen. But the chief was impatient, if not suspicious, of these long speeches. Angrily holding forth a rifle,' the sailor shouted: "Tell Taung S'AII that I will slay him and all his men ere tomorrow's sun rises. He knows something of, my power, but. not all. Tonight at the twelfth hour you will find a rope hanging from the rock. Tie thereto a vessel of water. Fail not in this. I will not forget your services. I am Anstruther Sahib of the Belgaum regiment." The native translated his word3 into a fierce defiance of Taung S'Ali and his Dyaks. The chief glanced at . Jenks and Iris with an omLnous smile. He muttered something. "Then, sahib, there is nothing more to be said. Beware of the trees on your right. They can send silent death even to the plac? where you stand. And I will not fail you tonight, on my life. cried the interpreter. "I believe you. Go! But Inform your chief that once you hav disappeared round the rock whence you came I will talk to him only with a rifle." Taung S'Ali seemed to comprehend the Englishman's emphatic motions. Waving his hand defiantly, the Dyak tnmad and. with one naxtinjr glance

of muto assurance, the Indian followed him. Iris touched his arm and he told her all that had takyi place. Iris became very downcast when she grasped the cract state of affairs. She was almost certain. when the Pyaks proposed a parley tXtt reasonable terms would result. It horrified? her beyond measure to find tiat.she was the rock on which negotiations were wrecked. Hope died within her. The bitterness of death avhs In her breast. "WhatSn unlucky Influence I havehad orr your existence!" she exclaimed. "If it were not for me this trouble at least would be r?aw4 yo'J. Because I am here you are 'condemned. Again, because I stopped you from shooting that wretched chief and his companions they are nwdemanding your life as a forfeit. It is all my fault. I cannot bear It." She was on the vergo'of tear""Tbi strain had become too great for her. After indulging in a wild dream of freedom, to be toldthat they must again endure the Irksome confinement, the active suffering, the slow horrors of a siege in that rocky prison, almost distracted her. Jenks was "very stern and curt In his reply. "We must make the best of a bad business," he said. "If we are In a tight place the Dyaks are not much better off, and eighteen of their number are dead or wounded. Y'ou forget, too, that Providence has sent us a most useful ally in the Mohammedan. When all is said and done, things might be far worse than they are." Never before had his tone been so cold, his manner so abrupt, not even in the old days when he purposely en

deavored to make her dislike him. She walked along the ledge and tlm idly bent over hlai. "Forgive me!" she whispered, "I did forget for the moment not only the goodness of Providence, but also your self sacrificing devotion. I am only a woman, and I don't want to die yet, but I will not live unless you, too, are saved." Once already that day she had expressed this thought in other words. Was some shadowy design flitting through her brain? Suppose they were faced with the alternatives of dying from thirst or yielding to the Dyaks. Was there another way out? .Jenks shivered, though the rock was grilling him. He must divert her mind from this dreadful brooding. "The fact is," he said, with a feeble attempt at cheerfulness, "we arc both hungry and consequently grumpy. Now, suppose you prepare lunch. Wo will feel ever so much better after wo have eaten." The girl choked back her emotion and sadly essayed the task of providing a meal which was hateful to her. A few tears fell now and made little furrows down her soiled cheeks. But they were helpful tears, tears of resignation, not of despair. Although the destruction that wasteth at noonday" was trying her sorely, she again felt strong and sustained. Mie even emueti on ueiecung an involuntary effort to clear her stained face. She was about to carry a biscuit and some tinned meat to the sailor when a sharp exclamation from him caused her to hasten to his eide. The Dyaks had broken cover. Running in scattered sections across the sands, they were risking such loss as the defenders might be able to inflict upon them during a brief race to the shelter and food to be obtained in the other part of the island. Jenks did not fire at the scurrying gang. He was waiting for oue man, Taung S'Ali. But that redoubtable person, having probably suggested this dash for liberty, had fully realized the enviable share of attention be would attract during the passage. He therefore discarded bis vivid attire and by borrowing odd garments made himself sufficiently like unto the remainder of his crew to deceive the sailor until the " rush of men was over. Among them ran the .Mohammedan, who did not' look up the valley, but waved his hand. When all had quieted down again Jenks understood how be had been fooled. He laughed so heartily that Iris, not knowing either the cause of his merriment or the reason of his unlocked for clemency to the flying foe, feared the sun had affected him. He at once quitted the post occupied during so protracted a vigil. "Now," he cried, "we can eat in peace. I have stripped the chief of his finery. His men can twit him on being forced to shed bis gorgeous plumage in order to save his life. Anyhow, they will leave us in peace untji night falls, so we must make the best of a hot afternoon." But he was mistaken. A greater danger than any yet experienced now threatened them, for Taung S'AII. furious and unrelenting, resolved that if he could not obtain the girl he would slay the pair of them, and he had terrible weapons In hi3 possession. CHAPTER XIII. ESTDENTS in tropical countries know that the heat is greatest, or certainly least learable, between 2 and 4 o'clock Jn th afternoon. At the conclusion of a not very luscious repast Jenks suggested that they should rig cp the tarpaulin in such wise as to gain protection from the sun and yet enable him to cast a watchful eye over the valley. Iris helped to raise the great canvas sheet on the supports he had prepared. Once shut off from the devouring rays, the hot breeze then wringing into fitful existence cooled their blistered but perspiring skin and made life somewhat tolerable. (To be Continued Next Sunday.)

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