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About The Falls City tribune. (Falls City, Neb.) 1904-191? | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1909)
.By ROBERT AMES BESSET? V*1 ^ILLUSTRATIONS 3Y RAY WALTERS > bC - ro*r*/c*r /*?*. or *.r ncciu&G *« co. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER T The storv opens with the e hip wreck of the steamer on which Miss (ienevleve Leslie, an Anierh an heiress. Lord Wlnthrope, an Englishman, and Tom Hlake. a brusque American, were passen gers. The three were tossed upon an un inhabited Island and were the onlv ones not drovtfned. Blake recovered from a drunken stunor CHAPTER II.—Blake, shunned on the boat, because of his roughness, became t hero as preservers of the helpless pair T'lie Englishman was* suing for the hand • >f Miss Leslie. Blake started to twlni , l>ack to the ship to recover what was left. CHAPTER III.—Blake returned safely, v inthrope wasted his last match on a cigarette, for which he was §cored l>y V. aVe. Their first meal was a dead fish. CHAPTER IV. —The trio started a ten ! n ile hike for higher land. Thirst at 1; eked them. Blake was compelled to ' »M ry Miss Leslie on account of woarl- ' toss He taunted Winthrope. 'HAFTER V.—They entered the 1un f e. That night was passed roosting high ’* ° tree HATTER VI —The next morning (hey <1* si ended to (he open again. All three constructed hats to shield themselves Torn the sun. They then feasted on c neon nuts, the only procurable food. Miss 1 rslle showed a liking for Blake, but de 1* his routrhness HATTER VII -Led by Blake they es !? ’dished a home in some cliffs. Blake ti ind a fresh water spring. 'HATTER VIII — Miss Leslie faced an m.pleasant situation. They planned their i. mnaien. 'HATTER IX. Blake recovered his f rvevor's magnifying glass, tiuis Insur lip fire. TTe started a jungle tire, killing i large leopard and smothering several c bs. 'HATTER X.—Tn the leopard’s cavern 1 • ey built a small home. They gained t! r cliffs by burning the bottom of a iwe until It fell against the heights. HATTER XT.—The trio secured eggs Torn the cliffs. Miss Leslie’s white skirt v s decided upon as a signal. 'HATTER X IT.—Miss Leslie made a # ss from the* leopard skin. Blake’s ef j, ts to kill antelnoes failed ■'HATTER XT IT.—Overhearing n rnn * rsation between Blake and Winthrope, Tv: ss 1 .estte became frto'htened. IT\TTER XIV.—Blake was poisoned » a fish Jackals attacked the camp i'rt ni°'ht, hut were driven off by Gene . vc. Blake returned, after nearly dy i ? e 11 \ T’TElt XV.—Blake constructed un i mat trap. It killed a hyena. 11 M’TKU XVI.—On a tour the trio <lis . red honey and oysters. Ip stood gazing at tlie flowpr for m voral moments, his eyes aglow with ;. soft blue light. Whew!” he sighed; “if only— Bui v. hat's the use? She's 'way out of my ss—a rough brute like me! All the -.me, it's up to me to take care of h< r. She can't keep me from being Vtr friend—and she sure can't object if my picking flowers for her." Amaryllis In hand, lie gathered up - how and club. Then lie paused - study the skin of the decapitated i dei. The inspection ended with a t i ake of his head. Better not, Thomas. It would make r dandy quiver; hut tlien, it might get ;in her nerves.” When im cante to the ant-hill, he f. md companions and honey alike j. • tie. He went on to the cocoanuts There he came upon Winthrope ! f' etched flat beside the skin of lion i Miss Leslie was seated a little my beyond, nervously bending a ; film-leaf into shape for a hat. 1 say, Blake," drawled Winthrope. ln've been a deuced long time In ming. It was no end of a task to vig the honey—” lllake brushed past without reply K. and went on until he stood before i' c girl. As site glanced up at him. ( Hold out the crimson blossom. Thought you might like posies,” he -;.id. in a hesitating voice. Instead of taking tlie flower, she pw back with a gesture of repul firm. Oil. lake it away: sue exciamien. Blake flung tlie rejected gift on Hie g ottnd, and crushed it beneath his heel. Catch me making a fool of myself gain!" he growled. I—I did not mean it that way < ally I didn’t, Mr. Itlake. It was Hie thought, of that awful snake.” But Blake, cut to the quick, had ’urned away far too angry to heed what she said. He stopped short he ■. <ie the Englishman; hut only to sling ne skin of honey upon his hack. The ad was by no means a light one, (ven for his strength. Yet lie caught ,ip the heavy pot as well, and made ff across the plain at a pace which ihe others could not hope to equal. As Winthrope rose and came for ward to join Miss Leslie, lie looked about closely for the bruised flower, t was nowhere in sight. "Er—beg pardon, Miss Genevieve, tut did not Blake drop the bloom— • —blossom somewhere about here?” "Perhaps he did.” replied Miss Les le. She spoke with studied indiffer (nee. “I—ah—saw the fellow exhibit his mptidence.” "\re-es?” ‘ A’ou know, I think it high time the r ounder is taken down a peg.” “All, indeed! Then why do you not try it?” "Miss Genevieve! you know that at . resent I am physically so much his mferlor—” “How' about mentally?” Though the girl’s eyes were veiled by their lashes, she saw Winthrope l ast after Blake a look that seemed o her almost fiercely vindictive. "Well?” she said, smiling, but watch ing him closely. ‘‘Mentally!—We’ll soon see about •hat!" he muttered. "I must say, Miss ienevieve, it strikes me as deuced odd. you know, to hear you speak so pleas antly of a per on who—not lo mention past occurrer ies—has to-day, with the most shocking disregard of—er—de cency—" "Stop!—stop this instant!" screamed tlie girl, her nerves overwrought W'inthrope smiled with complacent assurance. "My dear young lady,” lie drawled, "allow me lo repeal: 'All is fail in love and war.' Believe me, I love you most ardently." "No gentleman would press his suit at such a time as this'" "Really now. 1 fancy 1 have always comported myself as a gentleman—" "A trifle too much so, truth to say'" she retorted. "Alt, indeed However, this is now quite another matter. Has it not oc curred lo yon. my dear, that this entire experience of outs sinee that beastly storm is rather—or—compromising?" "You—yon date say such a thing! I'll go this instant and tell .Mr. Blake! I'll—" "Begging your pardon, madau\j—but are you prepared to marry that bar barous clodhopper?" 'Many? What do you mean, sir?" "Precisely that. It is a question of marriage, it you'll pardon Ine. And. you see. i Hatter myself, that when it comes to the point, it will not be Blake,,but myself "Alt, indeed! And if I should pre fer neither of you?" "Begging your pardon—I fancy you will honor me with your hand, my dear. For one thing, you admit that l am a gentleman." "Oh, indeed!" "One moment, please! I am trying to intimate to you, as delicately as pos sible, how—er—embarrassing you would find it to have these little oc currences—above all. to-day’s—noised abroad to the vulgar crowd, or even among your friends—” "What do you mean? What do you want?" cried the girl, staring at him with a deepening fear in Iter bewll dered eyes. "Believe me, my dear, it grieves me to so perturb you; but—er—love must have its way, you know." “You forget. There is Mr. Blake.” "Ah, to be sure! But really now, you would not ask, or even permit him to murder me; and one is not legally bound, you know, to observe prom ises—a pledge of silence, for example —when extorted under duress, tinder violence, you know ." Miss Leslie looked the Fnglishtnan up and down, her brown eyes spar Ultng with quick-returning anger. He met her scorn with a smile of smug complacency. "Cad!" site cried, and turning het back upon hint, she set out across tlie plain after Blake, CHAPTER XVIII. The Eavesdropper Caught. E " ‘TSssS VEN had it not been for hei doubts of Blake, the girl's modesty would have caused iter to think twice before repeating to him the Englishman's insulting pro posal. While she yet hesitated and delayed, Wiuthrope came down with a second attack of fever Blake, who until then had held himself sullenly apart front him as well as front Miss Leslie, at once softened to a gentler or, at least, to a more considerate mood. Though his speech and hearing continued morose, he tool; upon him self all the duties of night nurse, tie sides working and foraging several hours each day. Much to .Miss Leslie’s surprise, site found herself tending 1 lie invalid through the daytime almost as though nothing had happened. But everything about tills wild and perilous life was so strange and unnatural to Iter that she found herself accepting the most unconventional relations as a regular consequence of the situation. She was feverishly eager for anything that might occupy her mind; for she felt that to brood over the future might mean madness. The mere thought of the possibilities was far too terrifying to lie calmly dwelt upon. Though slight, there had been some little com fort in the belief that, she could rely on W'lnthrope. Hut now site was left alone with her doubt and dread. Even if she had nothing to fear from Blake, there were all the savage dangers of the coast, and behind those, far worse, the fever. Meantime Blake went, about bis share of the camp work, gruff and si lent, but with the usual concrete to stilts. He brought load after load of fresh cocoanuts. and took great pains to hunt out the deliciously flavored i ggs of the ft it,ati * birds to tempt Win thrope's falling appetite. When Miss Leslie suggested that beef juice would be much bpfter for the invalid than broth he went out immediately In search of a gum-hearing tree, and that night, after heating a small quantity of gum in the cigarette case with the adder poison, he spent hours replacing Ills arrow heads with small barbed tips that could be loosened from their sod; els by a slight pull. A little before dawn he dipped two of his new arrow-heads in the sticky contents of the cigarette case, fitted them carefully to their shafts and stole I away down the cleft Pawn found him I crouched low in the grass where the ! overflow from the pool ran out Into tile plain along its little channel. Ho could see large forms moving away front him: then came the flood of crim son light, and he made out that the figures were a drove of huge eland. IPs eyes flashed with eagerness It was a long shot; Inn he knew that no more was required than to pierce the skin on any part of lilts quarry's body. He put Itis fingers between his teeth | and sent out a piercing whistle. It was a trick he had tried more than once on deer and pronghorn antelope Vs lie expected, the eland halted and swung half around Their ox-like sides presented a mark hard to miss. He rose ami shot as thc\ were wheeling to fly Before he could lit Ills second arrow to the string Hie whole herd were running off at a lumbering gallop. He lowered his how and walked after the animals, smiling with grim anticipation. He had seen his arrow' strike against the side of the young bull at which ho had aimed. \ little beyond where the bull stood he came upon the headless shaft of his 1 arrow. As lie stooped and caught it up lie saw one of the fleeing animals fall. When he came it)) with the dead bull his first act was to recover his arrow-tip and cut out the flesh around 1 the wound. Provided only with ltis wenk-bladed knife, he found it no easy task to butcher so large a beast. Though he had now acquired eonsld erable dexterity in the art. noon had passed before lie brought Hie first load of meat up the cleft. So great was the abundance of meat that Blake worked all the remaindet of Hie day and all night stringing the flesh on the curing racks, and Miss Leslie tried out pot after pot of fat and tallow, until every spare vessel was filled and she had to resort to a hollow in tlie rock beside the spring Blake promised to make more pots as soon as he could fetch the clay, but lie had first to dress the eland hide and prepare a new stock of thread and coi l troin parts of the animal which 1 he was careful not to let her see. Whatever their concern for the fit ture and even Make's was keen and hitter the party, as a party, for the time being might have been considered : extremely tortnnate They had a shel ter secure alike from the weather ' and from wild beasts; an abundance of nutritions food, and. as material for ! clothing, die bushbiiek. hyena ami ' eland hides To obtain more skins and j more meat Make now knew would be a simple matter so long as lie had : enough poison left in the cigarette case to moisten the tips of bis ar ! rows Kii'll Wiii11ir<n<«■ - n>|ii|)-i‘ ployed fur less serious thun might reasonably have been expected The fever soon left him and within a few days he re gained strength enough to care for himself Here, however, much to Make’s perplexity and concern. Ills progress seemed to stop, and till Make’s urging could do no more than cause him to move languidly from on ■ shady spot to another. He would re reive Hlake’s orders with a smile and a draw ling "Ya as, to bo sure!"- and then absolutely ignore the matter Only In two wnys did the invalid ex hibit any signs of energy. He could and did eat with a heartiness little short of that shown by Make, and lie would insist upon seeking opportunities to press his attentions upon Miss Leslie. He was careful lo avoid all offensive remarks: yet the veriest commonplace from bis lips was now an offense lo the girl. While ho needed her ns nurse she hud endured his talk ; s part of her duty. Hut now site felt that she could no longer do so. Taking ad vantage of a time when tlit- English man was. ns she supposed, enjoying i a noonday siesta down towards tile j barricade, she went to meet. Make, | who hud been up on the cliff for eggs. "Hollo!” he sang out. as he swung i down the tree, one hand gripping the clay pot in which he had gathered the eggs. "What you doing out in the Still? (Jel Into the shade.” She stepped Into the shade and waited until he had climbed down the ; pile of stones which he hud built for steps at the foot of the tree. •■.Mr. Make." she began, "could not ; do this work—gather the eggs?" "You could., if I’d let you. Miss .lenny. Hut It strikes me you've cot quite enough to do. Tell you the truth. I'd like to make Win take It In hand again Hut all my ensuing won't budge him an inch, and. yon know, when it comes to the rub, I couldn't wallop a fellow who ran hardly stand up." is lie really so weak?" she tnur mured. "Well, you know how-— Say, you don't mean that you think lie's sham lning"" I did not saj that I thought so, Mr. Itlake, I do not care to talk ahoul him. What I wish is that you will let me attend to this work." "Couldn't think of it, Miss .lenity ’ You're already doing your share." “Mr. Itlake -if you must know I wish to have a place where I can go and he apart alone." Itlake scowled. "Alone with that dude! He'd soon find enough strength to climb up with you on I In* cliff " "1 ah—Mr Itlake, would lie he apt to follow me, if I told you distinctly I should rather he alone?" “Would he? Well, I should rather guess not!" cried Itlake, making no attempt to conceal Ills delight ‘‘I'll give him a hint that'll make his hair (•nil. Krom now on, nobody ellmhs up this tree hut you, without first usk lug your permission." "Thank you. Mr. Make! You are very kind." "Kind to let you do more work! But say. I'll help out all I can on the other work You know. Miss .lennv—a rough fellow like me don’t know how mi say It, hut he can think it Just the same I’d do anything in the world j for you!" 1 \- he spoke, he held out his rough, powerful hand. She shrank bark a little and caught her breath lit sud den fright. But when she met Ids steady gaze, her fear left her as quick ly as it had come. She impulsively thrust out her hand and he seized It in a grip that brought the tears to her eyes. Miss .lenity ' Miss Jenny!" he mur mured, utterly unconscious that he was hinting her, "von know now that I'm your friend. Miss Jenny!" Yes, Mr. Make," she answered, blushing and drawing her hand free. I tieTTeve~y'6u are a lYlemf f believe I can (mat you." Voit can. by llinlny' Hut say," he continued, blundering with dense "You Sneak! You Sham Gent!” stupidity, "(In .'oil really mean that? Can you forgive me for being ho con founded meddlesome llie oilier day after the snake—" lie slopped short, for upon the in si,'nil she was facing him, as on (hat eventful day, scarlet with shame and anger. How dare you speak of II?" she cried "You're you're not a gentle man!” Ilefore be could reply she turned and left him, walking rapidly and with her head held high. Illake stared after her in bewilderment. "Well, what in—what in thunder have I done now?" lie exclaimed. ‘ La dles are certainly mighty funny! To go off at a touch—and just when I thought we were going to lie chums! 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