.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!
Hill then, of course. I've the whole
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