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Show THE HELPER JOURNAL, HELPER, UTAH FORLORN ISLAND : GREAT BARRIER LURES SAVANTS ! Vast Submarine Reef of Coral Off Australia. : By Edison Marshall Prerared by National Geographic Society. Washington, I. C. W.U Service. THE sea went dry along the Copyright by IMison Marsha CHAPTER V Continued THE STORY on his ridgeWhen the knife-cut- s pole recorded seven days when seven eternities had come and gone since his exile on Forlorn Island he had gone to a lonely reach of beach to scout game. Sandomar's men were working quietly at the nets and traps. The Aleuts seemed cheerful, and the weather was worth recording In picture writing In the archives of the tribe. For the first time since the shipwreck, he could take down his guard. His muscles need not be cocked like the hammer of a pistol, and his eyes could wander dreamily, with no care for flickering shadows Just past their corners. But suddenly the truce ended. It had been only an Illusion false 3awn. Over the dunes and down the beach came two dark figures. One was a little man, with a quick, short step. The other, barrel-chesteand long of arm, had a hobbling, unsteady gait d Like most men who dwell close to the sources of life, Eric bad a strong Intuitive power. A sense of grave peril hung over him. Somehow he knew that this open strand was to be the scene of one of the great crises of the Island adventure. Still the two nearlng figures made no suspicious movements. Sandomar talked idly, Eric could see his head turn, and frequently Garge's little hand lifted to reply. To a casual view neither man was armed. t The heavy pole on Sando-tnar'- s shoulder was merely a piece of driftwood he had dug out of the sand and could well be carrying home for the supper fire. Garge had a stone the size and shape of a big potato In plain sight In his ten-foo- band. Eric's own right hand fell to his side, In quick reach of his revolver, as his foes trudged near. "I found this 'ere stone on the beach," Garge began when he was ten paces off. But he did not stop still talking, he followed Sandomar until both men stood within six feet of their prey. "The old lady said she wanted a pestle for mashing up breadroot, and I thought this 'ere might do." Eric hardly heard him. His thoughts were fairly flying, seeking deliverance. That these two foes had come deliberately to kill him lie had not the least doubt. To lose his head meant to lose his life. . . . But that danger was Suddenly his fears passed now. scuttled away like coyote cubs, and he was cold and deadly as a If this pair wanted a finish-figliby G d, they would get It! He would not wait for the trap to spring, but would strike first and bard. He could spare the two cartridges. The only question was the best and safest way to carry out his In his present stand, Iron resolve. he could not reach for his pistol Both men would attack at once, and though he might down one of them, the other would be almost certain to get In a fatal blow. "I saw a better stone for the purpose Just a few seconds ago," he said thoughtfully. He backed a few feet, his eyes on the ground. Apparently he had dropped his guard. Actually It was as strict as ever. He was not searching for stones, but watching the long shadows of his enemies, cast by the low sun. The shorter shadow never wavered. Garge's eyes were quick as a rat's: perhaps he saw through Eric's trick. Anyway, It was not to attack from the in his mnke-ufront, even though the hated stern He made the yes were lowered. first move to warn his companion. But before the fingers of his untrained left hand could waggle their message Sandomar's fury and hatred broke from Its leash. He did not whirl to strike sideways with the pole, Eric was already out of reach of such a blow. Instead he Jerked the short end of the pole straight down, with all the superhuman strength of his long biceps. As the long end flew up he meant to change and hands, his left at the pole-enhis right far enough back to give him leverage, then strike down as with a club. Eric was only ten feet distant. In easy reach. Unless all signs failed the mighty bludgeon would be hanging heavy over his head before he looked up. Sandomar's brutal heart was swelling, larger and larger, with a horrible sadist ecstasy. It was fulfilment . . . victory . . . she-wol- f. t, p d revenge. . IFeast coast WKU gerrles . , But as the Island priestess had often told In the kashga on winter nights, chanting the ancient legends of the Aleuts, no man can escape At Sandomar'a first his shadow. move, his black flattened Image nicked .him on the sand. His Eric saw Its first flk'ker. hand leaped up and out fast as a striking saimon. The blue steel of his revolver gleamed In the sun- - FROM THE BEGINNING With hi yacht, tha Intrepid, abandoned by Its craw, Felix Horton, millionaire, sailing with his mother, his daughter Nan, and Roy Stuart, puts into Squaw Harbor, Alaska, to recruit. Failing to sacurs sailors, Horton angagas a bunch of nondescripts. A gigantic Pole, Sandomar, is their Wader. At tha request ci Captain Waymira, tha Intrepld's skipper, an old friend, Erie Ericsson, holding master's papers, but unemployed, angagea to sail as chief officer. Nan, attracted by Eric, indulges in a moonlight flirtation, which brings them both to the threshold of Interest in each other, If not of love. Tha Intrepid is wrecked by one of Sandomar'a crowd. Eric takes command of a small boat, with Horton'e party. Unable to help, they watch Sandomar kill Captain Waymira and leave tha ship with his crowd. Waymira has thrown Eric a revolver. From one of the Aleut Indiana, ashore, who speaks s Little English, Erie learns there is no communication with the outside world. Fireheart, priestess of tha island, descended from a white man in tha remote past, also knowing soma English, welcomes the castaways. Sandomar declares there shall be no law on the island, but Eric, having the only gun, cows him for tha time, declaring he is ths law, and lays out work for all. Nan faces the situation bravely. Eric's love for her, first felt on the Intrepid, swells, and he tells her he means to win her for his mate. She is not unwilling. Fireheart claims Eric as her own, to his dismay. On his face was a look of mer gunplay or target practice. It was old, Its brass somewhat corAs the sweeping barrel came level roded, and of doubtful value, but It with Sandomar's breast, Eric pulled was the only remaining rampart against death, dishonor, and unthe trigger. . . . conscionable disaster. But the silence held. There was With cool and steady movements only a futile click of the hammer Eric began to put the dummy loads breach. The had the gun against The lone back In their chambers. misfired. rim-fir- e cartridge was the last grimly he turned the cylinder until CHAPTER VI It was In position to fire. Then he unbolted the door and pushed out 'T'O ALL Intents and purposes Eric Into the fading day. was finished. He had no time to and DeValera hurried forRoy dodge or grapple with his enemy . . , to meet him, suppressed exward It was not a yet he lived on! "There on their faces. miracle from Beyond, but something citement seems to be some trouble brewing," less hardly strange and began. "Sandomar and Garge the workings of hidden nat- Boy came In very excited, and rounded ural laws on men and minds. up their gang. They are mighty The same degeneration In Sandobold, and Garge hinted to DeValera mar's brain that gave him his of a big jamboree tonight. Have gorilla strength and savagery had you any idea what's got Into them?" afflicted him with deafness perEric did not answer, but looked keenly Into the Irishman's dark, narrow-set eyes. "What time did he say the row was going to start?" DeValera hesitated briefly. "He didn't tell me. He knows I'm with you fellows. But I was Just suggesting to Mr. Stuart that unless you're mighty confident, perhaps we ought to make ji compromise " with the devil!" "Compromise Eric's tones were rough. "I'll decide what's to be done, and don't need any suggestions. Now go and help the natives with today's catch." DeValera's right hand went up In e before he remembered a that he was no longer before the mast. At once he turned to obey. "It seems to me you're a little bit Roy said quietly. "Our position isn't so good that you DeValera. can risk antagonizing He's one of our party " "Do you trust him?" Eric broke In. "As far as I can trust anybody in this mess." "We want only those who'll stick As the Sweeping Barrel Came Level Eric through thick and thin. The rest With Sandomar's Breast will do more harm than good. And Pulled the Trigger. I don't want DeValera to know our haps by Nature's scheme of checks plan of battle." and balances. He could see, but he Roy's hand was perfectly steady could not hear. He did not know as he lighted a smoke. "You think that Eric had already tried in vain there'll be a mutiny tonight?" to kill him and was now at his "A good one. They think they mercy. Instead he thought that he can kill me or bluff me out. They himself was close to death. And do one, but It's too late for the he dared not face the great dark! may other. Now get Horton and the He believed his only hope was to rest, and bring 'em here." With his beg quarter. great strength A moment later Eric gazed Into he stopped the club In midair, then Before It struck tha tense, pale faces of his friends. swung It aside. arms His first question, shot between the ground his huge ape-lik-e were towering In surrender over his hard lips, raised the short hairs on their scalps. "Nan, can you row?" head. Her answer came quick and clear. In the meantime, where was fair." "Pretty Garge? He was not deaf he had "Mother Horton, can you? Even heard the gun click and now was his chance to hurl his stone. But a littler' "I used to, as a girl I'll do my the trouble was that his strength mean." lay wholly and utterly In Sando- d dest, If that's what you are Eric?" "What at, you getting mar. to hand started Garge's draw back, but the sight of Sando- Horton gasped. "I must know at mar's great paws In the air made once." the Iron In his muscles melt and "There may be some trouble torun out. His arm dropped slack to night. If I'm killed, as many of you as can must leave the Island. Don't his side. He could not pass a signal to his ask me where you'll go. I know mate. Sandomar's yellow eyes were there'd be only one chance In a locked on Eric's face. Presently the hundred of getting through the reefs chance had gone by. Eric had alive but that's a better chance backed swiftly away; only a lucky than to stay here at Sandomar's throw could down him now. One mercy." "I'm not so sure of that." Roy's stinging curse cracked slowly from Sandomar's gray lips; then he tones came cold and gray through wheeled and strode rapidly toward the cold, gray dusk. "We might be the village. able to persuade him and his The next thing Eric knew he was crew " of his "For God's say, Roy, believe me! crouching In the half-dusthe door closed and Tou can't trust them a minute, much barred. He was aware of sharp less this whole night." The tide of nausea. . , . his courage, for the moment runNot yet could he learn the full ning out, surged up again. "They truth. His fumbling hands and star- won't likely make trouble until ing eyes could make no adequate nearly dark, and as soon as the examination of the defective revol- light falls, I want you to be ready ver. It was an old style weapon to go. Tou three women will leave with a solid breach. Kallylng his the fire and say you're going to bed. faculties, Eric unscrewed the little Horton, you go with them. At once ramrod from below the barrel, and circle back to the bpach and ship turning the cylinder, pushed out the the boat ready to shove off on a cartridges one by one. Presently he second's notice. Put In It every oar found one dented In the rim by the and paddle you can find from nil And now the grim truth boats so they can't follow you unfiring-pin- . til you've got a good head start; was plain. The gun held six shells. Five of put In water and blankets, too. In the dark nntll these, including the failure, were Thea watch there new and bright, made for mod- the danger's over or until I go revolvers. But this down." ern center-firand not even "Until you go down !" Nan echoed weapon was a gunsmith with his tools could slowly. "Tou mean you're going to change the mechanism so that It try to stand them off alone?" carcould discharge center-tir"If they can be stood off at all, I can do It alone. For others to tridges Only one of the sli shells was stay won't help my chances, and r from some for will only throw away lives. And It a light doom. g half-salut- k turf-hous- o rlm-flr- e rlm-flx- left-ove- wouldn't delay the pursuit more than a minute or two taking all the oart'U handle that and the more of you to row, the better chance you'll have of getting through the reefs." "I think that's true," Roy said. "There'd be only a chance In a hundred at best." Nan looked at him strangely. Then, to Eric: "When we see you fall, we're to steal away. Is that itr"Get away quietly If you can. In any case get away! Roy and Wilcox better stay by the fire almost to the last, to keep the gang from getting on to your plan, but when they see the Jig's up, they can duck, shove you off, and pile In with you. Row as fast as you can. They'll not get started right away, and'll lose you in the darkness. You'll probably be drowned In the morning, but the hundredth chance remains." Horton's gray face suddenly turned dark red. "I'm going to stay It's my daughter and my mother, and by G d, I can help fight for them!" His gaze grew fixed, and his voice began to break. "They they don't need me In the boat and If they get to civilization they can draw on my account " He did not see Nan's eyes fill with tears, but he saw Eric nod his head. "Tou can stay If you like. It may give the others a little more chance." "I'll stay, then. It's my place and I'm not afraid of death." "Why need anyone stay?" Nan demanded. "Why can't we all steal 1 off now?" "It may not be necessary for anyone to go," Eric answered. "RememAnd ber, it's practically suicide. I'm not licked yet by a long shot. I mean to fight to the last ditch, kill as many as I can, and I may scare out the rest. Under no circumstances are you to run the risk until I go down." "How about trying to line up the Aleuts?" Nan asked. ' "It can't be done on such short notice, if at all. I know 'em, they'll Just stand and stare. If they took part at all It would be on Sandomar's side." The silence fell again. At last Nan turned quietly to Roy. "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to do the rational thing, try to get away In the boat and save your life," Roy answered "To stay here and fight calmly. would be a gesture, an empty piece of folly, that, thank God, makes no appeal to me." "How about Eric? Is It a piece of folly for him, too?" "It's his own funeral. This Is his show, first to last, and he apparently enjoys It His way Is not my And when he gets himself way. killed off, I'd favor our. turning back to the Island In the dawn, when the men's heads are cool, and making terms with them." A shadow that might have been terror swept across Eric's face. His arms rose, then fell to his side. "Nan, will you make me a promise?" he asked tensely. "What Is It?" "Will you swear that If Sandomar wins and you have to go, that you'll never turn back? That no matter what happens, storm or hunger or thirst, you won't let Roy bring you back? That you'll Jump overboard first?" The fading light showed Nan's countenance calm and strong, her "I long eyes bright with tears. promise, Eric." "And I'll stand by her," Mother Horton said. "If they return, it will be over my dead body." Eric could only nod his thanks. "Then all of you buck up and get busy. Don't show any fear act the same as always only be ready. And I think we'll all come through all right." The group broke up and sauntered back to the cooking fire. It wag only a moment later that Sandomar and his henchmen came tramping over the bluff, their figures dark and ominous against the twilight sky. EtIc had given orders for (the safety of passengers and crew; from now on, he alone must plat the course and turn the wheel. If he were forced to shoot, who would be his victim? It was not as simple a question as It seemed. If the tiger dropped, the Jackal might go mad, rushing In with that awful frenzy of little, cowardly things. It would seem wise to destroy Garge, and thus crush Sandomar Yet beneath a wall of sllonce. again Erie's Instincts triumphed. Sandomar was his own and Nan's arch enemy; If Eric ruust fall, the Jungle-beamust lie beside him. It would not be long now. The gulls were wailing the day's departure; the sea was one purple st shadow blending Into dusk. Horton rose, spoke In unsteady tones of being tired, and with the three women, left the firelight (TO BE CONTINUED.) tineers' victims reached the reef at midnight or rather came within sound of the surf, and two days later found a passage to safety. The boat voyage was continued along the east coast of Queensland and through Torres strait to Timor. These perilous voyages are discussed still In Australia. And round the campfire on a coral Isle the talk may turn from Cook's discoveries and Bligh'8 amazing boat voyage to the recent loss of a launch, of the fate of a large steamer, sunk In a cyclone within a few miles of the mainland. The Grand canal varies In width from 20 to KO miles. There are two regions, however. The Inner one Is narrow and fairly free from the perils which make the outer zone Impossible for shipping. Only small craft are navigated among the reefs of the outer zone. Luggers are sailed along the Jig-sa- Q old-tim- e of Queensland, a thoumiles of coral "maze" revealed. The Great Barof Australia must not be as a continuous structure, like the Great Wail of China ; it Is formed by Innumerable reefs, and a map of Just one section resembles a complex puzzle. Then there are the isles, mountainous and forested, of the Inner zone, and the atolls and cays that are true coral Islands. For nearly a century the Great Barrier has Intrigued science by the channels, with coral fangs threatening destruction sailed often where problems that It presents to geol- the reefs are uncharted, In the quest naturaland ogists, physiographers for sea slugs and pearl and trochus ists. It has lured such masters of shelL Japanese own many of these marine zoology as Alexander Agas-si- z venturesome craft and A. G. Mayer from America, Many Beautiful Islands. and recently a British expedition The depth of the sea outside the broke camp after a year on Captain Great Barrier Is profound, but In Cook's first coral Island, In all the Seven Seas there Is the zone where coastal steamers go nothing so wonderful as this vast safely It varies from about ten submarine "curtain" of coral, the fathoms to twenty; the outer zone largest coral reef In the world, Is much deeper, up to seventy fathwhose nature and origin remain oms. It Is between these two zones half veiled In mystery. Tourists from many lands and that the mountainous Islands lie, thousands of Australians have made many of them beautiful and some the voyage through "Australia's the homes of happy people. Over Grand Canal," the area between the hundreds of miles of sea they are mainland, with Its purple hills, and strung, close together or with long the Outer Barrier. A calm and gaps between. Thousands of folk who make the pleasant trip during a portion of the year, it may be perilous In the winter tour to Queensland from southern ports say they have been cyclone season. Many launches and fishing craft to the Great Barrier reef, whereas have been wrecked among the they have merely sailed among the coral, or gone down In the heart of lofty Islands, maybe without landa storm within the Barrier. But ing even on an atoll or a cay, the navigation la no longer the night- low coral Isles beyond the high ones mare It was to the early voyagers, of granite. Only the few who go before the reef mazes had been north venture to seek the actual mapped and routes safe for even Barrier, where that long line of Danger thundering surf rises In large vessels discovered. There Is charm In the Grand exists still but the old fear has gone the haunting fear of disaster canal trip, and life Is pleasant on In the Realm of Coral. Surf Is Amazing Spectacle. Majestic Is the meeting of league-lon- g rollers of the ocean and the I Great Barrier. On days when the 7 str.r ' .J ' sunlit water behind the coral bastion Is calm enough for a canoe, mountainous waves pound the reefs The snrf on the Outunceasingly. 7 , er Barrier at high tide, when the tea broad reefs' crests are hidden, preV3y A sents an amazing spectacle. long line of boiling surf, springing n without any apup In trOOBISBS 1AD t parent cause," Is the late Charles "V .'.?.'"' AU5TRUA That great Hedley's description. JL naturalist, whose knowledge of the Barrier was unrivaled, devoted the 3nw4t i last few years of his life to the study of Its problems. The Great Barrier Reef. Swain Reefs, far south, mark the beginning of the Great Barrier Outer System. Farther north, the the favored Islands, where a bunlinear reefs are developed. They galow may nestle amid tropical are some miles In length and up to fruit trees and palms, with a creek half a mile across, with broad sep- singing near on Its little Journey to the sea. Men have lived half a arating channels. A lighthouse on Lady Elliot Islet lifetime on a Barrier reef Isle without desire to wander. It may be a marks the southern limit of life, or one of healthy land, "a broad platform of work and play, as you please. solid coral half a mile In circumRich men and poor men are lured ference." Then comes an archipelago, the Bunger group, followed to the region. Beach combers are by the Capricorn group, popular rare now, yet here and there one resort now of naturalists, and al- meets with the cheerful loafer, who most a picnic ground for holiday-maker- s takes to a task only at the urge of sheer necessity. from the mainland. Spain has played her part In Within the tropics, the maze Is From a hill at Cook-tow- n pioneer navigation of Australasian multiplied. In 1605 three ships under you may see, as Captain Cook seas. did In 1770, the shadows of the Admiral de Quiros sailed for the coral reefs wherever you look out South racific from Callno. The capto sea. The navigator who explored tain of one was Luis Vaes de Torres, whbse name lives forever 2,000 miles of the east coast of Australia was Ignorant of the exist- as that of the strait between Ausence of coral In those waters when tralia and New Guinea. His vessel his ship struck on Endeavour reef became separated from the other two, and Torres was probably the at night. Had the weather been stormy she first European to sight Cape York of must have been lost, for coral fangs peninsula, the northernmost point Ishad pierced her hull. But calm sea Australia, and Prince of Wales enabled the sailors to patch up the land. But Torres' discovery was a sebark by "fotherlng," and Cook sailed her to the beach for careen- cret from the world until 1702, when among the archives at Manila ing and repairs. Meanwhile, gazing the record of his great voyage was he discovered from the hilltop, the found by the British. They gave coral. honor where It was due, naming the With a seaworthy ship again, he won a way out of the maze, gaining strait after Its discoverer. open ocean through one of the great Explored by Scientists. He esScientific of the openings In the Barrier. investigation caped many dangers only to meet Great Barrier reef began when II. M. S. Kly cruised in the Coral sea with others a few days later. The Endeavour, becalmed off the and other waters. Her voyage exOuter Barrier, was borne toward tended over several years, IS the reef. She rose at last on a and J. Beete Jukes was the huge wave and seemed doomed to naturalist on board her, a geologist destruction, with only the breadth whose Interests were not confined of a wave between her and the to rocks. Jukes wrote the first deBut "a light air of wind scription of the Great Barrier, which coral. sprung 'ip," and the ship was remains one of the best general acsnved. counts we have of this geographical wonder: Cook Claimed the Coast. "The Great Barrier reefs are thus Captpln Cook sought eagerly for an opening, and found his "Provi- found to form a long suhmarine butdential Channel." He was In the tress, or curtain, along the northGrand cuial once more, and with eastern coast of Australia, rising in Infinite care took the bark to Torres general precipitously from a very strait Landing on an Island which great depth, but resting toward the he named "Possession," he claimed north of the shoaler ground of the whole eastern coast of Australia Torres strait, and toward the south for Britain, In the name of King on the bank stretching off from George III. A memorial to Captain Sandy cape. Cook has been erected on Posses"If It were to be laid dry, this sion Island by the federal governgreat Barrier would be found to ment, a simple obelisk bearing a have a considerable resemblance to a gigantic and Irregular fortificatablet of bronze. Bllgh, commander of the Bounty, tion, a steep glacis crowned with a and his eighteen men who were broken parapet wall, and carried faithful, made that memorable open-boa- t from one rising ground to another. voyage from Tahltlan waters The towerlike bastions, of projectto Restoration Island, within the ing and detached reefs, would InGreat Barrier, In 17S9. The mu crease this resemblance." sand would be rier Reef Imagined Sally Sez mid-ocea- w-- cJ,JA FT TW., if " All towns are en the sonny side. Which havs a lot of civic pride. For local people do their best. And local factories do the rest. PATRONIZE HOME INDUSTRT F:'JJLnO Myopia Approximately 250,000,000 persons, or 25 per cent of the entire adult population of the world, suffer from myopia, or history the past of this treat Region, her present is as before ns, bat what of her can be answered first in ths her people; second In tha natural resources of this wonderland and third the support to industries which her people will give her. The farms, the factories, the gold, the silver do not make this region, they only help to compose it. Tha true spirit of this region lies in her sons and daughters. In the character and Intelligence of her people lie the strength of this region but in the support which you give to her industries lies the peace and tha prosperity of the future of this vast Intermountain region. MARGARET DOMfiAARD. Salina, Utah. We read in Intermountain an open hook future f This character of Small Change Scarce Small change was so scarce in France following the World war that thousands of merchants wrapped postage stamps in waxed paper and used the small parcels as change. ASK YOUR DRUGGIST FOR mid-ocea- ei.J coral-forme- d lotus-eatin- g Witch Hazel Cream (SKIN LOTION) AN INTERMOUNTAIN PRODUCT Hay Fever Long, Long Ago As long ago as 1774 it was discovered in England that pollen was a cause of hay fever, and a scientist in Germany started the modern work of testing and treatment 30 years ago. Upkeep of Parks in Missouri Missouri's laws require that 25 per cent of the revenue received from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses must be used for tha purchase and maintenance of state parks. Not Even Middle-Age- d Speaking of youth thirty is tht age when Hannibal crossed the Alps and within one year of the age when Napoleon routed half ol Europe at Marengo. What d'yufc Hazor Blades 23 for 59c Post Paid (STAMPS ACCEPTED) Fits all Gillette Type Razors Money refunded if not satisfactory. COOMBS DRUG CO. Salt Lake City, Utah But Look at Us Now The immigrants developed tha physical riches of America; and in return, the new hope, freedom and changefulness of their live! developed in them germs of higl spirit and initiative. Animals and Birds Valuable A study of the eating habits ol wild life in America disclosed 90 per cent of our animals and birds are beneficial, according to Donald A. Gilchrist, naturalist. c week will b paid the best article on "Why you should use Intermountain made Goods' Similar to above. Send your story in prose or verse to Intermountain Products Column, P.O. Box 1555, Salt Lake City. If your $3.00 story appears in this column yoo will e- cetvo check Week No. 3327 lor W.N.U. i $3.00 Salt Lake CSU Gold "Mined" in Wool Peasants recover gold from tht Balkan tributaries of the DanuU river by the old method of catching the metal in the wool of a sheep, skin. Generations Change Every generation brings a nen point of view; if Shakespeare doel not change, the generations do. Largest Conveyor System The Chicago post office has thi largest conveyor system (for sorting mail) in the world. |