Show FORLORN F it A j ak it R L 0 1 IMF X in 4 N ISLAND ISLAIN toa by edison marshall copyright by edison marshall Mart ball service CHAPTER XIII 20 all night long the lost people of the isle mourned their priestess the helens left them to their grief but the wand brought their eerie cries and lamentations and the firelight showed their dark forms as they danced slow ly and solemnly about her bier some of the ceremonies were barbarous from erics viewpoint part of the an dent clent ritual of shamanism but he only shut his ears and looked the other way the old men embalmed her body according to her priestly priest lv station an aleut rite of which roy had heard but which he thought had bad passed from the earth and when the tide ran out the hunters bunters carried the bier to its place in the sea caves eaves when eric had revived he and boy roy searched for the sacred document handed down from Fire hearts rus elan sian ancestor the founder of her dynasty they found it in a seal hide packet written with some native ink on fine homemade home made parchment the ink had bad faded the white skin dark ened by time but the script was still clear why cant can t petroff translate it eric asked tensely no reason in the world roy said like most of these revolutionary coves hes something of a scholar thank pod cod he survived the melee otherwise wed be no better off than the aleuts eric found petroff roaming the vil lage row ills red pass passions lons had cooled and he was glad to be of sen ice vice to his big conquerors and make peace at adv terms in the flickering light of horton s turf house surround ed by tense drawn faces he trans quickly and easily the message from the past yes it was big medicine june for any of my countrymen and faith who come after me my prayers after many years of patient effort I 1 have haie learned the route across the shoals to egnak island now taboo I 1 have native children and I 1 cannot go but I 1 record it for other castaways lest it be utterly lost it is s shorter than the northern pass through which I 1 drifted the time to go Is in the early fall the currents are less strong at this time of year and the days clearer although there Is great danger of sudden storms paddle south for seven hours you will mill see ahead a I 1 ne of barrier reefs make to them boldly five ship lengths away you will strike a strong current sweeping southwest do not fight against it but paddle with it for three hours soon vou will pass a greit great arch of rork rock when you see the light L full through its opening turn south again and paddle for your life A mile beyond will find you in the open sea only four hours paddle to egnak bar bor be sure the shamans prophesy clear weather before you ton go start well before dawn so that you will find the harbor while the light still lingers it Is a perilous journey but by the blessing of our lady of kazan and saint Alle michael bael and saint george you may win through adieu paul golikow voice died away amay in the long silence nan saw old time strength of purpose flow back into erics eric s hag gard face but poy was the first to speak the old chap had more confidence in native weather prophets than I 1 h have ave it would be sweet to get over there on the shoals and strike a fog eric raised his eyes to nans well try it anyhow when it was half a whisper half a gasp k T tomorrow 0 morrow night there s usually a week of good weather meather after a boorga bjorga and all the signs say so he spoke with an echo of his old power we 11 go in the two three hatch kayaks petroff Chech and myself in one bill B g and cooky in the other there therell 11 be nothing to fear from the men except that they may desert big smith will have to get back to find little smith and III mike wake terms with the other two they may not be willing to go horton said they 11 go if you promise to tor for get happened petroff said weve all been crazy partly the island mostly San domar and garge barge but were sane now IN with jtb any luck well be in civilize civi elvi liza tion by next full moon eric erics s eyes CIO closed sed wearily and his blond head drapea draped on his breast now let me sleepy sleep he ile flung down on the fur rugs when he opened his eyes again the sun of bis his last day on forlorn island was high in the sky preparations were made swiftly these included food and water in the boats and money in eric erics s pocket con cealey from his comrades I 1 in going to give you a check too for a sub st antii amount horton said in decisive tones it will do wonders toward getting a relief ship here in the quid est possible time eric decided to start before mid night to meet the reefs as soon as pos s hie ble itter dawn damn pery hour of clear meither wis pre clois 14 beyond all the 0 chels e I 1 q n clort n ns s little book so it cime tilt tl it the honeymoon gonei moon did not bin iet et f r I 1 im ini in I 1 nan and only 1 I kaj 0 re arp thick clouds below the southern horizon it would never rise at all nan did not return to the broken nest she and eric spent their fare well hour in her fathers hut her friends had gone to the beach but she was not alone with her lover there ere thing were ghosts in e every ery corner w watching ate every move she made sh shadows do ws of the future wraiths of fear her arms were mere bound everything was changed when eric drew her close she kissed him gently and shook her head to the pleading in his eyes its too late she whispered everything must w wait alt till we get back to earth were we re just waking up from a long dream she smiled wistfully you won wont t blame me eric your happiness comes first mine would be a poor love not to concede that he ile stood back and adored her the lovely rounded contours of her dark head her dusky hair flowing her pointed hazel eyes lustrous in their long black lashes I 1 only wish I 1 had taken you when I 1 had the chance perhaps III wish so too when you are gone she spoke in low somber v kignak island tones if you re lost out there on the shoals and I 1 never see you again always hate myself for a fool and a coward it t been cowardice that much Is sure youre you re the bravest girl I 1 ve ever known and you just couldn coulden t bear to surrender to forlorn island and so to me he kissed her eyes forehead I 1 ps I 1 in coming back to iou ian nan I 1 ha vent gone through so go much just to drown in the shoals that would be too mean an end to all this but if fate did play such a trick I 1 d want you to have no regrets you v e followed your own star and kept faith and you ve justified my life it seemed only a moment later that they were clinging together in fare well the parting at the beach was one of the high moments of the whole ad venture weeping openly mother horton clasped eric in her lean arms and her sons son s voice was hoarse as he be said goodby roy wrung his hand and clapped him affectionately on the back marle kissed him with gallic fire even the aleuts were moved he ile had finelly won their full savage devotion they crowded around him grunting and presenting little tokens colored shells and ivory figures to bring him good luck the five sur v ivors of San domars crew kept to themselves but they shared in the hand ln ing at the last NA nth ith a tortured breast nan saw eric board his I 1 atle ship it seemed heartbreaking to nave have him depart at night in the cheerless gleam of the moon with naught to guide him through the dirk dark wastes mastes but a pocket compass and the far cold glimmer of the stars yet his purpose held al ready he was dipping his blade be fore she found breath to plead with him at least to call him back for a last kiss his form was dimming in th the e shadows soon so go soon there was nothing left but the wan glimmer of the paddles in the moonlight and this too faded away amay goodby goodby her friends were shouting into the dark good luck I 1 come back safe I 1 and bac baca across the water came erics voice full and strong good by goodby keep a stiff upper lip I 1 III be back before you vou know it then naught was left but the night the lapping combers the spectral moon and she and her friends for salen on the strand eric kept his course the breeze was favorable and the waves i ate it was as though his old mother convinced at last of his worth had turned gentle an unknown star in the southern sky guided him true hour after hour the paddles d ppe aped d while the moon sailed stately over head the two boats kept pace the only sound was the moaning voices of the sea an occasional water bird starting up with a cry and at long in a few quiet words between the paddlers the stars began to pale eric had to trust more and more to the small compass fastened on the walrus hide deck before him at last the dark eyelid of the sky rolled back and her blue ins iris glimmered through just before sunrise precisely seven senen hours after they had embarked they heard breakers roaring ahead so paul jol bof had written and the voyagers hearts were cheered but it was not easy to beat on toward the t tide ide rips and undertows of the shoals if they went too far the reefs would make short shift of their flimsy shells but golikov s directions bore out again when they were two hundred yards from the rocks five ship lengths of s time the paddlers began to fee feel a strong drift to the southwest it was like a river running in the ocean erics reckoning as a gaviga tor for had often been put to naught by the mysterious currents around t the he aleu ana tian n islands unexplained save by the r meeting e tl of the he warm north pacific with rith icy ley bering sea but he had never met so distinct a stream as this pad ding boldly he ran before it fully nine miles an hour they swept along the shoals soon the stream widened and lost power but even when the tide turned it continued to bear them to the southwest and now Chech grunted and pointed with his hand south by southwest they raised a pale blue shadow on the sky line it was not fog not a wisp of cloud not a trick of the eyes but surely land fall the furthest outpost of nan 8 lost world benak island I 1 Chech mut deep in his throat eric did not look at him but he knew that his ees glowed like black pearls home and all that it meant to his child childs s heart sweet food and strong drink from the trading store tb the e greeting of bis big hunting mates his return to his old place by the cooking fires and he did not dream that the strong young hunt ers would now be patriarchs squatting in the dirk dark corners of the turf huts that his firm fleshed round armed squaw had wasted to a stooped and withered crone that his own children would not even remember his name the tha boats sped on eric began to watch for a natural arch of stone presently he picked it up a great dome looming among shoals with the sea running in its hollow he turned south straight across the current and just as golikow had bade them he and his mates paddled for their lives it was an to raise even Chech s coarse straight hair the breakers roared the reefs rushed to attack fangs bared and snarling only to swerve aside and sweep impotently behind rocking pitching bounding up I 1 ke sword fish the boats sped far down the current toward the fatal shoals below the pass but when the paddlers breath was spent and theli their loins acl ed they saw the open sea rolling beyond eric cheered them on with a shout their blades hacked and gleamed boldly they charged the last rank ol 01 the enemy a long line of wild white horses with flowing manes the wicked chop of the seas began to change to a long gentle swell davy jones shoal roared in thwarted rage behind them nothing but a sudden gale could stop them now and no cloud was in sight they ate their dried meat passing it from hand to hand drank from the water casks and paddled wearily on the bluffs of egnak island began to take form androw and now fric divined that the great adventure of his life would soon pass fate Is a master playwright and she would provide a quick curtain for this drama of the north As egnak bar bor opened before him he saw what looked like three little black sticks stand ng in the blue the trading ship was in CHAPTER XIV the chipper of the chelsea little auxiliary schooner out from seattle to trade with the aleutian and auril islands gave no greeting as the two kayaks paddled alongside but his eyes opened tike most sailors his extra senses were keenly developed and even now he knew that here was a tale to tell on lonely decks for the remainder of his life white faces were not common in these waters the kayaks were of a primitive type he had never seen before and they came from the direction of davy jones shoal when the boats were fast eric came up the ladder to the deck I 1 in erics sen first officer of the intrepid of de w wat at captain nelson demanded the intrepid eric repeated pa she was lost early in the summer nelson stared hard this was big ger news new than he be had imagined I 1 hear about her she was suppose to go down wit all hands de papers been full of her captain and nearly half the crew went down the survivors are marooned on an island in davy jones shoal eric drew a deep breath I 1 want to arrange for you to go in and get them but but the old dane stam stain and stuttered dares dare s no way to get into davy jones shoal 1 we weve ve been there with the intres id she draws more water than you the pass from the north Is safe unless you hit a gale of course if you don t want to try it III wireless for a coast guard cutter but the passengers are in a hurry and you can name your own figure nelson came of a thrifty race more afore over it was his life to poke the chel sea a nose into uncharted waters and unknown harbors where the big tramps dared not venture he ile sug sul that eric come to his cabin there over two glasses they talked tersely and to the point TO BE CONTINUED |