| Show 3 h e e Ps ol 01 BY BEATRICE illustrations by irwin myers copyright by hughes massie co service 1 THE STORY on a pleasure trip in eastern waters water philip amory english world war veteran now a trader on the island of papua new guinea plunges overboard to save the th life of a musical comedy actress known as gln gin suns amory becomes interested in pin pia rAt laubler Laur trier ler member of 0 a wealthy now new south wales family ile he tells her of his knowledge 0 of a wonderful gold bold field on the island gin sling tells him pia la Is engaged ene aeck to sir richard fanshaw his holiday ended arn am oy o y arrives back at daru tie lie in meets otis an englishman spicer there or on development business for a syndicate of which fan thaw Is 1 head fanshawe Fan name recalls to amory a long ions forgot ten incident in which he witnessed the th escape of Fans fanshaw havy from a leper colony ile he tells his friend bassett about it and decides to inform laurier he goes froes to thursday island to send the message amory hears fanshaw dictate a menage mebs ige ig e which indicates that the secret of the gold cold field in known amory meets with an accident that lays lay him up for three weeks recovered lr he balls above for port moresby A storm compels him bi M to put in at thursday island where he be finds find ranshaw fan haw amory resumes resume his bla voyage to port part Mor morsely sebY fanshaw follows in a n motor boat and nd attempts to run him down amory shoots and kills fanshaw CHAPTER VII IS 13 from where I 1 camped the whole world seemed to fall away in one huge wave upon whose crest the boys and I 1 precariously hung four days we had tolled to reach this place four days of hardest work cutting our road toot foot by foot forest that was knitted and tangled together we were pitted with leech bites scarred by mosquitoes I 1 had enough dinner and likely to for comfort was a dream and danger daily food and I 1 was harpy happy in the wa way Y of one who has long iong for a draught ot of the home airs about his native town and after long travel long diAl difficulty culty has won back to it at last I 1 wish I 1 could find end words to tell the completeness of that conviction the certainty based on no DO producible facts that I 1 was in my proper place and doing what I 1 ought to do here four days inland from the mid waters of the romilly river away from all the world white men and all their works here on the spine of the dreadnought ranges verging merging at last at bastl on the unknown from today I 1 knew the worst of the work began I 1 scanned the world below and decided that I 1 had bad done well grace the dead miner left the romilly Roi nilly till lie came right to the head bead of the navigable part parl 1 I acting on what was more a guess than gl a conviction had branched off from th the river halfway up nobody knew just what lay a day or two beyond my present camp but from what I 1 could tee see and Infer I 1 thought I 1 might succeed in cutting off weeks of work by going on just as I 1 was going I 1 might go a longer way round than grace had gone but I 1 was likely to get there sooner so I 1 sat and smoked and felt myself at peace and the sun went vent down upon my day I 1 should have slept well that night I 1 did not I 1 lay walie wakeful ful on my grid of sticks saw through the open triangle of the tent fly the cross swing round to the movement of the earth about the sun sleep 41 told myself you must sleep leep tomorrows a hard day but there teemed seemed to be springs in my eye uda holding them up the muscles of my iny limbs were stiff and un relaxed I 1 could sot not sleep toward morning when I 1 should have bave been waking I 1 dropped into confused tired sleep the first spears of sunrise woke me like a stab it Is not at sunrise but before that the explorer r should hould leave his bis none too downy dowdy bed with a curse at my own laziness I 1 pulled on boots and was dressed already the carriers had their fire going they sat round it blanket robed watching the pot of rice cook over the flames I 1 looked at them almost through them felt as 68 one feels in such PI places eq that they the brown men of the country made scarce a break in the glorious the intoxicating sense of solitude that a white man knows on the verge of lands landa over that nearest ridge a couple of days march on knew what but there was no man when I 1 topped the mountain I 1 should linow know and I 1 said in my rashness this Is good I 1 ask asb no in more re of life I 1 turned rame ame moment 1 in the looked carelessly down the long cutting in the forest that we had made before and saw a figure seated the day on OD a log the current of my blood seemed to top stop as th the e flow of the romilly river instant when the gull gulf for nn an s stops stop sweeping in and holds it bore comes back then fig aa the bore flies files up the driving all before it anger and river tick sick dismay invaded MY son soul there was sar something bething else too gratified vanity nid a und kind of eager anger love perhaps but they were drowned beneath the up rushing tide I 1 took ten steps to the place where jinny trencher was sitting and I 1 said to her G d jinny what made you do tills this she looked up at me I 1 could see now in tile the growing how her beauty was wrecked wreck rd how her eyes eves had sunk back into her head and her copper hair lost its shine how she had bad worn herself to a skeleton and let her clothes fall into rags there were sores on tier her arms and neck lepech bite sores blue marks of mosquito bites deep scratches made by lawyer thorn her shoes were bandaged onto her feet iler her hat was a abd tbd tangle ie of torn straw anger had possession of me ano yet though I 1 knew mat slie she had practically wrecked my expedition I 1 could not choose but pity tle the bright thing brittle as a butterfly who had wagered her light self against the terrific powers of the unknown who before the thre threshold shod was well crossed lay beaten nothing but the slow pace enforced on me b by y the cutt cutting ing of a track had kept her with me so far she must bare known this his guessed that her only chance of life was nas to come forward and show herself ling herself on my mercy before it was too late she had obtained a canoe as I 1 afterward learned from the village at Ito millY mouth and persuaded a small crew to accompany her living and sleeping on board she was able to keep her boys with her until she landed at the place where I 1 had de barked a few hours earlier there they deserted as aa carriers will and she had had bad no food save what she could carry herself no shelter save the frost during duriez the tour four days of my journey towards dreadnought nou range luckily tor for her it was impossible to lose the way even when she fell behind stare the track we were cutting made our course plain as 8 a macadamized road I 1 think she went in constant terror terror of natives terror of wild beasts even terror of me for she must have guessed all too soon that her plan of following me right through was I 1 madness nad ness and that she would be forced into showing herself but I 1 do not think she knew even suspected that her coming stamped the expedition into dust she thought she had merely to placate me use her womans comans tricks in order to find refuge in my patty she doubt her ability tinny jinny had not had bad much reason to doubt her chance of success in this or any other test where the weapons of her sex were pitted against mans determination but it was not mans determination that barred her now it was the immense in impersonal might of the untamed wilderness of papua against this the finest men of the nineteenth century the pick of the twentieth had bad fought struggled and most often lost paying the loss with their lives who was the little dancer to break lance in such an army she did not know she stood up and came to me with the red of sunrise on her red gold hair smoothing her torn shirt and pulling down her tattered breeches calling to work the smile that had gained a drop of new sweetness from every man who tell fell victim to it until now it was a very honey boney flower wherein the wandering kissing bee might drown she knew her work this jinny she made me in a minute forget her rags her stains her battered weary look and see her but as I 1 had known her mouths months weeks ago on the liner and in thursday island yet at the same time I 1 was angry and sorry tor for her and for myself jinny jinny I 1 said to her ber and afia again jinny Jinn jinny it seemed as if I 1 could find no other words but jinny was only too eager to talk my oath phil she declared catch ing me by the loose folds of my shirt as it if she feared that somehow I 1 might vanish my oath I 1 thought it was all in with me I 1 did straight last night I 1 see a sign of your ire fire anywhere same as id se seen en it other nights and I 1 fair gave myself up up tor for dead and so this morning I 1 started off just as soon as I 1 could see me feet and I 1 said to jinny my girl if you dont find him quick the robins or whatever lt it ls Is will come coma and cover you with leaves today so I 1 hurried and hurried and when I 1 come oo on you just like that it took m mg queerly and I 1 had to sit down because of 0 course I 1 was waa afraid that be angry phil youre not angry with little aln ore are you phil I 1 just had to come I 1 dont mind anything now ive found you and I 1 know im coin with you jinny my dear 1 said and I 1 did not lot think my black haired dlan herself would grudge the kiss that went with the words jinny tell me for I 1 wanted to put off the bad moment as long as possible tell me have you had my any breakfast no nor dinner last night she said 1 I anything left then you yon must breakfast at once I 1 called a carrier spoke to him and set him to make tea find and bring met meet and biscuits she bad eaten her meat and bl bix cults she had thirstily finished her of tea life was creeping back into her tired face and with it something that I 1 knew my next neit few words must kill hope 1 I thought be angry she said setting the down upon the ground I 1 said nothing I 1 took her scarred burned hand band and began smoothing it gently in mine angry she little knew the very rage of h 1 had bad been in my heart when first I 1 looked down the clearing saw her sitting there knew what it meant to me and knew in the same moment that she could never dever if she lived to be a hundred understand what she had bad done how could one be angry leave go of my hand she said suddenly theres something you arent telling me what Is it jinny I 1 said there are a great many things you told me and I 1 propose to know them before very long but theres plenty of time for all that plenty of time I 1 repeated for anything either of us ns wants to tell the other on the way yes she said the way to the place they call Tata tata 11 the way to the mouth of the river I 1 mean said L youre coln back again cried jinny were going bach because of me because I 1 find it necessary to go phil id have drowned myself rather than if id known phil dont do it old boy lets go on oil and chance it im not afraid of anything ill go till I 1 drop dead let me phil she was almost crying she held my sleeve tightly and shook me in her eagerness jinny I 1 said were up tip against hard facts drop dead as you call it before noon today you 1 I done well up to this anyhow I 1 kept with you rhill you kept with me because t the he work begun it you had bad been an hour five alve minutes later in finding me jinny janny the meat ants would have been picking your bones tomorrow maybe before you were dead if you came on with us now we might be able to help you yon along t yes iler her eyes glowed with hope for a day or so carrying you in a litter where we could and slinging you up precipices with like a tied pig that jinny would cut our days work down by a third maybe a halt half we should get a little way and turn back I 1 prefer to turn back now dont cry gln you never cry you know that war cry of yours drink hearty soon be dead lets letb hear bear it again I 1 clapped her on the back assuming a gaiety I 1 was very tar far from feeling one of the swift changes typical of her sad merry kind slewed hold on her without warning she flashed int into 0 sudden fury for she said id kill tam him swine 1 chos the swine I 1 asked B but t she looked at me sidewise and made no reply I 1 saw she was shaking with rage TO DX BS |
