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Show I Sinners in Heaven I Bq CLIUE ARDEN jf f I Copyright fey Tha Bobbi-Marrlll Co. 5 PART FOUR Continued 20 "I killed him? I killed ISabnoma a man t" Swiftly he closed her lips with his own. with quick perception of he effects which renewed civilization might have had upm the primitive Instincts In-stincts aroused on the Islund. "I owe my very life to you, wife of my heart," lie whispered. lint his reflections were misplaced. "Thank (5od !" she cried unexpectedly unexpected-ly "I would Mil) kill anybody any day who attempted to hurt you." "'Norn de Dleu!" he echoed the Frenchmen. "Our life will be a checkered check-ered career." Then Harhara fully recognized once more the old Alan of flesh and blood, (loop moods and light banter, pontic Idealism and prompt action deliriously delirious-ly human, warm with love and life. She suddenly laughed, the bewildered sense of shock falling from her the first real siontaneoiis laugh of nihny weeks. "Alnn! Alnn! Nothing matter hut "It was h I !" she murmured briefly. brief-ly. "Have you heard?" "Madge told me everything. She got the news of our rescue almost directly after you left London: I came home like the very devil by sra, air, and land to find you had disappeared gone to break your little heart alone, where I couldn't tlnd you" "I had to come away, lan. I was In a turmoil " "Sly linrhara, don't I understand !" Suddenly his eyes blazed In their old way; and he dashed an arm upon the table, causing the flume of the lamp to Jump. 'Those I. lighted Pharisees! Those d d, gossiping " "ih, my dearl" She laughed again at this familiar vehemence. "I went to iMirlinry," he explained briefly. Her laughter fled. "Yon went to Parhury. Alan?" She glanced apprehensively appre-hensively Into hl grim face. "What what happened?" He remained silent for a moment, then met her eyes with a smile. rather bitterly. "I couldn't feel more married." she added, with the quirk shy look he loved. His gray eyes darkened; with a little catch of the breath his arms tightened. "There's one thing, therefore, which hold bud barons must have In their pockets when they chase their victims to Dnrljiiry, to prove their good intent." in-tent." "What Is that?" "A special license, I know a parson near here. We haven't met for eight years; but I wired 'his morning to tell litin we should arrive at his church to he married tomorrow " "My dear whirlwind I" she gasped. He bent, with his old violent suddenness, sudden-ness, and caught her up so close she could scarcely breathe. All the old passionate, dominating love, wMch had so often swept her away, poured torth and surrounded her; so that, panting and glorying, ker Individually, after all Its lonely travail, once more transfused, transformed Into his own. "So." he whlsjiered. "we must have another wedding, my Iteloved I Ituf It cannot he more beautiful mure real than the other In the dawn" "With a little subbing, tremulous !.h. she clung close. . . . "If we had one every year. In every land and every tongue." she murmured whimsically, whim-sically, "they would all seem beuutl-ful beuutl-ful to me." Tli landlady discreetly entered at last to lay the supper. She cast one comprehensive glance at the armchair, and her smiling fuce grew more radiant. radi-ant. "We are to he married In the mcrn-Ing." mcrn-Ing." Alan remarked. Cornish people take life calmly. They do not lose their beads or forget their duties in any crisis. "Yes, sir!" Mrs. Tregutheran agreed brightly. "I'm sure I du hope you will both be happy. And will you have eggs tu breakfast, sir or bucon?" "Both heaps !" They smiled at each other when f-he left the room. "Somebody must feed us." be oh- "Well . . . No deaths occurred." "I'id did mother say ?" There was a very free, candid Interchange In-terchange of opinion! 1 honestly fled to reconcile ,vour mother, but" he gave one of his old careless shrugs "she considers herself disgraced, and talks darkly of being obliged to leave Iinrbnry. ... I saw Rochdale, too " Barbara raised her head again. "Ah! I'eur old Hugh ! He has been splendid, Alnn. Ills friendship his struggle to to believe " Her vilce quavered. "I know. And he, of everybody concerned, con-cerned, might with Justness have condemned" con-demned" They fell silent awhile, each knowing, know-ing, by their own Joy, what It all meant to the friend who had lost. . . . A realization of what this return would mean to Mrs. Field combined with her own overwhelming Joy to draw from the very depths of her heart a voiceless prayer met thanksgiving. thanks-giving. In the luminous, darkened the fact that you are here ullve! But I can't understand It all. How was such a mistake made?" "Very easily. Because De Borceau didn't, of course, know friend from foe! Things were going all right with us. But when one of the devils set fire to the hut and the friendly spear knocked me out. He Borreau lui'.ur illy though nil was up. Some of Baboo-nia's Baboo-nia's lot tried to reach you. but Boowa frustrated them. Then Ie Borceau was staunch to his oath. He fought anybody who came near you, like a medieval knight, and carried you off to safety, I'oor Komva thought he had stolen you from me, and nearly went mnd !" He luughed remlnlscently. "But you? What happened to you? The expedition searched the Island. And whnt became of the lie Borceaus when they returned ?" He sank Into the big armchair, still clasping her In his arms. "It's quite a fairy story. You remember the wood In the east where, that first Christmas Christ-mas day?" "Every leaf!" she breathed. He smiled Into her eyes. . . . served, passing his fingers through her curly hair. "Every little note has Its niche." "But not every moss-covered rock. In that wood was a very cleverly concealed con-cealed entrance to n subterranean passage pas-sage leading to a kind of vault. This narrowed down Into another outlet quite ImpussaWe on the shore, which allowed h little fresh nir and glimmers of light. This cave was tabu. In happier days, when the tribe was sufficiently suffi-ciently self-supporting to provide Its own meat, the condemned dinner was well, we need not go Into details! But that cave was supposed to In-haunted In-haunted with the spirits of past feasts. Nobody liked to speak of It, or go nur It. When I was considered dead, our friends, very naturally, carried off my bleeding corpse " "Oh, don't!" cried the girl who had suffered so much from this well-meaning well-meaning net. She buried her face on Hugh sat long over a lonely break' fast, a few days later. The "old people" peo-ple" were nwa.v. The London paper, with Its list of marriages, lay upon the table before liim; but he stared n.wiy absently, through the w indow, w ltl out turning the page. . . . Presently, with gun and dogs, he stepped out Into the raw February air, turning aimlessly down a lane. . . , An hour later, followed closely by six puzzled brown eyes, he walked slowly up the pathway In the little wood where neons ago he and Barbara had discussed their honeymoon. The gun still rested unused w ithin his a -in, the cartridges untouched within their bag. . . . 1'nderfoot. the fir needles lay soft and damp with here and there fronds "mm mi bis shoulder. . . . After a lucid Interval he resumed his narrative. "When they realized you had been 'stolen' and I wus still alive, the fear arose that the 'bird of 111 omen' would return and make off with me, too! So, to Insure my safety that was the Irony of It ull they raised the tabu and hid me In the cave. Only Iiomva was courageous enough to enter with food. I was knocked out for si-me time. When I recovered Barbara ! Can you possibly Imagine my feelings upon discovering that the rescue party imil come and gone? 1 was raving mud! The poor beggars had done it for the best and were bewildered. Nothing would convince them that the white men were my friends. I spent what seemed years of agony, doubtful If any further help would come. My only hope lay In you." "In me?" "I thought you would persuade De Borceau or somebody to try again, not of sodden dead bracken drooping upon them. The tall pines swayed a little, whispering their everlasting, murmurous murmur-ous song; dropping, sometimes, splashes from their wet leaves, like tears, upon the dreariness below. All the world appenied gloomy, dead, sorrowful. sor-rowful. It seemed Impossible that, soon, the sap would run in the tall trees, the young green shoot forth upon the hedges, spring with Its fresh myriad life awake with the "singing of birds." . . . The unloaded gun dropped unheeded to the ground. . . . The six brown eyes questioned one another wonder-Ingly; wonder-Ingly; then looked back at the tweed-clad tweed-clad figure lying face downward, with head buried In his arms. . . . At last Shag, Hugh's favorite terrier, ter-rier, ever the most tender-hearted of friends, approached cautiously; sniffed ; then gently licked what was visible of a much-loved cheek. (THE END.) "Oh, Don't!" Cried the Girl. eyes that met her own, she saw the same look of almost reverent awe. Never had he seemed so gloriously alive, so radiant In spirit. Again she raised her hands to feel the features she had never thought to see again; then drew the dear head, with passionate pas-sionate tenderness, dow n to her breast, and clasped It there. . . . To both of them, beneath the superficial super-ficial lightness of talk, this hour equaled In sacredness that of tlielr resi coiiienr "I wanted to come myself." he cried. "I Implored and threatened threat-ened and Oh! everybody was so pig-headed. IStit what happened to Ie norceau?" "As soon us the plane's arrival was known the whole tribe raced pell-mell to the shore and burned It to cinders. I found the brothers hiding for their life In the forest." lie gave an Irrepressible Ir-repressible bubble of laughter. "They literally fell from Hie trees upon my neck ! We have been kissing each other's hands or faces ever since. So again, nothing remained but to wait snd hope. 1 thought at least a missionary mis-sionary party would turn up. That second expedition was Infernally slow !" He laid his cheek Impulsively down upon hers. "Uut He lior-eau could jive me news of you. iie toj me everything about Singapore" Her lips turned trembling a little to his. "And." she whlspereil, "'If':" "And 'It.'" Ills arms tightened. "And other things. I Insisted. He acted loyally for us both, Itarlwrn. But by heaven! It made my gorge rise to know what you were facing the Inferences, the And there I was. j powerless as a stranded infant to t hall you " marriage morning in the dawn Hut this held In it, also, the bnlf-feart'ul Joy of a resurrection. The past (lurk-ness, (lurk-ness, with fhe struggle toward the light, had left Ineffaceable marks upon each soul, . . . "Can't we go hack to the Island?" she whispered at last. "Some day." lie raised his head and smiled. "We'll retire there, now and then, nnd live It all again! Hut our first Juunt Is to Australia. I've been commissioned to rebuild the old bus. There's been nn awful lot of Inten low ing and publicity since I got hack ten days ago " "Only ten days! And you've been to Iarbniy " "That's not all." He looked at her with eyes which held something of their old Inscrutability. Inscru-tability. "Your relations showed unflattering surprise at what they termed my 'constancy' 'con-stancy' now we are rescued. Oh, lord !" "They would!" she cried, with Indignation. In-dignation. "The fetir (tint we meant hrazenlj to defy the English law- possessed them. They besought me to marry yon 'pro-erly. 'pro-erly. In a church.' Yi.ur aunt particularly particu-larly Insisted uimn a Protestant church not a registry ofllce, or chapel." "Just like Aunt Mary!" She loughed |