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Show . . ; i CHAPTER VIII Continued 15 Well If Jinny had not spoiled It for me, 1 had bad a fair chance of tearing tear-ing the heart oat of Grace' secret sweethearts notwithstanding. I might have chance yet . At all events, I would not give up while a shred of hope remained On tbat resolution, 1 went to sleep. Nest morning there was fine music, when the carrier got to work clearing and felling the timber e wanted for raft. Jinny stood beside me on the river bank, tall and thin and motion-let motion-let at one of the long palms that grew tn the sheltered verge of the bush. Her beautiful, hungry face, with Its avid eyes, wat fixed on the sliding Rotnllly river. The sound of the carriers' clearing bad shifted farther away; hack, back, went the axes, dully, muffled by distanco. There wat a pause; through It arose, exultantly, ex-ultantly, the voice of a Mamhore cannibal can-nibal singing the death song of the tree. . . . Followed a rending crash, and shouts tn cho us. There Is something In the fall of a great tree that lets things loose; thlngf that have nothing to do (on the surface) with trees. Genevieve Treacher had been one woman in the ' Instant before that crash. In the instant after, she was another another an-other of the many Jinnies, to know all of whom would nave needed great part of any man'a days; would have beeen worth It , . . peibap. . . . She swung round from the river; the faced me. tall a L filled, at L bg Beatrice Grlmshaw' JllitMtra tlont bg Irtrln Mgert Copyright by Hughes Musi A Co. , , WNU tarrlo For be, llk every one else "down West" bad known of my departure. . . It was difficult to answer blra, "I came back," wat my lame reply. "Well," be said, "weir after a pause during whlcb he bad looked swiftly, keenly, at both of us. "I suppose I'm to bava the pleasure fetching you along to Daru also?" I wat thinking rapidly; calculating Just what this new turn In my affairs might mean. The Taurl was a fast launch; she could take me home in a day and a half; balf a duy to fix up matters there, and get stores. Theu a day and a half back, tn the Taurl again 1 calculated that the government govern-ment would owe me v much for doing Itt work at my own rest Half a day for contingencies. Two days to get through my four days' cut In the bush. . . . Eight dayt In all from now ought to tee me should see me. If 1 went alive once more at the point where 1 bad turned buck. If there was no one ahead of me "1 suppose," 1 said to the waiting Basselt, "thnt yon didn't see any sign of another party on the river." BuHsett wat busy lighting a cigarette. cig-arette. "You suppose wrong then," he snld. hla bend bent over his hands. "There's a prospecting and exploring party pewter table, opening out before. There was a long, si rip of beach at the river mouth; yon could scarcely see It at tbat hour. But If yon could not tee the beach, yon could see. quite clearly, that which stood upon It the pointed shapes of several canvas tenia. "We'll ttop here for t few minute." said the magistrate. "1 didn't call going go-ing up; Just baited them, and asked If they bad teen anything of a white woman." "What did they tayr 1 asked. "One of them Caxoo It wat, I think; I hear be went witb them shouted back that they hadn't, and asked who she wat, aud what It was about" "('axon!" 1 said. "Who were the others?" "Only one other white.' You know him Splcer." He gave an order to the brown, bure-liinbed steersman; and our boat took a wide sweep, and began heading Inshore. "Caxon 1" I thought. "Splcer It not such a fool as he looks." For Caxon. old-time goldmluer and survivor of a past era of mining surceases, was about the ablest prospector who ever washed a dlsb between Daru and the Mauibare. "Do me a kindness, Bassett. will you?" I said. "Don't mention to anyone any-one ashore Just where it was that you picked us up." "Itlght You not coming r "No fear." "Mis Treacher coming?" "I don't" with tbe fire and frce of youth; ' '. strong, supple, as a tigress, brave as a tigress, a woman made for tbe wilds. It ever one was to made. "I'm not askln' marriage, t'htl Amory," she said. "I'm askln' I'm askln' just a but down somewhere at the mouth of the river, and me waltln for yon to corns back, since you won't have me on the trip. And I'll stick to you and follow you" 8he fought for breath. "Yon pulled me away from the sharks," the said. "You sent your trip to biases and never cared. You're tbe first real man I've ever ever Phil, will yon leave me in that but when yon go?" She was as modest, almost virginal, in ber self-betrayal aa any girt I x don't know bow, but In tbat moment 1 recognised a truth that to far, bad not come my way. J realised bow auch a woman a Jinny may regenerate regen-erate herself; I realized, with a wrench of aoul and body painful beyond be-yond all telling, tbat L and no other, waa the ma . to help her to It But between us stood the wrath of ria, my white rote, my etar, Pla who aome day, Ood willing, should past tbe ivory gate of dreamt witb me, Into a paradise of whlcb 1 waa unworthy, which, nevertheless, 1 could not give up, If the salvation of a hundred Jinnies stood In the way. If there bad never been a Pla. . . . Silently Jinny's head appeared above the coaming, cutting off my words She stepped out on deck. There wu still tome light left ; I could see tbat she had found Bustiett'i ttore of cloth Ing and looted It ruthlessly. A euro merbuud of dark-bluo tllk circled the wnlst of her my trousers; she had white socks on, and a silk tie about ber neck. I looked at her In amazement as she swung lightly down Into tbe boat, avoiding my eyes :she had not looked at me, or spoken to me, since we came aboard). I saw ber go ashore witb Bassett disappear among the tents. Before I bad time to grow more than a little impatient tbe boat was back again, and the uuncb under way. What bad Jinny been saying, doing, out there in the camp? Wby had the been to anxious to go ashore, and why, now that the bad returned, was the still keeping hidden, avoiding tlgbt or tound of me? Bassett was sitting on the cabin roof, a whitish blur In the dark. J edged up to blm and asked bin point-blank point-blank "Did you anyone say anything ashore?" He knew what 1 meant He did not look up, or turn hit face, but be answered an-swered immediately, in Bassett't own crisp, precise way "I'm Not Askln' Marriage, Phil Amory," 8he Said. down at tbe river mouth at this minute." min-ute." He did not look at me as be mike. Byssntt wnl Is llftla mm. I jinny, like many flame-balred, jnme-splrlted jnme-splrlted women, was ever-ao-llttle clairvoyant 8he read my thought "Phil atrlte, Phil," sue said. "I It because of me goln' gay, aame aa you yourself bava gone, I'll lay that yon won't? Because, If tbat'a all" I cootdnt answer ber. I put my hands on ber wide, thin shoulders; ber face waa on a level witb my own. and I Ussed it "You're the pest girt in all the world, and I love yon. Jinny," Jin-ny," I said. Unerringly, ahe read my meaning through my words. "I'm tbe best girl-bat oner she aald. To deny Pla wat to trample on tbe cross of my faith. "Yea," I answered, feeling at If 1 bad struck ber. "Then, if there hadn't been any Mlaa Laurlera In tha world, It'd 'a been all right with yon and me?" I could not answer her. There wat no need. She Sung n,e away with a suddenness and strength that all but aent me down among tbe trampled palm leavea by the river aide. She waa transformed, Instantly, Into a bag of the streets. A ab mtgbt look In tleman. "How toon can we get away?" waa my reply. "Aa soon as you can chuck your carrier car-rier oo board, and get you and this lady on." He kicked me, slyly, and I replied, aa intended, with an introduction to Jinny. "I'm sorry to offer yon such rough accommodation, ' MUa Treacher," be apologised, fixing ber witb bis grave ministerial stare. "But you are fairly lucky to be alive this minute, which I suppose is some compensation." "Do you?" aald Jinny. "1 dont," and turned ber back on blm. I could only tap my forebeau, and ood significantly sig-nificantly at Bassett "The bush," I explained, as he moved a little away It waa explanation enough, for anyone any-one who saw less clearly through a stone wall than Bassett usually did. : We made a very silent party, dropping drop-ping dowu river. With the current and the speed of the launch, it wa a comparatively short Journey. Dusk of next day found at on tbe opening reaches of the Romllly't estuary, witb the gulf of Papua, flat and gray at a "t taw epicer. i asked him what the delay was; asked if I coulJ assist In any way. He said no; it was ail right; they bad stopped because be wished to buy sago; they'd be off tomorrow at daylight I got back to the boat then. Miss Treacher," be spoke carefully, teeming to weigh bit word even more than usual "Miss Treacher stayed behind for t while; I waited for her." "Wat the" I ttopped ; It wat difficult diffi-cult to phrase. "There appeared," aald Bassett pre dsely, "to be something in the nature of a friendly understanding between ber and Mr. Splcer. I gathered an Impression that the wat pointing out to him aometblng In connection witb the course of the Romllly river." On purred the launch ; tbe start fell away right and left from her wake. Going forward, where I could be more or less alone, I sat oa deck, and dl gested aa best I could this unwelcome newt. It did not help matters, or make me more hopeful, tbat I heard, once in a way, a sound like some one, down below, trying to stifle bitter bit-ter weeping. I (TO BB CONTINUED! twenty year' time, battered, destroyed, so abe looked now, in one awful moment mo-ment of prophecy. She gave a scream that reminded me of tbe screams of torn horses during the war, and ran wildly down tbe bank 01 the river. I don't know where abe thought ahe waa going maybe to a spot further on. where the current swept deep and oily, past a bigb corner of the bank 1-1 where, if she bad leaped, tbe alii- gators would bava bad her before 1 or any other, could have done anything any-thing to help but ahe waa, In another moment, checked, aa I was checked in my pursuit by tbe amazing, unexpected unex-pected algbt of a government launch on a lower reach of the river, rapidly beading towards myself and Jinny. fhey stopped aa scon as they saw os, and slung out a dinghy. I saw '"' Bassett waa in charge. Tbe launch was drifting with th current; Bassett Bas-sett secured ber by a cable passed round a tree, before be came up to me and to Jinny, who was standing white, staring, but more or less self-possessed, self-possessed, a little distance away. "Well." be said, witb a certain forced cheerfulness, "so you've saved me balf my trip; that's very obliging of yon." "May one ask," I demanded, "what the blaze tbe government Is doing up herer "Yon can ask without the blazes The government ha businesa anywhere. any-where. We've been aent up to save this young lady from being carried off by cannibals like the star tn a picture show. Tbe (. S. waa at Daru In tbe Taurl, and new came down the coast , native telegraph, yon know that white 'Slnabada' had gone op tbe Itomilly in a canoe with half-a-dozen boys, meaning to strike Inland. So the Q. 8. turned a handspring and bad three cat-fits, and packed me off without with-out my lunch. So here': the Taurl to vake ber back; only 1 tee you've been beforehand with us." He glanced with Interest at the figure of Jinny, who wa contriving to look amazingly dignified in my kba'd shirt and troue era. "By the way, Sheep," he went on, "what' become of your expedition?' |