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Show i ILUJCEsMIEIIS, jj IT Bail: SIEI HSCC'DD. ij lTj by Lowell iniomai - - - - i , i taiill i Tbey said there were no wblte men on the Island, and we longed to go ashore. Wltb our scurry-swollen legs we could hardly stand, bowever. It wouldn't do to be bauled ashore as cripples. It would not Increase these warriors' respect for Germans as fighting fight-ing men: Cripples do not fare well among savage peoples, and we thought It best not to reveal our Impotence. So we refused tbe natives' Invitations to partake of their hospitality, told them we must hurry on to fight tbe Britten, and asked for fresb water and bananas. Tbey brought great gourds full of water and bunches of bananas. We drew up to the dock and tbey banded these precious supplies down for os. We had our fill of bananas and wa ter, and, with shouts resounding from the shore, set sail again. This lucky spot was Nlue, an outlying Isle of tbe FIJI group. The sun biased down upon us, but a fair wind carried as along briskly. The first day after leaving Nlue we felt better. The second duy we were on the road to high good health. It Is amazing the curative effect of fresb fruit, especially bananas, ba-nanas, when you are suffering from scurvy. They seem to put new life mnA hliuwl lnA jt ft I. ..11. CHAPTER XIV a Sea of Floating Brimstone to Fiji We had all along figured that we might bare to go to tbe FIJI Islands, where a constant stream of sailing ships wss always taking aboard copra for tbe munition factories In tbe United States. Bat we also were fully aware that sailing In a little open boat from Cook Islands to tbe FIJIs might easily be a perilous venture. Our voyage so fur had gone fairly pert of Its arrival became more and more attractive. "Boys," I said, "let ns take pieces of ballast Iron and tie them around our necks. One plunge and la a few seconds all of our pains will be gon." "Yes. AU right" There were mot-terlngs mot-terlngs of assent - But Parmlen, the youngest, the one who was nearest death, picked up the comic volume, Frits Reuter's "Trip to Constantinople." and began to read a funny story. We all laughed. That bonk had eased many a bard hour before, be-fore, on this ghastly voyage, and now, perhaps, it. saved our lives. And so we continued on wltb but one Instinct left in us, the sailor's Instinct to navigate his craft Mechanically, Me-chanically, without any particular hope, without any particular thought we trimmed tbe sails, guided the helm, and calculated our position as best we could. Nautical science was at a low ebb among us now. We were too far gone to reckon exactly where we were, and were only vague In our steering. All we knew was that we should steer to the west where tbe Island groups were. 1 won't try to sny bow we felt when we saw a speck on the horizon and the speck grew bigger and turned Into the familiar green of a tropical Island. We had been so mocb like dead men, and blood into you and draw the sickness sick-ness right out of the body as though some nnge and marvelous poultice bad been applied. Our cure was completed at the Isle of Katafnnga. It Is quite a targe Isle and Inhabited by more nutlves. We came to tbe main body of tbe FIJIs. and sailed Into a large gulf surrounded sur-rounded by distant Islands. It was night and we decided to wait till morning to see bow many ships were passing and what Island tbey were bound for. We reefed our sails and threw out our sea anchor, that sacklike sack-like drag of canvas that keeps a boot from turning broadside to the wind and waves and from drifting too fast We lay down for a decent night's sleep. We wouli need all our energies ener-gies for the morrow. A sudden shout I awakened. It was Just daybreak. Straight ahead was a wild white line of surf. It broke over a long, low coral reef, and just behind It waa a high cliff. We had run Into a strong current during the night Krauss bad awakened just In time to see that It bad carried us perilously near the reel The wind smoothly. There bad been no hurricanes, hurri-canes, and we thanked Ood for that. But now the weather turned against us for a whole week, and we began to think we had run across Et Swlthln'i day. We haJ forgotten If we had ever kuown It that this waa the time when the equinoctial storms broke In those waters. Had we known It, we never would bave beaded for the FIJIs. For ten days we sailed through drenching downpour, the rainy sen son. The sea waa choppy. The wind whipped the apray and the crests of waves over ns In driving sheets. In our cockleshell, things were afloat and It was bitter cold o' nights. We threw onr mattresses overboard. In tbelr soaked condition they were tar worse to sleep on thsn the wet planks, and there was no use keeping them any longer. Wben the sun occasionally bone, our drenched clothes would dry quickly and stiffen like boards of salt Tbey rubbed and scratched the skin off our bodies. Wben tbey got wet again, which they promptly did, the salt would sonk Into tbe raw flesh and Inflame It Our bodies felt as tbougb they were on fire. We bad no regular sleep. Instead, a man would doze away suddenly at almost any time. Even the helmsman would drowse off like that, and, wltb a free rudder, the boat would veer around crazlly. One morning, wben dawn came, we could hardly believe our eyes. The sea bad turned from Its normal blue to yellow. On scooping up a pall of li we found a scum that we concluded most be brimstone and ash. We were Bulling through a Held of brimstone. For three days we saw from horizon to horizon thla yellowish expanse of volcanic dust It no doubt came from some submarine eruption, perhaps the one we could thank for the tidal wave that had wrecked the Seeadler. The waves carried the gritty dust Into the boat It penetrated everything. Every surface became like sandpaper. Our skin grew rough and caked wltb It Our blankets were like sandpaper, and so were our clothes. As the voyage grew longer, we bad to be more and more sparing wltb our drinking water. The supply began to run low. We could no longer collect rain water In our snlia They were coated with salt We tried to wash them out In the rain, but then the was sweeping us toward the breakers. "Raise sail." I shouted. We scrambled frantically and raised the canvas. . The wind was Inshore. We could not head into It We were being blown slowly, Inexorably onto tbe reel People accustomed to the surfs along ordinary coasts have no Idea of what breakers are like off the Islands of the South Pacific The surf all over the Pacific is particularly strong. But wben . It breaks over a nild oceanic coral reef nothing can live In It The strongest swimmer Is sure to be dashed to pieces against the Jagged coral. And there wasn't the slightest hope of our moving against the wind and backing away from the reef. Slowly, slowly we were nearlng It The breakers break-ers roared like thunder. In a few moments mo-ments we would be flung Into that death trap of water and coral. Pistol In band, I shouted something to the effect that I didn't intend to be ground to death by the breakers on that Jagged coral. The others looked for their pistols. One could not And his. Between the pull of the current and the power of Two Thousand Miles In This Open Boat who had thought that nothing could ever make ns glad again. By Joe, that sight gladdened our hearts, though. We grew even weaker, but It was tbe weakness of happiness. Aj we drew near, we thought of nothing but land, fresh water, and soft food, a soft banana, for our loose, shaky teeth. Never mind ships or capturing ships. I Never mind being taken prisoners. We headed straight toward a crude pier that stuck out Into the water. A crowd of a hundred natives, perhaps per-haps less, were gathered st the landing land-ing place watching our approach. Tbey were ferocious looking black warriors. We bad now passed from the region of the brown, indolent Polynesians to those of the black, warlike llelnne-slans. uui iu iiiv iuiu. uui uieu uir spray and the waves kept washing In and kept the sails salty and added a further salting to any water we collected. col-lected. Our supply of fruit that we bad picked up In the Cook Islands ran out now, and about all we bad left ras hardtack, not In Itself a tblrst-quenchlng kind of food. Our gums dried out and were like rough Iron. We sucked our lingers and gnawed at our knnckles to bring a flow of saliva and refresh our horning mouths. And then came the sailor's worst enemy, scurvy. Our diet of burdtnek. lack of exercise, and general hardship brought It on. Our knees swelled up so badly that we had to cut our trousers. The rocking of the boat knocked them together or agulnst the wooden sides, and then tbe pain wus almost unendurable. Our lips were black and broken. Our tongues were swollen and hard. It was ss If you had a stone In your mouth. Our gum became snow white and seemed to re- "What ngly customers," I said to Lewlemana. "They look like cannibals." canni-bals." The forbidding battle arruy on shore stirred a new strength In us. It certainly cer-tainly looked like a cannibal Island, and mlseruhle as we were, still we could not escape the thought of our skin and bones being fattened up In preparation for an old time Soutb sea banquet "Clear the bat for action!" I or-dered. or-dered. Even In our present straits, we could still remember our old naval wars. The German flag went Jerking to our masthead, and rifles and machine guns were displayed. A shout went up on shore snd a babel of talk. Voice veiled tn pidgin English "You Germans How you get tiere from way off! Come on. Germans greut warriors." Still wary, we drew near the land Ing pier snd talked with the natives. our sails, we were drifting along the reef, edging toward It The wind gave us an extra posh. We were In the barkwash, only a few yards away from the breakers. And still one man could not find his pistol. Instinctively, Instinctive-ly, we all waited. And that was what saved our lives. ' Suddenly we saw the reef drop away, slanting hack at a sharp aniile, and a moment later we were drifting parallel to the coral. It was then that I discovered there were two kinds of breathing. In times of terrible danger, the breath comes In short, quick puffs. The danger gone, you breathe deeply. By Joe. when we got clear of that reel I breathed such a breath that It seemed to go right down to my heels. I gut j looking at my boys' faces. When we got our pistols rend.v. their faces had set tense, as If cast from bronze. With the danger past, their faces held the same set expression. It was nn hour before their old expressions came back again. Two ; of my fellows found patches of gray In their hair after- They were unmistakably friendly, very cordial. From what they told us they had, In the first place, grievances agulnst their masters, the ItrltUh. Then quite a number bad been recruited re-cruited and sent to the trenches tn France. There some hud tan killed and some wounded, and must who survived sur-vived had contracted tuberculosis from the unaccustomed climate and had been returned to the Island worn-out shells of men. I 1 l"l 1 1 I I I 1 I m . i i i i i I I I I I I I I uiin ' s.1 "j -.! mil, uutrr ward. (Maybe tliey had been there for years only to be discovered now I) Another's leg was alisolutely blue In spots. In those frightful moments he had. without knowing it. grasped his thigh In a clutch like a drowning man I tell you. by Joe. it was the hand ot Ood that put the curve In that reef! When one ot the hoys. I don't know which, said In surprise, "We are clear I" I knew It was the hand of God (TO BE CONTINUED.) I li ill li T T cede. Our teeth felt as though they were sticking far out of our Jaws They hurt constantly and were loose and felt as if they were going to drop out Wltb these shaking teetb we ate our hardtack. 1 never before knew bow hard hartack was. We bad an ending headaches, and It seemed as I! something were pressing our eyes right out of their sockets. We got water In our legs, and could hardly stand any more. We had to slide around tbe seats to do what had to be done In navigating the boat In scurvy, tbe blood turns to water, first in the legs and then upward. When It reaches the heart you die. Where the blood Is water the flesh Is white, and you can see the line of the white creep slowly up. We wondered who would be the first the first to have the line of whl'e rise to the benrt My boys made murks to show the line clearly and mark Its dally progress upward It was a kind of sport. It was keeping keep-ing a daily log, a log ot death. Tar mien was tbe youngest of os. but be seemed to be on bis way to win the race. The line waa higher ou bim than on the others. He Joked about It. There was nothing terrible In It. We were all to a deep apathy. Oui brains were like bails of cotton. Nothing Noth-ing mattered, certainly not death. Death would come, we thought as a relief from these sufferings. The pros- |