Show FORLORN ISLAND by EDISON MARSHALL service copyright by edison marshall SYNOPSIS with hl his yacht tits the intrepid abandoned by its crew felix horton millionaire 1 lio lon alre with hla his mother his daughter I 1 er nan and roy stuart puts puta into squaw Il harbor arbor alaska to recruit falling to secure sailors sa llora alerton engages a bunch of 0 stranded there A gigantic pole San domar la Is their leader captain the intrepido skipper ekl la is an pla old friend ot of eric Er edlessen lessen unemployed but holding h oldin 9 Mit masters papers and he engages to sall sail as chief horton Is seeking uncharted islands nan and eric indulge in a moonlight flirtation which brings them both to the threshold of interest in each other if not of 1 love ove the intrepid Is wreck wrecked led by one of San domars crowd eric takes command comman d of a small email boat with horton his mother no ther and daughter nans mald maid marie and noy hoy stuart unable to help they watch San domar kill captain and leave the ship with hta his crowd has thrown erie eric a revolver from one of the aleuts aleuns ashore speaking a little english eric bric learns there Is no communication with the outside world Fir ebeart priestess of the island descended from a white man in the remote past also knowing a little english welcomes the castaways casta ways CHAPTER IV continued 6 like ell were going out together gorges cargos tone dripped with malice behind him film the faces of the gang were darkening nud twisting go your our way and well go ours we know tile the tricks have sandy and the boys in the first jail you come to for mutiny and killing on the digh seas 11 horton still hoped to make peace its furthest from my mind it if you behave well here on the island the rest will be forgotten when you leave we dont lave anve to leave were as safe cafe ere as oay any place in the world and it if we do d leave you wont you understand that if you let us lave ave our way and were going to lave ave it anyhow you and your pals may still be on top of the ground when that time comes if not yell be where you cant arm us any more before horton could answer the whole aspect of the situation changed it was only threatening before now the storm had begun to break A long arm the same thickness from wrist to elbow swept about garges shoulders and hurled him back now sando mar himself stood before his pack his sunken eyes agleam his black thair growing in a curious swirl erect like the hackles of a beast to go with such a face and form his voice should have hac been a hoarse grow growl his fits speech debased instead lie he used a dull monotone cold ns as a line of print and fits words told of ton long 9 nights reading and deep thought it was like meeting nn an educated gorilla nan felt a stir at tile base of tier her scalp that was the nearest to real horror her life had aind known 1 I am San domar lie he began 1 I speak for these men I 1 do not hear but I 1 speak we no longer work for you its every one for himself now the ship hns gone down everything Is swept away there Is no more civilization there Is no more law no one answered him apparently there wits was no ansher possible all that horton had stood for was at the bottom of tile lie sen ills 1118 checkbook was it useless scrap of paper ills sky bad fallen down upon his hend head a and D d his earth was crumbling under his feet all nil wits gono gone 1 I will ile be in no hurry to leave here San domars monotone ran on it Is the first time in my life that I 1 am rree free then without a change ell inge of voice or expression always I 1 have been denied what Is best in life the pick of the foot food the pick 0 of f the tha women I 1 have paten scraps I 1 have handled only ugly faced old and worn out jades that Is nil all over now and tonight I 1 will make a new start the blood blond lerk left holtons hortons Hor Ifor tons cheek but it a piercing light wui in his eyes that he had made up his mind to fight to the finish erle eric knew well give me that revolver he whispered but eric shook his head walt its not time yet San domar saw the message pass pas 5 and his luminous eyes moved quickly quickly to cargos right hand the lean little lingers fingers flickered briefly fast ns a swallows wings San domars lip curled in contempt no one will interfere with me he said one of you has a gun but he will keep keel it to guard his own life 1 I San domar will not hurt any of you if you let roe me have my way and I 1 will have it anyhow tonight I 1 will tak take e one of the girls the mistress or th the e servant I 1 do not cart cam for my pleas ure ahe threat would not have liven quite so eo terrifying had he spoken in a mabll volle vole instead of tho the dull monotone like 11 gorelin thit that had learned to talk marie uttered a low cry all anil run ang to t mill nil clutched her hand hall it alit it min nil stood arct tier her dusky law blanched blan blane bcd hed ili br glittering y ssi i t eyes moving slowly from one of the principals to another San Sandom domar nr his unstable feet far apart leaning tor for ward with his great arms bowed his chin thrown up horton gray and desperate roy noy cold speculative and rational as always at last eric his brown hair blowing in tho the wind tits hla long lone body supple and relaxed waiting waiting behind these nother horton stood quivering not with fear but rage the aleuts aleuns stared with sunken dull eyes turned fiercely to eric curse you ou give me that gunt eric shook his head absently only on one condit condition lon could he have obeyed this order that was a stronger man and a better shot than himself and it was not true erics only possible rival was ray hay cold nerved longheaded cautious and calculating but which of the two was greater was yet to be shown anyway eric believed in his own destiny A sense of power swept through him that flint would yield to no man here the gun might yet prove the scepter of empire and he would keep it himself this decision made he stepped out of the fading light into the ruddy glow of tile the fire San domars gang now edging slowly forward stopped in their tracks better stay out of this ere garge barge said shrilly the absurd voice grated on every nerve in the crowd San Sandy dyll 11 bust you open eric lid did not look at film nis ills blue e 1 I am San domar he began 1 I speak for these men I 1 do not hear but I 1 speak eyes were fixed on the little glowing triangles under San domars bony protruding brows there was no hatred tn in that clash but a passionless and implacable enmity both were keen judges of men both knew fear get out of my way Sando inar nr muttered there are eight of us perhaps nine and you are only one ile he reached his immense long arm picked up a boulder the size of a coconut and held it low to the ground you can not kill more than one of us with your gun before your ribs will be caved in you had best stand aside anti and save your shells for your own need it I 1 can kill only one that one will be you eric spoke slowly and clearly you cant have the girl now or any time San domar glanced aside to the quivering claws of his jackal ills own wrist grew tense the boulder shook a little in his grasp and erics hand went to its his revolver butt for an instant he be toyed with the thought of killing the creature here anti and now it was the rational thing thin to do roy and he would agree on this point provided the red eyed pack would scatter but garge barge and the rest were crazed with a drink more debasing than rum newfound new found freedom from all law one act of violence might turn this scene into a shambles their drawn black faces told that when San domar fell they would not cower but would charge in a howling mass break eric down and wipe out everyone who stood between them and their prize ile he made no move to fire perhaps iq tills this was a fatal mistake but he must follow his fits pilot star you want one of the girls for yourself San domar asked one of them yes there seemed nothing strange in this answer even to nan so swiftly and utterly had every old form passed away find and so simple and direct had all things become hut but not my reason no man can have any woman on this island save by her own consent the law cargos fingers flickered again but there Is no law herel San domars monotone was pitched higher giving a strange startling effect of emphasis all law Is gone there Is a new law eric spoke quietly but his voice had resonance and ills his face a light never present before the deep exultation born of conscious power when cargo had interpreted ar spoke a single syllable a question pregnant with meaning and event you with a single syllable eric answered ill 1 I then with a casualness that somehow held a new and sober dignity much as one of his fits viking forbears fon bears in a winged hat might speak to a conquered tribe on the saxon coast anyone who breaks breaks the law will be killed CHAPTER V eric had no need to show allow his re volver to behold law drowned and dead in the sea rise up colin cohn and 2nd od jr f n 1 I r strong seemed to stun his enemies they were set for a bloody fight and loss of life on both sides tut but not for this ghost of the past this sublime eternal force that eric had taken into his hands San domar dropped tits his stone then his eyes eric knew that tonight he was master better go now to your sleeping quarters he sald ill meet you nil in the morning and give you the lineup line up it will be a bard lay day tomorrow 11 domar hesitated a second ortho or two opened tits his immense drooping mouth as though to speak then turned with a grunt quickly lie he hobbled away ill his IS men following him without adne one backward glance ills eyes luminous and his heart leaping eric returned to the tire lire ills 1113 exultation was dying swiftly cold clutched tits his bones and he feared to speak lest tits his shaking voice would betray his now faltering faith nan was eyeing him half in wonder halt half in defiance ROY hoy calmly lighted a smoke and turned with a sardonic smile 1 I hand it to you ericssen that was a fine bluff eric pulled himself together and steeled his heart it a blurt blum im to in command of the island its going to be under marine law la w and im the captain I 1 dont fancy the job but so got to do it to save tile the girls and nil all our lives you carl can get that through your heads right now nan ann found herself between two fires iler her eyes were lustrous and she remembered with a strange a sweet L t faintness swo of heart erics brea breast rushing crushing hers and the warmth of his lips but her head was up and her cheeks darkly glowing this was a challenge she could not refuse the native enmity of two free souls flamed up again im not going to get it through my head was tier her cold reply im grateful to you too for a magnificent bluff but dont spoil it by carrying it too far H erics shoulders sagged ue ile could fight no trolle afre tonight he was dog tired ill take the matter up with you in the morning now im going to bed and I 1 think better do the same As long its as you stay here it will be an invitation for that gang to make more trouble uneasy lies the head that wears the crown and that night the devils of fear and worry rode eric hard had he acted for the best could he finish what he had begun should he have killed San domar when he had bad the chance it have been better to have shared responsibility with roy and horton in commandeering the island would he ha not antagonize tag onize the natives whose help was vital to his ultimate victory and what on earth did he mean by telling San domar that he wanted one of the girls for himself of all ills his follies fol fles this was the worst surely it was not true ills 1119 only aim and hope was to save the expedition lie ile would have no time or energy for daydreaming day dreaming of the unobtainable yet she kept haunting his thoughts the deep still pools of her eyes glamorous in their heavy fringe of lash the dusky gloss of her hair blowing in the wind the warm golden tan of her satin flesh the exquisite curved lines of lr her form lie slept at last to be awakened by it a hand op on ills fc houlder silently 11 hoy oy beckoned him to the open turf house door As dawn stretched a pale arm over the eastern sea the aleut hunters gathered on the creek bank to perform per forni a heathen rite they were naked linked save for a kind of loincloth loin join cloth probably made of forming a circle with tawny arms upraised they chanted slowly in unison presently they waded into the stream and with their cupped hands splashed the icy water three over their bodies in rhythm with the cliant chant then they sprang out and sprinted to their huts buts roys koya cold eyes were fairly glittering eric this the beginning of the lunar month the new moon therell be a new moon tonight this Is a wonderful thing ive read about the ceremony the russians recorded it on their first visits to tho the aleut islands but it was thought to have passed from the earth its a pagan rite you notice the priestess took no part in it id like to know what they were saying eric said ill tell you and I 1 bet when you ask Chech hell back mo me up the first part of the chant was an invocation for the sun to rise the source ot of nil life when they were splashing themselves each man was saying 11 am not dena dead 1 I am not asleep I 1 am alive I 1 and now eric too must show that he was not dead not asleep but alive banishing nil doubt and fear believing in his destiny he sent word by Chech that every soul on the island must gather on the bench beach what it if someone native or white refused to come the answer was force there could be no halfway half way measures now no compromise uc he had gone gona too fay far to back down every soul came in his blue boffl cers cera coat ills his eyes the hue of the sea behind him eric stood before the crowd and anno announced the new administration the dictatorship of forlorn island the coming of the white mans law first native and alien must work together to the island fruitful there could lie be no idle hands the children nm mil 4 NO hv lp within their powers the white women as well as the squaws squads must do their part no ono one could be supported in idleness to TO HB |