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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1928)
HEPPNER GAZETTE TIMES, HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 1928. PAGE FIVE RED' HAIR AND BLUE SEA STANLEY R. OSBORN IXIaJS I RATIONS BY HENRY JAY LEE COPyRiaHT BY CHAJLUS SCRIBNERS 8ON8 CHAPTER XIII Burke had spoken of the brown man s arrest. Meanwhile, Olive had tired of his enforced bath. i oiowiy unve Degan to moved downstream. Scarcely did the leaves that hid his head seem to stir as they skirted the bank, blending witn tne leaves of the background. Past Sentry Number One, past Number Two. Finally a friendly turn or tne course and he could rise, dripping and run for the sus pected mangrove trail. Trotting through the mud, he had ncarea tne outlander village. Then, hearing his name, he stopped, wniriea arouna, encountered one Taruk', a member of Ponape Bur- Ke s crew. Taruk', smiling affably, emerged from the thicket and the two shook hands. Olive slipped Into that house third from land's end. He crouch. ed, the central support hiding his ' face. A glance showed the tide was moving out. He could not await reinforcements. Opposite, Palmyra still leaned against the post, Martin behind her, tne seated natives in front. Then Olive, staking all on Burke's absorption, strolled out from sjiel ter, grinned brazenly into the eyes of the startled sentry, entered that side or the prison house where the . natives grouped. Unobtrusively, he dropped among them. Neither the girl nor her guard noted his coming. A native more or less meant nothing. But as Palmyra waited, with downcast gaze, her fingers working aimlessly at the hat and veil the old women had brought along, she be came gradually aware that, of the brown hands on the mats before her, one wore a mitten of tattoo. Her eyes focussed into interest. And then, astonishing, she beheld on the brown forearm a name of five lettersr A glad cry rose to her Hps, But she suppressed it, drove from her fnce the exultation forming there. Her own salvation, this man's life, depended on her caution. ' The brown man opened his mouth and spoke aloud in the na tive tongue direct to Martin. Olive's expression was that of for mal politcneS. But, though he had seemed to address the white man, he had not done so. What he had said was this: , , "Men of the village of Tanapal, llpten here unto me. The high lady Palmtrec shall be Saved. I speak the WRy." Olive was continuing Ip the tones of courtesy, looking at MWtin but speaking djrect to the villagers. In a sentence he appealed to their cupidity, to their fear of the Japa nese. Then, without alteration of voice or manner, he added for the Interpreter: "Make words, make words unto him. Anything that shall mean nothing and have a pleasant sound." i The interpreter had got the Idea. Out came n flood of compliment to which the white man made crude response, condesoeniingly amiable. And so, under the very nose of the unsuspecting Martin, almost within hearing of Burke, Olive worked out his attack. And Fompe Burke himself gae the signal. Springing up now, he bawled across to his mate: "Ahoy ahoy there! Haven't them dam' kanakas got the Pigeon out yet Give a hail the moment y'slght her. These Japs Is maybe up t'some thlng." Ho levelled his binoculars again upon the gunboat. Martin reached for his own. bent them upon that spot where the Lupe-a-Noa's top masts migst emerge from behind the taller trees. i For perhaps forty seconds both men were absorbed. Then Martin, still seated, his shoulder against the girl's support, ISwerod his gl tsses, turned nls head to speak to her. But Palmyra was gone! At Burke's order the crew, load ing rilies, began to go through -the thatches. l'ortunntely for Olive, Ponape remained. In the open, bawling out commands and Impre cations. The search, unsystematic, was still sincere, for, though some of the brown seamen grinned be hind the white men's backs, none would have dared pass the girl by. Yet the quest covered the Islet without result. It was when Ponape Burke had stopped, completely at a loss, that a messenger came running from the Lupe-a-Nia. Thu schooner could not bo got out. Diving, the natives had found under her nose two of the long hexagonal rocks from the ancient wall. 1 He would have been aghast to know that John Thurston had dis covered tho vessel; had reached her before the work'ng pnrty and while her watchman was Irresponsibly absent; had, in the brief Interval afforded, made good use of his en gineering skill. With a block and tackle and n light Hpar from the schooner, Thurston, in a few min utes, had undone a labor at which slaves must have sweated for days. He had tumbled two of the stones off the wall into the canul. The Pigeon would not fly again until the month's highest tides came to lift her over. A figure broke from among the men, went bounding along the path toward tho outer point, carrying In Ub arms a heavy burden. , Burko uttered a cackle of tri umph. For, as this figure ran, there was visible over Its shoulder a white straw hat, a blue veil fluttered Into view and, below, Ponape saw the folds of a plaid raincoat, As he ran, however, he struck his foot against a tree root, staggered; the burden was hurled from his arms to the ground. But he did not pause. Two of the sailors, flanking along the beach, sprang upon him. Others joined in. A struggle, and he was held. Ponape Burke had remained at his post, an amused spectator. Now, however, when the girl on the ground did not stir after her fall he ran toward her. "Palm," he called; "Palmie, are y'hurt " Another hundred feet and he stopped. Bewilderment turned into rage. For lying there In the hat, Veil and raincoat was no Palmyra Tree It was a big, roast pig. Ponape Burke turned a savage face from the greasy pork to the man who had tricked him his pris oner. Then an oath and a laugh struggled for simultaneous expres sion. For there, bloody, desperate. stood the brown man Olive. The white man's features were contorted. "Where Is she?" he de manded. Olive clamped his lips shtt. It had been Burke's sudden de scent upon the four houses which precipitated catastrophe. The vil lagers, grown overconfldsnt, had thought he would not look there agiin. Olive, having seen thu mes senger from the Pigeon of Noah, had assumed erroneously that the schooner was ready; that Ponape seizing the girl now, could sail at once. In desperation the brown man had snatched up the hat, veil and raincoat; thrown these about the pig cooked to send to the feast down the coast. Running toward the outer end of the islet he had hoped to draw Off Burke and the crew, so the villag ers could rush Palmyra shoreward to safety. He would hold the pur suit by carrying the pig into the sea; perhaps himself escape if Pon ape feared the sound of firing. But one misstep, and he had been caught before there was time to get the girl away. Hence it was that she herself, peering tensely out, saw Olive led to the mai tree, his wrists bound behind him. She saw the master in vehement demand for her surrender; Olive shake his head in defiance. The villagers, crowding round Burke's guards, waited in consternation. Ponape turned to them. "If you would save this man's life speak." But Olive, pale yet unflinching, besought their silence. They would have been glad to have this white woman off their hands and Olive free. The Japa nese could not punish their yielding to force. They wished to. yield but the will of this one being held them fast. Unnoticed, a boy had wormed in to the crowd, a bit of paper folded small in his hand. His purpose was to toss the note so Ponape should get it, yet not know whence it came. But the urchin blundered. As the message left his fingers, Burke saw. The white man snatch ed up the paper, unfolded it, "Your sacred word to free Olive unharmed (also the others), and I give myself up. He shall not die for me. If you promise, call loudly yes." Burke uttered a crow of victory. Whirling toward that point from which he conceived the note to have come, he put his hands to his mouth and shouted: "No, no, NO!" Then he clutched the boy by'the wrist. "Show me where." His revolver menaced; the mes senger began to cry. Under the muzzle of the big wea pon the urchin quailed. Ho was appalled at Burke's anger. And he saw that his own people wavered. At last, therefore, he raised a trem bling finger, pointed toward a group of thatches. The boy haltingly brought Pon ape Burke to a hut "In there," he whimpered. Burke sprang under, dragged his guide with him. The house had been searched before. It was empty now. The man's' scrutiny took In every detail. Then he turned and the boy! was in real danger. Savage Irri tation had all but overborne any sense of consequence. ' i Suddenly Burke's eyes opened wide, he leaped to the center of the house, stared up at the bundles of stiff bark cloth, gave one a prod with the revolver. From within there came a gasp of pain. Palmyra Tree had lost the bitter fight Ponape Burke at last had won. "Y'shall see Olive hanged," he said. "And then, whether or no, y'shall go t'Tanna." He dragged her toward the tree, the natives following, tongues a- cllck against teeth; the traitorous boy ahead, self-important, unscour ged by any sense of guilt , At the tree Olive stood among uneasy guards, hands bound behind him, feet loosely tied, noosing hemp drawn taut across Its limb. "Look at him yer rope round his neck," Burke reproached. "Wait ing, poor sucker, for y tset htm free. This here kanaka was good enough t'dle for you. But when it Comes yer turn?" He laughed with brutnl Insinuation. She could scarcely form the sounds. But at last she gasped out: "Let him go." Olive kn'iw noi the words but hf knew their meaning. "Never!" he cried. "Tell her tell her she shall not give herself inr mo." At this moment, however, there rose from the outskirts of the crowd a startled warning. "Zapanee . Zapanee, he come!" Burke, with an oath', snatched up his binoculars. Three boats from the Okayama were already close, Rifles bristled. While the others ran, Ponape Burke was carried only a step or two by the animal instinct of setf- preservation. Then he stopped started on, turned back. Horror sat upon that visage; ludi crous, yet doubly intense by the very inadequacy of its expression. He snatched forth the revolvers. He could battle for her. Yes, kill half a dozen of those Japs. But- to what avail? Fighting or no, he'd lose her. , "I can't go on without you, he burst forth, "and they won't let me go on with you. But if I can't live, I can die with you." He broke Into the old laugh. The boats, as one frantic glance told his victim, were still too far to aid. The natives all had fled. Only Olive remained; bound hand and foot, the rope from the noose drag ging across the limb above. Olive was writhing to sunder the sennit cords which bound his arms. , Olive blood dripping from wrists torn in his struggle hurled himself against the madman. The concus sion of his bulk threw Ponape back. The bullet which would have pierc ed falmyra s brain flew harmlessly into space. The islander, by a supreme effort, snapped his bindings. He seized the other. He crushed his master to him like a gorilla. But the hand that held the revolver was yet, for the moment, free. It flashed In, the muzzle pressed against Olive's side. The hand, gripped convulsively, forced the hammer up toward iU fatal blow. But now, astonishingly, all move ment ceased. Firing from a distance, someone had drilled Ponape Burke through his evil heart But, alas, the steel bullet had not stopped, Its work performed. It had crashed on through the body of the heroic brown man, who fought for her. The girl shrieked out, fell faint ing. And then, as these three lay, there came a sound of hoofs, and a mud dy foam-flecked horse plunged up the village path with John Thurston. He sprang from his saddle, flung aside tHe gun, caught the uncon scious girl up in nis arms. When Palmyra Tree at last open ed her eyes, she gazed up at John Thurston for a bewildered moment. Side by side two bodies lay. Palmyra , snatched herself back from John as if his touch had burn ed. "And it was you," she cried, rigid In horror, "you who fired? Oh," she wailed, "I cannot, cannot bear that It should have been you you who killed Olive." "But, Oh, no, no, .no, no, lady," the surgeon interrupted in eager reas surance. "This native man is not dead." She looked at that form in shud dering question: "Bullet knocked him out a little," explained the officer, "but it hit nothing to make this big man trou ble. He will be something like when tho prizefighter gets knocked to sleep on the Jaw." ( At his first sentence Palmyra's lips had parted in a gasp of relief. Now, in the reaction, she wavered, closed her eyes dizzily, put out to ward Thurston a groping hand. John caught her to him once more to uphold her. His heart was aflame with the knowledge that that pathetic blind , groping had been for him. With" her face up turned to his, appealing, close, Thurston, In that great yearning so long denied, could not resist; would, despite the grinning audience, have kissed her again and again. But Commander Sakamoto, of an ever tactful race, was quick with a command which forced his unwill ing men to the right-about; then chased the giggling villagers home with the sword of a samurai. A burial detail had carried Pon ape Burke forever away; Ponape who had staked all and lost all. 'And when," demanded John of Palmyra on the third day after; and when shall the wedding be?" "The wedding," ordained this girl, must take place before we leave the island. I insist, for one thing, despite your protest, because I Portland Hood RIVER The Dalles arlington Pendleton Walla Walla and Intermediate Points Operating daily Motor Coach Service BASTBOUND No. T 10 AM 45 All 10.10 AM 11 06 AM 11 25 AM 1 30 PM I 00 PM I 11 PM I 27 PM t 25 PM 4 10 PM No. 4 10 PM 7 01PM 1 20 PM T 10 PM 1 55 PM 02 PM 1.20 PM Mo. I I 10 AM 10 50 AM 12 20 PM 1 20 PM No. i 12 10 PM 12 51PM 1 10 PM 1 20 PM 1 40 PM 1 47 PM 2 15 PM Ho. 10 ' No. 5 4 10 PM Lr PORTLAND Ar 12 10 PM I 50 PM hf Multnomah F&HbLt 10 35 AM T 20 PM Lt. HOOD RIVEB .Lr 0 05AM 1.20PM Ar . THE DALLES Lt 100 AM Lt.THE DALLES. Ar Lf.... Arlington.... Lt Lt Umatilla Lt Lt. . .Hermiston. ..Lt Lt. . . .St an Held. , Lt Lt Echo Lt Ar.. PENDLETON. Lt WESTBOUND No. 7 7 56 PM C 20 PM 4 60 PM 1.41PM Lt.. PENDLETON .Ar Lt Adams Lt Lt . . . .Athona . , . .Lt Lt . . . .Weston . . . .Lt Lt... . MUton Lt Lt . . .Frefiwator . ..Lt Ar WALLA WALLA Lt No. 0 10 10 PM 1 15 PM 7 05 PM 5 55 PM 15 PM I 45 PM 110PM 152 PM 118PM 129 PM 1110 PM No. S No. 1 4 55 PM 0 15 AM 4 27 PM (47 AM 4 15PM (15AM 4 05 PM 125 AM 140PM 8 00 AM 1S0PM 7 50AM 100PM 7.20AM Connections t At Portland to and from all points; At Hood Rivrr for Parlrdale and Dee; at Pendleton for point! Ran and West; Trip No. 6 connects at The Dallet for Bend and way point. Repress Packages Carried TACES LEAVE FROM I Arlington Hotel, UNION PACIFIC STAGES, INC. MLJNSING FOR MOTHER'S DAY AND GRADUATION SLENDERETTE HOSE The latest In Munsingwear in Chiffon, Service Silk and Pure Silk. SEVEN NEW SHAPES. Honey Beige, Tansan, Misty Moon, Grege, White Jade, Kasha Beige , I and Metalleque. also NIGHT GOWNS, TOINCESS SLIPS, BREVIATION and ABBRECIATION BLOOMERS. Coming In a few days: TWO-riECE PAJAMAS and SOROR ITY JACKETS for lounging and negligee. M. D. CLARK think I should always now be a little afraid alone. But the real reason " her voice vibrated with feeling "is that then Olive, who saved me for you, who made it pos sible for me to understand, to real ize my own true love: that then Olive can be your can be our best man." And so it was that O-lee-vay, commonly called Olive, who speaks no language known to civilized man, who eats fat pork with his fingers and anoints himself copiously with scented cocoanut oil and tumeric, stood up with John Thurston, the embodiment of civilization at its finest Thurston could not give his best man a stick pin for Olive seldom if ever wears a shirt. But he could see that the islander got Ponape Burke's swift schooner, the Lupe-a-noa, trusteed for the brown man's protection by the Am eriron mission and the Japanese navy, and manned by an already eager and worshipping crew. (The End.) Professor Fitzpatrick and wife enme over from Echo on Saturday afternoon to take in the declama tion contest Mr. Fitzpatrick is principal of the Echo school and his wife is a teacher there. For Sale 250 head of ewes and their lambs for sale. Address Frank Helms. Echo. Oreenn. 8tf. AdVancc'Rumelt Combine -'Millsidelipe Us Cut Co$s Tifhis Combine If you farm the hills, an Advance-Rumely "Combine" Hillside Type will harvest your grain at an amazingly low cost! And here is why: Saves labor cost Only five men to pay and feed instead of a crew. Saves time Two operations in one. The job done in a few day instead of several weeks. No delays, because this "Combine" keeps ; going! Saves grain By harvesting skimpy crops at a profit by saving one to three bushels an acre. , Saves harvest cost Reduces cost of harvesting by 15c to 20c per bushel, according to owners' reports. 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