Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FORLORN ISLAND By Edison Marshall Copyright by EdUon Wart hall WNU Service SYNOPSIS With his yacht, the Intrepid, aban doned by Ita crew, Felix Horton, mil lionaire, with hia mother, hia daugh ter Nan, and Hoy Stuart, puts into Squaw Harbor, Alaska, to recruit. He enrages a bunch of nondescripts ?trended there. A gigantic Pole, San doraar, is their leader. Captain Wey mire, the Intrepid'a skipper, is an old friend of Er'e Ericsson, unemployed aailor, and Erfc engages to sail as chief officer. Kan and Eric Indulge in a moonlight flirtation. The Intrepid is wrecked, Eric leaving her in a small boat, wjth Horton and his party. Un able to help, they watch Sandomar kill Captain Waymlre and leave the ship with his crowd. On landing, they-4e*Tn there la no communication with the outtVde world. Flreheart, priestess of the island, descended from a white man in Ihe remote past, knowing a little English, welcomes the cast aways. Sandomar declares there shall be no law on the island, but Eric, having the only gun, cows him for the time, declaring he Is the law. He layB out work for all. Eric's love for Nan swells, and he tells her he means to win her for his mate. She Is not unwilling. Plreheart claims Eric, and realizing the Importance of her friend ship he Is forced to temporize. De fending himself from attack. Eric's revolver apparently misfires, but his assailants flee. Erl? finds the re volver, which had boen Waymire's, Is rim-flre, while five of its six cartridges are center-flre. Eric has one effective cartridge. "Swede," makes an attempt on his life. He uses his one cartridge, killing "Swede," but is left defense less, though master of the situation, aince he alone knows his gun is use less. Fireheart's threats culminate in an attempt on Nan's life. Eric saves her, but Plreheart refuses profTered forgiveness and friendship. Eric makes Nan understand the depth of his love and determination to win her, but she ia uncertain of her own heart CHAPTER VII? Continued ?13? Nan's hand clutched his. "Are you sure, Eric?" He smiled dimly. "Do you think I could be mlBtaken ? now?" "I want to hear you say It, in plain words. Maybe then I'll know ray own heart." He drew both her hands against his breast. "I love you, Nan," he told her quietly. "I will always love you." She looked long into his eyes. At last she shook her head, baffled. "It hasn't come to me. It's all so strange ? this place ? the moon ? the old man's body rolling In the water ? you and I standing here, mud to our knees? our hands grimy ? wearing parkas of seal hide. . . . It's glorious and terrible and Impossible, all at once. It can't last. I've got to go back l" He taw her lids spring wide open and her eyes stare unseelpg. "You mean ? go back again to your own world?" "It's certain to the end. This Is all Just a dream that we'll wake up from -sometime, on the deck of another yacht? or an ocean liner. Then we'll have to part. You wouldn't Bhare my life, would you? I wouldn't want you to, I'd feel that I was keeping a polar bear In a fountain. You've got to stay In your element ? the sea ? the snow." "Yes, but you could share my life. You could come with me." , She shook her head doubtfully. "I'm afraid I couldn't. I don't think I've got It In me, the fighting heart. I don't think I have the will power to take a rough road, Just for the snke of the thrill, when there's a smooth one open. I'm a great hand for synthetic thrills." Her tone grew bitter. "The ren| thing scares me out." "Is this the real thing?" His arm stole about her shoulders, pressed her close, and his lips mustered hers. The sea seemed to rise over the crags and sweep her gontly nwny, but *ft was warm as blood, and the swing of Its wave was ecstasy. Her arms be gan to steal about him, her Hps clung, then, with a spasm In her breast, she wrenched free. "It was too real," she told him, gasping. "And I'm more afraid than ever." "You must never be afraid of life, eweetheart. Or of love." She mused a long time, then shocjt her head. "I won't be afraid of love ? when It comes," she sold staunchly. "Hut It hasn't come to me yet, and I don't think It ever will com?, on this Island." "Weren't yon near It ? Just now?" "It all came from your heart, not mine. Perhaps I'm too fond of Roy. And Krlc ? I'm afraid I'll never know for certain until we're back In civili sation." "It's now or never for me." He drew a deep breath, and his voice re sounded like a low gong among the crags. "Well, I'll keep on trying." Her eyes lighted, her lips curled dimly. "After all I've said?" "What you've said only makes me spread a little more canvas." He caught both her hands In a strong grip, "Nan, do you think I'm going to take down my flag and run back to port? I'm sailing on I I'm going ?round the hornt I'll not stop till I'm ?unk t And by Q ? d, If the breeze holds, I'm, going to win through!" CHAPTER VIII It was September and still summer on Forlorn Island. Hut the Aleuts were not cheered ; fearfully they knelt before the Ikon and the candlestick, praying against the wrath to come. The days marked up one by one on ftric's ridge-pole were far too fine to last, clear skies, warm winds far blown from the palm groves of Hawaii, a golden haze on the northern seas. . ? . Under the horizon, the purple banners of autumn gales were already waving. The humid breath from the South would soon turn and whistle over the moors like the Frozen Dog Whip of Agougou, god ol^the Under World. Beyond the aureate haze the cohorts of the North rode fast, armed with fine-shot of sleet and bayonets of ,cold. The fur seals of Komondorski island had finished their rut and hauled back to the deep ; the hunters speared an occasional straggler as the herd wheeled ? southward. The sea-birds circled endlessly over the cliffs, utter ing troubled cries. Roy's deep mind conceived how to make practical use of their swift wings. By careful work with the traps and nets, some twenty birds of different species were taken alive, unhurt. For each Eric pro vided a water-tight tube of quill, to be bound to the flyer's leg. And now, at last, Horton's checkbook and fountain pen might come Into their own.\ The Ink In the pen had dried, but by adding water, he achieved a pale, legible script. On the backs of twenty checks, he wrote finely : "Survivors of the Intrepid are ma rooned In Davy Jones shoal north of Ignak Island. There Is a pass In from the North. Notify authorities. "Felix Horton." A nervous light flowed Into the mil lionaire's dazed eyes. "I'm going to write something on the face of the cheeks, too," he said. His daughter smiled kindly. "You'd better save your ink." t "We'll eke It out with berry Juice. I m going to fill in every one for a hundred dollars, payable to the bear er." His voice lost its dull sound, and regained some of its old power. "At least the man who finds It won't throw it away, and when he takes to a bank, and It's paid, ns it will be paid, it'll attract attention." It seemed a fantastic idea ? here on this lost reef so far from the marts yet when they looked deeper, they found it shrewd and sound. Seated on a rude stool of driftwood, his little, leather book open before him on a stone, Horton prepared the checks and carefully tore them out, one by one. His face glowed, it was the happiest hour of his exile, and as Nan watched him, she did not know why her tear ducts smarted and burned. He was like a child playing with toys. Finally he had only three checks left. He counted and fingered them, then returned the book to his pocket. He could not part with these. They were the symbol of his lost eminence "I may need these, to buy our way out of here." he said, huskily. His friends nodded, but made no comment. Each message was sealed in Its tube tied with whalebone flshllne to the carrier's leg, and the bird freed. I< rom now on, the venture lay with the gods. Of the twenty messengers, some would never live to reach the mainland. Storms would sweep them from their lanes and cast them down exhausted, hawks would catch them on wing, shadow-feet on shore and yawning Jaws at sea would take their toll. Others would perish In lonely salt-marshes under a tropic sun; a few would return next year to Forlorn Island with their packets intact. But the chance remained that at least one of the missives would go home. Per haps a child, playing on the beach at a fashionable resort, would pick up the body of a dead shore-bird and make a startling discovery; possibly a fisherman off Tillamook would stalk and kill a goose for his meal, and as he stripped ofT its feathers, stop and stare. . . 'At best, we can't expect to hear from it till next spring," Boy said. Even if one of the messages could he found next month, there'd bo long de lays before our friends could be con vinced that It wasn't a hoax, and a rescue expedition organized. There'd be handwriting experts, legal difficul ties, and then the long search for the pass." So we may as well resign our selves to a winter on Forlorn Island " Nan said quietly. "There's no help for that now," Krlc told her. The girl's look grew dreamy as Rho glanced from Krlc to Boy, and back ngaln. * ? ? ? ? ? . ? Beyond the northern horizon there were wars and rumors of wars, but Forlorn Island could expect peaco un til the end of September. The smoke from the cooking fire made a straight round pillar to the blue. Even the sea birds darted and screnmed no more, but flew In slow circles, like vultures high over tho clIfTs. "I don't like It, and I don't know why, ? Eric told her, as they sfood on the silent beach. "The Old North hasn't quit us, you enn bet on that, and I believe she tins something up her sleeve." | Nan pointed to the billowing edge of a green cloud Just emerging above the northern sky line. "Is that tho sign?" Almost before Eric could turn his head, the cloud was noticeably larger. It seemed to grow and swell with magic swiftness. As they watched, it darkened from greenish-yellow to deep | olive and there was a queer writhing ftt Its edges. The cloud not only rose to hide the sun but seemed to expand downward, fllllng all thi space be tween earth and sky, until Eric be llfcved that the mast of a tall ship would pierce It and free the writhing demon In Its ;olds. There was not yet a breath of air, yet the dark *ea was wrinkled all orer like an old Aleut's face. The air be gan to crackle. "The boorga," Eric told her. He did not know why he used the mystical native word ? Implying not merely a wind approaching hurricane force, but an evil god riding Its wings. A second later the gale struck. As though on their own volition, the waves leaped to meet it. Instantly all Nan's and Eric's world passed away fn a roaring chaos of blown sand, spindrift, and foam. Eric took Nan's hand, and bending low, plowed through the wall of wind to the village row. By a common Im pulse, the whole populace of the Isle began to assemble before the kashga. Eric found Chechaquo, and spoke In his ear, "All here?" Chechaquo glanced from face to face. "Think so. No can tell." "No men out fishing?" "Men here. Squaws here too. No can count children." "Tell families to get together, take count." Chechaquo moved from man to man, shouting Eric's order, but they only stared In dull terror. Bludgeoned and buffeted by the wind, dazed by the hoarse roar that seemed to shake the Island, they could scarcely remember their own names, let alone the names of their little ones. Yet the command sunk In at last ; the squaws began to mill through the crowd, yelling, gesti culating, and collecting their own. Eric's fears had began to pass when an Inert figure at the outskirts sud denly came to life with a guttural, agonized cry. It was a squaw named Chugallm (Good Fur) mother of a considerable brood. Eric sped toward her, but at first she was Incoherent with terror. He | could catch only one word ? Chlkak. This was the name of Chugallm's ten year-old daughter. Chechaquo listened to the woman's cries with a look of doom. "Chlkak ? she gone," he Interpreted dully. "Where?" Eric demanded, almost ~~sfcaiilng the man. "Know little Islet off West cape?" Eric knew It well. It was Httle more than a big sand spit, partly grown to sedge. "Good G ? d, man! Not there!" "She take little kayak, paddle out In bay, around cape, dig clams In sand. No come back." This was Just the kind of accident Eric had feared. The Aleut children were always playing In the little one hatch canoes, on calm days exploring the rocks and sand-Islets, on both ' sides of the harbor. He turned and glanced once at the darkling sea. ". . . -Must have gone . . low tide . . . turning now." He was ad dressing Nan, but she caught only broken phrases. . . Not breaking over . . . already. . . . Hope . . . | G ? d . . . not tried . . . start back . . .M He raised his arm In a sweeping gesture, and with the whole populace at his heels, sped down the high nar row headland. In a moment he stood where the waves pounced roaring, and drew hack, gazing with narrowed, strained eyes Into the storm. At first he could see no more than the gray shadow of the fslet. dimmed by blowing spindrift. But presently the air eleare'd for a few brief seconds, the curtain of mist fluttered to one side, revealing in stark detail a strange sc^ne. The low sandy ridge still stood well out of the - waves. Occasionally bil lows broke over it, but they had al ready spent their power on the shelv ing sands, and only white foam leaped across. On the highest point stood a small, dark figure, bracing against the wind. It was Chlkak, her arms crossed before her face to shut out the sight of her approaching doom. There was a strange Jravall In Eric's breast. Nan's eyes were on his fnce, and she saw it go white as the foam at' his feet. Yet It was not the pallor of terror; IJ seemed to be the clear radi ance of some grim, almost terrible ex ultation. She had thought she knew him, after these long months; sudden ly she realized that his sea soul had depths tfie had never fathomed. And he had cheated her, too. He had not given her all his love and worship, but had held back a share for his pagan grnis. Ills mother, the old Ocean, claimed him yet, and he would cast off Nan's own arms to answer his mother's call. He turned to Chechaquo and his voice cut through the wave-crash like a seal-spear hurled from the throwing stick. "Take all the hunters and sprint to the landing," he ordered. ' Get a two ? no, a three-hatch kayak. Make them carry It on their shoul ders straight across the headland. You carry the paddles, and crack their heads If they don't run I" Chechaquo rallied the hunters; In n moment they had vanished In the murk. "What are you going to do?" ftoy / demanded. "We're going after the child." "Don't you know It's suicide? No boat can live ten seconds In that sea !" "We'll try It, anyway. Kayaks go good In a gale, If they don't cave In. I he kid won't last long ? she's a game little scout, or she'd blown pff before now." Then, when the curtnln blew aside again; "Look at hfir kneel down and brace agalnat^the wind!" "An Aleut child t'Vltoy said. "Will her own people go after her?" "Not them! Her Own father wouldn't take that trip." (TO IIIO CONTINUED.) Bui Majrh* Th?y Do Nice little boys learn so much play ing with bad little boyn, and strange ly, the bad little boys don't learn a thing. Wins Trophy With a Perfect Score Sergt. H. R. King, the "dead-eye" Dick of the United States marines, squeez ing the trigger for the fiftieth bull's-eye out of a possible fifty to win the Na tional Rifle association members' match at Quantleo, Va. , Discover Ancient Habitat of the Rhinoceros Men <? Traces Found in Hill of Mys tery in Transvaal. Cape Town. ? Sensational finds of golden ornaments and other relics of a vanished native race have Just been made In the northern Transvaal at a place called Mapungubwe ? the 11111 of Mystery. The natives, It appears, long have known of the Hill of Mystery; but ihey feared the place and never ex plored It. Thirty years ago a white hermit named Bernard Lotrle lived near the spot. He had accompanied Doctor Livingstone on the famous Journey to Lake Ngaml ; and Lotrle un doubtedly climbed the almost Inacces sible Hill of Mystery. Hut at that time there was no suspicion that a prehistoric settlement existed south of the Limpopo river, and Lotrle's sto ries of strange discoveries attracted no attention. Now that valuable relics have been unearthed, men who remember Lotrle have recalled his story of a rich ?'treasure chamber'* In the dense bu^h near the hill. The golden treasures already found have whetted adven turous appetites, and the hunt Is on. Meanwhile, the Hill of Mystery is being guarded by police, while a party from the University of Pretoria car ries out scientific research untroubled by Intruders. A Powerful Tribe. The most Valuable find was a small golden rhinoceros. A very small clan of natives whose ancestors worshiped the rhinoceros still lives in Rhodesia. It Is regarded as practically certain that the people who Inhabited the Hill of Mystery and smelted gold there, were "rhinoceros men." Discoveries have been made not only on the precipitous hilltop of Mapun gubwe, but also In the surrounding country. The rhinoceros men were evi dently a powerful tribe In their day, for the bush Is Impregnated with evi dences of old human occupation. Tot tery and beads, besides the gold and copper ornaments, have been found over a wide area. A skeleton wearing a metal helmet was among the most Interesting discoveries. It has been suggested that the Hill of Mystery was the burying ground of the foreign Invaders who carried off the gold from the ancient mines of Ithode&la. Some of the beads and or naments appear to be of Kgyptlan origin. There Is a tradition along the Lim popo that a small yellow people worked the gold nnd copper mines neor the river, trading with travelers who wore white cloth around their heads and rode on camels. For the reason already mentioned, t ho scien tists have had great difficulty In ob taining native guides. "Kvery one who goes up that hill dies," say the natives. "We don't know why ? but they die." A Formidable Fortrasr The Hill of Mystery Is a mass of hard sandstone rising out of the trop ical bush of the Limpopo valley. It Is the only hill In the neighborhood topped with grass, nnd It Is now clear that the rhinoceros men carried hun dreds of tons of earth to tbe summit of their secret place. The sides aro rugged and overhanging, and the scien tists only climbed It with the aid of Bandit-Proof Bank Door on Display Ht. LouU. ? A bandit-proof bank door, Invented to prevent robbers from entering financial Institutions either beforo or nfter bualness hours, 1* on exhibition here. The mechanism In a ohnmber of bullet-proof metal, Jtmt large enough to accommodate one per Bon. It has two sliding doom. When one Is opened, the other lorks automatically. Thbs, An employee ertters the metal chamber from the foyer, closes and locks the door be hind him, then o^ens the door into the banking rooms by means of a secret combination dial. If anyone unfamiliar with the combination attempts to operate ths dial, both doors lock and he Is trapped In the small room. ropes and ladders. There Is one great oblique cleft In the rock, however, which offers the lenst difficult path to the summit. The entrance to the cleft Is hidden by trees and a stranger might never And It Holes were cut In this cleft by the ancients, and once, no doubt, there were wooden rungs forming a sort of ladder to the summit. At the top of the cleft were boulders, evidently placed In position so that they could be toppled over In the event of an Invasion. This same terrible form of defense was found at other places where the cliffs might have been climbed. The stronghold of the rhin oceros men was Impregnable. No other walls were needed ? Indeed th(> ohly sign of building found on the summit was a small stone enclosure ? possibly once the chief's residence ? now occupied by baboons. French Welcome Germans With Spending Money Paris. ? Fifteen years after the World war, the Germans have taken Paris. A horde of Teutons has descended and taken possession of the night clubs, theaters, restaurants and cafes. On the boulevards, at the races and In the lobbies of concert halls, German Is the language of the day. Some of the Invaders are German | Jews, some are political exiles, and others are tourists. Paris has gath I ered them in, Just as she welcomed American and British visitors of other years. The warmth of this welcome may or may not have been determined by the fact that the Invaders nre spend ing money. Despite the difficulty of transferring capital out of the retch, they are the chief patrons of those places where only money will do. Probably In deference to them, Paris Is having a season of German music. This School Fines Its Students Who Flunk Wichita, Kan. ? There Is one school In this city where It costs to flunk. Traffic offenders haled before the po lice court are paroled on order /fhey report to the drivers' school. The class Is In session one hour, two days every week. At the end of seven les sons an examination is given. If the student flunks he must return to po lice court and pay his fine! Otherwise, he Is released. There Is no "cutting" vof classes, either! Tourist Increase Shows Return of Prosperity Albuquerque, N. M. ? Return to nor mal conditions of prosperity was fore cast In anouncernent here that tourist travel through Albuquerque Is almost double for the last three months what It was for a like period a year ago. Many of the tourists are en route to Chicago for A Century of Progress World's fair. Braille Books Ate Now Being Mailed to Blind New Orleans. ? New Orleans blind people who lovo books will not have to risk the hazards of traffic to go to the public library for their litera ture under a new system inaugurated for their convenience. Special cases for the fragile Braille editions have ? been prepared. The books will be mailed to sightless read ers, who, when they have finished reading them, have only to hand them to a postman to have them returned to the library. No cost Is entailed to tho reader. The address Is on the wooden cover of the book, and the borrower Is not even required to ad dress the book before mulling It back. Pearl S. Buck's books, the librarian reported, are most popular with sight' less readers. Lead and Zinc Boom in Tristate District Joplln, Mo. ? Lead and zinc ore pro duction In the tristate district around Joplln has gone to the highest levels since October, 1931. Zinc production has averaged 4,400 tons and lead ore production ha3 av eraged r>00 tons weekly for several weeks. Zinc production has been stepped up to more than 0,000 tons weekly. Zinc concentrates In bins In this field have been reduced 24,000 tons in 11)33, and now stands at only 14,000 tons, the lowest stage for many years. A year ago stocks in bins stood near 80,000 tons. In 1033, lead ore stocks have been reduced fi,2t>0 tons and now stand at 0,350 tons. Chicken and Auto Grow Old Together Jamestown, N. Y. ? On the seven teenth day of March, hack In 1010, an Ancona chicken was hatched on the farm of J. It. Soderholm and in the same year Soderholm bought a new au tomobile. The day the chicken was hatched the brooder caught fire and was de stroyed, according to Soderholm, who explained that was the reason the dat? remained fresh In his mind. Cow Whipi Bear Fort Klamath, Ore. ? A cow owned by Ralph Darling Is tho herolm?^of this community. Though lacking horns, It fought off a brown beiur< which at tempted to take Its crfff. The cow still had the best of the battle when Darling arrived and shot the Intruder. YUCCA IS PROTECTED Out. lu southern California tbo yuc cas are bursting Into ynllow bloom, nnd lire morn abundant than nvnr by mason of n state ltiw forbidding anyono to pick the blossoms. These shrubsi* worn called by tin? ???? r 1 y Spanish ex plorers "candles of the I#ord." Herbs Arc Still Used in Medicine St. Louis Is Headquarters of the Industry. St. Louis. ? "Ynrb doctors" nnd their strnngo concoctions hnvo disappeared* ns a result of t tin swift march of science, but the gathering of herbs nnd roots for use In making medicine ro mnlns ns n thriving occupation In tho United States. Itecognlzlng tho curntlve or henllng vnlue of mnny of tho homely remedies once brewed from mnndrnke, snnko root or burdock, modern manufactur ers of medicine rely upon these nnd other horhs nnd roots ns tho sourcos of Ingrodlents for mnny medicines which nre sold todny over tho coun ters of drug stores. Tons of herbs nnd roots nre shipped annually to St. I>ouls, which Is the chief mnrket of this kind for domestic manufacturers of medicine. The gnth erers of herbs nnd diners of roots, scattered through nil pnrts of the coun try, receive mnny thousnnds of dollnrs annually. St. touts commission merchnnts say that mnny of thorn enrn a livelihood solely hy this occupation which Is reminiscent of other fifty*. Plants, trees and weeds growing In their wild state ore the chief Ingredients of medicine, but some species of plants are cultivated for the market. F-'ven the leaves of jimson weeds ? merely pests to many a fnrmer ? can he sold for five cents a pound. From these lenvos Is obtained on Ingredient for a medicine to treat catarrh. Slippery elm hnrk Is bought for uso In making medicine for bronchitis and dysentery, nnd frequently large con signments are exported to England for use by manufacturing firms there. The greatest demand Is for the rootif of wild mandrake. Eugene Donzelot, a commission merchant, who has dealt In herbs and roots for years, said thou sands of tons of mandrake?also known as mayopple? are sold In tho St. IamiIs market annually. Many "Ipdlon doctors" who travel about the country with their shows f ohtnln their medicine herbs and roots In St. Louis, Mr. Donzelot said.