Newspapers / The Cherokee Scout (Murphy, … / April 27, 1928, edition 1 / Page 2
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RED HAIR. AND lblue sea. R. OSBORN ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRY JAY t.f.f. OOPYRIOHT BY CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS WHAT H APPKNKP PEKOKE Palmjn . Trw< h board the > icht Rainbow I* i rtled l>\ seeing 1 hmd thrust through the jHirt of h. ? <-at.:n She niik-s ? gocri't investigation ami di> over* i *!cwaway. J*he ia <li?am> r in his* miM apivararc# and fells him >* ? nh'.' s?*??s ot i"in eta inn *hrd'M??t ??: > he .i.ht ? she s-e? a hmce. tierce. ""t'j'er hued-ir.an ? w."-: a ten inch kr.ife held be t>wn ^nnnins tips! Burk-- the ?'.ow;iway, exiil.i 'i* ?' <? it ;s a ' ? ? k - But rilnivra is nh iknn Next ?!ay. and the brown ?!.??? K> u ;> -i l-? k. The s ? ? i w a v i y -nter t;n?i? them with v Id tales f?f an adventure some 1 1 ^ - -?hi -h hi" lister-:-* refuse to be li"\ e I'.i'ni'.- i p*>??n-ls pi- re .r ! more titre ^ ith t. ?<??? i " ?- ;ivc i V.m . nd J ihn. but ?? ? ? *-n :h? s* -v. i\\ i\ s .ir- p ;* . i < ': ? i r ? ? at Hon* i ? i . i ! i *t ie !-?? sht* loves V in T*.-- ntcht the i^-i:ii-nt is the II tinbow .i In the ?-x?-i?-ment \vh: -?i fol :????? l"h" ???'?- !??>' Yin and Palmyra ? l I'.iln.yr i ti;:nks it - Van who saver her. After ihrt-- ?i? r.t r,n th? uninhabited inland. . si 1 ik .-ich:^! It jiro..;? t-< t e pimaiw Burke! Burke ? ??v.: riv-s :?> ?:??? Pal- ; no ra on :??-? ! his I ???;? t a!on?? and the I- it is under \x.< liwlr^B r-> '? hint cJii i-e d->n? Thurston - ? .in:.- and plan* sa ve Pal i i. although th'-re s??ni.? n i?>ssllle way. M i- r u?r- Palmy r 1-- wins r,. r h .? 1-i- r.i-i'ia tli h-r Burke has to I?ut h??r ash >u -?.?n 1. i> .lal^ineM man-of-war is s.eht*d in! >t ?v':ll b- d tn ui'i'iii.'i to r.a v- ? i.t :i ! ..i rd Oliv- swims to island ''?! '"Mi-- Palmyra >t>- in ?>m r of the brown r.ian. j pilnsj-- >???. :nt V' :iv ther is-' ) ?nd ???] \vl.. -h 1'ilmy* i - nd* a r? .i : But k-- - ship appr> ?-* the island Palmyra at- I Oliv.- si 1 in i can<nr. nilnn Ik, th P-nai?e'y shij? and tl;*? Japa n-si? Guntw;i Uk' ;ima. whi' h ha? her friends on it OIiv>- r .- ^ > his iii- to Ket ^v;l:er for lv. Im> ia. ( ..iia ?? Burl; ? makes .lent? rat- pursuit of Oliv- ml Palmyra ??.-?n oi>-njn? fire on them N 'v read or stance (".iawf? rd. "yon were sacri ficed t?? the end? of diplomacy. The Jap. finding you safe, decided ill** lesser e\il was to let Burke escape."} "Dr. ( "rife's just bad a Ions: talk with Olive." said Mrs. Crawford. Dr. ('rife of tlit* Mission was their host. j Tilt' ?jirl exclaimed in astonish- 1 ment. "Hi* can. In* can talk to him? i He ran understand him?" She hardl\ seemed to believe. So j utterlx. with her. had the brown! man been he\ond reach of words, it Inn! -eemed no one. with Ponape Burke gone. < ould ever bridge that cap between Babel's most diverse languages. "And t?? think." tried Constance.; "the\ ?nt the letter all wrong. Made u> believe poor Olive, who was be- i ing wonderful, was a villain." | 1 hr i olor flooded Palmvra's eheeks in the intensity of her inter est. But ibis particular pastor, couldn't explain clearly." said the father, "and the Jap, misled by your name, didn't understand at all. What i Olive re ally writes is to beseech, in j Jehoviah's name, that whatever the situation. Olive's first thought was that the ; girl would feel safer with a weapon; ' also that she might possibly need one. As he dared not give her the knife in daytime, he had dropped it through the skylight. When the Japanese gunhoat pas sed them so cruelly by. Olive had been as eager as she to attract at tention. But he had known the dis- 1 tanee too great. As regarded Jaluit he had not gone there because it was so ob- j \ iously the place he should have gone. Burke was sure t? ? try that lagoon first. This much Dr. Crife could read for her: Incarnate there before this island er's eves 011 the Rainbow, she had been not unlike a goddess: a being ? 1 | as indeed she was -from another world. A high white princess, cal led for the stately life-giving palm and crowned with hair of flame, she had condeseended to him with i blankets when a brown creature was in mysery with that most terri ble of things ? cold. Olive was not in love with Palm She willed to love John Thurston: 1 she did love John Thurston. But" l>etween them was the brown man > Olive, and. leering from behind his] elbow*, the face of Ponape Burke. Concerning Olive she tried to jus tify herself on the ground of grati- i tude. \e\er had a girl more reason to l>e grateful. Was it not natural she should he eager to take him presents, to sit in his house ques tioning. !o find herself hour by hour | more curious concerning him ? more interested in him than in any other living being? j " Oddly enough ? or rather, natu ! rally enough ? it did not come to | her for some time to ask whether i she might he in love with this brown I man. Then ihe idea struck like an ' unexpected blow. She was stunned, j At first she put the thought from I her in abhorrence. But in the still hours of the night it came back | again and again. Could she indeed | be in love, w ith Olive? W as it pos- 1 sible for an American girl, under ' any circumstances whatever, to fall i in love with a man of darker race? She shuddered to think others might eblieve this thing of her. She avoided Olive, \ ept to her room. She struggled to analyze her emotions, to weigh them dispassion ately. And, honestly striving. she was able at last to say of herself that, in no sense, could she be ac cused of loving him. Not for long did she find the an swer. Then it came like release | from a prison cell. She was in love not with Olive himself, but with his attributes: She wanted to love John for the true manliness that was his. But. alas, those splendid qualities the CHAPTER l\ Olive marched proudly up the sands, tin* <* i 1 1 in his arms a dead burden. The rifle fire, as was to have been expected, had brought the vil lagers running from their thatche*. Sanely had the brown man emerg ed out of the sea than these Micro nesians were swarming down. E\ ? ilt-ti voices filled the air. "O-lee vav ? O-lee-vav ? O-lee-vay !" >o tliia* then, wa> where lie could bring her: the home ot his people, til.- place of his own abode. Here were people moving about: brown men. yellow men. white men. the last in white clothing and white shoe*, with white pith helmet* pul led down over their noses t?> keep out the glare of the white sand. \nd here was even a white woman, who. popped her head out of a window ' like a cuckoo out of a clock. And there, most astonishing of all, not five feet away and as real as life itself, stood John Thurston. And he gazed at her sorrowfully J and said, in the strangest voice: | ''Palm Tree! Oh, oh, Palm!" It was not until fifteen hours af ter the brown man had restored I Palmyra Tree to the world of the living that she once more opened her eyes. Then in a half-waking I fright, she reared herself up with a cry of "Olive!" The next moment she found her- . self in her mother s arms. When she roused again, several j hours later, the Craw fords were at , the bedside with her mother and , father. Palmyra sat up abruptly with the , question: "Where have they got j Ponape Burke?" The four looked from one to an other, hesitatn. At her first awakening the girl had been told how the Okayama had brought her people into this harbor on the search. "You, you don't mean . . ." She paused incredulous. "You don't mean the gunboat was right here when I came and didn't steam out to catch him?" She saw that this unbelievable thing was true. Unexpectedly, she sprang to her feet. "Where's Olive? Her voice rang sharp, frightened. But Olive himself was asleep. Her father began to explair. "The Pigeon of Noah is an Ameri can vessel. . . "And there's been so much fric tion between Japan and America," interjected the mother. "And Commander Sakamoto was sure if he seized the schooner on the high seas it would get into the American papers wrong and stir up more misunderstanding and ill will. . . "So, my dear," finished Con * ? ? ? ^'* gone after the shark with the knife . and eonquered . . . friends get tlie letter hurry with arms and many boats to a named is land. there to help him save. . "Or Crite says there's absolutely no question about that word "save' put in Constance. . . . "Help him save the high chief young lady Palintree."' The girl settled back among her pillows. Tears welled into her eyes. "It was enough that I should have wronged him." she said. It is un thinkable you all should have been cuiltv of this crowning misconcep tion."' She shifted uneasily, lav fijr some time in silence, gating through the window. "If they hadn't bungled the let ter." she said at last wearily, "I should have l>een spared much. And if you hadn't let Ponape Burke es cape. 1 shouldn't be in danger still." At last Palmy ra could talk to Olive. After all these days and years and centuries of silence, they two. by the intrevention of Dr. Crife had been made articulate. She learned that the brown man served Ponape Burke in a debt of gratitude; the saving of his life. He had for this white rascal a sort of love, but no sort of respect. Great souls must, of their nature, suffer petty tyranny. And Olive- ? often according to his lights, regretting disapproving, always palliating ? followed the despicable little Pon ape. She learned that Olive had not known Burke meant to abduct her. And she found that in the beginning he had thought it, not an abduction, but an elopement. Only when the schooner got un der way did he perceive that this was no adventure of Palmvra's own choice. Only when she did not soon begin to smile through her tears as many a native girl might have done, did he realize how terrible to her iTree. One does not consider one ! self privileged to fall in love with a goddess. But from the derk at her feet, in ; timately yet afar, he had gazed up at her ? fasrinated. If Palmyra now knew how Olive felt toward her, she was far from ! knowing how she felt toward Olive. And if her only difficulty with Van Buren Ritger had been a reluc tance to give him pain, she found every difficulty with John Thurs j ton. Van himself had made things easy. Returning to the mission at a late hour the third niaht he had come ] upon Olive prowling about with aj rifle. "Ponape is not dead," the I brown man had. explained simply. But that whii h others looked upon as a touching manifestation of de votion. Van chose to regard with suspicion. '"Sakamoto shall know of this," was his comment. Palmyra had been so incensed that, there and then, she had brok en the engagement. Van's dismissal placed him in that position wherein a - weak man not infrequently lacks moral cour age to turn upon his real rival. He must find an easier target for his resentment. Thus Van, without in the least perceiving why,, remained amiable toward Thurston, hut de veloped an uglv spite against 'this man of darker skin. But if Palmyra had freed herself of Van, she could not free herself of that which withheld her from Thurston. Back there in the canoe, in her moment of revelation, she had yearn ed to meet him once more, face to face, that she might tell him the_ truth. But now that, astonishingly, she had awakened into the old life, she found herself quite unready to step up to him with any such con fession. two possessed in common had come to seem the personal qualities of Olive alone. She remembered how he had gone after the shark with the knife . . . and conquered. . . . The sun was less than an hour high when Palmyra, as she had done for several mornings now, descend ed the winding stairway hewn in the hillside from the mission court to the street of the town. Island life was already astir. The girl was addressed by an old woman. | "Pleasy you." said this crone in I English, "you come fot look see | ve'y fine Pingelap mat. You like too much for buy." She would have refused, but now she caught a glimpse of Van ap proaching. Several times he had trapped her into painful interviews. But this morning she could use the ancient dame, as a gaping listener, to keep Van silent. "Where is your 'ouse?" the girl asked tentatively. The thatch toward which the crone pointed stood conspiciou9ly. Im mediately against one side was the water and a small wharf of coral fragments by which the traffic of the town went to the anchorage. As close on the inland side -was the road and, opposite, the trading establish ment of a white man . and the high concrete wall of the Japanese po lice compound. The house was quite by itself on the water aide of the highway, yet immediately in the center of village life. Van now came sauntering up and Palmyra indicated this place. "Come on," she invited. "My old lady is taking me for a look-see for ve'y fine Pingey-something mat" Several drops of rain fell. Van agreed. "But there's a squall coming," he said. "I'll run ba-lc first for umbrellas." As he turned away she hesitated, unexpectedly afraid at being left - alone. ^ Bui as she moved forward ? panese policeman, saluting b?J reassured her. And she s^ siep brought her nearer th,*,"* representatives of the ,i,j| a .7 moral law. which lay a. a?ch*L >ond the wharf, th, Okay,*, ? that I J u Ran which is the lalrst * haps the last, of the Mornin. ? m which the American mission^ have carried the Word. ^ I he old woman's house wts only conspicuous in location hut : appearance. The thatches of tk island were rectangular, sharp roi ed, sided with 'woven tat. nar,? doored. But this hut was oval 4 open? vaguely the architecture J central Polynesia. The girl stooped to enter, i), drew hack in one of those sudd, apprehensions that still beset h, W ho knew where Ponape Bi-fc would strike? This house seec* safe: might indeed he safer than 4 mission. But yet . . . She peered in; saw only threes women. .No one could he in hid? none approach without being Palmyra entered, advanced loin, the central posts, glanced inters edly around. Suddenly, something dropped her eyes, and the three old worag hurled themselves at her. So unexpectedly the attark fm such as these, in an open shed as this, at almost the settlement) busiest and most public spot, tlx the girl was caught unreadv. y before she could move a muscle, m "tit. her throat was compressed-i terrible, choking pressure, i fought for breath. Then, her am pinioned, came relief and a fioi warning: '".No "pcakv, 110 "peaW At the moment of the onfall la guide, still behind her. had droppa round her throat a fibre loop, 9 to la I tourniquet with which she coil instantly, be strangled into silm ? or death. The women, fearing Van mii soon arrive, prepared to lake tin prisoner immediately away. At first Palmyra thought this a possible. Bill now she made a difconr I hough the thatch was so notaries l\ to the forefront as to seem aU suspicion, the high wall of the pi lice compound ended directly ij posite, and turned inland, leans between it and the blank nail of tl trader's a three-foot lane. This pi4 she recollected l>eing told, ran be for hall a mile, a mere passasen between the wall and the mangm swamp upon which she had loob down from her mission window. And the mouth of that hidden ^ was no more than twenty feet tant. Until an alarm had been jiw the people would be unsuspiciss The French trader across the had locked up his place and out to breakfast. The native p? sersby were coming in detacb groups. Palmyra's captors m wait only until no one was w* Then, closing round her. they cod whisk her across, screening h with one or two of the ever-presfl umbrellas, raised either against shower or the equatorial sun. But almost at the moment of d sortie there came an interrupt"* One of the old women, stoops down to glance out, discovered ^ girl's father and mother and Cm stance Crawford approaching-* re %dy close. Panic ensued. If captors had not been dangerous' fore, they certainly were now. The prisoner would have scrat ed. Unconsciously, she extern* her l'jngs to take in the necW* air. But on the second, that fik cord cut deep into her flesh. Gasping, she was thrust o? the mosquito net: thrown flat, I" on bamboo pillow. Two of the M followed her into the netting, ' pressed against her on either s* These snatched off her hat and ? threw over her a covering. Meanwhile the crone who lured her here had taken a and seated he.-self on the paid* grass befjre the house. Within the house Palmyra1! " guardians had begrn a low*"*1 singing. She perceived herself ?* sick woman. Th-?e two kindlf* souls sat inside the net to cosuf her, while, before the hut, a W waited rfady to answer solicit?"' quiry. And any. commotio? J struggle which might catch^J Continued on Page Three
The Cherokee Scout (Murphy, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 27, 1928, edition 1
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