Jerry of the Islands

les and exclamations such as: "Gott-fer-dang, Jerry, believe me, you're some fighter and all dog"; or,

e-kiss on extended fingers, or caught him up in his arms, Jerry's heart was nigh to bursting. For what greater ecstasy can be the portion of any creature than that it be loved by a god? This was just precisely Jerry's ecstasy. This

alone. But for the fact that the white-gods were there below and were certain to be back at any moment, not many moments would Jerry have held the deck, for every lessened mile between the return boys and Malaita contributed a rising of their

lmsman. The heap of trade-boxes was now unlashed, and the boys began opening and shutting them. What gave them particular delight was the ringing of the bell with which each box was equipp

ze and point out the infinitesimal details of the landfall of the only spot they had known on earth prior

es and dense, tropical vegetation. There was no sign of houses nor of human occupancy, although Van Horn, staring at the dense j

ry, smell 'm,"

at the mangrove wall, for truly his kee

said to the mate, "there wouldn't be an

gi slowly forged in and dropped anchor in thirty fathoms. So steep was the slope of the harbour bed from th

ing labour for the Queensland plantations, had been captured by the natives and all hands slain fifteen years before, no vessel, wit

al smokes that advertised the coming of the vessel. Far and near, the Arangi's presence was known; ye

ers, were laid five of the Lee-Enfields. On deck, another of the boat's crew, rifle in hand, guarded the remaining weapons. Borckman had brought up his own rifle to be ready for instant use. Van Ho

Arangi. Being of Somo, No-ola, Langa-Langa, and far Malu they were in wholesome fear, did they lose the protection of their white mas

shore errand. While one landed on the beach, the other lay off a short distance to cover the retreat of the shore party, if trouble broke out. Too small to ca

beaten runway came down to the water's edge, Van Horn motioned the rowers to back water and lay on their oars. High palms and lofty, wide-branche

mergency arose, of igniting the fuse of the dynamite. And the fuse was so short, with its end split to accommodate the inserted head of a safety match, that between the time of touching it off with the live cigar to the time of the explosion not more than three seconds could ela

e him that he was beside him no matter what threatened from the hostile silence of the land, then stood up with his

a bobbing of his tail and a quick love-flattening of his ears, turned his nose shoreward again and resumed hi

uted. "Hey, you fella boy st

flash, one of them leaped into the sunlight in the open space where runway and water met. Save for decorations, he was naked as Adam before the Fall. A solitary white feather uprose from his kinky, glossy, black hair. A polished bodkin of white petrified shell, with sharp-pointed ends, thrust through a hole in the partition of his nostrils, extended five inc

aced each other, death in their finger-tips, forty feet apart. The million years between barbarism and civilization also yawned between them across that narrow gulf of forty feet. The hardest thing for modern, evolved man to do is to forget his ancient training. Easiest of all things is it for him t

ntly primitive, capable of fighting in redness of tooth and claw, desirous of remaining modern for as long as he

the jungle, fifteen Su'u return blacks in the boat, seven black boat's crew, and a solitary white man with a cigar in his mouth, a rifle at his hip, and

d and weaponless, and began to chirp in the unknown Su'u dialect. Van Horn held his aim and waited. Th

he dandy piped, half b

n-sheets, motioning to rowers and steersman to turn the boat around, and puffing his cig

walk about. You kai-kai along me, stomach belong you walk about. You no like 'm kai-kai Su'u boy belong along you? Su'u boy belong you all the same brother along y

ignal from Van Horn the rowers backed water and forced the boat, stern in, up to the solid ground of the runway. And each rower, his

who signified the affirmative in the Solomon Islands fashion by half

fella boy suppose wa

Ishikola, big fella black marster along this place, him talk 'm me talk along you. Him say any amount bad fella boy stop '

cted the return boys astern and ashore. It was Solomon Islands tactics. Crowding was dangerous. Never could the blacks be risked to confusion in numbers. And Van Horn, smoking his cigar in lordly indifferent fashion, kept his app

," he told the mate. "We'll u

moved over the water, and the humid heat beaded the faces and bodies of both men with profuse sweat. They ate the

o the Solomons-beastly h

," the capt

ake me to hospital in an ambulance. I got worse and worse. The doctors told me the only thing to do was to head back where I got the fever. If I did I might live a long time. If I hung on in Sydney i

per, regarded the result sourly for a moment, then swallowed it at a gulp.

a covering clot

aulin, like a curtain along the shore side of the Arangi. This was a precauti

and had her haled out of her dark hole in the lazarette to listen to the music. She obeyed in fear, apprehensive that her time had come. She looked dumbly at the big fella white master, her eyes large with fright; nor

once again. No matter what happened, no matter what months or years might elapse, he would know her again and for ever know he

ecollection of old-world ports and places, Borckman lay on his face on the hot planking, beat a tattoo with his naked toes, and gutturally muttered an unending mo

-rippling of hair that had keyed Van Horn to hear. Pulling the stick of dynamite out from the twist of his loin cloth and glancing

you?" was his chal

me the answer in the qu

half out of its holster, and slipped the holster around from hi

boy stop along y

ltogether he stop,"

ose to the butt of the automatic, Van Horn commanded: "You fella Tambi. Fetch 'm lantern.

ntage over the approaching canoe-men, for the lantern, suspended through the barbed wire across the rail and

mptorily, while those in the i

hout outrigger; the shining eyes and the black-shining bodies of the stark blacks who knelt in the bottom and paddled; Ishikola, the old chief, squatting amidships and not paddling, an unlighted, empty-bowled, short-stemmed clay pipe u

d Van Horn's hand closed on the butt of his automatic, although he did not pull it clear of the holst

e dandy, with a pry of his steering-paddle against the side of the canoe and part under its b

ith his right eye, which was all he had, the left having

back. "Long time you n

out the latest wives he had added to his hare

ded, "you rich fella

rd gammon along you," I

oncession against the known rule that visitors were not permitted

ived by the salt sea, in a land of tropic downpour, religiously shunned contact with water. He never went swimming or wading, and always fled to shelter from a shower. Not that this was true of the rest of his tribe. It was the peculiar tambo laid upon him by the devil-devi

age-shrunken, he hobbled horribly from an ancient spear-thrust to the thigh that twisted his torso droopingly out of the ve

deck on his hams close to the fear-struck girl, who began trembling again at recollection of hav

naked, one-eyed old man. And, when he had sniffed and registered the particular odour

said Ishikola. "Me give 'm half-f

ead of twisted coconut fibres, was equivalent in cash to half a sovereign in English currency,

hundred fathoms, or for any fabulous price from any black, but in his head offering so small a price over par as no

at he, as a practical judge of meat, did not feel justified this t

rces that bore upon his Su'u territory, ten miles square, bounded by the sea and by landward lines of an inter-tribal warfare that was older than the oldest Su'u myth. Eternally, heads had been taken and bodies eaten, now on one side, now on the other, by the temporarily victorious

this place. Too many heads you fella take; too much kai-kai l

elong Su'u take 'm heads, kai-kai a

his place. Bime by, close up, big fella warship

warship stop 'm along Sol

Van Horn lied, too well aware that no British crui

ld obtain between states, irrespective of size, when it was broken off by a cry from Tamb

stop along cano

ing down over the barbed wire. Ishikola, despit

stop 'm along bottom?" Van

so as to cover the out-jutting butts of several rifles, but made the matter worse by exposing them more f

m fella hand belong

ated wrath which he did not feel again

ide, gun he stop along can

is one eye and blinked a fair sim

n Horn continued. "Ishikola, you plenty ba

without assistance dropped into the canoe, cleverly receiving his weight on his uninjured leg. He blinked up for forgiveness and in reassertion

stick tobacco you

kola on the sacred solemnity of truth and promises. Next, he leane

inish along you altogether. You no good friend sto

, he shut him off with, "My wor

privily to feel out the butts of the Sniders under

n Horn cried with i

into the encircling darkness. Just as quickly Van Horn changed his position on deck to the tune of a dozen yards, so t

" he ordered quietly. "Make

ty rhythm, he reclined elbow on deck, smoked his

ent with half-closed eyes and up-tilting face, clinching his consent with a wave of hand toward the companionway. She obeyed as a beaten dog, spirit-broken, might have obeyed, dragging herself to her feet, trembling afresh, and with backward glances of her perpetual terror of the big white master tha

graph, Van Horn continued to smoke on while the sharp, needle

ted back in the sky, the smell of steam seemed to stench forth from

for fever, had never concerned him; so he d

orckman. "I'll have her under way

arm, with the hollow of the left snuggling Jer

trafficking, the whites striving to maintain their heads on their shoulders, the blacks striving, no less single-

f the ship Arangi and of the island of Malaita were essentially the same, regarded the