Pictures and the Picturegoer (April - September 1915)

h tip hope. • I relaxed their tenacious -rip of i lie spar, his head sank in the se i \ ii shin • i .1 fi ■ mi capp< '1 w a \ •• uek his cheek like a « bin. He hook off In stupor, and i red inti i the iuk.\ blackness of the night. \\ as he mad already r Thai w is lit thought as far away he saw a shadow} figure on th>' orest of ;i wave. It drew nearer, and then he gasped li was the face and form of his dream girl, beckoning him, urging him to como to her, He laughed madly, and struck out for the vision. It receded, but -till urged him on, IJncon&ciousness claimed him, be slipped from the -par, and was borne away on the top of n huge billowj wave. The Home of the Castaways. When John recovered his senses he was lying half in the water on a stretch of sandy Bhoreland. Some one was rugging at hiarm ami endeavouring to lift biro up. He staggered to his feet, and there before him stood bis dreamgirl, clad in a strange garb.bnl this time in the flesh. He gave a hoarse cry, and clutched at her, but she, frightened and fearing harm, rushed away, John gave chase, but in his enfeebled i ditioii the effort proved too much, and he fell headlong «ui tin' shore. Hi dream-girl stopped, looked back and found she was not being pursued. Then curiosity overcoming her fear she went back in search of the man she had rescued from the sea. She found him lying among the rooks, unconscious, with an ugly gash in his head. She returned toa village of rude huts, and approached an old man with Bowing white beard. It was her father, Neto, chieJ of a losl tribe, and to him she told the news. The dream-girl was Nai. Neto called together the menfolk of the tribe, and. with Nai as guide, hastened down to the rocks and brought John back to the village. Here he was sarefnlly tended and nursed back to health and strength. He told his story ■ to Neto, and. acting upon the hitter's suggestion, became one of the tribe. In return Neto told how many years previous he, with his daughter and other passengers, hod been shipwrecked, and had managed to survive and reach an island. During the whole of thetime no -hips had been seen, and thev had formed a colony of their own. * They were English-speaking people, but had adopted their own particular ways and customs, and never wished to go back to the other world from whence they had come. Nai and John soon became fast friends, much to the consternation and chagrin of Kama, the sub-chief. He jealously watched the two as they went about the island together, and .was never tar away from them.' He was passionately in love with Nai, but she did not reciprocate his affection. One if her chief delimits was to -it among tin' rocks and play weird melodies upon in niipr.n l.-ed harp. So adept had she become with her crude instrument that she was recognised by the tribe as a genius. -j A beautiful creature, knowing no other world than that in which she lived, :Nai was much fascinated by the stones John had to tell of life way l>ack ln civilisation. They went for many '/SQ PICTU •■;• ! A". • THE I I rami'!.' ami the cver-wtil I K i'i to hate hi rival with n H inten It « eir trips t hat K ■. ■ ■ i I ■ i .-■ t themseh I h n ledge of rock the >uli chief Btealthilj approached I • ins far out ovei the ledge, he clasped in th I arm of John He almost tost bis balance at the revelation Springing back, he dug up a huge piece ol boulder, poised ii "n high, determined t" send it crashing down on the! head of the unsuspecting man below Then in a flash it came bo him t hat he might miss hi aim and kill Nai. He threw the rock from him, and, quicklj descending, flung himself upon John, and a terrific straggle ensued: Kama was tin' more powerful, and eventuallj had the other at his mercy. Hi inten tion to kill him wae frustrated bj Nai who had run for help. Neto ami the tribe arrived, and. after listening to the storj Kama had to tell, John was placed under guard and im prisoned in one of the huts for attempting to take away the promised wife of the Bub-chief, and Nai was placed und< i guard ia the hut adjoining her fat In-, That nighf John managed to worm bis way out of tin hut, and overpowering the guard released Nai, and, stealing through the village thej hastened to the priest's' hut. Here they prevailed upon him t" marry them. Thej then made for the opposite side of the island, and took refngeamong I he crags and boulders on the seashore. When their escape was detected. Kaura summoned the men-folk of the trill Th died l'n P i1 ol til \ i\ id H i -he of li rent t lie II uddleil buneat h tin the rock* sal Nai and Johu ci 'I I drenched A little wa> off Kami uu his mien halted « hi! i i rec and ro Were falling before the fun • ■! tin element-. One terrible crash "I thuudei a •_• la rin_r fork of liffhtiiiiu] and Kaura w ith a hoarse crj . fell dead al t be feel Of t be tribe. Thej carried hi bod) to Neto « h<> full of anger against his daughter, foi h ide t he i ribe t" ba> e anj t bing mor< to d" wil h lei He di-uu m-d h> r ; and a> for Ji 'Im. be ci mid live in safe) | tl ther Bide of the' island, lml Bhould he approach I he i illage, be was t.. be killed. Broken and sorrowing, Neto sought hi hut after dismissing the tribe. The Myth. \ the fury of t be Btorm spenl itsell out in one famt rumbling of t bnndei afar off, N'ai and John crept from t In shelter of the rocks. Thej climbed t< the highest point o£ the island, and John set about briilding some sort of habitation. As time elapsed, be constructed a hut. ami it was his custom to lie just inside the d ■ when Nai retired to res! for the tight, as he lived iii constant fear of an attack from the tribe. He mad., a better harp for Nai t > replace the one left behind in the village, and she would while away inanj an hour playing to her husband. One day they had a visit from t: Uue oi iiei enittf delights was to play weird melodies upon uu improvised OaXD