2Z 
LAND & WATER 
May 4, 1916 
had snatched him into her maw. Then, suddenly, Macquart 
turned to the other. 
" t)R with you back and fetch the rifle," said he. " I'll 
stay here and w.itcli. Quick, there's no time to be lost." 
Wiart turned and started off amidst the trees and 
Macquart, withdrawing a bit, stood leaning against a tree 
bole with his eyes fi.xed on the Barracuda. As he stood like 
this, waiting and listening, a crash came from the cabin of 
the yawl. It was the crash of crockeryware upset and broken, 
and it only wanted that and the dead silence that followed 
to put a cap on the horror. 
Natives would not carry on in this way. If they had 
seized Jacky and killed him they would not remain in dead 
silence. 
Minute after minute pa.ssed and then a soft sound from 
behind him made Macquart turn. It was Wiart with the rifle. 
" There's someone on board," said Macquart in a low 
voice. " There's just been a big upset in the cabin. One of 
us has got to board her and have a k)ok down the hatch whilst 
the other stands by ready to shoot if anyone comes up. We've 
got to see this thing through, and quick." 
" Well, I'd rather you went on board than me," said 
Wiart. " I'm no coward, but this thing gets me. It's not 
na ural." 
'■ Natural or ui\natural, we've got to finish with it," 
replied the other. " We have no time to waste. There's the 
gold lying waiting to be taken aboard, and here are we waiting 
like fools. It s not a pleasant job, but we'll draw lots. " 
Ho plucked two blades of grass of unequal length, held 
them in his closed hand and held his hand to Wiart. 
Whoever draws the longest goes," said he. 
Wiart drew a blade, then they compared the blades. 
Wiarts was the longest. 
He was no coward, yet he held back just for a moment. 
Then picking up his courage and handing the rifle to his com- 
panion, he walked straight to the yawl, boarded her, and 
without a moment's hesitation, came to the open saloon hatch. 
He peejied cautiously down, then turned towards Mac- 
quart and shook his head to indicate that he saw nothing. 
Tl'.en, shading his eyes with his hand he looked down 
again. 
He left the saloon hatchway and came to the skylight ; 
this was closed, however, and could only be opened from 
below, \vhilst the thick glass prevented any view being ob- 
tained of the interior. 
He was fiddling with the skylight in a stupid sort of 
atle iipt to open it, when, suddenly, from the saloon hatch 
appeared a \-ast hand that seemed covered by a black woollen 
glove. It grasped the combing and almost immediately 
squeezing up through the hatch opening came the head, 
shoulders and chest of an enormous ape. ' 
It seemed at first sight an ape but Macquart knew that 
apart from the little monkeys on the river bank there are no 
apes in New Guinea. He recognized this as a creature 
spoken o' by the native hunters. A creature larger than the 
ape yet far more terrible. 
He was hke a great ruffian man gone to neglect in the 
primeval woods, his humanity clinging to him like a shame. 
Miicquart was so astonished by this apparition that he 
did not even call out to Wiart, and Wiart who was still en- 
gaged in wrestling with the skylight did not see the object 
that had appeared on deck till a faint sound made him turn. 
' He had picked up a belaying pin to help him in his work, 
and now as he stood facing the Horror that had materialised 
itself at such a short distance from him, his hand, unfor- 
tunately for himself, instead of releasing the iron pin, clutched 
it spasmodically. It is quite possible that the brute might 
not have touched him.. Creeping along by the bank and 
finding the Barracuda, it had boarded the yawl for the purpose 
of exploring it. Down below, it had been on the point of 
coming up when Jacky made his appearance on the saloon 
ladder. Then sure that all this was a trap and Jacky the 
setter of it the beast had seized the intruder by the leg, 
hauled fiim down, and finished him. Again it had been 
on the point of making its escape when the sound of Wiart 
coming on board had made it pause. Then, hearing the 
fumbling at the skylight and seeing a fair way up the com- 
panion ladder, up it came and another moment might have 
taken it off over the side had not Wiart, in a paroxysm of 
terror, Imrled the belaying pin. 
It struck the brute full in the mouth. Then Macquart, 
who had raised his rifle to his shoulder, but who dared not 
fire, so tremulous was his hand and so close together the 
antagonists, saw the creature seize the man and hold him out 
with both hands as a furious mother might >eize a naughty 
child. It shook him. 
It did not seem to do anything more than that, and then 
it was Rone, and Wiart was lying on the deck hiccoughing. 
He h'ccoughed several times and' put his hand to his side 
as if it pained him He did not spak or take any notice of 
Macquart. His mind seemed dulled or far away. Then, all 
of a sudden, as Macquart boarded the yawl Wiart turned on 
his back. 
He was dead. 
Macquart stood looking from the corpse at his feet to the 
spot where the murderer had disappeared into the trees. 
He did not seem to understand fully for a moment what 
had happened. In fact, he did not realise fully that Wiart 
was dead till, kneeling down beside him he raised his arm 
and dropped it. Then all at once the truth broke on him. 
The terrible truth. 
He did not care a button for the life of Wiart The life 
of Wiart was of no more concern than the buttons on Wiart's 
coat. What concerned him greatly was the fact that if 
Jacky was dead below or seriously injured he- Macquart — 
would be helpless. Even if he could get the Barracuda out 
single-handed, how could he tackle single-handed the transport 
of the gold ? This thought occurred to him, but he did not 
appreciate the true significance of it yet. 
He released Wiarts arm, rose up and approached the 
saloon hatchway. 
For a moment he stood listening, then he called down the 
hatch to Jacky, but received no answer. Down below there 
was absolute stillness, a sUence accentuated by the faint 
buzzing of flies. 
Then Macquart came down. The body of' Jacky was 
lying right across the table with its head overhanging the t nd 
opposite to the door. The swing ng lamp had be n swept 
away and a tray of glasses and crockery-ware lay smashed on 
the floor. Otherwise there was little sign of confusion or 
struggle, but there was in the air a faint, vague odour of wild 
beast that caught Macquart by the throat and made the soul 
in him revolt. 
Jacky was quite dead. 
Macquart opened the skylight by means of the lever and 
the fresh air of day came down so that one could breathe. 
The immediate problem now before Macquart was the 
disposal of Jacky's body. It could not be left here. It must 
be got overboard. He proceeded to the task and found after 
ten minutes labour that it was utterly beyond him. With the 
greatest difficulty he managed to pull and drag the body to 
the foot of the companion way, but he could not get it up. 
After all sorts of fruitless endeavours he paused to think. 
He could think of nothing. The only way to bring it up was 
with a tackle, but that would require not only a man to haul 
on the purchase, but a man to guide the body. Besides, he 
had not the means nor the skill. He sat down for a moment 
on the edge of a bunk. He was thinking, not of the body 
lying at his feet, but of the gold. 
This was the beginning of a nightmare business. Gold ! 
Gold ! Gold ! Tons of it waiting to be lifted and deported, a 
dead man lying on the cabin floor of the yawl, another on the 
deck, and one man with only one pair of hands left to face 
the task. 
Even were he to get the gold aboard, how could he pu; t(» 
sea with that corpse in the cabin ? It was very problemalic.il 
if he could get the Barracuda out at all, single-handed as he was, 
but even if it were possible how about this dreadful supercargo 'f 
Even if he were to store the gold in the fo'c'sle and tiny 
hold and close up the cabin hermetically, sealing hatch and 
skylight, how could he steer for any port .' There would at 
once be an enquiry, and an examination of the boat ; even if 
he were to return to Sydney, the port officer who boarded him 
and who was refused entry to the cabin would very soon have 
the rights of the matter. 
The corpse of Jacky acted on him much as the whale- 
man's drogue acts upon the harpooned whale. He could not 
escape from it, and it was bound to ruin hina in the end — even 
if he managed to get the gold on board. 
But Macquart's brain just now was not in a condition to 
recognise clearly or weigh exactly. Having sat for a minute 
or so on the edge of the bunk he rose up and came on deck. 
Here the first thing he saw was the body of Wiart lying 
just as he had left it — but — there was a bird circHng in the air 
above it and already one of the eyes was gone I 
In this terrible climate to be dead and be devoured are 
synonymous terms. 
(To be continued) 
Some of the prettiest slioe buckles are being made of quilted 
ribbon. Black brocade shoes look very well finished with 
magpie buckles of this kind. The white ribbon is inside, 
an outer quilting of the black frames it, and moire is the 
best medium to employ. 
Paste shoe buckles are giving ground in favour of those 
set with coloured stones. Dark blue, green, yellow and 
brown stones are all pressed into the service, and though they 
are of glass are so well cut and set that nobody would suspect 
it. Huge enamel buckles are another idea, and oxidised silver 
is being much exploited by well-known shoemakers. 
