Short Stories
"One," said Kapahei, suddenly bethinking himself to keep
count.
A second and a third shell flew screaming over the top of the
wall, bursting beyond view. Kapahei methodically kept the
count. The lepers crowded into the open space before the caves.
At first they were frightened, but as the shells continued their
flight overhead the leper folk became reassured and began to ad-
mire the spectacle.
The two idiots shrieked with delight, prancing wild antics as
each air-tormenting shell went by. Koolau began to recover his
confidence. No damage was being done. Evidently they could
not aim such large missiles at such long range with the precision
of a rifle.
But a change came over the situation. The shells began to fall
short. One burst below in the thicket by the knife-edge. Koolau
remembered the maid who lay there on watch, and ran down to
see. The smoke was still rising from the bushes when he crawled
in. He was astounded. The branches were splintered and broken.
Where the girl had lain was a hole in the ground. The girl herself
was in shattered fragments. The shell had burst right on her.
First peering out to make sure no soldiers were attempting
the passage, Koolau started back on the run for the caves. All the
time the shells were moaning, whining, screaming by, and the
valley was rumbling and reverberating with the explosions. As
he came in sight of the caves, he saw the two idiots cavorting
about, clutching each other's hands with their stumps of fingers.
Even as he ran, Koolau saw a spout of black smoke rise from the
ground, near to the idiots. They were flung apart bodily by the
explosion. One lay motionless, but the other was dragging him-
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