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Show pTODAY'S BOOK Maniac's Prey An Island in Caribbean Sea i By ELIZABETH C. JAMES 11 ICHARD CONNELL'S "The Most Dangerous Game" opened as a yacht sped through the warm waters of the Caribbean night Two men sat talking about hunting trip to South America. Whitney commented that it is a . good sport (or the hunter, but not so good for the huntee, to which Rainsford scornfully asked, "Who cares how a Jaguar feels?" At a late hour when Rainsford sat on deck alone smoking smok-ing his last pipe for the night, he heard shots in the distance. dis-tance. Yet they were miles at sea. He re- 1 J membered that the Elfiaboth sailors had been jit- James tery all day and that this part of the Caribbean sea had a bad name among seamen. Curious, Curi-ous, he stepped upon the rail to hear better; his pipe slipped, he reached for it, his foot slipped, and in a second's time, he found himself in the warm water. I Discovers Chateau. In a state of exhaustion the swim-I swim-I mer finally reached an island, j where he collapsed and slept for hours. Using his knowledge of the RICHARD CONNELL Richard Council Is among the Twentieth century American authors au-thors who have Included variety vari-ety of types In their writing. Newspaper work, editing, and stories for the cinema are among his activities. "Apes and Angels" and "Murder "Mur-der at Sea" are two of Mr. Conner's Con-ner's well-known stories. "The Most Dangerous Game" was presented pre-sented on the screen several years ago. Mr. Connell was born in 1893 and received his bachelor's degree de-gree from Harvard. During the World war he served in France with the A. E. F. chase, he found signs of a recent fight and picked up a trail which led him to a chateau. . Rainsford knocked. The door was opened by a brutal looking Cossack who answered nothing but grimly brandished a gun. Presently down the wide stairs came an older man. "I am General Zaroff," he said. The next few hours were so strange that Rainsford felt himself to be in a horrible dream from which he would awaken and find relief. After receiving the best of clothes, food, and all other comforts com-forts and luxuries he discovered his host was a maniac. Dizzy and sick, Rainsford went to his room and began to think of escape. But his door was locked. Rainsford's Three Days. Next day the servant came to Rainsford's room, explaining that the general slept late on the day that he planned to hunt in the evening. Ivan gave the quarry a pair of moccasins, a knife, and food and water for three days. The bargain bar-gain was that if any man escaped for three days, he would be set free. At first Rainsford went in circles. cir-cles. But in the afternoon when he knew it to be only a matter of hours before he would be cornered, his instinct of 6elf preservation began to function. Eventually he climbed I a tree and stretched out along a limb, so that he could see. That evening Rainsford saw the hunter cautiously examining every bent twig, every stirred leaf. Without With-out faltering, he came toward Rainsford's hiding place, until he stood beneath the tree. The general laughed and walked away. ijihe next day Rainsford tried an amateur trap, but it failed. Dog Is Killed. There was still another day to live through. With maddened fury the hunted man dug a Malay tiger pit, placing sharpened spikes in the bottom and concealing the pit with a covering woven of vines and leaves. Watching from the hiding place, he saw the hunter come swiftly as he followed the scent of a blood hound on leash. There came a crash and scream, and the general called out, "Rainsford, you have killed my best dog. I'll see what you can do against the pack." There was no minute to waste. Fastening the knife to the top of a sapling, blade up trail, the man bent the sapling down to the ground and set his trigger. Hiding again, he watched the general coming with Ivan holding the pack. Seconds dragged until there came a yelp and shriek. Ivan fell to the ground. Feeling that his game had cheated. cheat-ed. General ZarofT returned to his chateau and dinner. That night as he prepared for sleep, he opened the windows to see the night sky. A sound behind him jerked him around to find Rainsford as a demon de-mon unleashed. "One of us will be food for the dogs tonight!" he cried, springing. He had never slept in a better bed, thought Rainsford, the next morning. (- Bell Syndicate WNU Servict. |