Show u 1 O M BE 0 IItU T lTIa d6YRArW rIrE J faPfAICML B0e aY AFPfrLONC MCo t 77 SYNOPSIS Tiin tory opens wllh tlio ahlpwrrck of I tie Htoarncr on which Minn Uoricvlevo i > illi > mi Aincrlran htlrosH tort Win lhrnM nn niiKlMhmnn aril Tom Ulako u brusque Atnerli < nn worn piss iiKtrB Tim Vireo WIT tOHBeil upon nn uninhabited uninhab-ited iHlnnil find worn tho only one a not drowned Illakc rpcoxrioil from u Urunk An Ntupor Illake nlimmcil on the boat lipcnusn of his lomrhniHH bccnmo a lioro uH priHprver of the hclplpfin pair The KiiKllHlminn was milnB for tho hand of MIss Oiilla Illnko started In fuvlm bark to the Hull In recover uliut wus left I Illiikn returned unfair Wlnthropo wuatpil till lust mulch on n cigar ttr for which IIP wnH Hcorcil hy 111 ihi < Their first men Ills ii cltint lih Tin trio alerted n len nilli hlki fur liUlior lam Thlifl nt tiirliril than tllako vnii enmpcllnl to lurry Mss lcullc on me omit of weariness weari-ness Ho taunted AVInthropc They em lereil the jungle That iii gut waft pixneil lOontliiK high 1 In n tree The next iiuirn Ir1K they d l pni1eil to the open iiKiiln All three construe 1 hntH to shield thorn telvci from the mm They then fcnstcd nn coeonniits the only procurable fond JMIsn Ix > Hll nhoweil n liking for Illnko hilt l ilotrntod ids roUKhnetii Led hy Blake they entiibllRheil n home In Aomo Ill ft H Hlnke mind n fresh water spring Mint Ixsllo faced nn unplemiant xlttintlun They planned their cnmpalKn Blake rn rovereil his surveyors innKnlfylnK ghee thus Insuring are Ho ntiirtei u jungle lire Iii lling a large leopnril and smotli erlnfj suvernl cubs In thn leopards cavern cav-ern they built n fiirmll home Thoy gal nrd tho tllffs by burning tin bottom of n tree until It fell ngnltitit lie heights The trio secured PKSH from the cliffs Miss Ixslles white sltlrt was decided upon as n signal Miss IOMlIn iiiailn a dress from the leopard skin lilako1 efforts ef-forts to kill nntelopes failed Overhearing Overhear-ing I a conversation between Illnkn and Wlnthrope 1I1tH Leslie becnmo fright ened wlntlnnpn became III with foyer tilnkn will polnoncd by a llsh latlcals nttnckod the camp hat night but wi re driven off by Oenevlove Blake returned utter nearly dying Blake constructed nn animal Imp H killed 1 a hyena CHAPTER XV Continued Mr Blako she exclaimed Mr Wlnthropo Is going off without a word but 1 cant enduro It You have no right to send him on such an errand er-rand It will kill him Illako mot her Indignant look with n sober stare What If It does ho said Better for him to diet In tho gallant service of his follows than to alt hero and lot Eli l Win Do not trouble yourself Miss Gonovlove I hope I shall pull through rill right If not No you shall not Ill go myself See hero Miss Leslie bald 111 alt 0 ooniowhat sternly whoa got the responsibility re-sponsibility of keeping you two alive for tho next month or so Ive been In tho tropics before and I know something of tho way peoplo have to live to got out again Im trying to do my host and I tell you straight If you wont mind mo Im going to mako you no matter how much It hurts your feelings You see how nlco and meek Win takes his orders I explained ex-plained matters to him last night I assuro you Dlnke you shall have no cause for complaint as to my conduct con-duct muttered Wlnthiopo I should like to observe however that In speaking to Miss Leslie There you are again with your everlasting talk Cut It out and got busy Tomorrow we all go on n hike to the rlvor As Wlnthrdpo started off Blako turned to Miss Leslie with a good natured grin You see Its thin way Miss Jenny Jen-ny ho began Ho caught her look I of disdain and his face darkened I Mad oh So thats tho racket Mr Blako I will not have yon talk to mo In that way Mr Wlnthrope Is a gentleman but nothing more to mo than a 1 friend such as any young woman wom-an That settles It Ill take your word for It Miss Jenny broke In Blako and springing up ho sot about his work whistling The girl gazed nt his broad back mid erect head uncertain whether sho should fool lellovod or anxious Tho more sub thought tho matter over the more uncertain sho became and the more sho wondoiod at her uncertainty uncertain-ty Could It boposslblo that she was becoming interested In a man who It 1 her oars had not deceived her Bu no That could not bo possible Yet what a ring there was to his vllleoso clear and tonic after Win thropos precise modulated drawl And hor countrymans firmness I lie could bo rude If need bo but ho would make her do what ho thought was best for her health Was It not possible that sho had inlsundorstooi his wouls on tho cliff and so misjudged mis-judged wronged him that Win thropo so eager to stipulate for her hand But then Wlnthropo line more than continued her dreadful dread-ful conclusions taken from Blakes words and Wlnthropo was in English gentleman Silo ended In a state of utter be wlluerment CHAPTER XVI The Savage Manifest r 7 7 S INTHHOPK l had sue ceided in dragging himself him-self to and from tho headland I head-land ti it haut a collapse the following IJtlrnln as soon as tho dow was dry IIlakl culled out nil hands for the es JIIllItun lit I I was In the host of hit Its > t1i i nluiwiil unoxpocled consld i v ivs 1 > utiiiK Wlnthiouo with I c I i t 1 0 u l st 0 y I I l I Wt tr t 4 a I I 1 w 1 l an fa b III 16 9 r u b h tt iA 4 OQ j 7b Uncertain Whether She Sho a cane which ho had cut and trimmed during the night Having sent Miss Leslie to till the whisky flask with spring water he dropped three cocoanutshell bowls apiece a-piece of meat and a lump of salt Into one of tho earthenware pots and slung all over his shoulder In tho antelope ante-lope skin With his how hung over tho other shoulder knife and arrows In his belt and his big club in his hand ho looked ready for any contingency contin-gency Well hit first for the mouth of tho river ho said Im going on ahead If Im not In sight when you come up pick a tree where tho ground Is dry and wait But I say Blake replied Win thrope I see animals over In the coppices cop-pices and you should know that I am pnysicauy tinauic Nothing but antelope Interrupted I Blake Ive seen them enough now i to know them twice as far off And I you can het on It theyd not bo there If any dangerous beast was III smelling smell-ing distance That Is so clever of you Mr Blake remarked Miss Leslie Simple enough when you happen to think of It responded Blake Yes the only thing youve got to look out fors the ticks In the grass Theyll keep you interested They bit me up In great shape Ho scowled at tho recollection nodded by way of emphasis and was off like a shot The edge of the plain beneath the cliff was strewn with rocks among which oven with Miss Leslies help I Wlnthropo could pick his way but slowly Before they were clear of the rough ground they saw Hhike disappear among the mangroves man-groves The ticks proved less annoying than they had apprehended after HlaUes warning Dut when they approached tho mouth of tho river they wore alarmed to hoar above tho roar of the surf loud snorting such as could only be made by largo animals Fearful lest Blake had roused and angered some forest beast they veered to the right and ran to little behind a clump of thorns Wlnthropo sank down exhausted ex-hausted the moment they reached cover but Miss Leslie crept to tho far end of tho thicket and peered around Oh look here she cried Its a whole herd of elephants trying to cross the river mouth where we did and theyre being drowned poor things Klophants panted Wlnthropo and t ho dragged himself forward beside hor Why so there are qulto a drovo of tho beasts Yet I must say they appear smaller ah yes seo their heads They must be tho hippos HlaKo saw Those ugly creatures I once saw some at tho zoo Just tho same they will be drowned Some arc right In t the surf I cant say Im sure Miss Genevieve Gene-vieve but I have an Idea that tho boasts are unite at homo In the wa I uld Feel Relieved or Anxious ter I fancy they enjoy surf bathing as keenly as ourselves I do believe you arc right There Is one going In from the quiet water Hut look at those funny little ones on the backs of tho others Must bo the baby hippos replied Wlnthrope Indifferently If you please Ill take a 1 pull at the flask I am very dry When he had half emptied tho flask he stretched out In tho shado to doze But Miss Leslie continued to watch the movements of tho snorting hippos amused by the ponderous antics of the grown ones In the surf and the comic appearance of tho barrel like Infants as they mounted the backs of their obese mothers Presently Blake came out from among the mangroves and walked across to the beach a few yards away from tho hugo bathers To all appearances ap-pearances they paid as little attention to him as he to them Miss Leslie glanced about at Wlnthrope Ho was fast asleep She waited a few moments mo-ments to sec If the hippopotami would attack Blake They continued to Ignore Ig-nore him and gaining courage from their Indifference she stopped out from behind the thicket and advanced to where HIako was crouched on the beach When she came up she saw beside him a heap of oysters which he was opening In rapid succession Hello Youre just In time to help ho called Wheres Win Asleep behind those bashes Vorst thing ho could do Hut lend a hand and well shuck these oysters before rousting him out You can rinse those Ive opened Fill tho pot with water and put them In to soak They look very tempting How did you chance to find them Saw em on tho mangrove roots at low tide ilrst time I nosed around here Tide was well up today hut I managed to get these all right with a little diving Only trouble the skeets most ate me alive Miss Leslie glanced at her companions compan-ions dry clothing and came back to tho oysters themselves These look very tempting Do you like them raw Cant lIa I like say them much anyway any-way as a rule But if I did I wouldnt cat this mess raw Yes1 This must bo the dry season bore and the river Is running mighty clear Just tho same Its nothing more than liquid malaria Well not eat these oysters till thejvo been pasteurized If the water is so dangerous I fear we will suffer before wo can return roplled Miss Leslie and she held up tho flask What exclaimed Blake Half gone already That was Wlnthrope Ho was very thirsty Could wo not boll a potful of the river water Yes when tho ebb gets strong If wo run too dry Fist though woll make a try for cocoanuts Lots hit out for tho nearest grove now Tho main thing Is to keep moving As he spoko Blake caught up the pot and his club and started for tho horn clump leavIng the skin logoU IT with the moat and the salt for Miss > was Wlnthrope Leslie to carry foot wakened by a touch of Hlakos and all throe wore soon walking away rout rite seashore just within the hhaily border of the mangrove wood At the Hist fanpalm Blake stopped for their to gather a number of leaves palm leaf hats were now cracked and broken A little farther on a ruddy antelope with Ijrate horns leaped out of the hush before them and dashed off toward the liver before Blake could string his how As If In mockery mock-ery of his lack of readiness a troupe nf largo green monkeys set up a wild chattering In a triO above the party I I hay Miss Jenny do you think you can lug the pot if we go slow It Isnt far now Good for you little woman Thatll give me a chance to shoot quick They moved on again for a hundred yards or more but though Blake kept a sharp lookout both above and below he saw no game other than a few small birds and a pair of blue wood pigeons When ho sought to creep upon up-on tho latter they flew into the next tree In following them he came upon a conical mound of hard clay neatly four feet high Hello this must bo one of those white anthills he said and ho gavo the mound a kick Instantly a tiny object whirred up and struck him In tho face Whee he exclaimed springing back and striking out A hornet No Its a bee Did It sting you cried Miss Les llo Sting Keep back theres a lot more of em Sting Oh no he only hypndeimlckcd me with a redhot darning needle Shy around here Theres a whole swarm of the little devils and theyre hopping mad Hear cm buzz Hut whero is their hive asked WI nth rope as all three drew back behind be-hind the nearest bushes Guess theyve borrowed that anthill ant-hill replied Blake gingerly fingering the white lump which marked tho snot where the bee had struck him Wouldnt bo delightful If we had some honey exclaimed Miss Leslie By Jove that really wouldnt behalf be-half bad chimed In Wlnthrope Maybo we can Miss Jenny only well need a fire to tackle those buzzers buz-zers Guess Itll be as well to let them cool off a bit also The cocoanuts are only a little way ahead now Hero give mo the pot They soon came to a small grove of cocoanut palms where Blake threw down his club and bow and handed his burning glass to Miss Leslie Here he said you and Win start a fire Its early yet but Im thinking think-ing woll all bo ready enough for oyster stew How about the meat asked Miss Leslie Keep that till later Here goes for our dessert Selecting ono of the smaller palms j Blake spat on his hands and began to climb the slender trunk Aided hy previous experiences ho mounted steadily to tho top The descent was made with even more care and stead ness for ho did not wish to tear the skin from his hands again Now Win he said as he neared the bottom and sprung down leave the cooking to Miss Leslie and husk some of those nuts You wont moren have time to do It before the stew Is ready Wlnthropes response was to draw out his penknife Blake stretched himself at ease In tho shade but kept a critical eye on his companions Al though Wlnthropos lingers trembled with weakness ho worked with a pro clsion and rapidity that drew a grunt of approval from Illake Presently Miss Leslie who had been stirring the stew with a twig throw In a little salt and drew tho pot from the fire fin I avant gentlemen Dinner Ii 1 served she called ga > ly Whats that demanded Blake Oh sure Hold on Miss Jenny Youll dump it nil Ho mapped a wisp Of grass about ho pot and filled tho three cocoanut bowls Thu slew was boiling hot but they fished up the oysters with the bamboo forks that Blake had can ol some days since fly iho tine the le < outers bowl was were cool oaten enough tho to liquor In I drink rite piocess was repeated until the pot had boon emptied of its contents Say but that was sonwthlng like murmured Blake if only wod had pretzels i and h beer er to go with It But there nuts wont bo had When thoy finished tho cocoanuts ter lnthrope asked for a drlnlt of wa Wouhll1 not bo hest to keep it un tIl later replied Miss Leslie SlIro IHit In Blako oe had enough 11111111 refreshments any to do an ono If I dont look out 01111 both be Ilrlnlnl river water llIlIt hell III IIIll1d lie work Ill have pulr of to earn a Ina gravestonell No 111111 IInslt I lit 10 110 yon till We dont get hUllle J I shin 1111 nay more I poles today telegraph TO UUCONTm tl I |