| Show I I ri Illustrated st by byERLE by ii ELEVA ELEVATING TING ELENA t I ELENA r By iI iII I ERLE C. C LONSBURY H HORATIO RATIO WINSLOW WINSLO V ND the night It happened I re remember remember re- re A AND member well It was right after tho the big fight tight that I had with Bull Rafferty Like all my fights it start started d about nothing at all all and It ended wh when n he got a soak beside tho head that put him and my right hand b both th put cut ot of business 1 H He w was ws s thirty pounds lighter than me but but It was no no flo disgrace to lick him He scrapped fiercer than a crazy wild cat cit That evening e who should be bo put on outpost together but Rafferty and mo mc and a a. Dutchman named Now It Ii wasn't that Rafferty had anything against me or I had anything against Rafferty but relations were strained so to speak So I was glad enough when he went up the trail a pi piece with piece ce wIsh leaving lea me near I th the tM river WIh bank w Well n there I stood thinking thinking- how strange it was wa that I should houd be soldiering sol sd- dl diering ring down In Pam Panga Pangs while Edna was on th the other side of the tho earth In Milwaukee when all of ot a sudden Buden-blam Buden blam I got an eyeful of stars that never grew r w in any sky s grabbed me as tight as M if it I was a greased pig and a nasty voice that m meant ant business said eald Queda No habla Which Is the the- Spanish for Shut ut hut up And believe me when I have to to there Isn't any better up shutter-up going than me I hold all records By the time time- my eyes eyO were able to take tak notice I could see that Id I'd been Introduced to something new in the theline theline line Un of natives They were big and brown and ugly and nd about as different from the fellow wed we'd met so far tar as ah an elephant is different dif dlf- dif dif- f ferent terent rent front from a mosquito They carried spears pears made mad of ot bamboo with the point hardened In the fire tire and they sure did flourish those sp spears ars careless like I was wa wondering Just what my play t was wA fJ when out marched and with a. a couple ot of natives trailing after each They h had d ga gags gag choked Into their I mouths and some kind of fiber ropes I binding their arms And did they look downhearted Th They did 0 I It was easy to see that Rafferty thought the whole thing was my fault for he k kept pt making faces as If to sa say Walt till we get out of ot this and Ill I'll punch your face around to the back of ot your bur head was ButI having hating a few troubles of ot my own Just Juet while Just while I Iwas was Inspecting Rafferty and the Dutchman I 1 felt something slammed in my roy own mouth and a minute later my arms were hitched to together together to- to gether so tight that the wrists ached Pronto said one of the spear gents we Even though he couldn't understand Spanish could understand hat spear We hustled single file down the bank and along the narrow trail trait till we came on a big split bamboo boat Wo We didn't need any more directions we e climbed in as though wed we'd been drilling at it eve every morning with our setting up exercises A minute later we were hiking up the stream with six paddles working as regular as ma ma- chines there are some things a at t fellow dont don't low dont forget and that midnight the river Is going to have Ii a permanent pigeonhole in my memory It If I lio Jh eight million years I T layon fayon my back along the bottom of or the atwith with nothing to see ee but the sky 11 and the shoulder muscles of ot the in front of me the me When my thought ran tan to Edna it wasn't so bad but the Idea that maybe these f fellows were h. h head hunters and taking us home for tor souvenir use wasn't exactly I comical Pretty soon they straightened up so soRS as RS to trim the boat and right off ott Rafferty Rafferty Raf Raf- began to make mak signs to and me to try to make a right fight for tor it ft But nix Playing with marked cards and a cold old deck never made a hit with me There lher was only one sensible thing to do and that was to sit quiet Up the river we went with those fellows paddling like a dozen men I IThe The They certainly knew their business for they never wasted a cents cent's worth of or effort That boat was nursed along like a baby Wherever the current ran slack In Inshore in- in inshore shore hore inshore we went and once or twice when the stream slowed up mid- mid channel why we headed for And the they never had to guess a se sec second sed- sed ond they ond-they they knew It was nearly midnight when they got us and day was just celebrating In Inthe Inthe n the east when they shied her nose into a II little Inlet that you would hav have pus passed d a hundred times without s seeing Ten minutes minutes' hard paddling up that and we we were our legs on land Pronto said the fellow that was was running me and once more we pron pron- toed Through fifty yards of trail we hustled hustled hus hus- tied just as pronto as we could trot and then as we broke into a a. cleared space apace our gentlemen friends let out a yell We Ve were there wherever there wherever there was as The clearing was shaped like a half halt circle with the straight edge formed by a low cliff clift and the curved edge by jungle bordered with huts that you could hardly call caU huts because they weren't eren t much more than nips thatched lean lean- lean tos But the population was right there and at the sound Bound of th the yell they turned out like city folk tolk to a fire tIre alarm on the the- block They rushed toward us with a welcome welcome welcome wel wel- come to our town expression on their faces had me guessing And the they weren't a a abad bad looking people either Most of em were fairly tall tail and the women weren't any uglier than most of the women of ot the wild tribes tribe In fact there was one light complexIoned complexioned complex complex- girl that wa was a a. peach But Just while I was wondering how she got there they took the gags out of our mouths and led me one way and Rat Rat- t and another It was your fault tault Rafferty yell yelled l lat at me and when we get out Im I'm going go go- ing to hammer you till I hang your nose on your neck But all poor could do was to moan Ach Aeh Gott Goll mein Rosie My Iy two valets herded me out of the admiring crowd and up some notched steps leading td to the top of this fifteen fifteen- n- n foot cliff which made m me say to myself myself my my- self Good Goo Heres Here's where here I d d. a funny tunny fall tall on some spears Or 61 some somo- i thing 1 But no I nor I had the wrong dope Right before us and near the ed edge ede e I I was as a a. big boulder so heM heavy that it to took k the two ot of them to heave it over oyer on n it Its ItH side aide But ut when it did turn it cleared a hole as big as a coal chute lead ing straight down in the rock Friend No Mo o. o 1 grunted and pointed down the chute with his spear I shook my head Three feet down th the darned hole be began n to 10 twist so St t that at you couldn't see the end and the ide idea of dropping down a bottomless pit or orinto I into a den of ot snakes didn't make an any hit with me at all But after a jab of that b bamboo spear in iny my leg I started Though I didn't didat let myself go till tl Id I'd said i in as goo good Spanish as I could fake u up th that t I hoped the tho would catch enand en eu m mand and string trIng em up to the tho top of th th Uc- highest cocoanut tree in the Philippine Philippine Philip Philip- pine islands Whiz z bump z bump Theres There's a good many disappointments disappoint dIsappoint- mentis meats in this life lite but the of ot tho the lot Is after youve you've got Jill up for tor something to happen and it doesn't happen Its It's like the man being initiated into the Sacred Ord Order r of tho Supreme Walla Walia Wallas Vallas of the Universe Ho lie I thinks hes he's plunging two sixty feet off oct the top at Main street bridge and he ho finds hes he's only fallen off oft a chair Into a a. I I tub of water J I I. I Down I slid with nothing but a few scratches to show for tor the tha trip and I landed In u a nice warm monkey cago CdO I at itt the bottom Yes sir there I was WB in a II little chambel chamber chain cham I ber bel about twelve feet teet down all nicely hollowed out of ot the tho solid rock and with long iron bars between me and the genial l villagers I could stand up I could walk bout about eight feet back but I 1 was as as aa much uch In u a cage as any bear at a zoo Of ot course cours up above me was the hole Id I'd slid down and with l luck hick ck 1 might t have hav squirmed my my way up and back again But what would have hav been the use The boulder was once ore more sitting over the tl hole and I couldn't have braced myself on nothing and lifted the darned thing thing riot not for all aU tho the real estate in San Francisco I walked up I and an down kicking through a big pile of ot feathers evidently y put there for tor a bed Pretty soon one of ot the spear boys in indicated indicated indicated in- in that It if Id I'd stick my hands through the bars I could have hav the he rope cut awa away Then pretty soon the crowd parted again to let through anold an anold anold old woman with a big dish of rice a a 3 bowl of ot thick soup and a whole cook cooked d chicken I got every bit of ot it ate it and then ther began to worry my fool head off oft try try-I ing to figure out what the blame blam business business business busi busi- ness meant The game had me going lt it it sure sure did What did Jt It t all aU mean I 1 settled down on my hunkers and all that day dar and half the night and most of or orthe the the next next day I kept my brains working before I got even a glimmer er of ot light i Probably somebody on th the outside would have figured it out In a minute I guess It took longer with me me because I 1 didn't want to believe such a thins thing could happen But there it was was Just just as plain as shooting Torture No Ransom No Head off No Just this Th ThOse se devils were holding herding us for tor one thing thing tor for chow They weren't simple ent he head d hunters the they were the combination head hunter cannibals that the colonel had warned warnell us about Rafferty and me were In just the same fix as the prize turkey that's being fattened for tor Thanksgiving And we had Just about as much chance of or getting out too Say when that came home to me knowing as I 1 did that the regiment wouldn't help us thinking us dead I wanted to yell like a whitehead But I I didn't because just when I was wason wason on the point of ot tearing loose another thought came to me and I couldn't keep from flom zo laughing Be Because ause it was was was' funny funn You see my folks had always intended In Intended Intended in- in tended me for tor a missionary to foreign lands till I kicked over the ropes and Joined the army And here I was slated to be eaten just as much as though Id I'd graduated from the semi semi- nary with honors I laughed like a kid and then rolled over on the feathers Well Vell sir next morning I woke up as bright as aa a new Frisco dollar Felt enco encouraged raged Seemed to know that things were coming out all right So just as an experiment I let Jet out a yell because it seemed reasonable that if we were going to d do much getting away it would be a good thing for tor all three of ot us to help I heard start to answer it and then stop Pretty soon one of the spear gents passed my cage and kind of insinuated without saying saying anything anything that Id I'd better hush my fuss I took that hint too Ive I've always been a great groat hand at taking hints But I didn't give up hope of communicating com corn with the other two boys till Id I'd tapped the telegraph code against the rock till my fingers were tired When they didn't answer this I 1 knew Id I'd have to depend on myself myself- which Is something Ive I've always done anyhow Luck t turned the next morning Instead of ot the old wo woman an bringing my chow it came by the hands of ot a young one the light complexioned ohe one that I saw when they brought me into camp In San Francisco this girl might not h have v been so mU much lt but down here compared with the bunch she he was traveling traveling trav tray eling with she was a queen de Big DIg eyes nl nice nie e lips Ups never a pockmark pock pockmark mark and straight and sound and kind She stood out among tho the rest of those females like Venus at a county tal fair 1 Im not your meat I said laid to m myself but youre you're mine So I 1 went to work to ge get her Inter Inter- ested She Sho shoved my my chicken and rice In between the bars bare and then waited walte with witha a kind of ot surprised look on n her face when I didn't smile back jack But not a smile from little Willie no sir not even a a. look Id I'd been as nice nite as pie to tei the old woman but now I Just frowned and looked at my toes Two days I let this young oung One fetch my chuck without giving her even a wink Then on the tho third day when she was her head off off just just the way any woman would would would-I I looked up slowly pointed at her and said in a a. adeep deep solemn voice Mucha bon bonita ita Which you might translate as mean mean- ing Youre some kid Honest she got all fussed the way a girl at home would have ha got especially I Ia a girl of the quiet kind that isn't popular pop pop- ular and doesn't know exactly how to handle a compliment And I guess she shew w wasn't used to compliments because she sure didn't conform to th the local standards of at beauty She got confused contused turned round turned back again and finally ran away laay Never Nevet showed up till meal time came again You may think that on account of living in carns a soldier r doesn't know how to sling the langu language ge of or love but believe me were we're right there The next time she came I told her that she was pretty that she was sw sweetness s ss that s she e was handsome that sho she was the most moat beautiful woman woman wom worn an an in the world also every other corn com 0 I 4 JU H 1 l i l lI I i I I v t s1 I. I w i b I f iM N f kW H 4 a r 1 i Ii c d 2 I 11 11 t I Ji J i 1 1 t t. t r A L 1 11 it iI hadn't been for that Ihal 1 I I postal card cardI t I dont don't think shed she'd have P considered considered- Bat BUS Fiats Fiat's I some cU city cUy haIl hall y word that I knew knew th the Spanish for tor I This time she didn't bl blitsh sh and arid runaway run rIm away she Just sat down outside my cage and asked for tor more Jr When I stopped shed she'd kid me ale along by saying No no Then Id I'd Id have to repeat more convincingly and tell her that she was even better than that You are more more beautiful I s 's said id than the sun sur or stars Beside you every other woman on earth Is nix nix nix- nothing at all all I ha had to act out some or of this speech but It got over all right because the next day she began to talk to me I wish a college professor could have heard those conversations of ours ours In Inthe Inthe Inthe the beginning we used sed a kind of f dog Spanish but by the time we got through we were talking a mixture of Spanish English and native with now and then a word of ot Chinese Her name was Elena which Is the Spanish for Helen and the story was that shed she'd been kl from some Spanish family and brought up with the tribe And She sure did look It too though when it came to her views she might Just as well have been one ol of of the bunch She was about as kind hearted nail nall as a j But she liked me and the main reason reason rea rca I son as I soon found out was because the biggest of the three and I was consequently con con- the best scrapper Was Vas 1 better man than than I was Iwas was 1 Was I better man than Rat Rafferty I was though I was glad he wasn't around to overhear me saying it Was I Ithe the king pin fighter of |
