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Show i fsERIAL n STORY cv J '"---.. TJTil ' iiNfii ! I PRIMITIVE I :j: & ::: , $1 :j I By M -:- ROBERT AMES BENNET iji! wf ! : Illustrations bj J jij RAY WALTERS j D v. v. v. v. v. v. v. v.v.v.v.v.v.- .vl fit i ..".-., (Cuijrrlght, l0a, by A. C. Mc-UurK A: Co. SYNOPSIS. i The story opens with tho shipwreck of ! the steamer on which Miss Gent' '-vo Leslie, an American heiress, Lord Wln- 1 thrope, an Kngllshmnn, ami Tom Wake, ft brusque American, were pnssct: . er. Tho tlireo were tossed upon nn uninhabited uninhab-ited Island and were the only onus not drowned. Blnke, shunned on the bo.it, because of his roughness, became a luro ns preserver of the helpless pair. The Kngllshmnn wns suing for the hand of Miss Leslie. Wlnthrope wasted his list match on a cigarette, for which he was scored by Blnke. All three constrU'Hd hats to shield themselves from the un. They then feasted on cocoanuts, the only firocurablo food. Miss Leslie showed a Iking for Blake, but detested his rounh-nesB. rounh-nesB. Led by Blake, they established a homo In some cliffs, Blnko found a fresh water spring. Miss Leslie faced an unpleasant un-pleasant situation. Blal-o recovered his surveyor's magnifying glass, thus Insuring Insur-ing fire, lie started a junglo lire, killing a large leopard nnd smothering several cubs. In the leopard's cavern they built a small home. They gained the cliffs by burning the bottom of a tree until It M1 against the heights. The trio secured eggs from the cliffs. Mlsa Lesllo's white tsklrt was decided upon as n slgnnl. Miss Leslie made a dress from the lenpml Ikln. Overhearing n conversation between be-tween Blnko and Wlnthrope. Miss I.osllc became frightened. Wlnthrope beanie 111 with fever. Blake wns poisoned by a fish and almost died. Jackals attacked the camp l.iat night, but were driven o'T by Genevieve. Blake, constructed an animal ani-mal trap. It killed a hyena. On a tour tho trio discovered honey and oynters. Miss Leslie was attacked by a pols.inoiis snake. Blake killed It and saved Its poison poi-son to kill game. For tho second time Wlnthrope was attacked by fever. lie and Blnke disagreed. Tho latter made a strong door for tho prlvnto cotnpartni"nt of Miss Leslie's eavo home. A terr ble storm raged that night. Wlnthrope stole Into her room, but she mnnaged to swing her door closed In time. Wlnthrope was badly hurt. CHAPTER XX Continued. "Oh, quick, Mr. Blako! build a fire! It mny bo, some hot broth " 1 "Too late," "muttered Blake. "See here, Wlnthrope, there's no uso lying about It. You'ro going out mighty soon. See If you can't dlo like a man." "Die! Gawd, but I can't dlo I can't die Ow! It burns!" Ho flung up a hand, and sought to tear at his wounds. "Hold hard!" cried Blake, catching the hand in nn iron grip. Something in his touch, or tho tono of command, seemed to cower tho wretched man Into a state of abject submission. "S'elp me, I'll confess! I'll confess all!" ho babbled. "The stones 'are sowed In tho stomnch pad; I 'ad to take 'em hout of their settings, and melt up tho gold." Ho paused, and a cunning smile stole over his distorted features. "Ho, wot a blopmln' lark! Valet plays tho gent, an' thoy never 'as a hlnkllng! Mr, Cecil Wlnthrope, hlf you pleaso, an' a 'Int of a title wot a lark! 'Awklngs, mo lad, you'ro a gay 'oaxor! Wot a lark! wot a lark!'.' His voice shrilled out In quavering appeal: "Don't don't look at mo, miss! I tried to make myself a gentleman; gen-tleman; God knows I tried! I fought my wny up out of tho East End out of that boll and none over lifted finger fin-ger to help me. I educated myself like a scholar then tho stock sharks cheated mo of my savings out of tho last penny; and I had to tako sorvlco. My God! a valet his grace's valet, and 1 a scholar! Do you wonder tho devil got Into mo? Do you " Blake's deep voice, firm but strange- ly husky, broke In upon and silenced tho cry of agony: "There, I guess you'vo said enough." "Enough and last night My God! ' to bo such a beast! Tho devil tempted Mi mo aye, and he's paid mo out in my fl! J own coin! I'm dono for! God ha' h mercy on mo! God ha' mercy " I! Again camo tho gasping rattle; this y. t i time thero wns no rally. 1 ' I Blako thrust himself botween Miss s Lesllo and tho crumpled figure. . "Got back around tho treo,." ho said !i ' harshly. "What are you going to do?" "That's my business," ho roplled. Ho I thrust his burnlng-glnsa Into her g hand. "Hero; go and build a flro, If you can find any dry stuff." "You're not going to You'll bury him!" 1 "Yes. Whatever ho may have been,. bo's dead now, ooor dovll!" ' "I can't go, ' she half whispered, "no, until until I've learned Do you r can you toll me Just whnt 1b paranoia?" para-noia?" Illako studied a little, and tappod the top of Ills head. . ''Near as I can say, It's softening of the brnln up tli'ero." "Do you think that" sho hesitated "that ho had it?" Again Blnke paused to consider. "Well, I'm no alienist. I thought him a 3ofty from tho Hr8t. But thnt wns all In lino with what ho was playing play-ing on us British dudo. Fooled mo, nnd I'd been chumming with Jimmy Scnrbrldge and Jimmy was tho straight goods, fresh Imported monocle mono-cle even when I first ran up against him. No; this this Hnwklns, If thnt's his name, had brains all right. Still, ho may hnvo boon cracked. When folks go dotty, they sometimes got extra 'cute. The best I can think of him Is that losing his savings mny have mndc him slip n cog, and then tho scare over tho way wo landed hero nnd his spells of fovor probably hurried hur-ried up tho softening." "Then you bollovo his story?" "Yes, I do. But If you'll go, please." "One tiling more I must know now! Do you remember the day when you sot up tho signal and you you quarreled with him?" Blake reddened and dropped his gnzo. "Did ho go and toll you that? Tho sneak!" "If you please, let us say nothing moro about him. But would you caro "I Wish He Hadn't Rushed Off So Suddenly." Sud-denly." to tell me whnt you meant what you said then?" Blake's flush deepened; but ho raised his head, and faced her squarely square-ly as lio answered: "No; I'm not going go-ing to repeat any dead man's talk; nnd as for whnt I said, this isn't tho time or placo to sny anything In thnt lino now that we're alone. Understand?" Under-stand?" "I'm afraid I do not, Mr. Blake. Pleaso explain." "Don't ask mo, Miss Jenny. I can't tell you now. You'll have to wait till wo got aboard ship. We'll catch a steamor before long. 'TIsn't every one of them that goes ashoro In theso blows." "Why did you build that door? Did you suspect " Sho glanced tlqwn at tho huddled figure botween them. Blnko frowned and hesitated; then burst out almost angrily: "Well, you know now he wns a sneak; so It's not blabbing to tell thnt much I knew he wns before; and It's never safo to trust a sneak." "Thank you!" she said, and sho turned away quickly that she might not again look at the prostrate figure. CHAPTER XXI. Wreckage and Salvage, y LL tho wood In tho cleft yLJ was sodden from tho fierce JL JkL downpour thnt had accompanied accom-panied the cyclone; nil the cloft bot-torn bot-torn other than tho bare ledges was a bed of mud; everything without the treo-cavo had boon elthor blown away or heaped with broken boughs nnd mud-spattorod rubbish. But tho girl had far too much to think about to feol any concern over tho mere dam-, age and destruction of things. It wns rnthor a relief to find somothlng that cnlled for work. Not being ablo to find dry fuel sho gathered a quantity of tho least sod-don sod-don of tho twigs and branchos and spread thorn out on a ledgo in tho clenr sunshino. While hor firewood was drying sho scraped away tho mud nnd llttor heaped upon her rude hearth. Sho then bogan a search for lost nrtlcles. When sho dug out tho pottory wnro sho found hor favorlto stow pot and one of the plattors In fragments. Tho drying-frames for the meat had been blown away, and so nnd tho antelope- and hyena skins. Cntchlng sigh, of a bit of white down among tho bamboos, she went to I It, and was not a little surprised to Bee tho tattered remnant of hor duck skirt. It had ovldontly been torn from tho signal staff by the first gust of the cyclone; whirled down Into tho cleft by some flaw or eddy In the wind, and waddpd so tightly Into tho heart of tho thick clump of stems that nil tho fury of the storm had failed to dislodge It. Its recovery seemod to tho girl a special providence; for of courso thoy must keep up a slgnnl on tho cliff. Having stnrtcd her ilro and set on a stow, sho hunted out hor sowing materials ma-terials from their crevice In tho envo and began mending tho slits In the torn ling. While she worked she sat on a shaded ledge, her bare feet toasting toast-ing In the sun, nnd her soggy, mud-smeared mud-smeared moccasins drying within roach. When Blako appeared, tho moccasins wore still where sho had first set them, but tho ltttlo pink feet woro safely tucked up beneath the tattored flag. Fortunately, tho sight of the white cloth prevented Blnko from noticing tho moccasins. "Hollo!" ho exclaimed. "What's that? tho Hag? Say, that's luck! I'll break out a bamboo right off. Old staff's carried clean away." "Mr. Blai'to just a moment, please. What have you dono with with It?" Blnko Jerked his thumb upwnrd. "You havo cnrrlcd him up on tho cliff?" "Best place I could think of. No unlmnls nnd 1 piled stones over But, I say, look horo." He drew out a piece of wadded cloth, marked off into little squares by crossing lines of stitches. Ono of the squares near tho edge had been ripped open. Blako thurst In his linger lin-ger and worked out an emerald tho size of a largo pea. "O-h-h!" cried Miss Leslie, as ho held tho glittering gem out to her In his rough palm. Ho drew It back and carefully thrust it again Into its pocket. "Thnt's ono," ho snid. "There's an-other an-other In every square of this Innocent, harmless rag dozens of Ihelu. Ho must havo made a clean sweep of the duke's or, more like, tho duchess' jewels. Now, If you pleaso, I want you to sow this up tight ngaln, and " "I cannot I cannot touch It!" she cried. "Say, I didn't mean to It wns confounded con-founded stupid of mo," mumbled Blako. "Won't you excuse mo?" "Of courso! It was only tho tho thought that" "No wonder. I always am a fool when It comes to ladles. I'll fix tho thing nil right." Catching up tho nearest small pot, ho crammed tho quilted cloth down within it, and filled It to the brim with sticky mud. "There! Guess nobody's going to run off with a Jug of mud and It won't hurt the stones till we got a chance to look up tho owner. Ho won't bo hnrd to find English duke minus a pint of first-class sparklers! Will you mind Its sotting In tho cavo nfter things nro fixed up?" "No; not as It Is." Ho nodded soborly. "All right, then. Now I'll go for tho now flagstaff. flag-staff. You might sot out breakfast." Sho nodded In turn, and when ho came back from tho bamboos with the largest of tho great canes on his shoulder, his breakfast was waiting for him. She set It before him, and turned to go again to' her sowing. "Hold on," ho said. "This won't do. You'vo got to eat your share." "I do not I am not hungry." "That's no mutter. Hero!" He forced upon her a bowl of hot broth, and sho drank It becnuso sho could not resist his rough kindness. "Good! Now a piece of meat," ho said. "Please, Mr. Blake!" sho protested. "Yes, you must!" She took a- bite, nnd sought to eat; but there was such a lump in her throat that sho could not swallow. Tho tears gushed Into her eyes, and sho began to weep. Blake's clososot Hps relaxed, and ho nodded. "That's It; let It run out. You'ro overwrought. There's, nothing llko a good cry to ease off n woman's norvos nnd I guess ladles aron't much different dif-ferent from women whon It comes to such things." "But I I want to got the flag mend-ed!" mend-ed!" sho sobbed. "All right, all right; plenty of time!" ho soothed. "I'm going to seo how things look down tho cloft." Ho bolted the last or his meat, and at- onco loft hor nlono to cry herself back to calmness over tho stitching of tho slgnnl. Ills first concern was for tho barricade. barri-cade. As ho had feared, ho found that It had been blown to pieces. Tho greater part of tho thorn, branches which ho had gathered with so much labor were scattered to tho four corners cor-ners of tho earth. Ho stood staring at tho wreckugo In glum silence; but ho did not swonr, as ho would havo dono tho week before. Presently his face cleared, and lie bogan to whlstlo In a plaintive minor key. Ho was thinking of how sho had looked when sho darted out of the treo at his call of hor concern for him. Whon ho was so angered at Wlnthrope, she had called him Tom! I After a time ho started on, picking . . 'i ' vSX li'- ' his wny over tho remnant of the oar-rlcndd, oar-rlcndd, without i falter In his whistling. whis-tling. Tho delugo of rain had poured down tho cleft. In a torrent, tearing nway "the root-matted soil and laying bnro the. ledges In the channel of the spring rill. But aside from nn occasional occa-sional boggy hole, tho vator had dralnod away. At tho foot, about the swollen pool, wns a wldo Btrotch of rubbish and toiud. He worked his way around tho edge, and camo out on .tho plain, where tho sandy Boll was all tho firmer firm-er fpr Its drenching. Ho swung nway at a lively clip. Tho air w.is fresh and pure after tho storm, and a slight breeze tompored tho sun-rays. , lie kept on nlong the cliff until he turned tho point. It wns not altogether alto-gether ndvlsnblo to batho at this (Imo of day; but ho had been caught out by tho cyclono in a comer of tho swamp, across tho river, where tho soil was of clay. Only his anxiety for Miss Leslie had enabled him to light his way out of tho all but Impassable morass which tho storm tlolugo had mndo of the half-dry swamp. At dawn he had reached tho river, and swam ncross, reckle&u of tho crocodiles. croco-diles. Tho turbid water -of tho stream had rid him of only pnrt of hi? accumulated sllmo and ooze. So pom-he pom-he washed out his tattored garments as well as ho could without soap, and whllo thoy were drying on tho sun-scorched sun-scorched - rocks, swam about In tho clenr, tonic sea-water, quite ns reckless reck-less of tho sharks as ho had been of tho ugly crocodiles In tho rlvor. For nil this, ho wns bnck at tho baobab before Miss Lesllo had 'stitched up tho last silt in tho torn flag. She looked up at him, with a bravo attempt nt n smile. "I am afraid I'm not much of a needle-woman," sho sighed. "Look at those stitches!" "Don't fret. Thoy'll hold all right, and that's what wo want," ho reassured reas-sured hor. "GIvo Jt mo, now. I'vo got to got It up, and hurry back for a nap. No sleep last night I wns out boyond tho rlvor, In the swamp and to-night I'll havo to go on watch. Tho barricade barri-cade Is down." "Oh, that Is too bad! Couldn't' I tako a turn on watch?" Blako shook his head. "No; I'll sleep to day, and work rebuilding tho bnrrlcado to-night. Townrd morning 1 might build up tho fire, nnd tako a nap." He caught up the flag and Its now staff, and swung away through tho cleft. Ho returned much sooner than Miss Leslie expected, and at once began to throw up a small lean-to of bamboos over a ledgo at tho cliff foot, behind the baobab. Tho girl thought ho was making himself a hut, In placo of tho canopy under which ho had slept bo-fore bo-fore tho storm, which, llko Win-thrope's, Win-thrope's, had been carried awny. But when ho stopped work, ho laconically Informed hor that nil sho had to do to comploto hor now houso was to dry somo leaves. "But I thought It was for yourself!" sho protested. "I will sleep Insldo tho tree." "Doc Blako says no!" ho rejoined "not till It's dried out." She "glanced at his fact, and replied, without a moment's hesitancy: "Very well. I will do what you think best." "That's good," he said, and wont at onco to Ho down for his much needed sleep. Ho nwoke just soon enough before dark to seo tho results of her hard day's labor. All tho provisions stored In tho treo had been brought out to dry, and a great stack of fuel, ready for burning, was piled up ugalnst tho baobab; whllo all about tho treo tho rubbish hnd been neatly gathered together to-gether In heaps. Blnko looked his admiration ad-miration for her Industry, But then his forehend wrinkled. "You oughtn't tovo dono so much," he admonished. ' "I'll show you I can toto fair!" she rejoined. During tho nftornoon she hnd recalled to mind that odd expression expres-sion of a southern girl chum, nnd had been waiting her opportunity to banter ban-ter him with It. Ho stared at her open-eyed, and laughed. "Say, Miss Jenny, you'd hotter look out. You'll bo speaking Amorlean first thing!" Thereupon, they fell to chatting llko children out of school, each happy hap-py to bo ablo to forgot for tho moment that broken Hguro up on tho cliff top and tho haunting fear of what another day might bring to them. When they lind eaten their moal, both with keen ' appetites, Blnko sprang up, with a curt "Good-night!" and swung off down tho cloft. Tho girl looked after him with a lingering smile. "I wish ho hndn't rusljed off so suddenly," sud-denly," sho murmured. "I wns Just going to thnnk him for for every thing!" Tho color swept ovor her faco in a deep blush, nnd sho darted around to hor tiny hut ns though somo ono might havo ovorheard hor whisper. Yet, aftor all, sho had said nothing: or, at least, sho hud merely sal',1 "everything." (TO nre CONTINUED.) |