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Show 7 SERIAL V 2 STORY QJ I INTO THE I I PRIMITIVE v :.: ::: I By I ROBERT AMES BENNET ::: $ illustrations bj x ji RAY WALTERS $ (Copyright, IW, by A, a McCturff Co.) SYNOPSIS. The story opens with the shipwreck of tho steamer on which Miss Genevieve Icsllc, nn American heiress, Lord Wln-'thrope, Wln-'thrope, nn Englishman, nnd Tom Hlake. n brusque American, were passengers. The threo wero tossed upon nn uninhabited uninhab-ited Island nnd wero the only ones not drowned. Blnko, Hhunned on tho boat, becutiso of his roughness, hecumo a hero ns preserver of tho helpless pnlr. The Englishman wns suing for tho hand of Miss Leslie. Wlnthropo wasted his last match on n cigarette, for which ho was scored by Blako. All threo constructed hats to shield thcmsolvus from tlu sun. They then foasted on cocoanuts, tho only procurable food. Miss I.eslln showed n lilting for Blako. hut dotestod his roughness. rough-ness. Led by Wake, they established n home In somo cliffs. Blake found a fresh water spring. Miss Leslie faced an unpleasant un-pleasant Munition. Blake recovered his surveyor's magnifying glass, thus Insuring Insur-ing fire. lie started a junglo tire, killing a large leopard and smothering several cubs. In the leopard's cavern they built a small homo. Thoy gnlned the dins by burning the bottom of n tree until It fell ugalnst the heights. The trio secured sggs from tho cliffs. Miss Leslie's white skirt wnB decided upon as a signal. Miss Lesllo made n dress from the leopard skin. Overhearing a conversation between be-tween Blake nnd Wlnthrope, Miss Lesllo becamo frightened. Wlnthrope beenme 111 with fever. Blake wns poisoned by a fish and almost died. Jackals attacked tho camp that night, but were driven off by Genevieve. Hlake constructed nn nnl-mul nnl-mul trnp. It killed a hyenu. On a tour tho trio discovered hr.ney nnd oysters, Miss Lesllo wnB nttneked by n poisonous snake. Blako killed It nnd saved Its poison poi-son to kill game. For the second timo Wlnthropo was attacked by fever. Ho anil Blako disagreed. The latter made n strong door for tho private compartment of Miss Lusllo's cavo homo. CHAPTER XIX Continued. "Mr. Mr. Blako, pray do not get excited I I mean, please oxcuso mo. I'm" "You're coming down sick!" ho said. "No, no! I havo no fever." "Then It's tho sun. Yet you ought to keep up there where the air Is freshest. I'll mako you a shade." She protested, and withdrew, some-what some-what hurriedly, to hor tree. In tho morning Blako was gono again: but instoad of a note, beside the flro stood tho smaller antelope skin converted Into a great bamboo-ribbed bamboo-ribbed sunshado. Slio spent tho day as usual on tho headland. Thero was no wind, and the sun wns scorching hot. But with hor big sunshade to protect her from tho direct rays, the boat was at least endurable. en-durable. She even found energy to work at a baskot which she was attempting to wsme out of long, coarse grass; yet thero wero frequent Intervals when hor hands sank Idle In her lap, and she gazed away over tho shimmering glassy expanse of the ocean. In tho afternoon the hent becamo oppressively sultry, and a long slow swoll began to roll shoroward from beyond the distant horizon, showing no trace of white along Its oily crests until they broke ovor tho coral reefs. Thero was not a breath of air stirring, and for a timo tho reofs so checked the rollers that thoy lacked force to drlvo on In nnd bronk upon tho bench. Steadily, howover, tho swell grow heavier, though not so much as a cat's-paw cat's-paw ruined tho dead surfaces of tho watory hillocks. By sunset thoy were rolling high ovor both linos of reefs and racing Bhoroward to break upon the bench nnd tho cliff foot In furious surf. Tho still air reverberated with tho booming of tho breakers. Yot the girl, inland bred and unversed In weather lore, sat heedless nnd lndlf-foront, lndlf-foront, her oyos fixed upon tho horl-roil horl-roil in a vacant stnro, Hor rovorlo was nt last disturbed by tho peculiar behavior of tho Beafowl. Thoso in tho air circled around In a manner strango to hor, while their mates on tho ledges waddled restlessly about ovor and botweon tholr nosts. Thero was a ahrlllor noto than usual In tholr discordant clamor. Yot even when she gavo hood to tho birds, the girl failed to realize tholr alarm or to sense the Impending danger. dan-ger. It wns only that a feeling of disquiet dis-quiet hnd brokon tho spoil of her rov-erle; rov-erle; It did not obtrudo upon tho Hold of hor conscious thought. She sighed and' rose to return to tho cleft, Idly wondering that the air should Boom moro sultry than at mid-day. Tho peculiar appearanco of tho sun and tho western sky meant nothing more to her than an odd effect of color and light. Sho smilingly compared it with an nttompt nt a sunset painted by an artist friend of the Impressionist school. Neither Wlnthrope uor Blake was in sight when sho reached tho baobab, and nelthor appeared, though sho delayed de-layed supper until dark. It was quite possible that they had eaten boforo her return and had gono off again, tho Englishman to dozo and Blako on an evening hunt. At last, tired of waiting, sho covered the flro and retired Into her tree-cave. Tho nlr In tho cleft wns still moro stifling than on tho headland. Sho paused, with hor hand upraised to flnon Hin Rwlnulnc door. Sho hnd propped it opon when sho came out in tho morning. After a moment's hesitation, hesi-tation, sho wont on across the hollow, leaving tho door wl'do open. "I will rest a little, nnd closo It lator," she sighed. She wns feeling weary and depressed. An hour passed. An ominous stillness still-ness lay upon tho cleft. Even tho cicadas had hushed their shrill noto. Tho only sound was a muffled reverberating re-verberating echo of the surf roaring upon tho Bcashorc. Beneath tho giant spread of tho baobab all was blackness. black-ness. Something moved in a bush a llttlo way down tho cloft. A crouching figure appeared, dimly outlined in tho starlight. Tho figure crept stealthily across into the donsor night of the baobab. bao-bab. The darkness closed about it ltko a shroud. A blinding flash of light pierced the blackness. The figure halted and crouched .lower, though the flash had gono ngaln in a fraction of a second. A dull rumbling mingled with the ceaseless boom of the surf. A second flash lighted the cleft with "I Know Already I Know All." Its dazzling coruscation. This timo the creeping figure did not halt. Again and ngnin tho forked light-nine light-nine streaked across tho sky. every stroke moro vivid than tho ono before. Tho rumblo of tho distant thunder deepened to a heavy rolling which dominated tho dull roar of tho breakers. break-ers. The storm was coming with tho on-rush of a tornado. Yot tho leaves hung motionless In tho still air, and thero was no sound other than the thunder and tho booming of tho surf. Tho lightning flared, ono stroke upon tho othor, with a brilliancy that lit up tho cavo's Interior brighter than nt mid-day. In the whlto glare tho girl saw Wlnthrope, Wln-thrope, crouched beneath hor upswung door; nnd his face was as the face of a boast. CHAPTER XX. The Hurricane Blast. Kffl 0R 11 moment that seemed swf'bB a moment of otornlty sho lay on her bod afarlng Into the blank darkness. Tho storm burst with a crashing uproar that brought her to her feet with a shrjok. Hor giant tree croaked and strained under tho Impact of tho terrific hurrlcano blasts that camo howling through tho cleft llko a rout of shrieking fiends. Tho penis of thunder merged Into ono continuous roar, beneath which tho solid lodges of rocks jarred and qulv-ored. qulv-ored. Tho sky was a pall of black clouds, meshed with a dazzling network net-work of forkod lightning. Tho girl stood motionless, stunned by tho uproar, appalled by tho blinding glnro of tho thundorbolts; yot oven moro fearful of tho figure which ovory flash showed her still lurking beneath the door. A gust-borno bough struck with numbing forco against hor up-raised up-raised arm. But she took no heed. Sho was unaware of the swirl of rain and sticks and loaves that was driving in through tho open ontrnnco. On n suddon the door shook free from Its props and whirled violently around on its balance-bar. Thero was a shriek that' plorccd above the shrill- ing of tho cyclono a slnglo human shriek. Tho girl sprang across the cave. The heavy door BWlshed up boforo her and down again, its lower odgo all but grazing hor face. For a moment it stopped in a vertical position and hung quivering, llko a beast about to leap upon its proy. Too excited to comprehend tho danger of the net, tho girl sprang forwnrd and shot ono of tho thick bars into Us socket. A flerco gust leaped against tho outer out-er faco of tho door nnd thrust In upon it, striving to burst it bodily from Its bearings. The top nnd tho frca side of tho bottom bowod in. But the branches woro still grcon nnd tough, tho bamboo llko whalobono nnd tho shrunken creepers hold tho framo to-gother to-gother as though tho joints wero lashed with wire rope. Falling to smash In the elastic structuro or to snap tho crossbar it woro aB If tho blast flung itself alternately against tho top and bottom In a flerco attempt to again whirl the frame about. Tho whlto glare streaming in through tho Interstices showed tho girl her opportunity. oppor-tunity. She grasped another bnr and shot it into Its Bocket ns tho lower part of the door gavo back with tho Bhlftlng of tho presBtiro to the top. It wns then a slmplo matter to slide the remaining bars Into tho deep-sunk holes. Within half a mlnuto sho had mado the door fast from tho first bnr to the sixth, A heavy spray was beating In upon her through tho chinks of tho framo-work. framo-work. Sho drew back and sought shelter in a nlcho at tho side. Narrow Nar-row as was tho slit above tho top of tho door, It let In a torrent of wator, which spouted clear across and against tho far wall of the cavo. It gushed down upon her bed nnd was already flooding the cavo floor. She piled higher the cocoanuts stored In her nlcho, nnd perched herself her-self upon the heap to keep above the wator. But eovn In her Bholtered corner cor-ner tho eddying wind showered her with Bpray. She wnded across for hor Bkln-covorcd sunshade, and roturned to huddle beneath It, in tho still mis ery and torror of a hunted animal that has crept wounded into a hole. During tho first hurrlcano thero had been companions to whom sho could look for help nnd comfort, and sho had been to n degree unawaro of tho greatness of tho danger. But in tho fow short weeks since she had caught moro than one glimpse of Primeval Nature sho of tho bloody fang, blind, remorseless, lnsonsnte, destroying, over destroying. True, this wnB on solid land, whilo boforo thero had been tho peril of tho sea. But now tho girl wns alono. Out-Bide Out-Bide tho straining walls of hor refuge, tho hurrlcano yelled and shrloked nnd roared a headless, formless monster, furious to burBt In upon hor, to overthrow over-throw her stanch ojd tree giant, that In his fall his shattered trunk might crush nnd mnnglo hor. Or at any Instant In-stant a thundcr-bolt might rend open tho great towor of living wood, nnd hurl her blackened body into tho pool on the envo floor. Once she fancied that she heard Blako shouting outside tho door; but when she screamed a shrill rosponso, the blnst mocked her with echoing shrieks, and sho dared not venture to froo tho door. If it woro Blnko, ho did not shout ngaln. After a timo sho began to think that tho sound hnd been no moro than a frr-m of tho shifting wind. Yet the thought of him out in tho full fury of tho cyclono served to turn hor thoughts lrom her own danger. Sho prayed aloud for his safety, beseeching God that ho bo spared. Sho sought to pray oon for Wlnthrope. But tho vision of that beastly faco rose up boforo her, and she could not then. Presently sho becamo nwar& of a chango In the storm. Tho terrific gusts blow with yot greater vlolonco, tho thunder crashed heavier, tho lightning light-ning filled tho air with a flnmo of dazzling whlto light. But tho rain no longer gushed across on tho spot whero hor bed Had been. It wns entering en-tering nt a different nnglo, and Its forco was brokon by tho bend In tho thick wall of the ontrnnco. After a timo tho deluge dashed aslant tho entrance, en-trance, gushing down tho door In a cataract of foam. Another Interval, and tho driving downpour no longer struck oven tho odgo of tho opening. Tho wind was veorlng rapidly as tho cyclono contor moved past on ono sldo, Tho nrca of tho hurrlcano was llttlo moro than thrice that of a tornado, and It wns advancing along Its courso at groat Bpood. An hour moro, and tho outermost out-ermost rim of tho huge whirl wns passing ovor tho cleft. Quickly tho hurrlcano gusts fell away to a galo; tho galo becamo a breeze; tho breezo lulled and died away, stifled by tho torrential rain. Within tho baobab all was again dark nnd silent. Utterly oxhaustod, tho girl had sunk back against tho friendly friend-ly wall of tho trco, and fallen asleep. Sho was wakoned by a hoarso call: "Miss Jenny! Miss Jonny, niiBWor mo! Aro you all right?" Sho started up, baroly saying her-Bolf her-Bolf from a fall as tho big unhusked nuts rolled benCath hor foot. Tho morning sunlight was streaming in over hor door. She sprang down ankle- doop Into tho mire of tho cavo floor, and ran to loosen tho bars. Aa the door swung up, ahe darted out, with a cry of dollght: "You aro snfo safol Oh, I wns so afraid for you! But you're dronched! You must build a fire dry yourself at onco!" "Walt," said Blake. "I've got to tell you something." Ho caught her outstretched hands, and pushod them down with gontlu force. Ills face was grave, almost aol- "Think you can stand bad news a shock?" "I What is it? You look so "It's about Wlnthropo something very bad " Sho turned, with a gasp, and hid her faco In hor hands, shuddering with horror nnd loathing. "Oh! oh!" sho cried. "I know al-ready al-ready I know all!" "All?" demanded Blako, staring blankly. "Yes; all! And and ha mado me think it was you!" Sho gasped, and Blako's faco wont white. Ho spoke In a clear, vibrant volco, tonse as an overstrained violin string: "I am speaking nbout Wlnthrope under stand mo? Wlnthropo. He haa been badly hurt." "Tho door swung down and struck him, when ho was creoplng in." "God!" ronrcd Blake. "I picked him up like a sick baby the boast! 'stead of grinding my heel in his face! Godl "Tom! don't don't even speak of It! Tom!" "God! When a holpless girl when a!" Ho choked, besldo hlmsolf with Sho sprang to him, and caught hla sleeve In a convulsive graip. "Hush, for mercy's sako! Tom Blako, romom-bcr romom-bcr you'ro a man!" Ho calmed llko a ferocious dog at tho voico of Kb master; but it was aov-oral aov-oral minutes boforo ho could brine himself to oboy her Insistent urging that ho should return to tho injured "I'll co." ho nt Inst crrnwlnd. iHHH "Wouldn't do It even for you, but he's good ns dead lucky for him!" "Dead!" "Dying. You Btay away." Ha went around tho baobab and a few paces along the cleft to tho placo whero a limp form lay huddled on tho ledges, out of tho mud. Slowly, aa though drawn by the fascination of horror, the girl cropt nfter him. When sho saw tho brokon, storra-boaton thing that had been Wlnthrope, sho stopped, and would havo turned back. After all, as Blake bad aald, he was dying When sho stood nt tho foot of tho writhing flguro, and looked down into the battered faco, it required all hor will-power to keep from fainting. Blnko frowned up at hor for an In-3tnnt, In-3tnnt, but said nothing. Wlnthropo was speaking, feebly and brokenly, yot distinctly: "Really, I did not menn any harm at first you know. But a man doo3 not alwaya havo control "Not a beast like you!" growled "Ow! Don't 'it mo! I say now, I'm dono for! My legs aro cold already" (TO BU CONTINUED.) |
