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Show . .': - ABp 1 I VH PV VML I 1 ffw J I 1." && S i V SUM iHTBwisiISIMlEDGLMsJjIm. '. S S 1 71'U JOHN BOGARDUS. BIG tjlljf g M 'XI ' how eve, was n phcnomcnoti Hi did no: trouble him so lout; nu o nan it oqtisliuit demand In ex-vxi ex-vxi of tne supply of niarrlngi'utila ftlrls; on tho contrary, while It puzzled t him, lie welcomed It n., making toward the easy enforcement of n strict discipline. dis-cipline. In all matters that nrfected the Internal life of tho stiangp camp, ho was sole urbller beyond ntiy cavil-Hug, cavil-Hug, nnd n mnrtln;!. ', Andrea could hnu' lukeu a reasonably rea-sonably calm Intei est in all the ileliilk that crowded to hr attention durluf 'her rapid prosress Into tho lieurl ff Slniriustui'i yirongliold had it not been for nn incident that revlvlfld ail her fear nnd repuRtinnce tow- 1 tho man and which ocrurrd ni iluj- entered en-tered tho-rlns court. HncCloftfr, sti d-lug d-lug nhend of her, suddenly paused nan his hou'lble face nppnrenilj achieved the Impossible by hum rgolni; n debasing de-basing traiibfoi motion. I Ills cye lind fnlKji on a group of cnnlers, newly nr .ed, anil tho crew I ol his l'reljjht bo-' , The negroes were Ifquattlng In n lrclo on guard, waiting to make delivery to (lielr master of various case j. Some ot them eIdont-ly eIdont-ly cnntaltii 1 cloth, cutlery nnd knlck-kiincks knlck-kiincks dear to tho nutlvo hc.irt. but one, nt least, brazenly proclaimed In deeply burnt stenclllnc Its contents to be fin. It was. on this smnll Mvunre box that MncClostor'n eyes were riveted. riv-eted. Ho turned nnd xpoko to Andrea In un oily tono that for some Inexplicable Inexplica-ble reason frore her blood. It was ns though ho Ji.-.d (.widen!) ti'-sutnetl n new and btrnnuc personality upon which her twelve bouts of brac luter-courso luter-courso with hint had had no occasion In estubltUi Its jrrlp. He became u MR iTS .BBBBBFr-k' vftidBBlBBBBBfll "Come With M, My Oear," Wat All He Said. striint,rer within a slrniiger mid hope-legaly hope-legaly Inaccessible. "Come wllh tne, my dear," wns all he said. Hae followed him Hlowl.r, mii unaccustomed unac-customed weakness In her knees, lie entered the monster culn and waited for her. For .tome moments the gloom was Impenetrable to her eye but us their pupils diluted sho began to discover dis-cover shadows within the .shadow until she was able to make nut the entlru gt-hciiie of Interior iirrungeuu'nt. The ground lloor, with the exception of nn open .space around the trunk of the tree, was devoted to n scries of vast sleepln; rooms Into which, she gathered gath-ered ftom a muttered phrasu of Mac-Clnslcr's, Mac-Clnslcr's, were herded nightly all the girls of marriageable age. accompanied accompa-nied by a few of those old lmirldnns who In certain tribes act ns govern-esf.es govern-esf.es with the qualification thai It Is their duty to Instill nil tho knowledge which Urn iiitntorrt of the young of civilized peoples' ore supposed to with hold. Around the trunk of tbo tree, which was twelve feet or more In diameter, n rough spiral stairway hnd been constructed con-structed to glc access to it platform which wns built on and around I he lualn Intersection of wide-spreading limbs. This platform wns Inclosed tied lighted by oil lamps. A glance - thin told her that It was tho abode i Mar Cloitcr himself, the well-nigh uipregnnblo center of tho spider's web. from every side of It extended the itnrily limbs of the tre and up each 1 of them climbed n i.es of projecting clents which serve s ladders lo reach n Mil system i iiniilicr platforms linllt wheievci the nmurnl disposition of the hrnncl" afforded ndcqtinte nuji-jiort. nuji-jiort. These Icsor rooms were ued ns torelmics for mcrdinudlse, pro-l&loris pro-l&loris nnd Ivory; nnd n few of them, near ti a very top ot ilie tree, were titled out n guest ehutobors especially adnptl'd to the nfo I.eeptnR of doubtful doubt-ful strangers as nisi) for the effective li'dlng of chattel, human nnd "other-. "other-. Ie, w liiclt'for one rcavon or another MatCloster desired to keep out of slrbt. I Into one of the latter Andrea was Anally ushered, breathless from her climb. On lis tloor was n fresh grass mat' n i lean blanket, u cla) pot of drinking water with a dlpjxr made out of n coconut shell nnd a square box Idled with nnd, evidently Intended for I tho bed of it cooking-lire. The onl) , light came from n cotton wick laid In nn open vessel filled with oil from the rnstor beau. "There )ou are, Slisie," said Mac-Closter, Mac-Closter, In his new oily oIce, "everything "every-thing you can possibly need and whenever when-ever you want to go out, nil on have to do lb to climb down nnd go through my room. You won't lmie to do jour own cooking for n day or two; I'll hetid )our t-colf up." Andrea's, heart male to depths-thai It had neor ten chert before; her lower Up trembled and drew down at the corners. "Now, don't look xo glum," said Mac-Closter, Mac-Closter, leering at her. "Just remember remem-ber that you couldn't be afcr In h 1 than you are heiel" II u turned nnd left her with n laugh nt his own jol.e. Tho measured "Hal IIuI Ha! Uif! Ha' Unl" reverberated reverberat-ed through the Interminable mazes of tlio entombed tree. More than ever It boomed the mocking luugh of thirty voltes, chanting In unison. She threw herself full length, face-down, on the grass mat and covered her cars with her hmioSj Presently bodily exhaustion exhaus-tion came to her aid nnd file mercifully merci-fully slept. Hours later she awoko to a fcelln? thnt she had been definitely summoned by her subconscious self to face tiu Imminent Im-minent danger. Night had fallen nnd Its pence hud settled on the crnnl lit general, but there was no peace In the great culn. Out of MacCloster's room nro-jo tluough the whispering stillness ,u series of monstrous sounds, mon-trouRly mon-trouRly magnified gurgling, rumbling curses, muttering, the occasional crash of tt shattered empty bottle. Tbeu came a silence more ominous than tho noises, for It was alive, a creeping thing with tentacles thnt seemed to be writhing up the limbs of (he tree. It Ailed Audroa with a premonition nnd brought her a. despratn- courage. She-took off her'Hlgu-beeled slippers And climbed down several runes of the ladder .that led to her platform; then seating la-tself nnd getting a good kuee-grlp on the limb, she leaned down nnd gradually "worked loose the cleat below- her. After that Ue took the next above nnd then tho next, depositing each cleat as she removed It In her room. Ho s'oouer had fche ttuUhed. lea y lug i herself', cut off from eay ttccesn to tito outsldq world but In compensation having established a ubxtantlal ot-Ktaelo ot-Ktaelo to sudden assault from below, than die was awaru of the whispering, wheezy sound of heavy breathing. Immediately Im-mediately afterward came to her distended dis-tended nostrils nn overpoweilng odor of gin, imuseatlngly sweet aud our nt the snuie time. She looked down Into the shadowy gloom and saw MacClos-ter'rt MacClos-ter'rt bu)k moving slowly upwurd, rung by rung-, each movement ns deliberate and repulsive ns thnt of a giant sloth, dripping one of the loosened cleats In her right hand, she knelt on the edge of tbo plntforui and watched breathlessly his progress. When he enmn to the lirenk In the ladder his hairy puws groped helplessly for n mo-ment mo-ment only; then they embraced tho tree-trunk and he begun to swarm up the easy slant. "Waiting up for me, dearlo?" ho whispered. Andrea supprcbsed nn Instinctive I Impulse to lly beforo his advance, all tho more terrlfjlng becatiso It was so deliberate. Her fnco went white, her eyes narrowed, hut her lips set In a straight line as she waited, trying her best to quiet her excited breathing lest It betray her pitiful agitation. Sho measured the dlstnnco between the edge of the platform and those slowly sliding liHiirts. Only when they got no close that sho could seo the mist of Quo yellow hnlr on them did sho strike llrst ut one and then nt the other, aud not wllh tho edge of tho cleat, but with the threo Jagged nails thnt protruded pro-truded from Its lint side. With u bellow ot rage MueCloster snatched buck his pierced hands, trusting trust-ing to tho grip of his knees. Andrea clutched the cleat tightly, ltaned for- l Mm I viL Struck Him Across the Side of the , Head Wllh All Her Strennth. ward and struck him ncross tho side of the head with nil her strength. Ho lost his bnlnucif and fell. She heard his body cm-dilng from limit to limb until It landed with n terrific thud on some platform far below. Up from thu depths came a liquid stream of curses; ho could no lunger bellow, he wa whining with the rage thuC means I'kv. kill. -V Andrea sank back and cowered In the corner of her hovel. She wn-t through; that last blow had drained her of nil energy and ounige, she waa no longer conscious of a desire to live. Her head rang with Incredible sounds. Hnlluclnntlon tortured her nnd even brought to her loi!-tns cars the fnr-4 tm-n' 1"" i -f T-o-ovN airplane motor. So vivid was her Imagination thnt tho hum grew louder and louder, ns It would have done In leallty, aud finally, attained n staccato roar. She smiled wistfully, her fnco Illumined by all thit; love of (lie White Man which she had hidden under u nintk of flippancy but width, now- that hope was dead, pro-" tl.tlmed Itnclf finnkly and sceiiied to bo trjlng to took her to comfort nud oblivion. I Suddenly it lonlfic ripping crash nbo her bend lore through her numbed numb-ed n-nes and brought her staggering to her feet. Tho whole monster slrtte-luio slrtte-luio of tbo en In swayed and bent ns though It had been struck by a tornado. torna-do. Strong limbs creaked and cracked with reports like pistol shots and n bhower of leaves fell with a fnlut tllck-ellcklng that --mild be distinctly heard us If through the lute: slices of the general and grosser commotion. The roaring of lhj ulrplnno that bo had thought an hallucination suddenly censed. Presently smoke, pearl-gray, began to seep thiough the thatch of the roof. Andrea enmc fully to her senses and called In a clear, high voice: "I'm her. Whlto Mau; I'm here. White Man." She repeated the cry steadily at short Intervals until lit: shouted an answer. Following the sound ot bis voice, her eyes caught tbo'glenm of his huntlntr knife, havkliiK a way through the thatch and when, -"finally, his feet were thrust through the opening, she selted abd guided them toVfftUiofd.'- Jn another an-other yecoud he was standing before her. Even In the'dlm light sho could see that his fncu wns blackened, hi eyebrows, eyelashes and mustache entirely en-tirely Kinged, his hair burnt off tn patches. "Oh White Man!" she gasped, throwing out both hands toward to-ward him, "Drop It," said Trevor shortly. ' "Which way to the ground?" Sho showed him. lie slid down tho branch until he struck the first cleat, und waited there to catch her. "Oouie on, now," ho said. "In thirty secondx' whoevor's left In this hell-hole will be baked." From below them and outside the caln came the ulululng of a thousand panic-stricken voices, overlain but not dominated by the bellowing of MueCloster. Mue-Closter. Issuing drunken nnd impossl- . ble orders intermingled with horrible and obsceno ontl-s. As Trevor nnd Andrea An-drea reached tbe platform nt the main Intel-section of the tree's branches the pnll ot smoke that had been following close on their heels descended with a hwlrl and enveloped them. 11(5 turned, -might tip her wlclrt and threw It over her head; then ho seized her In his aims, burled his face against her breast nnd sluggercd blindly down the Bplrnlstalrwu) (To Bo Continued) f |
