The evening world. Newspaper, July 14, 1915, Page 19

‘The Eveniag World Siii> Megas A COMPLETE NOVEL EACH WEEK IN THE EVENING KFS = meval His Newest and Best Story URROUGHS: RZAN OF THE APRS,’ (Copyright, the Frank A. Munsey Company.) SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS, apices ¥ She aA ort, eet Hege the ees Ret'al's fontpeists wink "ough thd’ ha’ doen soatched up into the shlese CHAPTER VII. Across the Restless Sea. $8 Nat-ul, eurprised by Tur in her spying upon the village of the Boat Builders, fled north along the beach, she had little hope of perma- nently distancing her pursuer. But he could do no less than flee, hoping against hope that some chance incl- dent might save her from capture, It was in her mind to dodge into the jungle where it came down close to the water a quarter of a mile ahead of her. Here she might elude the man and reach the cliffé that lay a short dis- tance inland, Once there, she had an excellent chance of hiding from him or holding him off with pieces of rock until nightfall. Then she would retrace her steps northward, for it was evident that her people had not travelled in this direction. The jungle was already quite clo: but, on the other hand, the man was gaining upon her, Could she reach the tangled screen in time to elude him before the should be upon her? At least she could do no less than try, Suddenly, from directly above her head, came a loud flapping of great wings. A black shadow ell upon the sand about her. She glanced upward, and the sight that met her eyes froze her brave heart in terror. There, poised just above her, ready to strike with its mighty talons, hovered one of those huge flying reptiles that even in Nat-ul's day were practically ex- tinct—a gigantic pterodactyl. The man behind her screamed a shout of warning. le launched his barbed spear for the great creature, catching it in the fatty portion of the long tail, near the body. With a whistling scream of pain and rage the hideous thing svooped down upon the girl beneath. Nat-ul felt the huge talons close pe, upon her body. The heavy hide that covered her kept them from piercing through to her flesh as the pterod- actyl rose swiftly, bearing her victim with her, For a moment Nat-ul had battled and struggled for freedom, but al- most at once she had realized the futility of her pitiful efforts. In that awful clutch even the cave- bear or the bull bos would have been helpless. Now she hung inert and Mmp, waiting for the end. She could not even draw her stone knife, for one of the great talons was closed tightly over it where it rested in the cord that supported her loin- cloth, Below her she could see the tossing waters, The thing was bearing her far out from shore. ,The great wings flapped noisily above her, The long neck and the hideous head were stretched far forward as the eee flew in a straight line, high in gir, esently the girl saw tand ahead. Terror filled her heart as she re- alized that the thing was bearing her to the mysterious country that lay far out upon the bosom of the Restless Sea. She had dreamed of this strange unattainable country. There were stories among her peo- ple of the awful creatures that dwelt within it. She had sometimes longed to visit it, but always with the brave war- niors of her tribe to protect her, To come thus alone to the teortntng shore, in the clutches of the mos fearsome beast that terrified primeval man, was beyond conception. ‘Her mind was partially stupefied by the enormity of the fate that had ~ overwhelmed her. , Now the great reptile was above the nearest island. A jagged, rocky hill raised its bare summit in a huge index finger that pointed straight into the air far above the surrounding hill- tops and the dense vegetation of the encircling jungle, Toward this the creature bore its Le 4 it hovered above the rocky pin- nacie Nat-ul glanced fearfully down- ward. Directly below her her horri- fled sight fell upon the goal toward which her captor had been winging its rapid way—upon the cruel and Hideous fate that awaited her th Craning their long necks upward from a cuplike nest of mud-matted grasses three young pterodactyls shrilled and hissed in\ anticipatory joy at their returning mother and the food she brought them. Several times the adult circled above the young, dropping lower and lower toward the nest in a diminish- ing spiral. a second she hovered, almost at rest, a few feet above them, Then she loosed her hold upon Nat-ul, dropping her squarely among wide-jawed progeny, and with a final wheel above wees soared away ip search of her own dinner, ‘As Nat-ul touched the nest three sete of sharp-toothed jaws snapped at her simultaneously, The creatures were quite young, but for all that they were formidable antagonists, with’ their many teeth, their sharp talons and their strong tatls. ‘The girl dodged the first assault and drew her knife. Here was no time or place for hys- teria or nerves, Death, unthinkably horrible, was upon her, Her chances of escape were practically nonexist- ent, and yet, so strong is the inetinet of ‘self-preservation, Nat-ul battled ag heroically as though safety de- pended upon a single lucky knife- though she knew it not, 60 it ‘The three heads were close together the three monsters sought greedily to devour the tender morsel brought to them by their parent. Na‘ it, eluded the snapping jaws of @wkward young, and then as the three heads came together in a mad attempt to seize her she plunged her blade into two of the long, scraggy necks. Instantly the wounded creatures set up a chorus of whistling shrieks. is Their minute brains told them only that they had been hurt, and with bestial fury they set upon one an- ho other, each attributing its pain to one of its fellows. I ntly the nest became a mad pic cnige ES wings, tails and hideous jaws. The two that had been wounded set upon each other, and the third, ignoring Nat-ul, fell upon the two contestants with impartial fury, Taking advantage of their distrac- tion the girl clambered quickly over the side of the nest. Below her the sheer side of the lofty pinnacle dropped fearfully downward a hundred feet. Vertical crevices and slight protuberances of harder rock that had withstood the ravages of time and the elements afforded the only means of descent. But death, certain and terrible, lay in the nest. Below there was some hope, however slight. Clinging to the outside of the nest Nat-ul lowered her body until her feet found a precarious foothold upon 4 slightly jutting surface of the spire- like needle. Slowly she lowered her- self, clinging desperately to each crev- ice and outcropping. Time and time again it seemed that she must give up and cling where she was until, exhausted, she toppled to the depths below, Twice she circled the rocky finger in searoh of a new footholg further down, and each time, jen hope seemed hopeless, she had found some meagre thing, once only a@ little rounded roughness, to which her hand or foot could cling a tew inches fur- Neg away from the awful nest above er. And so at last she came to the baso of the granite needle, but even here she could not rest. At any mom the mithty mother might return and snatch her back once more to ‘the horrors of her alimy nest. descent of the lower summit was, in places, but little less hazard- ous than that of the surmounting spire; but finally it was accomplished and Nat-ul found herself in @ broad ravine, densely wooded. Here she lay down upon the grass to rest, for her labors had exhausted her. She knew not what other dan- gers menaced her; but for the mo- ment she was numb to further terror. Pillowing her head upon her arms she fell asleep. About her were the million sounds of the jungle—the lesser animals, the birds, the insects, the swaying branches, They but lulled her to deeper slum- r. The wind blowing up the ravine from the sea fanned her cheek. It moved the soft, luxuriant hair that fell about her shoulders, It soothed and comforted her, but it did not whisper to her of the close- set, wicked eyes that peered out of the trees upon her. It did not w. her of the drooping jaws, the pends lous lower Mp, the hairy breast be- neath which a savage heart beat faster as the little eyes feasted upon her form. It did not tell her that a huge body had slipped from a nie tree and Was coming toward her. It did not tell her—but a broken twig, snapping beneath the foot of the stalker, did. Among the primardial there was no easy transition from sleep to wake- fulness. There could not be for those who would survive. As the twig snapped Nat-ul was upon her feet meee the new danger that menaced er. She saw a great maniike form siinking toward her. She saw the reddish hair that cov- ered the giant body. She saw the pig- eyes and the wolf-fangs—the hulking slouch of the heavy torso upon the short, crooked legs, And seeing, all in one swift glance, she turned and fled up the face of the cliff, down which she had so recently descended. As she clambered swiftly aloft the creature behind her rushed forward in pursuit, and behind him came a half dozen others like him. Nat-ul knew them as the hairy tree people. They differed from the greater ape- folk in that they went always upon two legs when on the ground, and when they were killed and cut up for food they yielded one less rib than their apish prototype. She knew how terrible it was to fall into their hands ~~far worse than the fate that had almost claimed her in the lofty nest, far above, A hundred feet up the cliffside Nat- ul paused to look ck. A dozen yards below her was the hairy one. The girl loosened a bit of rock and hurled it down upon him. He dodged it, and with a shrill scream continued the pursult, Upward she fled for another hun- dred feet. Again she paused to look downward. ‘The tree man was gaining on her. She loosened a bit of quartz and dropped {t upon him, Just below bim were six others, ‘The missile struck her foremost pursuer, He toppled for an instant and then + man. roaring, came his two fellows, shoulder, grippin, tumbled backward upon those behind him. He knocked one from a scan hand hold upon the precipitous cliff, and the two dashed violently down- ward toward the jagged rocks at the bottom. With an exultant taunt upon her lips Nat-ul resumed her upward flight. Now she came to a point near the summit. The hillside was less steep. Here she could go with only occa- sional use of her hands. Halt way up upon & loose, bang — her foot slipped rock, She fell heavily to the clutching for support as she did The few rocks that met her bi gave way beneath her weight. With sickening velocity she hurtled down toward the brink of the per- pendicular cliff face toward mangled, tortured death beside the bodies of the two who had preceded her to the same destruction, Above the brink of the chasm the first of the remaining pursuers was emerging. He was directly in the path of Nat- ule swiftly rolling body. It struck him on his hairy preast, hurling him backward to the precipice—to his death. But his ly had served @ purpose. It had broken the velocity of the girl's fall, so that now she but rolled gently over the edge of the cliff, clutching at the as she By od and thus further diminishing her apeed. Directly below the summit lay a narrow ledge. Upon this Nat-ul came almost to a full stop, but there was nothing there upon which she could gain a hand hold, and so she toppled slowly over the edge—into the arms of another of the man-apes. Close beside him was one of his fel- lows, and a little way below the third who remained of the original six. ‘The nearer clutched at Nat-ul, to drag her from the arms of her captor, who drew back with bared fangs and But the other was menacing growl. insistent. Evidently he desired the prey fully as much as he who had obtained it. He came closer. The ledge upon which they stood was very narrow. A battle there would have meant death for all three. With a catlike leap the creature that held Nat-ul in his arms sprang to one side, turned, and with the strength and agility of a chamois leaped down the steep cliff-face. In his path was the remaining tree- To have met that charge would have meant being catapulted to the bottom of the ravine. Wisely the man-ape sidestepped: peach, but immediately the two had he fell into pursuit of them. There ensued a mad chase that often blanched the cheeks of the al- most fearless cave-girl. From the base of the cliffs the man-ape leaped across the interven- ing jungle toward the trees, To the lower branches of these he took without lessening his speed in the least. He almost flew, so swiftly he passed through the tangled mazes of the primeval forest, Close behind him, eirene! and intent upon robbing him of his pr He carried Nat-ul across ig her firmly with a She could plainly see t pursuers behind them. They were gaining on their burdened fel- w. Already the foremost was reaching out to clutch the girl Her captor shooting a quick glance rearward discovered 6 imminence of the despoilment. ‘heeling sud- denly upon the precarious trail he snapped viciously at the nearer pur- er, who, with bared fangs and ‘owling horribly, retreated out of reach. Then the creature recommenced his flight only to be at once pursued again by his two kinsmen. Up and down the jungle the savage trio raced. Twice they crossed the heights separating one ra’ another, More and more in: came the pursuers. Oftener the captor was forced to halt with his prize and fight off first one of them and then the other. At last, at the edge of the jungle close to the mouth of a narrow, rocky gorge the beast went mad with rage. He wheeled suddenly upon hia pur- suers, hurled Nat-ul heavily to the and charged, roaring and foaming, upon them. They were runnin so quick was the of ve mo’ of their fellow that they had no time to dodge him, His great hands seized them and then all three went to the earth, tear- ing at one another, burying their formidable tusks in throat and breast, and all the while keeping up a terrific growling and roaring. Warily Nat-ul raised he: all fours, Her eyes were fastened upon the three savage paid no attention to her, It was evi- dent that their every faculty was wholly engaged in the life and death struggle upon which they had en- tered, Nat-ul came to her feet and with- out another backward glance fled into the narrow gor} behind her. She ran as swiftly as she could that she might put as great a distance as pos- sible between herself and the horrid beasts that battled for her. Where the gorge led she had no conception. What other horrors lay at its end she could not guess, She only knew that hope had almost left her, for that she ever could regain the main- land she had not the faintest belief. Nor could her people succor her even should they discover her where- abouts, which in itself was equally beyond the pale of Probability. one gigantic hand, elf upon intently They That she could léng survive the it dangers of the mysterious country she doubted, Even a mighty warrior, fully armed, would fare ill in thia Poy terror, What, indeed, was byt aad of a girl armed only with a her she did not doubt; but long ere this the tide had washed the imprints of her sandals from the sandy beach, Where would he search? And even had he followed her spoor before the tide had erased it how could he guess what had befallen her, or interpret ja the sudden ending of her trail in the centre of the beach? The stranger had seen the win: reptile pounce upon her and bear her away; but even if Nu #hould come upon him how could he learn the truth, aii the moment that the two met they would fall upon one another in morta! combat, as was the way of strangers then? Or if by any chance Nu discovered that @he had been carried to the mys- terious country how could he follow, even though he believed, against all reason, that she still ved? No; there seemed no hope arfy- where upon Nat-ul’s horizon, or be- low it. ‘There was, nothing left for her but to battle for survival, pitting her wits and her agility against the brute force and cunning of the brutes that would menace her to the end of her days— the end that could not be far distant. The windings of the gorge as she traversed it downward had shut off the louder sounds of the combat raging behind her, though still she could hear an occasional roar, or shriller scream of pain. She hoped that they would fight until all were dead, Otherwise the survivor would continue the pursuit. As she stopped once to listen that she might know the three were atill engaged in battle she turned her eyes backward up the gorge, so that, for the moment, she fafled to see that she had reached the end of the narrow canyon and that the beach and the sea lay before her, Nor did she see the figure of the! man who came to a sudden stop at the gorge’s mouth his eyes fell upon her, nor the ick movement that took him behind a projecting boulder. Satisfied that she was not as yet being pursued, Nat-ul resumed her way down the rocky trail, As she turned she saw the sea, and, far away, the mainland across the water. She hurried onward toward the at she might re @ point as possible to her beloved country. As she passed the boulder behind which the man hid the scraping of a pebble beneath his sandal attracted her attention. She wheeled toward him and then turned to fly, but he was too close. Already he had leaped for her. One hrawny hand closed in her flowing hair, the other grasped the wrist of the upraised nd in which the long knife of the girl h flashed above him with Incredible swiftness, He laughed in her face—it was the stranger who had pursued her upon the mainland beach—and then he drew her toward him. Nat-ul fought Tike a tigress, and onc she screamed. CHAPTER Vill. Tur. “BUR carried the girl, still | struggling and fighting, to- ward his boat. For the first time he saw the boat that had brought Nu, and won- dered at the presence of another craft. Who could it be? A closer inspec- tion revealed that the boat was one that had just been fashioned by oth- ers of his own tribe. Some of the men must have fol lowed him, Still clasping Nat-ul firmly, as he stood ankle-deep in the water beside his boat, he raised his yvice in a loud halloo, Presently a clattering of falling stones from the cliff facing the beach attracted the attention of Tur and the girl. Already half-way down the figure ~ t of an agile giant was leaping toward them in descent, From hig shoulders fluttered the skin of a cave-lion. From his shock of black hair a single long feather rose straight ai de- fiantly aloft. A aingle glance revealed to Tur the fact that this was no member of his tribe, It was a stranger, and so an enemy. Nat-ul recognized Nu at once, She gave a little cry of delight at sight of him, a cry that was answered by @ shout of encouragement from Nu. Tur threw the girl roughly into the bottom of the bout, holding her there with one hand, though she fought bit- terly to escape, while with his free hand he dragged first his boat and then Nu’s out into deeper water. Handicapped though he was, Tur worked rapidly, for he was at home in the surf and wonderfully proficient in the handling of the cumbersome craft of his tribe even under the most ad- verse conditions, At last he succeeded in shoving Nu's ‘boat into the grip of a receding roller that carried it swiftly away from shore, and at the same time he shoved his own through, leaping into it with his captive. Nat-ul fought her way to her knee; calling aloud to Nu, and striving det perately to throw herself overboard; but Tur held her fast, paddling with TUMBLE TOM— He Climbs Jack’s Beanstalk and Meets the Giant The Austi-a: ‘pushed Tom very leat vi per mission givi hima King’s horses ped pio who tly and Quen Precious jewels were TS, couldn't was tried. Alas, all failed. They ‘brown_beans which he carried, e Tiptop a great cliff the posse saw a light as if some the sun, Surely here ‘was the bandits’ lair and loot, Every way to reach it despaired, whe denly Tom tumbled over a lazy lad stalk made a stout ladder. lake of molteri gold, who spit fire. At |, when sud- and scattered the t of arded by the huge one hand, and when Nu reached the water's edge they were well beyond his reach, So, too, was his own tree-trunk. Between him and Nat-ul the sea Swarmed with carniverous reptiles. ‘om him, The troglodyte scarce hesitated. With a swift movement he threw off ‘his lion skin and discarded his stone ax; then, ed but for a loin-cloth, and armed only with his knife, he dove through the pounding surf into the frightful sea. As Nat-ul witnessed his act she re- doubled her efforts to retard Tur. Crawling to her knees, she threw both arms about her captor's neck, drag- ging him down until he could no longer wield his paddle, ir fought to digengage himself. He did not wish to kill or maim his captive—-she was far too beautiful to destroy or disfigure—he wanted her in all her physical perfection, just as she was. Gradually Nu was them. N overhauling -ul, battling with despera- nm wrench Tur freed his right 4. Nat-ul strove to re gain it, but the great fist rose above her face. ‘With terrific impact it fell upon forehead, All went black before he she released her hold upon Tur and nk to the bottom of the boat un- conscious, Instantly Tur snatched up his pad- die and, leaping to his feet, beat furl- ously at Nu's head and hands, Bravely the man strove to force his way into the boat In the face of this terrific punishment; but it was too severe, and at last, half stugned, he slipped back into the water as Tur drove his paddle once again, and the rude craft forged away toward the mainiand. When Nat-ul regained conscious- ness she found herself lying upon a shaggy auroc! skin beneath a rude shelter of thatch and hide. Her hands and feet were securely bound. with tough bullock sinews. When she struggled to free herself they cut into her soft flesh, hurting cruelly. So she lay still, looking straight up at the funnel-lke peak of the shel- ter’s interior, She knew where @ one of the strange caves of the people she had seen working upon the tree- trunks, for what purpose she now knew. She turned her head toward the entrance, Beyond she saw men and women equattin; bout small fires, eating. It was already dark. Beyond them were other fires, larger fires, oo kept the savage carnivora at ay. Nat-ul watched these people until they withdrew to their shelters. Only two girls were left, whose business it was to keep the fires burning bright- ly. Nat-ul was familiar with this custom, and she knew the utilitarian origin of it. | Women were the least valuable assets of a tribe, They could best be spared in case of a sudden onslaught by some fier beast at night—it was the young men, who soon were to become war- riors, that must be preserved. The death of a single girl would count for little—her purpose would have been served if the screams of her- self and her companion aroused the warriors, Presently the entrance to the shel- ter in which Nat-ul was secured was darkened by the figure of a man—it was Tur, Nat-ul recognized him at once, He strod® across the interior and knelt beside her. “L have kept the women from you,” he said. “Gron would have torn you to pieces, and the others would have helped her, But you need not fear them, Promise me that you will not resist or attempt to escape, and you shall be freed from your bonds per- manently. Otherwise I shall have to tie you up whenever [ am away, and then there is no telling what Gron may do, since you will be defenseless and I not here to keep her from you, What do you say?” “LT say that the moment my hands are freed I shall fight until I kill or am killed,” repliod the girl; “and when my feet are loosed I shall run away as fast as I can.” Tur shrugged his shoulders. “Very well,” he said. “It will profit you nothing unleas you Fed a being always tied in thie uncomfortable position.” He stooped and commenced to work wpon the knots that held her feet and anskles, Outside the shelter something slunk stealthily in the shadows, Tur did not hear the faint scraping sound of the he. creature's wary advance, His back was toward the entrance of the shelter as he knelt low over the hard knots in the bullock sinews. Already he had released the cords that encircled Nat-ul's ankles, and now he was turning his attention to those at her knees, The girl lay quietly, her face toward the lesser darkness which showed through the aperture, She would wait patiently until he had freed her, and then she would i until the man was forced to kif! er. Suddenly she became aware of the darker shadow of a form blotting portion of the dark entranceway, The creature was not | enough to be of the more formidable carnivora, ‘Even as Tom apologized the Beans took toot grew rapidly, For the lazy lad was Jack. His H int, Hal the he came toward! them, twenty leagues at"® st Every instant was carrying her away That Nu already was searching for fr 5 ine, Wednesday, July 14: 1913 WORLD | though it might have been hyena or a wild do now craved, but at the same time @ means of revenging hi tor. quiet while Tur labored over the last knot. Close behind the man crept the al lent prowler of the night. Nat-ul could imagine the bared fangs and the slavering jowis. In another instant there would be @ savage growl as the thing closed with a swift spring upon its prey. Or would it leap past the man upon her unprotected throat? The girl’ eyes were wide in fascinated horror. She shuddered once as in the close presence of death, The last knot loosened beneath Tur'’s fingers, He jerked the cord from about the girs knees with a low exclamation of satisfaction. And then Nat-ul saw the thing behind the man rear itself upon its hind legs, apring, and settle full upon Tur’s bac! There was no savage growl—no sound, The silence of the attack ren- dered it infinitely more horrible than would fal roars and growls that might have proclaimed the nature of the anim: Tur rolled over upon his side to grapple with his antagonist. In an instant they were locked In furious combat. Nat-ul staggered to her feet. Her arms still were pin- joned, but her legs were Here was her opportuntty! Leaping over the two blood mad beasts, she darted from the shelter and plunged into the nearby jungle. CHAPTER IX. To the Stake. lu, the son of Nu, half stunned by the paddle of Tur, still managed to keep afloat until he partially re- gained his senses. Thon, seoing the futility of further attempt to overtake the boat in which Nat-ul was being borne toward the mainland, he struck out for the shore of the Island. For a while he lay upon the hot sand, resting. Then he arose, looking out across the water, Far in the distance he could see a tiny speck approaching the opposite shore. It must be the boat in which Nat-ul had been gar- ried off. Nu marked the spot—in the dis- tance a@ lofty mountain-peak reared its head far inland, Nu bethought himself of the boat that had brought him to the island. ‘He looked out to sea for it, but it was not in sight there, He walked along the beach, Beyond a heap of wa ‘washed boulders he came upon the thing ho saqught. He could have shouted aloud, d was he, There before him lay the boat, and in it was the paddle, He ran forward and pulled it upon the beach; then he hurried back to the spot at which he had discarded his robe and ax, and after regaining them returned to the dugout. A moment more saw him flounder- ing out through the surf. He leaped into the craft, seized the paddle, and struck out for the far-off shore-line. With paddle and ax and stone-knife fought off the ma- rauders of the sea, The journey was marked by a eer- jes of duels and battles that greatly impeded the man’s progress. jut he was not discouraged. He was accustomed to nothing else. It his life, as it was the life of every ture that roamed the Iend or haunted the deeps in those stupen- dously savage days. It wae quite dark when the heavy booming of the surf before him t he was close inshore. me he had seen the fires of the Boat Builders ahead of him, and toward these he had directed his way, Now his boat ran its blunt nose out upon the sand a hundred yards north of the camp. Nu leaped out, leaving the boat where {tt lay. He doubted that he should ever have further use for it, but should he live to return to his people he would lose no time in butiding a similar craft with which he should fill his father’s people with awe and admiration, About the camp of the Boat Bulld- ers, as Nu approached, he discovered the usual cordon of night prowlers that he had naturally expected. Circling until he was down wind from the shelters, he was enabled to reach the jungle without being dis- covered by any of the more ferocious Once he had just eluded a po ous cave-bear that was lum- bering toward the encampment search of prey, and again he almost stumbled against a huge rhinocerus as it lay in the long grasses upon the jungle's outer fringe. But once within the jungle he took to the trees, since among their branches there were fow that he had reason to fear, ‘The panther sometimes climbed to the lower branches, but, though he was a mighty beast by comparison with the panther of the twentieth century, Nu looked upon him with contempt, since he seldom deliberate- lv hunted man and could be put to fight, if not killed, by a well hurled axe. Reptiles constituted the greatest menace to the jungle traveller who o By W. B. M. chose the branches of the trees, for here often lurked enormous snakes in whose giant colis the mightiest bunt- ers were helpless as babes, the rear of the village Nu trav- eled through the trees, leaping in the dark from one huge frond to another, Where the distance was too great to span in @ single leap he came to the ground spring'ag across the inter- vening space with the speed and agility of a deer, At last he came to the edge of the jungle opposite the camp, The fires came close beneath the tree in which he hid. He could see the nd farther in the squatting about their smaller cooking fires, gnawing upon bones or splitting them to ex- tract the marrow, ‘ Nu dropped quickly to the ground and ran for the shadows of the shel- ters, which were placed in a rude chr- cle, facing outward toward the outer circle of fires, with the result that the cireular space they inclosed was in partial shadow, Here Nu threw himself upon his belly in the darkest spot he could find. For\some time he lay motionless, listening and sniffing the air. As noth- ing rewarded his observations at this point, he rose cautiously upon all fours and crept a few feet farther on in the shadows of the shelters. Again he lay down to listen and sniff, For half an hour he pursued his slow way about ‘the inner circle behind the dwellings. The inhabi- tants had retired—all but the girls who tended the fires. At Inet Nu heard low voices com- ing from the interior of a shelter be- hind which he had but just crawled. He lay very quiet with his nose a fow inches from the bottom of the skin-and-thatch hut. Presently there came to his sensitive nostrils the evidence he had been seeking— within was Nat-ut—but there was some one with her, Cautiously Nu crept around to the front of the shelter. Even there it was very dark, for the girls had permitted the fires to die down to a few fitful flames, Op- posite the entrance Nu heard Nat-ul's volce distinctly. He saw the form of a man leaning over her. He went hot with hate and rage. Like a beast of prey he slunk nolse- lessly upon all fours into the shelter directly behind the unsuspecting Tur, ‘Then, without a sound, he rose to his foet and threw himself full upon the ™ back of the stranger. His knife was out and his fighting fangs were bared as the two rolled about the floor of the shelter, strik- getting the better of him, The long knife had not found a vital spot yet, for Tur was an re enced fighter, and so far had able to ward off the more dangerous blows; but he was bleeding from se eral wounds, and his throat breast were laceratea by the othey teeth. In reply to his shouts the village awoke with answering cries. War- riors, bearing their short spears, ran from every shelter, Women and children scampered at their heels. Gron, Tur's mate, was among the first to come, She had re- cognized the voice of her man and had guessed where he might be in trouble, Like an angry tigress she sprang for the shelter in which the beautiful stranger had been confined. Behind her came the warriors, One carried a burning brand from a near- by fire, He flung it into the interior, careless of where It might land, Fortunately for the inmates it fell beyond them, rolling agadnst the fur- ther side of the hut. Instantly the dry fronds of the thatch that had been leaned against the bottom of the skins to fill in the gaps caught fire, and the Inside of the shelter was il- lumined by the sudden glare of flames. Wh the rescuers saw that but a single man opposed their fellow they threw themselves upon the two, and though Nu battled bravely he was presently overcome. The entire hut was now aflame, so that his captors were forced to drag him outside. Here they bound his armas and legs, and then turned their attention to saving the balance of the village from destruction, ‘This they accomplished by pulling down the blazing shelter with their spears and beat out the flames hides, n the excitement of the fight had not for a moment forgotten > ul, and when the brand lighted up the tnterior he had sought for her with his eyes, unsucesstully—Nat-ul had disappeared, He wondered what could have be- come of her, From her position upon the floor of the hut he had been sure that she was seourely bound, otherwise ene would e been fighting tooth and nail against her captor. He looked about him from where he lay before the ruins of the burned shelter. He could see nothing of her; but he saw another woman-—a young woman with good features, but with the expression of a wild beast, Hate, By Eleanor Schorer Tom took: possession of the lake Queen, and their rejoicing was hearty, had not yet the slightest clue to the bandits, Al ing all clasped hands amd vowed to resume their searc! on the morrow: Then Tom tumbled out of Bylow: Jand and-scampered: } off ta school, t Garrison’s Finish | Eee Jealousy, and were every Tine of the Dassion-diet countenance, It was Grom came towa: “Who are you?” she eried. “Lam Nu, the son of Nu,” the man. re you of the same ¥. the woman in whose found my man?" she contin He nodded affirmativety. fs “she was to have been my he said. “Where is she?” For the first time the woman seems ed to realize the absence of the prisoner, She turned toward Tur, “Where is the woman?” she ed. “Where have you hidden woman? No longer shall me from her, This time I out her heart and drink her Tur looked about in “Where is the woman?” he to others of the warriors; but no seemed to know. Immediately a search of the commenced, The warriors ran and thither through the huts the inclosure behind them. iting the outcome of the it became evident that had escaped his heart 1 joy, At last there was no to look, and all the searchers turned—Nat-ul was not in the Gron turned toward Nu. “Your woman has c she shouted; “but you shall her,” and she leaped wu lay t! bound and mee torn hi rior inter! in he swu her, still by brutally to the ground. ur woman away,” he ‘Does man 1 4 a woman's place to interfere with thi doings of men. Then take you am oe y his woman may taught her place. ; ‘Tur selzed upon the unfortunate: Gron and dragged her toward hi shelter, from which, later, heard the sound of a spear-haft . ing upon flesh, and the shrieks i. moans of a womal & Nu was disgusted. A his “i ple women were not trea be 9 looked up at the burly form ae. chief who was standi ver him. a) ‘The chief was gazing on him; but he had as yet 6 to finish him. ‘Who are you?” he at length “IL am Nu, the son of Nu,” the prisoner, From where do you come?” u nodded toward the north. 5 replied, “And should you go tl beater of women, my would fall upon you and kill you Presently, at the chief's coi a couple of warriors dragged Nu a near-by shelter. A placed before the door, for the ul had warned them to ato of Na er_watchfulness. ‘ The long night dragged itself te slow end. Tho sun rose out of the séa. The villagers beatirred selves, and presently Nu could the cooking food. 4 He was very hunery, but they fered pe mat fe single morsel, was thirsty, but none brow; water, and he was too prowl to mye the night had. bee Jong, the the ni ry n 5 seemed an eternity, and ti) knew that darkness was to be @ signal for the commencement of tortures that were to mark hig re ing, he welcomed the first shadows the declining sun. Whatever cruelties they might parts petrate upon him could not last Sooner or later he would Gq and with this slim comfort Nu, son of Nu, waited for the end. 4 The fishers had all returned, The outer ying of fires had kindled, as wéll as the smaller ing fires within. The people aq about on thelr haunches, upon their food like beasts. ree, Then two warriors came to the where Nu lay, They dragged him upon his The lage. and children poked him with sticks, threw stones at him upon him. Nu, the son of Nu, made no. strances. Not by so much as did the expression of utter ence that sat his features like a alter in response to dignities, At last his guard stopped the post, which was now set upright in the ground, They jerked Nu to his feet, bound him securely to the stake, — a circle about him was a ring brushwood, He knew that he be slowly roasted, for the brush nowhere quite close enough for flames to reach him. )* e It would be a slow death, pleasant to the eyes of the especially If the vieum gave of his agonies. But It was far : the Intention of Nu, the son of to afford the Boat Builders this faction, He looked around upon the ring of © eager, savage faces with bored com tempt. a, Nu despised them, not be would kill him, for that he pect from any strangers; but they wore skins of cows and the Ivbored Instead of devoting all time and energies to the cl warfare, “ His meditations were cut short the ceremonies which were going about him. There had been and a certain. primitive chanting; now one of the warriors ligh' brush chat surrounded the the stake, It blazed up! (To, Be Continued.) GOING AWAY FOR SUMMER? Remember The ning World prints each week § complete up-to-date novell —: