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Seg te oe Tarzan’s Creator Writes a New ¢ Romance of the African Jungle ‘ By Edgar Rice B urroughs (Author of “Tarmn of the Seurright, 1916, by Pree Publishing Co, (New - Mid a Sis Wenays © © Wopsis o~ { . bee PRS with ver ding ceri father dn-law ps 0 beat INSTALMENTS, fg.” Virginie grog. 10 hood, fertanes Soot’ taslon, dite nga ot dgotamtaton to elale Mer ake, "No wt Taylor nis ty a pot 5 Feat, img CaS former ‘chem a No" elt Te rente were Nertiticate tt writes to. het hur: can ica io poarch of "aylor hire nn Virginia also gore ap Fes Se cenlaanrion man-eating lien Hon exhihita genuine gratitude for the act of aia ‘Gordon. SOR Sot cad gate aca “ea CHAPTER VII. (Continued. T the coast they found that they would have to walt a week for a steam and “having cabled Mrs. Scott that Virginia was anfe un- der his care, Gordon felt at liberty to rejoice that they had made rea- fonably good connections. It might have been worse—chance might have Drought them to the coast only a day ahead of a steamer. Gordon, unspoiled by wealth and at- tentions and scheming mammas, lacked sufficient egotism to think that ‘wminia Scott might be attracted to «, he was to her. There had been other girls who he had known de- sired tm, but these he had not cared for. Very soon after he had mot Vir- #inta he had realized that here at last, in the wilds of Africa, he had found the one girl, the only girl, and straightaway he had set her upon a 4 Pedestal and worshipped silently froth afar. To think that this deity might stoop to love a mortal did not occur to him, and, strange to say, he was content to love her without declaring his “Tove— but that was while he had her afone and all to himself. How it would be when she was returned to the haunts of other eligible men did not occur to him. Very adroltly—at least he thought It was adroitly accomplished—he dis- covered from her own lips that she Was not engaged, and thereafter his bliss knew no bounds. It had been @iMeult for Virginia to repress a smile during the ponderous strategy with ~which he manoeuvred the informa- tion from her, and also {t had been het first intimation that Rich- “ara Gordon might care for her. It troubled her, too, not a little, for Vir- ginia Scott was not a young lady to throw her heart lightly into the keep- eying of the first good looking young man who coveted it. That she lHked Gordon immensely she would have readily admitted; but she had given Po thought to a deeper Interest nor but for the suggestion the young saan ttunderingly put into her head might such a thought have occurred to her— at least not so soon, But the idea, implanted, became food for considerable speculation, with the result that she now often dis- oovered herself appraising Gordon in & most critical manner, limousine, and I wi that I liked the uphoistery—which I ; but there's something wrong with tt sparking, device,” and Virginia laughed softly to herself. “What's the joke?” asked Gordon, sitting beside her on the hotel ver- ‘Oh, nothing—just thinking,” re- ivel: but she a guilty flush, and aa she did so her eyes alighted upon the head of a long column marching {nto the town. . look!" exclaimed, glad of etext to change the line of ‘Who do you suppose i. van Gordon looked in the direction she fndicated, rose and walked to the end of the veranda, and then called back over his shoulder: “They're the collectors. I wonder if they got their man-eater.” Virginia was at his side now, and at her suggestion the two walked down the street to meet the incoming caravan. The collectors were delight- ed to see them again, and in response to Gordon's inquiry pointed to @ atout © in the middle of the long line. “At nere he {s," sald one of them, 4 he’s a devil.” raoten and the girl dropped back to have a look at the latest capture, finding a huge, black-maned lion erouching in the narrow eonfines of his' prison, His yellow eyes glared halefully out upon them; his tall d restiessly in angry jerks, and his bristling muzzle was Wrinkled in- + to @ perpetual snarl that bared long, ugly looking fangs. . “as ‘ite does look like a devil, doesn't ~ het” remarked Gordon, ‘A crowd was gathering about the oage now, and as one approached more closely than his mafeaty thought proper he leaped to his feet and dashed madly against the bars, roar- ing loudly’ and clawing viciously in attempt to reach the presumpjuous nortal-—who shrank back in terror, mpch to the amusement of the other olookers, Vhat a beauty!” exclaimed Vir- sinia. Gordon was looking very closely at she Yon, and instead of replying smoved forward nearer the cage. The lion growled savagely, hurling him- ‘Kelf against the bars, and then Gor- don stepped quite close to bim., The yeast stopped suddenly and ©, d the maan in silence, A look, almost of htiman recognition, changed the ex- pre ion of his fi He growled, but no longer ‘owl of friendly wreeting ould have sworn “T thought as much,” said the man, “turning toward Virginian and oe of the collectors at his back, “See that scar on the Inside of that * forearm there’ he asked. Thebolicctor nodded “This is the fellow I liberated from Ape,” “The 't bank too strongly on his gratitude if I were you,” warned the collector. ‘o, 1 don’t intend to,” laughed Gordon. Two days later Virginia Scott and Richard Gordon took passage upon &@ northbound steamer, and among the other passengers and cargo were the collectors afid their wild beasts. For #overal days after receiving his wound Taylor was down with fever; ‘Te but the moment he coyld travel he and Kelly set off on their return to the coast, the former bent now upon carrying his felonious designs to a successful conclusion even if he had to rob and murder Gordon in the heart of New York. The man was desperate. His expedition had cost him all the money that he could beg. borrow or steal, He owed Kelly not alone the promised reward but sev- eral hundred dollars in cash that the latter had advanced toward the financing of the work. He must have; money—he must have a lot of it—and he’ was determined to get it. Never | in his life had Scott Taylor been so | dangerous an enemy, and in this state | of mind he and Kelly caught the steamer following that upon which Virginia and Gordon had sailed, Gordon whiled away the hours of| the voyage, when he could not be | Virginia’s company, before the cage of the great lion. No one else could approach the beast, with the possible | exception of Virginia Scott, whom the! animal seemed to tole: long Gordon was near, Toward all others | the tawney man-eater evinced the most frightful rage; but when Gor- don approached he became docile as a kitten, permitting the American to reach inside the bars and acratch his! massive, wrinkled face. | At Liverpool Gordon bade farewell | to his savage, jungle friend, for ha} and Virginia were to take t liner | tor New York, the collectors following | upon a slower vesse “Good-by, old man,” said Gordon tn} parting, stroking the mighty muzzle. | “The chances are we'll never see each other again; but [ll never forget you —especially I most vividly recail | you as you #ood over me there in the jungle debating the qustion of your savage jungle ethics, while grat- | itude and appetite battled within your | breast—and see that you don’t forget me; though you will, of course, within @ month.’ . The lion rumbled in his throat and rubbed his head luxuriously against the bars as close to the man as he could’ get, and thus Gordon left hfm. Within a few days the huge beast | was sold to a travelling American} circus, where he was presently ex- hibited to wondering crowds, “Ben,| King of Beasts, the Man-eating Lion} from the Wilds of Central Africa.” | He roared and ramped and struggled for liberty for days, but at last he! seemed to realize the futility of his efforts, and subsided into a sullen quiet which rendered his keepers even more apprehensive than had his open rebellion, some ‘un yet. these forest bred critters alike, only Ben he's worse, ‘ip CHAPTER VIII. RS, SCOTT had met Virginia and Gordon at the dock, where, in the excitement and rejoicing of the reunion of the mother and daughter, the manila envelope and {ts contents were forgotten until after Gordon had seen the two safely aboard their train for home, Before parting with him both had they're all urged that he visit them at an early {! date, and gladly indeed had Gordon Promised to do #0. It was not until their train had pulled out of the sta- tion that Virginia recalled the paper for which Gordon had made the long journey and risked his life, “He must have forgotten it, too,” sho said; “but ho'll probably discover it and mall it to you to-day.” Mr. Richard Gordon did not, how- ever, discover the manila envelope for many days thereafter. It had crossed the Atlantic in one of his bags in the special care of the loyal Murphy, and that gentleman had re- moved it, with other papers, as was his of m, to @ certain drawer in Gordon's desk where “unfinished busi- ness” reposed, awaiting the leisurely pleasure of Mr. Gordon. But that young gentleman found gee his arrival in New York a matter of far greater interest than unan- swered letters and unpaid bills. It was an urgent demand from an old school friend that he accompany the former a motoring into Canada on a fishing expedition, He had met this friend in the grill at one of his clubs the day he landed in New York, and fifteen minutes later had promised to leave with him early the following morning. Mrs, Scott and Virginia walted a reasonable time, and then, hearing nothing from Gordon, the girl wrote him, and as fate would have it her letter reached New York the very day that witnessed the return of T@@lor and Kelly, and the latter, sent s~ certain the whereabouts’ of G preceded the postman into the t- ment bullding where Gordon's ‘h- elor home was located by a few paces. Turning to see who was bebind him, Kelly }ad an inspiration born of former practice and long years of taking anything that he could get his hands on, provided it belonged to another, “If there's anything for my friend Gordon,” he said to the mall carrier, “I'll save you a trip up as I'm going up to see him now,”” Unsuspicious, the carrier shuffled off a half dozen pieces of mail matter and handed them to Kelly, who re- sumed his way to the elevator, stuffed the letters in his pocket and a moment later rang the bell at Gor- don's door, Murphy answered the summons and, thanks to a slight dis- guise, failed to recognize the card sharp of the trip out. “No, sir; Mr, Gordon ts not In," he replied to Kelly's inquiry, “He has gone out of town for a couple of weeks, What name, sir? "Oh, he doesn't know me," replied Kelly, “I'll call again after he comes home. It's Just a little business mat- ter," and he turned and departed, Back in the flat on West One Hun- dred and Forty-fiftth Street Kelly handed the mail to Taylor, One by one the envelopes were steamed open and the contents read, Only the letter from Virginia was of interest or val: to the conspirators. “He's atill got the er," announced Taylor when he hi nished reading Virginia's note, “and he'll go down there with it. That’s the place to got him &nd the paper at the same time, I know the lay of the land there. We'll duck for Scottsville and lay for Mr. Butinskt Gordon. Seal up these letters, Kelly, and get ‘em into Gor- don’; ail box.” Two weeks later Dick Gordon sat once more before his desk in hii lated correspondence in the “unfin- ished business” drawer at his right hand, “Well, I'll be—what do you kno e@bout that?” he exclaimed, as he Virginia's letter, and then he rum maged through the mass of enve- lopes before him, drawing a great sigh of relief as hfs search finally uncovered the long manila envelope, “Hey, Murphy!” he oalled. “Ring up and find out when the first train through Scottsville, Virginia, lenves,” The following y he alighted the station of th leepy little town, engaged a negro M2 rive him to Thi Oaks, and was pfesently making h dusty way in the direction of ti stately Scott homestead, Two minutes after he had driven off Kelly rushed breathlessly into the Ddarroom of the tavern where Taylor was engaged in a game of cards with @ marooned travelling man. Leaning close to Taylors ear Kelly whispered: “He's come!” “where is he?” asked Taylor. “Driven off toward The Oaks.” re- plied Kelly, right—he'll keep ‘till night,” and Taylor resumed the pleasurable task of separating the travelling man from his expense money. At The Oaks Gordon discovered that Mrs. Scott and Virginia were visiting friends at a nearby town. “Dey'll be back to-morrer, Mistah Gordon,” said the old colored butler; “an Ah knows dey'll be mighty pro- lashus to #ee you-all, Dey’s been expectin’ yo foh a right smaht time. Yo come right along of me, an’ I'll show yo yore room—yo mos’ cuttiny gotter stay tell Mies Ruth an’ Miss ‘Ginta retuhna.” “It's mighty good of you,”. sald Gordon, “and T'll do it, Let me see, you are Washington, are you not? I've heard Miss Virginia speak of ou.” é “Yassah, I'm Washington Scott, enh,” replied the old fellow, beaming with pride and pleasure to learn that he had been the subject of ‘quality's’ conversation, “Yassah, Marssa Jeffer- son Scott's great gran’ daddy bought My great gran’ daddy "bout fouah hundred yeahs ago an’ we ben in de fambly eber since, Ah ben de Gen’l body servant evah sence Ah ben a I'le shaver.” “Your people have sure heer with the Scotts for some time, Washing- ton," commented Gordon, with a smile, as he followed the old man up the grand staircase to the second floor, Gardon’s room lay at the far end of a long hall, overlooking the roof of the veranda and a pleasant, wooded lawn at the side of the house, The young man passed the balance of the day wandering about the grounds, chatting with the negroes, amd longing for the coming of the marrow that would bring Virginia Septt, In the evening he sat upon a settee beneath @ tree om the front ‘ it prowl lawn, smoking and listening to the banjos and the singing of the fegroes in their quarters down the road, Bordering the fence grew thick shrubbery which hid the road, as it also hid from his eyes the two silent figures that crept stealthily in its shadow. As they watched him Gordon arose, tossed his cigar aside and turned to- ward the house. From across the bottom lands two miles away came faintly the rumble of @ train. Sud- denly a shrill whistle from an engine screamed through the quiet night, almost immediately afterward fol- lowed by a dull, booming sound that seemed to shake the earth. Gordon paused and listened, “Lf that wasn't a wreck,” he mused, It at least sounded mightily like it, but it probably wasn’t at that. Noises always seem exaggerated at night.” For a moment Gordon atood listen- ing, then he turned toward the house again, entered it and ascended to his room. The two figures in tho shrubbery circled the grounds unti! they reached a point where they could see his windows. There they waited until a light appearing proclaimed that Gordon had gone to his room. joaf around until bh whispered one of t Fifteen minutes later the light in Gordon's chamber was extinguished. “He's turned in,” whispered the other prowler. "We'll stick for a qoutes of an hour longer,” aaid the first, “an’ give ‘him @ chance to get to aleep.” For a while both were silent. The quiet of the soft summef night was broken only by the cicadas, the sub- dued croaking of froge tn the bottoms and strains of Gouthern melody from the negro quarters, “Don't them coons never bed?” growled Kelley querulously. Taylor made no response, He was fidgeting uneasily. leo wished the Job well over, Time and again he fin. gered the automatic in the side pocket of his coat. Once he drew the weapon out and for the dozenth time that day removed the cartridge clip and counted the shells. and one in the chamber, mented. “That's ten—oh!"—— The clip had slipped from his nervous fin- gers and fallen to the ground. Has- tly he snatched it up and slipped it back into the grip of the weapon, “Come on!" he whispered to Kelly, “We'll aneak in up to his door and Msten there—this waitin’ gets my goat.” and the to “Mine, too,” said Kelly, two slunk from tree to tree until they were well in the shadows of the house, Then they circled to the veranda steps, mounted and paused beside the FF the library. He was about to enter when @ tele- phone bell broke t! silence of the interior with a clanging, bursting upon th brazen le ¢ all the terrifio volume of a pounding fire Fons. The two men drew back hurriedly, slink! into the deeper shadows at the of the porch and crouching behind # swinging porch seat. Presently @ shone in the li- brary—waveri! at fret, and then brighter and steadier as the old but- Jer entered with @ lamp and set it upon the table. The telephone bell was still ringing intermittently. Tay- jor and Kelley strained their ears to catch his words, but could not. He was talking to Virginia Soott. “We decided to come to-n' ht instead of to-morrow,” she said. “There was a wreck about half a mile from the station whioh delayed we had to walk in from where the accident oo-' curred, Send Jackson to town with the machine for us at once.” “Yes, Mise Ponty Ah send him punctiliously,” replied the old man. A monMnt later he was routing Jackson out of bed and posting him Taylor and Kelly off to the voege remained in hid! ng waited out upon had een the car turn into the pike and disappear in the direction of Scotteville, Then he turned slowly to pooper Semeirs his returning mis- i the iorary Mantes ona oe leaving fs y the moon bes now streamed a oilver @haft though the doore and windows. i When they were gure that. gone Taylor and Kelly crept ‘.rom Ben, objected strenuously to being loaded upon flat car. Although the process con- sioted merely of rolling his wheeled cage Up objected nevertheless, as to every change of location which neceasitated the clower proximity of od man, and the disturbing of his royal reveries. But loaded he waa, the hateful jolting and poundt: ot the rumbling in, the ec: ot whistles, the grinding of brakes and all the other noises of a switching circus train in @ railroad yard, It neomed an eternity before t long train pulled out of the villa; and the nerve racking discords ga’ lace to the shythmic rumble of the open right of way, which finally lulled the irritable beast to slumber—a slumber that was rudely awakened by piercing shriek of the en whistle, followed almost immediately by rific crash. and the pounding The Days When “PREPAREDNESS” Saved Our Country Are Stirringly Described in When Liberty Was Born By Albert Payson Terhune This will be next week's complete novel in The Evening World, It is a romance of love and patriotism that every true American should read. of the derailed flat over the ties for @ bundred yards until at last it toppled into the ditch, hurling its cargo of terrified beasta through a barbed wire fence into @ field beyond. Ben's oage rolled over and over, one end of the top enapping @ telegraph pole short off a few feet above the round, After it had comes to rest Seyond tangled wire . the de- molished fence the ton lay half daz: for several minutes, Then he rose gingerly, as though expecting to dis- cover that all his bones had been broken. He @hook his giant head and rumbled out @ low roar, His cage was lying on its side. What was that? Ben cocked his head upon ono wide and gazed incredulously at @ gaping rent in front of him. The roof had been torn away by impact with the telegraph pole—there was a great hole, bariess, through which two iione might have walked abreast, Ben approached the opening and looked out. Hefore him stretched an open meadowland, He ed bis ngee and sniffed. A littie tremor of Joy ran through be great frame. For @n instant he #tood there, lis- tening, He heard the shouts of ap. Proaching men mingled with e@creams and roars of terrified about him, lightly he sprang through the opening in the brokea Men were run- the open was too much for him, tong, easy bounds he loped away the meadowland. A shallow to his primev: It Md him effectually from sight of the men now crowding about the derailed flat, Dropping tnto a ewinging him was the scent spoor of He licked hie chops and whine: barbed wire fence presently barred his way. This wae something now! Ho eniffed inquiringly at it; then he curled his Mpa dimiainfully at ty puny strands that the foolish men- creatures had thought to imprison him with, for he believed that thie was a new sort of cage conatructed plalky to hold him, fo raised a mighty forepaw and smote It, The sharp barbs pierced hia flesh, eliciting an angry growl, He raised hia eyes to measure the height of the barrier, It was low, pitifully low, Still growling, Ben beunded over it. The wind now brought down to his nostrils the strong acent of sheep and cows and swine, filling him with lust for the hot bloo#, the dripping flesh of the warm, new kill. Further on a Virginia rail fence loomed before him, He took it with- out @ pause and an Instant later stood in the dust of a white turnpike, Across the road was a hedge and from beyond the hedge came the mingled odors of man and herbivora, lion lowered his head and walked through the hedge. He found himself upon a well kept lawn, dotted here and there with shrubs and trees, At the far side of iS lawn rose a large white structure, sleaming in the moonlight Mafestically the impertal beast moved across the close cropped sward —a golden lion upon a velvet rug of areen A settee lay in his path. It was |something new, and all new things jwere to be investigated, He sniffed at it, and on the Instant his whole mannar changed. A nervous tremor of excitement ran through his supple body, Hin tall twitched and trembled, \ His eyes glowed brighter, A low whine broke from his savage lips, Down went his nose to the grass. The spoor Was fresh and plain--it Was the apoor of his one-man friend. Ben followed it across the lawn to the foot of the veranda steps. Hore he paused, looking dublousiy up at the man-made structure, It might be another trap bujit for his captur but no, the man-friend was ther and it must be safe, ‘Phe. lion mounted the ateps, still sniffing wit. lowered nose, Upon the veranda @ new spoor lay fresher over that of the other—a spoor that set his tall to lashing angrily and put a hideous light into his yellow eyes wicked and .implacable now. The scent led through open doors into the interior, The beast thrust h head within and surveyed the room. W Ile saw no one, but plainly he caught the scent of those whose scent he first had learned where it mingled with the blood of his alain mate. Treading softly, he entered he room, the thick rug beneath padde feot giving forth no sound. In the contre of the library he halted. A flood of moonlight ring through the open doorway fell full upon him, revealing him in all his majesty of sav trongth and alertness. For all be moved now he might have been a mounted specimen stand- ing there upon the Oriental rug be- neath his feet, for he was lstening. Aa miget sound had come to thone sensitive ears from out of the dark- ness of the music room. His yellow eyes bored straight ahead through ‘the open doorway before him. Taylor, hearing no further sounds '*: from al whispered to Kelly to follow him. Cautiously he moved toward doorway leading into the library at the foot of the stairs. As h out bis eyes suddenly went ls lower jaw fell, hie knees for, atanding motionless in the library, he saw a For an inetant the man was paral- yeed with terror; and then the lion, giving voice to a single quick, short growl, charged. Taylor dodged back into the music room, too terrified to scream. Directly behind him was Kelly, In his mad panto of fear Tay- lor hurled his accomplice backward to the floor, Then he scrambled be- neath « grand plano Just as the tion leaped into the room, The fret object that the beast’s eyes encountered was the prostrate form of Kelly. The man was scrambling to his feet when he saw the animal, but he never reached th From beneath the piano Taylor saw the Hon spring upon the doomed Kelly. For an instant the beast's tention was occupied, and Taylor took the slender advantage that was his to ecurry from the room and race madly up the staircase to the second floor. He ran etraight for the closed door at the far end o1 the hall, the door leading into Richard Gordon's room. He had scarce reached it when the Non, abandoning the grisly thing upon the musto room floor, bounded from the room and up the stairway in pursut., strange sounds that filtered upward from the first floor to his room upon the third, Seizing his lamp he made hie way slowly downward upon his olf and shaky legs. He was in the act of turning the knob of the door at the foot of the stairway that opened into the second floor balcony when he heard footsteps rushing fran- tically past, Cautiously he opened the door and peered out in time to see a man dodge Into Gordon's room and close the door. So quickty had the figure ppeared that the old butler had not recognized the intruder, but he was eure that it was not Mr. Gordon. He would tn- veatign' Stumping laboriously into the hall, he turned in the dtrection of Gordon's room. He was just opposite the old fashioned wardrobe built into the wall near Gordon's door when the rush of strange footfalla ascending CHAPTER IX. ASHINGTON SCOTT, in the act of dreasing for the re- the stairway at the opposite end of the hall caused Bim to turn bis eyes in that direction. “Gord a'mighty!” ghrieked the ot man, as his eyes fel upon the hideous visage of the wide jawed carnivere. Tt was too late to retreat to the rway down which Be just had 0, He had heard the feck turn in Gorten'’s door, There was only the old fashco "ed cupboard in the wall beside him. Not m fifty years had Washington Soot moved with euch calerity as he evinced in the next quarter second. With a wrench he tore the door open—like a youthful hurdier he vaulted into the dark closet, slamming the door to after Mim. Within was @ crash of broken flooring and then silence, The lion rushed past the old man's hiding place without even pausing to investigate, He was after bigger game than @ decrepit old darky. As Taylor dashed into hia room Gordon, awakened by the noise, sprang from his bed. Taylor, know- ing that the Ume for stealth was passed and that the whole house would be aroused in an instant, drew his revolver from the side pocket of hia coat and fired point blank at Gor- don as the latter rose in hie bed. The bullet passed through Gordon's pa- Jama coat and pinged inio the wall behind him. Then Taylor, with a mental “nine Pulled the trigger again. There Was no responding report and Gordon was upon him, Frantically Taylor pressed the weapon to his victim's body and pulled the trigger—tutilely. In returning the elip to the automatie when it had fallen to the ground from his nervous fingers earlier in the eve- ning he had reversed it, so that the cartrifgos were pointed to the rear, jammthg the mechanism after the first shot had exploded the cartridge already tn ber, When Liberty Was Born BY ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE turn of his mistress, heard in, “THE eVENIAG realized how hopelessly he waa oat- classed, The clean life of his ae onmt found Taylor helpless in the other's power, Yet the man fought on desperately, for he knew Liat a jong, prison term awaited him ehould ho be made captive now. Around and around the room the two men strugaleds Taylor beat madly at Gordons face, but the latter sought the other's throat, striking only oceastonally, and then only when a blow could be well delivered and effective, In the hall beyond the lion had halted before the door to sniff and listen. Krom within came the sounds of combat and the scant of friend and The great beast opened his wide and red out @ thunderous tle closet and brought Gorden toa momentary pause of wonder im the battle he was waging for bis life in Be guest chamber of the Scott man aon, But Richard Gordon had no time to tornifying roar just without his | 5 He wondered, but he fought on, ° ly but eurely overcoming the weaken- Le? Taylor. ‘he Hon pushed against the door madly, thunderously, No frail wood could long withstand that he gay Ragen Splinters were torn away. e tw men within the room heard, and on was terrified and the other wonder- Gordon was pushing Taylor tack against a table, further and @urther, when the latter, in a sudden and mo- mentary burst of energy, struggled up and fought his conqueror back a Beneath their feet step oF two, striking his head amainet the edge of a chair, Taylor could scarce credit the good fortune that had saved him at the eleventh hour. Gordon ‘uncon- scious beneath him. The lion was battering the door to pieces fust be- yond. Behind was an open window leading onto the roof of the veranda. Taylor half started to make a break tor sovege from the lion whem the Lo il his mission rushed te his He had risked too much to abandon all now when success, such as it was, lay in his grasp. Hastily he sprane to hia feet and ran to the chair where Gordon's clothes lay. As he anatched up & garment rye ie to run crashed beneath the lion's powerful blowa and Taylor saw the gleaming, yellow eyes @laring at im through the aperture. With @ gasp of terror the man ran his hand inside the coat, his * ame in contact with a envelo} hie aa and he knew that he had wo! uffing the prize Into bis own pocket he turned and scrambled through the window to the roof of the veranda, ran to the edge and lying upon hia stomach lowered bimeelf Ding 4 until he hung by bis hands, Then he let go and dropped to @ soft landing in a clump of buabes beneath. Almost simultaneously tte leat of the door fell in beneath Ben's a e. the lion sprang into room. For just an instant he G his muzzle to the face of the pros- sans La gu Cem whined, and then caught Taylor’e spoor and fol- —— t through the window onto tho root Gordon, but momentarfy stunned, Sirah uit wilted Laagearte a w hs feet he followed and looked gut, He It was too great a leap for so ¥ & beast except as a last resort. Turning quickly away, anima! trotted to the far end of Toor. Below bim there was « low shed and & moment later the carnivor® was slinking through Boott grounds hot u; the fleeing Taylor. Gordon, convinced that the Hon gad followed Taylor, though filled with wonder not only that hog a Jungle beast should be roaming large in Peaceful Virginia, but aa well that the brute should have passed without harming him, ran from bis room, calling to the servants. The old butler, hearing bis votes, from ‘nis. hiding place, rom ny . “Mietab Go'don! he oried. le he? Am he went?” Gordon paused. The voice camo onggrety from close beside him. “Where are YOU?" he asked. “Ah's beah—in dese heah wlo’es bemper. Ah’'s stuck fast. If he am went please come an’ hep me outen “He's ‘went,’ all right,” 1e4 Gor. don, opening the door thee find that Washington had en through the bottom and was so tightly wedged that it required the combined efforts of them both to liberate him. Other house servants were timorously ereeping down the stairs by this time; but when they found that wild beast Was prowling somewhere about most of them, promptly retreated to their rooms, where they fell to praying. A few remained to follow Gordon back to his room. A sudden fear had crept over the young m: Taylor could have followed him for but one purpose. Had he been suc- cessful, after all, in his quest, Gor. don found his coat lying on the and @ hasty examination fereetel the fact that the precious document had been removed from it, Snatching an old-fashioned muzzle loader from one of the servants, Gordon hastened down the stairs and out onto the lawn, A sullen roar down in the direction of the negroes’ quarters guiges him tn the direction the Hon pad fauen, nd which was, Gordon sure, the game as that in wi Taylor had fed. bia The moment that Taylor had ex tricated himself from the bushes ran around to the front of the house and down past the negroes’ shacks, passing out onto the turnpike below them and following that in the direc- tion of Scotteville, He did not know that the lion had followed him, imag- ining inatead that the beast had fe- mained to maul and poasibly to devour Gordon, The thought, while it indus @ shudder, was far from unwelconte, since it com: the elimination of Gordon, and go, as far s Taylor knew, the only witness to his presence in Scott homa, . 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