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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7dff170 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69191 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69191) diff --git a/old/69191-0.txt b/old/69191-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5f8fa1b..0000000 --- a/old/69191-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8891 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cave Girl, by Edgar Rice Burroughs - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Cave Girl - -Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs - -Release Date: October 20, 2022 [eBook #69191] - -Most recently updated: January 9, 2023 - -Language: English - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAVE GIRL *** - - - - -THE CAVE GIRL - -[Illustration: The Cave Girl saves Waldo's life.] - - - - - THE CAVE GIRL - - BY - - EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS - - AUTHOR OF - - TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN, - THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, - PELLUCIDAR, Etc. - - [Illustration] - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - Made in the United States of America - - - - -Copyright - -Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. - -1925 - -Published March, 1925 - -_Copyrighted in Great Britain_ - - -_Printed in the United States of America_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PART I - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I Flotsam 1 - - II The Wild People 14 - - III The Little Eden 24 - - IV Death's Doorway 38 - - V Awakening 53 - - VI A Choice 70 - - VII Thandar, the Seeker 80 - - VIII Nadara Again 90 - - IX The Seeker 97 - - X The Trail's End 111 - - XI Capture 124 - - - PART II - - I King Big Fist 147 - - II King Thandar 161 - - III The Great Nagoola 177 - - IV The Battle 189 - - V The Abduction of Nadara 202 - - VI The Search 212 - - VII First Mate Stark 226 - - VIII The Wild Men 246 - - IX Building the Boat 260 - - X The Head-Hunters 275 - - XI The Rescue 288 - - XII Pirates 304 - - XIII Homeward Bound 321 - - - - -PART I - - - - -THE CAVE GIRL - - - - -CHAPTER I - -FLOTSAM - - -The dim shadow of the thing was but a blur against the dim shadows of -the wood behind it. - -The young man could distinguish no outline that might mark the presence -as either brute or human. - -He could see no eyes, yet he knew that somewhere from out of that -noiseless mass stealthy eyes were fixed upon him. - -This was the fourth time that the thing had crept from out the wood -as darkness was settling--the fourth time during those three horrible -weeks since he had been cast upon that lonely shore that he had -watched, terror-stricken, while night engulfed the shadowy form that -lurked at the forest's edge. - -It had never attacked him, but to his distorted imagination it seemed -to slink closer and closer as night fell--waiting, always waiting for -the moment that it might find him unprepared. - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones was not overly courageous. He had been reared -among surroundings of culture plus and ultra-intellectuality in the -exclusive Back Bay home of his ancestors. - -He had been taught to look with contempt upon all that savored of -muscular superiority--such things were gross, brutal, primitive. - -It had been a giant intellect only that he had craved--he and a fond -mother--and their wishes had been fulfilled. At twenty-one Waldo was an -animated encyclopedia--and about as muscular as a real one. - -Now he slunk shivering with fright at the very edge of the beach, as -far from the grim forest as he could get. - -Cold sweat broke from every pore of his long, lank, six-foot-two -body. His skinny arms and legs trembled as with palsy. Occasionally -he coughed--it had been the cough that had banished him upon this -ill-starred sea voyage. - -As he crouched in the sand, staring with wide, horror-dilated eyes into -the black night, great tears rolled down his thin, white cheeks. - -It was with difficulty that he restrained an overpowering desire -to shriek. His mind was filled with forlorn regrets that he had -not remained at home to meet the wasting death that the doctor had -predicted--a peaceful death at least--not the brutal end which faced -him now. - -The lazy swell of the South Pacific lapped his legs, stretched upon -the sand, for he had retreated before that menacing shadow as far as -the ocean would permit. As the slow minutes dragged into age-long -hours, the nervous strain told so heavily upon the weak boy that toward -midnight he lapsed into merciful unconsciousness. - -The warm sun awoke him the following morning, but it brought with it -but a faint renewal of courage. Things could not creep to his side -unseen now, but still they could come, for the sun would not protect -him. Even now some savage beast might be lurking just within the forest. - -The thought unnerved him to such an extent that he dared not venture -to the woods for the fruit that had formed the major portion of his -sustenance. Along the beach he picked up a few mouthfuls of sea-food, -but that was all. - -The day passed, as had the other terrible days which had preceded it, -in scanning alternately the ocean and the forest's edge--the one for a -ship and the other for the cruel death which he momentarily expected to -see stalk out of the dreary shades to claim him. - -A more practical and a braver man would have constructed some manner -of shelter in which he might have spent his nights in comparative -safety and comfort, but Waldo Emerson's education had been conducted -along lines of undiluted intellectuality--pursuits and knowledge which -were practical were commonplace, and commonplaces were vulgar. It -was preposterous that a Smith-Jones should ever have need of vulgar -knowledge. - -For the twenty-second time since the great wave had washed him from -the steamer's deck and hurled him, choking and sputtering, upon this -inhospitable shore, Waldo Emerson saw the sun sinking rapidly toward -the western horizon. - -As it descended the young man's terror increased, and he kept his eyes -glued upon the spot from which the shadow had emerged the previous -evening. - -He felt that he could not endure another night of the torture he -had passed through four times before. That he should go mad he was -positive, and he commenced to tremble and whimper even while daylight -yet remained. For a time he tried turning his back to the forest, and -then he sat huddled up gazing out upon the ocean; but the tears which -rolled down his cheeks so blurred his eyes that he saw nothing. - -Finally he could endure it no longer, and with a sudden gasp of horror -he wheeled toward the wood. There was nothing visible, yet he broke -down and sobbed like a child, for loneliness and terror. - -When he was able to control his tears for a moment he took the -opportunity to scan the deepening shadows once more. - -The first glance brought a piercing shriek from his white lips. - -The thing was there! - -The young man did not fall groveling to the sand this time--instead, -he stood staring with protruding eyes at the vague form, while shriek -after shriek broke from his grinning lips. - -Reason was tottering. - -The thing, whatever it was, halted at the first blood-curdling cry, and -then when the cries continued it slunk back toward the wood. - -With what remained of his ebbing mentality Waldo Emerson realized that -it were better to die at once than face the awful fears of the black -night. He would rush to meet his fate, and thus end this awful agony of -suspense. - -With the thought came action, so that, still shrieking, he rushed -headlong toward the thing at the wood's rim. As he ran it turned and -fled into the forest, and after it went Waldo Emerson, his long, skinny -legs carrying his emaciated body in great leaps and bounds through the -tearing underbrush. - -He emitted shriek after shriek--ear-piercing shrieks that ended in long -drawn out wails, more wolfish than human. And the thing that fled -through the night before him was shrieking, too, now. - -Time and again the young man stumbled and fell. Thorns and brambles -tore his clothing and his soft flesh. Blood smeared him from head to -feet. Yet on and on he rushed through the semidarkness of the now -moonlit forest. - -At first impelled by the mad desire to embrace death and wrest the -peace of oblivion from its cruel clutch, Waldo Emerson had come to -pursue the screaming shadow before him from an entirely different -motive. Now it was for companionship. He screamed now because of a fear -that the thing would elude him and that he should be left alone in the -depth of this weird wood. - -Slowly but surely it was drawing away from him, and as Waldo Emerson -realized the fact he redoubled his efforts to overtake it. He had -stopped screaming now, for the strain of his physical exertion found -his weak lungs barely adequate to the needs of his gasping respiration. - -Suddenly the pursuit emerged from the forest to cross a little moonlit -clearing, at the opposite side of which towered a high and rocky cliff. -Toward this the fleeing creature sped, and in an instant more was -swallowed, apparently, by the face of the cliff. - -Its disappearance was as mysterious and awesome as its identity had -been, and left the young man in blank despair. - -With the object of pursuit gone, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -sank trembling and exhausted at the foot of the cliff. A paroxysm of -coughing seized him, and thus he lay in an agony of apprehension, -fright, and misery until from very weakness he sank into a deep sleep. - -It was daylight when he awoke--stiff, lame, sore, hungry, and -miserable--but, withal, refreshed and sane. His first consideration -was prompted by the craving of a starved stomach; yet it was with the -utmost difficulty that he urged his cowardly brain to direct his steps -toward the forest, where hung fruit in abundance. - -At every little noise he halted in tense silence, poised to flee. His -knees trembled so violently that they knocked together; but at length -he entered the dim shadows, and presently was gorging himself with ripe -fruits. - -To reach some of the more luscious viands he had picked from the ground -a piece of fallen limb, which tapered from a diameter of four inches -at one end to a trifle over an inch at the other. It was the first -practical thing that Waldo Emerson had done since he had been cast upon -the shore of his new home--in fact, it was, in all likelihood, the -nearest approximation to a practical thing which he had ever done in -all his life. - -Waldo had never been allowed to read fiction, nor had he ever cared to -so waste his time or impoverish his brain, and nowhere in the fund of -deep erudition which he had accumulated could he recall any condition -analogous to those which now confronted him. - -Waldo, of course, knew that there were such things as step-ladders, -and had he had one he would have used it as a means to reach the fruit -above his hand's reach; but that he could knock the delicacies down -with a broken branch seemed indeed a mighty discovery--a valuable -addition to the sum total of human knowledge. Aristotle himself had -never reasoned more logically. - -Waldo had taken the first step in his life toward independent mental -action--heretofore his ideas, his thoughts, his acts, even, had been -borrowed from the musty writing of the ancients, or directed by the -immaculate mind of his superior mother. And he clung to his discovery -as a child clings to a new toy. - -When he emerged from the forest he brought his stick with him. - -He determined to continue the pursuit of the creature that had eluded -him the night before. It would, indeed, be curious to look upon a thing -that feared him. - -In all his life he had never imagined it possible that any creature -could flee from him in fear. A little glow suffused the young man as -the idea timorously sought to take root. - -Could it be that there was a trace of swagger in that long, bony figure -as Waldo directed his steps toward the cliff? Perish the thought! Pride -in vulgar physical prowess! A long line of Smith-Joneses would have -risen in their graves and rent their shrouds at the veriest hint of -such an idea. - -For a long time Waldo walked back and forth along the foot of the -cliff, searching for the avenue of escape used by the fugitive of -yesternight. A dozen times he passed a well-defined trail that led, -winding, up the cliff's face; but Waldo knew nothing of trails--he was -looking for a flight of steps or a doorway. - -Finding neither, he stumbled by accident into the trail; and, although -the evident signs that marked it as such revealed nothing to him, yet -he followed it upward for the simple reason that it was the only place -upon the cliff side where he could find a foothold. - -Some distance up he came to a narrow cleft in the cliff into which the -trail led. Rocks dislodged from above had fallen into it, and, becoming -wedged a few feet from the bottom, left only a small cavelike hole, -into which Waldo peered. - -There was nothing visible, but the interior was dark and forbidding. -Waldo felt cold and clammy. He began to tremble. Then he turned and -looked back toward the forest. - -The thought of another night spent within sight of that dismal place -almost overcame him. No! A thousand times no! Any fate were better than -that, and so after several futile efforts he forced his unwilling body -through the small aperture. - -He found himself on a path between two rocky walls--a path that rose -before him at a steep angle. At intervals the blue sky was visible -above through openings that had not been filled with debris. - -To another it would have been apparent that the cleft had been kept -open by human beings--that it was a thoroughfare which was used, if not -frequently, at least sufficiently often to warrant considerable labor -having been expended upon it to keep it free from the debris which must -be constantly falling from above. - -Where the path led, or what he expected to find at the other end, Waldo -had not the remotest idea. He was not an imaginative youth. But he kept -on up the ascent in the hope that at the end he would find the creature -which had escaped him the night before. - -As it had fled for a brief instant across the clearing beneath -the moon's soft rays, Waldo had thought that it bore a remarkable -resemblance to a human figure; but of that he could not be positive. - -At last his path broke suddenly into the sunlight. The walls on either -side were but little higher than his head, and a moment later he -emerged from the cleft onto a broad and beautiful plateau. - -Before him stretched a wide, grassy plain, and beyond towered a range -of mighty hills. Between them and him lay a belt of forest. - -A new emotion welled in the breast of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. It -was akin to that which Balboa may have felt when he gazed for the -first time upon the mighty Pacific from the Sierra de Quarequa. For -the moment, as he contemplated this new and beautiful scene of rolling -meadowland, distant forest, and serrated hill-tops, he almost forgot -to be afraid. And on the impulse of the instant he set out across the -tableland to explore the unknown which lay beyond the forest. - -Well it was for Waldo Emerson's peace of mind that no faint conception -of what lay there entered his unimaginative mind. To him a land without -civilization--without cities and towns peopled by humans with manners -and customs similar to those which obtain in Boston--was beyond belief. - -As he walked he strained his eyes in every direction for some -indication of human habitation--a fence, a chimney--anything that -would be man-built; but his efforts were unrewarded. - -At the verge of the forest he halted, fearing to enter; but at last, -when he saw that the wood was more open than that near the ocean, and -that there was but little underbrush, he mustered sufficient courage to -step timidly within. - -On careful tiptoe he threaded his way through the park-like grove, -stopping every few minutes to listen, and ready at the first note of -danger to fly screaming toward the open plain. - -Notwithstanding his fears, he reached the opposite boundary of the -forest without seeing or hearing anything to arouse suspicion, and, -emerging from the cool shade, found himself a little distance from a -perpendicular white cliff, the face of which was honeycombed with the -mouths of many caves. - -There was no living creature in sight, nor did the very apparent -artificiality of the caves suggest to the impractical Waldo that they -might be the habitations of perhaps savage human beings. - -With the spell of discovery still upon him, he crossed the open toward -the cliffs; but he had by no means forgotten his chronic state of -abject fear. Ears and eyes were alert for hidden dangers; every few -steps were punctuated by a timid halt and a searching survey of his -surroundings. - -It was during one of these halts, when he had crossed half the distance -between the forest and the cliff, that he discerned a slight movement -in the wood behind him. - -For an instant he stood staring and frozen, unable to determine whether -he had been mistaken or really had seen a creature moving in the forest. - -He had about decided that he had but imagined a presence when a great, -hairy brute of a man stepped suddenly from behind the bole of a tree. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE WILD PEOPLE - - -The creature was naked except for a bit of hide that hung from a -leathern waist thong. - -If Waldo viewed the newcomer with wonder, it was no less than the -wonder which the sight of him inspired in the breast of the hairy -one, for what he saw was as truly remarkable to his eyes as was his -appearance to those of the cultured Bostonian. And Waldo did indeed -present a most startling exterior. His six-feet-two was accentuated by -his extreme skinniness; his gray eyes looked weak and watery within the -inflamed circles which rimmed them, and which had been produced by loss -of sleep and much weeping. - -His yellow hair was tangled and matted, and streaked with dirt and -blood. Blood stained his soiled and tattered ducks. His shirt was but a -mass of frayed ribbons held to him at all only by the neckband. - -As he stood helplessly staring with bulging eyes at the awful figure -glowering at him from the forest his jaw dropped, his knees trembled, -and he seemed about to collapse from sheer terror. - -Then the hideous man crouched and came creeping warily toward him. - -With an agonized scream Waldo turned and fled toward the cliff. A quick -glance over his shoulder brought another series of shrieks from the -frightened fugitive, for it revealed not alone the fact that the awful -man was pursuing him, but that behind him raced at least a dozen more -equally frightful. - -Waldo ran toward the cliffs only because that direction lay straight -away from his pursuers. He had no idea what he should do when he -reached the rocky barrier--he was far too frightened to think. - -His pursuers were gaining upon him, their savage yells mingling with -his piercing cries and spurring him on to undreamed-of pinnacles of -speed. - -As he ran, his knees came nearly to his shoulders at each frantic -bound; his left hand was extended far ahead, clutching wildly at the -air as though he were endeavoring to pull himself ahead, while his -right hand, still grasping the cudgel, described a rapid circle, like -the arm of a windmill gone mad. In action Waldo was an inspiring -spectacle. - -At the foot of the cliff he came to a momentary halt, while he glanced -hurriedly about for a means of escape; but now he saw that the enemy -had spread out toward the right and left, leaving no means of escape -except up the precipitous side of the cliff. Up this narrow trails led -steeply from ledge to ledge. - -In places crude ladders scaled perpendicular heights from one tier of -caves to the next above; but to Waldo the thing which confronted him -seemed absolutely unscalable, and then another backward glance showed -him the rapidly nearing enemy; and he launched himself at the face of -that seemingly impregnable barrier, clutching desperately with fingers -and toes. - -His progress was impeded by the cudgel to which he still clung, but -he did not drop it; though why it would have been difficult to tell, -unless it was that his acts were now purely mechanical, there being no -room in his mind for aught else than terror. - -Close behind him came the foremost cave man; yet, though he had -acquired the agility of a monkey through a lifetime of practice, he -was amazed at the uncanny speed with which Waldo Emerson clawed his -shrieking way aloft. - -Half-way up the ascent, however, a great hairy hand came almost to his -ankle. - -It was during the perilous negotiation of one of the loose and wabbly -ladders--little more than small trees leaning precariously against the -perpendicular rocky surface--that the nearest foeman came so close to -the fugitive; but at the top chance intervened to save Waldo, for a -time at least. It was at the moment that he scrambled frantically to a -tiny ledge from the frightfully slipping sapling. - -In his haste he did by accident what a resourceful man would have done -by intent--in pushing himself onto the ledge he kicked the ladder -outward--for a second it hung toppling in the balance, and then with a -lunge crashed down the cliff's face with its human burden, in its fall -scraping others of the pursuing horde with it. - -A chorus of rage came up from below him, but Waldo had not even turned -his head to learn of his temporary good fortune. Up, ever up he sped, -until at length he stood upon the topmost ledge, facing an overhanging -wall of blank rock that towered another twenty-five feet above him to -the summit of the bluff. Time and again he leaped futilely against the -smooth surface, tearing at it with his nails in a mad endeavor to climb -still higher. - -At his right was the low opening to a black cave, but he did not see -it--his mind could cope with but the single idea: to clamber from -the horrible creatures which pursued him. But finally it was borne -in on his half-mad brain that this was the end--he could fly no -farther--here, in a moment more, death would overtake him. - -He turned to meet it, and below saw a number of the cave men placing -another ladder in lieu of that which had fallen. In a moment they were -resuming the ascent after him. - -On the narrow ledge above them the young man stood, chattering and -grinning like a madman. His pitiful cries were now punctuated with the -hollow coughing which his violent exercise had induced. - -Tears rolled down his begrimed face, leaving crooked, muddy streaks in -their wake. His knees smote together so violently that he could barely -stand, and it was into the face of this apparition of cowardice that -the first of the cave men looked as he scrambled above the ledge on -which Waldo stood. - -And then, of a sudden, there rose within the breast of Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones a spark that generations of overrefinement and emasculating -culture had all but extinguished--the instinct of self-preservation by -force. Heretofore it had been purely by flight. - -With the frenzy of the fear of death upon him, he raised his cudgel, -and, swinging it high above his head, brought it down full upon the -unprotected skull of his enemy. - -Another took the fallen man's place--he, too, went down with a broken -head. Waldo was fighting now like a cornered rat, and through it all -he chattered and gibbered; but he no longer wept. - -At first he was horrified at the bloody havoc he wrought with his -crude weapon. His nature revolted at the sight of blood, and when -he saw it mixed with matted hair along the side of his cudgel, and -realized that it was human hair and human blood, and that he, Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones, had struck the blows that had plastered it there -so thickly in all its hideousness, a wave of nausea swept over him, so -that he almost toppled from his dizzy perch. - -For a few minutes there was a lull in hostilities while the cave men -congregated below, shaking their fists at Waldo and crying out threats -and challenges. The young man stood looking down upon them, scarcely -able to realize that alone he had met savage men in physical encounter -and defeated them. - -He was shocked and horrified; not, odd to say, because of the thing he -had done, but rather because of a strange and unaccountable glow of -pride in his brutal supremacy over brutes. What would his mother have -thought could she have seen her precious boy now? - -Suddenly Waldo became conscious from the corner of his eye that -something was creeping upon him from behind out of the dark cave before -which he had fought. Simultaneously with the realization of it he -swung his cudgel in a wicked blow at this new enemy as he turned to -meet it. - -The creature dodged back, and the blow that would have crushed its -skull grazed a hairbreadth from its face. - -Waldo struck no second blow, and the cold sweat sprang to his forehead -when he realized how nearly he had come to murdering a young girl. -She crouched now in the mouth of the cave, eying him fearfully. Waldo -removed his tattered cap, bowing low. - -"I crave your pardon," he said. "I had no idea that there was a lady -here. I am very glad that I did not injure you." - -There must have been something either in his tone or manner that -reassured her, for she smiled and came out upon the ledge beside him. - -As she did so a scarlet flush mantled Waldo's face and neck and -ears--he could feel them burning. With a nervous cough he turned and -became intently occupied with the distant scenery. - -Presently he cast a surreptitious glance behind him. Shocking! She was -still there. Again he coughed nervously. - -"Excuse me," he said. "But--er--ah--you--I am a total stranger, you -know; hadn't you better go back in, and--er--get your clothes?" - -She made no reply, and so he forced himself to turn toward her once -more. She was smiling at him. - -Waldo had never been so horribly embarrassed in all his life before--it -was a distinct shock to him to realize that the girl was not -embarrassed at all. - -He spoke to her a second time, and at last she answered; but in -a tongue which he did not understand. It bore not the slightest -resemblance to any language, modern or dead, with which he was -familiar, and Waldo was more or less master of them all--especially the -dead ones. - -He tried not to look at her after that, for he realized that he must -appear very ridiculous. - -But now his attention was required by more pressing affairs--the cave -men were returning to the attack. They carried stones this time, and, -while some of them threw the missiles at Waldo, the others attempted -to rush his position. It was then that the girl hurried back into the -cave, only to reappear a moment later carrying some stone utensils in -her arms. - -There was a huge mortar in which she had collected a pestle and several -smaller pieces of stone. She pushed them along the ledge to Waldo. - -At first he did not grasp the meaning of her act; but presently she -pretended to pick up an imaginary missile and hurl it down upon the -creatures below--then she pointed to the things she had brought and to -Waldo. - -He understood. So she was upon his side. He did not understand why, but -he was glad. - -Following her suggestion, he gathered up a couple of the smaller -objects and hurled them down upon the men beneath. - -But on and on they came--Waldo was not a very good shot. The girl was -busy now gathering such of the cave men's missiles as fell upon the -ledge. These she placed in a pile beside Waldo. - -Occasionally the young man would strike an enemy by accident, and then -she would give a little scream of pleasure--clapping her hands and -jumping up and down. - -It was not long before Waldo was surprised to find that this applause -fell sweetly upon his ears. It was then that he began to take better -aim. - -In the midst of it all there flashed suddenly upon him a picture of his -devoted mother and the select coterie of intellectual young people with -which she had always surrounded him. - -Waldo felt a new pang of horror as he tried to realize with what -emotions they would look upon him now as he stood upon the face of a -towering cliff beside an almost naked girl hurling rocks down upon the -heads of hairy men who hopped about, screaming with rage, below him. - -It was awful! A great billow of mortification rolled over him. - -He turned to cast a look of disapprobation at the shameless young woman -behind him--she should not think that he countenanced such coarse and -vulgar proceedings. Their eyes met--in hers he saw the sparkle of -excitement and the joy of life and such a look of comradeship as he -never before had seen in the eyes of another mortal. - -Then she pointed excitedly over the edge of the ledge. - -Waldo looked. - -A great brute of a cave man had crawled, unseen, almost to their refuge. - -He was but five feet below them, and at the moment that he looked up -Waldo dropped a fifty-pound stone mortar full upon his upturned face. - -The young woman emitted a little shriek of joy, and Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, his face bisected by a broad grin, turned toward her. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE LITTLE EDEN - - -The mortar ended hostilities--temporarily, at least; but the cave -men loitered about the base of the cliff during the balance of the -afternoon, occasionally shouting taunts at the two above them. - -These the girl answered, evidently in kind. Sometimes she would point -to Waldo and make ferocious signs, doubtless indicative of the horrible -slaughter which awaited them at his hands if they did not go away and -leave their betters alone. When the young man realized the significance -of her pantomime he felt his heart swell with an emotion which he -feared was pride in brutal, primitive, vulgar physical prowess. - -As the long day wore on Waldo became both very hungry and very thirsty. -In the valley below he could see a tiny brooklet purling, clear and -beautiful, toward the south. The sight of it drove him nearly mad, as -did also that of the fruit which he glimpsed hanging ripe for eating at -the edge of the forest. - -By means of signs he asked the girl if she, too, were hungry, for he -had come to a point now where he could look at her almost without -visible signs of mortification. She nodded her head and, pointing -toward the descending sun, made it plain to him that after dark they -would descend and eat. - -The cave men had not left when darkness came, and it seemed to Waldo a -very foolhardy thing to venture down while they might be about; but the -girl made it so evident that she considered him an invincible warrior -that he was torn with the conflicting emotions of cowardice and an -unaccountable desire to appear well in her eyes, that he might by his -acts justify her belief in him. - -It seemed very wonderful to Waldo that any one should look upon him -in the light of a tower of strength and a haven of refuge; he was not -quite certain in his own mind but that the reputation might lead him -into most uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. Incidentally, he -wondered if the girl was a good runner; he hoped so. - -It must have been quite near midnight when his companion intimated that -the time had arrived when they should fare forth and dine. Waldo wanted -her to go first, but she shrank close to him, timidly, and held back. - -There was nothing else for it, then, than to take the plunge, though -had the sun been shining it would have revealed a very pale and -wide-eyed champion, who slipped gingerly over the side of the ledge to -grope with his feet for a foothold beneath. - -Half-way down the moon rose above the forest--a great, full, tropic -moon, that lighted the face of the cliff almost as brilliantly as might -the sun itself. It shone into the mouth of a cave upon the ledge that -Waldo had just reached in his descent, revealing to the horrified eyes -of the young man a great, hairy form stretched in slumber not a yard -from him. - -As he looked, the wicked little eyes opened and looked straight into -his. - -With difficulty Waldo suppressed a shriek of dismay as he turned to -plunge madly down the precipitous trail. The girl had not yet descended -from the ledge above. - -She must have sensed what had happened, for as Waldo turned to fly she -gave a little cry of terror. At the same instant the cave man leaped to -his feet. But the girl's voice had touched something in the breast of -Waldo Emerson which generations of disuse had almost atrophied, and for -the first time in his life he did a brave and courageous thing. - -He could easily have escaped the cave man and reached the -valley--alone; but at the first note of the young girl's cry he wheeled -and scrambled back to the ledge to face the burly, primitive man, who -could have crushed him with a single blow. - -Waldo Emerson no longer trembled. His nerves and muscles were very -steady as he swung his cudgel in an arc that brought it crashing down -upon the upraised guarding arm of the cave man. - -There was a snapping of bone beneath the blow, a scream of pain--the -man staggered back, the girl sprang to Waldo's side from the ledge -above, and hand in hand they turned and fled down the face of the cliff. - -From a dozen cave-mouths above issued a score of cave men, but the -fleeing pair were half-way across the clearing before the slow-witted -brutes were fully aware of what had happened. By the time they had -taken up the pursuit Waldo and the girl had entered the forest. - -For a few yards the latter led Waldo straight into the shadows of the -wood, then she turned abruptly toward the north, at right angles to the -course they had been pursuing. - -She still clung to the young man's hand, nor did she slacken her speed -the least after they had entered the darkness beneath the trees. She -ran as surely and confidently through the impenetrable night of the -forest as though the way had been lighted by flaming arcs; but Waldo -was continually stumbling and falling. - -The sound of pursuit presently became fainter; it was apparent that the -cave men had continued on straight into the wood; but the girl raced -on with the panting Waldo for what seemed to the winded young man an -eternity. Presently, however, they came to the banks of the little -stream that had been visible from the caves. Here the girl fell into -a walk, and a moment later dragged the Bostonian down a shelving bank -into water that came above his knees. - -Up the bed of the stream she led him, sometimes floundering through -holes so deep that they were entirely submerged. - -Waldo had never learned the vulgar art of swimming, so it was that he -would have drowned but for the strong, brown hand of his companion, -which dragged him, spluttering and coughing, through one awful hole -after another, until, half-strangled and entirely panic-stricken, she -hauled him safely upon a low, grassy bank at the foot of a rocky wall -which formed one side of a gorge, through which the river boiled. - -It must not be assumed that when Waldo Emerson returned to face the -hairy brute who threatened to separate him from his new-found companion -that by a miracle he had been transformed from a hare into a lion--far -from it. - -Now that he had a moment in which to lie quite still and speculate upon -the adventures of the past hour, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -thanked the kindly night that obscured from the eyes of the girl the -pitiable spectacle of his palsied limbs and trembling lip. - -Once again he was in a blue funk, with shattered nerves that begged to -cry aloud in the extremity of their terror. - -It was not warm in the damp cañon, through which the wind swept over -the cold water, so that to Waldo's mental anguish was added the -physical discomfort of cold and wet. He was indeed a miserable figure -as he lay huddled upon the sward, praying for the rising of the sun, -yet dreading the daylight that might reveal him to his enemies. - -But at last dawn came, and after a fitful sleep Waldo awoke to find -himself in a snug and beautiful little paradise hemmed in by the high -cliffs that flanked the river, upon a sloping grassy shore that was all -but invisible except from a short stretch of cliff-top upon the farther -side of the stream. - -A few feet from him lay the girl. - -She was still asleep. Her head was pillowed upon one firm, brown arm. -Her soft black hair fell in disorder across one cheek and over the -other arm, to spread gracefully upon the green grass about her. - -As Waldo looked he saw that she was very comely. Never before had he -seen a girl just like her. His young women friends had been rather prim -and plain, with long, white faces and thin lips that scarcely ever -dared to smile and scorned to unbend in plebeian laughter. - -This girl's lips seemed to have been made for laughing--and for -something else, though at the time it is only fair to Waldo to say that -he did not realize the full possibilities that they presented. - -As his eyes wandered along the lines of her young body his Puritanical -training brought a hot flush of embarrassment to his face, and he -deliberately turned his back upon her. - -It was indeed awful to Waldo Emerson to contemplate, to say the least, -the unconventional position into which fate had forced him. The longer -he pondered it the redder he became. It was frightful--what would his -mother say when she heard of it? - -What would this girl's mother say? But, more to the point, -and--horrible thought--what would her father or her brothers do to -Waldo if they found them thus together--and she with only a scanty -garment of skin about her waist--a garment which reached scarcely below -her knees at any point, and at others terminated far above? - -Waldo was chagrined. He could not understand what the girl could be -thinking of, for in other respects she seemed quite nice, and he was -sure that the great eyes of her reflected only goodness and innocence. - -While he sat thus, thinking, the girl awoke and with a merry laugh -addressed him. - -"Good morning," said Waldo quite severely. - -He wished that he could speak her language, so that he could convey to -her a suggestion of the disapprobation which he felt for her attire. - -He was on the point of attempting it by signs, when she rose, lithe -and graceful as a tigress, and walked to the river's brim. With a deft -movement of her fingers she loosed the thong that held her single -garment, and as it fell to the ground Waldo, with a horrified gasp, -turned upon his face, burying his tightly closed eyes in his hands. - -Then the girl dived into the cool waters for her matutinal bath. - -She called to him several times to join her, but Waldo could not look -at the spectacle presented; his soul was scandalized. - -It was some time after she emerged from the river before he dared risk -a hesitating glance. With a sigh of relief he saw that she had donned -her single garment, and thereafter he could look at her unashamed when -she was thus clothed. He felt that by comparison it constituted a most -modest gown. - -Together they strolled along the river's edge, gathering such fruits -and roots as the girl knew to be edible. Waldo Emerson gathered those -she indicated--with all his learning he found it necessary to depend -upon the untutored mind of this little primitive maiden for guidance. - -Then she taught him how to catch fish with a bent twig and a -lightninglike movement of her brown hands--or, rather, tried to teach -him, for he was far too slow and awkward to succeed. - -Afterward they sat upon the soft grass beneath the shade of a wild -fig-tree to eat the fish she had caught. Waldo wondered how in the -world the girl could make fire without matches, for he was quite sure -that she had none; and even should she be able to make fire it would be -quite useless, since she had neither cooking utensils nor stove. - -He was not left long in wonderment. - -She arranged the fish in a little pile between them, and with a sweet -smile motioned to the man to partake; then she selected one for -herself, and while Waldo Emerson looked on in horror, sunk her firm, -white teeth into the raw fish. - -Waldo turned away in sickening disgust - -The girl seemed surprised and worried that he did not eat. Time and -again she tried to coax him by signs to join her; but he could not even -look at her. He had tried, after the first wave of revolt had subsided, -but when he discovered that she ate the entire fish, without bothering -to clean it or remove the scales, he became too ill to think of food. - -Several times during the following week they ventured from their -hiding-place, and at these times it was evident from the girl's -actions that she was endeavoring to elude their enemies and reach a -place of safety other than that in which they were concealed. But at -each venture her quick ears or sensitive nostrils warned her of the -proximity of danger, so that they had been compelled to hurry back into -their little Eden. - -During this period she taught Waldo many words of her native tongue, so -that by means of signs to bridge the gaps between, they were able to -communicate with a fair degree of satisfaction. Waldo's mastery of the -language was rapid. - -On the tenth day the girl was able to make him understand that she -wished to escape with him to her own people; that these men among whom -he had found her were enemies of her tribe, and that she had been -hiding from them when Waldo stumbled upon her cave. - -"I fled," she said. "My mother was killed. My father took another mate, -always cruel to me. But when I had wandered into the land of these -enemies I was afraid, and would have returned to my father's cave. But -I had gone too far. - -"I would have to run very fast to escape them. Once I ran down a narrow -path to the ocean. It was dark. - -"As I wandered through the woods I came suddenly out upon a beach, and -there I saw a strange figure on the sand. It was you. I wanted to learn -what manner of man you were. But I was very much afraid, so that I -dared only watch you from a distance. - -"Five times I came down to look at you. You never saw me until the last -time, then you set out after me, roaring in a horrible voice. - -"I was very much afraid, for I knew that you must be very brave to -live all alone by the edge of the forest without any shelter, or even -a stone to hurl at Nagoola, should he come out of the woods to devour -you." - -Waldo Emerson shuddered. - -"Who is Nagoola?" he asked. - -"You do not know Nagoola!" the girl exclaimed in surprise. - -"Not by that name," replied Waldo. - -"He is as large," she began in description, "as two men, and black, -with glossy coat. He has two yellow eyes, which see as well by night as -by day. His great paws are armed with mighty claws. He----" - -A rustling from the bushes which fringed the opposite cliff-top caused -her to turn, instantly alert. - -"Ah," she whispered, "there is Nagoola now." - -Waldo looked in the direction of her gaze. - -It was well that the girl did not see his pallid face and popping -eyes as he looked into the evil mask of the great black panther that -crouched watching them from the river's further bank. - -Into Waldo's breast came great panic. It was only because his -fear-prostrated muscles refused to respond to his will that he did not -scurry, screaming, from the sight of that ferocious countenance. - -Then, through the fog of his cowardly terror, he heard again the girl's -sweet voice: "I knew that you must be very brave to live all alone by -the edge of that wicked forest." - -For the first time in his life a wave of shame swept over Waldo Emerson. - -The girl called in a taunting voice to the panther, and then turned, -smiling, toward Waldo. - -"How brave I am now," she laughed. "I am no longer afraid of Nagoola. -You are with me." - -"No," said Waldo Emerson, in a very weak voice, "you need not fear -while I am with you." - -"Oh!" she cried. "Slay him. How proud I should be to return to my -people with one who vanquished Nagoola, and wore his hide about his -loins as proof of his prowess." - -"Y-yes," acquiesced Waldo faintly. - -"But," continued the girl, "you have slain many of Nagoola's brothers -and sisters. It is no longer sport to kill one of his kind." - -"Yes--yes," cried Waldo. "Yes, that is it--panthers bore me now." - -"Oh!" The girl clasped her hands in ecstasy. "How many have you slain?" - -"Er--why, let me see," the young man blundered. "As a matter of fact, I -never kept any record of the panthers I killed." - -Waldo was becoming frantic. He had never lied before in all his life. -He hated a lie and loathed a liar. He wondered why he had lied now. - -Surely it were nothing to boast of to have butchered one of God's -creatures--and as for claiming to have killed so many that he could -not recall the number, it was little short of horrible. Yet he became -conscious of a poignant regret that he had not killed a thousand -panthers, and preserved all the pelts as evidence of his valor. - -The panther still regarded them from the safety of the farther shore. -The girl drew quite close to Waldo in the instinctive plea for -protection that belongs to her sex. She laid a timid hand upon his -skinny arm and raised her great, trusting eyes to his face in reverent -adoration. - -"How do you kill them?" she whispered. "Tell me." - -Then it was that Waldo determined to make a clean breast of it, and -admit that he never before had seen a live panther. But as he opened -his mouth to make the humiliating confession he realized, quite -suddenly, why it was that he had lied--he wished to appear well in the -eyes of this savage, half-clothed girl. - -He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, craved the applause of a barbarian, and -to win it had simulated that physical prowess which generations of -Smith-Joneses had viewed from afar--disgusted, disapproving. - -The girl repeated her question. - -"Oh," said Waldo, "it is really quite simple. After I catch them I beat -them severely with a stick." - -The girl sighed. - -"How wonderful!" she said. - -Waldo became the victim of a number of unpleasant -emotions--mortification for this suddenly developed moral turpitude; -apprehension for the future, when the girl might discover him in his -true colors; fear, consuming, terrible fear, that she might insist upon -his going forth at once to slay Nagoola. - -But she did nothing of the kind, and presently the panther tired of -watching them and turned back into the tangle of bushes behind him. - -It was with a sigh of relief that Waldo saw him depart. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -DEATH'S DOORWAY - - -Late in the afternoon the girl suggested that they start that night -upon the journey toward her village. - -"The bad men will not be abroad after dark," she said. "With you at my -side, I shall not fear Nagoola." - -"How far is it to your village?" asked Waldo. - -"It will take us three nights," she replied. "By day we must hide, -for even you could not vanquish a great number of bad men should they -attack you at once." - -"No," said Waldo; "I presume not." - -"It was very wonderful to watch you, though," she went on, "when you -battled upon the cliff-side, beating them down as they came upon you. -How brave you were! How terrible! You trembled from rage." - -"Yes," admitted Waldo, "I was quite angry. I always tremble like that -when my ire is excited. Sometimes I get so bad that my knees knock -together. If you ever see them do that you will realize how exceedingly -angry I am." - -"Yes," murmured the girl. - -Presently Waldo saw that she was laughing quietly to herself. - -A great fear rose in his breast. Could it be that she was less gullible -than she had appeared? Did she, after all, penetrate the bombast with -which he had sought to cloak his cowardice? - -He finally mustered sufficient courage to ask: "Why do you laugh?" - -"I think of the surprise that awaits old Flatfoot and Korth and the -others when I lead you to them." - -"Why will they be surprised?" asked Waldo. - -"At the way you will crack their heads." - -Waldo shuddered. - -"Why should I crack their heads?" he asked. - -"Why should you crack their heads!" It was apparently incredible to the -girl that he should not understand. - -"How little you know," she said. "You cannot swim, you do not know the -language which men may understand, you would be lost in the woods were -I to leave you, and now you say that you do not know that when you come -to a strange tribe they will try to kill you, and only take you as one -of them when you have proven your worth by killing at least one of -their strongest men." - -"At least one!" said Waldo, half to himself. - -He was dazed by this information. He had expected to be welcomed with -open arms into the best society that the girl's community afforded. -He had thought of it in just this way, for he had not even yet learned -that there might be a whole people living under entirely different -conditions than those which existed in Boston, Massachusetts. - -Her reference to his ignorance also came as a distinct shock to him. He -had always considered himself a man of considerable learning. It had -been his secret boast and his mother's open pride. - -And now to be pitied for his ignorance by one who probably thought the -earth flat, if she ever thought about such matters at all--by one who -could neither read nor write. And the worst of it all was that her -indictment was correct--only she had not gone far enough. - -There was little of practical value that he did know. With the -realization of his limitations Waldo Emerson took, unknown to himself, -a great stride toward a broader wisdom than his narrow soul had ever -conceived. - -That night, after the sun had set and the stars and moon come out, the -two set forth from their retreat toward the northwest, where the girl -said that the village of her people lay. - -They walked hand in hand through the dark wood, the girl directing -their steps, the young man grasping his long cudgel in his right hand -and searching into the shadows for the terrible creatures conjured by -his cowardly brain, but mostly for the two awesome spots of fire which -he had gathered from the girl's talk would mark the presence of Nagoola. - -Strange noises assailed his ears, and once the girl crouched close to -him as her quick ears caught the sound of the movement of a great body -through the underbrush at their left. - -Waldo Emerson was almost paralyzed by terror; but at length the -creature, whatever it may have been, turned off into the forest -without molesting them. For several hours thereafter they suffered no -alarm, but the constant tension of apprehension on the man's already -over-wrought nerves had reduced him to a state of such abject nervous -terror that he was no longer master of himself. - -So it was that when the girl suddenly halted him with an affrighted -little gasp and, pointing straight ahead, whispered, "Nagoola," he went -momentarily mad with fear. - -For a bare instant he paused in his tracks, and then breaking away -from her, he raised his club above his head, and with an awful shriek -dashed--straight toward the panther. - -In the minds of some there may be a doubt as to which of the two--the -sleek, silent, black cat or the grinning, screaming Waldo--was the most -awe-inspiring. - -Be that as it may, it was quite evident that no doubt assailed the mind -of the cat, for with a single answering scream, he turned and faded -into the blackness of the black night. - -But Waldo did not see him go. Still shrieking, he raced on through the -forest until he tripped over a creeper and fell exhausted to the earth. -There he lay panting, twitching, and trembling until the girl found -him, an hour after sunrise. - -At the sound of her voice he would have struggled to his feet and -dashed on into the woods, for he felt that he could never face her -again after the spectacle of cowardice with which he had treated her a -few hours before. - -But even as he gained his feet her first words reassured him, and -dissipated every vestige of his intention to elude her. - -"Did you catch him?" she cried. - -"No," panted Waldo Emerson quite truthfully. "He got away." - -They rested a little while, and then Waldo insisted that they resume -their journey by day instead of by night. He had positively determined -that he never should or could endure another such a night of mental -torture. He would much rather take the chance of meeting with the bad -men than suffer the constant feeling that unseen enemies were peering -out of the darkness at him every moment. - -In the day they would at least have the advantage of seeing their foes -before they were struck. He did not give these reasons to the girl, -however. Under the circumstances he felt that another explanation would -be better adapted to her ears. - -"You see," he said, "if it hadn't been so dark Nagoola might not have -escaped me. It is too bad--too bad." - -"Yes," agreed the girl, "it is too bad. We shall travel by day. It will -be safe now. We have left the country of the bad men, and there are few -men living between us and my people." - -That night they spent in a cave they found in the steep bank of a small -river. - -It was damp and muddy and cold, but they were both very tired, and so -they fell asleep and slept as soundly as though the best of mattresses -lay beneath them. The girl probably slept better, since she had never -been accustomed to anything much superior to this in all her life. - -The journey required five days, instead of three, and during all the -time Waldo was learning more and more woodcraft from the girl. At first -his attitude had been such that he could profit but little from her -greater practical knowledge, for he had been inclined to look down upon -her as an untutored savage. - -Now, however, he was a willing student, and when Waldo Emerson elected -to study there was nothing that he could not master and retain in a -remarkable manner. He had a well-trained mind--the principal trouble -with it being that it had been crammed full of useless knowledge. His -mother had always made the error of confusing knowledge with wisdom. - -Waldo was not the only one to learn new things upon this journey. The -girl learned something, too--something which had been threatening for -days to rise above the threshold of her conscious mind, and now she -realized that it had lain in her heart almost ever since the first -moment that she had been with this strange young man. - -Waldo Emerson had been endowed by nature with a chivalrous heart, and -his training had been such that he mechanically accorded to all women -the gallant little courtesies and consideration which are of the fine -things that go with breeding. Nor was he one whit less punctilious in -his relations with this wild cave girl than he would have been with the -daughter of the finest family of his own aristocracy. - -He had been kind and thoughtful and sympathetic always, and to the -girl, who had never been accustomed to such treatment from men, nor -had ever seen a man accord it to any woman, it seemed little short of -miraculous that such gentle tenderness could belong to a nature so -warlike and ferocious as that with which she had endowed Waldo Emerson. -But she was quite satisfied that it should be so. - -She would not have cared for him had he been gentle with her, yet -cowardly. Had she dreamed of the real truth--had she had the slightest -suspicion that Waldo Emerson was at heart the most arrant poltroon -upon whom the sun had ever shone, she would have loathed and hated -him, for in the primitive code of ethics which governed the savage -community which was her world there was no place for the craven or the -weakling--and Waldo Emerson was both. - -As the realization of her growing sentiment toward the man awakened, it -imparted to her ways with him a sudden coyness and maidenly aloofness -which had been entirely wanting before. Until then their companionship, -in so far as the girl was concerned, had been rather that of one -youth toward another; but now that she found herself thrilling at his -slightest careless touch, she became aware of a paradoxical impulse to -avoid him. - -For the first time in her life, too, she realized her nakedness, and -was ashamed. Possibly this was due to the fact that Waldo appeared so -solicitous in endeavoring to coerce his rags into the impossible feat -of entirely covering his body. - -As they neared their journey's end Waldo became more and more perturbed. - -During the last night horrible visions of Flatfoot and Korth haunted -his dreams. He saw the great, hairy beasts rushing upon him in all the -ferocity of their primeval savagery--tearing him limb from limb in -their bestial rage. - -With a shriek he awoke. - -To the girl's startled inquiry he replied that he had been but dreaming. - -"Did you dream of Flatfoot and Korth?" she laughed. "Of the things that -you will do to them tomorrow?" - -"Yes," replied Waldo; "I dreamed of Flatfoot and Korth." But the girl -did not see how he trembled and hid his head in the hollow of his arm. - -The last day's march was the most agonizing experience of Waldo -Emerson's life. He was positive that he was going to his death, but to -him the horror of the thing lay more in the manner of his coming death -than in the thought of death itself. As a matter of fact, he had again -reached a point when he would have welcomed death. - -The future held for him nothing but a life of discomfort and misery and -constant mental anguish, superinduced by the condition of awful fear -under which he must drag out his existence in this strange and terrible -land. - -Waldo had not the slightest conception as to whether he was upon some -mainland or an unknown island. That the tidal wave had come upon them -somewhere in the South Pacific was all that he knew; but long since he -had given up hope that succor would reach him in time to prevent him -perishing miserably far from his home and his poor mother. - -He could not dwell long upon this dismal theme, because it always -brought tears of self-pity to his eyes, and for some unaccountable -reason Waldo shrunk from the thought of exhibiting this unmanly -weakness before the girl. - -All day long he racked his brain for some valid excuse whereby he might -persuade his companion to lead him elsewhere than to her village. A -thousand times better would be some secluded little garden such as that -which had harbored them for the ten days following their escape from -the cave men. - -If they could but come upon such a place near the coast, where Waldo -could keep a constant watch for passing vessels, he would have been as -happy as he ever expected it would be possible for him in such a savage -land. - -He wanted the girl with him for companionship; he was more afraid when -he was alone. Of course, he realized that she was no fit companion -for a man of his mental attainments; but then she was a human being, -and her society much better than none at all. While hope had still -lingered that he might live to escape and return to his beloved Boston, -he had often wondered whether he would dare tell his mother of his -unconventional acquaintance with this young woman. - -Of course, it would be out of the question for him to go at all into -details. He would not, for example, dare to attempt a description of -her toilet to his prim parent. - -The fact that they had been alone together, day and night for weeks was -another item which troubled Waldo considerably. He knew that the shock -of such information might prostrate his mother, and for a long time he -debated the wisdom of omitting any mention of the girl whatever. - -At length he decided that a little, white lie would be permissible, -inasmuch as his mother's health and the girl's reputation were both at -stake. So he had decided to mention that the girl's aunt had been with -them in the capacity of chaperon; that fixed it nicely, and on this -point Waldo's mind was more at ease. - -Late in the afternoon they wound down a narrow trail that led from -the plateau into a narrow, beautiful valley. A tree-bordered river -meandered through the center of the level plain that formed the -valley's floor, while beyond rose precipitous cliffs, which trailed -off in either direction as far as the eye could reach. - -"There live my people," said the girl, pointing toward the distant -barrier. - -Waldo groaned inwardly. - -"Let us rest here," he said, "until tomorrow, that we may come to your -home rested and refreshed." - -"Oh, no," cried the girl; "we can reach the caves before dark. I can -scarcely wait until I shall have seen how you shall slay Flatfoot, and -maybe Korth also. Though I think that after one of them has felt your -might the others will be glad to take you into the tribe at the price -of your friendship." - -"Is there not some way," ventured the distracted Waldo, "that I may -come into your village without fighting? I should dislike to kill one -of your friends," said Waldo solemnly. - -The girl laughed. - -"Neither Flatfoot nor Korth are friends of mine," she replied; "I hate -them both. They are terrible men. It would be better for all the tribe -were they killed. They are so strong and cruel that we all hate them, -since they use their strength to abuse those who are weaker. - -"They make us all work very hard for them. They take other men's mates, -and if the other men object they kill them. There is scarcely a moon -passes that does not see either Korth or Flatfoot kill some one. - -"Nor is it always men they kill. Often when they are angry they kill -women and little children just for the pleasure of killing; but when -you come among us there will be no more of that, for you will kill them -both if they be not good." - -Waldo was too horrified by this description of his soon-to-be -antagonists to make any reply--his tongue clave to the roof of his -mouth--all his vocal organs seemed paralyzed. - -But the girl did not notice. She went on joyously, ripping Waldo's -nervous system out of him and tearing it into shreds. - -"You see," she continued, "Flatfoot and Korth are greater than the -other men of my tribe. They can do as they will. They are frightful to -look upon, and I have often thought that the hearts of others dried up -when they saw either of them coming for them. - -"And they are so strong! I have seen Korth crush the skull of a -full-grown man with a single blow from his open palm; while one of -Flatfoot's amusements is the breaking of men's arms and legs with his -bare hands." - -They had entered the valley now, and in silence they continued on -toward the fringe of trees which grew beside the little river. - -Nadara led the way toward a ford, which they quickly crossed. All the -way across the valley Waldo had been searching for some avenue of -escape. - -He dared not enter that awful village and face those terrible men, -and he was almost equally averse to admitting to the girl that he was -afraid. - -He would gladly have died to have escaped either alternative, but he -preferred to choose the manner of his death. - -The thought of entering the village and meeting a horrible end at the -hands of the brutes who awaited him there and of being compelled to -demonstrate before the girl's eyes that he was neither a mighty fighter -nor a hero was more than he could endure. - -Occupied with these harrowing speculations, Waldo and Nadara came to -the farther side of the forest, whence they could see the towering -cliffs rising steeply from the valley's bed, three hundred yards away. - -Along their face and at their feet Waldo descried a host of half-naked -men, women, and children moving about in the consummation of their -various duties. Involuntarily he halted. - -The girl came to his side. Together they looked out upon the scene, the -like of which Waldo Emerson never before had seen. - -It was as though he had been suddenly snatched back through countless -ages to a long-dead past and dropped into the midst of the prehistoric -life of his paleolithic progenitors. - -Upon the narrow ledges before their caves, women, with long, flowing -hair, ground food in rude stone mortars. - -Naked children played about them, perilously close to the precipitous -cliff edge. - -Hairy men squatted, gorillalike, before pieces of flat stone, upon -which green hides were stretched, while they scraped, scraped, scraped -with the sharp edge of smaller bits of stone. - -There was no laughter and no song. - -Occasionally Waldo saw one of the fierce creatures address another, and -sometimes one would raise his thick lips in a nasty snarl that exposed -his fighting fangs; but they were too far away for their words to reach -the young man. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -AWAKENING - - -"Come," said the girl, "let us make haste. I cannot wait to be home -again! How good it looks!" - -Waldo gazed at her in horror. It did not seem credible that this -beautiful young creature could be of such clay as that he looked upon. -It was revolting to believe that she had sprung from the loins of one -of those half-brutes, or that a woman as fierce, repulsive, such as -those he saw before him, could have borne her. It made him sick with -disgust. - -He turned from her. - -"Go to your people, Nadara," he said, for an idea had come to him. - -He had evolved a scheme for escaping a meeting with Flatfoot and Korth, -and the sudden disgust which he felt for the girl made it easier for -him to carry out his design. - -"Are you not coming with me?" she cried. - -"Not at once," replied Waldo, quite truthfully. "I wish you to go -first. Were we to go together they might harm you when they rushed out -to attack me." - -The girl had no fear of this, but she felt that it was very thoughtful -of the man to consider her welfare so tenderly. To humor him, she -acceded to his request. - -"As you wish, Thandar," she answered, smiling. - -Thandar was a name of her own choosing, after, Waldo had informed her -in answer to a request for his name, that she might call him Mr. Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones. "I shall call you Thandar," she had replied; "it -is shorter, more easily remembered, and describes you. It means the -Brave One." And so Thandar he had become. - -The girl had scarcely emerged from the forest on her way toward the -cliffs when Thandar the Brave One, turned and ran at top speed in -the opposite direction. When he came to the river he gave immediate -evidence of the strides he had taken in woodcraft during the brief -weeks that he had been under the girl's tutorage, for he plunged -immediately into the water, setting out up-stream upon the gravelly -bottom where he would leave no spoor to be tracked down by the eagle -eyes of these primitive men. - -He supposed that the girl would search for him; but he felt no -compunction at having deserted her so scurvily. Of course, he had no -suspicion of her real sentiments toward him--it would have shocked -him to have imagined that a low-born person, such as she, had become -infatuated with him. - -It would have been embarrassing and unfortunate, but, of course, -quite impossible--since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones could never form an -alliance beneath him. As for the girl herself, he might as readily have -considered the possibility of marrying a cow, so far from any such -thoughts of her had he been. - -On and on he stumbled through the cold water. Sometimes it was above -his head, but Waldo had learned to swim--the girl had made him, partly -by pleas, but largely by the fear that she would ridicule him. - -As night came on he commenced to become afraid, but his fear now was -not such a horribly prostrating thing as it had been a few weeks -before. Without being aware of the fact, Waldo had grown a trifle less -timid, though he was still far from lion-like. - -That night he slept in the crotch of a tree. He selected a small one, -which, though less comfortable, was safer from the approach of Nagoola -than a larger tree would have been. This also had he learned from -Nadara. - -Had he paused to consider, he would have discovered that all he knew -that was worth while he had had from the savage little girl whom he, -from the high pinnacle of his erudition, regarded with such pity. But -Waldo had not as yet learned enough to realize how very little he knew. - -In the morning he continued his flight, gathering his breakfast from -tree and shrub as he fled. Here again was he wholly indebted to Nadara, -for without her training he would have been restricted to a couple of -fruits, whereas now he had a great variety of fruits, roots, berries, -and nuts to choose from in safety. - -The stream that he had been following had now become a narrow, rushing, -mountain torrent. It leaped suddenly over little precipices in wild and -picturesque waterfalls; it rioted in foaming cascades; and ever it led -Waldo farther into high and rugged country. - -The climbing was difficult and oftentimes dangerous. Waldo was -surprised at the steeps he negotiated--perilous ascents from which he -would have shrunk in palsied fear a few weeks earlier. Waldo was coming -on. - -Another fact which struck him with amazement at the same time that it -filled him with rejoicing, was that he no longer coughed. It was quite -beyond belief, too, since never in his life had he been so exposed to -cold and wet and discomfort. - -At home, he realized, he would long since have curled up and died had -he been subjected to one-tenth the exposure that he had undergone since -the great wave had lifted him bodily from the deck of the steamer to -land him unceremoniously in the midst of this new life of hardships and -terrors. - -Toward noon Waldo began to travel with less haste. He had seen or heard -no evidence of pursuit. At times he stopped to look back along the -trail he had passed, but though he could see the little valley below -him for a considerable distance he discovered nothing to arouse alarm. - -Presently he realized that he was very lonely. A dozen times in as many -minutes he thought of observations he would have been glad to make had -there been some one with him to hear. There were queries, too, relative -to this new country that he should have liked very much to propound, -and it flashed upon him that in all the world there was only one whom -he knew who could give him correct answers to these queries. - -He wondered what the girl had thought when he did not follow her into -the village, and set upon Flatfoot and Korth. At the thought he found -himself flushing in a most unaccountable manner. - -What would the girl think! Would she guess the truth? Well, what -difference if she did? What was her opinion to a cultured gentleman -such as Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones? But yet he found his mind constantly -reverting to this unhappy speculation; it was most annoying. - -As he thought of her he discovered with what distinctness he recalled -every feature of her piquant little face, her olive skin tinged -beautifully by the ruddy glow of health; her fine, straight nose and -delicate nostrils, her perfect eyes, soft, yet filled with the fire of -courage and intelligence. Waldo wondered why it was that he recalled -these things now, and dwelt upon them; he had been with her for weeks -without realizing that he had particularly noticed them. - -But most vividly he conjured again the memory of her soft, liquid -speech, her ready retorts, her bright, interesting observations on -the little happenings of their daily life; her thoughtful kindliness -to him, a stranger within her gates, and--again he flushed hotly--her -sincere, though remarkable, belief in his prowess. - -It took Waldo a long time to admit to himself that he missed the -girl; it must have been weeks before he finally did so unreservedly. -Simultaneously he determined to return to her village and find her. He -had even gone so far as to start the return journey when the memory of -her description of Flatfoot and Korth brought him to a sudden halt--a -most humiliating halt. - -The blood surged to his face--he could feel it burning there. And then -Waldo did two things which he had never done before: he looked at his -soul and saw himself as he was, and--he swore. - -"Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones," he said aloud, "you're a darned coward! -Worse than that, you're an unthinkable cad. That girl was kind to you. -She treated you with the tender solicitude of a mother. And how have -you returned her kindness? By looking down upon her with arrogant -condescension. By pitying her. - -"Pitying her! You--you miserable weakling--ingrate, pitying that -fine, intelligent, generous girl. You, with your pitiful little store -of second-hand knowledge, pitying that girl's ignorance. Why, she's -forgotten more real things than you ever heard of, you--you--" Words -utterly failed him. - -Waldo's awakening was thorough--painfully thorough. It left no tiny -hidden recess of his contemptible little soul unrevealed from his -searching self-analysis. Looking back over the twenty-one years of his -uneventful life, he failed to resurrect but a single act of which he -might now be proud, and that, strange to say, in the light of his past -training, had to do neither with culture, intellect, birth, breeding, -nor knowledge. - -It was a purely gross, physical act. It was hideously, violently, -repulsively animal--it was no other than the instant of heroism in -which he had turned back upon the cliff's face to battle with the -horrible, hairy man who had threatened to prevent Nadara's escape. - -Even now Waldo could not realize that it had been he who ventured so -foolhardy an act; but none the less his breast swelled with pride as -he recalled it. It put into the heart of the man a new hope and into -his head a new purpose--a purpose that would have caused his Back Bay -mother to seek an early grave could she have known of it. - -Nor did Waldo Emerson lose any time in initiating the new regime which -was eventually to fit him for the consummation of his splendid purpose. -He thought of it as splendid now, though a few weeks before the vulgar -atrocity of it would have nauseated him. - -Far up in the hills, near the source of the little river, Waldo had -found a rocky cave. This he had chosen as his new home. He cleaned it -out with scrupulous care, littering the floor with leaves and grasses. - -Before the entrance he piled a dozen large boulders, so arranged that -three of them could be removed or replaced either from within or -without, thus forming a means of egress and ingress which could be -effectually closed against intruders. - -From the top of a high promontory, a half mile beyond his cave, Waldo -could obtain a view of the ocean, some eight or ten miles distant. -It was always in his mind that some day a ship would come, and -Waldo longed to return to the haunts of civilization, but he did not -expect the ship before his plans had properly matured and been put -into execution. He argued that he could not sail away from this shore -forever without first seeing Nadara, and restoring the confidence in -him which he felt his recent desertion had unquestionably shaken to its -foundations. - -As a part of his new regime, Waldo required exercise, and to this end -he set about making a trip to the ocean at least once each week. The -way was rough and hazardous, and the first few times Waldo found it -almost beyond his strength to make even one leg of the journey between -sunrise and dark. - -This necessitated sleeping out over night; but this, too, accorded with -the details of the task he had set himself, and so he did it quite -cheerfully and with a sense of martyrdom that he found effectually -stilled his most poignant fits of cowardice. - -As time went on he was able to cover the whole distance to the ocean -and return in a single day. He never coughed now, nor did he glance -fearfully from side to side as he strode through the woods and open -places of his wild domain. - -His eyes were bright and clear, his head and shoulders were thrown well -back, and the mountain climbing had expanded his chest to a degree -that appalled him--the while it gave him much secret satisfaction. It -was a very different Waldo from the miserable creature which had been -vomited up by the ocean upon the sand of that distant beach. - -The days that Waldo did not make a trip to the ocean he spent in -rambling about the hills in the vicinity of his cave. He knew every -rock and tree within five miles of his lair. - -He knew where Nagoola hid by day, and the path that he took down to the -valley by night. Nor did he longer tremble at sight of the great, black -cat. - -True, Waldo avoided him, but it was through cool and deliberate -caution, which is quite another thing from the senseless panic of fear. -Waldo was biding his time. - -He would not always avoid Nagoola. Nagoola was a part of Waldo's great -plan, but Waldo was not ready for him yet. - -The young man still bore his cudgel, and in addition he had practised -throwing rocks until he could almost have hit a nearby bird upon the -wing. Besides these weapons Waldo was working upon a spear. It had -occurred to him that a spear would be a mighty handy weapon against -either man or beast, and so he had set to work to fashion one. - -He found a very straight young sapling, a little over an inch in -diameter and ten feet long. By means of a piece of edged flint he -succeeded in tapering it to a sharp point. A rawhide thong, plaited -from many pieces of small bits of hide taken from the little animals -that had fallen before his missiles, served to sling the crude weapon -across his shoulders when he walked. - -With his spear he practised hour upon hour each day, until he could -transfix a fruit the size of an apple three times out of five, at a -distance of fifty feet, and at a hundred hit a target the size of a man -almost without a miss. - -Six months had passed since he had fled from an encounter with Flatfoot -and Korth. - -Then Waldo had been a skinny, cowardly weakling; now his great frame -had filled out with healthy flesh, while beneath his skin hard muscles -rolled as he bent to one of the many Herculean tasks he had set for -himself. - -For six months he had worked with a single purpose in view, but still -he felt that the day was not yet come when he might safely venture to -put his new-found manhood to the test. - -Down, far down, in the depth of his soul he feared that he was yet a -coward at heart--and he dared not take the risk. It was too much to -expect, he told himself, that a man should be entirely metamorphosed in -a brief half year. He would wait a little longer. - -It was about this time that Waldo first saw a human being after his -last sight of Nadara. - -It was while he was on his way to the ocean, on one of the trips that -had by this time become thrice weekly affairs, that he suddenly came -face to face with a skulking, hairy brute. - -Waldo halted to see what would happen. - -The man eyed him with those small, cunning, red-rimmed eyes that -reminded Waldo of the eyes of a pig. - -Finally Waldo spoke in the language of Nadara. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -"Sag the Killer," replied the man. "Who are you?" - -"Thandar," answered Waldo. - -"I do not know you," said Sag; "but I can kill you." - -He lowered his bull head and came for Waldo like a battering ram. - -The young man dropped the point of his ready spear, bracing his feet. -The point entered Sag's breast below the collar-bone, stopping only -after it had passed entirely through the savage heart. Waldo had not -moved; the momentum of the man's body had been sufficient to impale him. - -As the body rolled over, stiffening after a few convulsive kicks, Waldo -withdrew his spear from it. Blood smeared its point for a distance of a -foot, but Waldo showed no sign of loathing or disgust. - -Instead he smiled. It had been so much easier than he had anticipated. - -Leaving Sag where he had fallen he continued toward the ocean. An hour -later he heard unusual noises behind him. - -He stopped to listen. He was being pursued. From the sounds he -estimated that there must be several in the party, and a moment later, -as he was crossing a clearing, he got his first view of them as they -emerged from the forest he had just quitted. - -There were at least twenty powerfully muscled brutes. In skin bags -thrown across their shoulders each carried a supply of stones, and -these they began to hurl at Waldo as they raced toward him. For a -moment the man held his ground, but he quickly realized the futility of -pitting himself against such odds. - -Turning, he ran toward the forest upon the other side of the clearing -while a shower of rocks whizzed about him. - -Once within the shelter of the trees there was less likelihood of his -being hit by one of the missiles, but occasionally a well-aimed rock -would strike him a glancing blow. Waldo hoped that they would tire of -the chase before the beach was reached, for he knew that there could be -but one outcome of a battle in which one man faced twenty. - -As the pursued and the pursuers raced on through the forest one of the -latter, fleeter than his companions, commenced to close up the gap -which had existed between Waldo and the twenty. On and on he came, -until a backward glance showed Waldo that in another moment this swift -foeman would be upon him. He was younger than his fellows and more -active, and, having thrown all his stones, was free from any burden of -weight other than the single garment about his hips. - -Waldo still clung to his tattered ducks, which from lack of support and -more or less rapid disintegration were continually slipping down from -his hips, so that they tended to hinder his movements and reduce his -speed. - -Had he been as naked as his pursuer he would doubtless have distanced -him; but he was not, and it was evident that because of this fact he -must take a chance in a hand-to-hand encounter that might delay him -sufficiently to permit the balance of the horde to reach him--that -would be the end of everything. - -But Waldo Emerson neither screamed in terror nor trembled. When he -wheeled to meet the now close savage there was a smile upon his lips, -for Waldo Emerson had "killed his man," and there was no longer the -haunting fear within his soul that at heart he was a coward. - -As he turned with couched spear the cave man came to a sudden stop. - -This was not what Waldo had anticipated. The other savages were running -rapidly toward him, but the fellow who had first overhauled him -remained at a safe twenty feet from the point of his weapon. - -Waldo was being cleverly held until the remainder of the enemy could -arrive and overwhelm him. He knew that if he turned to run the fellow -who danced and yelled just beyond his reach would plunge forward and be -upon his back in an instant. - -He tried rushing the man, but the other retreated nimbly, drawing Waldo -still closer to those who were coming on. - -There was no time to be lost. A moment more and the entire twenty would -be upon him; but there were possibilities in a spear that the cave man -in his ignorance dreamed not of. There was a lightninglike movement of -Waldo's arm, and the aborigine saw the spear darting swiftly through -space toward his breast. He tried to dodge, but was too late. Down he -went, clutching madly at the slender thing which protruded from his -heart. - -Although one of the dead man's companions was now quite close, Waldo -could not relinquish his weapon without an effort--it had cost him -considerable time to make, and twice today it had saved his life. -Forgetful that he had ever been a coward he leaped toward the fallen -man, reaching his side at the same instant as his foremost pursuer. - -The two came together like mad bulls--the savage reaching for Waldo's -throat, Waldo wielding his light cudgel. For a moment they struggled -backward and forward, turning and twisting, the cave man in an effort -to close upon Waldo's wind, Waldo to hold the other at arm's length for -the brief instant that would be necessary for one sudden, effective -blow from the cudgel. - -The other savages were almost upon them when the young man found his -antagonist's throat. Throwing all his weight and strength into the -effort, Waldo forced the cave man back until there was room between -them for the play of the stick. A single blow was sufficient. - -As the limp body of his foeman slipped from his grasp, Waldo snatched -his precious spear from the heart of its victim, and with the hands of -the infuriated pack almost upon him, turned once more into his flight -toward the ocean. - -The howling band was close upon his heels now, nor could he greatly -increase the distance that separated him from them. He wondered what -the outcome of the matter was to be; he did not wish to die. His -thoughts kept reverting to his boyhood home, to his indulgent mother, -to the friends that had been his. He felt that at the last moment he -was about to lose his nerve--that, after all, his hard earned manliness -was counterfeit. - -Then there came to him a vision of an oval, olive face framed by a mass -of soft, black hair; and before it the fear of death dissolved into a -grim smile. He did not pause to analyze the reason for it--nor could he -have done so then had he tried. He only knew that with those eyes upon -him he could not be aught else than courageous. - -A moment later he burst through the last fringe of underbrush to emerge -upon the clearing that faced the sea. - -There by a tiny rivulet he saw a sight that filled him with -thanksgiving, and farther out upon the ocean that which he had been -waiting and hoping for for all these long, hard months--a ship. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -A CHOICE - - -Seamen upon the beach were filling water-casks. - -There were a dozen of them, and as Waldo plunged from the forest they -looked with startled apprehension at the strange apparition. A great, -brown giant they saw, clad in a few ragged strings of white duck, for -Waldo had kept his apparel as immaculately clean as hard rubbing in -cold water would permit. - -In one hand the strange creature carried a long, bloody spear, in the -other a light cudgel. Long, yellow hair streamed back over his broad -shoulders. - -Several of the men--those who were armed--leveled guns and revolvers at -him; but when, as he drew closer, they saw a broad grin upon his face, -and heard in perfectly good English, "Don't shoot; I'm a white man," -they lowered their weapons and awaited him. - -He had scarcely reached them when they saw a swarm of naked men dash -from the forest in his wake. Waldo saw their eyes directed past him and -knew that his pursuers had come into view. - -"You'll have to shoot at them, I imagine," he said. "They're not -exactly domesticated. Try firing over their heads at first; maybe you -can scare them away without hurting any of them." - -He disliked the idea of seeing the poor savages slaughtered. It didn't -seem just like fair play to mow them down with bullets. - -The sailors followed his suggestion. At the first reports the cave men -halted in surprise and consternation. - -"Let's rush 'em," suggested one of the men, and this was all that was -needed to send them scurrying back into the woods. - -Waldo found that the ship was English, and that all the men spoke his -mother tongue in more or less understandable fashion. The second mate, -who was in charge of the landing party, proved to have originated in -Boston. It was much like being at home again. - -Waldo was so excited and wanted to ask so many questions all at once -that he became almost unintelligible. It seemed scarcely possible that -a ship had really come. - -He realized now that he had never actually entertained any very -definite belief that a ship ever would come to this out-of-the-way -corner of the world. He had hoped and dreamed, but down in the bottom -of his heart he must have felt that years might elapse before he would -be rescued. - -Even now it was difficult to believe that these were really civilized -beings like himself. - -They were on their way to a civilized world; they would soon be -surrounded by their families and friends, and he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, was going with them! - -In a few months he would see his mother and his father and all his -friends--he would be among his books once more. - -Even as the last thought flashed through his mind it was succeeded by -mild wonderment that this outlook failed to raise his temperature as he -might have expected that it would. His books had been his real life in -the past--could it be that they had lost something of their glamour? -Had his brief experience with the realities of life dulled the edge of -his appetite for second-hand hopes, aspirations, deeds, and emotions? - -It had. - -Waldo yet craved his books, but they alone would no longer suffice. He -wanted something bigger, something more real and tangible--he wanted to -read and study, but even more he wanted to do. And back there in his -own world there would be plenty awaiting the doing. - -His heart thrilled at the possibilities that lay before the new -Waldo Emerson--possibilities of which he never would have dreamed -but for the strange chance which had snatched him bodily from one -life to throw him into this new one, which had forced upon him the -development of attributes of self-reliance, courage, initiative, and -resourcefulness that would have lain dormant within him always but for -the necessity which had given birth to them. - -Yes, Waldo realized that he owed a great deal to this experience--a -great deal to--. And then a sudden realization of the truth rushed in -upon him--he owed everything to Nadara. - -"I was never ship-wrecked on a desert island," said the second mate, -breaking in upon Waldo's reveries, "but I can imagine just about how -good you feel at the thought that you are at last rescued and that in -an hour or so you will see the shoreline of your prison growing smaller -and smaller upon the southern horizon." - -"Yes," acquiesced Waldo in a far away voice: "it's awfully good of you, -but I am not going with you." - - * * * * * - -Two hours later Waldo Emerson stood alone upon the beach, watching the -diminishing hull of a great ship as it dropped over the rim of the -world far to the north. - -A vague hint of tears dimmed his vision; then he threw back his -shoulders, swallowed the thing that had risen into his throat, and -with high held head turned back into the forest. - -In one hand he carried a razor and a plug of tobacco--the sole mementos -of his recent brief contact with the world of civilization. The kindly -sailors had urged him to reconsider his decision, but when he remained -obdurate they had insisted that they be permitted to leave some of the -comforts of life with him. - -The only thing that he could think of that he wanted very badly -was a razor--firearms he would not accept, for he had worked out a -rather fine chivalry of his own here in this savage world--a chivalry -which would not permit him to take any advantage over the primeval -inhabitants he had found here other than what his own hands and head -might give him. - -At the last moment one of the seamen, prompted by a generous heart and -a keen realization of what life must be without even bare necessities, -had thrust upon Waldo the plug of tobacco. As he looked at it now the -young man smiled. - -"That would indeed be the last step, according to mother's ideas," he -soliloquized. "No lower could I sink." - -The ship that bore away Waldo's chance of escape carried also a long -letter to Waldo's mother. In portions it was rather vague and rambling. -It mentioned, among other things, that he had an obligation to fulfil -before he could leave his present habitat; but that the moment he was -free he should "take the first steamer for Boston." - -The skipper of the ship which had just sailed away had told Waldo -that in so far as he knew there might never be another ship touch -his island, which was so far out of the beaten course that only the -shoreline of it had ever been explored, and scarce a score of vessels -had reported it since Captain Cook discovered it in 1773. - -Yet it was in the face of this that Waldo had refused to leave. As -he walked slowly through the wood on his way back toward his cave he -tried to convince himself that he had acted purely from motives of -gratitude and fairness--that as a gentleman he could do no less than -see Nadara and thank her for the friendly services she had rendered -him; but for some reason this seemed a very futile and childish excuse -for relinquishing what might easily be his only opportunity to return -to civilization. - -His final decision was that he had acted the part of a fool; yet as he -walked he hummed a joyous tune, and his heart was full of happiness and -pleasant expectations of what he could not have told. - -To one thing he had made up his mind, and that was that the next sun -would see him on his way to the village of Nadara. His experience with -the savages that day had convinced him that he might with reasonable -safety face Flatfoot and Korth. - -The more he dwelt upon this idea the more light-hearted he became--he -could not understand it. He should be plunged into the blackest -despair, for had he not but just relinquished a chance to return -home, and was he not within a day or two to enter the village of the -ferocious Flatfoot and the mighty Korth? Even so, his heart sang. - -Waldo saw nothing of his enemies of the earlier part of the day as -he moved cautiously through the forest or crossed the little plains -and meadows which lay along the route between the ocean and his lair; -but his thoughts often reverted to them and to his adventures of the -morning, and the result was that he became aware of a deficiency in his -equipment--a deficiency which his recent battle made glaringly apparent. - -In fact, there were two points that might be easily remedied. One was -the lack of a shield. Had he had protection of this nature he would -have been in comparatively little danger from the shower of missiles -that the savages had flung at him. - -The other was a sword. With a sword and shield he could have let his -enemies come to very close quarters with perfect impunity to himself -and then have run them through with infinite ease. - -This new idea would necessitate a delay in his plans; he must finish -both shield and sword before he departed for the village of Flatfoot. -What with his meditation and his planning, Waldo had made poor time on -the return journey from the coast so that it was after sunset when he -entered the last deep ravine beyond the farther summit of which lay -his rocky home. In the depths of the ravine it was already quite dark, -though a dim twilight still hung upon the surrounding hill-tops. - -He had about completed the arduous ascent of the last steep trail, at -the crest of which was his journey's end, when above him, silhouetted -against the darkening sky, loomed a great black, crouching mass, from -the center of which blazed two balls of fire. - -It was Nagoola, and he occupied the center of the only trail that led -over the edge of the ridge from the ravine below. - -"I had almost forgotten you, Nagoola," murmured Waldo Emerson. "I could -never have gone upon my journey without first interviewing you, but I -could have wished a different time and place than this. Let us postpone -the matter for a day or so," he concluded aloud; but the only response -from Nagoola was an ominous growl. Waldo felt rather uncomfortable. - -He could not have come upon the great, black panther at a more -inopportune time or place. It was too dark for Waldo's human eyes, and -the cat was above him and Waldo upon a steep hillside that under the -best of conditions offered but a precarious foothold. He tried to shoo -the formidable beast away by shouts and menacing gesticulations, but -Nagoola would not shoo. - -Instead he crept slowly forward, edging his sinuous body inch by inch -along the rocky trail until it hung poised above the waiting man a -dozen feet below him. - -Six months before Waldo would long since have been shrieking in -meteorlike flight down the bed of the ravine behind him. That a -wonderful transformation had been wrought within him was evident from -the fact that no cry of fright escaped him, and that, far from fleeing, -he edged inch by inch upward toward the menacing creature hanging there -above him. He carried his spear with the point leveled a trifle below -those baleful eyes. - -He had advanced but a foot or two, however, when, with an awful shriek, -the terrible beast launched itself full upon him. - -As the heavy body struck him Waldo went over backward down the cliff, -and with him went Nagoola. - -Clawing, tearing, and scratching, the two rolled and bounded down -the rocky hillside until, near the bottom, they came to a sudden stop -against a large tree. - -The growling and screeching ceased, the clawing paws and hands were -still. Presently the tropic moon rose over the hill-top to look down -upon a little tangled mound of man and beast that lay very quiet -against the bole of a great tree near the bottom of a dark ravine. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THANDAR, THE SEEKER - - -For a long time there was no sign of life in that strange pile of -flesh and bone and brawn and glossy black fur and long, yellow hair -and blood. But toward dawn it moved a little, down near the bottom of -the heap, and a little later there was a groan, and then all was still -again for many minutes. - -Presently it moved again, this time more energetically, and after -several efforts a yellow head streaked and matted with blood emerged -from beneath. It required the better part of an hour for the stunned -and lacerated Waldo to extricate himself from the entangling embrace of -Nagoola. - -When, finally, he staggered to his feet he saw that the great cat lay -dead before him, the broken shaft of the spear protruding from the -sleek, black breast. - -It was quite evident that the beast had lived but the barest fraction -of an instant after it had launched itself upon the man; but during -that brief interval of time it had wrought sore havoc with its mighty -talons, though fortunately for Waldo the great jaws had not found him. - -From breast to knees ghastly wounds were furrowed in the man's brown -skin where the powerful hind feet of the beast had raked him. - -That he owed his life to the chance that had brought about the -encounter upon a steep hillside rather than on the level seemed quite -apparent, for during their tumble down the declivity Nagoola had been -unable to score with any degree of accuracy. - -As Waldo looked down upon himself he was at first horrified by the -frightful appearance of his wounds; but when a closer examination -showed them to be superficial he realized that the only danger lay -in infection. Every bone and muscle in his body ached from the -man-handling and the fall, and the wounds themselves were painful, -almost excruciatingly so when a movement of his body stretched or tore -them; but notwithstanding his suffering he found himself smiling as he -contemplated the remnants of his long-suffering ducks. - -There remained of their once stylish glory not a shred--the panther's -sharp claws had finished what time and brambles had so well commenced. -And of their linen partner--the white outing shirt--only the neckband -remained; with a single fragment as large as one's hand depending -behind. - -"Nature is a wonderful leveler," thought Waldo. "It is evident that -she hates artificiality as she does a vacuum. I shall really need you -now," he concluded, looking at the beautiful, black coat of Nagoola. - -Despite his suffering, Waldo crawled to his lair, where he selected a -couple of sharp-edged stones from his collection and returned to the -side of Nagoola. - -Leaving his tools there he went on down to the bottom of the ravine, -where in a little crystal stream he bathed his wounds. Then he returned -once more to his kill. - -After half a day of the most arduous labor Waldo succeeded in removing -the panther's hide, which he dragged laboriously to his lair, where he -fell exhausted, unable even to crawl within. - -The next day Waldo worked upon the inner surface of the hide, removing -every particle of flesh by scraping it with a sharp stone, so that -there might be no danger of decomposition. - -He was still very weak and sore, but he could not bear the thought of -losing the pelt that had cost him so much to obtain. - -When the last vestige of flesh had been scraped away he crawled into -his lair, where he remained for a week, only emerging for food and -water. At the end of that time his wounds were almost healed, and -he had entirely recovered from his lameness and the shock of the -adventure, so that it was with real pleasure and exultation that he -gloated over his beautiful trophy. - -Always as he thought of the time that he should have it made ready for -girting about his loins he saw himself, not through his own eyes, but -as he imagined that another would see him, and that other was Nadara. - -For many days Waldo scraped and pounded the great skin as he had seen -the cave men scrape and pound in the brief instant he had watched them -with Nadara from the edge of the forest before the village of Flatfoot. -At last he was rewarded with a pelt sufficiently pliable for the -purpose of the rude apparel he contemplated. - -A strip an inch wide he trimmed off to form a supporting belt. With -this he tied the black skin about his waist, passed one arm through a -hole he had made for that purpose near the upper edge; bringing the -fore paws forward about his chest, he crossed and fastened them to -secure the garment from falling from the upper part of his body. - -It was a very proud Waldo that strutted forth in the finery of his new -apparel; but the pride was in the prowess that had won the thing for -him--vulgar, gross, brutal physical prowess--the very attribute upon -which he had looked with supercilious contempt six months before. - -Next Waldo turned his attention toward the fashioning of a sword, -a new spear, and a shield. The first two were comparatively easy of -accomplishment--he had them both completed in half a day, and from a -two-inch strip of panther hide he made also a sword belt to pass over -his right shoulder and support his sword at his left side; but the -shield almost defied his small skill and new-born ingenuity. - -With small twigs and grasses he succeeded, after nearly a week of -painstaking endeavor, in weaving a rude, oval buckler some three feet -long by two wide, which he covered with the skins of several small -animals that had fallen before his death-dealing stones. A strip of -hide fastened upon the back of the shield held it to his left arm. - -With it Waldo felt more secure against the swiftly thrown missiles of -the savages he knew he should encounter on his forthcoming expedition. - -At last came the morning for departure. Rising with the sun, Waldo -took his morning "tub" in the cold spring that rose a few yards from -his cave, then he got out the razor that the sailor had given him, and -after scraping off his scanty, yellow beard, hacked his tawny hair -until it no longer fell about his shoulders and in his eyes. - -Then he gathered up his weapons, rolled the boulders before the -entrance to his cave, and turning his back upon his rough home set -off down the little stream toward the distant valley where it wound -through the forest along the face of the cliffs to Flatfoot and Korth. - -As he stepped lightly along the hazardous trail, leaping from ledge -to ledge in the descent of the many sheer drops over which the stream -fell, he might have been a reincarnation of some primeval hunter from -whose savage loins had sprung the warriors and the strong men of a -world. - -The tall, well-muscled, brown body; the clear, bright eyes; the -high-held head; the sword, the spear, the shield were all a far cry -from the weak and futile thing that had lain groveling in the sand upon -the beach, sweating and shrieking in terror six short months before. -And yet it was the same. - -What one good but mistaken woman had smothered another had brought out, -and the result of the influence of both was a much finer specimen of -manhood than either might have evolved alone. - -In the afternoon of the third day Waldo came to the forest opposite the -cliffs where lay the home of Nadara. Cautiously he stole from tree to -tree until he could look out unseen upon the honeycombed face of the -lofty escarpment. - -All was lifeless and deserted. The cave mouths looked out upon the -valley, sad and lonely. There was no sign of life in any direction as -far as Waldo could see. - -Coming from the forest he crossed the clearing and approached the -cliffs. His eye, now become alert in woodcraft, detected the young -grass growing in what had once been well-beaten trails. He needed no -further evidence to assure him that the caves were deserted, and had -been for some time. - -One by one he entered and explored several of the cliff dwellings. All -gave the same mute corroboration of what was everywhere apparent--the -village had been evacuated without haste in an orderly manner. -Everything of value had been removed--only a few broken utensils -remaining as indication that it had ever constituted human habitation. - -Waldo was utterly confounded. He had not the remotest idea in which -direction to search. During the balance of the afternoon he wandered -along the various ledges, entering first one cave and then another. - -He wondered which had been Nadara's. He tried to imagine her life among -these crude, primitive surroundings; among the beast-like men and women -who were her people. She did not seem to harmonize with either. He was -convinced that she was more out of place here than Flatfoot would have -been in a Back Bay drawing-room. - -The more his mind dwelt upon her the sadder he became. He tried to -convince himself that it was purely disappointment in being thwarted -in his desire to thank her for her kindness to him, and demonstrate -that her confidence in his prowess had not been misplaced; but always -he discovered that his thoughts returned to Nadara rather than to the -ostensible object of his adventure. - -In short he began to realize, rather vaguely it is true, that he had -come because he wanted to see the girl again; but why he wanted to see -her he did not know. - -That night he slept in one of the deserted caves, and the next morning -set forth upon his quest for Nadara. For three days he searched the -little valley, but without results. There was no sign of any other -village within it. - -Then he passed over into another valley to the north. For weeks he -wandered hither and thither without being rewarded by even a sight of a -human being. - -Early one afternoon as he was topping a barrier in search of other -valleys he came suddenly face to face with a great, hairy man. Both -stopped--the hairy one glaring with his nasty little eyes. - -"I can kill you," growled the savage. - -Waldo had no desire to fight--it was information he was searching. But -he almost smiled at the ready greeting of the man. It was the same that -Sag the Killer had accorded him that day he had gone down to the sea -for the last time. - -It came as readily and as glibly from these primitive men as "good -morning" falls from the lips of the civilized races, yet among the -latter he realized that it had its counterpart in the stony stares -which Anglo Saxon strangers vouchsafe one another. - -"I have no quarrel with you," replied Waldo. "Let us be friends." - -"You are afraid," taunted the hairy one. - -Waldo pointed to his sable garment. - -"Ask Nagoola," he said. - -The man looked at the trophy. There could be no mightier argument for a -man's valor than that. He came a step closer that he might scrutinize -it more carefully. - -"Full-grown and in perfect health," he grunted to himself. "This is -no worn and mangy hide peeled from the rotting carcass of one dead of -sickness. - -"How did you slay Nagoola?" he asked suddenly. - -Waldo indicated his spear, then he drew his garment aside and pointed -to the vivid, new-healed scars that striped his body. - -"We met at dusk at a cliff-top. He was above, I below. When we reached -the bottom of the ravine Nagoola was dead. But it was nothing for -Thandar. I am Thandar." - -Waldo rightly suspected that a little bravado would make a good -impression on the intellect primeval, nor was he mistaken. - -"What do you here in my country?" asked the man, but his tone was less -truculent than before. - -"I am searching for Flatfoot and Korth--and Nadara," said Waldo. - -The other's eyes narrowed. - -"What would you of them?" he asked. - -"Nadara was good to me--I would repay her." - -"But Flatfoot and Korth--what of them?" insisted the man. - -"My business is with them. When I see them I shall transact it," Waldo -parried, for he had seen the cunning look in the man's eyes and he did -not like it. "Can you lead me to them?" - -"I can tell you where they are, but I am not bound thither," replied -the man. "Three days toward the setting sun will bring you to the -village of Flatfoot. There you will find Korth also--and Nadara," and -without further parley the savage turned and trotted toward the east. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -NADARA AGAIN - - -Waldo watched him out of sight, half minded to follow, for he was far -from satisfied that the fellow had been entirely honest with him. Why -he should have been otherwise Waldo could not imagine, but nevertheless -there had been an indefinable suggestion of duplicity in the man's -behavior that had puzzled him. - -However, Waldo took up his search toward the west, passing down from -the hills into a deep valley, the bottom of which was overgrown by a -thick tangle of tropical jungle. - -He had forced his way through this for nearly half a mile when he -came to the bank of a wide, slow-moving river. Its water was thick -with sediment--not clean, sparkling, and inviting, as were the little -mountain streams of the hills and valleys farther south. - -Waldo traveled along the edge of the river in a northwesterly -direction, searching for a ford. The steep, muddy banks offered no -foothold, so he dared not venture a crossing until he could be sure of -a safe landing upon the opposite shore. - -A couple of hundred yards from the point at which he had come upon the -stream he found a broad trail leading down into the water, and on the -other side saw a similar track cutting up through the bank. - -This, evidently, was the ford he sought, but as he started toward the -river he noticed the imprints of the feet of many animals--human and -brute. - -Waldo stooped to examine them minutely. There were the broad pads of -Nagoola, the smaller imprints of countless rodents, but back and forth -among them all were old and new signs of man. - -There were the great, flat-foot prints of huge adult males, the smaller -but equally flat-footed impresses of the women and children; but one -there was that caught his eye particularly. - -It was the fine and dainty outline of a perfect foot, with the arch -well defined. It was new, as were many of the others, and, like the -other newer ones, it led down to the river and then back again, as -though she who made it had come for water and then returned from whence -she had come. Waldo knew that the tracks leading away from the river -were the newer, because where the two trails overlapped those coming up -from the ford were always over those which led downward. - -The multiplicity of signs indicated a considerable community, and their -newness the proximity of the makers. - -Waldo hesitated but a moment before he reached a decision, and then he -turned up the trail away from the river, and at a rapid trot followed -the spoor along its winding course through the jungle to where it -emerged at the base of the foothills, to wind upward toward their crest. - -He found that the trail he was following crossed the hills but a few -yards from the spot at which he had met the cave man a short time -before. Evidently the man had been returning from the river when he had -espied Waldo. - -The young man could see where the fellow's tracks had left the main -trail, and he followed them to the point where the man had stood during -his conversation with Waldo; from there they led toward the east for -a short distance, and then turned suddenly north to reenter the main -trail. - -Waldo could see that as soon as the man had reached a point from which -he would be safe from the stranger's observation he had broken into a -rapid trot, and as he already had two hours' start Waldo felt that he -would have to hurry were he to overtake him. - -Just why he wished to do so he did not consider, but, intuitively -possibly, he felt that the surly brute could give him much more and -accurate information than he had. Nor could Waldo eliminate the memory -of those dainty feminine footprints. - -It was foolish, of course, and he fully realized the fact; but his -silly mind would insist upon attributing them to the cave girl--Nadara. - -For two hours he trotted doggedly along the trail, which for the most -part was well defined. There were places, of course, which taxed his -trailing ability, but by circling widely from these points he always -was able to pick up the tracks again. - -He had come down from the hills and entered an open forest, where the -trail was entirely lost in the mossy carpet that lay beneath the trees, -when he was startled by a scream--a woman's scream--and the hoarse -gutturals of two men, deep and angry. - -Hastening toward the sound, Waldo came upon the authors of the -commotion in a little glade half hidden by surrounding bushes. - -There were three actors in the hideous tragedy--a hairy brute dragging -a protesting girl by her long, black hair and an old man, who followed, -protesting futilely against the outrage that threatened the young woman. - -None of them saw Waldo as he ran toward them until he was almost upon -them, and then the beast who grasped the girl looked up, and Waldo -recognized him as the same who had sent him toward the west earlier in -the day. - -At the same instant he saw the girl was Nadara. - -In the brief interval that the recognition required there sloughed from -the heart and mind and soul of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones every particle -of the civilization and culture and refinement that had required -countless ages in the building, stripping him naked, age on age, down -to the primordial beast that had begot his first human progenitor. - -He saw red through blood as he leaped for the throat of the man-beast -whose ruthless hands were upon Nadara. - -His lip curled in the fighting snarl that exposed his long-unused -canine fangs. - -He forgot sword and shield and spear. - -He was no longer a man, but a terrible beast; and the hairy brute that -witnessed the metamorphosis blanched and shrank back in fear. - -But he could not escape the fury of that mad charge or the raging -creature that sought his throat. - -For a moment they struggled in a surging, swaying embrace, and then -toppled to the ground--the hairy one beneath. - -Rolling, tearing, and biting, they battled--each seeking a death hold -upon the other. - -Time and again the gleaming teeth of the once-fastidious Bostonian sank -into the breast and shoulder of his antagonist, but it was the jugular -his primal instinct sought. - -The girl and the old man had drawn away where they could watch the -battle in safety. Nadara's eyes were wide in fascination. - -Her slim, brown hands were tight pressed against her rapidly rising -and falling breasts as she leaned a little forward with parted lips, -drinking in every detail of the conflict between the two beasts. - -Ah, but was the yellow-haired giant really fighting for possession of -her, or merely in protection, because she was a woman? - -She could readily conceive from her knowledge of him that he might be -acting now solely from some peculiar sense of duty which she realized -that he might entertain, although she could not herself understand it. - -Yes, that was it, and when he had conquered his rival he would run away -again, as he had months before. At the thought Nadara felt herself -flush with mortification. No, he should never have another opportunity -to repeat that terrible affront. - -As she allowed her mind to dwell on the humiliating moment that had -witnessed the discovery that Thandar had fled from her at the very -threshold of her home Nadara found herself hating him again as fiercely -as she had all these long months--a hatred that had almost dissolved -at sight of him as he rushed out of the underbrush a moment before to -wrest her from the clutches of her hideous tormentor. - -Waldo and his antagonist were still tearing futilely at one another -in mad efforts to maim or kill. The giant muscles of the cave man -gave him but little if any advantage over his agile, though slightly -less-powerful, adversary. - -The hairy one used his teeth to better advantage, with the result that -Waldo was badly torn and bleeding from a dozen wounds. - -Both were weakening now, and it seemed to the girl who watched that the -younger man would be the first to succumb to the terrific strain under -which both had been. She took a step forward and, stooping, picked up a -stone. - -Her small strength would be ample to turn the scales as she might -choose--a sharp blow upon the head of either would give his adversary -the trifling advantage that would spell death for the one she struck. - -The two men had struggled to their feet again as she approached with -raised weapon. - -At the very moment that it left her hand they swung completely round, -so that Waldo faced her, and in the instant before the missile struck -his forehead he saw Nadara in the very act of throwing--upon her face -an expression of hatred and loathing. - -Then he lost consciousness and went down, dragging with him the cave -man, upon whose throat his fingers had just found their hold. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE SEEKER - - -When the old man saw what had happened he ran forward and grasped -Nadara by the wrist. - -"Quick!" he cried--"quick, my daughter! You have killed him who would -have saved you, and now nothing but flight may keep Korth from having -his way with you." - -As in a trance the girl turned and departed with him. - -They had scarcely disappeared within the underbrush when Waldo returned -to consciousness, so slight had been the effect of the blow upon his -head. - -To his surprise he found the cave man lying very still beside him, but -an instant later he read the reason for it in the little projecting -ridge of rock upon which lay his foe's forehead--in falling the savage -man had struck thus and lost consciousness. - -Almost immediately the hairy one opened his eyes, but before he could -gather his scattered senses sinewy fingers found his throat, and he -lapsed once more into oblivion--from which there was no awakening. - -As Waldo staggered to his feet he saw that the girl had vanished, and -there swept back into his mind the memory of the hate that had been in -her face as she struck him down. - -It seemed incredible that she should have turned against him so, and -at the very moment, too, when he had risked his life in her service; -but that she had there could be no doubt, for he had seen her cast -the stone--with his own eyes he had seen her, and, too, he had seen -the hatred and loathing in her face as she looked straight into his. -But what he had not seen was the look of horror that followed as the -missile struck him instead of Korth, sending him crumpling to earth. - -Slowly Waldo turned away from the scene of battle, and without even a -second look at his vanquished enemy limped painfully into the brush. -His heart was very heavy and he was weak from exhaustion and loss -of blood, but he staggered on, back toward his mountain lair, as he -thought, until unable to go further he sank down upon a little grassy -knoll and slept. - -When Nadara recovered from the shock of the thing she had done -sufficiently to reason for herself she realized that after all Thandar -might not be dead, and though the old man protested long and loudly -against it, she insisted upon retracing her steps toward the spot where -they had left the yellow giant in the clutches of Korth. - -Very cautiously the girl threaded her way through the maze of shrubbery -and creepers that filled the intervening space between the forest -trees, until she came silently to the edge of the clearing in which the -two had fought. - -As she peered anxiously through the last curtain of foliage she saw a -single body lying quiet and still upon the sward, and an instant later -recognized it as Korth's. For several minutes she watched it before she -became convinced that the man who had so terrorized her whole childish -life could never again offer her harm. - -She looked about for Thandar, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nadara -could scarcely believe that her eyes were not deceiving her. - -It was incredible that the yellow one could have gone down to -unconsciousness before her unintentional blow and yet have mastered the -mighty Korth; but how else could Korth have met his death and Thandar -be gone? - -She approached quite close to the dead man, turning the body over with -her foot until the throat was visible. There she saw the finger-marks -that had done the work, and with a little thrill of pride she turned -back into the forest, calling Thandar's name aloud. - -But Thandar did not hear. Half a mile away he lay weak and unconscious -from loss of blood. - -Morning found Nadara sleeping in a sturdy tree upon the trail along -which Waldo had followed Korth. She had discovered the footprints -of the two men the evening before while she had been searching -unsuccessfully for the trail which Waldo had followed after the battle. -She hoped now that the spoor might lead her to Thandar's cave, to which -she felt it quite possible he might have returned by another way. - -When the girl awoke she again took up her journey, following the tracks -as unerringly as a hound up through the hilly country, across the -divide and down into the jungle to the very watering place at which her -tribe had drank a few days earlier. Here she made a brief stay. - -Then on again down the river, back through the jungle and onto the -divide once more. She was much mystified by the windings of the trail, -but for days she followed the fading spoor until, becoming fainter and -fainter as it grew older, she lost it entirely at last. - -She was quite sure by now, however, that it led from her tribe's former -territory, and so she kept on, hoping against hope, that soon she would -come across the fresh track of Thandar where he had passed her on his -return journey to his home. - -Nadara had eluded the old man when she started upon her search for -Thandar, so it was that the old fellow returned to the dwellings of -his people alone the following day. - -Flatfoot was the first to greet him. - -"Where is the girl?" he growled. "And where is Korth? Has he taken her? -Answer me the truth or I will break every bone in your carcass." - -"I do not know where the girl is," answered the old man truthfully -enough, "but Korth lies dead in the little glade beyond the three great -trees. A mighty man killed him as he was dragging Nadara off into the -thicket----" - -"And the man has taken the girl for himself?" yelled Flatfoot. "You old -thief you. This is some of your work. Always have you tried to cheat -me of this girl since first you knew that I desired her. Whither went -they? Quick! before I kill you." - -"I do not know," replied the old man. "For hours I searched, until -darkness came, but neither of them could I find, and my old eyes are no -longer keen for trailing, so I was forced to abandon my hunt and return -here when morning came." - -"By the three trees the trail starts, you say?" cried Flatfoot. "That -is enough--I shall find them. And when I return with the girl it will -be time enough to kill you; now it would delay me too much," and with -that the cave man hurried away into the forest. - -It took him half a day to find Nadara's trail, but at last his search -was rewarded, and as she had made no effort to hide it he moved rapidly -along in the wake of the unsuspecting girl; but he was not as swift as -she, and the chase bid fair to be a long one. - -When Waldo woke he found the sun beating down upon his face, and though -he was lame and sore he felt quite strong enough to continue his -journey; but whither he should go he did not know. - -Now that Nadara had turned against him the island held nothing for him, -and he was on the point of starting back toward his far distant lair -from where he might visit the ocean often to watch for a passing ship, -when the sudden decision came to him to see the girl again, regardless -of her evident hostility, and learn from her own lips the exact reason -of her hatred for him. - -He had had no idea that the loss of her friendship would prove such -a blow to him, so that his pride suffered as well as his heart as he -contemplated his harrowed emotions. - -Of course he was reasonably sure that Nadara's attitude was due to -his ungallant desertion, for which act he had long suffered the most -acute pangs of remorse and contrition. Yet he felt that her apparent -vindictiveness was not warranted by even the grave offense against -chivalry and gratitude of which he had been guilty. - -It presently occurred to him that by the traitorous attack which -he believed that she had made upon him while he was acting in her -defense she had forfeited every claim which her former kindness might -have given her upon him, but with this realization came another--a -humiliating thought--he still wished to see her! - -He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, had become so devoid of pride that he -would voluntarily search out one who had wronged and outraged his -friendship, with the avowed determination of seeking a reconciliation. -It was unthinkable, and yet, as he admitted the impossibility of it, he -set forth in search of her. - -Waldo wondered not a little at the strange emotion--inherent gregarious -instinct, he thought it--which drew him toward Nadara. - -It did not occur to him that during all the past solitary months he had -scarcely missed the old companionship of his Back Bay friends; that for -once that they had been the subject of his reveries the cave girl had -held the center of that mental stage a thousand times. - -He failed to realize that it was not the companionship of the many that -he craved; that it was not the community instinct, or that his strange -longing could be satisfied by but a single individual. No, Waldo -Emerson did not know what was the matter with him, nor was it likely -that he ever would find out before it was too late. - -The young man attempted to retrace his steps to the battle-ground of -the previous day, but he had been so dazed after the encounter that -he had no clear recollection of the direction he had taken after he -quitted the glade. - -So it was that he stumbled in precisely the opposite direction, -presently emerging from the underbrush almost at the foot of a low -cliff tunneled with many caves. All about were the morose, unhappy -community whose savage lives were spent in almost continual wandering -from one filthy, comfortless warren to another equally foul and -wretched. - -At sight of them Waldo did not flee in dismay, as most certainly would -have been the case a few months earlier. Instead, he walked confidently -toward them. - -As he approached they ceased whatever work they were engaged upon and -eyed him suspiciously. Then several burly males approached him warily. - -At a hundred yards they halted. - -"What do you want?" they cried. "If you come to our village we can kill -you." - -Before Waldo could reply an old man crawled from a cave near the base -of the cliff, and as his eyes fell upon the stranger he hurried as -rapidly as his ancient limbs would carry him to the little knot of -ruffians who composed the reception committee. - -He spoke to them for a moment in a low tone, and as he was talking -Waldo recognized him as the old man who had accompanied Nadara on the -previous day at the battle in the glade. When he had finished speaking -one of the cave men assented to whatever proposal the decrepit one had -made, and Waldo saw that each of the others nodded his head in approval. - -Then the old man advanced slowly toward Waldo. When he had come quite -close he spoke. - -"I am an old man," he said. "Thandar would not kill an old man?" - -"Of course not; but how know you that my name is Thandar?" replied -Waldo. - -"Nadara, she who is my daughter, has spoken of you often. Yesterday we -saw you as you battled with that son of Nagoola--Nadara told me then -that it was you. What would Thandar among the people of Flatfoot?" - -"I come as a friend," replied Waldo, "among the friends of Nadara. For -Flatfoot I care nothing. He is no friend of Nadara, whose friends are -Thandar's friends, and whose enemies are Thandar's enemies. Where is -Nadara--but first, where is Flatfoot? I have come to kill him." - -The words and the savage challenge slipped as easily from the cultured -tongue of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones as though he had been born and -reared in the most rocky and barren cave of this savage island, nor did -they sound strange or unusual to him. It seemed that he had said the -most natural and proper thing under the circumstances that there was to -say. - -"Flatfoot is not here," said the old man, "nor is Nadara. She--" but -here Waldo interrupted him. - -"Korth, then," he demanded. "Where is Korth? I can kill him first and -Flatfoot when he returns." - -The old man looked at the speaker in unfeigned surprise. - -"Korth!" he exclaimed. "Korth is dead. Can it be that you do not know -that he, whom you killed yesterday, was Korth?" - -Waldo's eyes opened as wide in surprise as had the old man's. - -Korth! He had killed the redoubtable Korth with his bare hands--Korth, -who could crush the skull of a full-grown man with a single blow from -his open palm. - -Clearly he recollected the very words in which Nadara had described -this horrible brute that time she had harrowed his poor, coward nerves, -as they approached the village of Flatfoot. And now he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, had met and killed the creature from whom he had so -fearfully fled a few months ago! - -And, wonder of wonders, he had not even thought to use the weapons upon -which he had spent so many hours of handicraft and months of practise -in preparation for just this occasion. Of a sudden he recalled the old -man's statement that Nadara was not there. - -"Where is she--Nadara?" he cried, turning so suddenly upon the ancient -one that the old fellow drew back in alarm. - -"I have done nothing to harm her," he cried. "I followed and would have -brought her back, but I am old and could not find her. Once, when I was -young, there was no better trailer or mighty warrior among my people -than I, but----" - -"Yes, yes," exclaimed Waldo impatiently; "but Nadara! Where is she?" - -"I do not know," replied the old man. "She has gone, and I could not -find her. Well do I remember how, years ago, when the trail of an enemy -was faint or the signs of game hard to find, men would come to ask me -to help them, but now----" - -"Of course," interrupted Waldo; "but Nadara. Do you not even know in -what direction she has gone?" - -"No; but since Flatfoot has set forth upon her trail it should be easy -to track the two of them." - -"Flatfoot set out after Nadara!" cried, Waldo. "Why?" - -"For many moons he has craved her for his mate, as has Korth," -explained Nadara's father; "but I think that each feared the other, and -because of that fact Nadara was saved from both; but at last Korth came -upon us alone and away from the village, and then he grasped Nadara and -would have taken her away, for Flatfoot was not about to prevent. - -"You came then, and the rest you know. If I had been younger neither -Flatfoot nor Korth would have dared menace Nadara, for when I was a -young man I was very terrible and the record of my kills was a----" - -"How long since did Flatfoot set out after Nadara?" Waldo broke in. - -"But a few hours since," replied the old man. "It would be an easy -thing for me to overtake him by night had I the speed of my youth, for -I well remember----" - -"From where did Flatfoot start upon the trail?" cried the young man. -"Lead me to the place." - -"This way then, Thandar," said the other, starting off toward the -forest. "I will show you if you will save Nadara from Flatfoot. I love -her. She has been very kind and good to me. She is unlike the rest of -our people. - -"I should die happy if I knew that you have saved her from Flatfoot, -but I am an old man and may not live until Nadara returns. Ah, that -reminds me; there is that in my cave which belongs to Nadara, and were -I to die there would be none to protect it for her. - -"Will you wait for the moment that it will take me to run and fetch it, -that you may carry it to her, for I am sure that you will find her; -though I am not as sure that you will overcome Flatfoot if you meet -him. He is a very terrible man." - -Waldo hated to waste a minute of the precious time that was allowing -Flatfoot to win nearer and nearer Nadara; but if it were in a service -for the girl who had been so kind to him and for the happiness of her -old father he could not refuse, so he waited impatiently while the old -fellow tottered off toward the caves. - -Those who had come half-way to meet Waldo had hovered at a safe -distance while he had been speaking to Nadara's father, and when the -two turned toward the forest all had returned to their work in evident -relief; for the old man had told them that the stranger was the mighty -warrior who had killed the terrible Korth with his bare hands, nor had -the story lost anything in the telling. - -After what seemed hours to the waiting Waldo the old man returned with -a little package carefully wrapped in the skin of a small rodent, the -seams laboriously sewed in a manner of lacing with pieces of gut. - -"This is Nadara's," he said as they continued their way toward the -forest. "It contains many strange things of which I know not the -meaning or purpose. They all were taken from the body of her mother -when the woman died. You will give them to her?" - -"Yes," said Waldo. "I will give them to Nadara, or die in the trying of -it." - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE TRAIL'S END - - -Soon they came upon the trail of Flatfoot in the glade by the three -great trees; they had not searched for it sooner, for the old man knew -that it would start from that point upon its quest for the girl. - -The tracks circled the glade a dozen times in widening laps until at -last, at the point where Flatfoot must have picked up the spoor of -Nadara, they broke suddenly away into the underbrush. Once the way was -plain Waldo bid the old man be of good heart, for he would surely bring -his daughter back to him unharmed if the thing lay in the power of man. - -Then he hurried off upon the new-made trail that lay as plain and -readable before him as had the printed page of his former life; but -never had he bent with such keen interest to the reading of his -favorite author as he did to this absorbing drama written in the turned -leaves, the scattered twigs, and the soft mud of a primeval forest by -the feet of a savage man and a savage maid. - -Toward mid-afternoon Waldo became aware that he was much weaker from -the effects of his battle with Korth than he had supposed. He had lost -much blood from his wounds, and the exertion of following the trail at -a swift pace had reopened some of the worse ones, so that now, as he -ran, he was leaving a little trail of blood behind him. - -The discovery made him almost frantic, for it seemed to presage -failure. His condition would handicap him in the race after the two -along whose track he pursued so that it would be a miracle were he to -reach Flatfoot before the brute overtook Nadara. - -And if he did overtake him in time--what then? Would he be physically -able to cope with the brawny monster? He feared that he would not, but -that he kept doggedly to the grueling chase augured well for the new -manhood that had been so recently born within him. - -On and on he stumbled, until at dusk he slipped and fell exhausted to -the earth. Twice he struggled to his feet in an attempt to go on, but -he was forced to give in, lying where he was until morning. - -Slightly refreshed, he ate of the roots and fruit which abounded in the -forest, taking up the chase again, but this time more slowly. - -He was now convinced that the way led back along the same trail which -he had followed into the country, and when he reached the point at -which he had first met Korth on the previous day he cut across the -little space which intervened between the cave man's tracks and the -point at which he had stood before he went down over the divide into -the jungle toward the river and the ford. - -A moment later he was rewarded by the sight of Nadara's dainty -footprints as well as those of Flatfoot leading away along his old -trail. The act had saved him several miles of needless tracking. - -All that day he followed as rapidly as his weakened condition would -permit, but his best efforts seemed dismally snail-like. - -Along the way he bowled over a couple of large rodents, which he ate -raw, for he had long since learned the desirability of a meat diet for -one undergoing severe physical exertion, and had conquered his natural -aversion for the uncooked flesh. He even had come to relish it, though -often as he dined thus upon meat a broad grin illumined his countenance -at the thought of the horror with which his mother and his Boston -friends would view such a hideous performance. - -As he continued trailing the two he was at first surprised to discover -the fidelity with which Nadara had clung to his old trail, and because -of this fact he often was able to save miles at a time by taking -cross-cuts where, on his way in, he had made wide detours. - -But at last on the third day, when he attempted this at a place which -would have saved him fully ten miles, he was dismayed by the discovery -that he could not again pick up either Nadara's trail or that of the -cave man. Even his own old trail was entirely obliterated. - -It was this fact which caused him the greatest concern, for it meant -that if Nadara really had been following it she must now be wandering -rather aimlessly, possibly in an attempt to again locate it. In which -event her speed would be materially reduced, and the probability of her -capture by Flatfoot much enhanced. - -It was possible, too, that the beast already had overtaken her--this, -in fact, might be the true cause of the cessation of the pursuit along -the way which it had proceeded up to this point. - -The thought sent Waldo back along his former route, which he was able -to follow by recollection, though the spoor was seldom visible. - -He came upon no sign of those he sought that day, but the next morning -he found the point at which Nadara had lost his old trail upon a rocky -ridge. The girl evidently assumed that it would lead into the valley -below where she might pick it up again in the soft earth, and so her -footprints led down a shelving bluff, while plain above them showed the -huge imprints of Flatfoot. - -Up to this point at least he had not caught up with her. Waldo -breathed a sigh of relief at the discovery. The trail was at least two -days old, for Nadara and Flatfoot had traveled much more rapidly than -the wounded man who haunted their footsteps like a grim shadow. - -About noon Waldo came to a little stream at which both those who -preceded him had evidently stopped to drink--he could see where they -had knelt in the soft grass at the water's edge. - -As Waldo stopped to quench his own thirst his eyes rested for an -instant upon the farther bank, which at that point was little more than -ten feet from him. He saw that the opposite shore was less grassy, -and that it sloped down to the water, forming a muddy beach partially -submerged. - -But what riveted his attention were several deep imprints in the mud. - -He could not be certain, of course, at that distance, but he was sure -enough that he had recognized them to cause him to leap to his feet, -forgetful of his thirst, and plunge through the stream for a closer -inspection. - -As he bent to examine the spoor at close range he could scarce repress -a cry of exultation--they had been made by the hands and knees of -Nadara as she had stooped to drink at the very spot not twenty-four -hours before. - -She must have circled back toward the brook for some reason; but by -far the greatest cause for rejoicing was the fact that Nadara's trail -alone was there. Flatfoot had not yet come upon her, and Waldo now was -between them. - -The knowledge that he might yet be in time, and that he was gaining -sufficiently in strength to make it reasonably certain that he could -overhaul the girl eventually, filled Waldo with renewed vigor. He -hastened along Nadara's trail now with something of the energy that had -been his directly before his battle with Korth. - -His wounds had ceased bleeding, and for several days he had eaten well, -and by night slept soundly, for he had reasoned that only by conserving -his energy and fortifying himself in every way possible could he succor -the girl. - -That night he slept in a little thicket which had evidently harbored -Nadara the night before. - -The following day the way lay across a rolling country, cut by numerous -deep ravines and lofty divides. That the pace was telling on the girl -Waldo could read in the telltale spoor that revealed her lagging -footsteps. Upon each eminence the man halted to strain his eyes ahead -for a sight of her. - -About noon he discerned far ahead a shimmering line which he knew must -be the sea. Surely his long pursuit must end there. - -As he was about to plunge on again along Nadara's trail something drew -his eyes toward the rear, and there upon another hill-top a mile or two -behind he saw the stocky figure of a half-naked man--it was Flatfoot. - -The cave man must have seen Waldo at the same instant, for, with a -menacing wave of his huge fist, he increased his gait to a run, an -instant later disappearing into the ravine which lay at the bottom of -the hill upon which he had come into view. - -Waldo was undecided whether to wait for the encounter where he was or -hasten on in an effort to overtake Nadara, that she might not escape -him entirely. He knew that he stood a good chance of being killed in -the conflict, and he also knew that were he victorious it might easily -be at such a terrible price that he would be physically incapable of -continuing his search for the girl for many days. - -As he meditated his eyes wandered back and forth across the landscape -before him searching for Nadara. - -To his right lay, at a little distance, a level plain which stretched -to the foot of low-lying cliffs at the valley's southern rim, some -three or four miles distant. In this direction his view was almost -unobstructed, but it was not in the direction of the girl's flight, so -that it was but by accident that Waldo's eyes swept casually across -the peaceful scene which would, at another time, have chained his -attention with its quiet and alluring beauty. - -It was as he swept a backward glance in the direction of Flatfoot -that his eye was arrested by the hint of something far out across the -valley, a little behind his own position. - -To the Waldo of a few months previous it would not have been visible, -but the new woodcraft of the man scented the abnormal in the vague -suggestion of movement out among the long-waving grasses of the plain. - -And now, with every sense alert and riveted upon the spot, he was quick -to perceive that it was an animal moving slowly toward the cliffs at -the upper end of the valley. Presently a little rise of ground, less -thickly grassed, brought the creature into full view for an instant; -but in that instant Waldo saw that the thing he watched was a woman. - -As he turned to hurry after her he saw Flatfoot top another hill a half -mile nearer than he had before been, and as the cave man came into view -he turned his eyes in the direction that Waldo had been looking. A -second later and he had abandoned the pursuit of Waldo and was running -rapidly toward the woman. - -Nadara had apparently circled back once more, this time from the sea, -and coming up the valley had passed Waldo and come opposite Flatfoot -before either of them had discovered her. The young man gave a little -cry of alarm as he realized that the cave man was nearer to the girl -than he--by a good half mile, he judged, and so he put every ounce of -his speed into the wild dash he made down the hill into a gully which -led out upon the valley. - -On and on he raced unable to see either Flatfoot or Nadara; hoping, -ever hoping, that he would be the first to win to her side; for Nadara -had told him of the atrocities that such a creature as Flatfoot might -perpetrate upon a woman rather than permit her to escape him or fall -into the hands of another. - -Nadara, being up wind, caught neither the scent nor noise of the two -who were racing madly toward her. The first knowledge she had that -she was not alone in the valley was the sight of Flatfoot as he broke -suddenly through a clump of tall grass not fifty paces from her. - -She gave a little scream and started to run; but she was very tired -from the days of unremitting flight which had so sorely taxed her -endurance, and thus it was no wonder that she slipped and fell before -she had taken a dozen steps. - -Scarcely had she gained her feet when Flatfoot was upon her, one hand -grasping her by the arm. - -"Come with me in peace or I will kill you!" he cried. - -"Kill me, then," retorted the despairing girl, "for I shall never come -with you; first will I kill myself." - -Flatfoot did not wish to kill her, nor did he wish her to escape, as -she would be very likely to do should he be interrupted by the fellow -who must even now be quite close to them. - -Possibly if he could keep the girl quiet they might hide in the grass -until their pursuer had gone by, and so Flatfoot, acting upon the idea, -clapped a rough hand over Nadara's mouth and dragged her back along the -trail he had just made. - -The girl struggled--striking and clawing at the hairy brute that pulled -her along at his side--but she was as helpless in his clutches as if -she had been a day-old babe. - -She did not know that help was so close at hand, or she would have -found the means to free her mouth and cry out once at least. As it was, -she wondered that Flatfoot should attempt to silence her in this way if -there were none to hear her screams. - -For days she had known that the cave man was on her trail, for once in -doubling back upon herself she had passed but a short distance from a -ridge she had traversed the preceding day, and had seen the man's squat -figure and recognized his awkward, shuffling trot. - -It was this knowledge that had turned her away from the old village -toward which she had been traveling since she lost Thandar's trail, and -sent her in search of a new country in which she might lose herself -from Flatfoot. - -As the man dragged her roughly on through the grass Nadara racked her -brain for some means of escape, or a way to end her misery before the -beast could have his way with her. But there came no ray of hope to her -poor, unhappy heart. - -If Thandar were but there! He would save her, even if it were but to -desert her the next instant. - -But did she wish to be saved again by him? Now that she pondered the -idea she was quite sure that she would rather die than see him again, -for had he not twice run away from her? - -In her misery she put this interpretation upon the remarkable -disappearance of Thandar after his battle with Korth--he had waited -until she was out of sight and then he had risen and fled for fear she -might return and discover him. She wondered why he should dislike her -so much. - -She was quite sure that she had been very good to him, and had tried -not to annoy him while they were together. Maybe he looked down upon -her, for surely he was of a superior race; of that she was quite -positive. - -And so Nadara was very miserable and unhappy and hopeless as the -brutal Flatfoot dragged her far into the tall jungle-grass. Presently -she noticed that the cave man repeatedly cast glances toward the rear. - -What could he expect from that direction, or from any direction -whatever, so far as that was concerned? Were they not days and days -from their own people, in a land where there seemed no men at all? - -Flatfoot heard no sign of pursuit. He was growing more confident. The -stranger had lost their trail. The cave man moved less rapidly, and as -he went he looked now for a burrow into which he might crawl with the -maiden. Then there would be no further danger whatever. - -Tomorrow Flatfoot would come out and find the fellow and kill him, but -now he had pleasanter work in view, nor did he wish to be disturbed. - -And at that very moment he caught a stealthy movement in the grasses a -few yards to his right. Waldo had come upon the spot at which Flatfoot -had overtaken Nadara but a few moments after the brute had dragged her -away, and on the instant had sought a higher piece of ground from which -he could overlook the tall grass. - -Nor had he been long in finding a spot that, coupled with his six feet -two, brought his eyes above the level of the surrounding jungle. - -There he watched for a little until he discerned a movement of the -grasstops at a little distance from him. After that it was but a matter -of trailing. - -When Flatfoot saw what he took to be his enemy he threw Nadara across -his shoulder and started on a run in the opposite direction--at right -angles to the way he had been going. - -The ruse proved good, for when Waldo came to the point at which he had -figured his path would cross the cave man's he found no sign of the -latter, and in searching about to locate the trail lost many minutes of -valuable time. But at last he came upon that which he sought, and with -redoubled speed set out at a rapid run through the tall grasses. - -He had proceeded but a short distance when the trail broke suddenly -into the open, close by the base of the cliffs that he had seen from -the hill that had given him his fleeting glimpse of Nadara. - -Ahead of him he saw the two he sought--Nadara across the burly -shoulders of Flatfoot--and the cave man was making for the caves that -dotted the face of the cliff. Were he to reach these he might defend -one of them against a single antagonist indefinitely. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -CAPTURE - - -Almost at the moment that Waldo emerged from the jungle Nadara saw him, -and with a lunge threw herself from Flatfoot's shoulder. - -The man turned with a fierce growl of rage, and his eyes fell upon the -giant rushing toward them. - -The girl was now struggling madly to escape or delay her captor. There -could be but one outcome, as Flatfoot knew. He must fight now, but the -girl should never escape him. - -Raising the huge fist that had killed many a full-grown man with a -single blow he aimed a wicked one at the side of Nadara's head. - -The first one she dodged, and as the arm went up to strike again, -Thandar threw his spear-arm far back and with a mighty forward surge -drove his light weapon across the hundred feet that separated him from -Flatfoot. - -It was an awful risk--there was not a foot to spare between the hairy -breast that was his target and the beautiful head of the fair captive. -Should either move between the time the spear left his hand and the -instant that it found its mark it might pierce the one it had been sped -to save. - -Flatfoot's fist was crashing down toward that lovely face at the -instant that the spear found him; but he had moved--just enough to -place his arm before his breast--so that it was the falling arm that -received the weapon instead of the heart that it had been intended for. - -But it served its purpose. With a howl of pain and rage, Flatfoot, -forgetful of the girl in the madness of his anger, dropped her and -sprang toward Waldo. - -The latter had drawn his sword--naught but a sharpened stick of hard -wood--and stood waiting to receive his foe. It was his first attempt to -put either sword or shield into practical use, and he was anxious to -discover their value. - -As Flatfoot came toward his antagonist he pulled the spear from the -muscles of his arm, and, stooping, gathered up one of the many rocks -that lay scattered about at the base of the cliff. - -The cave man was roaring like a mad bull; hate and murder shot from his -close-set eyes; his upper lip curled back, showing his fighting fangs, -and a light froth flecked his bristling beard. - -Waldo was sure there had never existed a more fearsome creature, and he -marveled that he was not afraid. The very thought of what the effect -of this terrible monster's mad charge would have been upon him a short -while ago brought a smile to his lips. - -At sight of that taunting smile Flatfoot hurled the rock full at the -maddening face. With a quick movement of his left arm Waldo caught the -missile on his buckler, from whence it dropped harmlessly to the ground. - -Flatfoot did not throw again, and an instant later he was upon the -Bostonian--the pride and hope of the cultured and aristocratic Back Bay -Smith-Joneses. - -When he reached for the agile, blond giant he found a thin sheet of -hide-covered twigs in his way, and when he tried to tear down this -barrier the point of a sharpened stick was thrust into his abdomen. - -This was no way to fight! - -Flatfoot was scandalized. He jumped back a few feet and glared at -Waldo. Then he lowered his head and came at him once more with the very -evident intention of rushing him off his feet by the very weight and -impetuosity of his charge. - -This time the sharp stick slipped quickly over the top of the -hide-covered atrocity and pierced Flatfoot's neck just where it joined -his thick skull. - -Burying a foot of its point beneath the muscles of the shoulder, it -brought a scream of pain and rage from the hairy beast. - -Before Waldo could withdraw his weapon from the tough sinews, Flatfoot -had straightened up with a sudden jerk that snapped the sword short, -leaving but a short stub in his antagonist's hand. - -Nadara had been watching the battle breathlessly, ready to flee should -it turn against her champion, yet at the same time searching for an -opportunity to aid him. - -Like Flatfoot, the girl had never before seen spear or sword or shield -in use, and while she marveled at the advantage which they gave -Thandar, she became dubious as to the result of the encounter when she -saw the sword broken, for the spear had been snapped into kindling-wood -by Flatfoot when he tore it from his arm. - -But Waldo still had his cudgel, fastened by a thong to his sword-belt, -and as the cave man rushed upon him again he swung a mighty blow to the -low, brutal forehead. - -Momentarily stunned, the fellow reeled backward for a step, and again -Waldo wielded his new weapon. - -Flatfoot trembled, his knees smote together, he staggered drunkenly, -and then, when Waldo looked to see him go down, the brute power that -was in him, responding to nature's first law, sent him hurtling at the -Bostonian's throat in the snarling, blind rage of the death-smitten -beast. - -Catapulted by all the enormous strength of his mighty muscles, the -squat, bear-like animal bore Waldo to earth, and at the same instant -each found the other's throat with sinewy, viselike fingers. - -They lay very still now, choking with firm, relentless clutch. Every -ounce of muscle was needed, every grain of endurance. - -Waldo was suffering agonies after a moment of that awful death-grip. He -could feel his gasping, pain-racked lungs struggling for air. - -He tried to wriggle free from those horrible fingers, but not once did -he loosen his own hold upon the throat of Flatfoot; instead he tried to -close a little tighter each second that he felt his own life ebbing. He -became weaker and weaker. The pain was unendurable now. - -A haze obscured his vision--everything became black--his brain was -whizzing about at frightful velocity within the awful darkness of his -skull. - -The girl was bending close above them now, for both were struggling -less violently. She had been minded to come to Thandar's rescue when -suddenly she recalled his desertion of her, and all the wild hatred of -the primitive mind surged through her. - -Let him die, she thought. He had spurned her, cast her off; he looked -down upon her. - -Well, let him take care of himself, then, and she turned deliberately -away to leave the two men to decide the outcome of their own battle, -and started back upon the trail in the direction of her tribe's -village. - -But she had taken scarce a score of steps when something flamed up in -her heart that withered the last remnant of her malice toward Thandar. -As she turned back again toward the combatants she attempted to justify -this new weakness by the thought that it was only fair that she should -give the yellow one aid in return for the aid that he had rendered her; -that done, she could go on her way with a clear conscience. - -She wished never to see him again, but she could not have his blood -upon her hands. At that thought she gave a little cry and ran to where -the men lay. - -Both were almost quiet now; their struggles had nearly ceased. Just -as she reached them Flatfoot relaxed, his hands slipped from Waldo's -throat and he lay entirely motionless. - -Then the fair giant struggled convulsively once or twice; he gasped, -his eyes rolled up and set, and with a sudden twitching of his muscles -he stiffened rigidly and was very still. - -Nadara gave one horrified look at the ghastly face of her champion, and -fled into the jungle. - -She stumbled on for a quarter of a mile as fast as her tired limbs -would carry her through the entangling grasses, and then she came to -that which she sought--a little stream, winding slowly through the -valley down toward the ocean. - -Dropping to her knees beside it she filled her mouth with the -refreshing water. In an instant she was up again and off in the -direction from which she had just come. - -Throwing herself at Waldo's side, she wet his face with the water from -her mouth. She chafed his hands, shook him, blew upon his face when -the water was exhausted, and then, tears streaming from her eyes, she -threw herself upon him, covering his face with kisses, and moaning -inarticulate words of love and endearment that were half stifled by -anguished sobs of grief. - -Suddenly her lamentations ceased as quickly as they had begun. She -raised her head from where it had been buried beside the man's and -looked intently into his face. - -Then she placed her ear upon his breast; with a delighted cry she -resumed chafing his hands, for she had heard the beating of his heart. - -Presently Waldo gasped, and for a moment suffered the agonies of -returning respiration. When he opened his eyes in consciousness he saw -Nadara bending over him--a severely disinterested expression upon her -beautiful face. He turned his head to one side; there lay Flatfoot -quite dead. - -It was several moments before he could speak. Then he rose, very -unsteadily, to his feet. - -"Nadara," he said, "Korth lies dead beside the three great trees in the -glade that is near the village that was Flatfoot's. Here is the dead -body of Flatfoot, and about my loins hangs the pelt of Nagoola, taken -in fair fight. - -"I have done all that you desired of me; I have tried to repay you for -your kindness to me when I was a stranger in your land. I do not know -why you should have tried to kill me while I battled with Korth. - -"No more do I know why you have allowed me to live today when it would -have been so easy to have despatched me as I lay unconscious here -beside Flatfoot. - -"I read dislike upon your face, and I am sorry, for I would have parted -with you in friendship, so that when the time comes that I return to -my own land I should be able to carry away with me only the pleasant -memory of it. When we have rested and are refreshed I shall take you -back to your father." - -All that had been surging to the girl's lips of love and gratitude -from a heart that was filled with both was congealed by the cold tone -which marked this dispassionate recital of the discharge of a moral -obligation. - -Possibly Waldo's tone was colored by the vivid memory of the look of -hate that he had seen in the girl's eyes at the instant that he went -down before her missile as he battled with Korth, for it was not even -tinged with friendliness. - -And so the girl's manner was equally distant when she replied; in fact, -it was even colder, for it was fraught with bitterness. - -"Thandar owed nothing to Nadara," she said, "and though it matters not -at all, it is only fair to say that the stone that struck you as you -battled in the glade was intended for Korth." - -Waldo's face brightened. A load that he had not realized lay there was -lifted from his heart. - -"You did not want to hurt me, then?" he cried. - -"Why should I want to hurt you?" returned the girl. - -"I thought"--and here Waldo spoiled the fair start they had made at a -reconciliation--"I thought," he said, "that you were angry because I -ran away from you after we had come to your village that time, months -ago." - -Nadara's head went high and she laughed aloud. - -"I angry? I was surprised that you did not come to the village, but -after an hour I had forgotten the matter--it was with difficulty that -I recognized you when I next saw you, so utterly had the occurrence -departed from my thoughts." - -Waldo wondered why he should feel such humiliation at this frank -avowal. Of what moment to him was this girl's estimation of him? Why -did he feel a flush suffuse his face at the knowledge that he was of so -little moment to her that she had entirely forgotten him within a few -months? - -Waldo was mortified and angry. He changed the subject brusquely; -hereafter he should eschew personalities. - -"Let us find a cave at a distance from the dead man," he said, "and -there we may rest until you are ready to attempt the return journey." - -"I am ready now," replied Nadara; "nor do I need or desire your -company. I can return alone, as I came." - -"No," remonstrated Waldo doggedly; "I shall go with you whether you -wish it or not. I shall see you safely with your father. I promised -him." - -Nadara had been delighted with the first clause of his reply, but when -it became evident that his only desire to return with her was to fulfil -a promise made her father she became furious, though she was careful -not to let him see it. - -"Very well," she replied; "you may come if you wish, though it is -neither necessary nor as I would have it. I prefer being alone." - -"I shall not force my company upon you," said Waldo haughtily. "I can -follow a few paces behind you." - -There was an injured air in his last words which did not escape the -girl. She wondered if he really deserved the harsh attitude she had -maintained. - -They found a cave a half-mile down the valley, where they took up their -quarters against the time that Waldo should be rested, for the girl -insisted that she was fully able to commence the return journey at once. - -The man knew better, and so he let her have it that the delay was on -his account rather than hers, for he doubted her ability to cope with -the hardships of the long journey without an interval for recuperation. - -The next morning found them both rested and in better spirits, so that -there was no return to their acrimonious encounter of the previous day. - -As they walked out toward the forest that lay down the valley in the -direction of the ocean Waldo dropped a few paces behind the girl in -polite deference to her expressed wish of the day before. - -As he walked he watched the graceful movements of her lithe figure and -the lines of her clear-cut profile as she turned her head this way and -that in search of food. - -How beautiful she was! It was incredible that this wild cave girl -should have greater beauty and a more regal carriage than the queens -and beauties of civilization, and yet Waldo was forced to admit that -he had never even dreamed, much less seen, such absolute physical -perfection. - -He wished that he could say as much for her disposition; that was -atrocious. It was unbelievable that such a wondrous exterior could -harbor so much ingratitude and coldness. - -Presently they came among the trees where the ripe fruit hung, and as -Waldo climbed nimbly among the branches and tossed the most luscious -down to her, the girl, in her turn, watched him. - -She noted more closely the marvelous change that a few months had -wrought. She had thought him wonderful before, but now he was a very -god. She did not think just this, for she knew nothing of gods--other -than the demons that were supposed to enter the bodies of the sick; but -she thought of him as some superior creature, and then she ceased to -feel aggrieved that he should care so little for her. - -He was not a man--he was something more than a man, and she had been -very wicked to have treated him so shamefully. She would make amends. - -So she tried to be more kind thereafter, though there still remained a -trace of aloofness. - -Together they sat upon the turf and ate their fruit, and as they ate -they talked a little, for it is difficult for two young people to -harbor animosity for a great time, especially when there is none other -for them to talk to. - -"When you have returned with me to my father, Thandar," the girl asked, -"where shall you go then?" - -"I shall return to the sea where I may watch for a ship to take me back -to my own land," he replied. - -"I have seen but one ship in all my life," said Nadara, "and that was -years ago. It was when we lived close by the big water that it stopped -a long way from shore and sent many smaller boats to land. - -"There were many men in the boats, and when they landed, my father and -mother took me far into the forest away from the sea, and there we -stayed for many days until the strangers had sailed. They wandered up -and down the coast and came back into the forests and the jungles for a -few miles. - -"My mother said that they were searching for me, and that if they found -me they would take me away. I was very much frightened." - -At the mention of her mother Waldo recalled the little parcel that -Nadara's father had given into his custody for the girl. He unfastened -it from the thong that circled his waist, where it had hung beneath his -panther-skin garment. - -"Here is something your father asked me to bring you," he said, -handing the package to Nadara. - -The girl took it and examined it as though it was entirely unfamiliar. - -"What is it?" she asked. - -"Your father did not say, other than that it contained articles that -your mother wore when she died," he said tenderly, for a great pity had -welled up in his heart for this poor, motherless girl. - -"That my mother wore!" Nadara repeated, her brows contracted in a -puzzled frown. "When my mother died she wore nothing but a single -garment of many small skins--very old and worn--and that was buried -with her. I do not understand." - -She made no effort to open the package, but sat gazing far off toward -the ocean which was just visible through the trees, entirely absorbed -in the reverie which Waldo's words had engendered. - -"Could the thing that the old woman told me have been true?" the girl -mused half aloud. "Could it have been because it was true that my -mother fell upon her with tooth and nail until she had nearly killed -her? I wonder if----" - -But here she stopped, her eyes riveted in sudden fear and hopelessness -upon a thing that she had just espied in the distance. - -A great lump rose in her throat, tears came to her eyes, and with them -the full measure of realization of what that thing beyond the forest -meant to her. - -She turned her eyes toward the man. He was sitting with bowed head, -playing idly with a large beetle that he had penned within a tiny -palisade of small twigs. - -At length he made an opening in the barrier. - -"Go your way, poor thing," he murmured. "Heaven knows I realize too -well the horrors of captivity to keep any other creature from its -fellows and its home." - -A choking sigh that was almost a sob racked the girl. At the sound -Waldo looked up to see her pathetic, unhappy eyes upon him. Of a sudden -there enveloped him a great desire to take her in his arms and comfort -her. He knew not why she was unhappy, but her sorrow cried aloud to -him--as he thought simply to the protective instinct that was merely an -attribute of his sex. - -Nadara raised her hand slowly and pointed through the trees. It was as -though she had torn her heart from her breast, so harrowing she felt -the consequences of her act would be, but it was for his sake--for the -sake of the man she loved. - -As Waldo's eyes followed the direction of her pointing finger he came -suddenly to his feet with a wild cry of joy; through the trees, out -upon the shimmering surface of the placid sea, there lay a graceful, -white yacht. - -"Thank God!" cried the man fervently, and sinking to his knees he -raised his hands aloft toward the author of joy and sorrow. - -A moment later he sprang to his feet. - -"Home! Nadara. Home!" he cried. "Can't you realize it? I am going home. -I am saved! Oh, Nadara, child, can't you realize what it means to me? -Home! Home! Home!" - -He had been looking toward the yacht as he spoke, but now he turned -toward the girl. She was crouching upon the ground, her face in her -hands, her slender figure shaken by convulsive tears. - -He came toward her and, kneeling, laid his hand upon her shoulder. - -"Nadara!" he said gently. "Why do you cry, child? What is the matter?" -But she only shook her head, moaning. - -He raised her to her feet, and as he supported her his arm circled her -shoulders. - -"Tell me, Nadara, why you are unhappy?" he urged. - -But still she could not speak for sobbing, and only buried her face -upon his breast. - -He was holding her very close now, and with the pressure of her body -against his a fire that, unknown, had been smoldering in his heart -for months burst into sudden flame, and in the heat of it there were -consumed the mists that had been before the eyes of his heart all that -time. - -"Nadara," he asked in a very low voice, "is it because I am going that -you cry?" - -But at that she pulled away from him, and through her tears her eyes -blazed. - -"No!" she cried. "I shall be glad when you have gone. I wish that -you had never come. I--I--hate you!" She turned and fled back up the -valley, forgetful of the little packet Thandar had brought her, which -lay forgotten upon the ground where she had dropped it. - -Without so much as a backward glance toward the yacht Waldo was off in -pursuit of her; but Nadara was as fleet as a hare, so that it was a -much winded Waldo who finally overhauled her half-way up the face of a -cliff two miles from the ocean. - -"Go away!" cried the girl. "Go back with your own kind, to your own -home!" - -Waldo did not answer. - -Waldo was no more. - -It was Thandar, the cave man, who took Nadara in his strong arms and -crushed her to him. - -"My girl!" he cried. "My girl! I love you! And because I am a fool I -did not learn until it was almost too late." - -He did not ask if she loved him, for he was Thandar, the cave man. Nor, -a moment later, did he need to ask, since her strong, brown arms crept -up about his neck and drew his lips down to hers. - -It was quite half an hour later before either thought of the yacht -again. From where they stood upon the cliff's face they could see the -ocean and the beach. - -Several boats were drawn up and a number of men were coming toward the -forest. Presently they would discover the two upon the cliff. - -"We shall go back together now," said Thandar. - -"I am afraid," replied Nadara. - -For a time the man stood gazing at the dainty yacht, and far beyond -it into the civilization which it represented, and he saw there suave -men and sneering women, and among them was a slender brown beauty who -shrank from the cruel glances of the women--and Waldo writhed at this -and at the greedy eyes of the suave men as they appraised the girl--and -he, too, was afraid. - -"Come," he said, taking Nadara by the hand, "let us hurry back into the -hills before they discover us." - -Just as the men from the yacht, which Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones had -despatched to the South Seas in search of his missing son, emerged from -the forest into a view of the valley and the cliffs a cave man and his -mate clambered over the brow of the latter and disappeared toward the -hills beyond. - -It was nearly dusk as the searchers from the yacht were returning -toward the beach. - -They had found no sign of human habitation in the little valley, nor -anywhere along the coast that they had so carefully explored. - -The commander of the expedition, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, a retired -naval officer, was in advance. - -They had penetrated the woods nearly to the beach when his foot struck -against a package wrapped in the skin of a small rodent. - -He stooped and picked it up. - -"Here is the first evidence that another human being than ourselves has -ever set foot upon this island," he said as he cut the gut lacing with -his pocket knife. - -Within the first wrapping he found a chamois-bag such as women -sometimes use to carry jewels about their persons. - -From this he emptied into his palm a dozen priceless rings, a few -old-fashioned brooches, bracelets, and lockets. - -In one of the latter he discovered the ivory miniature of a woman--a -very beautiful woman. - -In the other side of the locket was engraved: "To Eugénie Marie Céleste -de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, from Henri, her husband. 17th January, -18--" - -"Gad!" cried the old captain. "Now what do you make of that? - -"The Count and Countess of Crecy were returning to Paris from their -honeymoon trip round the world in the steam yacht _Dolphin_ nearly -twenty years ago, and after they touched at Australia were never heard -of again. - -"What tragedy, what mystery, what romance might not these sparkling -gems disclose had they but tongues!" - - - - -THE CAVE GIRL - - - - -PART II - - -NOTE: _Part II of this book appeared serially under the title_ "The -Cave Man" - - - - -CHAPTER I - -KING BIG FIST - - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, scion of the aristocratic house of the John -Alden Smith-Joneses of Boston, clambered up the rocky face of the -precipitous cliff with the agility of a monkey. - -His right hand clasped the slim brown fingers of his half-naked mate, -assisting her over the more dangerous or difficult stretches. - -At the summit the two turned their faces back toward the sea. Beyond -the gently waving forest trees stretched the broad expanse of -shimmering ocean. In the foreground, upon the bosom of a tiny harbor, -lay a graceful yacht--a beautiful toy it looked from the distance of -the cliff top. - -For the first time the man obtained an unobstructed view of the craft. -Before, when they first had discovered it, the boles of the forest -trees had revealed it but in part. - -Now he saw it fully from stem to stern with all its well-known, -graceful lines standing out distinctly against the deep blue of the -water. - -The shock of recognition brought an involuntary exclamation from his -lips. The girl looked quickly up into his face. - -"What is it, Thandar?" she asked. "What do you see?" - -"The yacht!" he whispered. "It is the _Priscilla_--my father's. He is -searching for me." - -"And you wish to go?" - -For some time he did not speak--only stood there gazing at the distant -yacht. And the young girl at his side remained quite motionless and -silent, too, looking up at the man's profile, watching the expression -upon his face with a look of dumb misery upon her own. - -Quickly through the man's mind was running the gamut of his past. He -recalled his careful and tender upbringing--the time, the money, the -fond pride that had been expended upon his education. He thought of the -result--the narrow-minded, weakling egoist; the pusillanimous coward -that had been washed from the deck of a passing steamer upon the sandy -beach of this savage, forgotten shore. - -And yet it had been love, solicitous and tender, that had prompted his -parents to their misguided efforts. He was their only son. They were -doubtless grieving for him. They were no longer young, and in their -declining years it appeared to him a pathetic thing that they should be -robbed of the happiness which he might bring them by returning to the -old life. - -But could he ever return to the bookish existence that once had seemed -so pleasant? - -Had not this brief year into which had been crowded so much of wild, -primitive life made impossible a return to the narrow, self-centered -existence? Had it not taught him that there was infinitely more in life -than ever had been written into the dry and musty pages of books? - -It had taught him to want life at first hand--not through the proxy of -the printed page. It and--Nadara. He glanced toward the girl. - -Could he give her up? No! A thousand times, no! - -He read in her face the fear that lurked in her heart. No, he could -not give her up. He owed to her all that he possessed of which he was -most proud--his mighty physique, his new found courage, his woodcraft, -his ability to cope, primitively, with the primitive world, her savage -world which he had learned to love. - -No, he could not give her up; but--what? His gaze lingered upon her -sweet face. Slowly there sank into his understanding something of the -reason for his love of this wild, half-savage cave girl other than the -primitive passion of the sexes. - -He saw now not only the physical beauty of her face and figure, but -the sweet, pure innocence of her girlishness, and, most of all, the -wondrous tenderness of her love of him that was mirrored in her eyes. - -To remain and take her as his mate after the manner and customs of her -own people would reflect no shame upon himself or her; but was she not -deserving of the highest honor that it lay within his power to offer at -the altar of her love? - -She--his wonderful Nadara--must become his through the most solemn and -dignified ceremony that civilized man had devised. What the young woman -of his past life demanded was none too good for her. - -Again the girl voiced her question. - -"You wish to go?" - -"Yes, Nadara," he replied, "I must go back to my own people--and you -must go with me." - -Her face lighted with pleasure and happiness as she heard his last -words; but the expression was quickly followed by one of doubt and fear. - -"I am afraid," she said; "but if you wish it I will go." - -"You need not fear, Nadara. None will harm you by word or deed while -Thandar is with you. Come, let us return to the sea and the yacht -before she sails." - -Hand in hand they retraced their steps down the steep cliff, across the -little valley toward the forest and the sea. - -Nadara walked very close to Thandar, her hand snuggled in his and her -shoulder pressed tightly against his side, for she was afraid of the -new life among the strange creatures of civilization. - -At the far side of the valley, just before one enters the forest, -there grows a thick jungle of bamboo--really but a narrow strip, not -more than a hundred feet through at its greatest width; but so dense -as to quite shut out from view any creature even a few feet within its -narrow, gloomy avenues. - -Into this the two plunged, Thandar in the lead, Nadara close behind -him, stepping exactly in his footprints--an involuntary concession to -training, for there was no need here either of deceiving a pursuer, -or taking advantage of easier going. The trail was well-marked and -smooth-beaten by many a padded paw. - -It wound erratically, following the line of least resistance--it -forked, and there were other trails which entered it from time to time, -or crossed it. The hundred feet it traversed seemed much more when -measured by the trail. - -The two had come almost to the forest side of the jungle when a sharp -turn in the path brought Thandar face to face with a huge, bear-like -man. - -The fellow wore a g-string of soft hide, and over one shoulder dangled -an old and filthy leopard skin--otherwise, he was naked. His thick, -coarse hair was matted low over his forehead. The balance of his face -was covered by a bushy red beard. - -At sight of Thandar his close set, little eyes burned with sudden -rage and cunning. From his thick lips burst a savage yell--it was the -preliminary challenge. - -Ordinarily a certain amount of vituperation and coarse insults must -pass between strangers meeting upon this inhospitable isle before they -fly at one another's throat. - -"I am Thurg," bellowed the brute. "I can kill you," and then followed a -volley of vulgar allusions to Thandar's possible origin, and the origin -of his ancestors. - -"The bad men," whispered Nadara. - -With her words there swept into the man's memory the scene upon the -face of the cliff that night a year before when, even in the throes of -cowardly terror, he had turned to do battle with a huge cave man that -the fellow might not prevent the escape of Nadara. - -He glanced at the right forearm of the creature who faced him. A smile -touched Thandar's lips--the arm was crooked as from the knitting of a -broken bone, poorly set. - -"You would kill Thandar--again?" he asked tauntingly, pointing toward -the deformed member. - -Then came recognition to the red-rimmed eyes of Thurg, as, with -another ferocious bellow, he launched himself toward the author of his -old hurt. - -Thandar met the charge with his short stick of pointed hard wood--his -"sword" he called it. It entered the fleshy part of Thurg's breast, -calling forth a howl of pain and a trickling stream of crimson. - -Thurg retreated. This was no way to fight. He was scandalized. - -For several minutes he stood glaring at his foe, screaming hideous -threats and insults at him. Then once more he charged. - -Again the painful point entered his body, but this time he pressed in -clutching madly at the goad and for a hold upon Thandar's body. - -The latter held Thurg at arm's length, prodding him with the -fire-hardened point of his wooden sword. - -The cave man's little brain wondered at the skill and prowess of this -stranger who had struck him a single blow with a cudgel many moons -before and then run like a rabbit to escape his wrath. - -Why was it that he did not run now? What strange change had taken place -in him? He had expected an easy victim when he finally had recognized -his foe; but instead he had met with brawn and ferocity equal to his -own and with a strange weapon, the like of which he never before had -seen. - -Thandar was puncturing him rapidly now, and Thurg was screaming in rage -and suffering. Presently he could endure it no longer. With a sudden -wrench he tore himself loose and ran, bellowing, through the jungle. - -Thandar did not pursue. It was enough that he had rid himself of his -enemy. He turned toward Nadara, smiling. - -"It will seem very tame in Boston," he said; but though she gave him -an answering smile, she did not understand, for to her Boston was but -another land of primeval forests, and dense jungles; of hairy, battling -men, and fierce beasts. - -At the edge of the forest they came again upon Thurg, but this time he -was surrounded by a score of his burly tribesmen. Thandar knew better -than to pit himself against so many. - -Thurg came rushing down upon them, his fellows at his heels. In loud -tones he screamed anew his challenge, and the beasts behind him took it -up until the forest echoed to their hideous bellowing. - -He had seen Nadara as he had battled with Thandar, and recognized her -as the girl he had desired a year before--the girl whom this stranger -had robbed him of. - -Now he was determined to wreak vengeance on the man and at the same -time recapture the girl. - -Thandar and Nadara turned back into the jungle where but a single enemy -could attack them at a time in the narrow trails. Here they managed to -elude pursuit for several hours, coming again into the forest nearly a -mile below the beach where the _Priscilla_ had lain at anchor. - -Thurg and his fellows had apparently given up the chase--they had -neither seen nor heard aught of them for some time. Now the two -hastened back through the wood to reach a point on the shore opposite -the yacht. - -At last they came in sight of the harbor. Thandar halted. A look of -horror and disappointment supplanted the expression of pleasurable -anticipation that had lighted his countenance--the yacht was not there. - -A mile out they discerned her, steaming rapidly north. - -Thandar ran to the beach. He tore the black panther's hide from his -shoulders, waving it frantically above his head, the while he shouted -in futile endeavor to attract attention from the dwindling craft. - -Then, quite suddenly, he collapsed upon the beach, burying his face in -his hands. - -Presently Nadara crept close to his side. Her soft arms encircled his -shoulders as she drew his cheek close to hers in an attempt to comfort -him. - -"Is it so terrible," she asked, "to be left here alone with your -Nadara?" - -"It is not that," he answered. "If you were mine I should not care so -much, but you cannot be mine until we have reached civilization and -you have been made mine in accordance with the laws and customs of -civilized men. And now who knows when another ship may come--if ever -another will come?" - -"But I am yours, Thandar," insisted the girl. "You are my man--you -have told me that you love me, and I have replied that I would be your -mate--who can give us to each other better than we can give ourselves?" - -He tried, as best he could, to explain to her the marriage customs and -ceremonies of his own world, but she found it difficult to understand -how it might be that a stranger whom neither might possibly ever have -seen before could make it right for her to love her Thandar, or that it -should be wrong for her to love him without the stranger's permission. - -To Thandar the future looked most black and hopeless. With his sudden -determination to take Nadara back to his own people he had been -overwhelmed with a mad yearning for home. - -He realized that his past apathy to the idea of returning to Boston had -been due solely to recollection of Boston as he had known it--Boston -without Nadara; but now that she was to have gone back with him Boston -seemed the most desirable spot in the world. - -As he sat pondering the unfortunate happenings that had so delayed them -that the yacht had sailed before they reached the shore, he also cast -about for some plan to mitigate their disappointment. - -To live forever upon this savage island did not seem such an appalling -thing as it had a year before--but then he had not realized his love -for the wild young creature at his side. Ah, if she could but be made -his wife then his exile here would be a happy rather than a doleful lot. - -What if he had been born here too? With the thought came a new idea -that seemed to offer an avenue from his dilemma. Had he, too, been -native born how would he have wed Nadara? - -Why through the ceremony of their own people, of course. And if men and -women were thus wed here, living together in faithfulness throughout -their lives, what more sacred a union could civilization offer? - -He sprang to his feet. - -"Come, Nadara!" he cried. "We shall return to your people, and there -you shall become my wife." - -Nadara was puzzled, but she made no comment; content simply to leave -the future to her lord and master; to do whatever would bring Thandar -the greatest happiness. - -The return to the dwellings of Nadara's people occupied three -never-to-be-forgotten days. - -How different this journey by comparison with that of a year since, -when the cave girl had been leading the terror-stricken Waldo Emerson -in flight from the bad men toward, to him, an equally horrible fate at -the hands of Korth and Flatfoot! - -Then the forest glades echoed to the pads of fierce beasts and the -stealthy passage of naked, human horrors. No twig snapped that did not -portend instant and terrifying death. - -Now Korth and Flatfoot were dead at the hands of the metamorphosed -Waldo. The racking cough was gone. He had encountered the bad men and -others like them and come away with honors. Even Nagoola, the sleek, -black devil-cat of the hideous nights, no longer sent the slightest -tremor through the rehabilitated nerves. - -Did not Thandar wear Nagoola's pelt about his shoulder and loins--a -pelt that he had taken in hand to hand encounter with the dread beast? - -Slowly they walked beneath the shade of giant trees, beside pleasant -streams, or, again, across open valleys where the grass grew knee high -and countless, perfumed wild flowers opened a pathway before their -naked feet. - -At night they slept where night found them. Sometimes in the deserted -lair of a wild beast, or again perched among the branches of a -spreading tree where parallel branches permitted the construction of -rude platforms. - -And Thandar was always most solicitous to see that Nadara's couch was -of the softest grasses and that his own lay at a little distance from -hers and in a position where he might best protect her from prowling -beasts. - -Again was Nadara puzzled, but still she made no comment. - -Finally they came to her village. - -Several of the younger men came forth to meet them; but when they saw -that the man was he who had slain Korth they bridled their truculence, -all but one, Big Fist, who had assumed the role of king since Flatfoot -had left. - -"I can kill you," he announced by way of greeting, "for I am Big Fist, -and until Flatfoot returns I am king--and maybe afterward, for some day -I shall kill Flatfoot." - -"I do not wish to fight you," replied Thandar. "Already have I killed -Korth, and Flatfoot will return no more, for Flatfoot I have killed -also. And I can kill Big Fist, but what is the use? Why should we -fight? Let us be friends, for we must live together, and if we do not -kill one another there will be more of us to meet the bad men, should -they come, and kill them." - -When Big Fist heard that Flatfoot was dead and by the hand of this -stranger he pined less to measure his strength with that of the -newcomer. He saw the knothole that the other offered, and promptly he -sought to crawl through it, but with honor. - -"Very well," he said, "I shall not kill you--you need not be afraid. -But you must know that I am king, and do as I say that you shall do." - -"'Afraid,'" Thandar laughed. "You may be king," he said, "but as for -doing what you say--" and again he laughed. - -It was a very different Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones from the thing that -the sea had spewed up twelve months before. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -KING THANDAR - - -The first thing that Thandar did after he entered the village was to -seek out Nadara's father. - -They found the old man in the poorest and least protected cave in the -cliff side, exposed to the attack of the first prowling carnivore, or -skulking foeman. - -He was sick, and there was none to care for him; but he did not -complain. That was the way of his people. When a man became too old -to be of service to the community it were better that he died, and so -they did nothing to delay the inevitable. When one became an absolute -burden upon his fellows it was customary to hasten the end--a carefully -delivered blow with a heavy rock was calculated quickly to relieve the -burdens of the community and the suffering of the invalid. - -Thandar and Nadara came in and sat down beside him. The old fellow -seemed glad to see them. - -"I am Thandar," said the young man. "I wish to take your daughter as my -mate." - -The old man looked at him questioningly for a moment. - -"You have killed Korth and Flatfoot--who is to prevent you from taking -Nadara?" - -"I wish to be joined to her with your permission and in accordance with -the marriage ceremonies of your people," said Thandar. - -The old man shook his head. - -"I do not understand you," he replied at last. "There are several fine -caves that are not occupied--if you wish a better one you have but to -slay the present occupants if they do not get out when you tell them -to--but I think they will get out when the slayer of Korth and Flatfoot -tells them to." - -"I am not worried about a cave," said Thandar. "Tell me how men take -their wives among you." - -"If they do not come with us willingly we take them by the hair and -drag them with us," replied Nadara's father. "My mate would not come -with me," he continued, "and even after I had caught her and dragged -her to my cave she broke away and fled from me, but again I overhauled -her, for when I was young none could run more swiftly, and this time I -did what I should have done at first--I beat her upon the head until -she went to sleep. When she awoke she was in my own cave, and it was -night, and she did not try to ran away any more." - -For a long time Thandar sat in thought. Presently he spoke addressing -Nadara. - -"In my country we do not take our wives in any such way, nor shall I -take you thus. We must be married properly, according to the customs -and laws of civilization." - -Nadara made no reply. To her it seemed that Thandar must care very -little for her--that was about the only explanation she could put upon -his strange behavior. It made her sad. And then the other women would -laugh at her--of that she was quite certain, and that, too, made her -feel very badly--they would see that Thandar did not want her. - -The old man, lying upon his scant bed of matted, filthy grasses, had -heard the conversation. He was as much at sea as Nadara. At last he -spoke--very feebly now, for rapidly he was nearing dissolution. - -"I am a very old man," he said to Thandar. "I have not long to live. -Before I die I should like to know that Nadara has a mate who will -protect her. I love her, though--" He hesitated. - -"Though what?" asked Thandar. - -"I have never told," whispered the old fellow. "My mate would not let -me, but now that I am about to die it can do no harm. Nadara is not my -daughter." - -The girl sprang to her feet. - -"Not your daughter? Then who am I?" - -"I do not know who you are, except that you are not even of my people. -All that I know I will tell you now before I die. Come close, for my -voice is dying faster than my body." - -The young man and the girl came nearer to his side, and squatting there -leaned close that they might catch each faintly articulated syllable. - -"My mate and I," commenced the old man, "were childless, though many -moons had passed since I took her to my cave. She wanted a little one, -for thus only may women have aught upon which to lavish their love. - -"We had been hunting together for several days alone and far from the -village, for I was a great hunter when I was young--no greater ever -lived among our people. - -"And one day we came down to the great water, and there, a short -distance from the shore we saw a strange thing that floated upon the -surface of the water, and when it was blown closer to us we saw that -it was hollow and that in it were two people--a man and a woman. Both -appeared to be dead. - -"Finally I waded out to meet the thing, dragging it to shore, and there -sure enough was a man and a woman, and the man was dead--quite dead. He -must have been dead for a long time; but the woman was not dead. - -"She was very fair though her eyes and hair were black. We carried her -ashore, and that night a little girl was born to her, but the woman -died before morning. - -"We put her back into the strange thing that had brought her--she and -the dead man who had come with her--and shoved them off upon the great -water, where the breeze, which had changed over night, together with -the water which runs away from the land twice each day carried them out -of sight, nor ever did we see them again. - -"But before we sent them off my mate took from the body of the woman -her strange coverings and a little bag of skin which contained many -sparkling stones of different colors and metals of yellow and white -made into things the purposes of which we could not guess. - -"It was evident that the woman had come from a strange land, for she -and all her belongings were unlike anything that either of us ever had -seen before. She herself was different as Nadara is different--Nadara -looks as her mother looked, for Nadara is the little babe that was born -that night. - -"We brought her back to our people after another moon, saying that she -was born to my mate; but there was one woman who knew better, for it -seemed that she had seen us when we found the boat, having been running -away from a man who wanted her as his mate. - -"But my mate did not want anyone to say that Nadara was not hers, for -it is a great disgrace, as you well know, for a woman to be barren, and -so she several times nearly killed this woman, who knew the truth, to -keep her from telling it to the whole village. - -"But I love Nadara as well as though she had been my own, and so I -should like to see her well mated before I die." - -Thandar had gone white during the narration of the story of Nadara's -birth. He could scarce restrain an impulse to go upon his knees and -thank his God that he had harked to the call of his civilized training -rather than have given in to the easier way, the way these primitive, -beast-like people offered. Providence, he thought, must indeed have -sent him here to rescue her. - -The old man, turning upon his rough pallet, fastened his sunken eyes -questioningly upon Thandar. Nadara, too, with parted lips waited for -him to speak. The old man gasped for breath--there was a strange -rattling sound in his throat. - -Thandar leaned above him, raising his head and shoulders slightly. The -young man never had heard that sound before, but now that he heard it -he needed no interpreter. - -The locust, rubbing his legs along his wings, startles the uninitiated -into the belief that a hidden rattler lurks in the pathway; but when -the great diamond back breaks forth in warning none mistakes him for a -locust. - -And so is it with the death rattle in the human throat. - -Thandar knew that it was the end. He saw the old man's mighty effort to -push back the grim reaper that he might speak once more. In the dying -eyes were a question and a plea. Thandar could not misunderstand. - -He reached forward and took Nadara's hand. - -"In my own land we shall be mated," he said. "None other shall wed with -Nadara, and as proof that she is Thandar's she shall wear this always," -and from his finger he slipped a splendid solitaire to the third finger -of Nadara's left hand. - -The old man saw. A look of relief and contentment that was almost a -smile settled upon his features, as, with a gasping sigh, he sank -limply into Thandar's arms, dead. - -That afternoon several of the younger men carried the body of Nadara's -foster father to the top of the cliff, depositing it about half a mile -from the caves. There was no ceremony. In it, though, Waldo Emerson saw -what might have been the first human funeral cortege--simple, sensible -and utilitarian--from which the human race has retrograded to the -ostentatious, ridiculous, pestilent burials of present day civilization. - -The young men, acting under Big Fist's orders, carried the worthless -husk to a safe distance from the caves, leaving it there to the rapid -disintegration provided by the beasts and birds of prey. - -Nadara wept, silently. An elderly lady with a single tooth, espying -her, moaned in sympathy. Presently other females, attracted by the -moaning, joined them, and, becoming affected by the strange hysteria -to which womankind is heir, mingled their moans with those of the -toothless one. - -Excited by their own noise they soon were shrieking and screaming in -hideous chorus. Then came Big Fist and others of the men. The din -annoyed them. They set upon the mourners with their fists and teeth -scattering them in all directions. Thus ended the festivities. - -Or would have had not Big Fist made the fatal mistake of launching a -blow at Nadara. Thandar had been standing nearby looking with wonder -upon the strange scene. - -He had noted the quiet grief of the young girl--real grief; and he had -witnessed the hysterical variety of the "mourners"--not sham grief. -Precisely, because they made no pretense to grief--it was noise to -which they aspired. And as the fiendish din had set his own nerves on -edge he wondered not at all that Big Fist and the other men should -take steps to quell the tumult. - -The female half-brutes were theirs and Waldo Emerson had reverted -sufficiently to the primitive to feel no incentive to interfere. But -Nadara was not theirs--she was not of them, and even had she not -belonged to him the American would have felt bound to stand between her -and the savage creatures among whom fate had cast her. - -That she did belong to him, however, sent him hot with the blood lust -of the killer as he sprang to intercept the rush of Big Fist toward her. - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had learned nothing of the manly art of -self-defense in that other life that had been so zealously guarded from -the rude and vulgar. This was unfortunate since it would have given him -a great advantage over the man-brute. A single well-timed swing to that -unguarded chin would have ended hostilities at once; but of hooks and -jabs and jolts, scientific, Thandar knew nothing. - -Except for his crude weapons he was as primeval in battle as his -original anthropoid progenitor, and quite as often as not he forgot all -about his sword, his knife, his bow and arrows and his spear when, half -stooped, he crouched to meet the charge of a foeman. - -Now he sprang for Big Fist's hairy throat. There was a sullen thud -as the two bodies met, and then, rolling, biting and tearing, they -struggled hither and thither upon the rocky ground at the base of the -cliff. - -The other men desisted from their attack upon the women. The women -ceased their vocal mourning. In a little circle they formed about the -contestants--a circle which moved this way and that as the fighters -moved, keeping them always in the center. - -Nadara forced her way through them to the front. She wished to be near -Thandar. In her hand she carried a jagged bit of granite--one could -never tell. - -Big Fist was burly--mountainous--but Thandar was muscled like Nagoola, -the black panther. His movements were all grace and ease, but oh, so -irresistible. A sudden and unexpected blow upon the side of Big Fist's -head bent that bullet-shaped thing sidewards with a jerk that almost -dislocated the neck. - -Big Fist shrieked with the pain of it. Thandar, delighted by the result -of the accidental blow, repeated it. Big Fist bellowed--agonized. -He made a last supreme effort to close with his agile foeman, and -succeeded. His teeth sought Thandar's throat, but the act brought his -own jugular close to Thandar's jaws. - -The strong white teeth of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones closed upon it as -naturally as though no countless ages had rolled their snail-like way -between himself and the last of his progenitors to bury bloody fangs in -the soft flesh of an antagonist. - -Wasted ages! fleeing from the primitive and the brute toward the -neoteric and the human--in a brief instant your labors are undone, the -veneer of eons crumbles in the heat of some pristine passion revealing -again naked and unashamed, the primitive and the brute. - -Big Fist, white now from terror at impending death, struggled to be -free. Thandar buried his teeth more deeply. There was a sudden rush of -spurting blood that choked him. Big Fist relaxed, inert. - -Thandar, drenched crimson, rose to his feet. The huge body on the -ground before him floundered spasmodically once or twice as the life -blood gushed from the severed jugular. The eyes rolled up and set, -there was a final twitch and Big Fist was dead. - -Thandar turned toward the circle of interested spectators. He singled -out a burly quartet. - -"Bear Big Fist to the cliff top," he commanded. "When you return we -shall choose a king." - -The men did as they were bid. They did not at all understand what -Thandar meant by choosing a king. Having slain Big Fist, Thandar was -king, unless some ambitious one desired to dispute his right to reign. -But all had seen him slay Big Fist, and all knew that he had killed -Korth and Flatfoot, so who was there would dare question his kingship? - -When they had come back to the village Thandar gathered them beneath a -great tree that grew close to the base of the cliff. Here they squatted -upon their haunches in a rough circle. Behind them stood the women and -children, wide-eyed and curious. - -"Let us choose a king," said Thandar, when all had come. - -There was a long silence, then one of the older men spoke. - -"I am an old man. I have seen many kings. They come by killing. They go -by killing. Thandar has killed two kings. Now he is king. Who wishes to -kill Thandar and become king?" - -There was no answer. - -The old man arose. - -"It was foolish to come here to choose a king," he said, "when a king -we already have." - -"Wait," commanded Thandar. "Let us choose a king properly. Because I -have killed Flatfoot and Big Fist does not prove that I can make a good -king. Was Flatfoot a good king?" - -"He was a bad man," replied the ancient one. - -"Has a good man ever been king?" asked Thandar. - -The old fellow puckered his brow in thought. - -"Not for a long time," he said. - -"That is because you always permit a bully and a brute to rule you," -said Thandar. "That is not the proper way to choose a king. Rather you -should come together as we are come, and among you talk over the needs -of the tribe and when you are decided as to what measures are best for -the welfare of the members of the tribe then should you select the man -best fitted to carry out your plans. That is a better way to choose a -king." - -The old man laughed. - -"And then," he said, "would come a Big Fist or a Flatfoot and slay our -king that he might be king in his place." - -"Have you ever seen a man who could slay all the other men of the tribe -at the same time?" - -The old man looked puzzled. - -"That is my answer to your argument," said Thandar. "Those who choose -the king can protect him from his enemies. So long as he is a good king -they should do so, but when he becomes a bad king they can then select -another, and if the bad king refuses to obey the new it would be an -easy matter for several men to kill him or drive him away, no matter -how mighty a fighter he might be." - -Several of the men nodded understandingly. - -"We had not thought of that," they said. "Thandar is indeed wise." - -"So now," continued the American, "let us choose a king whom the -majority of us want, and then so long as he is a good king the majority -of us must fight for him and protect him. Let us choose a man whom we -know to be a good man regardless of his ability to kill his fellows, -for if he has the majority of the tribe to fight for him what need -will he have to fight for himself? What we want is a wise man--one who -can lead the tribe to fertile lands and good hunting, and in times of -battle direct the fighting intelligently. Flatfoot and Big Fist had not -brains enough between them to do aught but steal the mates of other -men. Such should not be the business of kings. Your king should protect -your mates from such as Flatfoot, and he should punish those who would -steal them." - -"But how may he do these things?" asked a young man, "if he is not the -best fighter in the tribe?" - -"Have I not shown you how?" asked Thandar. "We who make him king shall -be his fighters--he will not need to fight with his own hands." - -Again there was a long silence. Then the old man spoke again. - -"There is wisdom in the talk of Thandar. Let us choose a king who will -have to be good to us if he wishes to remain king. It is very bad for -us to have a king whom we fear." - -"I, for one," said the young man who had previously spoken, "do not -care to be ruled by a king unless he is able to defeat me in battle. If -I can defeat him then I should be king." - -And so they took sides, but at last they compromised by selecting one -whom they knew to be wise and a great fighter as well. Thus they chose -Thandar king. - -"Once each week," said the new king, "we shall gather here and talk -among ourselves of the things which are for the best good of the tribe, -and what seems best to the majority shall be done. The tribe will tell -the king what to do--the king will carry out the work. And all must -fight when the king says fight and all must work when the king says -work, for we shall all be fighting or working for the whole tribe, and -I, Thandar, your king, shall fight and work the hardest of you all." - -It was a new idea to them and placed the kingship in a totally -different light from any by which they had previously viewed it. That -it would take a long time for them to really absorb the idea Thandar -knew, and he was glad that in the meantime they had a king who could -command their respect according to their former standards. - -And he smiled when he thought of the change that had taken place in him -since first he had sat trembling, weeping and coughing upon the lonely -shore before the terrifying forest. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE GREAT NAGOOLA - - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had gladly embraced the opportunity which -chance had offered him to assume the kingship of the little tribe of -troglodytes. First, because his position would assure Nadara greater -safety, and, second, because of the opening it would give him for the -exercise of his new-found initiative. - -Where before he had shrunk from responsibility he now found himself -anxious to assume it. He longed to do, where formerly he had been -content to but read of the accomplishments of others. - -To his chagrin, however, he soon discovered that the classical -education to which his earlier life had been devoted under the guidance -of a fond and ultra-cultured mother was to prove a most inadequate -foundation upon which to build a practical scheme of life for himself -and his people. - -He wished to teach his tribe to construct permanent and comfortable -houses, but he could not recollect any practical hints on carpentry -that he had obtained from Ovid. - -His people lived by hunting small rodents, robbing birds' nests, and -gathering wild fruit and vegetables. Thandar desired to institute a -scheme of community farming, but the works of the Cyclic Poets, with -which he was quite familiar, seemed to offer little of value along -agricultural lines. He regretted that he had not matriculated at an -agricultural college west of the Alleghanies rather than at Harvard. - -However, he determined to do the best he could with the meager -knowledge he possessed of things practical--a knowledge so meager -that it consisted almost entirely of the bare definition of the word -agriculture. - -It was a germ, however, for it presupposed a knowledge of the results -that might be obtained through agriculture. - -So Thandar found himself a step ahead of the earliest of his -progenitors who had thought to plant purposely the seeds that nature -heretofore had distributed haphazard through the agencies of wind and -bird and beast; but only a step ahead. - -He realized that he occupied a very remarkable position in the march -of ages. He had known and seen and benefited by all the accumulated -knowledge of ages of progression from the stone age to the twentieth -century, and now, suddenly, fate had snatched him back into the stone -age, or possibly a few eons farther back, only to show him that all -that he had from a knowledge of other men's knowledge was keen -dissatisfaction with the stone age. - -He had lived in houses of wood and brick and looked through windows -of glass. He had read in the light of gas and electricity, and he -even knew of candles; but he could not fashion the tools to build a -house, he could not have made a brick to have saved his life, glass had -suddenly become one of the wonders of the world to him, and as for gas -and electricity and candles they had become one with the mystery of the -Sphinx. - -He could write verse in excellent Greek, but he was no longer proud of -that fact. He would much rather that he had been able to tan a hide, -or make fire without matches. Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had a year -ago been exceedingly proud of his intellect and his learning, but for -a year his ego had been shrinking until now he felt himself the most -pitiful ignoramus on earth. "Criminally ignorant," he said to Nadara, -"for I have thrown away the opportunities of a lifetime devoted to the -accumulation of useless erudition when I might have been profiting by -the practical knowledge which has dragged the world from the black bit -of barbarism to the light of modern achievement--I might not only have -done this but, myself, added something to the glory and welfare of -mankind. I am no good, Nadara--worse than useless." - -The girl touched his strong brown hand caressingly, looking proudly -into his eyes. - -"To me you are very wonderful, Thandar," she said. "With your own hands -you slew Nagoola, the most terrible beast in the world, and Korth, and -Flatfoot, and Big Fist lie dead beneath the vultures because of your -might--single-handed you killed them all; three awesome men. No, my -Thandar is greater than all other men." - -Nor could Waldo Emerson repress the swelling tide of pride that surged -through him as the girl he loved recounted his exploits. No longer did -he think of his achievements as "vulgar physical prowess." The old -Waldo Emerson, whose temperature had risen regularly at three o'clock -each afternoon, whose pitifully skinny body had been racked by coughing -continually, whose eyes had been terror filled by day and by night at -the rustling of dry leaves, was dead. - -In his place stood a great, full blooded man, brown skinned and -steel thewed; fearless, self-reliant, almost brutal in his pride of -power--Thandar, the cave man. - -The months that passed as Thandar led his people from one honeycombed -cliff to another as he sought a fitting place for a permanent village -were filled with happiness for Nadara and the king. - -The girl's happiness was slightly alloyed by the fact that Thandar -failed to claim her as his own. She could not yet quite understand the -ethics which separated them. Thandar tried repeatedly to explain to her -that some day they were to return to his own world, and that that world -would not accept her unless she had been joined to him according to the -rites and ceremonies which it had originated. - -"Will this marriage ceremony of which you tell me make you love me -more?" asked Nadara. - -Thandar laughed and took her in his arms. - -"I could not love you more," he replied. - -"Then of what good is it?" - -Thandar shook his head. - -"It is difficult to explain," he said, "especially to such a lovable -little pagan as my Nadara. You must be satisfied to know--accept my -word for it--that it is because I love you that we must wait." - -Now it was the girl's turn to shake her head. - -"I cannot understand," she said. "My people take their mates as they -will and they are satisfied and everybody is satisfied and all is well; -but their king, who may mate as he chooses, waits until a man whom he -does not know and who lives across the great water where we may never -go, gives him permission to mate with one who loves him--with one whom -he _says_ he loves." - -Thandar noticed the emphasis which Nadara put upon the word "says." - -"Some day," he said, "when we have reached my world you will know that -I was right, and you will thank me. Until then, Nadara, you must trust -me, and," he added half to himself, "God knows I have earned your trust -even if you do not know it." - -And so Nadara made believe that she was satisfied but in her heart of -hearts she still feared that Thandar did not really love her, nor did -the half-veiled comments of the women add at all to her peace of mind. - -During all the time that Thandar was with her he had been teaching her -his language for he had set his heart upon taking her home, and he -wished her to be as well prepared for her introduction to Boston and -civilization as he could make her. - -Thandar's plan was to find a suitable location within sight of the sea -that he might always be upon the lookout for a ship. At last he found -such a place--a level meadow land upon a low plateau overlooking the -ocean. - -He had come upon it while he wandered alone several miles from the -temporary cliff dwellings the tribe was occupying. The soil, when he -dug into it, he found to be rich and black. There was timber upon one -side and upon the other overhanging cliffs of soft limestone. - -It was Thandar's plan to build a village partly of logs against the -face of the cliff, burrowing inward behind the dwellings for such -additional apartments as each family might require. - -The caves alone would have proved sufficient shelter, but the man hoped -by compelling his people to construct a portion of each dwelling of -logs to engender within each family a certain feeling of ownership and -pride in personal possession as would make it less easy for them to -give up their abodes than in the past, when it had been necessary but -to move to another cliff to find caves equally as comfortable as those -which they so easily abandoned. - -In other words he hoped to give them a word which their vocabulary had -never held--home. - -Whether or not he would have succeeded we may never know, for fate -stepped in at the last moment to alter with a single stroke his every -plan and aspiration. - -As he returned to his people that afternoon filled with the enthusiasm -of his hopes a burly, hairy figure crept warily after him. As Thandar -emerged from the brush which reaches close to the cliffs where the -temporary encampment had been made Nadara, watching for him, ran -forward to meet him. - -The creature upon Thandar's trail halted at the edge of the bush. As -his close-set eyes fell upon the girl his flabby lips vibrated to the -quick intaking of his breath and his red lids half closed in cunning -and desire. - -For a few moments he watched the man and the maid as they turned and -walked slowly toward the cliffs, the arm of the former about the brown -shoulders of the latter. Then he too turned and melted into the tangled -branches behind him. - -That evening Thandar gathered the members of the tribe about him at -the foot of the cliff. They sat around a great fire while Thandar, -their king, explained to them in minutest detail the future that he had -mapped out for them. - -Some of the old men shook their heads, for here was an unheard of -thing--a change from the accustomed ordering of their lives--and they -were loath to change regardless of the benefits which might accrue. - -But for the most part the people welcomed the idea of comfortable -and permanent habitations, though their anticipatory joy, Thandar -reasoned, was due largely to a childish eagerness for something new and -different--whether their enthusiasm would survive the additional labors -which the new life was sure to entail was another question. - -So Thandar laid down the new laws that were to guide his people -thereafter. The men were to make all implements and weapons, for he -had already taught them to use arrows and spears. The women were to -keep all edged tools sharp. The men were to hew the logs and build the -houses--the women make garments, cook and keep the houses in order. - -The men were to turn up the soil, the women were to sow the seeds, and -cultivate the growing crops, which, later, all hands must turn to and -harvest. - -The hunting and the fighting devolved upon the men, but the fighting -must be confined to enemies of the tribe. A man who killed another -member of the tribe except in defense of his home or his own person was -to suffer death. - -Other laws he made--good laws--which even these primitive people could -see were good. It was quite late when the last of them crawled into -his comfortless cave to dream of large, airy rooms built of the trees -of the forest; of good food in plenty just before the rains as well as -after; of security from the periodic raids of the "bad men." - -Thandar and Nadara were the last to go. Together they sat upon a -narrow ledge before Nadara's cave, the moonlight falling upon their -glistening, naked shoulders, while they talked and dreamed together of -the future. - -Thandar had been talking of the wonderful plans which seemed to fill -his whole mind--of the future of the tribe--of the great strides -toward civilization they could make in a few brief years if they could -but be made to follow the simple plans he had in mind. - -"Why," he said, "in ten years they should have bridged a gulf that it -must have required ages for our ancestors to span." - -"And you are planning ten years ahead, Thandar," she asked, "when only -yesterday you were saying that once beside the sea you hoped it would -be but a short time before we might sight a passing vessel that would -bear us away to your civilization? Must we wait ten years, Thandar?" - -"I am planning for them," he replied. "We may not be here to witness -the changes; but I wish to start them upon the road, and when we go I -shall see to it that a king is chosen in my place who has the courage -and the desire to carry out my plans. - -"Yet," he added, musingly, "it would be splendid could we but return -to complete our work. Never, Nadara, have I performed a single -constructive act for the benefit of my fellow man, but now I see an -opportunity to do something, however small it may seem, to--what was -that?" - -A low rumbling muttered threateningly out of the west. Deep and ominous -it sounded, yet so low that it failed to awaken any member of the -sleeping tribe. - -Before either could again speak there came a slight trembling of the -earth beneath them, scarcely sufficient to have been noticeable had it -not been preceded by the distant grumbling of the earth's bowels. - -The two upon the moonlit ledge came to their feet, and Nadara drew -close to Thandar, the man's arm encircling her shoulders protectingly. - -"The Great Nagoola," she whispered. "Again he seeks to escape." - -"What do you mean?" asked Thandar. "It is an earthquake--distant and -quite harmless to us." - -"No, it is The Great Nagoola," insisted Nadara. "Long time ago, when -our fathers' fathers were yet unborn, The Great Nagoola roamed the land -devouring all that chanced to come in his way--men, beasts, birds, -everything. - -"One day my people came upon him sleeping in a deep gorge between two -mountains. They were mighty men in those days, and when they saw their -great enemy asleep there in the gorge half of them went upon one side -and half upon the other, and they pushed the two mountains over into -the gorge upon the sleeping beast, imprisoning him there. - -"It is all true, for my mother had it from her mother, who in turn was -told it by her mother--thus has it been handed down truthfully since it -happened long time ago. - -"And even to this day is occasionally heard the growling of The Great -Nagoola in his anger, and the earth shakes and trembles as he strives -far, far beneath to shake the mountains from him and escape. Did you -not hear his voice and feel the ground rock?" - -Thandar laughed. - -"Well, we are quite safe then," he cried, "for with two mountains piled -upon him he cannot escape." - -"Who knows?" asked Nadara. "He is huge--as huge, himself, as a small -mountain. Some day, they say, he will escape, and then naught will -pacify his rage until he has destroyed every living creature upon the -land." - -"Do not worry, little one," said Thandar. "The Great Nagoola will -have to grumble louder and struggle more fiercely before ever he may -dislodge the two mountains. Even now he is quiet again, so run to your -cave, sweetheart, nor bother your pretty head with useless worries--it -is time that all good people were asleep," and he stooped and kissed -her as she turned to go. - -For a moment she clung to him. - -"I am afraid, Thandar," she whispered. "Why, I do not know. I only know -that I am afraid, with a great fear that will not be quiet." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BATTLE - - -Early the following morning while several of the women and children -were at the river drawing water the balance of the tribe of Thandar was -startled into wakefulness by piercing shrieks from the direction the -water carriers had taken. - -Before the great, hairy men, led by the smooth-skinned Thandar, had -reached the foot of the cliff in their rush to the rescue of the women -several of the latter appeared at the edge of the forest, running -swiftly toward the caves. - -Mingled with their screams of terror were cries of: "The bad men! The -bad men!" But these were not needed to acquaint the rescuers with the -cause of the commotion, for at the heels of the women came Thurg and a -score of his vicious brutes. Little better than anthropoid apes were -they. Long armed, hairy, skulking monsters, whose close-set eyes and -retreating foreheads proclaimed more intimate propinquity to the higher -orders of brutes than to civilized man. - -Woe betide male or female who fell into their remorseless clutches, -since to the base passions, unrestrained, that mark the primordial they -were addicted to the foulest forms of cannibalism. - -In the past their raids upon their neighbors for meat and women had met -with but slight resistance--the terrified cave dwellers scampering to -the safety of their dizzy ledges from whence they might hurl stones and -roll boulders down to the confusion of any foe however ferocious. - -Always the bad men caught a few unwary victims before the safety of the -ledges could be attained, but this time there was a difference. Thurg -was delighted. The men were rushing downward to meet him--great indeed -would be the feast which should follow this day's fighting, for with -the men disposed of there would be but little difficulty in storming -the cliff and carrying off all the women and children, and as he -thought upon these things there floated in his little brain the image -of the beautiful girl he had watched come down the evening before from -the caves to meet the smooth-skinned warrior who twice now had bested -Thurg in battle. - -That Thandar's men might turn the tables upon him never for a moment -occurred to Thurg. Nor was there little wonder, since, mighty as were -the muscles of the cave men, they were weaklings by comparison with the -half-brutes of Thurg--only the smooth-skinned stranger troubled the -muddy mind of the near-man. - -It puzzled him a little, though, to see the long slim sticks that the -enemy carried, and the little slivers in skin bags upon their backs, -and the strange curved branches whose ends were connected by slender -bits of gut. What were these things for! - -Soon he was to know--this and other things. - -Thandar's warriors did not rush upon Thurg and his brutes in a close -packed, yelling mob. Instead they trotted slowly forward in a long thin -line that stretched out parallel with the base of the cliff. In the -center, directly in front of the charging bad men, was Thandar, calling -directions to his people, first upon one hand and then upon the other. - -And in accordance with his commands the ends of the line began to -quicken the pace, so that quickly Thurg saw that there were men -before him, and men upon either hand, and now, at fifty feet, while -all were advancing cautiously, crouched for the final hand-to-hand -encounter, he saw the enemy slip each a sliver into the gut of the bent -branches--there was a sudden chorus of twangs, and Thurg felt a sharp -pain in his neck. Involuntarily he clapped his hand to the spot to find -one of the slivers sticking there, scarce an inch from his jugular. - -With a howl of rage he snatched the thing from him, and as he leaped -to the charge to punish these audacious mad-men he noted a dozen of -his henchmen plucking slivers from various portions of their bodies, -while two lay quite still upon the grass with just the ends of slivers -protruding from their breasts. - -The sight brought the beast-man to a momentary halt. He saw his fellows -charging in upon the foe--he saw another volley of slivers speed from -the bent branches. Down went another of his fighters, and then the -enemy cast aside their strange weapons at a shouted command from the -smooth-skinned one and grasping their long, slim sticks ran forward to -meet Thurg's people. - -Thurg smiled. It would soon be over now. He turned toward one who was -bearing down upon him--it was Thandar. Thurg crouched to meet the -charge. Rage, revenge, the lust for blood fired his bestial brain. With -his huge paws he would tear the puny stick from this creature's grasp, -and this time he would gain his hold upon that smooth throat. He licked -his lips. And then out of the corner of his eye he glanced to the right. - -What strange sight was this! His people flying? It was incredible! -And yet it was true. Growling and raging in pain and anger they were -running a gauntlet of fire-sharpened lances. Three lay dead. The others -were streaming blood as they fled before the relentless prodding devils -at their backs. - -It was enough for Thurg. He did not wait to close with Thandar. A -single howl of dismay broke from his flabby lips, and then he wheeled -and dashed for the wood. He was the last to pass through the rapidly -converging ends of Thandar's primitive battle line. He was running -so fast that, afterward, Nadara who was watching the battle from the -cliff-side insisted that his feet flew higher than his head at each -frantic leap. - -Thandar and his victorious army pursued the enemy through the wood for -a mile or more, then they returned, laughing and shouting, to receive -the plaudits of the old men, the women and the children. - -It was a happy day. There was feasting. And Thandar, having in mind -things he had read of savage races, improvised a dance in honor of the -victory. - -He knew little more of savage dances than his tribesmen did of the -two-step and the waltz; but he knew that dancing and song and play -marked in themselves a great step upward in the evolution of man from -the lower orders, and so he meant to teach these things to his people. - -A red flush spread to his temples as he thought of his dignified father -and his stately mother and with what horrified emotions they would view -him now could they but see him--naked but for a g-string and a panther -skin, moving with leaps and bounds, and now stately waltz steps in a -great circle, clapping his hands in time to his movements, while behind -him strung a score of lusty, naked warriors, mimicking his every antic -with the fidelity of apes. - -About them squatted the balance of the tribe more intensely interested -in this, the first ceremonial function of their lives, than with any -other occurrence that had ever befallen them. They, too, now clapped -their hands in time with the dancers. - -Nadara stood with parted lips and wide eyes watching the strange -scene. Within her it seemed that something was struggling for -expression--something that she must have known long, long -ago--something that she had forgotten but that she presently must -recall. With it came an insistent urge--her feet could scarce remain -quietly upon the ground, and great waves of melody and song welled into -her heart and throat, though what they were and what they meant she did -not know. - -She only knew that she was intensely excited and happy and that her -whole being seemed as light and airy as the soft wind that blew across -the gently swaying treetops of the forest. - -Now the dance was done. Thandar had led the warriors back to the feast. -In the center of the circle where the naked bodies of the men had -leaped and swirled to the clapping of many hands was an open space, -deserted. Into it Nadara ran, drawn by some subtile excitement of the -soul which she could not have fathomed had she tried--which she did not -try to fathom. - -Around her slim, graceful figure was draped the glossy, black pelt of -Nagoola--another trophy of the prowess of her man. It half concealed -but to accentuate the beauties of her form. - -With eyes half-closed she took a half dozen graceful, tentative steps. -Now the eyes of Thandar and several others were upon her, but she did -not see them. Suddenly, with outthrown arms, she commenced to dance, -bending her lithe body, swaying from side to side as she fell, with -graceful abandon, into steps and poses that seemed as natural to her as -repose. - -About the little circle she wove her simple yet intricate way, and now -every eye was upon her as every savage heart leaped in unison with her -shapely feet, rising and falling in harmony with her lithe, brown limbs. - -And of all the hearts that leaped, fastest leaped the heart of Thandar, -for he saw in the poetry of motion of the untutored girl the proof of -her birth-right--the truth of all that he had guessed of her origin -since her foster father had related the story of her birth upon his -death bed. None but a child of an age-old culture could possess this -inherent talent. Any moment he expected her lips to break forth in -song, nor was he to be disappointed, for presently, as the circling -cave folk commenced to clap their palms in time to her steps, Nadara -lifted her voice in clear and bird-like notes--a worldless paean of -love and life and happiness. - -At last, exhausted, she paused, and as her eyes fell upon Thandar they -broke into a merry laugh. - -"The king is not the only one who can leap and play upon his feet," she -cried. - -Thandar came to the center of the circle and kneeling at her feet took -one of her hands in his and kissed it. - -"The king is only mortal and a man," he said. "It is no reproach that -he cannot equal the divine grace of a goddess. You are very wonderful, -my Nadara," he continued, "From loving you I am coming to worship you." - -And within the deep and silent wood another was stirred with mighty -emotions by the sight of the half-naked, graceful girl. It was Thurg, -the bad man, who had sneaked back alone to the edge of the forest that -he might seek an opportunity to be revenged upon Thandar and his people. - -Half formed in his evil brain had been a certain plan, which the sight -of Nadara, dancing in the firelight, had turned to concrete resolution. - -With the dancing and the feasting over, the tribe of Thandar betook -itself by ones and twos to the rocky caves that they expected so soon -to desert for the more comfortable village which they were to build -under the direction of their king, to the east, beside the great water. - -At last all was still--the village slept. No sentry guarded their -slumbers, for Thandar, steeped in book learning, must needs add to his -stock of practical knowledge by bitter experience, and never yet had -the cause arisen for a night guard about his village. - -Having defeated Thurg and his people he thought that they would not -return again, and certainly not by night, for the people of this wild -island roamed seldom by night, having too much respect for the teeth -and talons of Nagoola to venture forth after darkness had settled upon -the grim forests and the lonely plains. - -But a tempest of uncontrolled emotions surged through the hairy breast -of Thurg. He forgot Nagoola. He thought only of revenge--revenge and -the black haired beauty who had so many times eluded him. - -And as he saw her dancing in the circle of hand-clapping tribesmen, in -the light of the brush wood fire, his desire for her became a veritable -frenzy. - -He could scarce restrain himself from rushing single-handed among his -foes and snatching the girl before their faces. However, caution came -to his rescue, and so he waited, albeit impatiently, until the last of -the cave folk had retired to his cavern. - -He had seen into which Nadara had withdrawn--one that lay far up -the face of the steep cliff and directly above the cave occupied by -Thandar. The moon was overcast, the fire at the foot of the cliff had -died to glowing embers, all was wrapped in darkness and in shadow. Far -in the depths of the wood Nagoola coughed and cried. The weird sound -raised the coarse hair at the nape of Thurg's bull neck. He cast an -apprehensive backward glance, then, crouching low, he moved quickly and -silently across the clearing toward the base of the cliff. - -Flattened against a protruding boulder there he waited, listening, for -a moment. No sound broke the stillness of the sleeping village. None -had seen his approach--of that he was convinced. - -Carefully he began the ascent of the cliff face, made difficult by the -removal of the rough ladders that led from ledge to ledge by day, but -which were withdrawn with the retiring of the community to their dark -holes. - -But Thurg had dragged with him from the forest a slim sapling. This he -leaned against the face of the cliff. Its uptilted end just topped the -lowest ledge. - -Thurg was almost as large and quite as clumsy in appearance as a -gorilla, yet he was not as far removed from his true arboreal ancestors -as is the great simian, and so he accomplished in silence and with -evident ease what his great bulk might have seemed to have relegated to -the impossible. - -Like a huge cat he scrambled up the frail pole until his fingers -clutched the ledge edge above him. Ape-like he drew himself to a -squatting position there. Then he groped for the ladder that the cave -folk had drawn up from below. - -This he erected to the next ledge above. Thereafter the way was easy, -for the balance of the ledges were connected by steeply inclined trails -cut into the cliff face. This had been an innovation of Thandar's who -considered the rickety ladders not only a nuisance, but extremely -dangerous to life and limb, for scarce a day passed that some child or -woman did not receive a bad fall because of them. - -So Thurg, with Thandar's unintentional aid, came easily to the mouth of -Nadara's cave. - -Great had been the temptation as he passed the cave below to enter and -slay his enemy. Never had Thurg so hated any creature as he hated this -smooth-skinned interloper--with all the venom of his mean soul he hated -him. - -Now he stooped, listening, just beside the entrance to the cave. He -could hear the regular breathing of the girl within. The hot blood -surged through his brute veins. His huge paws opened and closed -spasmodically. His breath sucked hot between his flabby lips. - -Just beneath him Thandar lay dreaming. He saw a wonderful vision of a -beautiful nymph dancing in the firelight. In a circle about her sat the -Smith-Joneses, the Percy Standishes, the Livingston-Brownes, the Quincy -Adams-Cootses, and a hundred more equally aristocratic families of -Boston. - -It did not seem strange to Thandar that there was not enough clothing -among the entire assemblage to have recently draped the Laocoön. His -father wore a becoming loin cloth, while the stately Mrs. John Alden -Smith-Jones, his mother, was tastefully arrayed in a scant robe of the -skins of small rodents sewn together with bits of gut. - -As the nymph danced the audience kept time to her steps with loudly -clapping palms, and when she was done they approached her one by one, -crawling upon their hands and knees, and kissed her hand. - -Suddenly he saw that the nymph was Nadara, and as he sprang forward to -claim her a large man with a coarse matted beard, a slanted forehead, -and close-set eyes, leaped out from among the others, seized Nadara and -fled with her toward a waiting trolley car. - -He recognized the man as Thurg, and even in his dream it seemed rather -incongruous that he should be clothed in well-fitting evening clothes. - -Nadara screamed once, and the scream roused Thandar from his dream. -Raising upon one elbow he looked toward the entrance of his cave. The -recollection of the dream swept back into his memory. With a little -sigh of relief that it had been but a dream, he settled back once more -upon his bed of grasses, and soon was wrapped in dreamless slumber. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE ABDUCTION OF NADARA - - -Cautiously Thurg crawled into the cave where Nadara slept upon her -couch of soft grasses, wrapped in the glossy pelt of Nagoola, the black -panther. - -The hulking form of the beast-man blotted out the faint light that -filtered from the lesser darkness of the night without through the -jagged entrance to the cave. - -All within was Stygian gloom. - -Groping with his hands Thurg came at last upon a corner of the grassy -pallet. Softly he wormed inch by inch closer to the sleeper. Now his -fingers felt the thick fur of the panther skin. - -Lightly, for so gross a thing, his touch followed the recumbent figure -of the girl until his giant paws felt the silky luxuriance of her raven -hair. - -For an instant he paused. Then, quickly and silently, one great palm -clapped roughly over Nadara's mouth, while the other arm encircled her -waist, lifting her from her bed. - -Awakened and terrified, Nadara struggled to free herself and to scream; -but the giant hand across her mouth effectually sealed her lips, while -the arm about her waist held her as firmly as might iron bands. - -Thurg spoke no word, but as Nadara's hands came in contact with his -hairy breast and matted beard as she fought for freedom she guessed the -identity of her abductor, and shuddered. - -Waiting only to assure himself that his hold upon his prisoner was -secure and that no trailing end of her robe might trip him in his -flight down the cliff face, Thurg commenced the descent. - -Opposite the entrance to Thandar's cave Nadara redoubled her efforts to -free her mouth that she might scream aloud but once. Thurg, guessing -her desire, pressed his palm the tighter, and in a moment the two had -passed unnoticed to the ledge below. - -Down the winding trail of the upper ledges Thurg's task was -comparatively easy--thanks to Thandar, but at the second ledge from the -bottom of the cliff he was compelled to take to the upper of the two -ladders which completed the way to the ground below. - -And here it was necessary to remove his hand from Nadara's mouth. In a -low growl he warned her to silence with threats of instant death, then -he removed his hand from across her face, grasped the top of the ladder -and swung over the dangerous height with his burden under his arm. - -For an instant Nadara was too paralyzed with terror to take advantage -of her opportunity, but just as Thurg set foot upon the ledge at the -bottom of the ladder she screamed aloud once. - -Instantly Thurg's hand fell roughly across her lips. Brutally he shook -her, squeezing her body in his mighty grip until she gasped for breath, -and each minute expected to feel her ribs snap to the terrific strain. - -For a moment Thurg stood silently upon the ledge, compressing the -tortured body of his victim and listening for signs of pursuit from -above. - -Presently the agony of her suffering overcame Nadara--she swooned. -Thurg felt her form relax, and his flabby lips twisted to a hideous -grin. - -The cliff was quiet--the girl's scream had not disturbed the slumbers -of her tribesmen. Thurg swung the ladder he had just descended over the -edge of the cliff below, and a moment later he stood at the bottom with -his burden. - -Without noise he removed the ladder and the sapling that he had used in -his ascent, laying them upon the ground at the foot of the cliff. This -would halt, temporarily, any pursuit until the cave men could bring -other ladders from the higher levels, where they doubtless had them -hidden. - -But no pursuit developed, and Thurg disappeared into the dark forest -with his prize. - -For a long distance he carried her, his little pig eyes searching and -straining to right and left into the black night for the first sign -of savage beast. The half atrophied muscles of his little ears, still -responding to an almost dead instinct, strove to prick those misshapen -members forward that they might catch the first crackling of dead -leaves beneath the padded paw of the fanged night prowlers. - -But the wood seemed dead. No living creature appeared to thwart the -beast-man's evil intent. Far behind him Thandar slept. Thurg grinned. - -The moon broke through the clouds, splotching the ground all silver -green beneath the forest trees. Nadara awoke from her swoon. They were -in a little open glade. Instantly she recalled the happenings that -had immediately preceded her unconsciousness. In the moonlight she -recognized Thurg. He was smirking horribly down into her upturned face. - -Thandar had often talked with her of religion. He had taught her of -his God, and now the girl thanked Him that Thurg was still too low -in the scale of evolution to have learned to kiss. To have had that -matted beard, those flabby, pendulous lips pressed to hers! It was too -horrible--she closed her eyes in disgust. - -Thurg lowered her to her feet. With one hand he still clutched her -shoulder. She saw him standing there before her--his greedy, blood-shot -eyes devouring her. His awful lips shook and trembled as his hot breath -sucked quickly in and out in excited gasps. - -She knew that the end was coming. Frantically she cast about her for -some means of defense or escape. Thurg was drawing her toward him. - -Suddenly she drew back her clenched fist and struck him full in the -mouth, then, tearing herself from his grasp, she turned and fled. - -But in a moment he was upon her. Seizing her roughly by the shoulders -he shook her viciously, hurling her to the ground. - -The blood from his wounded lips dropped upon her face and throat. - -From the distance came a deep toned, thunderous rumbling. Thurg raised -his head and listened. Again and again came that awesome sound. - -"The Great Nagoola is coming to punish you," whispered Nadara. - -Thurg still remained squatting beside her. She had ceased to fight, for -now she felt that a greater power than hers was intervening to save her. - -The ground beneath them trembled, shook and then tossed frightfully. -The rumbling and the roaring became deafening. Thurg, his passion -frozen in the face of this new terror, rose to his feet. For a moment -there was a lull, then came another and more terrific shock. - -The earth rose and fell sickeningly. Fissures opened, engulfing trees, -and then closed like hungry mouths gulping food long denied. - -Thurg was thrown to the ground. Now he was terror stricken. He screamed -aloud in his fear. - -Again there came a lull, and this time the beast-man leaped to his feet -and dashed away into the forest. Nadara was alone. - -Presently the earth commenced to tremble again, and the voice of The -Great Nagoola rumbled across the world. Frightened animals scampered -past Nadara, fleeing in all directions. Little deer, foxes, squirrels -and other rodents in countless numbers scurried, terrified, about. - -A great black panther and his mate trotted shoulder to shoulder into -the glade where Nadara still stood too bewildered to know which way to -fly. - -They eyed her for a moment, as they paused in the moonlight, then -without a second glance they loped away into the brush. Directly behind -them came three deer. - -Nadara realized that she had felt no fear of the panthers as she would -have under ordinary circumstances. Even the little deer ran with their -natural enemies. Every lesser fear was submerged in the overwhelming -terror of the earthquake. - -Dawn was breaking in the east. The rumblings were diminishing, the -tremors at greater intervals and of lessening violence. - -Nadara started to retrace her steps toward the village. Momentarily she -looked to see Thandar coming in search of her, but she came to the edge -of the forest and no sign of Thandar or another of her tribesmen had -come to cheer her. - -At last she stepped into the open. Before her was the cliff. A cry -of anguish broke from her lips at the sight that met her eyes. Torn, -tortured and crumpled were the lofty crags that had been her home--the -home of the tribe of Thandar. - -The overhanging cliff top had broken away and lay piled in a jagged -heap at the foot of the cliff. The caves had disappeared. The ledges -had crumbled before the titanic struggles of The Great Nagoola. All was -desolation and ruin. - -She approached more closely. Here and there in the awful jumble of -shattered rock were wedged the crushed and mangled forms of men, women -and children. - -Tears coursed down Nadara's cheeks. Sobs wracked her slender figure. -And Thandar! Where was he? - -With utmost difficulty the girl picked her way aloft over the tumbled -debris. She could only guess at the former location of Thandar's cave, -but now no sign of cave remained--only the same blank waste of silent -stone. - -Frantically she tugged and tore at massive heaps of sharp edged rock. -Her fingers were cut and bruised and bleeding. She called aloud the -name of her man, but there was no response. - -It was late in the afternoon before, weak and exhausted, she gave up -her futile search. That night she slept in a crevice between two broken -boulders, and the next morning she set out in search of a cave where -she might live out the remainder of her lonely life in what safety and -meager comfort a lone girl could wring from this savage world. - -For a week she wandered hither and thither only to find most of the -caves she had known in the past demolished as had been those of her -people. - -At last she stumbled upon the very cliff which Thandar had chosen as -the permanent home of his people. Here the wrath of the earthquake -seemed to have been less severe, and Nadara found, high in the cliff's -face, a safe and comfortable cavern. - -The last span to it required the use of a slender sapling, which she -could draw up after her, effectually barring the approach of Nagoola -and his people. To further protect herself against the chance of -wandering men the girl carried a quantity of small bits of rock to the -ledge beside the entrance to her cave. - -Fruit and nuts and vegetables she took there too, and a great gourd of -water from the spring below. As she completed her last trip, and sat -resting upon the ledge, her eyes wandering over the landscape and out -across the distant ocean, she thought she saw something move in the -shadow of the trees across the open plain beneath her. - -Could it have been a man? Nadara drew her sapling ladder to the ledge -beside her. - -Thurg, fleeing from the wrath of The Great Nagoola, had come at -daybreak to the spot where his people had been camped, but there he -found no sign of them, only the ragged edges of a great fissure, -half-closed, that might have swallowed his entire tribe as he had seen -the fissures in the forest swallow many, many trees at a single bite. - -For some time he sought for signs of his tribesmen, but without -success. Then, his fear of the earthquake allayed, he started back into -the forest to find the girl. For days he sought her. He came to the -ruins of the cliff that had housed her people, and there he discovered -signs that the girl had been there since the demolition of the cliff. - -He saw the print of her dainty feet in the soft earth at the base of -the rocks--he saw how she had searched the debris for Thandar--he saw -her bed of grasses in the crevice between the two boulders, and then, -after diligent search, he found her spoor leading away to the east. - -For many days he followed her until, at last, close by the sea, he come -to a level plain at the edge of a forest. Across the narrow plain rose -lofty cliffs--and what was that clambering aloft toward the dark mouth -of a cave? - -Could it be a woman? Thurg's eyes narrowed as he peered intently toward -the cliff. Yes, it was a woman--it was _the_ woman--it was she he -sought, and, she was alone. - -With a whoop of exultation Thurg broke from the forest into the plain, -running swiftly toward the cliff where Nadara crouched beside her -little pile of jagged missiles, prepared to once more battle with this -hideous monster for more than life. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE SEARCH - - -A year had elapsed since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had departed from -the Back Bay home of his aristocratic parents to seek in a long sea -voyage a cure for the hacking cough and hectic cheeks which had in -themselves proclaimed the almost incurable. - -Two months later had come the first meager press notices of the narrow -escape of the steamer, upon which Waldo Emerson had been touring the -south seas, from utter destruction by a huge tidal wave. The dispatch -read: - - The captain reports that the great wave swept entirely over the - steamer, momentarily submerging her. Two members of the crew, the - officer upon the bridge, and one passenger were washed away. - - The latter was an American traveling for his health, Waldo E. - Smith-Jones, son of John Alden Smith-Jones of Boston. - - The steamer came about, cruising back and forth for some time, but - as the wave had washed her perilously close to a dangerous shore, - it seemed unsafe to remain longer in the vicinity, for fear of - a recurrence of the tidal wave which would have meant the utter - annihilation of the vessel upon the nearby beach. - -No sign of any of the poor unfortunates was seen. - -Mrs. Smith-Jones is prostrated. - -Immediately John Alden Smith-Jones had fitted out his yacht, -_Priscilla_, despatching her under Captain Burlinghame, a retired naval -officer, and an old friend of Mr. Smith-Jones, to the far distant coast -in search of the body of his son, which the captain of the steamer was -of the opinion might very possibly have been washed upon the beach. - -And now Burlinghame was back to report the failure of his mission. -The two men were sitting in the John Alden Smith-Jones library. Mrs. -Smith-Jones was with them. - -"We searched the beach diligently at the point opposite which the tidal -wave struck the steamer," Captain Burlinghame was saying. "For miles up -and down the coast we patrolled every inch of the sand. - -"We found, at one spot upon the edge of the jungle and above the beach, -the body of one of the sailors. It was not and could not have been -Waldo's. The clothing was that of a seaman, the frame was much shorter -and stockier than your son's. There was no sign of any other body along -that entire coast. - -"Thinking it possible one of the men might have been washed ashore -alive we sent parties into the interior. Here we found a wild and -savage country, and on two occasions met with fierce, white savages, -who hurled rocks at us and fled at the first report of our firearms. - -"We continued our search all around the island, which is of -considerable extent. Upon the east coast I found this," and here the -captain handed Mr. Smith-Jones the bag of jewels which Nadara had -forgotten as she fled from Thandar. - -Briefly he narrated what he knew of the history of the poor woman to -whom it had belonged. - -"I recall the incident well," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, "I had the -pleasure of entertaining the count and countess when they stopped here -upon their honeymoon. They were lovely people, and to think that they -met so tragic an end!" - -The three lapsed into silence. Burlinghame did not know whether he was -glad or sorry that he had not found the bones of Waldo Emerson--that -would have meant the end of hope for his parents. Perhaps much the same -thoughts were running through the minds of the others. - -Somewhere in the nether regions of the great house an electric bell -sounded. Still the three sat on in silence. They heard the houseman -open the front door. They heard low voices, and presently there came a -deferential tap upon the door of the library. - -Mr. Smith-Jones looked up and nodded. It was the houseman. He held a -letter in his hand. - -"What is it Krutz?" asked the master in a tired voice. It seemed that -nothing ever again would interest him. - -"A special delivery letter, sir," replied the servant. "The boy says -you must sign for it yourself, sir." - -"Ah, yes," replied Mr. Smith-Jones, as he reached for the letter and -the receipt blank. - -He glanced at the post mark--San Francisco. - -Idly he cut the envelope. - -"Pardon me?" He glanced first at his wife and then at Captain -Burlinghame. - -The two nodded. - -Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones opened the letter. There was a single -written sheet and an enclosure in another envelope. He had read but a -couple of lines when he came suddenly upright in his chair. - -Captain Burlinghame and Mrs. Smith-Jones looked at him in polite and -surprised questioning. - -"My God!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "He is alive--Waldo is alive!" - -Mrs. Smith-Jones and Captain Burlinghame sprang from their chairs and -ran toward the speaker. - -With trembling hands that made it difficult to read the words that his -trembling voice could scarce utter John Alden Smith-Jones read aloud: - - _On board the Sally Corwith, - San Francisco, California._ - - _Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones, - Boston, Mass._ - - _Dear Sir: Just reached port and hasten to forward letter your son - gave me for his mother. He wouldn't come with us. We found him on ---- - ----Island, Lat. 10° --" South, Long. 150° --" West. He seemed in - good health and able to look out for himself. Didn't want anything, - he said, except a razor, so we gave him that and one of the men gave - him a plug of chewing tobacco. Urged him to come, but he wouldn't. The - enclosed letter will doubtless tell you all about him._ - - _Yours truly, - Henry Dobbs, Master._ - -"Ten south, a hundred and fifty west," mused Captain Burlinghame. -"That's the same island we searched. Where could he have been!" - -Mrs. Smith-Jones had opened the letter addressed to her, and was -reading it breathlessly. - - _My dear Mother: I feel rather selfish in remaining and possibly - causing you further anxiety, but I have certain duties to perform to - several of the inhabitants which I feel obligated to fulfill before I - depart._ - - _My treatment here has been all that anyone might desire--even more, I - might say._ - - _The climate is delightful. My cough has left me, and I am entirely a - well man--more robust than I ever recall having been in the past._ - - _At present I am sojourning in the mountains, having but run down - to the sea shore today, where, happily, I chanced to find the Sally - Corwith in the harbor, and am taking advantage of Captain Dobbs' - kindness to forward this letter to you._ - - _Do not worry, dearest mother; my obligations will soon be fulfilled - and then I shall hasten to take the first steamer for Boston._ - - _I have met a number of interesting people here--the most interesting - people I have ever met. They quite overwhelm one with their - attentions._ - - _And now, as Captain Dobbs is anxious to be away, I will close, with - every assurance of my deepest love for you and father._ - - _Ever affectionately your son, - Waldo._ - -Mrs. Smith-Jones' eyes were dim with tears--tears of thanksgiving and -happiness. - -"And to think," she exclaimed, "that after all he is alive and -well--quite well. His cough has left him--that is the best part of it, -and he is surrounded by interesting people--just what Waldo needed. -For some time I feared, before he sailed, that he was devoting himself -too closely to his studies and to the little coterie of our own set -which surrounded him. This experience will be broadening. Of course -these people may be slightly provincial, but it is evident that they -possess a certain culture and refinement--otherwise my Waldo would -never have described them as 'interesting.' The coarse, illiterate, or -vulgar could never prove 'interesting' to a Smith-Jones." - -Captain Cecil Burlinghame nodded politely--he was thinking of the -naked, hairy man-brutes he had seen within the interior of the island. - -"It is evident, Burlinghame," said Mr. Smith-Jones, "that you -overlooked a portion of this island. It would seem, from Waldo's -letter, that there must be a colony of civilized men and women -somewhere upon it. Of course it is possible that it may be further -inland than you penetrated." - -Burlinghame shook his head. - -"I am puzzled," he said. "We circled the entire coast, yet nowhere did -we see any evidence of a man-improved harbor, such as one might have -reason to expect were there really a colony of advanced humans in the -interior. There would have been at least a shack near the beach in one -of the several natural harbors which indent the coast line was there -even an occasional steamer touching for purposes of commerce with the -colonists. - -"No, my friends," he continued, "as much as I should like to believe -it my judgment will not permit me to place any such translation upon -Waldo's letter. - -"That he is safe and happy seems evident, and that is enough for us to -know. Now it should be a simple matter for us to find him--if it is -still your desire to send for him." - -"He may already have left for Boston," said Mrs. Smith-Jones; "his -letter was written several months ago." - -Again Burlinghame shook his head. - -"Do not bank on that, my dear madam," he said kindly. "It may be fifty -years before another vessel touches that forgotten shore--unless it be -one which you yourselves send." - -John Alden Smith-Jones sprang to his feet, and commenced pacing up and -down the library. - -"How soon can the _Priscilla_ be put in shape to make the return voyage -to the island?" he asked. - -"It _can_ be done in a week, if necessary," replied Burlinghame. - -"And you will accompany her, in command?" - -"Gladly." - -"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "And now, my friend, let us lose no -time in starting our preparations. I intend accompanying you." - -"And I shall go too," said Mrs. Smith-Jones. - -The two men looked at her in surprise. - -"But my dear!" cried her husband, "there is no telling what hardships -and dangers we may encounter--you could never stand such a trip." - -"I am going," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, firmly. "I know my Waldo. I know -his refined and sensitive nature. I know that I am fully capable of -enduring whatever he may have endured. He tells me that he is among -interesting people. Evidently there is nothing to fear, then, from -the inhabitants of the island, and furthermore I wish personally to -meet the people he has been living with. I have always been careful -to surround Waldo with only the nicest people, and if any vulgarizing -influences have been brought to bear upon him since he has been beyond -my mature guidance I wish to know it, that I may determine how to -combat their results." - -That was the end of it. If Mrs. Smith-Jones knew her son, Mr. -Smith-Jones certainly knew his wife. - -A week later the _Priscilla_ sailed from Boston harbor on her long -journey around the Horn to the south seas. - -Most of the old crew had been retained. The first and second officers -were new men. The former, William Stark, had come to Burlinghame well -recommended. From the first he seemed an intelligent and experienced -officer. That he was inclined to taciturnity but enhanced his value -in the eyes of Burlinghame. Stark was inclined to be something of a -martinet, so that the crew soon took to hating him cordially, but as -his display of this unpleasant trait was confined wholly to trivial -acts the men contented themselves with grumbling among themselves, -which is the prerogative and pleasure of every good sailorman. Their -loyalty to the splendid Burlinghame, however, was not to be shaken by -even a dozen Starks. - -The monotonous and uneventful journey to the vicinity of ten south -and a hundred and fifty west was finally terminated. At last land -showed on the starboard bow. Excitement reigned supreme throughout the -trim, white _Priscilla_. Mrs. Smith-Jones peered anxiously and almost -constantly through her binoculars, momentarily expecting to see the -well-known thin and emaciated figure of her Waldo Emerson standing upon -the beach awaiting them. - -For two weeks they sailed along the coast, stopping here and there for -a day while parties tramped inland in search of signs of civilized -habitation. They lay two days in the harbor where the _Sally Corwith_ -had lain. There they pressed farther inland than at any other point, -but all without avail. It was Burlinghame's plan to first make a -cursory survey of the entire coast, with only short incursions toward -the center of the island. Should this fail to discover the missing -Waldo the party was then to go over the ground once more, remaining -weeks or months as might be required to thoroughly explore every foot -of the island. - -It was during the pursuit of the initial portion of the program that -they dropped anchor in the self-same harbor upon whose waters Waldo -Emerson and Nadara had seen the _Priscilla_ lying, only to fly from her. - -Burlinghame recalled it as the spot at which the bag of jewels had been -picked up. Next to the Sally Corwith harbor, as they had come to call -the other anchorage, this seemed most fraught with possibilities of -success. They christened it Eugenie Bay, after that poor, unfortunate -lady, Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, whose -jewels had been recovered upon its shore. - -Burlinghame and Waldo's father with half a dozen officers and men of -the _Priscilla_ had spent the day searching the woods, the plain and -the hills for some slight sign of human habitation. Shortly after noon -First Officer Stark stumbled upon the whitened skeleton of a man. In -answer to his shouts the other members of the party hastened to his -side. They found the grim thing lying in a little barren spot among -the tall grasses. About it the liquids of decomposition had killed -vegetation leaving the thing alone in all its grisly repulsiveness as -though shocked, nature had withdrawn in terror. - -Stark stood pointing toward it without a word as the others came up. -Burlinghame was the first to reach Stark's side. He bent low over -the bones examining the skull carefully. John Alden Smith-Jones came -panting up. Instantly he saw what Burlinghame was examining he turned -deathly white. Burlinghame looked up at him. - -"It's not," he said. "Look at that skull--either a gorilla or some very -low type of man." - -Mr. Smith-Jones breathed a sigh of relief. - -"What an awful creature it must have been," he said, when he had fully -taken in the immense breadth of the squat skeleton. "It cannot be that -Waldo has survived in a wilderness peopled by such creatures as this. -Imagine him confronted by such a beast. Timid by nature and never -robust he would have perished of fright at the very sight of this thing -charging down upon him." - -Captain Cecil Burlinghame acquiesced with a nod. He knew Waldo Emerson -well, and so he could not even imagine a meeting between the frail and -cowardly youth and such a beast as this bleaching frame must once have -supported. And at their feet the bones of Flatfoot lay mute witnesses -to the impossible. - -Presently a shout from one of the sailors attracted their attention -toward the far side of the valley. The man was standing upon a rise of -ground waving his arms and gesticulating violently toward the lofty -cliffs which rose sheer from the rank jungle grasses. All eyes turned -in the direction indicated by the excited sailor. At first they saw -nothing, but presently a figure came in sight upon a little elevation. -It was the figure of a human being, and even at the distance they were -from it all were assured that it was the figure of a female. She was -running toward the cliffs with the speed of a deer. And now behind her, -came another figure. Thick set and squat was the thing that pursued the -woman. It might have been the reanimated skeleton that they had just -discovered. - -Would the creature catch her before she reached the cliff? Would she -find sanctuary even there? Already Burlinghame and Stark had started -toward the cliff on a run. John Alden Smith-Jones followed more slowly. -The men raced after their officers. - -The girl had reached the rocks and was scampering up their precipitous -face like a squirrel. Close behind her came the man. They saw the girl -reach a ledge just below the mouth of a cave in which she evidently -expected to find safety. They saw her clambering up the rickety sapling -that answered for a ladder. They breathed sighs of relief, for it -seemed that she was now quite safe--the man was still one ledge below -her. - -But in another moment the watchers were filled with horror. The brute -pursuing her had reached forth a giant hand and seized the base of the -sapling. He was dragging it over the edge of the cliff. In another -moment the girl would be precipitated either into his arms or to a -horrible death upon the jagged rocks beneath her. - -Burlinghame and Stark halted simultaneously. At once two rifles leaped -to their shoulders. There were two reports, so close together that they -seemed as one. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -FIRST MATE STARK - - -Upon the day that Thurg discovered Nadara he had come racing to the -foot of the cliff, roaring and bellowing like a mad bull. Upward he -clambered half the distance to the girl's lofty perch. Then a bit of -jagged rock, well aimed, had brought him to a sudden halt, spitting -blood and teeth from his injured mouth. He looked up at Nadara and -shrieked out his rage and his threats of vengeance. Nadara launched -another missile at him that caught him full upon one eye, dropping -him like a stone to the narrow ledge upon which he had been standing. -Quickly the girl started to descend to his side to finish the work she -had commenced, for she knew that there could be no peace or safety for -her, now that Thurg had discovered her hiding place, while the monster -lived. - -But she had scarce more than lowered her sapling to the ledge beneath -her when the giant form of the man moved and Thurg sat up. Quickly -Nadara clambered back to her ledge, again drawing her sapling after -her. She was about to hurl another missile at the man when he spoke to -her. - -"We are alone in the world," he said. "All your people and all my -people have been slain by the Great Nagoola. Come down. Let us live -together in peace. There is no other left in all the world." - -Nadara laughed at him. - -"Come down to you!" she cried, mockingly. "Live with you! I would -rather live with the pigs that root in the forest. Go away, or I will -finish what I have commenced, and kill you. I would not live with you -though I knew that you were the last human being on earth." - -Thurg pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Again he tried -to clamber to her side, but again he was repulsed with well-aimed -missiles. At last he withdrew, growling and threatening. - -For weeks he haunted the vicinity of the cliff. Nadara's meager food -supply was soon exhausted. She was forced to descend to replenish her -larder and fill her gourd, or die of starvation and thirst. She made -her trips to the forest at night, though black Nagoola prowled and the -menace of Thurg loomed through the darkness. At last the man discovered -her in one of these nocturnal expeditions and almost caught her before -she reached her ledge of safety. - -For three days he kept her a close prisoner. Again her stock of -provisions was exhausted. She was desperate. Twice had Nagoola nearly -trapped her in the forest. She dared not again tempt fate in the -gloomy wood by night. There was nothing left but to risk all in one -last effort to elude Thurg by day and find another asylum in some far -distant corner of the island. - -Carefully she watched her opportunity, and while the beast-man was -temporarily absent seeking food for himself the girl slid swiftly to -the base of the cliff and started through the tall grasses for the -opposite side of the valley. - -Upon this day Thurg had fallen upon the spoor of deer as he had -searched the forest for certain berries that were in season and which -he particularly enjoyed. The trail led along the edge of the wood to -the opposite side of the valley, and over the hills into the region -beyond. All day Thurg followed the fleet animals, until at last not -having come up with them he was forced to give up the pursuit and -return to the cliffs, lest his more valuable quarry should escape. - -Half-way between the hills and the cliff he came suddenly face to -face with Nadara. Not twenty paces separated them. With a howl of -satisfaction Thurg leaped to seize her, but she turned and fled before -he could lay his hand upon her. If Thurg had found his other quarry of -that day swift, so, too, he now found Nadara, for terror gave wings -to her flying feet. Lumbering after her came Thurg, and had the -distance been less he would have been left far behind, but it was a -long distance from the spot, where they had met, to Nadara's cliffs. -The girl could out-run the man for a short distance, but when victory -depended upon endurance the advantage was all upon the side of the -brute. - -As they neared the goal Nadara realized that the lead she had gained -at first was rapidly being overcome by the horrid creature panting so -close behind her. She strained every nerve and muscle in a last mad -effort to distance the fate that was closing upon her. She reached -the cliff. Thurg was just behind her. Half spent, she stumbled upward -in, what seemed to her, pitiful slowness. At last her hand grasped -the sapling that led to the mouth of her cave--in another instant she -would be safe. But her new-born hope went out as she felt the sapling -slipping and glanced downward to see Thurg dragging it from its -position. - -She shut her eyes that she might not see the depths below into which -she was about to be hurled, and then there smote upon her ears the most -terrific burst of sound that had ever assailed them, other than the -thunders that rolled down out of the heavens when the rains came. But -this sound did not come from above--it came from the valley beneath. - -The ladder ceased to slip. She opened her eyes and glanced downward. -Far below her lay the body of Thurg. She could see that he was quite -dead. He lay upon his face and from his back trickled two tiny streams -of blood from little holes. - -Nadara clambered upward to her ledge, drawing her sapling after her, -and then she looked about for an explanation of the strange noise and -the sudden death of Thurg, for she could not but connect the one with -the other. Below, in the valley, she saw a number of men strangely -garbed. They were coming toward her cliff. She gathered her missiles -closely about her, ready to her hand. Now they were below and calling -up to her. Her eyes dilated in wonder--they spoke the strange tongue -that Thandar had tried to teach her. She called down to them in her own -tongue, but they shook their heads, motioning her to descend. She was -afraid. All her life she had been afraid of men, and with reason--of -all except her old foster father and Thandar. These, evidently, were -men. She could only expect from them the same treatment that Thurg -would have accorded her. - -One of them had started up the face of the cliff. It was Stark. Nadara -seized a bit of rock and hurled it down upon him. He barely dodged -the missile, but he desisted in his attempt to ascend to her. Now -Burlinghame advanced, raising his hand, palm toward her in sign that -she should not assault him. She recalled some of the language that -Thandar had taught her--maybe they would understand it. - -"Go-way!" she cried. "Go-way! Nadara kill bad-men." - -A look of pleasure overspread Burlinghame's face--the girl spoke -English. - -"We are not bad men," he called up to her. "We will not harm you." - -"What you want?" asked Nadara, still unconvinced by mere words. - -"We want to talk with you," replied Burlinghame. "We are looking for a -friend who was ship-wrecked upon this island. Come down. We will not -harm you. Have we not already proved our friendship by killing this -fellow who pursued you?" - -This man spoke precisely the tongue of Thandar. Nadara could understand -every word, for Thandar had talked to her much in English. She could -understand it better than she could speak it. If they talked the same -tongue as Thandar they must be from the same country. Maybe they were -Thandar's friends. Anyway they were like him, and Thandar never harmed -women. She could trust them. Slowly she lowered her sapling and began -the descent. Several times she hesitated as though minded to return to -her ledge, but Burlinghame's kindly voice and encouragement at last -prevailed, and presently Nadara stood before them. - -The officers and men of the _Priscilla_ crowded around the girl. They -were struck with her beauty, and the simple dignity of her manner and -her carriage. The great black panther skin that fell from her left -shoulder she wore with the majesty of a queen and with a naturalness -that cast no reflection upon her modesty, though it revealed quite -as much of her figure as it hid. William Stark, first officer of the -_Priscilla_, caught his breath--never, he was positive, had God made a -more lovely creature. - -From the top of the cliff a shaggy man peered down upon the strange -scene. He blinked his little eyes, scratched his matted head, and once -he picked up a large stone that lay near him; but he did not hurl it -upon those below, for he had heard the loud report of the rifles, -seen the smoke belch from the muzzles, and witnessed the sudden and -miraculous collapse of Thurg. - -Burlinghame was speaking to Nadara. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -"Nadara," replied the girl. - -"Where do you live?" - -Nadara jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the cliff at her back. -Burlinghame searched the rocky escarpment with his eyes, but saw no -sign of another living being there. - -"Where are your people?" - -"Dead." - -"All of them?" - -Nadara nodded affirmatively. - -"How long have they been dead and what killed them?" continued -Burlinghame. - -"Almost a moon. The Great Nagoola killed them." - -In answer to other questions Nadara related all that had transpired -since the night of the earthquake. Her description of the catastrophe -convinced the Americans that a violent quake had recently occurred to -shake the island to its foundations. - -"Ask her about Waldo," whispered Mr. Smith-Jones, himself dreading to -put the question. - -"We are looking for a young man," said Burlinghame, "who was lost -overboard from a steamer on the west coast of this island. We know -that he reached the shore alive, for we have heard from him. Have -you ever seen or heard of this stranger? His name is Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones--this gentleman is his father," indicating Mr. Smith-Jones. - -Nadara looked with wide eyes at John Alden Smith-Jones. So this man was -Thandar's father. She felt very sorry for him, for she knew that he -loved Thandar--Thandar had often told her so. She did not know how to -tell him--she shrank from causing another the anguish and misery that -she had endured. - -"Did you know of him?" asked Burlinghame. - -Nadara nodded her head. - -"Where is he?" cried Waldo's father. "Where are the people with whom he -lived here?" - -Nadara came close to John Alden Smith-Jones. There was no fear in her -innocent young heart for this man who was Thandar's father--who loved -Thandar--only a great compassion for him in the sorrow that she was -about to inflict. Gently she took his hand in hers, raising her sad -eyes to his. - -"Where is he? Where is my boy?" whispered Mr. Smith-Jones. - -"He is with his people, who were my people--the people of whom I have -just told you," replied Nadara softly-- "He is dead." And then she -dropped her face upon the man's hand and wept. - -The shock staggered John Alden Smith-Jones. It seemed -incredible--impossible--that Waldo could have lived through all that he -must have lived through to perish at last but a few short weeks before -succor reached him. For a moment he forgot the girl. It was her hot -tears upon his hand that aroused him to a consciousness of the present. - -"Why do you weep?" he cried almost roughly. - -"For you," she replied, "who loved him, too." - -"You loved Waldo?" asked the boy's father. - -Nadara nodded her tumbled mass of raven hair. John Alden Smith-Jones -looked down upon the bent head of the sobbing girl in silence for -several minutes. Many things were racing through his patrician brain. -He was by training, environment and heredity narrow and Puritanical. -He saw the meager apparel of the girl--he saw her nut brown skin; but -he did not see her nakedness, for something in his heart told him that -sweet virtue clothed her more effectually than could silks and satins -without virtue. Gently he placed an arm about her, drawing her to him. - -"My daughter," he said, and pressed his lips to her forehead. - -It was a solemn and sorrow-ridden party that boarded the _Priscilla_ -an hour later. Mrs. Smith-Jones had seen them coming. Some intuitive -sense may have warned her of the sorrow that lay in store for her upon -their return. At any rate she did not meet them at the rail as in the -past, instead she retired to her cabin to await her husband there. -When he joined her he brought with him a half-naked young woman. Mrs. -Smith-Jones looked upon the girl with ill concealed horror. - -Waldo's mother met the shock of her husband's news with much greater -fortitude than he had expected. As a matter of fact she had been -prepared for this from the first. She had never really believed that -Waldo could survive for any considerable time far from the comforts and -luxuries of his Boston home and the watchful care of herself. - -"And who is this--ah--person?" she asked coldly at last, holding her -pince-nez before her eyes as with elevated brows she cast a look of -disapproval upon Nadara. - -The girl, reading more in the older woman's manner than her words, drew -herself up proudly. Mr. Smith-Jones coughed and colored. He stepped to -Nadara's side, placing his arm about her shoulders. - -"She loved Waldo," he said simply. - -"The brazen huzzy!" exclaimed Mrs. Smith-Jones. "To dare to love a -Smith-Jones!" - -"Come, come, Louisa!" ejaculated her husband. "Remember that she too is -suffering--do not add to her sorrow. She loved our boy, and he returned -her love." - -"How do you know that?" - -"She has told me," replied the man. - -"It is not true," cried Mrs. Smith-Jones. "It is not true! Waldo -Emerson would never stoop to love one out of his own high class. Who is -she, and what proof have you that Waldo loved her?" - -"I am Nadara," said the girl proudly, answering for herself, "and this -is the proof that he loved me. He told me that this was the pledge -token between us until we could come to his land and be mated according -to the customs there." She held out her left hand, upon the third -finger of which sparkled a great solitaire--a solitaire which Mrs. John -Alden Smith-Jones recognized instantly. - -"He gave you that?" she asked. - -Then she turned toward her husband. - -"What do you intend doing with this girl?" she asked. - -"I shall take her back home," replied he. "She should be as a daughter -to us, for Waldo would have made her such had he lived. She cannot -remain upon the island. All her people were killed by the earthquake -that destroyed Waldo. She is in constant danger of attack by wild -beasts and wilder men. We cannot leave her here, and even if we could I -should not do so, for we owe a duty to our dead boy to care for her as -he would have cared for her--and we owe a greater duty to her." - -"I must be alone," was all that Mrs. Smith-Jones replied. "Please take -her away, John. Give her the cabin next to this, and have Marie clothe -her properly--Marie's clothes should about fit her." There was more of -tired anguish in her voice now than of anger. - -Mr. Smith-Jones led Nadara out and summoned Marie, but Nadara upset his -plans by announcing that she wished to return to shore. - -"She does not like me," she said, nodding toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's -cabin, "and I will not stay." - -It took John Alden Smith-Jones a long time to persuade the girl to -change her mind. He pointed out that his wife was greatly over-wrought -by the shock of the news of Waldo's death. He assured Nadara that at -heart she was a kindly woman, and that eventually she would regret -her attitude toward the girl. And at last Nadara consented to remain -aboard the _Priscilla_. But when Marie would have clothed her in the -garments of civilization she absolutely refused--scorning the hideous -and uncomfortable clothing. - -It was two days before Mrs. Smith-Jones sent for her. When she entered -that lady's cabin the latter exclaimed at once against her barbarous -attire. - -"I gave instructions that Marie should dress you properly," she said. -"You are not decently clothed--that bear skin is shocking." - -Nadara tossed her head, and her eyes flashed fire. - -"I shall never wear your silly clothes," she cried. "This, Thandar gave -me--he slew Nagoola, the black panther, with his own hands, and gave -the skin to me who was to be his mate--do you think I would exchange -it for such foolish garments as those?" and she waved a contemptuous -gesture toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's expensive morning gown. - -The elder woman forgot her outraged dignity in the suggestion the girl -had given her for an excuse to be rid of her at the first opportunity. -She had mentioned a party named Thandar. She had brazenly boasted that -this Thandar had killed the beast whose pelt she wore and given her -the thing for a garment. She had admitted that she was to become this -person's "mate." Mrs. Smith-Jones shuddered at the primitive word. At -this moment Mr. Smith-Jones entered the cabin. He smiled pleasantly at -Nadara, and then, seeing in the attitudes of the two women that he had -stepped within a theater of war, he looked questioningly at his wife. - -"Now what, Louisa?" he asked, somewhat sharply. - -"Sufficient, John," exclaimed that lady, "to bear out my original -contention that it was a very unwise move to bring this woman with -us--she has just admitted that she was the promised 'mate' of a person -she calls Thandar. She is brazen--I refuse to permit her to enter -my home; nor shall she remain upon the _Priscilla_ longer than is -necessary to land her at the first civilized port." - -Mr. Smith-Jones looked questioningly at Nadara. The girl had guessed -the erroneous reasoning that had caused Mrs. Smith-Jones's excitement. -She had forgotten that they did not know that Waldo and Thandar were -one. Now she could scarce repress a smile of amusement nor resist the -temptation to take advantage of Mrs. Smith-Jones's ignorance to bait -her further. - -"You had another lover beside Waldo?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones. - -"I loved Thandar," she replied. "Thandar was king of my people. He -loved me. He slew Nagoola for me and gave me his skin. He slew Korth -and Flatfoot, also. They wanted me, but Thandar slew them. And Big Fist -he slew, and Sag the Killer--oh, Thandar was a mighty fighter. Can you -wonder that I loved him?" - -"He was a hideous murderer!" cried Mrs. Smith-Jones, "and to think that -my poor Waldo; poor, timid, gentle Waldo, was condemned to live among -such savage brutes. Oh, it is too terrible!" - -Nadara's eyes went wide. It was her turn to suffer a shock. "Poor, -timid, gentle Waldo!" Had she heard aright? Could it be that they were -describing the same man? There must be some mistake. - -"Did Waldo know that you loved Thandar?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones. - -"Thandar was Waldo," she replied. "Thandar is the name I gave him--it -means the Brave One. He was very brave," she cried. "He was not -'timid,' and he was only 'gentle' with women and children." - -Mrs. Smith-Jones had never been so shocked in all her life. She sprang -to her feet. - -"Leave my cabin!" she cried. "I see through your shallow deception. -You thoughtlessly betrayed yourself and your vulgar immoralities, and -now you try to hide behind a base calumny that pictures my dear, dead -boy as one with your hideous, brutal chief. You shall not deceive me -longer. Leave my cabin, please!" - -Mr. Smith-Jones stood as one paralyzed. He could not believe in the -perfidy of the girl--it seemed impossible that she could have so -deceived him--nor yet could he question the integrity of his own ears. -It was, of course, too far beyond the pale of reason to attempt to -believe that Waldo Emerson and the terrible Thandar were one and the -same. The girl had gone too far, and yet he could not believe that she -was bad. There must be some explanation. - -In the meantime Nadara had left the room, her little chin high in air. -Never again, she determined, would she subject herself to the insults -of Thandar's mother. She went on deck. She had found it difficult -to remain below during the day. She craved the fresh air, and the -excitement to be found above. The officers had been very nice to -her. Stark was much with her. The man had fallen desperately in love -with the half-savage girl. As she reached the deck after leaving Mrs. -Smith-Jones's cabin Stark was the first she chanced to meet. She would -have preferred being alone with her sorrow and her anger, but the man -joined her. Together they stood by the rail watching the approach -of heavy clouds. A storm was about to break over them that had been -brewing for several days. - -Stark knew nothing of what had taken place below, but he saw that the -girl was unhappy. He attempted to cheer her. At last he took her hand -and stroked it caressingly as he talked with her. Before she could -guess his intention he was pouring words of love and passion into her -ears. Nadara drew away. A puzzled frown contracted her brows. - -"Do not talk so to Nadara," she said. "She does not love you." And then -she moved away and went to her cabin. - -Stark looked after her as she departed. He was thoroughly aroused. Who -was this savage girl, to repulse him? What would have been her fate but -for his well-directed shot? Was not the man who had been pursuing her -but acting after the customs of her wild people? He would have taken -her by force. That was the only way she would have been taken had she -been left upon her own island. That was the only kind of betrothal she -knew. It was what she expected. He had been a fool to approach her with -the soft words of civilization. They had made her despise him. She -would have understood force, and loved him for it. Well, he would show -her that he could be as primitive as any of her savage lovers. - -The storm broke. The wind became a hurricane. The _Priscilla_ was -forced to turn and flee before the anger of the elements, so that she -retraced her course of the past two days and then was blown to the -north. - -Stark saw nothing of Nadara during this period. At the end of -thirty-six hours the wind had died and the sea was settling to its -normal quiet. It was the first evening after the storm. The deck of the -_Priscilla_ was almost deserted. The yacht was moving slowly along not -far off the shore of one of the many islands that dot that part of the -south seas. - -Nadara came on deck for a walk before retiring. Stark and two sailors -were on watch. At sight of the girl the first officer approached -her. He spoke pleasantly as though nothing had occurred to mar their -friendly relations. He talked of the storm and pointed out the black -outlines of the nearby shore, and as he talked he led her toward the -stern, out of sight of the sailors forward. - -Suddenly he turned upon her and grasped her in his arms. With brutal -force he crushed her to him, covering her face with kisses. She fought -to free herself, but Stark was a strong man. Slowly he forced her to -the deck. She beat him in the face and upon the breast, and at last, in -the extreme of desperation, she screamed for help. Instantly he struck -her a heavy blow upon the jaw. The slender form of the girl relaxed -upon the deck in unconsciousness. - -Now Stark came to a sudden realization of the gravity of the thing he -had done. He knew that when Nadara regained consciousness his perfidy -would come to the attention of Captain Burlinghame, and he feared the -quiet, ex-naval officer more than he did the devil. He looked over the -rail. It would be an easy thing to dispose of the girl. He had only to -drop her unconscious body into the still waters below. He raised her in -his arms and bore her to the rail. The moon shone down upon her face. -He looked out over the water and saw the shore so close at hand. - -There would be a thorough investigation and the sailors, who had no -love for him, as he well knew, would lose no time in reporting that he -had been the last to be seen with the girl. Evidently he was in for -it, one way or the other. - -Again he looked down into Nadara's face. She was very beautiful. He -wanted her badly. Slowly his glance wandered to the calm waters of the -ocean and on to the quiet shore line. Then back to the girl. For a -moment he stood irresolute. Then he stepped to the side of the cabin -where hung a life preserver to which was attached a long line. - -He put the life preserver about Nadara. Then he lowered her into the -ocean. The moment he felt her weight transferred from the lowering rope -to the life preserver he vaulted over the yacht's rail into the dark -waters beneath her stern. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE WILD MEN - - -Nadara did not regain consciousness until Stark had reached shore -and was dragging her out upon the beach above the surf. For several -minutes after she had opened her eyes she had difficulty in recalling -the events that had immediately preceded Stark's attack upon her. She -felt the life belt still about her, and as Stark stooped above her to -remove it she knew that it was he though she could not distinguish his -features. - -What had happened? Slowly a realization of the man's bold act forced -itself upon her--he had leaped overboard from the _Priscilla_ and swam -ashore with her rather than face the consequences of his brutal conduct -toward her. - -To a girl reared within the protective influences of civilization -Nadara's position would have seemed hopeless; but Nadara knew naught -of other protection than that afforded by her own quick wits and -the agility of her swift young muscles. To her it would have seemed -infinitely more appalling to have been confined within the narrow -limits of the yacht with this man, for there all was strange and new. -She still had half feared and mistrusted all aboard the _Priscilla_ -except Thandar's father and Captain Burlinghame; but would they have -protected her from Stark? She did not know. Among her own people only -a father, brother, or mate protected a woman from one who sought her -against her will, and of these she had none upon the little vessel. - -But now it was different. Intuitively she knew that upon a savage -shore, however strange and unfamiliar it might be, she would have -every advantage over the first officer of the _Priscilla_. His life -had been spent close to the haunts of civilization; he knew nothing -of the woodcraft that was second nature to her; he might perish in -a land of plenty through ignorance of where to search for food, and -of what was edible and what was not. This much her early experience -with Waldo Emerson had taught her. When their paths first had crossed -Waldo had been as ignorant as a new-born babe in the craft of life -primeval--Nadara had had to teach him everything. - -Behind them Nadara heard the gentle soughing of trees--the myriad -noises of the teeming jungle night--and she smiled. It was inky black -about them. Stark had removed the life belt and placed it beneath the -girl's head. He thought her still unconscious--perhaps dead. Now he was -wringing the water from his clothes; his back toward her. - -Nadara rose to her feet--noiseless as Nagoola. Like a shadow she melted -into the blackness of the jungle that fringed the shore. Careful and -alert, she picked her way within the tangled mass for a few yards. At -the hole of a large tree she halted, listening. Then she made a low, -weird sound with her lips, listening again for a moment after. This -she repeated thrice, and then, seemingly satisfied that no danger -lurked above she swung herself into the low-hanging branches, quickly -ascending until she found a comfortable seat where she might rest in -ease. - -Down upon the beach Stark, having wrung the surplus water from his -garments, turned to examine and revive the girl, if she still lived. -Even in the darkness her form had been plainly visible against the -yellow sand, but now she was not there. Stark was dumfounded. His -eyes leaped quickly from one point to another, yet nowhere could they -discover the girl. There was the beach, the sea and the jungle. Which -had she chosen for her flight? It did not take Stark long to guess, and -immediately he turned his steps toward the shapeless, gloomy mass that -marked the forest's fringe. - -As he approached he went more slowly. The thought of entering that -forbidding wood sent cold shivers creeping through him. Could a mere -girl have dared its nameless horrors? She must have, and with the -decision came new resolution. What a girl had dared certainly he might -dare. Again he strode briskly toward the jungle. - -Just at its verge he heard a low, weird sound not a dozen paces -within the black, hideous tangle. It was Nadara voicing the two notes -which some ancient forbear of her tribe had discovered would wring -an answering growl from Nagoola, and an uneasy hiss from that other -arch enemy of man--the great, slimy serpent whose sinuous coils twined -threateningly above them in the branches of the trees. Only these -Nadara feared--these and man. So, before entering a tree at night it -was her custom to assure herself that neither Nagoola nor Coovra lurked -in the branches of the tree she had chosen for sanctuary. Stark beat -a hasty retreat, nor did he again venture from the beach during the -balance of the long, dismal night. - -When dawn broke it found Nadara much refreshed by the sleep she had -enjoyed within the comparative safety of the great tree, and Stark -haggard and exhausted by a sleepless night of terror and regret. He -cursed himself, the girl and his bestial passion, and then as his -thoughts conjured her lovely face and perfect figure before his mind's -eye, he leaped to his feet and swung briskly toward the jungle. He -would find her. All that he had sacrificed should not be in vain. He -would find her and keep her. Together they would make a home upon this -tropical shore. He would get everything out of life that there was to -get. - -He had taken but a few steps before he discovered, plain in the damp -sand before him, the prints of Nadara's naked feet in a well defined -trail leading toward the wood. With a smile of satisfaction and victory -the man followed it into the maze of vegetation, dank and gloomy even -beneath the warm light of the morning sun. - -By chance he stumbled directly upon Nadara. She had descended from her -tree to search for water. They saw each other simultaneously. The girl -turned and fled farther into the forest. Close behind her came the man. -For several hundred yards the chase led through the thick jungle which -terminated abruptly at the edge of a narrow, rock-covered clearing -beyond which loomed sheer, precipitous cliffs, raising their lofty -heads three hundred feet above the forest. - -A half smile touched Stark's lips as he saw the barrier that nature -had placed in the path of his quarry; but almost instantly it froze -into an expression of horror as a slight noise to his right attracted -his attention from the girl fleeing before him. For an instant he -stood bewildered, then a quick glance toward the girl revealed her -scaling the steep cliff with the agility of a monkey, and with a cry -to attract her attention he leaped after her once more, but this time -himself the quarry--the hunter become the hunted, for after him raced a -score of painted savages, brandishing long, slim spears, or waving keen -edged parangs. - -Nadara had not needed Stark's warning cry to apprise her of the -proximity of the wild men. She had seen them the instant that she -cleared the jungle, and with the sight of them she knew that she need -no longer harbor fear of the white man. In them, though, she saw a -graver danger for herself, since they, doubtless, would have little -difficulty in overhauling her in their own haunts, while she had not -had much cause for worry as to her ability to elude the white man -indefinitely. - -Part way up the cliffs she paused to look back. Stark had reached the -foot of the lowering escarpment a short distance ahead of his pursuers. -He had chosen this route because of the ease with which the girl had -clambered up the rocky barrier, but he had reckoned without taking -into consideration the lifetime of practice which lay back of Nadara's -agility. From earliest infancy she had lived upon the face and within -the caves of steep cliffs. Her first toddling, baby footsteps had been -along the edge of narrow shelving ledges. - -When the man reached the cliff, however, he found confronting him an -apparently unscalable wall. He cast a frightened, appealing glance -at the girl far above him. Twice he essayed to scramble out of reach -of the advancing savages, whose tattooed faces, pendulous slit ears, -and sharp filed, blackened teeth lent to them a more horrid aspect -than even that imparted by their murderous weapons or warlike whoops -and actions. Each time he slipped back, clutching frantically at -rocky projections and such hardy vegetation as had found foothold in -the crevices of the granite. His hands were torn and bleeding, his -face scratched and his clothing rent. And now the savages were upon -him. They had seen that he was unarmed. No need as yet for spear or -parang--they would take him alive. - -And the girl. They had watched her in amazement as she clambered -swiftly up the steep ascent. With all their primitive accomplishments -this was beyond even them. They were a forest people and a river -people. They dwelt in thatched houses raised high upon long piles. They -knew little or nothing of the arts of the cliff dwellers. To them the -feat of this strange, white girl was little short of miraculous. - -Nadara saw them seize roughly upon the terror-stricken Stark. She saw -them bind his hands behind his back, and then she saw them turn their -attention once more toward herself. - -Three of the warriors attempted to scale the cliff after her. -Slowly they ascended. She smiled at their manifest fear and their -awkwardness--she need have no fear of these, they never could reach -her. She permitted them to approach within a dozen feet of her and -then, loosening a bit of the crumbling granite, she hurled it full at -the head of the foremost. With a yell of pain and terror he toppled -backward upon those below him, the three tumbling, screaming and pawing -to the rocks at the base of the cliff. - -None of them was killed, though all were badly bruised, and he who had -received her missile bled profusely from a wound upon his forehead. -Their fellows laughed at them--it was scant comfort they received -for being bested by a girl. Then they withdrew a short distance, and -squatting in a circle commenced a lengthy palaver. Their repeated -gestures in her direction convinced Nadara that she was the subject of -their debate. - -Presently one of their number arose and approached the foot of the -cliff. There he harangued the girl for several minutes. When he was -done he awaited, evidently for a reply from her; but as Nadara had not -been able to understand a word of the fellow's language she could but -shake her head. - -The spokesman returned to his fellows and once again a lengthy council -was held. During it Nadara climbed farther aloft, that she might be -out of range of the slender spears. Upon a narrow ledge she halted, -gathering about her such loose bits of rock as she could dislodge from -the face of the cliff--she would be prepared for a sudden onslaught, -nor for a moment did she doubt the outcome of the battle. She felt -that but for the lack of food and water she could hold this cliff face -forever against innumerable savages--could they climb no better than -these. - -But the wild men did not again attempt to storm her citadel. Instead -they leaped suddenly from their council, and without a glance toward -her disappeared in the forest, taking their prisoner with them. Out of -sight of the girl, they stationed two of their number just within the -screening verdure to capture the girl should she descend. The others -hastened parallel with the cliff until a sudden turn inland took them -to a point from which they could again emerge into the clearing out of -the sight of Nadara. - -Here they took immediately to a well-worn path that led back and forth -upward across the face of the cliff. Stark was dragged and prodded -forward with them in their ascent. Sharp spears and the points of keen -parangs, urged him to haste. By the time the party reached the summit -the white man was bleeding from a score of superficial wounds. - -Now the party turned back along the top of the bluff in the direction -from which they had come. - -Nadara, unable to fathom their reason for having abandoned the attempt -to capture her, was, however, not lulled into any feeling of false -security. She knew the cliff was the safest place for her, and yet the -pangs of thirst and hunger warned her that she must soon leave it to -seek sustenance. She was about to descend to the jungle below in search -of food and water, when the faintest of movements of the earth sweeping -creepers depending from a giant buttress tree below her and just within -the verge of the forest arrested her acute attention. She knew that the -movement had been caused by some animal beneath the tree, and finally, -as she watched intently for a moment or two, she descried through an -opening in the wall of verdure the long feathers of an Argus pheasant -with which the war caps of the savages had been adorned. - -Though she knew now that she was watched, she also knew that she could -reach the top of the cliff and possibly find both food and drink, if -it chanced to be near, before the savages could overtake her. Then she -must depend upon her wits and her speed to regain the safety of the -cliff ahead of them. That they would attempt to scale the barrier at -the same point at which she had climbed it she doubted, for she had -seen that they were comparatively unaccustomed to this sort of going, -and so she guessed that if they followed her upward at all it would be -by means of some beaten trail of which they had knowledge. - -And so Nadara scaled the heights, passing over and around obstacles -that would have blanched the cheek of the hardiest mountain climber, -with the ease and speed of the chamois. At the summit she found an -open, park-like forest, and into this she plunged, running forward in -quest of food and drink. A few familiar fruits and nuts assuaged the -keenest pangs of hunger, but nowhere could she find water or signs of -water. - -She had traveled for almost a mile, directly inland from the coast, -when she stumbled, purely by chance, upon a little spring hidden in -a leafy bower. The cool, clear water refreshed her, imparting to her -new life and energy. After drinking her fill she sought some means of -carrying a little supply of the priceless liquid back to her cliff -side refuge, but though she searched diligently she could discover no -growing thing which might be transformed into a vessel. - -There was nothing for it then other than to return without the water, -trusting to her wits to find the means of eluding the savages from time -to time as it became necessary for her to quench her thirst. Later, -she was sure, she should discover some form of gourd, or the bladder of -an animal in which she could hoard a few precious drops. - -Her woodcraft, combined with her almost uncanny sense of direction, -led her directly back to the spot at which she had topped the cliff. -There was no sign of the savages. She breathed a sigh of relief as she -stepped to the edge of the forest, and then, all about her, from behind -trees and bushes, rose the main body of the wild men. With shouts of -savage glee they leaped upon her. There was no chance for flight--in -every direction brutal faces and murderous weapons barred her way. - -With greater consideration than she had looked forward to they signaled -her to accompany them. Stark was with them. To him slight humanity was -shown. If he lagged, a spear point, already red with his blood, urged -him to greater speed; but to the girl no cruelty nor indignity was -shown. - -In single file, the prisoners in the center of the column, the party -made its way inland. All day they marched, until Stark, unused to this -form of exertion, staggered and fell a dozen times in each mile. - -Nadara could almost have found it in her heart to be sorry for him, had -it not been for the fact that she realized all too keenly that but for -his own bestial brutality neither of them need have been there to be -subjected to the present torture, and to be tortured by anticipation of -the horrors to come. - -To the girl it seemed that her fate must be a thousand fold more -terrible than the mere death the man was to suffer, for that these -degraded savages would let him live seemed beyond the pale of reason. -She prayed to the God of which her Thandar had taught her for a quick -and merciful death, yet while she prayed she well knew that no such -boon could be expected. - -She compared her captors with Korth and Flatfoot, with Big Fist and -Thurg, nor did she look for greater compassion in them than in the men -she had known best. - -Late in the afternoon it became evident that Stark could proceed no -farther unless the savages carried him. That they had any intention of -so doing was soon disproved. The first officer of the _Priscilla_ had -fallen for the twentieth time. A dozen vicious spear thrusts had failed -to bring him, staggering and tottering, to his feet as in the past. - -The chief of the party approached the fallen white, kicking him in the -sides and face, and at last pricking him with the sharp point of his -parang. Stark but lay an inert mass of suffering flesh, and groaned. -The chief grew angry. He grasped the white man around the body and -raised him to his feet, but the moment that he released him Stark fell -to earth once more. - -At last the warrior could evidently control his rage no further. With -a savage whoop he swung his parang aloft, bringing it down full upon -the neck of the prostrate white. The head, grinning horribly, rolled to -Nadara's feet. She looked at it, lying there staring up at her out of -its blank and sightless eyes, without the slightest trace of emotion. - -Nadara, the cave girl, was accustomed to death in all its most horrible -and sudden forms. She saw before her but the head of an enemy. It was -nothing to her--Stark had only himself to thank. - -The chief gathered the severed head into a bit of bark cloth, and -fastening it to the end of his spear, signaled his followers to resume -the journey. - -On and on they went, farther into the interior, and with them went -Nadara, borne to what nameless fate she could but guess. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -BUILDING THE BOAT - - -Two days after the earthquake that had saved Nadara from Thurg and -wiped out the people of the girl's tribe, a man moved feebly beneath -the tumbled debris from the roof top of his clogged cavern. It was -Thandar. The tons of rock that had toppled from above and buried -the entrance to his cave had passed him by unscathed, while the few -pounds shaken from the ceiling had stunned him into a long enduring -insensibility. - -Slowly he regained consciousness, but it was a long time before he -could marshal his faculties to even a slight appreciation of the -catastrophe that had overwhelmed him. Then his first thought was of -Nadara. He crawled to what had once been the entrance of his cave. He -had not as yet linked the darkness to its real cause--he thought it -night. It had been night when he closed his eyes. How could he guess -that that had been three nights before, or all the cruel blows that -fate had struck him since he slept! - -At the opening from the cave he met his first surprise and setback--the -way was blocked! What was the meaning of it? He tugged and pushed -weakly upon the mass that barred him from escape. Who had imprisoned -him? He recalled the vivid dream in which he had seen Nadara stolen -away by Thurg. The recollection sent him frantically at the pile of -shattered rock and loose debris which choked the doorway. - -To his chagrin he found himself too weak to direct any long sustained -effort against the obstacle. It occurred to him that he must have been -injured. Whoever imprisoned him must first have beaten him. He felt of -his head. Yes, there was a great gash, but his touch told him that it -was not a new one. How long, then, had he been imprisoned? As he sat -pondering this thing he became aware of the gnawing of hunger and the -craving of thirst within his slowly awakening body. The sensations were -almost painful. So much so that they forced him to a realization of the -fact that he must have been without food or water for a considerable -time. - -Again he assailed the mass that held him prisoner, and as he burrowed -slowly into it the truth dawned upon him. He recalled the rumblings of -the Great Nagoola that had frightened Nadara the night of the council. -A terrific quake had done this thing. Thandar shuddered as he thought -of Nadara. Was she, too, imprisoned in her cave, or had the worst -happened her? Frantically, now, he tore at the close-packed rubble. But -he soon discovered that not in ill-directed haste lay his means of -escape. Slowly and carefully, piece by piece he must remove the broken -rock until he had tunnelled through to the outer world. - -Reason told him that he was not deeply buried, for the fact that he -lived and could breathe was sufficient proof that fresh air was finding -its way through the debris, which it could not have done did the stuff -lie before the cave in any considerable thickness. - -Weak as he was he could work but slowly, so that it was several hours -later before he caught the first glimpse of daylight beyond the -obstacle. After that he progressed more rapidly, and presently he -crawled through a small opening to view the wreckage of the shattered -cliff. - -A flock of vultures rose from their hideous feast as the sight of -Thandar disturbed them. The man shuddered as he looked down upon the -grisly things from which they had risen. Forgetting his hunger and his -thirst he scrambled up over the tortured cliff face to where Nadara's -cave had been. Its mouth was buried as his had been. Again he set to -work, but this time it was easier. When at last he had opened a way -within he hesitated for fear of the blighting sorrow that awaited him. - -At last, nerving himself to the ordeal, he crawled within the cave -that had been Nadara's. Groping about in the darkness, expecting each -moment to feel the body of his loved one cold in death, he at last -covered the entire floor--there was no body within. - -Hastily he made his way to the face of the cliff again, and then -commenced a horrible and pitiful search among the ghastly remnants of -men and women that lay scattered about among the tumbled rocks. But -even here his search was vain, for the ghoulish scavengers had torn -from their prey every shred of their former likenesses. - -Weak, exhausted, sorrow ridden and broken, Thandar dragged himself -painfully to the little river. Here he quenched his thirst and bathed -his body. After, he sought food, and then he crawled to a hole he knew -of in the river bank, and curling up upon the dead grasses within, -slept the sun around. - -Refreshed and strengthened by his sleep and the food that he had taken -Thandar emerged from his dark warren with renewed hope. Nadara could -not be dead! It was impossible. She must have escaped and be wandering -about the island. He would search for her until he found her. But as -day followed day and still no sign of Nadara, or any other living human -being he became painfully convinced that he alone of the inhabitants of -the island had survived the cataclysm. - -The thought of living on through a long life without her cast him into -the blackest pit of despair. He reproached heaven for not having taken -him as well, for without Nadara life was not worth the living. With -the passage of time his grief grew more rather than less acute. As it -increased so too increased the horror of his loneliness. The island -became a hated thing--life a mockery. The chances that a vessel would -touch the shore again during his lifetime seemed remote indeed, unless -his father sent out a relief party, but in his despair he did not even -hope for such a contingency. - -He would not take his own life, though the temptation was great, but he -courted death in every form that the savage island owned. He slept out -upon the ground at night. He sought Nagoola in his lair, and armed only -with his light lance he leaped to close quarters with every one of the -great cats he could find. - -The wild boars, often as formidable as Nagoola himself, were hunted -now as they never had been hunted before. Thandar lived high those -days, and many were the panther pelts that lined his new-found cave -in the cliff beside the sea--the same cliff in which Nadara had found -shelter, and from whence she had gone away with the search party from -the _Priscilla_. - -One day as Thandar was returning from the beach where he often went -to scan the horizon for a sail, he saw something moving at the foot -of his cliff. Thandar dropped behind a bush, watching. A moment later -the thing moved again, and Thandar saw that it was a man. Instantly he -sprang to his feet and ran forward. The days that he had been without -human companionship had seemed to drag themselves into as many weary -months. Now he had reached the pinnacle of loneliness from which he -would gladly have embraced the devil had he come in human guise. - -Thandar ran noiselessly. He was almost upon the man, a great, hairy -brute, before the fellow was aware of his presence. At first the fellow -turned to run, but when he saw that Thandar was alone he remained to -fight. - -"I am Roof," he cried, "and I can kill you!" - -The familiar primitive greeting no longer raised Thandar's temperature -or filled him with the fire of battle. He wanted companionship now, not -a quarrel. - -"I am Thandar," he replied. - -The slow-witted, hulking brute recognized him, and stepped back a pace. -He was not so keen to fight now that he had learned the identity of -the man who faced him. He had seen Thandar in battle. He had witnessed -Thurg's defeat at the hands of this smooth-skinned stranger. - -"Let us not fight," continued Thandar. "We are alone upon the island. -I have seen no other than you since the Great Nagoola came forth and -destroyed the people. Let us be friends, hunting together in peace. -Otherwise one of us must kill the other and thereafter live always -alone until death releases him from his terrible solitude." - -Roof peered over Thandar's shoulder toward the wood behind him. - -"Are you alone?" he asked. - -"Yes--have I not told you that all were killed but you and I?" - -"All were not killed," replied Roof. "But I will be friends with -Thandar. We will hunt together and cave together. Roof and Thandar are -brothers." - -He stooped, and gathering a handful of grass advanced toward the -American. Thandar did likewise, and when each had taken the peace -offering of the other and rubbed it upon his forehead the ceremony of -friendship was complete--simple but none the less effectual, for each -knew that the other would rather die than disregard the primitive pact. - -"You said that all were not killed, Roof," said Thandar, the ceremony -over. "What do you mean?" - -"All were not killed by the Great Nagoola," replied the bad man. "Thurg -was not killed, nor was she who was Thandar's mate--she whom Thurg -would have stolen." - -"What?" Thandar almost screamed the question. "Nadara not dead?" - -"Look," said Roof, and he led the way to the foot of the cliff. "See!" - -"Yes," replied Thandar, "I had noticed that body, but what of it?" - -"It was Thurg," explained Roof. "He sought to reach your mate, who had -taken refuge in that cave far above us. Then came some strange men who -made a great noise with sticks and Thurg fell dead--the loud noise had -killed him from a great distance. Then came the strange men and she -whom you call Nadara went away with them." - -"In which direction?" cried Thandar. "Where did they take her?" - -"They took her to the strange cliff in which they dwelt--the one in -which they came. Never saw man such a thing as this cliff. It floated -upon the face of the water. About its face were many tiny caves, but -the people did not come out of these they came from the top of the -cliff, and clambering down the sides floated ashore in hollow things of -wood. On top of the cliff were two trees without leaves, and only very -short, straight branches. When the cliff went away black smoke came out -of it from a short black stump of a tree between the two trees. It was -a very wonderful thing to see; but the most wonderful of all were the -noise-sticks that killed Thurg and Nagoola a long way off." - -Not half of Roof's narrative did Thandar hear. Through his brain roared -and thundered a single mighty thought: Nadara lives! Nadara lives! Life -took on a new meaning to him now. He trembled at the thought of the -chances he had been taking. Now, indeed, must he live. He leaped up and -down, laughing and shouting. He threw his arms about the astonished -Roof, whirling the troglodyte about in a mad waltz. Nadara lives! -Nadara lives! - -Once again the sun shone, the birds sang, nature was her old, happy, -carefree self. Nadara was alive and among civilized men. But then came -a doubt. - -"Did Nadara go willingly with these strangers," he asked Roof, "or did -they take her by force?" - -"They did not take her by force," replied Roof. "They talked with her -for a time, and then she took the hand of one of the men in hers, -stroking it, and he placed his arm about her. Afterward they walked -slowly to the edge of the great water where they got into the strange -things that had brought them to the land, and returned to their -floating cliff. Presently the smoke came out, as I have told you, and -the cliff went away toward the edge of the world. But they are all dead -now." - -"What?" yelled Thandar. - -"Yes, I saw the cliff sink, very slowly when it was a long way off, -until only the smoke was coming out of the water." - -Thandar breathed a sigh of relief. - -"Point," he said, "to the place where the cliff sank beneath the water." - -Roof pointed almost due north. - -"There," he said. - -For days Thandar puzzled over the possible identity of the ship and -the men with whom Nadara had gone so willingly. Doubtless some kindly -mariner, hearing her story, had taken her home, away from the terrors -and the loneliness of this unhappy island. And now the man chafed to be -after her, that he might search the world for his lost love. - -To wait for a ship appeared quite impossible to the impatient -Thandar, for he knew that a ship might never come. There was but one -alternative, and had Waldo Emerson been a less impractical man in the -world to which he had been born he would have cast aside that single -alternative as entirely beyond the pale of possibility. But Waldo was -only practical and wise in the savage ways of the primitive life to -which circumstance had forced him to revert. And so he decided upon -as foolhardy and hair-brained a venture as the mind of man might -conceive. It was no less a thing than to build a boat and set out upon -the broad Pacific in search of a civilized port or a vessel that might -bear him to such. - -To Waldo it seemed quite practical. He realized of course that the -venture would be fraught with peril, but would it not be better to -die in an attempt to find his Nadara than to live on forever in the -hopelessness of this forgotten land? - -And so he set to work to build a boat. He had no tools but his crude -knife and the razor the sailor of the _Sally Corwith_ had given -him, so it was quite impossible for him to construct a dug-out. The -possibilities that lie in fire did not occur to him. Finally he hit -upon what seemed the only feasible form of construction. - -With his knife he cut long, pliant saplings, and lesser branches. These -he fashioned into the framework of a boat. Roof helped him, keenly -interested in this new work. The ribs were fastened to the keel and -gunwale by thongs of panther skin, and when the framework was completed -panther skins were stretched over it. The edges of the skin were sewn -together with threads of gut, as tightly as Thandar and Roof could pull -them. - -A mast was rigged well forward, and another panther skin from which the -fur had been scraped was fitted as a sail, square rigged. For rudder -Thandar fashioned a long, slender sapling, looped at one end, and the -loop covered with skin laced tightly on. This, he figured, would serve -both as rudder and paddle, as necessity demanded. - -At last all was done. Together Thandar and Roof carried the light, -crude skiff to the ocean. They waded out beyond the surf, and upon the -crest of a receding swell they launched the thing, Thandar leaping in -as it floated upon the water. - -The sail was not taken along for this trial. Thandar merely wished to -know that this craft would float, and right side up. For a moment it -did so, until the sea rushing in at the loose seams filled it with -water. - -Thandar and Roof had great difficulty in dragging it out again upon the -beach. Roof now would have given up, but not so Thandar. It is true -that he was slightly disheartened, for he had set great store upon the -success of his little vessel. - -After they had carried the frail thing beyond high tide Thandar sat -down upon the ground and for an hour he did naught but stare at the -leaky craft. Then he arose and calling to Roof led him into the forest. -For a mile they walked, and then Thandar halted before a tree from the -side of which a thick and sticky stream was slowly oozing. Thandar -had brought along a gourd, and now with a small branch he commenced -transferring the mass from the side of the tree to the gourd. Roof -helped him. In an hour the gourd was filled. Then they returned to the -skiff. - -Leaving the gourd there Thandar and Roof walked to a clump of heavy -jungle grasses not far from the cliff where their cave lay. Here -Thandar gathered a great armful of the yellow, ripened grass, telling -Roof to do likewise. This they took back to the skiff, where, by -rolling it assiduously between their hands and pounding it with stones -they reduced it to a mass of soft, tough fiber. - -Now Thandar showed Roof how to twist this fiber into a loose, fluffy -rope, and when he had him well started he daubed the rope with the -rubbery fluid he had filched from the tree, and with a sharp stick -tucked it in every seam and crevice of the skiff. - -It took the better part of two days to accomplish this, and when it was -done and the gourd empty, the two men returned to the tree and refilled -it. This time they built a fire upon their return to the skiff, Roof -spinning a hard wood splinter rapidly between toes and fingers in a -little mass of tinder that lay in a hollowed piece of wood. Presently a -thin spiral of smoke arose from the tinder, growing denser for a moment -until of a sudden it broke into flame. - -The men piled twigs and branches upon the blaze until the fire was well -started. Then Thandar taking a ball of the viscous matter from the -gourd heated it in the flames, immediately daubing the melting mass -upon the outside of the skiff. In this way, slowly and with infinite -patience, the two at last succeeded in coating the entire outer surface -of the canoe with a waterproof substance that might defy the action of -water almost indefinitely. - -For three days Thandar let the coating dry, and then the craft was -given another trial. The man's heart was in his throat as the canoe -floated upon the crest of a great wave and he leaped into it. - -But a moment later he shouted in relief and delight--the thing floated -like a cork, nor was there the slightest leak discernible. For half an -hour Thandar paddled about the harbor, and then he returned for the -sail. This too, though rather heavy and awkward, worked admirably, and -the balance of the day he spent in sailing, even venturing out into the -ocean. - -Much of the time he paddled, for Waldo Emerson knew more of the galleys -of ancient Greece than he did of sails or sailing, so that for the most -part he sailed with the wind, paddling when he wished to travel in -another direction. But, withal, his attempt filled him with delight, -and he could scarce wait to be off toward civilization and Nadara. - -The next two days were spent in collecting food and water, which -Thandar packed in numerous gourds, sealing the mouths with the rubbery -substance such as he had used to waterproof his craft. The flesh of -wild hog, and deer, and bird he cut in narrow strips and dried over -a slow fire. In this work Roof assisted him, and at last all was in -readiness for the venture. - -The day of his departure dawned bright and clear. A gentle south wind -gave promise of great speed toward the north. Thandar was wild with -hope and excitement. Roof was to accompany him, but at the last moment -the nerve of the troglodyte failed him, and he ran away and hid in the -forest. - -It was just as well, thought Thandar, for now his provisions would last -twice as long. And so he set out upon his perilous adventure, braving -the mighty Pacific in a frail and unseaworthy cockle-shell with all the -assurance and confidence that is ever born of ignorance. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE HEAD-HUNTERS - - -Nature so far, had been kind to Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. No high -winds or heavy seas had assailed him, and he had been upon the water -for three days now. The wind had held steadily out of the south, -varying but a few points during this time but even so Waldo Emerson -was commencing to doubt and to worry. His supply of water was running -dangerously low, his food supply would last but a few days longer; and -as yet he had sighted no sail, nor seen any land. Furthermore, he had -not the remotest conception of how he might retrace his way to the -island he had just quitted. He could only sail before the wind. Should -the wind veer around into the north he might, by chance, be blown back -to the island. Otherwise he never could reach it. And he was beginning -to wonder if he had not been a trifle to precipitate in his abandonment -of land. - -In common with most other landsmen, Waldo Emerson had little conception -of the vastness of the broad reaches of unbroken water wildernesses -that roll in desolate immensity over three quarters of the globe. -His recollection of maps pictured the calm and level blue dotted, -especially in the south seas, with many islands. Their names, often, -were quite reassuring. He recollected, among others, such as the -Society Islands, the Friendly Islands, Christmas Island. He hoped -that he would land upon one of these. There were so many islands upon -the maps, and they seemed so close together that he was not a little -mystified that he had failed to sight several hundred long before this. - -And ships! It appeared incredible that he should have seen not a -single sail. He distinctly recalled the atlas he had examined prior to -embarking upon his health cruise. The Pacific had been lined in all -directions with the routes of long established steamer lanes, and in -between, Waldo had felt, the ocean must be dotted with the innumerable -tramps that come and go between the countless ports that fringe the -major sea. - -And yet for three days nothing had broken the dull monotony of the vast -circle of which he was always the center and the sole occupant. In -three days, thought Waldo, he must have covered an immense distance. - -And three more days dragged their weary lengths. The wind had died to -the faintest of breezes. The canoe was just making headway and that -was all. The water was gone. The food nearly so. Waldo was suffering -from lack of the former. The pitiless sun beating down upon him -increased his agony. He stretched his panther skin across the stern and -hid beneath it from the torrid rays. And there he lay until darkness -brought relief. - -During the night the wind sprang up again, but this time from the -west. It rose and with it rose the sea. The man, clinging to his crude -steering blade, struggled to keep the light craft straight before the -wind which was now howling fearfully while great waves, hungry and wide -jawed, raced after him like a pack of ravenous wolves. - -Thandar knew that the unequal struggle against the mighty forces of the -elements could not endure for long. It seemed that each fierce gust -of brutal wind must tear his frail boat to shreds, and yet it was the -very lightness of the thing that saved it, for it rode upon the crests -of waves, blown forward at terrific velocity like a feather before the -hurricane. - -In Thandar's heart was no terror--only regret that he might never again -see his mother, his father, or his Nadara. Yet the night wore on and -still he fled before the storm. The sky was overcast--the darkness -was impenetrable. He imagined all about him still the same wide, -tenantless circle of water, only now storm torn and perpendicular and -black, instead of peacefully horizontal, and soothingly blue-green. And -then, even as he was thinking this there rose before him a thunderous -booming loud above the frenzied bedlam of the storm, his boat was -lifted high in air to dive headforemost into what might be a bottomless -abyss for all Thandar knew. But it was not bottomless. The canoe struck -something and stopped suddenly, pitching Thandar out into a boiling -maelstrom. A great wave picked him up, carrying him with race-horse -velocity within its crest. He felt himself hurled pitilessly upon -smooth, hard sand. The water tried to drag him back, but he fought with -toes and fingers, clutching at the surface of the stuff upon which he -had been dropped. Then the wave abandoned him and raced swiftly back -into the sea. - -Thandar was exhausted, but he knew that he must crawl up out of the -way of the surf, or be dragged back by the next roller. What he had -searched for in vain through six long days he had run down in the -midst of a Stygian night. He had found land! Or, to be more explicit, -land had got in front of him and he had run into it. He had commenced -to wonder if some terrible convulsion of nature had not swallowed up -all the land in the world, leaving only a waste of desolate water. He -forgot his hunger and his thirst in the happiness of the knowledge that -once more he was upon land. He wondered a little what land it might be. -He hoped that dawn would reveal the chimneys and steeples of a nearby -city. And then, exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep. - -It was the sun shining down into his upturned face that awoke him. He -was lying upon his back beside a clump of bushes a little way above the -beach. He was about to rise and survey the new world into which fate -and a hurricane had hurled him when he heard a familiar sound upon the -opposite side of his bush. It was the movement of an animal creeping -through long grass. - -Thandar, the cave man, came noiselessly to his hands and knees, peering -cautiously through the intervening network of branches. What he saw -sent his hand groping for his wooden sword with its fire-hardened -point. There, not five paces from him, was a man going cautiously upon -all fours. It was the most horrible appearing man that Thandar had ever -seen--even Thurg appeared lovely by comparison. The creature's ears -were split and heavy ornaments had dragged them down until the lobes -rested upon its shoulders. The face was terribly marked with cicatrices -and tattooing. The teeth were black and pointed. A head-dress of long -feathers waved and nodded above the hideous face. There was much -tattooing upon the arms and legs and abdomen; the breasts were circled -with it. In a belt about the waist lay a sword in its scabbard. In the -man's hand was a long spear. - -The warrior was creeping stealthily upon something at Thandar's left. -The latter looked in the direction the other's savage gaze was bent. -Through the bushes he could barely discern a figure moving toward them -along the edge of the beach. The warrior had passed him now and Thandar -stood erect the better to obtain a view of the fellow's quarry. - -Now he saw it plainly--a man strangely garbed in many colors. A -yellow jacket, soiled and torn, covered the upper part of his body. -Strange designs, very elaborate, were embroidered upon the garment -which reached barely to the fellow's waist. Beneath was a red sash in -which were stuck a long pistol and a wicked-looking knife. Baggy blue -trousers reached to the bare ankles and feet. A strip of crimson cloth -wound around the head completed the strange garmenture. The features of -the man were Mongolian. - -Thandar could see the warrior pause as it became evident that the other -was approaching directly toward his place of concealment, but at the -last moment the unconscious quarry turned sharply to his right down -upon the beach. He had discovered the wreck of Thandar's canoe and was -going to investigate it. - -The move placed Thandar almost between the two. Suddenly the native -rose to his feet--his victim's back was toward him. Grasping his -spear in his left hand he drew his wicked-looking sword and emerged -cautiously from the bushes. At the same moment the man upon the beach -wheeled quickly as though suddenly warned of his danger. The native, -discovered, leaped forward with raised sword. The man snatched his -pistol from his belt, levelled it at the on-rushing warrior and pulled -the trigger. There was a futile click--that was all. The weapon had -missed fire. - -Instantly a third element was projected into the fray. Thandar, seeing -a more direct link with civilization in the strangely apparelled Mongol -than in the naked savage, leaped to the assistance of the former. With -drawn sword he rushed out upon the savage. The wild man turned at -Thandar's cry, which he had given to divert the fellow's attention from -his now almost helpless victim. - -Thandar knew nothing of the finer points of sword play. He was ignorant -of the wickedness of a Malay parang--the keen, curved sword of the -head-hunter, so he rushed in upon the savage as he would have upon one -of Thurg's near-men. - -The very impetuosity of his attack awed the native. For a moment he -stood his ground, and then, with a cry of terror turned to flee; but he -had failed to turn soon enough. Thandar was upon him. The sharp point -entered his back beneath the left shoulder blade, and behind it were -the weight and sinews of the cave man. With a shriek the savage lunged -forward, clutching at the cruel point that now protruded from his -breast. When he touched the earth he was dead. - -Thandar drew his sword from the body of the head-hunter, and turned -toward the man he had rescued. The latter was approaching, talking -excitedly. It was evident that he was thanking Thandar, but no word of -his strange tongue could the American understand. Thandar shook his -head to indicate that he was unfamiliar with the other's language, and -then the latter dropped into pidgin English, which, while almost as -unintelligible to the cultured Bostonian, still contained the battered -remnants of some few words with which he was familiar. - -Thandar depreciated his act by means of gestures, immediately following -these with signs to indicate that he was hungry and thirsty. The -stranger evidently understood him, for he motioned him to follow, -leading the way back along the beach in the direction from which he had -come. - -Before starting, however, he had pointed toward the wreck of Thandar's -canoe and then toward Thandar, nodding his head questioningly as to ask -if the boat belonged to the cave man. - -Around the end of a promontory they came upon a little cove beside -the beach of which Thandar saw a camp of nearly a score of men similar -in appearance to his guide. These were preparing breakfast beside the -partially completed hull of a rather large boat they seemed to have -been building. - -At sight of Thandar they looked their astonishment, but after hearing -the story of their fellow they greeted the cave man warmly, furnishing -him with food and water in abundance. - -For three days Thandar worked with these men upon their craft, picking -up their story slowly with a slow acquirement of a bowing acquaintance -with the bastard tongue they used when speaking with him. He soon -became aware of the fact that fate had thrown him among a band of -pirates. There were Chinese, Japanese and Malays among them--the -off-scourings of the south seas; men who had become discredited even -among the villainous pirates of their own lands, and had been forced -to join their lots in this remoter and less lucrative field, under an -unhung ruffian, Tsao Ming, the Chinaman whose life Thandar had saved. - -He also learned that the storm that had cast them upon this shore -nearly a month before had demolished their prahu, and what with the -building of another and numerous skirmishes with the savages they had -had a busy time of it. - -Only yesterday while a party of them had been hunting a mile or -two inland they had been attacked by savages who had killed two and -captured one of their number. - -They told Thandar that these savages were the most ferocious of -head-hunters, but like the majority of their kind preferred ambushing -an unwary victim to meeting him in fair fight in the open. Thandar did -not doubt but that the latter mode of warfare would have been entirely -to the liking of his piratical friends, for never in his life had he -dreamed, even, of so ferocious and warlike a band as was comprised in -this villainous and bloodthirsty aggregation. But the constant nervous -tension under which they had worked, never knowing at what instant an -arrow or a lance would leap from the shades of the jungle to pierce -them in the back, had reduced them to a state of fear that only a -speedy departure from the island could conquer. - -Their boat was almost completed, two more days would see them safely -launched upon the ocean, and Tsao Ming had promised Thandar that he -would carry him to a civilized port from which he could take a steamer -on his return to America. - -Late in the afternoon of the third day since his arrival among the -pirates the men were suddenly startled by the appearance of an -exhausted and blood smeared apparition amongst them. From the nearby -jungle the man had staggered to fall when half-way across the -clearing, spent. - -It was Boloon--he who had been captured by the head-hunters the day -before Thandar had been cast upon the shore. Revived with food and -water the fellow told a most extraordinary tale. From the meager scraps -that were afterward translated into pidgin English for Thandar the -Bostonian learned that Boloon had been dragged far inland to a village -of considerable size. - -Here he had been placed in a room of one of the long houses to await -the pleasure of the chief. It was hinted that he was to be tortured -before his head was removed to grace the rafters of the chief's palace. - -The remarkable portion of his tale related to a strange temple to which -he had been dragged and thrown at the feet of a white goddess. Tsao -Ming and the other pirates were much mystified by this part of the -story, for Boloon insisted that the goddess was white with a mass of -black hair, and that her body was covered by the pelt of a magnificent -black panther. - -Though Tsao Ming pointed out that there were no panthers upon this -island Boloon could not be shaken. He had seen with his own eyes, and -he knew. Furthermore, he argued, there were no white goddesses upon the -island, and yet the woman he had seen was white. - -When this strange tale was retold to Thandar he could not but recall -that Nadara had worn a black panther skin, but of course it could -not be Nadara--that was impossible. But yet he asked for a further -description of the goddess--the color of her eyes and hair--the -proportions of her body--her height. - -To all these questions Boloon gave replies that but caused Thandar's -excitement to wax stronger. And then came the final statement that set -him in a frenzy of hope and apprehension. - -"Upon her left hand was a great diamond," said Boloon. - -Thandar turned toward Tsao Ming. - -"I go inland to the temple," he said, "to see who this white goddess -may be. If you wait two days for me and I return you shall have as much -gold as you ask in payment. If you do not wait repair my canoe and hide -it in the bushes where the man hid who would have killed you but for -Thandar." - -"I shall wait three days," replied Tsao Ming. "Nor will I take a single -_fun_ in pay. You saved the life of Tsao Ming--that is not soon to be -forgotten. I would send men with you, but they would not go. They are -afraid of the head-hunters. Too, will I repair your canoe against your -coming after the third day; but," and he shrugged, "you will not come -upon the third day, nor upon the fourth, nor ever, Thandar. It is -better that you forget the foolish story of the frightened Boloon and -come away from this accursed land with Tsao Ming." - -But Thandar would not relinquish his intention, and so he parted with -the pirates after receiving from Boloon explicit directions for his -journey toward the mysterious temple and the white goddess who might be -Nadara; and yet who could not be. - -Straight into the tangled jungle he plunged, carrying the spear and the -parang of the head-hunter he had killed, and in the string about his -loins one of the long pistols of a dead pirate. This latter Tsao Ming -had forced upon him with a supply of ammunition. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE RESCUE - - -It was dusk of the second day when Thandar, following the directions -given him by Boloon, came to the edge of the little clearing within -which rose the dingy outlines of many long houses raised upon piles. -Before the village ran a river. Many times had Thandar crossed and -recrossed this stream, for he had become lost twice upon the way and -had to return part way each time to pick up his trail. - -In the center of the village the man could see the outlines of a -loftier structure rearing its head above those of the others. As -darkness fell Thandar crept closer toward his goal--the large building -which Boloon had described as the temple. - -Beneath the high raised houses the cave man crept, disturbing pigs and -chickens as he went, but their noise was no uncommon thing, and rather -than being a menace to his safety it safeguarded him, for it hid the -noise of his own advance. - -At last he came beneath a house nearest the temple. The moon was full -and high. Her brilliant light flooded the open spaces between the -buildings, casting into black darkness the shadows beneath. In one of -these Thandar lurked. He saw that the temple was guarded. Before its -only entrance squatted two warriors. How was he to pass them? - -He moved to the end of the shadow of the house beneath which he spied -as far from the guards as possible; but still discovery seemed certain -were he to attempt to rush across the intervening space. He was at a -loss as to what next to do. It seemed foolish to risk all now upon a -bold advance--the time for such a risk would be when he had found the -goddess and learned if she were Nadara, or another; but how might he -cross that strip of moonlight and enter the temple past the two guards, -without risk? - -He moved silently to the far end of the building, in the shadows of -which he watched. For some time he stood looking across at his goal, so -near, and yet seemingly infinitely farther from attainment than the day -he had left the coast in search of it. He noted the long poles stuck -into the ground at irregular intervals about the structure. He wondered -at the significance of the rude carving upon them, of the barbaric -capitals sometimes topped by the head-dress of a savage warrior, again -by a dried and grinning skull, or perhaps the rudely chiseled likeness -of a hideous human face. - -Upon many of the poles were hung shields, weapons, clothing and -earthenware vessels. One especially was so weighted down by its -heterogeneous burden that it leaned drunkenly against the eaves of -the temple. Thandar's eye followed it upward to where it touched the -crudely shingled roof. The suggestion was sufficient--where his eye -had climbed he would climb. There was only the moonlight to make the -attempt perilous. If the clouds would but come! But there was no -indication of clouds in the star shot sky. - -He looked toward the guards. They lolled at the opposite end of the -temple, only one of them being visible. The other was hidden by the -angle of the building. The back of the fellow whom Thandar could see -was turned toward the cave man. If they remained thus for a moment -he could reach the roof unnoticed. But then there was the danger of -discovery from one of the other buildings. An occasional whiff of -tobacco smoke told him that some of the men were still awake upon the -verandahs where most of the youths and bachelors slept. - -Thandar crawled to where he could see the only verandah which directly -faced the portion of the temple he had chosen for his attempted -entrance. For an hour he watched the rising and falling glow of the -cigarettes of two of the native men, and listened to the low hum of -their conversation. The hour seemed to drag into an eternity, but at -last the glowing butt of first one cigarette and then another was -flicked over into the grass and silence reigned upon the verandah. - -For half an hour longer Thandar waited. The guards before the temple -still squatted as before. The one Thandar could see seemed to have -fallen asleep, for his head drooped forward upon his breast. - -The time had come. There was no need of further delay or -reconnaisance--if he was to be discovered that would be the end of it, -and it would not profit him one iota to know a second or so in advance -of the alarm that he had been detected. So he did not waste time in -stealthy advance, or in much looking this way and that. Instead he -moved swiftly, though silently, directly across the open, moonlit space -to the foot of the leaning pole. He did not cast a glance behind nor to -the right nor left. His whole attention was riveted upon the thing in -hand. - -Thandar had scaled the rickety, toppling saplings of the cliff dwellers -for so long that this pole offered no greater difficulties to him than -would an ordinary staircase to you or me. First he tested it with eyes -and hands to know that it rested securely at the top and that beneath -his weight it would not move noisily out of its present position. - -Assured that it seemed secure, Thandar ran up it with the noiseless -celerity of a cat. Gingerly he stepped upon the roof, not knowing the -manner of its construction, which might be weak thatching that would -give beneath him and precipitate him into the interior beneath. - -To his surprise and consternation he found that the roof was of wood, -and quite as solid as one could imagine. It had been his plan to enter -the temple from above, but now it seemed that he was to be thwarted, -for he could not hope to cut silently through a wooden roof with his -parang in the few hours that intervened before dawn. - -He stooped to examine the roof minutely with eyes and fingers. The -moonlight was brilliant. In it he could see quite well. He pulled -away the thin palm frond thatch. Beneath were shingles hand hewn from -billian. In each was a small square hole through which was passed a -strip of rattan that bound the shingle to the frame of the roof. - -Thandar lifted away the thatching over a little space some two feet -square. Then he inserted the point of his keen parang beneath a rattan -tie string, and an instant later had lifted aside a shingle. Another -and another followed the first until an opening in the roof had been -made large enough to easily admit his body. - -Thandar leaned over and peered into the darkness beneath. He could see -nothing. His own body was between the moon and the hole in the roof, -shutting out the rays of the satellite from the interior. - -The man lowered his legs cautiously over the edge of the hole. Feeling -about, his feet came in contact with a rafter. A moment later his whole -body had disappeared within the temple. Clinging to the edge of the -hole with one hand, Thandar squatted upon the rafter above the temple -floor. - -Now that his body no longer clogged the aperture in the roof the -moonlight poured through it throwing a brilliant flood upon a portion -of the floor at the opposite side of the interior. The balance was -feebly lighted by the diffused moonlight. - -The temple seemed to consist of a single large room. In the center was -a raised platform, and also about the walls. From the rafters hung -baskets containing human skulls--one swung directly in the moonlight -beneath Thandar. He could see its grisly contents plainly. - -His eyes followed the moonlight toward the area which it touched upon -the far side of the room. It reminded Waldo Emerson of a spot light -thrown from the gallery of a theater upon the stage. - -Directly in the center of the light a woman lay asleep upon the -platform. Thandar's heart stood still. About her figure was wrapped the -glossy hide of Nagoola. Over one bare, brown arm billowed a wealth -of thick, black hair, fine as silk, upon the third finger of the left -hand blazed a large solitaire. The woman's face was turned toward the -wall--but Thandar knew that he could not be mistaken--it was Nadara. - -From the rafter upon which he squatted to the floor below was not over -twelve or fifteen feet. Thandar swung downward, clinging to the rafter -with his hands, and dropped, cat-like, upon his naked feet to the floor -below. - -The almost noiseless descent was sufficient, however, to awaken the -sleeper. With the quickness of a panther she swung around and was -upon her feet facing the man almost at the instant he alighted. The -moonlight was now full upon her face. Thandar rushed forward to take -her in his arms. - -"Nadara!" he whispered. "Thank God!" - -The girl shrank back. She recognized the voice and the figure; but--her -Thandar was dead! How could it be that he had returned from death? She -was frightened. - -The man saw the evident terror of her action, and paused. - -"What is the matter, Nadara?" he asked. "Don't you know me? Don't you -know Thandar?" - -"Thandar is dead," she whispered. - -The man laughed. In a few words he explained that he had been stunned, -but not killed, by the earthquake. Then he came to her side and took -her in his arms. - -"Do I feel like a dead man?" he asked. - -She put her arms about his neck and drew his face down to hers. She was -sobbing. Thandar's back was toward the doorway of the temple. Nadara -was facing it. As she raised her eyes to his again her face went deadly -white, and she dragged and pushed him suddenly out of the brilliant -patch of moonlight. - -"The guard!" she whispered. "I just saw something move beyond the door." - -Thandar stepped behind one of the tree trunks that supported the roof, -looking toward the entrance. Yes, there was a man even now coming into -the temple. His eyes were wide with surprise as he glanced upward -toward the hole in the roof. Then he looked in the direction of the -platform upon which Nadara had been sleeping. When he saw that it was -empty he ran back to the doorway and called his companion. - -As he did so Thandar grasped Nadara's hand and drew her around the -opposite side of the temple where the shadows were blackest, toward the -doorway. They had reached the end of the room when the two warriors -came running in, jabbering excitedly. One of them had passed half-way -across the temple, and Thandar and Nadara had almost reached the door -when the second savage caught sight of them. With a cry of warning to -his companion he turned upon them with drawn parang. - -As the fellow rushed forward Thandar drew the pistol the pirates had -given him and fired point blank at the fellow's breast. With a howl the -man staggered back and collapsed upon the floor. Then his fellow rushed -to the attack. - -Thandar had no time to reload. He handed the weapon to Nadara. - -"In the pouch at my right side are cartridges," he said. "Get out -several of them, and when I can I will reload." - -As he spoke they had been edging toward the doorway. From the street -beyond they could already hear excited voices raised in questioning. -The shot had aroused the village. - -Now the fellow with the parang was upon them. Thandar was clumsy with -the unaccustomed weapon with which he tried to meet the attack of the -skilled savage. There could have been but one outcome to the unequal -struggle had not Nadara, always quick-witted and resourceful, snatched -a long spear from the temple wall. - -As she dragged it down there fell with it a clattering skull that broke -upon the floor between the fighters. A howl of dismay and rage broke -from the lips of the head-hunter. This was sacrilege. The holy of the -holies had been profaned. With renewed ferocity he leaped to close -quarters with Thandar, but at the same instant Nadara lunged the sharp -pointed spear into his side, his guard dropped and Thandar's parang -fell full upon his skull. - -"Come!" cried Nadara. "Make your escape the way you came. There is -no hope for you if you remain. I will tell them that the two guards -fought between themselves for me--that one killed the other, and that I -shot the victor to save myself. They will believe me--I will tell them -that I have always had the pistol hidden beneath my robe. Good-bye, my -Thandar. We cannot both escape. If you remain we may both die--you, -certainly." - -Thandar shook his head vehemently. - -"We shall both go--or both die," he replied. - -Nadara pressed his hand. - -"I am glad," was all that she said. - -The savages were pouring from their long houses. The street before the -temple was filling with them. To attempt to escape in that direction -would have been but suicidal. - -"Is there no other exit?" asked Thandar. - -"There is a small window in the back of the temple," replied Nadara, -"in a little room that is sometimes used as a prison for those who are -to die, but it lets out into another street which by this time is -probably filled with natives." - -"There is the floor," cried Thandar. "We will try the floor there." - -He ran to the main entrance to the temple, and closed the doors. Then -he dragged the two corpses before them, and a long wooden bench. There -was no other movable thing in the temple that had any considerable -weight. - -This done he took Nadara's hand and together the two ran for the little -room. Here again they barricaded the door, and Thandar turned toward -the floor. With his parang he pried up a board--it was laid but roughly -upon the light logs that were the beams. Another was removed with equal -ease, and then he lowered Nadara to the ground beneath the temple. - -Clinging to the piling, Thandar replaced the boards above his head -before he, too, dropped to the ground at Nadara's side. The streets -upon either side of the temple were filled with savages. They could -hear them congregating before the entrance to the temple where all was -now quiet and still within. They were bolstering their courage by much -shouting to the point that would permit them to enter and investigate. -They called the names of the guards, but there was no response. - -"Give me the pistol," said Thandar. - -He loaded it, keeping several cartridges ready in his hand. Then, with -Nadara at his side, he crept to the back of the temple. Pigs, routed -from their slumbers, grunted and complained. A dog growled at them. -Thandar silenced it with a cut from his parang. When they reached the -edge of the shadow beneath the temple they saw that there were only a -few natives upon this side of the structure, and they were hurrying -rapidly toward the front of the building. A hundred yards away was the -jungle. - -Now a sudden quiet fell upon the horde before the temple doors. There -was the sound of hammering, then a pushing, scraping noise, and -presently shouts of savage rage--the dead bodies of the guardsmen -had been discovered. Now, from above, came the padding of naked feet -running through the temple. The street behind was momentarily deserted. - -"Now!" whispered Thandar. - -He seized Nadara's hand, and together the two raced from beneath the -temple out into the moonlight and across the intervening space between -the long houses toward the jungle. Half-way across, a belated native, -emerging from the verandah of a nearby house, saw them. He set up a -terrific yell and dashed toward them. - -Thandar's pistol roared, and the savage dropped; but the signal had -been given and before the two reached the jungle a screaming horde of -warriors was upon their heels. - -Thandar was confused. He had lost his bearings since entering the -village and the temple. He turned toward Nadara. - -"I do not know the way to the coast," he cried. - -The girl took his hand. - -"Follow me," she said, and to the memories of each leaped the -recollection of the night she had led him through the forest from the -cliffs of the bad men. Once again was Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, the -learned, indebted to the greater wisdom of the unlettered cave girl for -his salvation. - -Unerringly Nadara ran through the tangled jungle in the direction of -the coast. Though she had been but once over the way she followed the -direct line as unerringly as though each tree was blazed and sign posts -marked each turn. - -Behind them came the noise of the pursuit, but always Nadara and -Thandar fled ahead of it, not once did it gain upon them during the -long hours of flight. - -It was noon before they reached the coast. They came out at the camp -of the pirates, but to Thandar's dismay it was deserted. Tsao Ming had -waited the allotted time and gone. If Thandar had but known it, the -picturesque cut-throat had overstayed the promised period, and had but -scarce left when the fugitives emerged from the jungle beside the -beach. In fact his rude craft was but out of sight beyond the northern -promontory. A pistol shot would have recalled him; but Thandar did not -know it, and so he turned dejectedly to search for the hidden canoe. - -It lay behind the little clump of bushes that had hidden Thandar the -morning that he had saved Tsao Ming's life, several hundred yards to -the south. - -All signs of pursuit had now ceased, and so the two walked slowly in -the direction of the craft. They found it just where Tsao Ming had -promised that it would be. It was well and staunchly repaired, and in -addition contained a goodly supply of food and water. Thandar blessed -Tsao Ming, the unhung murderer. - -Together they dragged the frail thing to the water's edge, and were -about to shove it out when, with a chorus of savage yells, a score or -more of the head-hunters leaped from the jungle and bore down upon -them. Thandar turned to meet them with drawn pistol. - -"Get the canoe into the water, Nadara," he called to the girl. "I will -hold them off until it is launched, then we may be able to reach deep -water before they can overtake us." - -Nadara struggled with the unwieldy boat which the rollers picked up -and hurled back upon her each time she essayed to launch it. From -the corner of his eye Thandar saw the difficulties that the girl was -having. Already the horde was half-way across the beach, running -rapidly toward them. The man feared to fire except at close range since -his unfamiliarity with firearms rendered him an extremely poor shot. -However, it was evident that Nadara could not launch the thing alone, -and so Thandar turned his pistol upon the approaching savages, pulled -the trigger, and wheeled to assist the girl. - -More by chance than skill the bullet lodged in the body of the foremost -head-hunter. The fellow rolled screaming to the sand, and as one his -companions came to a sudden halt. But seeing that Thandar was busy -with the boat and not appearing to intend to follow up his shot they -presently resumed the charge. - -Thandar and Nadara were having all that they could attend to with the -canoe and so the savages came to the water's edge before they realized -their proximity. When he saw them, Thandar wheeled and fired again, -then picking the canoe up bodily above his head he struggled out -through the surf, Nadara walking by his side, steadying him. - -After them came the savages--perhaps half a dozen of the bolder, -when suddenly a great roller caught them all, pursuers and pursued, -sweeping them out into deep water. Thandar and Nadara clung to the -canoe, but the head-hunters were dragged down by the undertow. - -Upon the beach, yelling, threatening and gesticulating, danced thirty -or forty baffled savages; but now Thandar and Nadara had crawled into -the craft, which the outgoing tide was carrying rapidly from shore, and -with the aid of the paddle were soon safely out upon the bosom of the -Pacific. - -Safely? - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -PIRATES - - -As the tide and wind carried the light craft out to sea, and the shore -line sank beneath the horizon behind them, Waldo Emerson looked out -upon the future as he did upon the tumbling waste of desolate water -encircling them, with utter hopelessness. - -Once before he had passed by a miracle through the many-sided menaces -of the sea; but that he should be so fortunate again he could not hope. -And now Nadara was with him. Before, only his own suffering and death -had been possible; now he must face the greater agony of witnessing -Nadara's. - -The wind, blowing a steady gale, was raising a considerable sea. The -vast billows rolled, one upon the heels of another, with the regularity -of infantry units doubling at review. The wind and the sea seemed to -have been made to order for the frail vessel that bore Thandar and -Nadara. It rode the long, ponderous waves like a cork; its crude sail -caught the wind and bellied bravely to it, driving the boat swiftly -over the water. - -And scarce had the shore behind them sunk forever from their sight -than dead ahead another shore line showed. Thandar could scarce believe -his eyes. He rubbed them and looked again. Then he asked Nadara to look. - -"What is that ahead?" he asked. - -The girl half rose with an exclamation of joy. - -"Land!" she cried. - -And land it was. The wind, driving them madly, carried them toward -the north end of what appeared to be a large island. Angry breakers -pounded a rocky coast line. To strike there would mean instant death -to them both. But would they strike? As they neared the point of the -island it became evident to Thandar that they would be borne past it. -Could he hope to stem the speed of the little craft and turn it back -into the sheltered water in the lee of the land? The chances were more -than even that the canoe would capsize the instant he cut away the sail -and attempted to paddle across the wind, as would be necessary to come -about the end of the island. - -But there seemed no other way. He handed his parang to Nadara, telling -her to be ready to cut the rawhide strips that supported the sail the -instant that he gave the word. With his paddle clutched tightly in his -hands he knelt in the stern, watching the progress of the canoe past -the rocky point. - -At this extremity of the island a narrow tongue of land ran far out -into the sea. It was past the outer point of this tongue that the canoe -was racing. When they had passed Thandar realized the rashness of -attempting to turn the canoe into the trough of the sea even for the -little distance that would have been necessary to make the shelter of -the point, where, almost within reach, he could see the peaceful bosom -of unruffled water lying safely behind the island. - -And yet as he looked ahead upon the limitless waste of ocean before -them he knew that one risk was no greater than the other, and then an -alternative plan occurred to him. He would run a short distance past -the point and then turn almost directly back and attempt to paddle the -canoe in the calm water, running nearly into the face of the wind, thus -avoiding the dangers of the trough. - -There was but a single drawback to this plan--the question of his -ability to drive the canoe against the gale. At least it was worth -trying. He gave Nadara the word to cut down the sail, and at the same -instant, the canoe being upon the crest of a wave, he bent to the -paddle. As the panther skin tumbled at the foot of the rough mast the -nose of the craft swung around in reply to Thandar's vigorous strokes. - -So intent were both upon the life and death struggle that they were -waging with the elements that neither saw the long, low-lying craft -that shot from the mouth of a small harbor behind them as they came -into view upon the lee side of the island. - -For a moment the canoe hung broadside to the wind. Thandar struggled -frantically to carry it about. Down they dropped into the trough of a -great sea. Above them hung the overleaning tower of the wave's crest -ready to topple upon them its tons of water. The canoe rose, still -broadside, almost to the crest of the wave--then the thing broke upon -them. - -When Thandar came to the surface his first thought was for Nadara. He -looked about as he shook the water from his eyes. Almost at his side -Nadara's head rose from the sea. As her eyes met his a smile touched -her lips. - -"This is better," she shouted. "Now we can reach shore," and turning -she struck out for land. - -Just behind her swam Thandar. He knew that Nadara was like a fish in -water, but he doubted her ability as he doubted his own to reach the -shore in the face of both wind and tide. A wave carried them high in -air, and from its crest both saw simultaneously a long craft in the -hollow beneath them, and noted the fierce aspect of her crew. - -Nadara, fearing all men but Thandar, would have attempted to elude the -craft, but the glimpse that the man had had of those aboard her had -convinced him that he had fallen by good fortune into the company of -Tsao Ming and his crew. - -"They are friends," he screamed to Nadara, and so they let the boat -come alongside and pick them up; but no sooner had Thandar obtained a -good look at the occupants than he discovered that never a face among -them had he seen before. - -They were of the same type as Tsao Ming's motley horde, nor did Waldo -Emerson need inquire their vocation--thief and murderer were writ upon -every countenance. They jabbered questions at Nadara and Thandar in an -assortment of dialects which neither could understand, and it was only -after the craft had been anchored in the little bay and the party had -waded to shore that Thandar tried speaking with them in pidgin English. -Several among them understood him, and he was not long in making it -plain to them that they would be paid well if they carried him and -Nadara to a civilized port. - -The leader, who seemed to be a full blooded negro, laughed at him, -ridiculing the idea that an almost naked man could pay for his liberty. -At the same time the fellow cast such greedy glances at Nadara that -Thandar became convinced that the fellow, for reasons of his own, -preferred not to believe that they could pay in money for their -liberty. - -It seemed that the party had been about to embark for another portion -of the western coast of the island where the main body of the horde -lay. They had but been waiting for three of their crew who had gone -inland hunting, when they had seen the canoe and put out to capture -its occupants. Now they returned to the little harbor to pick up their -fellows, and continue toward the main camp. - -The black was for dispatching Thandar at once as their boat was already -overcrowded, but there were others who counselled him against it, -reminding him of the probable anger of their chief, who saw only in a -dead prisoner the loss of a possible ransom. - -At last the hunters returned and all embarked. Soon the boat had passed -out of the bay and was making its way south along the west coast of the -island. It was almost dark when her nose was turned toward shore and -the long sweeps brought into play as the sail sagged to the foot of the -mast. - -Between two small, overlapping points that hid what lay behind, -they passed into a landlocked harbor. As the boat breasted the end -of the inner point, Thandar sprang to his feet with a cry of joy -and amazement. Not a hundred yards away, riding quietly upon the -mirror-like surface of the water, lay the _Priscilla_. - -The pirates looked at their prisoner in astonishment. The black rose -with clenched fists as though prepared to strike him. - -"_Priscilla ahoy!_" shrieked Waldo Emerson. "Help! Help!" - -The negro grinned. There was no response from the white yacht. Then -the men told Thandar that they had captured the vessel several weeks -before, and were holding her crew prisoners upon land awaiting the -return of the chief who had been unaccountably absent for a long time. -When Waldo Emerson told them that the yacht belonged to his father the -black was glad that he had not killed him, for he should bring a fat -ransom. - -It was dark when they landed, and Thandar and Nadara were forced into -squalid huts that lay side by side with several others just above the -beach. For a long time the man could not sleep. His mind was occupied -with doubts as to the fate of his father and mother. Nadara had told -him that both had been aboard the _Priscilla_. She had said nothing of -the treatment accorded her by Mrs. Smith-Jones, but Waldo had guessed -near the truth, and he had seen that the sight of the _Priscilla_ had -awakened no enthusiasm or happiness in the girl. - -After a while he dozed only to be awakened by the sound of movement -outside his hut. There was something sinister in the stealthiness of -the sound. Silently Thandar rose and crept to the door. The pirates -had made no attempt to secure their prisoners--there was no possibility -of their escaping from the island. - -Thandar put his head out into the lesser darkness of the night. He -muttered a little growl of rage and fear, for what he saw was the huge, -dark bulk of a man crawling into Nadara's hut. Instantly the American -followed. At the door of the girl's shelter he paused to listen. Within -he heard a sudden exclamation of fright and the sound of a scuffle. -Then he was within the darkness, and a moment later stumbled against a -man. Thandar's fingers sought the throat. He made no sound. The other -wheeled upon him with a knife. Thandar had expected it. His forearm -warded the first blow, and running down the forearm of the other his -hand found the knife wrist. Then commenced the struggle within the -Stygian blackness of the interior of the hut. Back and forth across the -mud floor the two staggered and reeled--the one attempting to wrench -free the hand that held the knife--the other seeking a hold upon the -throat of his antagonist while he strove to maintain his grip upon the -other's wrist. The heavy breathing of the two rose and fell upon the -silence of the night--that and the scuffling of their feet were the -only sounds of combat. Nadara could not assist Thandar--she knew that -it was he who had come to her rescue though she could not see him. - -At last, with a superhuman effort, the night prowler broke away from -Thandar. For a moment silence reigned in the hut. None of the three -could see the other. From beneath his panther skin Thandar drew the -long pistol that Tsao Ming had given him, but he dared not fire for -fear of hitting Nadara, nor dared he ask her to speak that he might -know her position, for then would he have divulged his own to his -antagonist. - -For minutes that seemed hours the three stood in utter silence, -endeavoring to stifle their breathing. Then Thandar heard a cautious -movement upon the opposite side of the room. Was it his foe, or -Nadara. He raised his pistol level with a man's breast, and then -very cautiously he too moved to one side. At the slight sound of his -movement there came a sudden flash and deafening roar from across the -hut--the enemy had fired, and in the flash of his gun all within the -interior was lighted for an instant, and Thandar saw the giant black -not two paces from him, and to the man's left stood Nadara, safe from a -shot from Thandar's pistol. - -The black, not knowing that Thandar was armed, had not guessed that -his chance shot was to prove his own death messenger. The instant that -the flash of the other's gun revealed his whereabouts Thandar's pistol -gave an answering roar, and simultaneously Thandar leaped to one side, -running swiftly to grapple with the black from the side; but when he -came to him, instead of meeting with ferocious resistance as he had -expected, he stumbled over his dead body. - -But now the whole camp was awake. The pirates were running hither and -thither shouting questions and orders in their many tongues. Confusion -reigned supreme, and in the midst of it Thandar grasped Nadara's hand -and ran from the hut. Back of the other huts he ran until he had passed -the end of the camp. Then he turned down toward the water. It was his -intention to reach a boat and make his way to the _Priscilla_. - -Behind them the confusion of the camp grew as the pirates searched the -huts for an explanation of the two shots--there could have been no -better opportunity for escape. Drawn up on the beach was one of the -_Priscilla's_ own boats. Together Thandar and Nadara pushed it off, and -a moment later were rowing rapidly toward the yacht. - -It was with a feeling of unbounded security and elation that Waldo -Emerson clambered over the side and drew Nadara after him; but his -elation was short lived for scarcely had he set foot upon the deck than -he was seized from behind by half a dozen brawny villains who had been -upon guard on board the _Priscilla_ and had seen the two put off from -shore, watched their flight toward the yacht and lain in wait for them -as they clambered over the side. - -The balance of the night they were kept prisoners upon the _Priscilla_; -but early the next morning they were taken ashore. There they found -all the pirates congregated outside one of the huts. Within were -the passengers and crew of the _Priscilla_. As Thandar and Nadara -approached they were seized and hustled toward the doorway--with an -accompaniment of oriental oaths they were pushed into the interior. - -Standing about in disconsolate and unhappy groups were the crew of the -_Priscilla_, Captain Burlinghame and Mr. and Mrs. Smith-Jones. As his -eyes fell upon the last, Waldo Emerson ran toward her with outstretched -arms. - -With a horrified shriek Mrs. Smith-Jones dodged behind her husband -and the captain. Waldo came to a sudden halt. The two men eyed him -threateningly. He looked straight into his father's face. - -"Don't you know me, Father," he asked. - -John Alden Smith-Jones' jaw dropped. - -"Waldo Emerson," he cried. "It cannot be possible!" - -Mrs. Smith-Jones emerged from retreat. - -"Waldo Emerson!" she echoed. "It cannot be!" - -"But it is, Mother," cried the young man. - -"What awful apparel!" said Mrs. Smith-Jones after she had embraced her -son. Then her eyes wandered to Nadara, who had been standing in demure -silence just within the doorway. - -"You?" she gasped. "You are not dead?" - -Nadara shook her head, and Waldo Emerson hastened to recount -her adventures since Stark's attack upon her on the deck of the -_Priscilla_. Mrs. Smith-Jones approached the girl. She placed a hand -upon her shoulder. - -"I have been doing a great deal of thinking since last I saw you," she -said, "and the result of it is that I am going to do something that I -have never before done in my life--I am going to ask your pardon; I -treated you shamefully. I do not need to ask if my son loves you--you -have already told me that you love him--and his eyes have told me where -his heart lies. - -"For long nights I lay awake thinking of the horror of it, and almost -praying that he might be dead rather than come back to find you waiting -for him in Boston--that was before you went overboard. You had no birth -or family, and that to me meant everything; but since I thought that -you were both dead I discovered that I recalled many things about you -that were infinitely to be preferred over birth and breeding. - -"I cannot tell you just what they are--only I cannot blame my son for -loving you. Only you must discard that horrible garment for something -presentable." - -"Mother!" shouted Waldo Emerson, as he threw his arms about her. "I -knew that you would love her, too, if you ever knew her." - -Just then the door opened and one of the pirates entered. - -"Come," he said. - -They filed out past him. From those outside they learned that it had -been decided to kill them all and after looting the _Priscilla_, sink -her, as a man-of-war had been sighted cruising off the coast early in -the morning. In their terror they had decided to wait no longer for -the absent chief, and all thoughts of ransom were forgotten in the mad -desire to erase every vestige of their piracy. - -The victims looked at one another in horror. They were entirely -surrounded by the pirates, and one by one were securely bound that -there might be no chance of any escaping. The plan was to lead them -inland to the densest part of the jungle and there to cut their throats -and leave their corpses to the vultures. The pirates appeared to derive -much pleasure in recounting their plan to the prisoners. - -At last all were bound and the death march commenced. The last of the -long line of hope forsaken prisoners and brutal, gibing cut-throats -had disappeared in the jungle when a rude craft made its way into the -harbor. At sight of the _Priscilla_ it hesitated and prepared to fly, -but seeing no sign of life aboard it, approached, and finding the decks -deserted, mounted. In the cabins the newcomers discovered two Malays -asleep. These they awoke with much laughter and rude jests. - -The two guards leaped to their feet, feeling for their pistols; but -when they saw who had surprised them they grinned broadly and jabbered -volubly. They addressed all their remarks to a huge and villainous -fellow whom they called chief. He it was whom the pirates had awaited, -and whose prolonged absence had resulted in the determination to -execute the prisoners of the _Priscilla_. - -When the chief learned of what was going on in the jungle he cursed -and bellowed in rage. He saw many thousand liangs of sycee evaporating -before his eyes. Shouting orders to his fellows to follow him he leaped -into the craft that had brought them to the _Priscilla_, and a moment -later was pushing rapidly toward the shore. Without waiting to draw the -boat upon the beach the chief plunged into the jungle, his men at his -heels. - -Far ahead of him trudged the weary and fear-sickened prisoners, lashed -onward with sticks and the flats of murderous parangs. At last the -pirates halted in a tangled mass of vegetation. - -"Here," said one; but another thought they should proceed a little -further. For a few minutes the two men argued, then the first drew his -parang and advanced upon Thandar. - -"Here!" he insisted and swung the blade about his head. - -A sudden crashing of the underbrush and loud and angry shouts -caused him to turn his eyes in the direction of the interruption. -The prisoners, too, looked. What they saw was not particularly -reassuring--only another very ferocious appearing and exceeding -wrathful pirate followed by a half dozen other villains. - -He rushed into the midst of the group, knocking men to right and left. -The wicked looking fellows who had bullied and cowed the frightened -prisoners but a few moments before now looked the picture of abject -terror. - -The chief came to a halt before the man with the bared parang. His face -was livid, and working spasmodically with rage and excitement. He tried -to speak, and then he turned his eyes upon Thandar, standing there -bound ready for decapitation. As his gaze fell upon this prisoner his -eyes went wide, and then he turned upon the would-be executioner, and -with a mighty blow felled him. - -That seemed to loose his tongue, and from his mouth flowed a torrent -of the most awful abuse the prisoners had ever heard. It was directed -toward the men who had dared contemplate this thing without his -sanction, and principally against the cowering unfortunate who had not -dared rise from where his chief's heavy fist had sprawled him. - -"And you would have killed Thandar," he shrieked. "Thandar, who saved -my life!" - -And then he fell to kicking the prostrate man until Thandar himself was -forced to intercede in the wretch's behalf. - -With the coming of Tsao Ming the troubles of the prisoners evaporated -in thin air, for when he found that the owner of the _Priscilla_ was -Thandar's father he restored the yacht and all the loot that his men -had taken from it to their rightful owners. Nor would he have stopped -there had they permitted him to have his way, which was no less than -to behead half a dozen of his unfortunate lieutenants who had been -over-zealous in the performance of their piratical duties. - -Tsao Ming's picturesque villains replenished the water casks of the -_Priscilla_ and carried aboard her a sufficient stock of provisions to -insure her company a plentiful table to Honolulu, the port they had -chosen as their first stop. - -And when the preparations were completed a dozen piratical prahus -escorted the white yacht a hundred miles upon her northward journey, -firing a farewell salute with volley after volley from the little, -brass six-pounders in their bows. - -As the tiny fleet diminished to mere specks astern, disappearing -beneath the southern horizon, a white flanneled man with close cropped -blonde hair, and a slender, black haired girl in simple shirt waist and -duck skirt watched them from the deck of the _Priscilla_. - -An involuntary sigh escaped the lips of each, and they turned and -looked into one another's eyes. - -"We are leaving a cruel world that has been kind to us," said the man, -"for with all its cruelties it gave us each other and reunited us when -we were separated." - -"Will civilization be more kind?" asked the girl. - -Thandar shook his head. - -"I do not know," he replied. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -HOMEWARD BOUND - - -At Honolulu Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones and Nadara were married. Before -the ceremony there had been some discussion as to what name should be -used in describing Nadara in the formal contract. - -"Nadara" alone seemed too brief and meaningless to the precise Mrs. -Smith-Jones; but Waldo Emerson and the girl insisted that it was her -name and all-sufficient. So, in lieu of another name, it was finally -decided by all that "Nadara" could not be legally improved upon. - -Prior to the ceremony, which took place on board the _Priscilla_, Mr. -and Mrs. John Alden Smith-Jones, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, several -invited guests from amongst officials and friends in Honolulu, and the -crew of the _Priscilla_ presented gifts to the bride. - -Captain Burlinghame in presenting his proffered a few words in -explanation of it. - -"To you, Nadara," he said, "these trinkets will hold a deeper meaning -and a greater value than to another, for they come from your own -forgotten island, where they lay for twenty years until, by chance, -I picked them up close by the sea. The poor lady to whom they once -belonged you never knew--it is quite possible that she never was upon -your savage coast--and how her jewels came there must always remain a -mystery. But two things you hold in common with her, for she was a lady -and she was very beautiful." - -He held toward Nadara in his open palm a little worn bag of the skins -of small rodents, sewn together with bits of gut. At sight of it both -the girl and Waldo Emerson exclaimed in astonishment. - -Nadara took the bag wonderingly in her hands and dumped the contents -into her palm. Waldo pressed forward. - -"Did you know to whom those belonged?" he asked Burlinghame. - -"To Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy," replied the -captain. - -"They belonged to Nadara's mother," returned Waldo. "Her foster parents -were present at her birth and took these jewels from the poor woman's -body after she had passed away. She was washed ashore in a boat in -which there was only a dead man beside herself--Nadara was born that -night." - -And so, when the clergyman had performed the marriage ceremony he -entered upon the certificate in the space provided there for the name -of the woman: Nadara de la Valois. - -And they are living in Boston now in a wonderful home that you have -seen if you ever have been to Boston and been driven about in one of -those great sight-seeing motor busses, for the place is pointed out to -all visitors because of the beauty of its architecture and the fame -that attaches to the historic and aristocratic name of its owner, -which, as it happens, is not Smith-Jones at all. - - - - -_There's More to Follow!_ - - - More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author of - this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of world-wide - reputation, in the Authors Alphabetical List which you will find on - the _reverse side_ of the wrapper of this book. Look it over before - you lay it aside. There are books here you are sure to want--some, - possibly, that you have _always_ wanted. - - It is a _selected_ list; every book in it has achieved a certain - measure of _success_. - - The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good - Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted - Standard of Value. It will pay you to - - -_Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!_ - - _In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a complete - catalog_ - - - - -THE NOVELS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - - TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE - TARZAN OF THE APES - TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR - TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN - TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION - TARZAN THE TERRIBLE - TARZAN THE UNTAMED - THE BEASTS OF TARZAN - THE RETURN OF TARZAN - THE SON OF TARZAN - JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN - THE MASTER MIND OF MARS - THE PRINCESS OF MARS - THE WARLORD OF MARS - THE GODS OF MARS - THUVIA, MAID OF MARS - THE CHESSMAN OF MARS - THE MONSTER MEN - THE WAR CHIEF - THE OUTLAW OF TORN - THE MAD KING - THE MOON MAID - THE ETERNAL LOVER - THE CAVE GIRL - THE BANDIT OF HELL'S BEND - THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT - AT THE EARTH'S CORE - PELLUCIDAR - THE MUCKER - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -STIRRING TALES OF THE GREAT WAR - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list - - - ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Erich Maria Remarque - - The greatest of all the War novels. The G. & D. Edition is the - unexpurgated edition--printed from the English text. - - GOD HAVE MERCY ON US! William T. Scanlon - - These were the words that instinctively came to the lips of hundreds - of American soldiers who survived the experiences told in this book. - - WAR BUGS Charles MacArthur - - Leonard Nason says "If WAR BUGS is not a splendid picture of a - 'milishy' outfit I'll bite my initials in a green bough." - - THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISCHA Arnold Zwieg - - Based on an actual case during the European War--it is an impassioned - and powerful drama of man's inhumanity to man. - - THE TOP KICK Leonard Nason - - Infantry, cavalry, artillery, intelligence--Private fights and public - fights--Wine, no women, and cuss words--France in 1918. - - SQUAD James B. Wharton - - The war chronicle of eight men out of whose flesh and blood the - smallest of military units--a squad--is made. - - WAR BIRDS The Diary of an Unknown Aviator - - Soaring, looping, zooming, spitting hails of leaden death, planes - everywhere in a war darkened sky. WAR BIRDS is a tale of youth, - loving, fighting, dying. - - SERGEANT EADIE Leonard Nason - - This is the private history of the hard luck sergeant whose exploits - in CHEVRONS made that story one of the most dramatic and thrilling of - war books. - - WINGS John Monk Saunders - - Based on the great Paramount picture, WINGS is the Big Parade of the - air, the gallant, fascinating story of an American air pilot. - - LEAVE ME WITH A SMILE Elliott White Springs - - Henry Winton, a famous ace, thrice decorated, twice wounded and many - times disillusioned returns after the war to meet Phyllis, one of the - new order of hard-drinking, unmoral girls. - - NOCTURNE MILITAIRE Elliott White Springs - - War, with wine and women, tales of love, madness, heroism; flyers - reckless in their gestures toward life and death. - - CHEVRONS Leonard Nason - - One of the sensations of the post-war period, CHEVRONS discloses - the whole pageantry of war with grim truth flavored with the breezy - vulgarity of soldier dialogue. - - THREE LIGHTS FROM A MATCH Leonard Nason - - Three long short stories, each told with a racy vividness, the real - terror in war with the sputter of machine guns. - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD'S - -STORIES OF ADVENTURE - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list - - - THE LADY OF PERIBONKA - THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM - SWIFT LIGHTNING - THE BLACK HUNTER - THE ANCIENT HIGHWAY - A GENTLEMAN OF COURAGE - THE ALASKAN - THE COUNTRY BEYOND - THE FLAMING FOREST - THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN - THE RIVER'S END - THE GOLDEN SNARE - BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY - THE WOLF HUNTER - THE GOLD HUNTERS - NOMADS OF THE NORTH - KAZAN - THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM - BAREE, SON OF KAZAN - THE DANGER TRAIL - THE COURAGE OF MARGE O'DOONE - THE HUNTED WOMAN - THE FLOWER OF THE NORTH - THE GRIZZLY KING - ISOBEL - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -ZANE GREY'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list - - - WILD HORSE MESA - NEVADA - FORLORN RIVER - UNDER THE TONTO RIM - THE VANISHING AMERICAN - TAPPAN'S BURRO - THE THUNDERING HERD - THE CALL OF THE CANYON - WANDERER OF THE WASTELAND - THE DAY OF THE BEAST - TO THE LAST MAN - THE MYSTERIOUS RIDER - THE MAN OF THE FOREST - THE DESERT OF WHEAT - THE U.P. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Cave Girl</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 20, 2022 [eBook #69191]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Most recently updated: January 9, 2023</p> - -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAVE GIRL ***</div> - - - - - -<p class="ph3">THE CAVE GIRL</p> - - -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/illus01.jpg" alt="pic" /> -</p> - -<p class="caption"> The Cave Girl saves Waldo's life.</p> - - - - - -<p class="ph1" style="margin-top: 10em;">THE CAVE GIRL</p> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 10em;">BY</p> - -<p class="ph3">EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS</p> - -<p class="ph5">AUTHOR OF</p> - -<p class="ph4">TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN,<br /> -THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT,<br /> -PELLUCIDAR, <span class="smcap">Etc.</span></p> - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 10em;">GROSSET & DUNLAP</p> -<p class="ph5">PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</p> - - - - - - - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 10em;">Copyright</p> - -<p class="ph5">Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.</p> - -<p class="ph6">1925</p> - -<p class="ph6">Published March, 1925</p> - -<p class="ph6"><i>Copyrighted in Great Britain</i></p> - - - - - - - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - - - -<table summary="toc" width ="55%"> - - -<tr><td align="right">CHAPTER</td> <td> </td> <td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="3" align="center"><a href="#PART_I">PART I</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">I</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Ia">Flotsam</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">II</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIa">The Wild People</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">III</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIIa">The Little Eden</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IVa">Death's Doorway</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">V </td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_Va">Awakening</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIa">A Choice</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIa">Thandar, the Seeker</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIIa">Nadara Again</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IXa">The Seeker</a></td> <td align="right"> <a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">X</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Xa">The Trail's End</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIa">Capture</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="3" align="center"><a href="#THE_CAVE_GIRL">PART II</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">I</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Ib">King Big Fist</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">II</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIb">King Thandar</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">III </td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIIb">The Great Nagoola</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IVb">The Battle</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">V </td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_Vb">The Abduction of Nadara</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIb">The Search</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIb">First Mate Stark</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIIb">The Wild Men</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IXb">Building the Boat</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">X</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Xb">The Head-Hunters</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIb">The Rescue</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIIb">Pirates</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIIIb">Homeward Bound</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td></tr> -</table> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="PART_I" id="PART_I">PART I</a></h2> - - - - -<h2>THE CAVE GIRL</h2> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Ia" id="CHAPTER_Ia">CHAPTER I</a></h2> - -<p class="center">FLOTSAM</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> dim shadow of the thing was but a blur against the dim shadows of -the wood behind it.</p> - -<p>The young man could distinguish no outline that might mark the presence -as either brute or human.</p> - -<p>He could see no eyes, yet he knew that somewhere from out of that -noiseless mass stealthy eyes were fixed upon him.</p> - -<p>This was the fourth time that the thing had crept from out the wood -as darkness was settling—the fourth time during those three horrible -weeks since he had been cast upon that lonely shore that he had -watched, terror-stricken, while night engulfed the shadowy form that -lurked at the forest's edge.</p> - -<p>It had never attacked him, but to his distorted imagination it seemed -to slink closer and closer as night fell—waiting, always waiting for -the moment that it might find him unprepared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones was not overly courageous. He had been reared -among surroundings of culture plus and ultra-intellectuality in the -exclusive Back Bay home of his ancestors.</p> - -<p>He had been taught to look with contempt upon all that savored of -muscular superiority—such things were gross, brutal, primitive.</p> - -<p>It had been a giant intellect only that he had craved—he and a fond -mother—and their wishes had been fulfilled. At twenty-one Waldo was an -animated encyclopedia—and about as muscular as a real one.</p> - -<p>Now he slunk shivering with fright at the very edge of the beach, as -far from the grim forest as he could get.</p> - -<p>Cold sweat broke from every pore of his long, lank, six-foot-two -body. His skinny arms and legs trembled as with palsy. Occasionally -he coughed—it had been the cough that had banished him upon this -ill-starred sea voyage.</p> - -<p>As he crouched in the sand, staring with wide, horror-dilated eyes into -the black night, great tears rolled down his thin, white cheeks.</p> - -<p>It was with difficulty that he restrained an overpowering desire -to shriek. His mind was filled with forlorn regrets that he had -not remained at home to meet the wasting death that the doctor had -predicted—a peaceful death at least—not the brutal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> end which faced -him now.</p> - -<p>The lazy swell of the South Pacific lapped his legs, stretched upon -the sand, for he had retreated before that menacing shadow as far as -the ocean would permit. As the slow minutes dragged into age-long -hours, the nervous strain told so heavily upon the weak boy that toward -midnight he lapsed into merciful unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>The warm sun awoke him the following morning, but it brought with it -but a faint renewal of courage. Things could not creep to his side -unseen now, but still they could come, for the sun would not protect -him. Even now some savage beast might be lurking just within the forest.</p> - -<p>The thought unnerved him to such an extent that he dared not venture -to the woods for the fruit that had formed the major portion of his -sustenance. Along the beach he picked up a few mouthfuls of sea-food, -but that was all.</p> - -<p>The day passed, as had the other terrible days which had preceded it, -in scanning alternately the ocean and the forest's edge—the one for a -ship and the other for the cruel death which he momentarily expected to -see stalk out of the dreary shades to claim him.</p> - -<p>A more practical and a braver man would have constructed some manner -of shelter in which he might have spent his nights in comparative -safety<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> and comfort, but Waldo Emerson's education had been conducted -along lines of undiluted intellectuality—pursuits and knowledge which -were practical were commonplace, and commonplaces were vulgar. It -was preposterous that a Smith-Jones should ever have need of vulgar -knowledge.</p> - -<p>For the twenty-second time since the great wave had washed him from -the steamer's deck and hurled him, choking and sputtering, upon this -inhospitable shore, Waldo Emerson saw the sun sinking rapidly toward -the western horizon.</p> - -<p>As it descended the young man's terror increased, and he kept his eyes -glued upon the spot from which the shadow had emerged the previous -evening.</p> - -<p>He felt that he could not endure another night of the torture he -had passed through four times before. That he should go mad he was -positive, and he commenced to tremble and whimper even while daylight -yet remained. For a time he tried turning his back to the forest, and -then he sat huddled up gazing out upon the ocean; but the tears which -rolled down his cheeks so blurred his eyes that he saw nothing.</p> - -<p>Finally he could endure it no longer, and with a sudden gasp of horror -he wheeled toward the wood. There was nothing visible, yet he broke -down and sobbed like a child, for loneliness and terror.</p> - -<p>When he was able to control his tears for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> moment he took the -opportunity to scan the deepening shadows once more.</p> - -<p>The first glance brought a piercing shriek from his white lips.</p> - -<p>The thing was there!</p> - -<p>The young man did not fall groveling to the sand this time—instead, -he stood staring with protruding eyes at the vague form, while shriek -after shriek broke from his grinning lips.</p> - -<p>Reason was tottering.</p> - -<p>The thing, whatever it was, halted at the first blood-curdling cry, and -then when the cries continued it slunk back toward the wood.</p> - -<p>With what remained of his ebbing mentality Waldo Emerson realized that -it were better to die at once than face the awful fears of the black -night. He would rush to meet his fate, and thus end this awful agony of -suspense.</p> - -<p>With the thought came action, so that, still shrieking, he rushed -headlong toward the thing at the wood's rim. As he ran it turned and -fled into the forest, and after it went Waldo Emerson, his long, skinny -legs carrying his emaciated body in great leaps and bounds through the -tearing underbrush.</p> - -<p>He emitted shriek after shriek—ear-piercing shrieks that ended in long -drawn out wails, more wolfish than human. And the thing that fled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -through the night before him was shrieking, too, now.</p> - -<p>Time and again the young man stumbled and fell. Thorns and brambles -tore his clothing and his soft flesh. Blood smeared him from head to -feet. Yet on and on he rushed through the semidarkness of the now -moonlit forest.</p> - -<p>At first impelled by the mad desire to embrace death and wrest the -peace of oblivion from its cruel clutch, Waldo Emerson had come to -pursue the screaming shadow before him from an entirely different -motive. Now it was for companionship. He screamed now because of a fear -that the thing would elude him and that he should be left alone in the -depth of this weird wood.</p> - -<p>Slowly but surely it was drawing away from him, and as Waldo Emerson -realized the fact he redoubled his efforts to overtake it. He had -stopped screaming now, for the strain of his physical exertion found -his weak lungs barely adequate to the needs of his gasping respiration.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the pursuit emerged from the forest to cross a little moonlit -clearing, at the opposite side of which towered a high and rocky cliff. -Toward this the fleeing creature sped, and in an instant more was -swallowed, apparently, by the face of the cliff.</p> - -<p>Its disappearance was as mysterious and awesome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> as its identity had -been, and left the young man in blank despair.</p> - -<p>With the object of pursuit gone, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -sank trembling and exhausted at the foot of the cliff. A paroxysm of -coughing seized him, and thus he lay in an agony of apprehension, -fright, and misery until from very weakness he sank into a deep sleep.</p> - -<p>It was daylight when he awoke—stiff, lame, sore, hungry, and -miserable—but, withal, refreshed and sane. His first consideration -was prompted by the craving of a starved stomach; yet it was with the -utmost difficulty that he urged his cowardly brain to direct his steps -toward the forest, where hung fruit in abundance.</p> - -<p>At every little noise he halted in tense silence, poised to flee. His -knees trembled so violently that they knocked together; but at length -he entered the dim shadows, and presently was gorging himself with ripe -fruits.</p> - -<p>To reach some of the more luscious viands he had picked from the ground -a piece of fallen limb, which tapered from a diameter of four inches -at one end to a trifle over an inch at the other. It was the first -practical thing that Waldo Emerson had done since he had been cast upon -the shore of his new home—in fact, it was, in all likelihood, the -nearest approximation to a practical thing which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> he had ever done in -all his life.</p> - -<p>Waldo had never been allowed to read fiction, nor had he ever cared to -so waste his time or impoverish his brain, and nowhere in the fund of -deep erudition which he had accumulated could he recall any condition -analogous to those which now confronted him.</p> - -<p>Waldo, of course, knew that there were such things as step-ladders, -and had he had one he would have used it as a means to reach the fruit -above his hand's reach; but that he could knock the delicacies down -with a broken branch seemed indeed a mighty discovery—a valuable -addition to the sum total of human knowledge. Aristotle himself had -never reasoned more logically.</p> - -<p>Waldo had taken the first step in his life toward independent mental -action—heretofore his ideas, his thoughts, his acts, even, had been -borrowed from the musty writing of the ancients, or directed by the -immaculate mind of his superior mother. And he clung to his discovery -as a child clings to a new toy.</p> - -<p>When he emerged from the forest he brought his stick with him.</p> - -<p>He determined to continue the pursuit of the creature that had eluded -him the night before. It would, indeed, be curious to look upon a thing -that feared him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p>In all his life he had never imagined it possible that any creature -could flee from him in fear. A little glow suffused the young man as -the idea timorously sought to take root.</p> - -<p>Could it be that there was a trace of swagger in that long, bony figure -as Waldo directed his steps toward the cliff? Perish the thought! Pride -in vulgar physical prowess! A long line of Smith-Joneses would have -risen in their graves and rent their shrouds at the veriest hint of -such an idea.</p> - -<p>For a long time Waldo walked back and forth along the foot of the -cliff, searching for the avenue of escape used by the fugitive of -yesternight. A dozen times he passed a well-defined trail that led, -winding, up the cliff's face; but Waldo knew nothing of trails—he was -looking for a flight of steps or a doorway.</p> - -<p>Finding neither, he stumbled by accident into the trail; and, although -the evident signs that marked it as such revealed nothing to him, yet -he followed it upward for the simple reason that it was the only place -upon the cliff side where he could find a foothold.</p> - -<p>Some distance up he came to a narrow cleft in the cliff into which the -trail led. Rocks dislodged from above had fallen into it, and, becoming -wedged a few feet from the bottom, left only a small cavelike hole, -into which Waldo peered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was nothing visible, but the interior was dark and forbidding. -Waldo felt cold and clammy. He began to tremble. Then he turned and -looked back toward the forest.</p> - -<p>The thought of another night spent within sight of that dismal place -almost overcame him. No! A thousand times no! Any fate were better than -that, and so after several futile efforts he forced his unwilling body -through the small aperture.</p> - -<p>He found himself on a path between two rocky walls—a path that rose -before him at a steep angle. At intervals the blue sky was visible -above through openings that had not been filled with debris.</p> - -<p>To another it would have been apparent that the cleft had been kept -open by human beings—that it was a thoroughfare which was used, if not -frequently, at least sufficiently often to warrant considerable labor -having been expended upon it to keep it free from the debris which must -be constantly falling from above.</p> - -<p>Where the path led, or what he expected to find at the other end, Waldo -had not the remotest idea. He was not an imaginative youth. But he kept -on up the ascent in the hope that at the end he would find the creature -which had escaped him the night before.</p> - -<p>As it had fled for a brief instant across the clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>ing beneath -the moon's soft rays, Waldo had thought that it bore a remarkable -resemblance to a human figure; but of that he could not be positive.</p> - -<p>At last his path broke suddenly into the sunlight. The walls on either -side were but little higher than his head, and a moment later he -emerged from the cleft onto a broad and beautiful plateau.</p> - -<p>Before him stretched a wide, grassy plain, and beyond towered a range -of mighty hills. Between them and him lay a belt of forest.</p> - -<p>A new emotion welled in the breast of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. It -was akin to that which Balboa may have felt when he gazed for the -first time upon the mighty Pacific from the Sierra de Quarequa. For -the moment, as he contemplated this new and beautiful scene of rolling -meadowland, distant forest, and serrated hill-tops, he almost forgot -to be afraid. And on the impulse of the instant he set out across the -tableland to explore the unknown which lay beyond the forest.</p> - -<p>Well it was for Waldo Emerson's peace of mind that no faint conception -of what lay there entered his unimaginative mind. To him a land without -civilization—without cities and towns peopled by humans with manners -and customs similar to those which obtain in Boston—was beyond belief.</p> - -<p>As he walked he strained his eyes in every direction for some -indication of human habitation—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> fence, a chimney—anything that -would be man-built; but his efforts were unrewarded.</p> - -<p>At the verge of the forest he halted, fearing to enter; but at last, -when he saw that the wood was more open than that near the ocean, and -that there was but little underbrush, he mustered sufficient courage to -step timidly within.</p> - -<p>On careful tiptoe he threaded his way through the park-like grove, -stopping every few minutes to listen, and ready at the first note of -danger to fly screaming toward the open plain.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding his fears, he reached the opposite boundary of the -forest without seeing or hearing anything to arouse suspicion, and, -emerging from the cool shade, found himself a little distance from a -perpendicular white cliff, the face of which was honeycombed with the -mouths of many caves.</p> - -<p>There was no living creature in sight, nor did the very apparent -artificiality of the caves suggest to the impractical Waldo that they -might be the habitations of perhaps savage human beings.</p> - -<p>With the spell of discovery still upon him, he crossed the open toward -the cliffs; but he had by no means forgotten his chronic state of -abject fear. Ears and eyes were alert for hidden dangers; every few -steps were punctuated by a timid halt and a searching survey of his -surroundings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was during one of these halts, when he had crossed half the distance -between the forest and the cliff, that he discerned a slight movement -in the wood behind him.</p> - -<p>For an instant he stood staring and frozen, unable to determine whether -he had been mistaken or really had seen a creature moving in the forest.</p> - -<p>He had about decided that he had but imagined a presence when a great, -hairy brute of a man stepped suddenly from behind the bole of a tree.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIa" id="CHAPTER_IIa">CHAPTER II</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE WILD PEOPLE</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> creature was naked except for a bit of hide that hung from a -leathern waist thong.</p> - -<p>If Waldo viewed the newcomer with wonder, it was no less than the -wonder which the sight of him inspired in the breast of the hairy -one, for what he saw was as truly remarkable to his eyes as was his -appearance to those of the cultured Bostonian. And Waldo did indeed -present a most startling exterior. His six-feet-two was accentuated by -his extreme skinniness; his gray eyes looked weak and watery within the -inflamed circles which rimmed them, and which had been produced by loss -of sleep and much weeping.</p> - -<p>His yellow hair was tangled and matted, and streaked with dirt and -blood. Blood stained his soiled and tattered ducks. His shirt was but a -mass of frayed ribbons held to him at all only by the neckband.</p> - -<p>As he stood helplessly staring with bulging eyes at the awful figure -glowering at him from the forest his jaw dropped, his knees trembled, -and he seemed about to collapse from sheer terror.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then the hideous man crouched and came creeping warily toward him.</p> - -<p>With an agonized scream Waldo turned and fled toward the cliff. A quick -glance over his shoulder brought another series of shrieks from the -frightened fugitive, for it revealed not alone the fact that the awful -man was pursuing him, but that behind him raced at least a dozen more -equally frightful.</p> - -<p>Waldo ran toward the cliffs only because that direction lay straight -away from his pursuers. He had no idea what he should do when he -reached the rocky barrier—he was far too frightened to think.</p> - -<p>His pursuers were gaining upon him, their savage yells mingling with -his piercing cries and spurring him on to undreamed-of pinnacles of -speed.</p> - -<p>As he ran, his knees came nearly to his shoulders at each frantic -bound; his left hand was extended far ahead, clutching wildly at the -air as though he were endeavoring to pull himself ahead, while his -right hand, still grasping the cudgel, described a rapid circle, like -the arm of a windmill gone mad. In action Waldo was an inspiring -spectacle.</p> - -<p>At the foot of the cliff he came to a momentary halt, while he glanced -hurriedly about for a means of escape; but now he saw that the enemy -had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> spread out toward the right and left, leaving no means of escape -except up the precipitous side of the cliff. Up this narrow trails led -steeply from ledge to ledge.</p> - -<p>In places crude ladders scaled perpendicular heights from one tier of -caves to the next above; but to Waldo the thing which confronted him -seemed absolutely unscalable, and then another backward glance showed -him the rapidly nearing enemy; and he launched himself at the face of -that seemingly impregnable barrier, clutching desperately with fingers -and toes.</p> - -<p>His progress was impeded by the cudgel to which he still clung, but -he did not drop it; though why it would have been difficult to tell, -unless it was that his acts were now purely mechanical, there being no -room in his mind for aught else than terror.</p> - -<p>Close behind him came the foremost cave man; yet, though he had -acquired the agility of a monkey through a lifetime of practice, he -was amazed at the uncanny speed with which Waldo Emerson clawed his -shrieking way aloft.</p> - -<p>Half-way up the ascent, however, a great hairy hand came almost to his -ankle.</p> - -<p>It was during the perilous negotiation of one of the loose and wabbly -ladders—little more than small trees leaning precariously against the -perpendicular rocky surface—that the nearest foe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>man came so close to -the fugitive; but at the top chance intervened to save Waldo, for a -time at least. It was at the moment that he scrambled frantically to a -tiny ledge from the frightfully slipping sapling.</p> - -<p>In his haste he did by accident what a resourceful man would have done -by intent—in pushing himself onto the ledge he kicked the ladder -outward—for a second it hung toppling in the balance, and then with a -lunge crashed down the cliff's face with its human burden, in its fall -scraping others of the pursuing horde with it.</p> - -<p>A chorus of rage came up from below him, but Waldo had not even turned -his head to learn of his temporary good fortune. Up, ever up he sped, -until at length he stood upon the topmost ledge, facing an overhanging -wall of blank rock that towered another twenty-five feet above him to -the summit of the bluff. Time and again he leaped futilely against the -smooth surface, tearing at it with his nails in a mad endeavor to climb -still higher.</p> - -<p>At his right was the low opening to a black cave, but he did not see -it—his mind could cope with but the single idea: to clamber from -the horrible creatures which pursued him. But finally it was borne -in on his half-mad brain that this was the end—he could fly no -farther—here, in a moment more, death would overtake him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned to meet it, and below saw a number of the cave men placing -another ladder in lieu of that which had fallen. In a moment they were -resuming the ascent after him.</p> - -<p>On the narrow ledge above them the young man stood, chattering and -grinning like a madman. His pitiful cries were now punctuated with the -hollow coughing which his violent exercise had induced.</p> - -<p>Tears rolled down his begrimed face, leaving crooked, muddy streaks in -their wake. His knees smote together so violently that he could barely -stand, and it was into the face of this apparition of cowardice that -the first of the cave men looked as he scrambled above the ledge on -which Waldo stood.</p> - -<p>And then, of a sudden, there rose within the breast of Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones a spark that generations of overrefinement and emasculating -culture had all but extinguished—the instinct of self-preservation by -force. Heretofore it had been purely by flight.</p> - -<p>With the frenzy of the fear of death upon him, he raised his cudgel, -and, swinging it high above his head, brought it down full upon the -unprotected skull of his enemy.</p> - -<p>Another took the fallen man's place—he, too, went down with a broken -head. Waldo was fighting now like a cornered rat, and through it all -he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> chattered and gibbered; but he no longer wept.</p> - -<p>At first he was horrified at the bloody havoc he wrought with his -crude weapon. His nature revolted at the sight of blood, and when -he saw it mixed with matted hair along the side of his cudgel, and -realized that it was human hair and human blood, and that he, Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones, had struck the blows that had plastered it there -so thickly in all its hideousness, a wave of nausea swept over him, so -that he almost toppled from his dizzy perch.</p> - -<p>For a few minutes there was a lull in hostilities while the cave men -congregated below, shaking their fists at Waldo and crying out threats -and challenges. The young man stood looking down upon them, scarcely -able to realize that alone he had met savage men in physical encounter -and defeated them.</p> - -<p>He was shocked and horrified; not, odd to say, because of the thing he -had done, but rather because of a strange and unaccountable glow of -pride in his brutal supremacy over brutes. What would his mother have -thought could she have seen her precious boy now?</p> - -<p>Suddenly Waldo became conscious from the corner of his eye that -something was creeping upon him from behind out of the dark cave before -which he had fought. Simultaneously with the realization<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> of it he -swung his cudgel in a wicked blow at this new enemy as he turned to -meet it.</p> - -<p>The creature dodged back, and the blow that would have crushed its -skull grazed a hairbreadth from its face.</p> - -<p>Waldo struck no second blow, and the cold sweat sprang to his forehead -when he realized how nearly he had come to murdering a young girl. -She crouched now in the mouth of the cave, eying him fearfully. Waldo -removed his tattered cap, bowing low.</p> - -<p>"I crave your pardon," he said. "I had no idea that there was a lady -here. I am very glad that I did not injure you."</p> - -<p>There must have been something either in his tone or manner that -reassured her, for she smiled and came out upon the ledge beside him.</p> - -<p>As she did so a scarlet flush mantled Waldo's face and neck and -ears—he could feel them burning. With a nervous cough he turned and -became intently occupied with the distant scenery.</p> - -<p>Presently he cast a surreptitious glance behind him. Shocking! She was -still there. Again he coughed nervously.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me," he said. "But—er—ah—you—I am a total stranger, you -know; hadn't you better go back in, and—er—get your clothes?"</p> - -<p>She made no reply, and so he forced himself to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> turn toward her once -more. She was smiling at him.</p> - -<p>Waldo had never been so horribly embarrassed in all his life before—it -was a distinct shock to him to realize that the girl was not -embarrassed at all.</p> - -<p>He spoke to her a second time, and at last she answered; but in -a tongue which he did not understand. It bore not the slightest -resemblance to any language, modern or dead, with which he was -familiar, and Waldo was more or less master of them all—especially the -dead ones.</p> - -<p>He tried not to look at her after that, for he realized that he must -appear very ridiculous.</p> - -<p>But now his attention was required by more pressing affairs—the cave -men were returning to the attack. They carried stones this time, and, -while some of them threw the missiles at Waldo, the others attempted -to rush his position. It was then that the girl hurried back into the -cave, only to reappear a moment later carrying some stone utensils in -her arms.</p> - -<p>There was a huge mortar in which she had collected a pestle and several -smaller pieces of stone. She pushed them along the ledge to Waldo.</p> - -<p>At first he did not grasp the meaning of her act; but presently she -pretended to pick up an imaginary missile and hurl it down upon the -creatures below—then she pointed to the things she had brought and to -Waldo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<p>He understood. So she was upon his side. He did not understand why, but -he was glad.</p> - -<p>Following her suggestion, he gathered up a couple of the smaller -objects and hurled them down upon the men beneath.</p> - -<p>But on and on they came—Waldo was not a very good shot. The girl was -busy now gathering such of the cave men's missiles as fell upon the -ledge. These she placed in a pile beside Waldo.</p> - -<p>Occasionally the young man would strike an enemy by accident, and then -she would give a little scream of pleasure—clapping her hands and -jumping up and down.</p> - -<p>It was not long before Waldo was surprised to find that this applause -fell sweetly upon his ears. It was then that he began to take better -aim.</p> - -<p>In the midst of it all there flashed suddenly upon him a picture of his -devoted mother and the select coterie of intellectual young people with -which she had always surrounded him.</p> - -<p>Waldo felt a new pang of horror as he tried to realize with what -emotions they would look upon him now as he stood upon the face of a -towering cliff beside an almost naked girl hurling rocks down upon the -heads of hairy men who hopped about, screaming with rage, below him.</p> - -<p>It was awful! A great billow of mortification rolled over him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned to cast a look of disapprobation at the shameless young woman -behind him—she should not think that he countenanced such coarse and -vulgar proceedings. Their eyes met—in hers he saw the sparkle of -excitement and the joy of life and such a look of comradeship as he -never before had seen in the eyes of another mortal.</p> - -<p>Then she pointed excitedly over the edge of the ledge.</p> - -<p>Waldo looked.</p> - -<p>A great brute of a cave man had crawled, unseen, almost to their refuge.</p> - -<p>He was but five feet below them, and at the moment that he looked up -Waldo dropped a fifty-pound stone mortar full upon his upturned face.</p> - -<p>The young woman emitted a little shriek of joy, and Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, his face bisected by a broad grin, turned toward her.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIIa" id="CHAPTER_IIIa">CHAPTER III</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE LITTLE EDEN</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> mortar ended hostilities—temporarily, at least; but the cave -men loitered about the base of the cliff during the balance of the -afternoon, occasionally shouting taunts at the two above them.</p> - -<p>These the girl answered, evidently in kind. Sometimes she would point -to Waldo and make ferocious signs, doubtless indicative of the horrible -slaughter which awaited them at his hands if they did not go away and -leave their betters alone. When the young man realized the significance -of her pantomime he felt his heart swell with an emotion which he -feared was pride in brutal, primitive, vulgar physical prowess.</p> - -<p>As the long day wore on Waldo became both very hungry and very thirsty. -In the valley below he could see a tiny brooklet purling, clear and -beautiful, toward the south. The sight of it drove him nearly mad, as -did also that of the fruit which he glimpsed hanging ripe for eating at -the edge of the forest.</p> - -<p>By means of signs he asked the girl if she, too, were hungry, for he -had come to a point now where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> he could look at her almost without -visible signs of mortification. She nodded her head and, pointing -toward the descending sun, made it plain to him that after dark they -would descend and eat.</p> - -<p>The cave men had not left when darkness came, and it seemed to Waldo a -very foolhardy thing to venture down while they might be about; but the -girl made it so evident that she considered him an invincible warrior -that he was torn with the conflicting emotions of cowardice and an -unaccountable desire to appear well in her eyes, that he might by his -acts justify her belief in him.</p> - -<p>It seemed very wonderful to Waldo that any one should look upon him -in the light of a tower of strength and a haven of refuge; he was not -quite certain in his own mind but that the reputation might lead him -into most uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. Incidentally, he -wondered if the girl was a good runner; he hoped so.</p> - -<p>It must have been quite near midnight when his companion intimated that -the time had arrived when they should fare forth and dine. Waldo wanted -her to go first, but she shrank close to him, timidly, and held back.</p> - -<p>There was nothing else for it, then, than to take the plunge, though -had the sun been shining it would have revealed a very pale and -wide-eyed champion, who slipped gingerly over the side of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> ledge to -grope with his feet for a foothold beneath.</p> - -<p>Half-way down the moon rose above the forest—a great, full, tropic -moon, that lighted the face of the cliff almost as brilliantly as might -the sun itself. It shone into the mouth of a cave upon the ledge that -Waldo had just reached in his descent, revealing to the horrified eyes -of the young man a great, hairy form stretched in slumber not a yard -from him.</p> - -<p>As he looked, the wicked little eyes opened and looked straight into -his.</p> - -<p>With difficulty Waldo suppressed a shriek of dismay as he turned to -plunge madly down the precipitous trail. The girl had not yet descended -from the ledge above.</p> - -<p>She must have sensed what had happened, for as Waldo turned to fly she -gave a little cry of terror. At the same instant the cave man leaped to -his feet. But the girl's voice had touched something in the breast of -Waldo Emerson which generations of disuse had almost atrophied, and for -the first time in his life he did a brave and courageous thing.</p> - -<p>He could easily have escaped the cave man and reached the -valley—alone; but at the first note of the young girl's cry he wheeled -and scrambled back to the ledge to face the burly, primitive man, who -could have crushed him with a single blow.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson no longer trembled. His nerves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> and muscles were very -steady as he swung his cudgel in an arc that brought it crashing down -upon the upraised guarding arm of the cave man.</p> - -<p>There was a snapping of bone beneath the blow, a scream of pain—the -man staggered back, the girl sprang to Waldo's side from the ledge -above, and hand in hand they turned and fled down the face of the cliff.</p> - -<p>From a dozen cave-mouths above issued a score of cave men, but the -fleeing pair were half-way across the clearing before the slow-witted -brutes were fully aware of what had happened. By the time they had -taken up the pursuit Waldo and the girl had entered the forest.</p> - -<p>For a few yards the latter led Waldo straight into the shadows of the -wood, then she turned abruptly toward the north, at right angles to the -course they had been pursuing.</p> - -<p>She still clung to the young man's hand, nor did she slacken her speed -the least after they had entered the darkness beneath the trees. She -ran as surely and confidently through the impenetrable night of the -forest as though the way had been lighted by flaming arcs; but Waldo -was continually stumbling and falling.</p> - -<p>The sound of pursuit presently became fainter; it was apparent that the -cave men had continued on straight into the wood; but the girl raced -on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> with the panting Waldo for what seemed to the winded young man an -eternity. Presently, however, they came to the banks of the little -stream that had been visible from the caves. Here the girl fell into -a walk, and a moment later dragged the Bostonian down a shelving bank -into water that came above his knees.</p> - -<p>Up the bed of the stream she led him, sometimes floundering through -holes so deep that they were entirely submerged.</p> - -<p>Waldo had never learned the vulgar art of swimming, so it was that he -would have drowned but for the strong, brown hand of his companion, -which dragged him, spluttering and coughing, through one awful hole -after another, until, half-strangled and entirely panic-stricken, she -hauled him safely upon a low, grassy bank at the foot of a rocky wall -which formed one side of a gorge, through which the river boiled.</p> - -<p>It must not be assumed that when Waldo Emerson returned to face the -hairy brute who threatened to separate him from his new-found companion -that by a miracle he had been transformed from a hare into a lion—far -from it.</p> - -<p>Now that he had a moment in which to lie quite still and speculate upon -the adventures of the past hour, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -thanked the kindly night that obscured from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> eyes of the girl the -pitiable spectacle of his palsied limbs and trembling lip.</p> - -<p>Once again he was in a blue funk, with shattered nerves that begged to -cry aloud in the extremity of their terror.</p> - -<p>It was not warm in the damp cañon, through which the wind swept over -the cold water, so that to Waldo's mental anguish was added the -physical discomfort of cold and wet. He was indeed a miserable figure -as he lay huddled upon the sward, praying for the rising of the sun, -yet dreading the daylight that might reveal him to his enemies.</p> - -<p>But at last dawn came, and after a fitful sleep Waldo awoke to find -himself in a snug and beautiful little paradise hemmed in by the high -cliffs that flanked the river, upon a sloping grassy shore that was all -but invisible except from a short stretch of cliff-top upon the farther -side of the stream.</p> - -<p>A few feet from him lay the girl.</p> - -<p>She was still asleep. Her head was pillowed upon one firm, brown arm. -Her soft black hair fell in disorder across one cheek and over the -other arm, to spread gracefully upon the green grass about her.</p> - -<p>As Waldo looked he saw that she was very comely. Never before had he -seen a girl just like her. His young women friends had been rather prim -and plain, with long, white faces and thin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> lips that scarcely ever -dared to smile and scorned to unbend in plebeian laughter.</p> - -<p>This girl's lips seemed to have been made for laughing—and for -something else, though at the time it is only fair to Waldo to say that -he did not realize the full possibilities that they presented.</p> - -<p>As his eyes wandered along the lines of her young body his Puritanical -training brought a hot flush of embarrassment to his face, and he -deliberately turned his back upon her.</p> - -<p>It was indeed awful to Waldo Emerson to contemplate, to say the least, -the unconventional position into which fate had forced him. The longer -he pondered it the redder he became. It was frightful—what would his -mother say when she heard of it?</p> - -<p>What would this girl's mother say? But, more to the point, -and—horrible thought—what would her father or her brothers do to -Waldo if they found them thus together—and she with only a scanty -garment of skin about her waist—a garment which reached scarcely below -her knees at any point, and at others terminated far above?</p> - -<p>Waldo was chagrined. He could not understand what the girl could be -thinking of, for in other respects she seemed quite nice, and he was -sure that the great eyes of her reflected only goodness and innocence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - -<p>While he sat thus, thinking, the girl awoke and with a merry laugh -addressed him.</p> - -<p>"Good morning," said Waldo quite severely.</p> - -<p>He wished that he could speak her language, so that he could convey to -her a suggestion of the disapprobation which he felt for her attire.</p> - -<p>He was on the point of attempting it by signs, when she rose, lithe -and graceful as a tigress, and walked to the river's brim. With a deft -movement of her fingers she loosed the thong that held her single -garment, and as it fell to the ground Waldo, with a horrified gasp, -turned upon his face, burying his tightly closed eyes in his hands.</p> - -<p>Then the girl dived into the cool waters for her matutinal bath.</p> - -<p>She called to him several times to join her, but Waldo could not look -at the spectacle presented; his soul was scandalized.</p> - -<p>It was some time after she emerged from the river before he dared risk -a hesitating glance. With a sigh of relief he saw that she had donned -her single garment, and thereafter he could look at her unashamed when -she was thus clothed. He felt that by comparison it constituted a most -modest gown.</p> - -<p>Together they strolled along the river's edge, gathering such fruits -and roots as the girl knew to be edible. Waldo Emerson gathered those -she in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>dicated—with all his learning he found it necessary to depend -upon the untutored mind of this little primitive maiden for guidance.</p> - -<p>Then she taught him how to catch fish with a bent twig and a -lightninglike movement of her brown hands—or, rather, tried to teach -him, for he was far too slow and awkward to succeed.</p> - -<p>Afterward they sat upon the soft grass beneath the shade of a wild -fig-tree to eat the fish she had caught. Waldo wondered how in the -world the girl could make fire without matches, for he was quite sure -that she had none; and even should she be able to make fire it would be -quite useless, since she had neither cooking utensils nor stove.</p> - -<p>He was not left long in wonderment.</p> - -<p>She arranged the fish in a little pile between them, and with a sweet -smile motioned to the man to partake; then she selected one for -herself, and while Waldo Emerson looked on in horror, sunk her firm, -white teeth into the raw fish.</p> - -<p>Waldo turned away in sickening disgust</p> - -<p>The girl seemed surprised and worried that he did not eat. Time and -again she tried to coax him by signs to join her; but he could not even -look at her. He had tried, after the first wave of revolt had subsided, -but when he discovered that she ate the entire fish, without bothering -to clean it or remove the scales, he became too ill to think of food.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<p>Several times during the following week they ventured from their -hiding-place, and at these times it was evident from the girl's -actions that she was endeavoring to elude their enemies and reach a -place of safety other than that in which they were concealed. But at -each venture her quick ears or sensitive nostrils warned her of the -proximity of danger, so that they had been compelled to hurry back into -their little Eden.</p> - -<p>During this period she taught Waldo many words of her native tongue, so -that by means of signs to bridge the gaps between, they were able to -communicate with a fair degree of satisfaction. Waldo's mastery of the -language was rapid.</p> - -<p>On the tenth day the girl was able to make him understand that she -wished to escape with him to her own people; that these men among whom -he had found her were enemies of her tribe, and that she had been -hiding from them when Waldo stumbled upon her cave.</p> - -<p>"I fled," she said. "My mother was killed. My father took another mate, -always cruel to me. But when I had wandered into the land of these -enemies I was afraid, and would have returned to my father's cave. But -I had gone too far.</p> - -<p>"I would have to run very fast to escape them. Once I ran down a narrow -path to the ocean. It was dark.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> - -<p>"As I wandered through the woods I came suddenly out upon a beach, and -there I saw a strange figure on the sand. It was you. I wanted to learn -what manner of man you were. But I was very much afraid, so that I -dared only watch you from a distance.</p> - -<p>"Five times I came down to look at you. You never saw me until the last -time, then you set out after me, roaring in a horrible voice.</p> - -<p>"I was very much afraid, for I knew that you must be very brave to -live all alone by the edge of the forest without any shelter, or even -a stone to hurl at Nagoola, should he come out of the woods to devour -you."</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson shuddered.</p> - -<p>"Who is Nagoola?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"You do not know Nagoola!" the girl exclaimed in surprise.</p> - -<p>"Not by that name," replied Waldo.</p> - -<p>"He is as large," she began in description, "as two men, and black, -with glossy coat. He has two yellow eyes, which see as well by night as -by day. His great paws are armed with mighty claws. He——"</p> - -<p>A rustling from the bushes which fringed the opposite cliff-top caused -her to turn, instantly alert.</p> - -<p>"Ah," she whispered, "there is Nagoola now."</p> - -<p>Waldo looked in the direction of her gaze.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was well that the girl did not see his pallid face and popping -eyes as he looked into the evil mask of the great black panther that -crouched watching them from the river's further bank.</p> - -<p>Into Waldo's breast came great panic. It was only because his -fear-prostrated muscles refused to respond to his will that he did not -scurry, screaming, from the sight of that ferocious countenance.</p> - -<p>Then, through the fog of his cowardly terror, he heard again the girl's -sweet voice: "I knew that you must be very brave to live all alone by -the edge of that wicked forest."</p> - -<p>For the first time in his life a wave of shame swept over Waldo Emerson.</p> - -<p>The girl called in a taunting voice to the panther, and then turned, -smiling, toward Waldo.</p> - -<p>"How brave I am now," she laughed. "I am no longer afraid of Nagoola. -You are with me."</p> - -<p>"No," said Waldo Emerson, in a very weak voice, "you need not fear -while I am with you."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" she cried. "Slay him. How proud I should be to return to my -people with one who vanquished Nagoola, and wore his hide about his -loins as proof of his prowess."</p> - -<p>"Y-yes," acquiesced Waldo faintly.</p> - -<p>"But," continued the girl, "you have slain many of Nagoola's brothers -and sisters. It is no longer sport to kill one of his kind."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes—yes," cried Waldo. "Yes, that is it—panthers bore me now."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" The girl clasped her hands in ecstasy. "How many have you slain?"</p> - -<p>"Er—why, let me see," the young man blundered. "As a matter of fact, I -never kept any record of the panthers I killed."</p> - -<p>Waldo was becoming frantic. He had never lied before in all his life. -He hated a lie and loathed a liar. He wondered why he had lied now.</p> - -<p>Surely it were nothing to boast of to have butchered one of God's -creatures—and as for claiming to have killed so many that he could -not recall the number, it was little short of horrible. Yet he became -conscious of a poignant regret that he had not killed a thousand -panthers, and preserved all the pelts as evidence of his valor.</p> - -<p>The panther still regarded them from the safety of the farther shore. -The girl drew quite close to Waldo in the instinctive plea for -protection that belongs to her sex. She laid a timid hand upon his -skinny arm and raised her great, trusting eyes to his face in reverent -adoration.</p> - -<p>"How do you kill them?" she whispered. "Tell me."</p> - -<p>Then it was that Waldo determined to make a clean breast of it, and -admit that he never before had seen a live panther. But as he opened -his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> mouth to make the humiliating confession he realized, quite -suddenly, why it was that he had lied—he wished to appear well in the -eyes of this savage, half-clothed girl.</p> - -<p>He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, craved the applause of a barbarian, and -to win it had simulated that physical prowess which generations of -Smith-Joneses had viewed from afar—disgusted, disapproving.</p> - -<p>The girl repeated her question.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Waldo, "it is really quite simple. After I catch them I beat -them severely with a stick."</p> - -<p>The girl sighed.</p> - -<p>"How wonderful!" she said.</p> - -<p>Waldo became the victim of a number of unpleasant -emotions—mortification for this suddenly developed moral turpitude; -apprehension for the future, when the girl might discover him in his -true colors; fear, consuming, terrible fear, that she might insist upon -his going forth at once to slay Nagoola.</p> - -<p>But she did nothing of the kind, and presently the panther tired of -watching them and turned back into the tangle of bushes behind him.</p> - -<p>It was with a sigh of relief that Waldo saw him depart.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IVa" id="CHAPTER_IVa">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> - -<p class="center">DEATH'S DOORWAY</p> - - -<p class="drop">L<span class="uppercase">ate</span> in the afternoon the girl suggested that they start that night -upon the journey toward her village.</p> - -<p>"The bad men will not be abroad after dark," she said. "With you at my -side, I shall not fear Nagoola."</p> - -<p>"How far is it to your village?" asked Waldo.</p> - -<p>"It will take us three nights," she replied. "By day we must hide, -for even you could not vanquish a great number of bad men should they -attack you at once."</p> - -<p>"No," said Waldo; "I presume not."</p> - -<p>"It was very wonderful to watch you, though," she went on, "when you -battled upon the cliff-side, beating them down as they came upon you. -How brave you were! How terrible! You trembled from rage."</p> - -<p>"Yes," admitted Waldo, "I was quite angry. I always tremble like that -when my ire is excited. Sometimes I get so bad that my knees knock -together. If you ever see them do that you will realize how exceedingly -angry I am."</p> - -<p>"Yes," murmured the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> - -<p>Presently Waldo saw that she was laughing quietly to herself.</p> - -<p>A great fear rose in his breast. Could it be that she was less gullible -than she had appeared? Did she, after all, penetrate the bombast with -which he had sought to cloak his cowardice?</p> - -<p>He finally mustered sufficient courage to ask: "Why do you laugh?"</p> - -<p>"I think of the surprise that awaits old Flatfoot and Korth and the -others when I lead you to them."</p> - -<p>"Why will they be surprised?" asked Waldo.</p> - -<p>"At the way you will crack their heads."</p> - -<p>Waldo shuddered.</p> - -<p>"Why should I crack their heads?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Why should you crack their heads!" It was apparently incredible to the -girl that he should not understand.</p> - -<p>"How little you know," she said. "You cannot swim, you do not know the -language which men may understand, you would be lost in the woods were -I to leave you, and now you say that you do not know that when you come -to a strange tribe they will try to kill you, and only take you as one -of them when you have proven your worth by killing at least one of -their strongest men."</p> - -<p>"At least one!" said Waldo, half to himself.</p> - -<p>He was dazed by this information. He had expected to be welcomed with -open arms into the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> society that the girl's community afforded. -He had thought of it in just this way, for he had not even yet learned -that there might be a whole people living under entirely different -conditions than those which existed in Boston, Massachusetts.</p> - -<p>Her reference to his ignorance also came as a distinct shock to him. He -had always considered himself a man of considerable learning. It had -been his secret boast and his mother's open pride.</p> - -<p>And now to be pitied for his ignorance by one who probably thought the -earth flat, if she ever thought about such matters at all—by one who -could neither read nor write. And the worst of it all was that her -indictment was correct—only she had not gone far enough.</p> - -<p>There was little of practical value that he did know. With the -realization of his limitations Waldo Emerson took, unknown to himself, -a great stride toward a broader wisdom than his narrow soul had ever -conceived.</p> - -<p>That night, after the sun had set and the stars and moon come out, the -two set forth from their retreat toward the northwest, where the girl -said that the village of her people lay.</p> - -<p>They walked hand in hand through the dark wood, the girl directing -their steps, the young man grasping his long cudgel in his right hand -and searching into the shadows for the terrible creatures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> conjured by -his cowardly brain, but mostly for the two awesome spots of fire which -he had gathered from the girl's talk would mark the presence of Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Strange noises assailed his ears, and once the girl crouched close to -him as her quick ears caught the sound of the movement of a great body -through the underbrush at their left.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson was almost paralyzed by terror; but at length the -creature, whatever it may have been, turned off into the forest -without molesting them. For several hours thereafter they suffered no -alarm, but the constant tension of apprehension on the man's already -over-wrought nerves had reduced him to a state of such abject nervous -terror that he was no longer master of himself.</p> - -<p>So it was that when the girl suddenly halted him with an affrighted -little gasp and, pointing straight ahead, whispered, "Nagoola," he went -momentarily mad with fear.</p> - -<p>For a bare instant he paused in his tracks, and then breaking away -from her, he raised his club above his head, and with an awful shriek -dashed—straight toward the panther.</p> - -<p>In the minds of some there may be a doubt as to which of the two—the -sleek, silent, black cat or the grinning, screaming Waldo—was the most -awe-inspiring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - -<p>Be that as it may, it was quite evident that no doubt assailed the mind -of the cat, for with a single answering scream, he turned and faded -into the blackness of the black night.</p> - -<p>But Waldo did not see him go. Still shrieking, he raced on through the -forest until he tripped over a creeper and fell exhausted to the earth. -There he lay panting, twitching, and trembling until the girl found -him, an hour after sunrise.</p> - -<p>At the sound of her voice he would have struggled to his feet and -dashed on into the woods, for he felt that he could never face her -again after the spectacle of cowardice with which he had treated her a -few hours before.</p> - -<p>But even as he gained his feet her first words reassured him, and -dissipated every vestige of his intention to elude her.</p> - -<p>"Did you catch him?" she cried.</p> - -<p>"No," panted Waldo Emerson quite truthfully. "He got away."</p> - -<p>They rested a little while, and then Waldo insisted that they resume -their journey by day instead of by night. He had positively determined -that he never should or could endure another such a night of mental -torture. He would much rather take the chance of meeting with the bad -men than suffer the constant feeling that unseen enemies were peering -out of the darkness at him every moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the day they would at least have the advantage of seeing their foes -before they were struck. He did not give these reasons to the girl, -however. Under the circumstances he felt that another explanation would -be better adapted to her ears.</p> - -<p>"You see," he said, "if it hadn't been so dark Nagoola might not have -escaped me. It is too bad—too bad."</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed the girl, "it is too bad. We shall travel by day. It will -be safe now. We have left the country of the bad men, and there are few -men living between us and my people."</p> - -<p>That night they spent in a cave they found in the steep bank of a small -river.</p> - -<p>It was damp and muddy and cold, but they were both very tired, and so -they fell asleep and slept as soundly as though the best of mattresses -lay beneath them. The girl probably slept better, since she had never -been accustomed to anything much superior to this in all her life.</p> - -<p>The journey required five days, instead of three, and during all the -time Waldo was learning more and more woodcraft from the girl. At first -his attitude had been such that he could profit but little from her -greater practical knowledge, for he had been inclined to look down upon -her as an untutored savage.</p> - -<p>Now, however, he was a willing student, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> when Waldo Emerson elected -to study there was nothing that he could not master and retain in a -remarkable manner. He had a well-trained mind—the principal trouble -with it being that it had been crammed full of useless knowledge. His -mother had always made the error of confusing knowledge with wisdom.</p> - -<p>Waldo was not the only one to learn new things upon this journey. The -girl learned something, too—something which had been threatening for -days to rise above the threshold of her conscious mind, and now she -realized that it had lain in her heart almost ever since the first -moment that she had been with this strange young man.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson had been endowed by nature with a chivalrous heart, and -his training had been such that he mechanically accorded to all women -the gallant little courtesies and consideration which are of the fine -things that go with breeding. Nor was he one whit less punctilious in -his relations with this wild cave girl than he would have been with the -daughter of the finest family of his own aristocracy.</p> - -<p>He had been kind and thoughtful and sympathetic always, and to the -girl, who had never been accustomed to such treatment from men, nor -had ever seen a man accord it to any woman, it seemed little short of -miraculous that such gentle tender<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>ness could belong to a nature so -warlike and ferocious as that with which she had endowed Waldo Emerson. -But she was quite satisfied that it should be so.</p> - -<p>She would not have cared for him had he been gentle with her, yet -cowardly. Had she dreamed of the real truth—had she had the slightest -suspicion that Waldo Emerson was at heart the most arrant poltroon -upon whom the sun had ever shone, she would have loathed and hated -him, for in the primitive code of ethics which governed the savage -community which was her world there was no place for the craven or the -weakling—and Waldo Emerson was both.</p> - -<p>As the realization of her growing sentiment toward the man awakened, it -imparted to her ways with him a sudden coyness and maidenly aloofness -which had been entirely wanting before. Until then their companionship, -in so far as the girl was concerned, had been rather that of one -youth toward another; but now that she found herself thrilling at his -slightest careless touch, she became aware of a paradoxical impulse to -avoid him.</p> - -<p>For the first time in her life, too, she realized her nakedness, and -was ashamed. Possibly this was due to the fact that Waldo appeared so -solicitous in endeavoring to coerce his rags into the impossible feat -of entirely covering his body.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>As they neared their journey's end Waldo became more and more perturbed.</p> - -<p>During the last night horrible visions of Flatfoot and Korth haunted -his dreams. He saw the great, hairy beasts rushing upon him in all the -ferocity of their primeval savagery—tearing him limb from limb in -their bestial rage.</p> - -<p>With a shriek he awoke.</p> - -<p>To the girl's startled inquiry he replied that he had been but dreaming.</p> - -<p>"Did you dream of Flatfoot and Korth?" she laughed. "Of the things that -you will do to them tomorrow?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied Waldo; "I dreamed of Flatfoot and Korth." But the girl -did not see how he trembled and hid his head in the hollow of his arm.</p> - -<p>The last day's march was the most agonizing experience of Waldo -Emerson's life. He was positive that he was going to his death, but to -him the horror of the thing lay more in the manner of his coming death -than in the thought of death itself. As a matter of fact, he had again -reached a point when he would have welcomed death.</p> - -<p>The future held for him nothing but a life of discomfort and misery and -constant mental anguish, superinduced by the condition of awful fear -under which he must drag out his existence in this strange and terrible -land.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo had not the slightest conception as to whether he was upon some -mainland or an unknown island. That the tidal wave had come upon them -somewhere in the South Pacific was all that he knew; but long since he -had given up hope that succor would reach him in time to prevent him -perishing miserably far from his home and his poor mother.</p> - -<p>He could not dwell long upon this dismal theme, because it always -brought tears of self-pity to his eyes, and for some unaccountable -reason Waldo shrunk from the thought of exhibiting this unmanly -weakness before the girl.</p> - -<p>All day long he racked his brain for some valid excuse whereby he might -persuade his companion to lead him elsewhere than to her village. A -thousand times better would be some secluded little garden such as that -which had harbored them for the ten days following their escape from -the cave men.</p> - -<p>If they could but come upon such a place near the coast, where Waldo -could keep a constant watch for passing vessels, he would have been as -happy as he ever expected it would be possible for him in such a savage -land.</p> - -<p>He wanted the girl with him for companionship; he was more afraid when -he was alone. Of course, he realized that she was no fit companion -for a man of his mental attainments; but then she was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> human being, -and her society much better than none at all. While hope had still -lingered that he might live to escape and return to his beloved Boston, -he had often wondered whether he would dare tell his mother of his -unconventional acquaintance with this young woman.</p> - -<p>Of course, it would be out of the question for him to go at all into -details. He would not, for example, dare to attempt a description of -her toilet to his prim parent.</p> - -<p>The fact that they had been alone together, day and night for weeks was -another item which troubled Waldo considerably. He knew that the shock -of such information might prostrate his mother, and for a long time he -debated the wisdom of omitting any mention of the girl whatever.</p> - -<p>At length he decided that a little, white lie would be permissible, -inasmuch as his mother's health and the girl's reputation were both at -stake. So he had decided to mention that the girl's aunt had been with -them in the capacity of chaperon; that fixed it nicely, and on this -point Waldo's mind was more at ease.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon they wound down a narrow trail that led from -the plateau into a narrow, beautiful valley. A tree-bordered river -meandered through the center of the level plain that formed the -valley's floor, while beyond rose precipitous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> cliffs, which trailed -off in either direction as far as the eye could reach.</p> - -<p>"There live my people," said the girl, pointing toward the distant -barrier.</p> - -<p>Waldo groaned inwardly.</p> - -<p>"Let us rest here," he said, "until tomorrow, that we may come to your -home rested and refreshed."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," cried the girl; "we can reach the caves before dark. I can -scarcely wait until I shall have seen how you shall slay Flatfoot, and -maybe Korth also. Though I think that after one of them has felt your -might the others will be glad to take you into the tribe at the price -of your friendship."</p> - -<p>"Is there not some way," ventured the distracted Waldo, "that I may -come into your village without fighting? I should dislike to kill one -of your friends," said Waldo solemnly.</p> - -<p>The girl laughed.</p> - -<p>"Neither Flatfoot nor Korth are friends of mine," she replied; "I hate -them both. They are terrible men. It would be better for all the tribe -were they killed. They are so strong and cruel that we all hate them, -since they use their strength to abuse those who are weaker.</p> - -<p>"They make us all work very hard for them. They take other men's mates, -and if the other men object they kill them. There is scarcely a moon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -passes that does not see either Korth or Flatfoot kill some one.</p> - -<p>"Nor is it always men they kill. Often when they are angry they kill -women and little children just for the pleasure of killing; but when -you come among us there will be no more of that, for you will kill them -both if they be not good."</p> - -<p>Waldo was too horrified by this description of his soon-to-be -antagonists to make any reply—his tongue clave to the roof of his -mouth—all his vocal organs seemed paralyzed.</p> - -<p>But the girl did not notice. She went on joyously, ripping Waldo's -nervous system out of him and tearing it into shreds.</p> - -<p>"You see," she continued, "Flatfoot and Korth are greater than the -other men of my tribe. They can do as they will. They are frightful to -look upon, and I have often thought that the hearts of others dried up -when they saw either of them coming for them.</p> - -<p>"And they are so strong! I have seen Korth crush the skull of a -full-grown man with a single blow from his open palm; while one of -Flatfoot's amusements is the breaking of men's arms and legs with his -bare hands."</p> - -<p>They had entered the valley now, and in silence they continued on -toward the fringe of trees which grew beside the little river.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nadara led the way toward a ford, which they quickly crossed. All the -way across the valley Waldo had been searching for some avenue of -escape.</p> - -<p>He dared not enter that awful village and face those terrible men, -and he was almost equally averse to admitting to the girl that he was -afraid.</p> - -<p>He would gladly have died to have escaped either alternative, but he -preferred to choose the manner of his death.</p> - -<p>The thought of entering the village and meeting a horrible end at the -hands of the brutes who awaited him there and of being compelled to -demonstrate before the girl's eyes that he was neither a mighty fighter -nor a hero was more than he could endure.</p> - -<p>Occupied with these harrowing speculations, Waldo and Nadara came to -the farther side of the forest, whence they could see the towering -cliffs rising steeply from the valley's bed, three hundred yards away.</p> - -<p>Along their face and at their feet Waldo descried a host of half-naked -men, women, and children moving about in the consummation of their -various duties. Involuntarily he halted.</p> - -<p>The girl came to his side. Together they looked out upon the scene, the -like of which Waldo Emerson never before had seen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was as though he had been suddenly snatched back through countless -ages to a long-dead past and dropped into the midst of the prehistoric -life of his paleolithic progenitors.</p> - -<p>Upon the narrow ledges before their caves, women, with long, flowing -hair, ground food in rude stone mortars.</p> - -<p>Naked children played about them, perilously close to the precipitous -cliff edge.</p> - -<p>Hairy men squatted, gorillalike, before pieces of flat stone, upon -which green hides were stretched, while they scraped, scraped, scraped -with the sharp edge of smaller bits of stone.</p> - -<p>There was no laughter and no song.</p> - -<p>Occasionally Waldo saw one of the fierce creatures address another, and -sometimes one would raise his thick lips in a nasty snarl that exposed -his fighting fangs; but they were too far away for their words to reach -the young man.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Va" id="CHAPTER_Va">CHAPTER V</a></h2> - -<p class="center">AWAKENING</p> - - -<p class="drop">"C<span class="uppercase">ome</span>," said the girl, "let us make haste. I cannot wait to be home -again! How good it looks!"</p> - -<p>Waldo gazed at her in horror. It did not seem credible that this -beautiful young creature could be of such clay as that he looked upon. -It was revolting to believe that she had sprung from the loins of one -of those half-brutes, or that a woman as fierce, repulsive, such as -those he saw before him, could have borne her. It made him sick with -disgust.</p> - -<p>He turned from her.</p> - -<p>"Go to your people, Nadara," he said, for an idea had come to him.</p> - -<p>He had evolved a scheme for escaping a meeting with Flatfoot and Korth, -and the sudden disgust which he felt for the girl made it easier for -him to carry out his design.</p> - -<p>"Are you not coming with me?" she cried.</p> - -<p>"Not at once," replied Waldo, quite truthfully. "I wish you to go -first. Were we to go together they might harm you when they rushed out -to attack me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> - -<p>The girl had no fear of this, but she felt that it was very thoughtful -of the man to consider her welfare so tenderly. To humor him, she -acceded to his request.</p> - -<p>"As you wish, Thandar," she answered, smiling.</p> - -<p>Thandar was a name of her own choosing, after, Waldo had informed her -in answer to a request for his name, that she might call him Mr. Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones. "I shall call you Thandar," she had replied; "it -is shorter, more easily remembered, and describes you. It means the -Brave One." And so Thandar he had become.</p> - -<p>The girl had scarcely emerged from the forest on her way toward the -cliffs when Thandar the Brave One, turned and ran at top speed in -the opposite direction. When he came to the river he gave immediate -evidence of the strides he had taken in woodcraft during the brief -weeks that he had been under the girl's tutorage, for he plunged -immediately into the water, setting out up-stream upon the gravelly -bottom where he would leave no spoor to be tracked down by the eagle -eyes of these primitive men.</p> - -<p>He supposed that the girl would search for him; but he felt no -compunction at having deserted her so scurvily. Of course, he had no -suspicion of her real sentiments toward him—it would have shocked -him to have imagined that a low-born per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>son, such as she, had become -infatuated with him.</p> - -<p>It would have been embarrassing and unfortunate, but, of course, -quite impossible—since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones could never form an -alliance beneath him. As for the girl herself, he might as readily have -considered the possibility of marrying a cow, so far from any such -thoughts of her had he been.</p> - -<p>On and on he stumbled through the cold water. Sometimes it was above -his head, but Waldo had learned to swim—the girl had made him, partly -by pleas, but largely by the fear that she would ridicule him.</p> - -<p>As night came on he commenced to become afraid, but his fear now was -not such a horribly prostrating thing as it had been a few weeks -before. Without being aware of the fact, Waldo had grown a trifle less -timid, though he was still far from lion-like.</p> - -<p>That night he slept in the crotch of a tree. He selected a small one, -which, though less comfortable, was safer from the approach of Nagoola -than a larger tree would have been. This also had he learned from -Nadara.</p> - -<p>Had he paused to consider, he would have discovered that all he knew -that was worth while he had had from the savage little girl whom he, -from the high pinnacle of his erudition, regarded with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> such pity. But -Waldo had not as yet learned enough to realize how very little he knew.</p> - -<p>In the morning he continued his flight, gathering his breakfast from -tree and shrub as he fled. Here again was he wholly indebted to Nadara, -for without her training he would have been restricted to a couple of -fruits, whereas now he had a great variety of fruits, roots, berries, -and nuts to choose from in safety.</p> - -<p>The stream that he had been following had now become a narrow, rushing, -mountain torrent. It leaped suddenly over little precipices in wild and -picturesque waterfalls; it rioted in foaming cascades; and ever it led -Waldo farther into high and rugged country.</p> - -<p>The climbing was difficult and oftentimes dangerous. Waldo was -surprised at the steeps he negotiated—perilous ascents from which he -would have shrunk in palsied fear a few weeks earlier. Waldo was coming -on.</p> - -<p>Another fact which struck him with amazement at the same time that it -filled him with rejoicing, was that he no longer coughed. It was quite -beyond belief, too, since never in his life had he been so exposed to -cold and wet and discomfort.</p> - -<p>At home, he realized, he would long since have curled up and died had -he been subjected to one-tenth the exposure that he had undergone since -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> great wave had lifted him bodily from the deck of the steamer to -land him unceremoniously in the midst of this new life of hardships and -terrors.</p> - -<p>Toward noon Waldo began to travel with less haste. He had seen or heard -no evidence of pursuit. At times he stopped to look back along the -trail he had passed, but though he could see the little valley below -him for a considerable distance he discovered nothing to arouse alarm.</p> - -<p>Presently he realized that he was very lonely. A dozen times in as many -minutes he thought of observations he would have been glad to make had -there been some one with him to hear. There were queries, too, relative -to this new country that he should have liked very much to propound, -and it flashed upon him that in all the world there was only one whom -he knew who could give him correct answers to these queries.</p> - -<p>He wondered what the girl had thought when he did not follow her into -the village, and set upon Flatfoot and Korth. At the thought he found -himself flushing in a most unaccountable manner.</p> - -<p>What would the girl think! Would she guess the truth? Well, what -difference if she did? What was her opinion to a cultured gentleman -such as Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones? But yet he found his mind constantly -reverting to this unhappy speculation; it was most annoying.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he thought of her he discovered with what distinctness he recalled -every feature of her piquant little face, her olive skin tinged -beautifully by the ruddy glow of health; her fine, straight nose and -delicate nostrils, her perfect eyes, soft, yet filled with the fire of -courage and intelligence. Waldo wondered why it was that he recalled -these things now, and dwelt upon them; he had been with her for weeks -without realizing that he had particularly noticed them.</p> - -<p>But most vividly he conjured again the memory of her soft, liquid -speech, her ready retorts, her bright, interesting observations on -the little happenings of their daily life; her thoughtful kindliness -to him, a stranger within her gates, and—again he flushed hotly—her -sincere, though remarkable, belief in his prowess.</p> - -<p>It took Waldo a long time to admit to himself that he missed the -girl; it must have been weeks before he finally did so unreservedly. -Simultaneously he determined to return to her village and find her. He -had even gone so far as to start the return journey when the memory of -her description of Flatfoot and Korth brought him to a sudden halt—a -most humiliating halt.</p> - -<p>The blood surged to his face—he could feel it burning there. And then -Waldo did two things which he had never done before: he looked at his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -soul and saw himself as he was, and—he swore.</p> - -<p>"Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones," he said aloud, "you're a darned coward! -Worse than that, you're an unthinkable cad. That girl was kind to you. -She treated you with the tender solicitude of a mother. And how have -you returned her kindness? By looking down upon her with arrogant -condescension. By pitying her.</p> - -<p>"Pitying her! You—you miserable weakling—ingrate, pitying that -fine, intelligent, generous girl. You, with your pitiful little store -of second-hand knowledge, pitying that girl's ignorance. Why, she's -forgotten more real things than you ever heard of, you—you—" Words -utterly failed him.</p> - -<p>Waldo's awakening was thorough—painfully thorough. It left no tiny -hidden recess of his contemptible little soul unrevealed from his -searching self-analysis. Looking back over the twenty-one years of his -uneventful life, he failed to resurrect but a single act of which he -might now be proud, and that, strange to say, in the light of his past -training, had to do neither with culture, intellect, birth, breeding, -nor knowledge.</p> - -<p>It was a purely gross, physical act. It was hideously, violently, -repulsively animal—it was no other than the instant of heroism in -which he had turned back upon the cliff's face to battle with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -horrible, hairy man who had threatened to prevent Nadara's escape.</p> - -<p>Even now Waldo could not realize that it had been he who ventured so -foolhardy an act; but none the less his breast swelled with pride as -he recalled it. It put into the heart of the man a new hope and into -his head a new purpose—a purpose that would have caused his Back Bay -mother to seek an early grave could she have known of it.</p> - -<p>Nor did Waldo Emerson lose any time in initiating the new regime which -was eventually to fit him for the consummation of his splendid purpose. -He thought of it as splendid now, though a few weeks before the vulgar -atrocity of it would have nauseated him.</p> - -<p>Far up in the hills, near the source of the little river, Waldo had -found a rocky cave. This he had chosen as his new home. He cleaned it -out with scrupulous care, littering the floor with leaves and grasses.</p> - -<p>Before the entrance he piled a dozen large boulders, so arranged that -three of them could be removed or replaced either from within or -without, thus forming a means of egress and ingress which could be -effectually closed against intruders.</p> - -<p>From the top of a high promontory, a half mile beyond his cave, Waldo -could obtain a view of the ocean, some eight or ten miles distant. -It was al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>ways in his mind that some day a ship would come, and -Waldo longed to return to the haunts of civilization, but he did not -expect the ship before his plans had properly matured and been put -into execution. He argued that he could not sail away from this shore -forever without first seeing Nadara, and restoring the confidence in -him which he felt his recent desertion had unquestionably shaken to its -foundations.</p> - -<p>As a part of his new regime, Waldo required exercise, and to this end -he set about making a trip to the ocean at least once each week. The -way was rough and hazardous, and the first few times Waldo found it -almost beyond his strength to make even one leg of the journey between -sunrise and dark.</p> - -<p>This necessitated sleeping out over night; but this, too, accorded with -the details of the task he had set himself, and so he did it quite -cheerfully and with a sense of martyrdom that he found effectually -stilled his most poignant fits of cowardice.</p> - -<p>As time went on he was able to cover the whole distance to the ocean -and return in a single day. He never coughed now, nor did he glance -fearfully from side to side as he strode through the woods and open -places of his wild domain.</p> - -<p>His eyes were bright and clear, his head and shoulders were thrown well -back, and the mountain climbing had expanded his chest to a degree -that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> appalled him—the while it gave him much secret satisfaction. It -was a very different Waldo from the miserable creature which had been -vomited up by the ocean upon the sand of that distant beach.</p> - -<p>The days that Waldo did not make a trip to the ocean he spent in -rambling about the hills in the vicinity of his cave. He knew every -rock and tree within five miles of his lair.</p> - -<p>He knew where Nagoola hid by day, and the path that he took down to the -valley by night. Nor did he longer tremble at sight of the great, black -cat.</p> - -<p>True, Waldo avoided him, but it was through cool and deliberate -caution, which is quite another thing from the senseless panic of fear. -Waldo was biding his time.</p> - -<p>He would not always avoid Nagoola. Nagoola was a part of Waldo's great -plan, but Waldo was not ready for him yet.</p> - -<p>The young man still bore his cudgel, and in addition he had practised -throwing rocks until he could almost have hit a nearby bird upon the -wing. Besides these weapons Waldo was working upon a spear. It had -occurred to him that a spear would be a mighty handy weapon against -either man or beast, and so he had set to work to fashion one.</p> - -<p>He found a very straight young sapling, a little over an inch in -diameter and ten feet long. By<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> means of a piece of edged flint he -succeeded in tapering it to a sharp point. A rawhide thong, plaited -from many pieces of small bits of hide taken from the little animals -that had fallen before his missiles, served to sling the crude weapon -across his shoulders when he walked.</p> - -<p>With his spear he practised hour upon hour each day, until he could -transfix a fruit the size of an apple three times out of five, at a -distance of fifty feet, and at a hundred hit a target the size of a man -almost without a miss.</p> - -<p>Six months had passed since he had fled from an encounter with Flatfoot -and Korth.</p> - -<p>Then Waldo had been a skinny, cowardly weakling; now his great frame -had filled out with healthy flesh, while beneath his skin hard muscles -rolled as he bent to one of the many Herculean tasks he had set for -himself.</p> - -<p>For six months he had worked with a single purpose in view, but still -he felt that the day was not yet come when he might safely venture to -put his new-found manhood to the test.</p> - -<p>Down, far down, in the depth of his soul he feared that he was yet a -coward at heart—and he dared not take the risk. It was too much to -expect, he told himself, that a man should be entirely metamorphosed in -a brief half year. He would wait a little longer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was about this time that Waldo first saw a human being after his -last sight of Nadara.</p> - -<p>It was while he was on his way to the ocean, on one of the trips that -had by this time become thrice weekly affairs, that he suddenly came -face to face with a skulking, hairy brute.</p> - -<p>Waldo halted to see what would happen.</p> - -<p>The man eyed him with those small, cunning, red-rimmed eyes that -reminded Waldo of the eyes of a pig.</p> - -<p>Finally Waldo spoke in the language of Nadara.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Sag the Killer," replied the man. "Who are you?"</p> - -<p>"Thandar," answered Waldo.</p> - -<p>"I do not know you," said Sag; "but I can kill you."</p> - -<p>He lowered his bull head and came for Waldo like a battering ram.</p> - -<p>The young man dropped the point of his ready spear, bracing his feet. -The point entered Sag's breast below the collar-bone, stopping only -after it had passed entirely through the savage heart. Waldo had not -moved; the momentum of the man's body had been sufficient to impale him.</p> - -<p>As the body rolled over, stiffening after a few convulsive kicks, Waldo -withdrew his spear from it. Blood smeared its point for a distance of a -foot,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> but Waldo showed no sign of loathing or disgust.</p> - -<p>Instead he smiled. It had been so much easier than he had anticipated.</p> - -<p>Leaving Sag where he had fallen he continued toward the ocean. An hour -later he heard unusual noises behind him.</p> - -<p>He stopped to listen. He was being pursued. From the sounds he -estimated that there must be several in the party, and a moment later, -as he was crossing a clearing, he got his first view of them as they -emerged from the forest he had just quitted.</p> - -<p>There were at least twenty powerfully muscled brutes. In skin bags -thrown across their shoulders each carried a supply of stones, and -these they began to hurl at Waldo as they raced toward him. For a -moment the man held his ground, but he quickly realized the futility of -pitting himself against such odds.</p> - -<p>Turning, he ran toward the forest upon the other side of the clearing -while a shower of rocks whizzed about him.</p> - -<p>Once within the shelter of the trees there was less likelihood of his -being hit by one of the missiles, but occasionally a well-aimed rock -would strike him a glancing blow. Waldo hoped that they would tire of -the chase before the beach was reached, for he knew that there could be -but one outcome of a battle in which one man faced twenty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<p>As the pursued and the pursuers raced on through the forest one of the -latter, fleeter than his companions, commenced to close up the gap -which had existed between Waldo and the twenty. On and on he came, -until a backward glance showed Waldo that in another moment this swift -foeman would be upon him. He was younger than his fellows and more -active, and, having thrown all his stones, was free from any burden of -weight other than the single garment about his hips.</p> - -<p>Waldo still clung to his tattered ducks, which from lack of support and -more or less rapid disintegration were continually slipping down from -his hips, so that they tended to hinder his movements and reduce his -speed.</p> - -<p>Had he been as naked as his pursuer he would doubtless have distanced -him; but he was not, and it was evident that because of this fact he -must take a chance in a hand-to-hand encounter that might delay him -sufficiently to permit the balance of the horde to reach him—that -would be the end of everything.</p> - -<p>But Waldo Emerson neither screamed in terror nor trembled. When he -wheeled to meet the now close savage there was a smile upon his lips, -for Waldo Emerson had "killed his man," and there was no longer the -haunting fear within his soul that at heart he was a coward.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he turned with couched spear the cave man came to a sudden stop.</p> - -<p>This was not what Waldo had anticipated. The other savages were running -rapidly toward him, but the fellow who had first overhauled him -remained at a safe twenty feet from the point of his weapon.</p> - -<p>Waldo was being cleverly held until the remainder of the enemy could -arrive and overwhelm him. He knew that if he turned to run the fellow -who danced and yelled just beyond his reach would plunge forward and be -upon his back in an instant.</p> - -<p>He tried rushing the man, but the other retreated nimbly, drawing Waldo -still closer to those who were coming on.</p> - -<p>There was no time to be lost. A moment more and the entire twenty would -be upon him; but there were possibilities in a spear that the cave man -in his ignorance dreamed not of. There was a lightninglike movement of -Waldo's arm, and the aborigine saw the spear darting swiftly through -space toward his breast. He tried to dodge, but was too late. Down he -went, clutching madly at the slender thing which protruded from his -heart.</p> - -<p>Although one of the dead man's companions was now quite close, Waldo -could not relinquish his weapon without an effort—it had cost him -considerable time to make, and twice today it had saved his life. -Forgetful that he had ever been a coward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> he leaped toward the fallen -man, reaching his side at the same instant as his foremost pursuer.</p> - -<p>The two came together like mad bulls—the savage reaching for Waldo's -throat, Waldo wielding his light cudgel. For a moment they struggled -backward and forward, turning and twisting, the cave man in an effort -to close upon Waldo's wind, Waldo to hold the other at arm's length for -the brief instant that would be necessary for one sudden, effective -blow from the cudgel.</p> - -<p>The other savages were almost upon them when the young man found his -antagonist's throat. Throwing all his weight and strength into the -effort, Waldo forced the cave man back until there was room between -them for the play of the stick. A single blow was sufficient.</p> - -<p>As the limp body of his foeman slipped from his grasp, Waldo snatched -his precious spear from the heart of its victim, and with the hands of -the infuriated pack almost upon him, turned once more into his flight -toward the ocean.</p> - -<p>The howling band was close upon his heels now, nor could he greatly -increase the distance that separated him from them. He wondered what -the outcome of the matter was to be; he did not wish to die. His -thoughts kept reverting to his boyhood home, to his indulgent mother, -to the friends that had been his. He felt that at the last moment he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -was about to lose his nerve—that, after all, his hard earned manliness -was counterfeit.</p> - -<p>Then there came to him a vision of an oval, olive face framed by a mass -of soft, black hair; and before it the fear of death dissolved into a -grim smile. He did not pause to analyze the reason for it—nor could he -have done so then had he tried. He only knew that with those eyes upon -him he could not be aught else than courageous.</p> - -<p>A moment later he burst through the last fringe of underbrush to emerge -upon the clearing that faced the sea.</p> - -<p>There by a tiny rivulet he saw a sight that filled him with -thanksgiving, and farther out upon the ocean that which he had been -waiting and hoping for for all these long, hard months—a ship.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIa" id="CHAPTER_VIa">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">A CHOICE</p> - - -<p class="drop">S<span class="uppercase">eamen</span> upon the beach were filling water-casks.</p> - -<p>There were a dozen of them, and as Waldo plunged from the forest they -looked with startled apprehension at the strange apparition. A great, -brown giant they saw, clad in a few ragged strings of white duck, for -Waldo had kept his apparel as immaculately clean as hard rubbing in -cold water would permit.</p> - -<p>In one hand the strange creature carried a long, bloody spear, in the -other a light cudgel. Long, yellow hair streamed back over his broad -shoulders.</p> - -<p>Several of the men—those who were armed—leveled guns and revolvers at -him; but when, as he drew closer, they saw a broad grin upon his face, -and heard in perfectly good English, "Don't shoot; I'm a white man," -they lowered their weapons and awaited him.</p> - -<p>He had scarcely reached them when they saw a swarm of naked men dash -from the forest in his wake. Waldo saw their eyes directed past him and -knew that his pursuers had come into view.</p> - -<p>"You'll have to shoot at them, I imagine," he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> said. "They're not -exactly domesticated. Try firing over their heads at first; maybe you -can scare them away without hurting any of them."</p> - -<p>He disliked the idea of seeing the poor savages slaughtered. It didn't -seem just like fair play to mow them down with bullets.</p> - -<p>The sailors followed his suggestion. At the first reports the cave men -halted in surprise and consternation.</p> - -<p>"Let's rush 'em," suggested one of the men, and this was all that was -needed to send them scurrying back into the woods.</p> - -<p>Waldo found that the ship was English, and that all the men spoke his -mother tongue in more or less understandable fashion. The second mate, -who was in charge of the landing party, proved to have originated in -Boston. It was much like being at home again.</p> - -<p>Waldo was so excited and wanted to ask so many questions all at once -that he became almost unintelligible. It seemed scarcely possible that -a ship had really come.</p> - -<p>He realized now that he had never actually entertained any very -definite belief that a ship ever would come to this out-of-the-way -corner of the world. He had hoped and dreamed, but down in the bottom -of his heart he must have felt that years might elapse before he would -be rescued.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<p>Even now it was difficult to believe that these were really civilized -beings like himself.</p> - -<p>They were on their way to a civilized world; they would soon be -surrounded by their families and friends, and he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, was going with them!</p> - -<p>In a few months he would see his mother and his father and all his -friends—he would be among his books once more.</p> - -<p>Even as the last thought flashed through his mind it was succeeded by -mild wonderment that this outlook failed to raise his temperature as he -might have expected that it would. His books had been his real life in -the past—could it be that they had lost something of their glamour? -Had his brief experience with the realities of life dulled the edge of -his appetite for second-hand hopes, aspirations, deeds, and emotions?</p> - -<p>It had.</p> - -<p>Waldo yet craved his books, but they alone would no longer suffice. He -wanted something bigger, something more real and tangible—he wanted to -read and study, but even more he wanted to do. And back there in his -own world there would be plenty awaiting the doing.</p> - -<p>His heart thrilled at the possibilities that lay before the new -Waldo Emerson—possibilities of which he never would have dreamed -but for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> strange chance which had snatched him bodily from one -life to throw him into this new one, which had forced upon him the -development of attributes of self-reliance, courage, initiative, and -resourcefulness that would have lain dormant within him always but for -the necessity which had given birth to them.</p> - -<p>Yes, Waldo realized that he owed a great deal to this experience—a -great deal to—. And then a sudden realization of the truth rushed in -upon him—he owed everything to Nadara.</p> - -<p>"I was never ship-wrecked on a desert island," said the second mate, -breaking in upon Waldo's reveries, "but I can imagine just about how -good you feel at the thought that you are at last rescued and that in -an hour or so you will see the shoreline of your prison growing smaller -and smaller upon the southern horizon."</p> - -<p>"Yes," acquiesced Waldo in a far away voice: "it's awfully good of you, -but I am not going with you."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two hours later Waldo Emerson stood alone upon the beach, watching the -diminishing hull of a great ship as it dropped over the rim of the -world far to the north.</p> - -<p>A vague hint of tears dimmed his vision; then he threw back his -shoulders, swallowed the thing that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> had risen into his throat, and -with high held head turned back into the forest.</p> - -<p>In one hand he carried a razor and a plug of tobacco—the sole mementos -of his recent brief contact with the world of civilization. The kindly -sailors had urged him to reconsider his decision, but when he remained -obdurate they had insisted that they be permitted to leave some of the -comforts of life with him.</p> - -<p>The only thing that he could think of that he wanted very badly -was a razor—firearms he would not accept, for he had worked out a -rather fine chivalry of his own here in this savage world—a chivalry -which would not permit him to take any advantage over the primeval -inhabitants he had found here other than what his own hands and head -might give him.</p> - -<p>At the last moment one of the seamen, prompted by a generous heart and -a keen realization of what life must be without even bare necessities, -had thrust upon Waldo the plug of tobacco. As he looked at it now the -young man smiled.</p> - -<p>"That would indeed be the last step, according to mother's ideas," he -soliloquized. "No lower could I sink."</p> - -<p>The ship that bore away Waldo's chance of escape carried also a long -letter to Waldo's mother. In portions it was rather vague and rambling. -It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> mentioned, among other things, that he had an obligation to fulfil -before he could leave his present habitat; but that the moment he was -free he should "take the first steamer for Boston."</p> - -<p>The skipper of the ship which had just sailed away had told Waldo -that in so far as he knew there might never be another ship touch -his island, which was so far out of the beaten course that only the -shoreline of it had ever been explored, and scarce a score of vessels -had reported it since Captain Cook discovered it in 1773.</p> - -<p>Yet it was in the face of this that Waldo had refused to leave. As -he walked slowly through the wood on his way back toward his cave he -tried to convince himself that he had acted purely from motives of -gratitude and fairness—that as a gentleman he could do no less than -see Nadara and thank her for the friendly services she had rendered -him; but for some reason this seemed a very futile and childish excuse -for relinquishing what might easily be his only opportunity to return -to civilization.</p> - -<p>His final decision was that he had acted the part of a fool; yet as he -walked he hummed a joyous tune, and his heart was full of happiness and -pleasant expectations of what he could not have told.</p> - -<p>To one thing he had made up his mind, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> was that the next sun -would see him on his way to the village of Nadara. His experience with -the savages that day had convinced him that he might with reasonable -safety face Flatfoot and Korth.</p> - -<p>The more he dwelt upon this idea the more light-hearted he became—he -could not understand it. He should be plunged into the blackest -despair, for had he not but just relinquished a chance to return -home, and was he not within a day or two to enter the village of the -ferocious Flatfoot and the mighty Korth? Even so, his heart sang.</p> - -<p>Waldo saw nothing of his enemies of the earlier part of the day as -he moved cautiously through the forest or crossed the little plains -and meadows which lay along the route between the ocean and his lair; -but his thoughts often reverted to them and to his adventures of the -morning, and the result was that he became aware of a deficiency in his -equipment—a deficiency which his recent battle made glaringly apparent.</p> - -<p>In fact, there were two points that might be easily remedied. One was -the lack of a shield. Had he had protection of this nature he would -have been in comparatively little danger from the shower of missiles -that the savages had flung at him.</p> - -<p>The other was a sword. With a sword and shield he could have let his -enemies come to very close quarters with perfect impunity to himself -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> then have run them through with infinite ease.</p> - -<p>This new idea would necessitate a delay in his plans; he must finish -both shield and sword before he departed for the village of Flatfoot. -What with his meditation and his planning, Waldo had made poor time on -the return journey from the coast so that it was after sunset when he -entered the last deep ravine beyond the farther summit of which lay -his rocky home. In the depths of the ravine it was already quite dark, -though a dim twilight still hung upon the surrounding hill-tops.</p> - -<p>He had about completed the arduous ascent of the last steep trail, at -the crest of which was his journey's end, when above him, silhouetted -against the darkening sky, loomed a great black, crouching mass, from -the center of which blazed two balls of fire.</p> - -<p>It was Nagoola, and he occupied the center of the only trail that led -over the edge of the ridge from the ravine below.</p> - -<p>"I had almost forgotten you, Nagoola," murmured Waldo Emerson. "I could -never have gone upon my journey without first interviewing you, but I -could have wished a different time and place than this. Let us postpone -the matter for a day or so," he concluded aloud; but the only response -from Nagoola was an ominous growl. Waldo felt rather uncomfortable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> - -<p>He could not have come upon the great, black panther at a more -inopportune time or place. It was too dark for Waldo's human eyes, and -the cat was above him and Waldo upon a steep hillside that under the -best of conditions offered but a precarious foothold. He tried to shoo -the formidable beast away by shouts and menacing gesticulations, but -Nagoola would not shoo.</p> - -<p>Instead he crept slowly forward, edging his sinuous body inch by inch -along the rocky trail until it hung poised above the waiting man a -dozen feet below him.</p> - -<p>Six months before Waldo would long since have been shrieking in -meteorlike flight down the bed of the ravine behind him. That a -wonderful transformation had been wrought within him was evident from -the fact that no cry of fright escaped him, and that, far from fleeing, -he edged inch by inch upward toward the menacing creature hanging there -above him. He carried his spear with the point leveled a trifle below -those baleful eyes.</p> - -<p>He had advanced but a foot or two, however, when, with an awful shriek, -the terrible beast launched itself full upon him.</p> - -<p>As the heavy body struck him Waldo went over backward down the cliff, -and with him went Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Clawing, tearing, and scratching, the two rolled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and bounded down -the rocky hillside until, near the bottom, they came to a sudden stop -against a large tree.</p> - -<p>The growling and screeching ceased, the clawing paws and hands were -still. Presently the tropic moon rose over the hill-top to look down -upon a little tangled mound of man and beast that lay very quiet -against the bole of a great tree near the bottom of a dark ravine.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIa" id="CHAPTER_VIIa">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THANDAR, THE SEEKER</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">or</span> a long time there was no sign of life in that strange pile of -flesh and bone and brawn and glossy black fur and long, yellow hair -and blood. But toward dawn it moved a little, down near the bottom of -the heap, and a little later there was a groan, and then all was still -again for many minutes.</p> - -<p>Presently it moved again, this time more energetically, and after -several efforts a yellow head streaked and matted with blood emerged -from beneath. It required the better part of an hour for the stunned -and lacerated Waldo to extricate himself from the entangling embrace of -Nagoola.</p> - -<p>When, finally, he staggered to his feet he saw that the great cat lay -dead before him, the broken shaft of the spear protruding from the -sleek, black breast.</p> - -<p>It was quite evident that the beast had lived but the barest fraction -of an instant after it had launched itself upon the man; but during -that brief interval of time it had wrought sore havoc with its mighty -talons, though fortunately for Waldo the great jaws had not found him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> - -<p>From breast to knees ghastly wounds were furrowed in the man's brown -skin where the powerful hind feet of the beast had raked him.</p> - -<p>That he owed his life to the chance that had brought about the -encounter upon a steep hillside rather than on the level seemed quite -apparent, for during their tumble down the declivity Nagoola had been -unable to score with any degree of accuracy.</p> - -<p>As Waldo looked down upon himself he was at first horrified by the -frightful appearance of his wounds; but when a closer examination -showed them to be superficial he realized that the only danger lay -in infection. Every bone and muscle in his body ached from the -man-handling and the fall, and the wounds themselves were painful, -almost excruciatingly so when a movement of his body stretched or tore -them; but notwithstanding his suffering he found himself smiling as he -contemplated the remnants of his long-suffering ducks.</p> - -<p>There remained of their once stylish glory not a shred—the panther's -sharp claws had finished what time and brambles had so well commenced. -And of their linen partner—the white outing shirt—only the neckband -remained; with a single fragment as large as one's hand depending -behind.</p> - -<p>"Nature is a wonderful leveler," thought Waldo. "It is evident that -she hates artificiality as she does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> a vacuum. I shall really need you -now," he concluded, looking at the beautiful, black coat of Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Despite his suffering, Waldo crawled to his lair, where he selected a -couple of sharp-edged stones from his collection and returned to the -side of Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Leaving his tools there he went on down to the bottom of the ravine, -where in a little crystal stream he bathed his wounds. Then he returned -once more to his kill.</p> - -<p>After half a day of the most arduous labor Waldo succeeded in removing -the panther's hide, which he dragged laboriously to his lair, where he -fell exhausted, unable even to crawl within.</p> - -<p>The next day Waldo worked upon the inner surface of the hide, removing -every particle of flesh by scraping it with a sharp stone, so that -there might be no danger of decomposition.</p> - -<p>He was still very weak and sore, but he could not bear the thought of -losing the pelt that had cost him so much to obtain.</p> - -<p>When the last vestige of flesh had been scraped away he crawled into -his lair, where he remained for a week, only emerging for food and -water. At the end of that time his wounds were almost healed, and -he had entirely recovered from his lameness and the shock of the -adventure, so that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> was with real pleasure and exultation that he -gloated over his beautiful trophy.</p> - -<p>Always as he thought of the time that he should have it made ready for -girting about his loins he saw himself, not through his own eyes, but -as he imagined that another would see him, and that other was Nadara.</p> - -<p>For many days Waldo scraped and pounded the great skin as he had seen -the cave men scrape and pound in the brief instant he had watched them -with Nadara from the edge of the forest before the village of Flatfoot. -At last he was rewarded with a pelt sufficiently pliable for the -purpose of the rude apparel he contemplated.</p> - -<p>A strip an inch wide he trimmed off to form a supporting belt. With -this he tied the black skin about his waist, passed one arm through a -hole he had made for that purpose near the upper edge; bringing the -fore paws forward about his chest, he crossed and fastened them to -secure the garment from falling from the upper part of his body.</p> - -<p>It was a very proud Waldo that strutted forth in the finery of his new -apparel; but the pride was in the prowess that had won the thing for -him—vulgar, gross, brutal physical prowess—the very attribute upon -which he had looked with supercilious contempt six months before.</p> - -<p>Next Waldo turned his attention toward the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> fashioning of a sword, -a new spear, and a shield. The first two were comparatively easy of -accomplishment—he had them both completed in half a day, and from a -two-inch strip of panther hide he made also a sword belt to pass over -his right shoulder and support his sword at his left side; but the -shield almost defied his small skill and new-born ingenuity.</p> - -<p>With small twigs and grasses he succeeded, after nearly a week of -painstaking endeavor, in weaving a rude, oval buckler some three feet -long by two wide, which he covered with the skins of several small -animals that had fallen before his death-dealing stones. A strip of -hide fastened upon the back of the shield held it to his left arm.</p> - -<p>With it Waldo felt more secure against the swiftly thrown missiles of -the savages he knew he should encounter on his forthcoming expedition.</p> - -<p>At last came the morning for departure. Rising with the sun, Waldo -took his morning "tub" in the cold spring that rose a few yards from -his cave, then he got out the razor that the sailor had given him, and -after scraping off his scanty, yellow beard, hacked his tawny hair -until it no longer fell about his shoulders and in his eyes.</p> - -<p>Then he gathered up his weapons, rolled the boulders before the -entrance to his cave, and turning his back upon his rough home set -off down the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> little stream toward the distant valley where it wound -through the forest along the face of the cliffs to Flatfoot and Korth.</p> - -<p>As he stepped lightly along the hazardous trail, leaping from ledge -to ledge in the descent of the many sheer drops over which the stream -fell, he might have been a reincarnation of some primeval hunter from -whose savage loins had sprung the warriors and the strong men of a -world.</p> - -<p>The tall, well-muscled, brown body; the clear, bright eyes; the -high-held head; the sword, the spear, the shield were all a far cry -from the weak and futile thing that had lain groveling in the sand upon -the beach, sweating and shrieking in terror six short months before. -And yet it was the same.</p> - -<p>What one good but mistaken woman had smothered another had brought out, -and the result of the influence of both was a much finer specimen of -manhood than either might have evolved alone.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon of the third day Waldo came to the forest opposite the -cliffs where lay the home of Nadara. Cautiously he stole from tree to -tree until he could look out unseen upon the honeycombed face of the -lofty escarpment.</p> - -<p>All was lifeless and deserted. The cave mouths looked out upon the -valley, sad and lonely. There was no sign of life in any direction as -far as Waldo could see.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> - -<p>Coming from the forest he crossed the clearing and approached the -cliffs. His eye, now become alert in woodcraft, detected the young -grass growing in what had once been well-beaten trails. He needed no -further evidence to assure him that the caves were deserted, and had -been for some time.</p> - -<p>One by one he entered and explored several of the cliff dwellings. All -gave the same mute corroboration of what was everywhere apparent—the -village had been evacuated without haste in an orderly manner. -Everything of value had been removed—only a few broken utensils -remaining as indication that it had ever constituted human habitation.</p> - -<p>Waldo was utterly confounded. He had not the remotest idea in which -direction to search. During the balance of the afternoon he wandered -along the various ledges, entering first one cave and then another.</p> - -<p>He wondered which had been Nadara's. He tried to imagine her life among -these crude, primitive surroundings; among the beast-like men and women -who were her people. She did not seem to harmonize with either. He was -convinced that she was more out of place here than Flatfoot would have -been in a Back Bay drawing-room.</p> - -<p>The more his mind dwelt upon her the sadder he became. He tried to -convince himself that it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> purely disappointment in being thwarted -in his desire to thank her for her kindness to him, and demonstrate -that her confidence in his prowess had not been misplaced; but always -he discovered that his thoughts returned to Nadara rather than to the -ostensible object of his adventure.</p> - -<p>In short he began to realize, rather vaguely it is true, that he had -come because he wanted to see the girl again; but why he wanted to see -her he did not know.</p> - -<p>That night he slept in one of the deserted caves, and the next morning -set forth upon his quest for Nadara. For three days he searched the -little valley, but without results. There was no sign of any other -village within it.</p> - -<p>Then he passed over into another valley to the north. For weeks he -wandered hither and thither without being rewarded by even a sight of a -human being.</p> - -<p>Early one afternoon as he was topping a barrier in search of other -valleys he came suddenly face to face with a great, hairy man. Both -stopped—the hairy one glaring with his nasty little eyes.</p> - -<p>"I can kill you," growled the savage.</p> - -<p>Waldo had no desire to fight—it was information he was searching. But -he almost smiled at the ready greeting of the man. It was the same that -Sag the Killer had accorded him that day he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> gone down to the sea -for the last time.</p> - -<p>It came as readily and as glibly from these primitive men as "good -morning" falls from the lips of the civilized races, yet among the -latter he realized that it had its counterpart in the stony stares -which Anglo Saxon strangers vouchsafe one another.</p> - -<p>"I have no quarrel with you," replied Waldo. "Let us be friends."</p> - -<p>"You are afraid," taunted the hairy one.</p> - -<p>Waldo pointed to his sable garment.</p> - -<p>"Ask Nagoola," he said.</p> - -<p>The man looked at the trophy. There could be no mightier argument for a -man's valor than that. He came a step closer that he might scrutinize -it more carefully.</p> - -<p>"Full-grown and in perfect health," he grunted to himself. "This is -no worn and mangy hide peeled from the rotting carcass of one dead of -sickness.</p> - -<p>"How did you slay Nagoola?" he asked suddenly.</p> - -<p>Waldo indicated his spear, then he drew his garment aside and pointed -to the vivid, new-healed scars that striped his body.</p> - -<p>"We met at dusk at a cliff-top. He was above, I below. When we reached -the bottom of the ravine Nagoola was dead. But it was nothing for -Thandar. I am Thandar."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo rightly suspected that a little bravado would make a good -impression on the intellect primeval, nor was he mistaken.</p> - -<p>"What do you here in my country?" asked the man, but his tone was less -truculent than before.</p> - -<p>"I am searching for Flatfoot and Korth—and Nadara," said Waldo.</p> - -<p>The other's eyes narrowed.</p> - -<p>"What would you of them?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nadara was good to me—I would repay her."</p> - -<p>"But Flatfoot and Korth—what of them?" insisted the man.</p> - -<p>"My business is with them. When I see them I shall transact it," Waldo -parried, for he had seen the cunning look in the man's eyes and he did -not like it. "Can you lead me to them?"</p> - -<p>"I can tell you where they are, but I am not bound thither," replied -the man. "Three days toward the setting sun will bring you to the -village of Flatfoot. There you will find Korth also—and Nadara," and -without further parley the savage turned and trotted toward the east.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIIa" id="CHAPTER_VIIIa">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">NADARA AGAIN</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">aldo</span> watched him out of sight, half minded to follow, for he was far -from satisfied that the fellow had been entirely honest with him. Why -he should have been otherwise Waldo could not imagine, but nevertheless -there had been an indefinable suggestion of duplicity in the man's -behavior that had puzzled him.</p> - -<p>However, Waldo took up his search toward the west, passing down from -the hills into a deep valley, the bottom of which was overgrown by a -thick tangle of tropical jungle.</p> - -<p>He had forced his way through this for nearly half a mile when he -came to the bank of a wide, slow-moving river. Its water was thick -with sediment—not clean, sparkling, and inviting, as were the little -mountain streams of the hills and valleys farther south.</p> - -<p>Waldo traveled along the edge of the river in a northwesterly -direction, searching for a ford. The steep, muddy banks offered no -foothold, so he dared not venture a crossing until he could be sure of -a safe landing upon the opposite shore.</p> - -<p>A couple of hundred yards from the point at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> which he had come upon the -stream he found a broad trail leading down into the water, and on the -other side saw a similar track cutting up through the bank.</p> - -<p>This, evidently, was the ford he sought, but as he started toward the -river he noticed the imprints of the feet of many animals—human and -brute.</p> - -<p>Waldo stooped to examine them minutely. There were the broad pads of -Nagoola, the smaller imprints of countless rodents, but back and forth -among them all were old and new signs of man.</p> - -<p>There were the great, flat-foot prints of huge adult males, the smaller -but equally flat-footed impresses of the women and children; but one -there was that caught his eye particularly.</p> - -<p>It was the fine and dainty outline of a perfect foot, with the arch -well defined. It was new, as were many of the others, and, like the -other newer ones, it led down to the river and then back again, as -though she who made it had come for water and then returned from whence -she had come. Waldo knew that the tracks leading away from the river -were the newer, because where the two trails overlapped those coming up -from the ford were always over those which led downward.</p> - -<p>The multiplicity of signs indicated a considerable community, and their -newness the proximity of the makers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo hesitated but a moment before he reached a decision, and then he -turned up the trail away from the river, and at a rapid trot followed -the spoor along its winding course through the jungle to where it -emerged at the base of the foothills, to wind upward toward their crest.</p> - -<p>He found that the trail he was following crossed the hills but a few -yards from the spot at which he had met the cave man a short time -before. Evidently the man had been returning from the river when he had -espied Waldo.</p> - -<p>The young man could see where the fellow's tracks had left the main -trail, and he followed them to the point where the man had stood during -his conversation with Waldo; from there they led toward the east for -a short distance, and then turned suddenly north to reenter the main -trail.</p> - -<p>Waldo could see that as soon as the man had reached a point from which -he would be safe from the stranger's observation he had broken into a -rapid trot, and as he already had two hours' start Waldo felt that he -would have to hurry were he to overtake him.</p> - -<p>Just why he wished to do so he did not consider, but, intuitively -possibly, he felt that the surly brute could give him much more and -accurate information than he had. Nor could Waldo eliminate the memory -of those dainty feminine footprints.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was foolish, of course, and he fully realized the fact; but his -silly mind would insist upon attributing them to the cave girl—Nadara.</p> - -<p>For two hours he trotted doggedly along the trail, which for the most -part was well defined. There were places, of course, which taxed his -trailing ability, but by circling widely from these points he always -was able to pick up the tracks again.</p> - -<p>He had come down from the hills and entered an open forest, where the -trail was entirely lost in the mossy carpet that lay beneath the trees, -when he was startled by a scream—a woman's scream—and the hoarse -gutturals of two men, deep and angry.</p> - -<p>Hastening toward the sound, Waldo came upon the authors of the -commotion in a little glade half hidden by surrounding bushes.</p> - -<p>There were three actors in the hideous tragedy—a hairy brute dragging -a protesting girl by her long, black hair and an old man, who followed, -protesting futilely against the outrage that threatened the young woman.</p> - -<p>None of them saw Waldo as he ran toward them until he was almost upon -them, and then the beast who grasped the girl looked up, and Waldo -recognized him as the same who had sent him toward the west earlier in -the day.</p> - -<p>At the same instant he saw the girl was Nadara.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the brief interval that the recognition required there sloughed from -the heart and mind and soul of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones every particle -of the civilization and culture and refinement that had required -countless ages in the building, stripping him naked, age on age, down -to the primordial beast that had begot his first human progenitor.</p> - -<p>He saw red through blood as he leaped for the throat of the man-beast -whose ruthless hands were upon Nadara.</p> - -<p>His lip curled in the fighting snarl that exposed his long-unused -canine fangs.</p> - -<p>He forgot sword and shield and spear.</p> - -<p>He was no longer a man, but a terrible beast; and the hairy brute that -witnessed the metamorphosis blanched and shrank back in fear.</p> - -<p>But he could not escape the fury of that mad charge or the raging -creature that sought his throat.</p> - -<p>For a moment they struggled in a surging, swaying embrace, and then -toppled to the ground—the hairy one beneath.</p> - -<p>Rolling, tearing, and biting, they battled—each seeking a death hold -upon the other.</p> - -<p>Time and again the gleaming teeth of the once-fastidious Bostonian sank -into the breast and shoulder of his antagonist, but it was the jugular -his primal instinct sought.</p> - -<p>The girl and the old man had drawn away where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> they could watch the -battle in safety. Nadara's eyes were wide in fascination.</p> - -<p>Her slim, brown hands were tight pressed against her rapidly rising -and falling breasts as she leaned a little forward with parted lips, -drinking in every detail of the conflict between the two beasts.</p> - -<p>Ah, but was the yellow-haired giant really fighting for possession of -her, or merely in protection, because she was a woman?</p> - -<p>She could readily conceive from her knowledge of him that he might be -acting now solely from some peculiar sense of duty which she realized -that he might entertain, although she could not herself understand it.</p> - -<p>Yes, that was it, and when he had conquered his rival he would run away -again, as he had months before. At the thought Nadara felt herself -flush with mortification. No, he should never have another opportunity -to repeat that terrible affront.</p> - -<p>As she allowed her mind to dwell on the humiliating moment that had -witnessed the discovery that Thandar had fled from her at the very -threshold of her home Nadara found herself hating him again as fiercely -as she had all these long months—a hatred that had almost dissolved -at sight of him as he rushed out of the underbrush a moment before to -wrest her from the clutches of her hideous tormentor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo and his antagonist were still tearing futilely at one another -in mad efforts to maim or kill. The giant muscles of the cave man -gave him but little if any advantage over his agile, though slightly -less-powerful, adversary.</p> - -<p>The hairy one used his teeth to better advantage, with the result that -Waldo was badly torn and bleeding from a dozen wounds.</p> - -<p>Both were weakening now, and it seemed to the girl who watched that the -younger man would be the first to succumb to the terrific strain under -which both had been. She took a step forward and, stooping, picked up a -stone.</p> - -<p>Her small strength would be ample to turn the scales as she might -choose—a sharp blow upon the head of either would give his adversary -the trifling advantage that would spell death for the one she struck.</p> - -<p>The two men had struggled to their feet again as she approached with -raised weapon.</p> - -<p>At the very moment that it left her hand they swung completely round, -so that Waldo faced her, and in the instant before the missile struck -his forehead he saw Nadara in the very act of throwing—upon her face -an expression of hatred and loathing.</p> - -<p>Then he lost consciousness and went down, dragging with him the cave -man, upon whose throat his fingers had just found their hold.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IXa" id="CHAPTER_IXa">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE SEEKER</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">hen</span> the old man saw what had happened he ran forward and grasped -Nadara by the wrist.</p> - -<p>"Quick!" he cried—"quick, my daughter! You have killed him who would -have saved you, and now nothing but flight may keep Korth from having -his way with you."</p> - -<p>As in a trance the girl turned and departed with him.</p> - -<p>They had scarcely disappeared within the underbrush when Waldo returned -to consciousness, so slight had been the effect of the blow upon his -head.</p> - -<p>To his surprise he found the cave man lying very still beside him, but -an instant later he read the reason for it in the little projecting -ridge of rock upon which lay his foe's forehead—in falling the savage -man had struck thus and lost consciousness.</p> - -<p>Almost immediately the hairy one opened his eyes, but before he could -gather his scattered senses sinewy fingers found his throat, and he -lapsed once more into oblivion—from which there was no awakening.</p> - -<p>As Waldo staggered to his feet he saw that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> girl had vanished, and -there swept back into his mind the memory of the hate that had been in -her face as she struck him down.</p> - -<p>It seemed incredible that she should have turned against him so, and -at the very moment, too, when he had risked his life in her service; -but that she had there could be no doubt, for he had seen her cast -the stone—with his own eyes he had seen her, and, too, he had seen -the hatred and loathing in her face as she looked straight into his. -But what he had not seen was the look of horror that followed as the -missile struck him instead of Korth, sending him crumpling to earth.</p> - -<p>Slowly Waldo turned away from the scene of battle, and without even a -second look at his vanquished enemy limped painfully into the brush. -His heart was very heavy and he was weak from exhaustion and loss -of blood, but he staggered on, back toward his mountain lair, as he -thought, until unable to go further he sank down upon a little grassy -knoll and slept.</p> - -<p>When Nadara recovered from the shock of the thing she had done -sufficiently to reason for herself she realized that after all Thandar -might not be dead, and though the old man protested long and loudly -against it, she insisted upon retracing her steps toward the spot where -they had left the yellow giant in the clutches of Korth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> - -<p>Very cautiously the girl threaded her way through the maze of shrubbery -and creepers that filled the intervening space between the forest -trees, until she came silently to the edge of the clearing in which the -two had fought.</p> - -<p>As she peered anxiously through the last curtain of foliage she saw a -single body lying quiet and still upon the sward, and an instant later -recognized it as Korth's. For several minutes she watched it before she -became convinced that the man who had so terrorized her whole childish -life could never again offer her harm.</p> - -<p>She looked about for Thandar, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nadara -could scarcely believe that her eyes were not deceiving her.</p> - -<p>It was incredible that the yellow one could have gone down to -unconsciousness before her unintentional blow and yet have mastered the -mighty Korth; but how else could Korth have met his death and Thandar -be gone?</p> - -<p>She approached quite close to the dead man, turning the body over with -her foot until the throat was visible. There she saw the finger-marks -that had done the work, and with a little thrill of pride she turned -back into the forest, calling Thandar's name aloud.</p> - -<p>But Thandar did not hear. Half a mile away he lay weak and unconscious -from loss of blood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> - -<p>Morning found Nadara sleeping in a sturdy tree upon the trail along -which Waldo had followed Korth. She had discovered the footprints -of the two men the evening before while she had been searching -unsuccessfully for the trail which Waldo had followed after the battle. -She hoped now that the spoor might lead her to Thandar's cave, to which -she felt it quite possible he might have returned by another way.</p> - -<p>When the girl awoke she again took up her journey, following the tracks -as unerringly as a hound up through the hilly country, across the -divide and down into the jungle to the very watering place at which her -tribe had drank a few days earlier. Here she made a brief stay.</p> - -<p>Then on again down the river, back through the jungle and onto the -divide once more. She was much mystified by the windings of the trail, -but for days she followed the fading spoor until, becoming fainter and -fainter as it grew older, she lost it entirely at last.</p> - -<p>She was quite sure by now, however, that it led from her tribe's former -territory, and so she kept on, hoping against hope, that soon she would -come across the fresh track of Thandar where he had passed her on his -return journey to his home.</p> - -<p>Nadara had eluded the old man when she started upon her search for -Thandar, so it was that the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> fellow returned to the dwellings of -his people alone the following day.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot was the first to greet him.</p> - -<p>"Where is the girl?" he growled. "And where is Korth? Has he taken her? -Answer me the truth or I will break every bone in your carcass."</p> - -<p>"I do not know where the girl is," answered the old man truthfully -enough, "but Korth lies dead in the little glade beyond the three great -trees. A mighty man killed him as he was dragging Nadara off into the -thicket——"</p> - -<p>"And the man has taken the girl for himself?" yelled Flatfoot. "You old -thief you. This is some of your work. Always have you tried to cheat -me of this girl since first you knew that I desired her. Whither went -they? Quick! before I kill you."</p> - -<p>"I do not know," replied the old man. "For hours I searched, until -darkness came, but neither of them could I find, and my old eyes are no -longer keen for trailing, so I was forced to abandon my hunt and return -here when morning came."</p> - -<p>"By the three trees the trail starts, you say?" cried Flatfoot. "That -is enough—I shall find them. And when I return with the girl it will -be time enough to kill you; now it would delay me too much," and with -that the cave man hurried away into the forest.</p> - -<p>It took him half a day to find Nadara's trail, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> at last his search -was rewarded, and as she had made no effort to hide it he moved rapidly -along in the wake of the unsuspecting girl; but he was not as swift as -she, and the chase bid fair to be a long one.</p> - -<p>When Waldo woke he found the sun beating down upon his face, and though -he was lame and sore he felt quite strong enough to continue his -journey; but whither he should go he did not know.</p> - -<p>Now that Nadara had turned against him the island held nothing for him, -and he was on the point of starting back toward his far distant lair -from where he might visit the ocean often to watch for a passing ship, -when the sudden decision came to him to see the girl again, regardless -of her evident hostility, and learn from her own lips the exact reason -of her hatred for him.</p> - -<p>He had had no idea that the loss of her friendship would prove such -a blow to him, so that his pride suffered as well as his heart as he -contemplated his harrowed emotions.</p> - -<p>Of course he was reasonably sure that Nadara's attitude was due to -his ungallant desertion, for which act he had long suffered the most -acute pangs of remorse and contrition. Yet he felt that her apparent -vindictiveness was not warranted by even the grave offense against -chivalry and gratitude of which he had been guilty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> - -<p>It presently occurred to him that by the traitorous attack which -he believed that she had made upon him while he was acting in her -defense she had forfeited every claim which her former kindness might -have given her upon him, but with this realization came another—a -humiliating thought—he still wished to see her!</p> - -<p>He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, had become so devoid of pride that he -would voluntarily search out one who had wronged and outraged his -friendship, with the avowed determination of seeking a reconciliation. -It was unthinkable, and yet, as he admitted the impossibility of it, he -set forth in search of her.</p> - -<p>Waldo wondered not a little at the strange emotion—inherent gregarious -instinct, he thought it—which drew him toward Nadara.</p> - -<p>It did not occur to him that during all the past solitary months he had -scarcely missed the old companionship of his Back Bay friends; that for -once that they had been the subject of his reveries the cave girl had -held the center of that mental stage a thousand times.</p> - -<p>He failed to realize that it was not the companionship of the many that -he craved; that it was not the community instinct, or that his strange -longing could be satisfied by but a single individual. No, Waldo -Emerson did not know what was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> matter with him, nor was it likely -that he ever would find out before it was too late.</p> - -<p>The young man attempted to retrace his steps to the battle-ground of -the previous day, but he had been so dazed after the encounter that -he had no clear recollection of the direction he had taken after he -quitted the glade.</p> - -<p>So it was that he stumbled in precisely the opposite direction, -presently emerging from the underbrush almost at the foot of a low -cliff tunneled with many caves. All about were the morose, unhappy -community whose savage lives were spent in almost continual wandering -from one filthy, comfortless warren to another equally foul and -wretched.</p> - -<p>At sight of them Waldo did not flee in dismay, as most certainly would -have been the case a few months earlier. Instead, he walked confidently -toward them.</p> - -<p>As he approached they ceased whatever work they were engaged upon and -eyed him suspiciously. Then several burly males approached him warily.</p> - -<p>At a hundred yards they halted.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?" they cried. "If you come to our village we can kill -you."</p> - -<p>Before Waldo could reply an old man crawled from a cave near the base -of the cliff, and as his eyes fell upon the stranger he hurried as -rapidly as his ancient limbs would carry him to the little knot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of -ruffians who composed the reception committee.</p> - -<p>He spoke to them for a moment in a low tone, and as he was talking -Waldo recognized him as the old man who had accompanied Nadara on the -previous day at the battle in the glade. When he had finished speaking -one of the cave men assented to whatever proposal the decrepit one had -made, and Waldo saw that each of the others nodded his head in approval.</p> - -<p>Then the old man advanced slowly toward Waldo. When he had come quite -close he spoke.</p> - -<p>"I am an old man," he said. "Thandar would not kill an old man?"</p> - -<p>"Of course not; but how know you that my name is Thandar?" replied -Waldo.</p> - -<p>"Nadara, she who is my daughter, has spoken of you often. Yesterday we -saw you as you battled with that son of Nagoola—Nadara told me then -that it was you. What would Thandar among the people of Flatfoot?"</p> - -<p>"I come as a friend," replied Waldo, "among the friends of Nadara. For -Flatfoot I care nothing. He is no friend of Nadara, whose friends are -Thandar's friends, and whose enemies are Thandar's enemies. Where is -Nadara—but first, where is Flatfoot? I have come to kill him."</p> - -<p>The words and the savage challenge slipped as easily from the cultured -tongue of Waldo Emerson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> Smith-Jones as though he had been born and -reared in the most rocky and barren cave of this savage island, nor did -they sound strange or unusual to him. It seemed that he had said the -most natural and proper thing under the circumstances that there was to -say.</p> - -<p>"Flatfoot is not here," said the old man, "nor is Nadara. She—" but -here Waldo interrupted him.</p> - -<p>"Korth, then," he demanded. "Where is Korth? I can kill him first and -Flatfoot when he returns."</p> - -<p>The old man looked at the speaker in unfeigned surprise.</p> - -<p>"Korth!" he exclaimed. "Korth is dead. Can it be that you do not know -that he, whom you killed yesterday, was Korth?"</p> - -<p>Waldo's eyes opened as wide in surprise as had the old man's.</p> - -<p>Korth! He had killed the redoubtable Korth with his bare hands—Korth, -who could crush the skull of a full-grown man with a single blow from -his open palm.</p> - -<p>Clearly he recollected the very words in which Nadara had described -this horrible brute that time she had harrowed his poor, coward nerves, -as they approached the village of Flatfoot. And now he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, had met and killed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> the creature from whom he had so -fearfully fled a few months ago!</p> - -<p>And, wonder of wonders, he had not even thought to use the weapons upon -which he had spent so many hours of handicraft and months of practise -in preparation for just this occasion. Of a sudden he recalled the old -man's statement that Nadara was not there.</p> - -<p>"Where is she—Nadara?" he cried, turning so suddenly upon the ancient -one that the old fellow drew back in alarm.</p> - -<p>"I have done nothing to harm her," he cried. "I followed and would have -brought her back, but I am old and could not find her. Once, when I was -young, there was no better trailer or mighty warrior among my people -than I, but——"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," exclaimed Waldo impatiently; "but Nadara! Where is she?"</p> - -<p>"I do not know," replied the old man. "She has gone, and I could not -find her. Well do I remember how, years ago, when the trail of an enemy -was faint or the signs of game hard to find, men would come to ask me -to help them, but now——"</p> - -<p>"Of course," interrupted Waldo; "but Nadara. Do you not even know in -what direction she has gone?"</p> - -<p>"No; but since Flatfoot has set forth upon her trail it should be easy -to track the two of them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Flatfoot set out after Nadara!" cried, Waldo. "Why?"</p> - -<p>"For many moons he has craved her for his mate, as has Korth," -explained Nadara's father; "but I think that each feared the other, and -because of that fact Nadara was saved from both; but at last Korth came -upon us alone and away from the village, and then he grasped Nadara and -would have taken her away, for Flatfoot was not about to prevent.</p> - -<p>"You came then, and the rest you know. If I had been younger neither -Flatfoot nor Korth would have dared menace Nadara, for when I was a -young man I was very terrible and the record of my kills was a——"</p> - -<p>"How long since did Flatfoot set out after Nadara?" Waldo broke in.</p> - -<p>"But a few hours since," replied the old man. "It would be an easy -thing for me to overtake him by night had I the speed of my youth, for -I well remember——"</p> - -<p>"From where did Flatfoot start upon the trail?" cried the young man. -"Lead me to the place."</p> - -<p>"This way then, Thandar," said the other, starting off toward the -forest. "I will show you if you will save Nadara from Flatfoot. I love -her. She has been very kind and good to me. She is unlike the rest of -our people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I should die happy if I knew that you have saved her from Flatfoot, -but I am an old man and may not live until Nadara returns. Ah, that -reminds me; there is that in my cave which belongs to Nadara, and were -I to die there would be none to protect it for her.</p> - -<p>"Will you wait for the moment that it will take me to run and fetch it, -that you may carry it to her, for I am sure that you will find her; -though I am not as sure that you will overcome Flatfoot if you meet -him. He is a very terrible man."</p> - -<p>Waldo hated to waste a minute of the precious time that was allowing -Flatfoot to win nearer and nearer Nadara; but if it were in a service -for the girl who had been so kind to him and for the happiness of her -old father he could not refuse, so he waited impatiently while the old -fellow tottered off toward the caves.</p> - -<p>Those who had come half-way to meet Waldo had hovered at a safe -distance while he had been speaking to Nadara's father, and when the -two turned toward the forest all had returned to their work in evident -relief; for the old man had told them that the stranger was the mighty -warrior who had killed the terrible Korth with his bare hands, nor had -the story lost anything in the telling.</p> - -<p>After what seemed hours to the waiting Waldo the old man returned with -a little package care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>fully wrapped in the skin of a small rodent, the -seams laboriously sewed in a manner of lacing with pieces of gut.</p> - -<p>"This is Nadara's," he said as they continued their way toward the -forest. "It contains many strange things of which I know not the -meaning or purpose. They all were taken from the body of her mother -when the woman died. You will give them to her?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Waldo. "I will give them to Nadara, or die in the trying of -it."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Xa" id="CHAPTER_Xa">CHAPTER X</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE TRAIL'S END</p> - - -<p class="drop">S<span class="uppercase">oon</span> they came upon the trail of Flatfoot in the glade by the three -great trees; they had not searched for it sooner, for the old man knew -that it would start from that point upon its quest for the girl.</p> - -<p>The tracks circled the glade a dozen times in widening laps until at -last, at the point where Flatfoot must have picked up the spoor of -Nadara, they broke suddenly away into the underbrush. Once the way was -plain Waldo bid the old man be of good heart, for he would surely bring -his daughter back to him unharmed if the thing lay in the power of man.</p> - -<p>Then he hurried off upon the new-made trail that lay as plain and -readable before him as had the printed page of his former life; but -never had he bent with such keen interest to the reading of his -favorite author as he did to this absorbing drama written in the turned -leaves, the scattered twigs, and the soft mud of a primeval forest by -the feet of a savage man and a savage maid.</p> - -<p>Toward mid-afternoon Waldo became aware that he was much weaker from -the effects of his battle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> with Korth than he had supposed. He had lost -much blood from his wounds, and the exertion of following the trail at -a swift pace had reopened some of the worse ones, so that now, as he -ran, he was leaving a little trail of blood behind him.</p> - -<p>The discovery made him almost frantic, for it seemed to presage -failure. His condition would handicap him in the race after the two -along whose track he pursued so that it would be a miracle were he to -reach Flatfoot before the brute overtook Nadara.</p> - -<p>And if he did overtake him in time—what then? Would he be physically -able to cope with the brawny monster? He feared that he would not, but -that he kept doggedly to the grueling chase augured well for the new -manhood that had been so recently born within him.</p> - -<p>On and on he stumbled, until at dusk he slipped and fell exhausted to -the earth. Twice he struggled to his feet in an attempt to go on, but -he was forced to give in, lying where he was until morning.</p> - -<p>Slightly refreshed, he ate of the roots and fruit which abounded in the -forest, taking up the chase again, but this time more slowly.</p> - -<p>He was now convinced that the way led back along the same trail which -he had followed into the country, and when he reached the point at -which he had first met Korth on the previous day he cut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> across the -little space which intervened between the cave man's tracks and the -point at which he had stood before he went down over the divide into -the jungle toward the river and the ford.</p> - -<p>A moment later he was rewarded by the sight of Nadara's dainty -footprints as well as those of Flatfoot leading away along his old -trail. The act had saved him several miles of needless tracking.</p> - -<p>All that day he followed as rapidly as his weakened condition would -permit, but his best efforts seemed dismally snail-like.</p> - -<p>Along the way he bowled over a couple of large rodents, which he ate -raw, for he had long since learned the desirability of a meat diet for -one undergoing severe physical exertion, and had conquered his natural -aversion for the uncooked flesh. He even had come to relish it, though -often as he dined thus upon meat a broad grin illumined his countenance -at the thought of the horror with which his mother and his Boston -friends would view such a hideous performance.</p> - -<p>As he continued trailing the two he was at first surprised to discover -the fidelity with which Nadara had clung to his old trail, and because -of this fact he often was able to save miles at a time by taking -cross-cuts where, on his way in, he had made wide detours.</p> - -<p>But at last on the third day, when he attempted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> this at a place which -would have saved him fully ten miles, he was dismayed by the discovery -that he could not again pick up either Nadara's trail or that of the -cave man. Even his own old trail was entirely obliterated.</p> - -<p>It was this fact which caused him the greatest concern, for it meant -that if Nadara really had been following it she must now be wandering -rather aimlessly, possibly in an attempt to again locate it. In which -event her speed would be materially reduced, and the probability of her -capture by Flatfoot much enhanced.</p> - -<p>It was possible, too, that the beast already had overtaken her—this, -in fact, might be the true cause of the cessation of the pursuit along -the way which it had proceeded up to this point.</p> - -<p>The thought sent Waldo back along his former route, which he was able -to follow by recollection, though the spoor was seldom visible.</p> - -<p>He came upon no sign of those he sought that day, but the next morning -he found the point at which Nadara had lost his old trail upon a rocky -ridge. The girl evidently assumed that it would lead into the valley -below where she might pick it up again in the soft earth, and so her -footprints led down a shelving bluff, while plain above them showed the -huge imprints of Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>Up to this point at least he had not caught up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> with her. Waldo -breathed a sigh of relief at the discovery. The trail was at least two -days old, for Nadara and Flatfoot had traveled much more rapidly than -the wounded man who haunted their footsteps like a grim shadow.</p> - -<p>About noon Waldo came to a little stream at which both those who -preceded him had evidently stopped to drink—he could see where they -had knelt in the soft grass at the water's edge.</p> - -<p>As Waldo stopped to quench his own thirst his eyes rested for an -instant upon the farther bank, which at that point was little more than -ten feet from him. He saw that the opposite shore was less grassy, -and that it sloped down to the water, forming a muddy beach partially -submerged.</p> - -<p>But what riveted his attention were several deep imprints in the mud.</p> - -<p>He could not be certain, of course, at that distance, but he was sure -enough that he had recognized them to cause him to leap to his feet, -forgetful of his thirst, and plunge through the stream for a closer -inspection.</p> - -<p>As he bent to examine the spoor at close range he could scarce repress -a cry of exultation—they had been made by the hands and knees of -Nadara as she had stooped to drink at the very spot not twenty-four -hours before.</p> - -<p>She must have circled back toward the brook for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> some reason; but by -far the greatest cause for rejoicing was the fact that Nadara's trail -alone was there. Flatfoot had not yet come upon her, and Waldo now was -between them.</p> - -<p>The knowledge that he might yet be in time, and that he was gaining -sufficiently in strength to make it reasonably certain that he could -overhaul the girl eventually, filled Waldo with renewed vigor. He -hastened along Nadara's trail now with something of the energy that had -been his directly before his battle with Korth.</p> - -<p>His wounds had ceased bleeding, and for several days he had eaten well, -and by night slept soundly, for he had reasoned that only by conserving -his energy and fortifying himself in every way possible could he succor -the girl.</p> - -<p>That night he slept in a little thicket which had evidently harbored -Nadara the night before.</p> - -<p>The following day the way lay across a rolling country, cut by numerous -deep ravines and lofty divides. That the pace was telling on the girl -Waldo could read in the telltale spoor that revealed her lagging -footsteps. Upon each eminence the man halted to strain his eyes ahead -for a sight of her.</p> - -<p>About noon he discerned far ahead a shimmering line which he knew must -be the sea. Surely his long pursuit must end there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he was about to plunge on again along Nadara's trail something drew -his eyes toward the rear, and there upon another hill-top a mile or two -behind he saw the stocky figure of a half-naked man—it was Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>The cave man must have seen Waldo at the same instant, for, with a -menacing wave of his huge fist, he increased his gait to a run, an -instant later disappearing into the ravine which lay at the bottom of -the hill upon which he had come into view.</p> - -<p>Waldo was undecided whether to wait for the encounter where he was or -hasten on in an effort to overtake Nadara, that she might not escape -him entirely. He knew that he stood a good chance of being killed in -the conflict, and he also knew that were he victorious it might easily -be at such a terrible price that he would be physically incapable of -continuing his search for the girl for many days.</p> - -<p>As he meditated his eyes wandered back and forth across the landscape -before him searching for Nadara.</p> - -<p>To his right lay, at a little distance, a level plain which stretched -to the foot of low-lying cliffs at the valley's southern rim, some -three or four miles distant. In this direction his view was almost -unobstructed, but it was not in the direction of the girl's flight, so -that it was but by accident that Waldo's eyes swept casually across -the peaceful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> scene which would, at another time, have chained his -attention with its quiet and alluring beauty.</p> - -<p>It was as he swept a backward glance in the direction of Flatfoot -that his eye was arrested by the hint of something far out across the -valley, a little behind his own position.</p> - -<p>To the Waldo of a few months previous it would not have been visible, -but the new woodcraft of the man scented the abnormal in the vague -suggestion of movement out among the long-waving grasses of the plain.</p> - -<p>And now, with every sense alert and riveted upon the spot, he was quick -to perceive that it was an animal moving slowly toward the cliffs at -the upper end of the valley. Presently a little rise of ground, less -thickly grassed, brought the creature into full view for an instant; -but in that instant Waldo saw that the thing he watched was a woman.</p> - -<p>As he turned to hurry after her he saw Flatfoot top another hill a half -mile nearer than he had before been, and as the cave man came into view -he turned his eyes in the direction that Waldo had been looking. A -second later and he had abandoned the pursuit of Waldo and was running -rapidly toward the woman.</p> - -<p>Nadara had apparently circled back once more, this time from the sea, -and coming up the valley had passed Waldo and come opposite Flatfoot -be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>fore either of them had discovered her. The young man gave a little -cry of alarm as he realized that the cave man was nearer to the girl -than he—by a good half mile, he judged, and so he put every ounce of -his speed into the wild dash he made down the hill into a gully which -led out upon the valley.</p> - -<p>On and on he raced unable to see either Flatfoot or Nadara; hoping, -ever hoping, that he would be the first to win to her side; for Nadara -had told him of the atrocities that such a creature as Flatfoot might -perpetrate upon a woman rather than permit her to escape him or fall -into the hands of another.</p> - -<p>Nadara, being up wind, caught neither the scent nor noise of the two -who were racing madly toward her. The first knowledge she had that -she was not alone in the valley was the sight of Flatfoot as he broke -suddenly through a clump of tall grass not fifty paces from her.</p> - -<p>She gave a little scream and started to run; but she was very tired -from the days of unremitting flight which had so sorely taxed her -endurance, and thus it was no wonder that she slipped and fell before -she had taken a dozen steps.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had she gained her feet when Flatfoot was upon her, one hand -grasping her by the arm.</p> - -<p>"Come with me in peace or I will kill you!" he cried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Kill me, then," retorted the despairing girl, "for I shall never come -with you; first will I kill myself."</p> - -<p>Flatfoot did not wish to kill her, nor did he wish her to escape, as -she would be very likely to do should he be interrupted by the fellow -who must even now be quite close to them.</p> - -<p>Possibly if he could keep the girl quiet they might hide in the grass -until their pursuer had gone by, and so Flatfoot, acting upon the idea, -clapped a rough hand over Nadara's mouth and dragged her back along the -trail he had just made.</p> - -<p>The girl struggled—striking and clawing at the hairy brute that pulled -her along at his side—but she was as helpless in his clutches as if -she had been a day-old babe.</p> - -<p>She did not know that help was so close at hand, or she would have -found the means to free her mouth and cry out once at least. As it was, -she wondered that Flatfoot should attempt to silence her in this way if -there were none to hear her screams.</p> - -<p>For days she had known that the cave man was on her trail, for once in -doubling back upon herself she had passed but a short distance from a -ridge she had traversed the preceding day, and had seen the man's squat -figure and recognized his awkward, shuffling trot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was this knowledge that had turned her away from the old village -toward which she had been traveling since she lost Thandar's trail, and -sent her in search of a new country in which she might lose herself -from Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>As the man dragged her roughly on through the grass Nadara racked her -brain for some means of escape, or a way to end her misery before the -beast could have his way with her. But there came no ray of hope to her -poor, unhappy heart.</p> - -<p>If Thandar were but there! He would save her, even if it were but to -desert her the next instant.</p> - -<p>But did she wish to be saved again by him? Now that she pondered the -idea she was quite sure that she would rather die than see him again, -for had he not twice run away from her?</p> - -<p>In her misery she put this interpretation upon the remarkable -disappearance of Thandar after his battle with Korth—he had waited -until she was out of sight and then he had risen and fled for fear she -might return and discover him. She wondered why he should dislike her -so much.</p> - -<p>She was quite sure that she had been very good to him, and had tried -not to annoy him while they were together. Maybe he looked down upon -her, for surely he was of a superior race; of that she was quite -positive.</p> - -<p>And so Nadara was very miserable and unhappy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> and hopeless as the -brutal Flatfoot dragged her far into the tall jungle-grass. Presently -she noticed that the cave man repeatedly cast glances toward the rear.</p> - -<p>What could he expect from that direction, or from any direction -whatever, so far as that was concerned? Were they not days and days -from their own people, in a land where there seemed no men at all?</p> - -<p>Flatfoot heard no sign of pursuit. He was growing more confident. The -stranger had lost their trail. The cave man moved less rapidly, and as -he went he looked now for a burrow into which he might crawl with the -maiden. Then there would be no further danger whatever.</p> - -<p>Tomorrow Flatfoot would come out and find the fellow and kill him, but -now he had pleasanter work in view, nor did he wish to be disturbed.</p> - -<p>And at that very moment he caught a stealthy movement in the grasses a -few yards to his right. Waldo had come upon the spot at which Flatfoot -had overtaken Nadara but a few moments after the brute had dragged her -away, and on the instant had sought a higher piece of ground from which -he could overlook the tall grass.</p> - -<p>Nor had he been long in finding a spot that, coupled with his six feet -two, brought his eyes above the level of the surrounding jungle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> - -<p>There he watched for a little until he discerned a movement of the -grasstops at a little distance from him. After that it was but a matter -of trailing.</p> - -<p>When Flatfoot saw what he took to be his enemy he threw Nadara across -his shoulder and started on a run in the opposite direction—at right -angles to the way he had been going.</p> - -<p>The ruse proved good, for when Waldo came to the point at which he had -figured his path would cross the cave man's he found no sign of the -latter, and in searching about to locate the trail lost many minutes of -valuable time. But at last he came upon that which he sought, and with -redoubled speed set out at a rapid run through the tall grasses.</p> - -<p>He had proceeded but a short distance when the trail broke suddenly -into the open, close by the base of the cliffs that he had seen from -the hill that had given him his fleeting glimpse of Nadara.</p> - -<p>Ahead of him he saw the two he sought—Nadara across the burly -shoulders of Flatfoot—and the cave man was making for the caves that -dotted the face of the cliff. Were he to reach these he might defend -one of them against a single antagonist indefinitely.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIa" id="CHAPTER_XIa">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">CAPTURE</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">lmost</span> at the moment that Waldo emerged from the jungle Nadara saw him, -and with a lunge threw herself from Flatfoot's shoulder.</p> - -<p>The man turned with a fierce growl of rage, and his eyes fell upon the -giant rushing toward them.</p> - -<p>The girl was now struggling madly to escape or delay her captor. There -could be but one outcome, as Flatfoot knew. He must fight now, but the -girl should never escape him.</p> - -<p>Raising the huge fist that had killed many a full-grown man with a -single blow he aimed a wicked one at the side of Nadara's head.</p> - -<p>The first one she dodged, and as the arm went up to strike again, -Thandar threw his spear-arm far back and with a mighty forward surge -drove his light weapon across the hundred feet that separated him from -Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>It was an awful risk—there was not a foot to spare between the hairy -breast that was his target and the beautiful head of the fair captive. -Should either move between the time the spear left his hand and the -instant that it found its mark it might pierce the one it had been sped -to save.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot's fist was crashing down toward that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> lovely face at the -instant that the spear found him; but he had moved—just enough to -place his arm before his breast—so that it was the falling arm that -received the weapon instead of the heart that it had been intended for.</p> - -<p>But it served its purpose. With a howl of pain and rage, Flatfoot, -forgetful of the girl in the madness of his anger, dropped her and -sprang toward Waldo.</p> - -<p>The latter had drawn his sword—naught but a sharpened stick of hard -wood—and stood waiting to receive his foe. It was his first attempt to -put either sword or shield into practical use, and he was anxious to -discover their value.</p> - -<p>As Flatfoot came toward his antagonist he pulled the spear from the -muscles of his arm, and, stooping, gathered up one of the many rocks -that lay scattered about at the base of the cliff.</p> - -<p>The cave man was roaring like a mad bull; hate and murder shot from his -close-set eyes; his upper lip curled back, showing his fighting fangs, -and a light froth flecked his bristling beard.</p> - -<p>Waldo was sure there had never existed a more fearsome creature, and he -marveled that he was not afraid. The very thought of what the effect -of this terrible monster's mad charge would have been upon him a short -while ago brought a smile to his lips.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> - -<p>At sight of that taunting smile Flatfoot hurled the rock full at the -maddening face. With a quick movement of his left arm Waldo caught the -missile on his buckler, from whence it dropped harmlessly to the ground.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot did not throw again, and an instant later he was upon the -Bostonian—the pride and hope of the cultured and aristocratic Back Bay -Smith-Joneses.</p> - -<p>When he reached for the agile, blond giant he found a thin sheet of -hide-covered twigs in his way, and when he tried to tear down this -barrier the point of a sharpened stick was thrust into his abdomen.</p> - -<p>This was no way to fight!</p> - -<p>Flatfoot was scandalized. He jumped back a few feet and glared at -Waldo. Then he lowered his head and came at him once more with the very -evident intention of rushing him off his feet by the very weight and -impetuosity of his charge.</p> - -<p>This time the sharp stick slipped quickly over the top of the -hide-covered atrocity and pierced Flatfoot's neck just where it joined -his thick skull.</p> - -<p>Burying a foot of its point beneath the muscles of the shoulder, it -brought a scream of pain and rage from the hairy beast.</p> - -<p>Before Waldo could withdraw his weapon from the tough sinews, Flatfoot -had straightened up with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> a sudden jerk that snapped the sword short, -leaving but a short stub in his antagonist's hand.</p> - -<p>Nadara had been watching the battle breathlessly, ready to flee should -it turn against her champion, yet at the same time searching for an -opportunity to aid him.</p> - -<p>Like Flatfoot, the girl had never before seen spear or sword or shield -in use, and while she marveled at the advantage which they gave -Thandar, she became dubious as to the result of the encounter when she -saw the sword broken, for the spear had been snapped into kindling-wood -by Flatfoot when he tore it from his arm.</p> - -<p>But Waldo still had his cudgel, fastened by a thong to his sword-belt, -and as the cave man rushed upon him again he swung a mighty blow to the -low, brutal forehead.</p> - -<p>Momentarily stunned, the fellow reeled backward for a step, and again -Waldo wielded his new weapon.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot trembled, his knees smote together, he staggered drunkenly, -and then, when Waldo looked to see him go down, the brute power that -was in him, responding to nature's first law, sent him hurtling at the -Bostonian's throat in the snarling, blind rage of the death-smitten -beast.</p> - -<p>Catapulted by all the enormous strength of his mighty muscles, the -squat, bear-like animal bore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> Waldo to earth, and at the same instant -each found the other's throat with sinewy, viselike fingers.</p> - -<p>They lay very still now, choking with firm, relentless clutch. Every -ounce of muscle was needed, every grain of endurance.</p> - -<p>Waldo was suffering agonies after a moment of that awful death-grip. He -could feel his gasping, pain-racked lungs struggling for air.</p> - -<p>He tried to wriggle free from those horrible fingers, but not once did -he loosen his own hold upon the throat of Flatfoot; instead he tried to -close a little tighter each second that he felt his own life ebbing. He -became weaker and weaker. The pain was unendurable now.</p> - -<p>A haze obscured his vision—everything became black—his brain was -whizzing about at frightful velocity within the awful darkness of his -skull.</p> - -<p>The girl was bending close above them now, for both were struggling -less violently. She had been minded to come to Thandar's rescue when -suddenly she recalled his desertion of her, and all the wild hatred of -the primitive mind surged through her.</p> - -<p>Let him die, she thought. He had spurned her, cast her off; he looked -down upon her.</p> - -<p>Well, let him take care of himself, then, and she turned deliberately -away to leave the two men to decide the outcome of their own battle, -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> started back upon the trail in the direction of her tribe's -village.</p> - -<p>But she had taken scarce a score of steps when something flamed up in -her heart that withered the last remnant of her malice toward Thandar. -As she turned back again toward the combatants she attempted to justify -this new weakness by the thought that it was only fair that she should -give the yellow one aid in return for the aid that he had rendered her; -that done, she could go on her way with a clear conscience.</p> - -<p>She wished never to see him again, but she could not have his blood -upon her hands. At that thought she gave a little cry and ran to where -the men lay.</p> - -<p>Both were almost quiet now; their struggles had nearly ceased. Just -as she reached them Flatfoot relaxed, his hands slipped from Waldo's -throat and he lay entirely motionless.</p> - -<p>Then the fair giant struggled convulsively once or twice; he gasped, -his eyes rolled up and set, and with a sudden twitching of his muscles -he stiffened rigidly and was very still.</p> - -<p>Nadara gave one horrified look at the ghastly face of her champion, and -fled into the jungle.</p> - -<p>She stumbled on for a quarter of a mile as fast as her tired limbs -would carry her through the entangling grasses, and then she came to -that which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> she sought—a little stream, winding slowly through the -valley down toward the ocean.</p> - -<p>Dropping to her knees beside it she filled her mouth with the -refreshing water. In an instant she was up again and off in the -direction from which she had just come.</p> - -<p>Throwing herself at Waldo's side, she wet his face with the water from -her mouth. She chafed his hands, shook him, blew upon his face when -the water was exhausted, and then, tears streaming from her eyes, she -threw herself upon him, covering his face with kisses, and moaning -inarticulate words of love and endearment that were half stifled by -anguished sobs of grief.</p> - -<p>Suddenly her lamentations ceased as quickly as they had begun. She -raised her head from where it had been buried beside the man's and -looked intently into his face.</p> - -<p>Then she placed her ear upon his breast; with a delighted cry she -resumed chafing his hands, for she had heard the beating of his heart.</p> - -<p>Presently Waldo gasped, and for a moment suffered the agonies of -returning respiration. When he opened his eyes in consciousness he saw -Nadara bending over him—a severely disinterested expression upon her -beautiful face. He turned his head to one side; there lay Flatfoot -quite dead.</p> - -<p>It was several moments before he could speak.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> Then he rose, very -unsteadily, to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Nadara," he said, "Korth lies dead beside the three great trees in the -glade that is near the village that was Flatfoot's. Here is the dead -body of Flatfoot, and about my loins hangs the pelt of Nagoola, taken -in fair fight.</p> - -<p>"I have done all that you desired of me; I have tried to repay you for -your kindness to me when I was a stranger in your land. I do not know -why you should have tried to kill me while I battled with Korth.</p> - -<p>"No more do I know why you have allowed me to live today when it would -have been so easy to have despatched me as I lay unconscious here -beside Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>"I read dislike upon your face, and I am sorry, for I would have parted -with you in friendship, so that when the time comes that I return to -my own land I should be able to carry away with me only the pleasant -memory of it. When we have rested and are refreshed I shall take you -back to your father."</p> - -<p>All that had been surging to the girl's lips of love and gratitude -from a heart that was filled with both was congealed by the cold tone -which marked this dispassionate recital of the discharge of a moral -obligation.</p> - -<p>Possibly Waldo's tone was colored by the vivid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> memory of the look of -hate that he had seen in the girl's eyes at the instant that he went -down before her missile as he battled with Korth, for it was not even -tinged with friendliness.</p> - -<p>And so the girl's manner was equally distant when she replied; in fact, -it was even colder, for it was fraught with bitterness.</p> - -<p>"Thandar owed nothing to Nadara," she said, "and though it matters not -at all, it is only fair to say that the stone that struck you as you -battled in the glade was intended for Korth."</p> - -<p>Waldo's face brightened. A load that he had not realized lay there was -lifted from his heart.</p> - -<p>"You did not want to hurt me, then?" he cried.</p> - -<p>"Why should I want to hurt you?" returned the girl.</p> - -<p>"I thought"—and here Waldo spoiled the fair start they had made at a -reconciliation—"I thought," he said, "that you were angry because I -ran away from you after we had come to your village that time, months -ago."</p> - -<p>Nadara's head went high and she laughed aloud.</p> - -<p>"I angry? I was surprised that you did not come to the village, but -after an hour I had forgotten the matter—it was with difficulty that -I recognized you when I next saw you, so utterly had the occurrence -departed from my thoughts."</p> - -<p>Waldo wondered why he should feel such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> humiliation at this frank -avowal. Of what moment to him was this girl's estimation of him? Why -did he feel a flush suffuse his face at the knowledge that he was of so -little moment to her that she had entirely forgotten him within a few -months?</p> - -<p>Waldo was mortified and angry. He changed the subject brusquely; -hereafter he should eschew personalities.</p> - -<p>"Let us find a cave at a distance from the dead man," he said, "and -there we may rest until you are ready to attempt the return journey."</p> - -<p>"I am ready now," replied Nadara; "nor do I need or desire your -company. I can return alone, as I came."</p> - -<p>"No," remonstrated Waldo doggedly; "I shall go with you whether you -wish it or not. I shall see you safely with your father. I promised -him."</p> - -<p>Nadara had been delighted with the first clause of his reply, but when -it became evident that his only desire to return with her was to fulfil -a promise made her father she became furious, though she was careful -not to let him see it.</p> - -<p>"Very well," she replied; "you may come if you wish, though it is -neither necessary nor as I would have it. I prefer being alone."</p> - -<p>"I shall not force my company upon you," said Waldo haughtily. "I can -follow a few paces behind you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was an injured air in his last words which did not escape the -girl. She wondered if he really deserved the harsh attitude she had -maintained.</p> - -<p>They found a cave a half-mile down the valley, where they took up their -quarters against the time that Waldo should be rested, for the girl -insisted that she was fully able to commence the return journey at once.</p> - -<p>The man knew better, and so he let her have it that the delay was on -his account rather than hers, for he doubted her ability to cope with -the hardships of the long journey without an interval for recuperation.</p> - -<p>The next morning found them both rested and in better spirits, so that -there was no return to their acrimonious encounter of the previous day.</p> - -<p>As they walked out toward the forest that lay down the valley in the -direction of the ocean Waldo dropped a few paces behind the girl in -polite deference to her expressed wish of the day before.</p> - -<p>As he walked he watched the graceful movements of her lithe figure and -the lines of her clear-cut profile as she turned her head this way and -that in search of food.</p> - -<p>How beautiful she was! It was incredible that this wild cave girl -should have greater beauty and a more regal carriage than the queens -and beauties of civilization, and yet Waldo was forced to admit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> that -he had never even dreamed, much less seen, such absolute physical -perfection.</p> - -<p>He wished that he could say as much for her disposition; that was -atrocious. It was unbelievable that such a wondrous exterior could -harbor so much ingratitude and coldness.</p> - -<p>Presently they came among the trees where the ripe fruit hung, and as -Waldo climbed nimbly among the branches and tossed the most luscious -down to her, the girl, in her turn, watched him.</p> - -<p>She noted more closely the marvelous change that a few months had -wrought. She had thought him wonderful before, but now he was a very -god. She did not think just this, for she knew nothing of gods—other -than the demons that were supposed to enter the bodies of the sick; but -she thought of him as some superior creature, and then she ceased to -feel aggrieved that he should care so little for her.</p> - -<p>He was not a man—he was something more than a man, and she had been -very wicked to have treated him so shamefully. She would make amends.</p> - -<p>So she tried to be more kind thereafter, though there still remained a -trace of aloofness.</p> - -<p>Together they sat upon the turf and ate their fruit, and as they ate -they talked a little, for it is difficult for two young people to -harbor animosity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> for a great time, especially when there is none other -for them to talk to.</p> - -<p>"When you have returned with me to my father, Thandar," the girl asked, -"where shall you go then?"</p> - -<p>"I shall return to the sea where I may watch for a ship to take me back -to my own land," he replied.</p> - -<p>"I have seen but one ship in all my life," said Nadara, "and that was -years ago. It was when we lived close by the big water that it stopped -a long way from shore and sent many smaller boats to land.</p> - -<p>"There were many men in the boats, and when they landed, my father and -mother took me far into the forest away from the sea, and there we -stayed for many days until the strangers had sailed. They wandered up -and down the coast and came back into the forests and the jungles for a -few miles.</p> - -<p>"My mother said that they were searching for me, and that if they found -me they would take me away. I was very much frightened."</p> - -<p>At the mention of her mother Waldo recalled the little parcel that -Nadara's father had given into his custody for the girl. He unfastened -it from the thong that circled his waist, where it had hung beneath his -panther-skin garment.</p> - -<p>"Here is something your father asked me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> bring you," he said, -handing the package to Nadara.</p> - -<p>The girl took it and examined it as though it was entirely unfamiliar.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Your father did not say, other than that it contained articles that -your mother wore when she died," he said tenderly, for a great pity had -welled up in his heart for this poor, motherless girl.</p> - -<p>"That my mother wore!" Nadara repeated, her brows contracted in a -puzzled frown. "When my mother died she wore nothing but a single -garment of many small skins—very old and worn—and that was buried -with her. I do not understand."</p> - -<p>She made no effort to open the package, but sat gazing far off toward -the ocean which was just visible through the trees, entirely absorbed -in the reverie which Waldo's words had engendered.</p> - -<p>"Could the thing that the old woman told me have been true?" the girl -mused half aloud. "Could it have been because it was true that my -mother fell upon her with tooth and nail until she had nearly killed -her? I wonder if——"</p> - -<p>But here she stopped, her eyes riveted in sudden fear and hopelessness -upon a thing that she had just espied in the distance.</p> - -<p>A great lump rose in her throat, tears came to her eyes, and with them -the full measure of realization<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> of what that thing beyond the forest -meant to her.</p> - -<p>She turned her eyes toward the man. He was sitting with bowed head, -playing idly with a large beetle that he had penned within a tiny -palisade of small twigs.</p> - -<p>At length he made an opening in the barrier.</p> - -<p>"Go your way, poor thing," he murmured. "Heaven knows I realize too -well the horrors of captivity to keep any other creature from its -fellows and its home."</p> - -<p>A choking sigh that was almost a sob racked the girl. At the sound -Waldo looked up to see her pathetic, unhappy eyes upon him. Of a sudden -there enveloped him a great desire to take her in his arms and comfort -her. He knew not why she was unhappy, but her sorrow cried aloud to -him—as he thought simply to the protective instinct that was merely an -attribute of his sex.</p> - -<p>Nadara raised her hand slowly and pointed through the trees. It was as -though she had torn her heart from her breast, so harrowing she felt -the consequences of her act would be, but it was for his sake—for the -sake of the man she loved.</p> - -<p>As Waldo's eyes followed the direction of her pointing finger he came -suddenly to his feet with a wild cry of joy; through the trees, out -upon the shimmering surface of the placid sea, there lay a graceful, -white yacht.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Thank God!" cried the man fervently, and sinking to his knees he -raised his hands aloft toward the author of joy and sorrow.</p> - -<p>A moment later he sprang to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Home! Nadara. Home!" he cried. "Can't you realize it? I am going home. -I am saved! Oh, Nadara, child, can't you realize what it means to me? -Home! Home! Home!"</p> - -<p>He had been looking toward the yacht as he spoke, but now he turned -toward the girl. She was crouching upon the ground, her face in her -hands, her slender figure shaken by convulsive tears.</p> - -<p>He came toward her and, kneeling, laid his hand upon her shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Nadara!" he said gently. "Why do you cry, child? What is the matter?" -But she only shook her head, moaning.</p> - -<p>He raised her to her feet, and as he supported her his arm circled her -shoulders.</p> - -<p>"Tell me, Nadara, why you are unhappy?" he urged.</p> - -<p>But still she could not speak for sobbing, and only buried her face -upon his breast.</p> - -<p>He was holding her very close now, and with the pressure of her body -against his a fire that, unknown, had been smoldering in his heart -for months burst into sudden flame, and in the heat of it there were -consumed the mists that had been be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>fore the eyes of his heart all that -time.</p> - -<p>"Nadara," he asked in a very low voice, "is it because I am going that -you cry?"</p> - -<p>But at that she pulled away from him, and through her tears her eyes -blazed.</p> - -<p>"No!" she cried. "I shall be glad when you have gone. I wish that -you had never come. I—I—hate you!" She turned and fled back up the -valley, forgetful of the little packet Thandar had brought her, which -lay forgotten upon the ground where she had dropped it.</p> - -<p>Without so much as a backward glance toward the yacht Waldo was off in -pursuit of her; but Nadara was as fleet as a hare, so that it was a -much winded Waldo who finally overhauled her half-way up the face of a -cliff two miles from the ocean.</p> - -<p>"Go away!" cried the girl. "Go back with your own kind, to your own -home!"</p> - -<p>Waldo did not answer.</p> - -<p>Waldo was no more.</p> - -<p>It was Thandar, the cave man, who took Nadara in his strong arms and -crushed her to him.</p> - -<p>"My girl!" he cried. "My girl! I love you! And because I am a fool I -did not learn until it was almost too late."</p> - -<p>He did not ask if she loved him, for he was Thandar, the cave man. Nor, -a moment later, did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> he need to ask, since her strong, brown arms crept -up about his neck and drew his lips down to hers.</p> - -<p>It was quite half an hour later before either thought of the yacht -again. From where they stood upon the cliff's face they could see the -ocean and the beach.</p> - -<p>Several boats were drawn up and a number of men were coming toward the -forest. Presently they would discover the two upon the cliff.</p> - -<p>"We shall go back together now," said Thandar.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid," replied Nadara.</p> - -<p>For a time the man stood gazing at the dainty yacht, and far beyond -it into the civilization which it represented, and he saw there suave -men and sneering women, and among them was a slender brown beauty who -shrank from the cruel glances of the women—and Waldo writhed at this -and at the greedy eyes of the suave men as they appraised the girl—and -he, too, was afraid.</p> - -<p>"Come," he said, taking Nadara by the hand, "let us hurry back into the -hills before they discover us."</p> - -<p>Just as the men from the yacht, which Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones had -despatched to the South Seas in search of his missing son, emerged from -the forest into a view of the valley and the cliffs a cave man and his -mate clambered over the brow of the latter and disappeared toward the -hills beyond.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was nearly dusk as the searchers from the yacht were returning -toward the beach.</p> - -<p>They had found no sign of human habitation in the little valley, nor -anywhere along the coast that they had so carefully explored.</p> - -<p>The commander of the expedition, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, a retired -naval officer, was in advance.</p> - -<p>They had penetrated the woods nearly to the beach when his foot struck -against a package wrapped in the skin of a small rodent.</p> - -<p>He stooped and picked it up.</p> - -<p>"Here is the first evidence that another human being than ourselves has -ever set foot upon this island," he said as he cut the gut lacing with -his pocket knife.</p> - -<p>Within the first wrapping he found a chamois-bag such as women -sometimes use to carry jewels about their persons.</p> - -<p>From this he emptied into his palm a dozen priceless rings, a few -old-fashioned brooches, bracelets, and lockets.</p> - -<p>In one of the latter he discovered the ivory miniature of a woman—a -very beautiful woman.</p> - -<p>In the other side of the locket was engraved: "To Eugénie Marie Céleste -de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, from Henri, her husband. 17th January, -18—"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Gad!" cried the old captain. "Now what do you make of that?</p> - -<p>"The Count and Countess of Crecy were returning to Paris from their -honeymoon trip round the world in the steam yacht <i>Dolphin</i> nearly -twenty years ago, and after they touched at Australia were never heard -of again.</p> - -<p>"What tragedy, what mystery, what romance might not these sparkling -gems disclose had they but tongues!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="THE_CAVE_GIRL" id="THE_CAVE_GIRL">THE CAVE GIRL</a></h2> - -<p class="ph2">PART II</p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note</span>: <i>Part II of this book appeared serially under the title</i> -"The Cave Man"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Ib" id="CHAPTER_Ib">CHAPTER I</a></h2> - -<p class="center">KING BIG FIST</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">aldo Emerson Smith-Jones</span>, scion of the aristocratic house of the John -Alden Smith-Joneses of Boston, clambered up the rocky face of the -precipitous cliff with the agility of a monkey.</p> - -<p>His right hand clasped the slim brown fingers of his half-naked mate, -assisting her over the more dangerous or difficult stretches.</p> - -<p>At the summit the two turned their faces back toward the sea. Beyond -the gently waving forest trees stretched the broad expanse of -shimmering ocean. In the foreground, upon the bosom of a tiny harbor, -lay a graceful yacht—a beautiful toy it looked from the distance of -the cliff top.</p> - -<p>For the first time the man obtained an unobstructed view of the craft. -Before, when they first had discovered it, the boles of the forest -trees had revealed it but in part.</p> - -<p>Now he saw it fully from stem to stern with all its well-known, -graceful lines standing out distinctly against the deep blue of the -water.</p> - -<p>The shock of recognition brought an involuntary exclamation from his -lips. The girl looked quickly up into his face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What is it, Thandar?" she asked. "What do you see?"</p> - -<p>"The yacht!" he whispered. "It is the <i>Priscilla</i>—my father's. He is -searching for me."</p> - -<p>"And you wish to go?"</p> - -<p>For some time he did not speak—only stood there gazing at the distant -yacht. And the young girl at his side remained quite motionless and -silent, too, looking up at the man's profile, watching the expression -upon his face with a look of dumb misery upon her own.</p> - -<p>Quickly through the man's mind was running the gamut of his past. He -recalled his careful and tender upbringing—the time, the money, the -fond pride that had been expended upon his education. He thought of the -result—the narrow-minded, weakling egoist; the pusillanimous coward -that had been washed from the deck of a passing steamer upon the sandy -beach of this savage, forgotten shore.</p> - -<p>And yet it had been love, solicitous and tender, that had prompted his -parents to their misguided efforts. He was their only son. They were -doubtless grieving for him. They were no longer young, and in their -declining years it appeared to him a pathetic thing that they should be -robbed of the happiness which he might bring them by returning to the -old life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> - -<p>But could he ever return to the bookish existence that once had seemed -so pleasant?</p> - -<p>Had not this brief year into which had been crowded so much of wild, -primitive life made impossible a return to the narrow, self-centered -existence? Had it not taught him that there was infinitely more in life -than ever had been written into the dry and musty pages of books?</p> - -<p>It had taught him to want life at first hand—not through the proxy of -the printed page. It and—Nadara. He glanced toward the girl.</p> - -<p>Could he give her up? No! A thousand times, no!</p> - -<p>He read in her face the fear that lurked in her heart. No, he could -not give her up. He owed to her all that he possessed of which he was -most proud—his mighty physique, his new found courage, his woodcraft, -his ability to cope, primitively, with the primitive world, her savage -world which he had learned to love.</p> - -<p>No, he could not give her up; but—what? His gaze lingered upon her -sweet face. Slowly there sank into his understanding something of the -reason for his love of this wild, half-savage cave girl other than the -primitive passion of the sexes.</p> - -<p>He saw now not only the physical beauty of her face and figure, but -the sweet, pure innocence of her girlishness, and, most of all, the -wondrous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> tenderness of her love of him that was mirrored in her eyes.</p> - -<p>To remain and take her as his mate after the manner and customs of her -own people would reflect no shame upon himself or her; but was she not -deserving of the highest honor that it lay within his power to offer at -the altar of her love?</p> - -<p>She—his wonderful Nadara—must become his through the most solemn and -dignified ceremony that civilized man had devised. What the young woman -of his past life demanded was none too good for her.</p> - -<p>Again the girl voiced her question.</p> - -<p>"You wish to go?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Nadara," he replied, "I must go back to my own people—and you -must go with me."</p> - -<p>Her face lighted with pleasure and happiness as she heard his last -words; but the expression was quickly followed by one of doubt and fear.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid," she said; "but if you wish it I will go."</p> - -<p>"You need not fear, Nadara. None will harm you by word or deed while -Thandar is with you. Come, let us return to the sea and the yacht -before she sails."</p> - -<p>Hand in hand they retraced their steps down the steep cliff, across the -little valley toward the forest and the sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nadara walked very close to Thandar, her hand snuggled in his and her -shoulder pressed tightly against his side, for she was afraid of the -new life among the strange creatures of civilization.</p> - -<p>At the far side of the valley, just before one enters the forest, -there grows a thick jungle of bamboo—really but a narrow strip, not -more than a hundred feet through at its greatest width; but so dense -as to quite shut out from view any creature even a few feet within its -narrow, gloomy avenues.</p> - -<p>Into this the two plunged, Thandar in the lead, Nadara close behind -him, stepping exactly in his footprints—an involuntary concession to -training, for there was no need here either of deceiving a pursuer, -or taking advantage of easier going. The trail was well-marked and -smooth-beaten by many a padded paw.</p> - -<p>It wound erratically, following the line of least resistance—it -forked, and there were other trails which entered it from time to time, -or crossed it. The hundred feet it traversed seemed much more when -measured by the trail.</p> - -<p>The two had come almost to the forest side of the jungle when a sharp -turn in the path brought Thandar face to face with a huge, bear-like -man.</p> - -<p>The fellow wore a g-string of soft hide, and over one shoulder dangled -an old and filthy leopard skin—otherwise, he was naked. His thick, -coarse hair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> was matted low over his forehead. The balance of his face -was covered by a bushy red beard.</p> - -<p>At sight of Thandar his close set, little eyes burned with sudden -rage and cunning. From his thick lips burst a savage yell—it was the -preliminary challenge.</p> - -<p>Ordinarily a certain amount of vituperation and coarse insults must -pass between strangers meeting upon this inhospitable isle before they -fly at one another's throat.</p> - -<p>"I am Thurg," bellowed the brute. "I can kill you," and then followed a -volley of vulgar allusions to Thandar's possible origin, and the origin -of his ancestors.</p> - -<p>"The bad men," whispered Nadara.</p> - -<p>With her words there swept into the man's memory the scene upon the -face of the cliff that night a year before when, even in the throes of -cowardly terror, he had turned to do battle with a huge cave man that -the fellow might not prevent the escape of Nadara.</p> - -<p>He glanced at the right forearm of the creature who faced him. A smile -touched Thandar's lips—the arm was crooked as from the knitting of a -broken bone, poorly set.</p> - -<p>"You would kill Thandar—again?" he asked tauntingly, pointing toward -the deformed member.</p> - -<p>Then came recognition to the red-rimmed eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> of Thurg, as, with -another ferocious bellow, he launched himself toward the author of his -old hurt.</p> - -<p>Thandar met the charge with his short stick of pointed hard wood—his -"sword" he called it. It entered the fleshy part of Thurg's breast, -calling forth a howl of pain and a trickling stream of crimson.</p> - -<p>Thurg retreated. This was no way to fight. He was scandalized.</p> - -<p>For several minutes he stood glaring at his foe, screaming hideous -threats and insults at him. Then once more he charged.</p> - -<p>Again the painful point entered his body, but this time he pressed in -clutching madly at the goad and for a hold upon Thandar's body.</p> - -<p>The latter held Thurg at arm's length, prodding him with the -fire-hardened point of his wooden sword.</p> - -<p>The cave man's little brain wondered at the skill and prowess of this -stranger who had struck him a single blow with a cudgel many moons -before and then run like a rabbit to escape his wrath.</p> - -<p>Why was it that he did not run now? What strange change had taken place -in him? He had expected an easy victim when he finally had recognized -his foe; but instead he had met with brawn and ferocity equal to his -own and with a strange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> weapon, the like of which he never before had -seen.</p> - -<p>Thandar was puncturing him rapidly now, and Thurg was screaming in rage -and suffering. Presently he could endure it no longer. With a sudden -wrench he tore himself loose and ran, bellowing, through the jungle.</p> - -<p>Thandar did not pursue. It was enough that he had rid himself of his -enemy. He turned toward Nadara, smiling.</p> - -<p>"It will seem very tame in Boston," he said; but though she gave him -an answering smile, she did not understand, for to her Boston was but -another land of primeval forests, and dense jungles; of hairy, battling -men, and fierce beasts.</p> - -<p>At the edge of the forest they came again upon Thurg, but this time he -was surrounded by a score of his burly tribesmen. Thandar knew better -than to pit himself against so many.</p> - -<p>Thurg came rushing down upon them, his fellows at his heels. In loud -tones he screamed anew his challenge, and the beasts behind him took it -up until the forest echoed to their hideous bellowing.</p> - -<p>He had seen Nadara as he had battled with Thandar, and recognized her -as the girl he had desired a year before—the girl whom this stranger -had robbed him of.</p> - -<p>Now he was determined to wreak vengeance on the man and at the same -time recapture the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara turned back into the jungle where but a single enemy -could attack them at a time in the narrow trails. Here they managed to -elude pursuit for several hours, coming again into the forest nearly a -mile below the beach where the <i>Priscilla</i> had lain at anchor.</p> - -<p>Thurg and his fellows had apparently given up the chase—they had -neither seen nor heard aught of them for some time. Now the two -hastened back through the wood to reach a point on the shore opposite -the yacht.</p> - -<p>At last they came in sight of the harbor. Thandar halted. A look of -horror and disappointment supplanted the expression of pleasurable -anticipation that had lighted his countenance—the yacht was not there.</p> - -<p>A mile out they discerned her, steaming rapidly north.</p> - -<p>Thandar ran to the beach. He tore the black panther's hide from his -shoulders, waving it frantically above his head, the while he shouted -in futile endeavor to attract attention from the dwindling craft.</p> - -<p>Then, quite suddenly, he collapsed upon the beach, burying his face in -his hands.</p> - -<p>Presently Nadara crept close to his side. Her soft arms encircled his -shoulders as she drew his cheek close to hers in an attempt to comfort -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Is it so terrible," she asked, "to be left here alone with your -Nadara?"</p> - -<p>"It is not that," he answered. "If you were mine I should not care so -much, but you cannot be mine until we have reached civilization and -you have been made mine in accordance with the laws and customs of -civilized men. And now who knows when another ship may come—if ever -another will come?"</p> - -<p>"But I am yours, Thandar," insisted the girl. "You are my man—you -have told me that you love me, and I have replied that I would be your -mate—who can give us to each other better than we can give ourselves?"</p> - -<p>He tried, as best he could, to explain to her the marriage customs and -ceremonies of his own world, but she found it difficult to understand -how it might be that a stranger whom neither might possibly ever have -seen before could make it right for her to love her Thandar, or that it -should be wrong for her to love him without the stranger's permission.</p> - -<p>To Thandar the future looked most black and hopeless. With his sudden -determination to take Nadara back to his own people he had been -overwhelmed with a mad yearning for home.</p> - -<p>He realized that his past apathy to the idea of returning to Boston had -been due solely to recol<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>lection of Boston as he had known it—Boston -without Nadara; but now that she was to have gone back with him Boston -seemed the most desirable spot in the world.</p> - -<p>As he sat pondering the unfortunate happenings that had so delayed them -that the yacht had sailed before they reached the shore, he also cast -about for some plan to mitigate their disappointment.</p> - -<p>To live forever upon this savage island did not seem such an appalling -thing as it had a year before—but then he had not realized his love -for the wild young creature at his side. Ah, if she could but be made -his wife then his exile here would be a happy rather than a doleful lot.</p> - -<p>What if he had been born here too? With the thought came a new idea -that seemed to offer an avenue from his dilemma. Had he, too, been -native born how would he have wed Nadara?</p> - -<p>Why through the ceremony of their own people, of course. And if men and -women were thus wed here, living together in faithfulness throughout -their lives, what more sacred a union could civilization offer?</p> - -<p>He sprang to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Come, Nadara!" he cried. "We shall return to your people, and there -you shall become my wife."</p> - -<p>Nadara was puzzled, but she made no comment; content simply to leave -the future to her lord and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> master; to do whatever would bring Thandar -the greatest happiness.</p> - -<p>The return to the dwellings of Nadara's people occupied three -never-to-be-forgotten days.</p> - -<p>How different this journey by comparison with that of a year since, -when the cave girl had been leading the terror-stricken Waldo Emerson -in flight from the bad men toward, to him, an equally horrible fate at -the hands of Korth and Flatfoot!</p> - -<p>Then the forest glades echoed to the pads of fierce beasts and the -stealthy passage of naked, human horrors. No twig snapped that did not -portend instant and terrifying death.</p> - -<p>Now Korth and Flatfoot were dead at the hands of the metamorphosed -Waldo. The racking cough was gone. He had encountered the bad men and -others like them and come away with honors. Even Nagoola, the sleek, -black devil-cat of the hideous nights, no longer sent the slightest -tremor through the rehabilitated nerves.</p> - -<p>Did not Thandar wear Nagoola's pelt about his shoulder and loins—a -pelt that he had taken in hand to hand encounter with the dread beast?</p> - -<p>Slowly they walked beneath the shade of giant trees, beside pleasant -streams, or, again, across open valleys where the grass grew knee high -and countless, perfumed wild flowers opened a pathway before their -naked feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> - -<p>At night they slept where night found them. Sometimes in the deserted -lair of a wild beast, or again perched among the branches of a -spreading tree where parallel branches permitted the construction of -rude platforms.</p> - -<p>And Thandar was always most solicitous to see that Nadara's couch was -of the softest grasses and that his own lay at a little distance from -hers and in a position where he might best protect her from prowling -beasts.</p> - -<p>Again was Nadara puzzled, but still she made no comment.</p> - -<p>Finally they came to her village.</p> - -<p>Several of the younger men came forth to meet them; but when they saw -that the man was he who had slain Korth they bridled their truculence, -all but one, Big Fist, who had assumed the role of king since Flatfoot -had left.</p> - -<p>"I can kill you," he announced by way of greeting, "for I am Big Fist, -and until Flatfoot returns I am king—and maybe afterward, for some day -I shall kill Flatfoot."</p> - -<p>"I do not wish to fight you," replied Thandar. "Already have I killed -Korth, and Flatfoot will return no more, for Flatfoot I have killed -also. And I can kill Big Fist, but what is the use? Why should we -fight? Let us be friends, for we must live together, and if we do not -kill one another there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> will be more of us to meet the bad men, should -they come, and kill them."</p> - -<p>When Big Fist heard that Flatfoot was dead and by the hand of this -stranger he pined less to measure his strength with that of the -newcomer. He saw the knothole that the other offered, and promptly he -sought to crawl through it, but with honor.</p> - -<p>"Very well," he said, "I shall not kill you—you need not be afraid. -But you must know that I am king, and do as I say that you shall do."</p> - -<p>"'Afraid,'" Thandar laughed. "You may be king," he said, "but as for -doing what you say—" and again he laughed.</p> - -<p>It was a very different Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones from the thing that -the sea had spewed up twelve months before.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIb" id="CHAPTER_IIb">CHAPTER II</a></h2> - -<p class="center">KING THANDAR</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> first thing that Thandar did after he entered the village was to -seek out Nadara's father.</p> - -<p>They found the old man in the poorest and least protected cave in the -cliff side, exposed to the attack of the first prowling carnivore, or -skulking foeman.</p> - -<p>He was sick, and there was none to care for him; but he did not -complain. That was the way of his people. When a man became too old -to be of service to the community it were better that he died, and so -they did nothing to delay the inevitable. When one became an absolute -burden upon his fellows it was customary to hasten the end—a carefully -delivered blow with a heavy rock was calculated quickly to relieve the -burdens of the community and the suffering of the invalid.</p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara came in and sat down beside him. The old fellow -seemed glad to see them.</p> - -<p>"I am Thandar," said the young man. "I wish to take your daughter as my -mate."</p> - -<p>The old man looked at him questioningly for a moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You have killed Korth and Flatfoot—who is to prevent you from taking -Nadara?"</p> - -<p>"I wish to be joined to her with your permission and in accordance with -the marriage ceremonies of your people," said Thandar.</p> - -<p>The old man shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I do not understand you," he replied at last. "There are several fine -caves that are not occupied—if you wish a better one you have but to -slay the present occupants if they do not get out when you tell them -to—but I think they will get out when the slayer of Korth and Flatfoot -tells them to."</p> - -<p>"I am not worried about a cave," said Thandar. "Tell me how men take -their wives among you."</p> - -<p>"If they do not come with us willingly we take them by the hair and -drag them with us," replied Nadara's father. "My mate would not come -with me," he continued, "and even after I had caught her and dragged -her to my cave she broke away and fled from me, but again I overhauled -her, for when I was young none could run more swiftly, and this time I -did what I should have done at first—I beat her upon the head until -she went to sleep. When she awoke she was in my own cave, and it was -night, and she did not try to ran away any more."</p> - -<p>For a long time Thandar sat in thought. Presently he spoke addressing -Nadara.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> - -<p>"In my country we do not take our wives in any such way, nor shall I -take you thus. We must be married properly, according to the customs -and laws of civilization."</p> - -<p>Nadara made no reply. To her it seemed that Thandar must care very -little for her—that was about the only explanation she could put upon -his strange behavior. It made her sad. And then the other women would -laugh at her—of that she was quite certain, and that, too, made her -feel very badly—they would see that Thandar did not want her.</p> - -<p>The old man, lying upon his scant bed of matted, filthy grasses, had -heard the conversation. He was as much at sea as Nadara. At last he -spoke—very feebly now, for rapidly he was nearing dissolution.</p> - -<p>"I am a very old man," he said to Thandar. "I have not long to live. -Before I die I should like to know that Nadara has a mate who will -protect her. I love her, though—" He hesitated.</p> - -<p>"Though what?" asked Thandar.</p> - -<p>"I have never told," whispered the old fellow. "My mate would not let -me, but now that I am about to die it can do no harm. Nadara is not my -daughter."</p> - -<p>The girl sprang to her feet.</p> - -<p>"Not your daughter? Then who am I?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I do not know who you are, except that you are not even of my people. -All that I know I will tell you now before I die. Come close, for my -voice is dying faster than my body."</p> - -<p>The young man and the girl came nearer to his side, and squatting there -leaned close that they might catch each faintly articulated syllable.</p> - -<p>"My mate and I," commenced the old man, "were childless, though many -moons had passed since I took her to my cave. She wanted a little one, -for thus only may women have aught upon which to lavish their love.</p> - -<p>"We had been hunting together for several days alone and far from the -village, for I was a great hunter when I was young—no greater ever -lived among our people.</p> - -<p>"And one day we came down to the great water, and there, a short -distance from the shore we saw a strange thing that floated upon the -surface of the water, and when it was blown closer to us we saw that -it was hollow and that in it were two people—a man and a woman. Both -appeared to be dead.</p> - -<p>"Finally I waded out to meet the thing, dragging it to shore, and there -sure enough was a man and a woman, and the man was dead—quite dead. He -must have been dead for a long time; but the woman was not dead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - -<p>"She was very fair though her eyes and hair were black. We carried her -ashore, and that night a little girl was born to her, but the woman -died before morning.</p> - -<p>"We put her back into the strange thing that had brought her—she and -the dead man who had come with her—and shoved them off upon the great -water, where the breeze, which had changed over night, together with -the water which runs away from the land twice each day carried them out -of sight, nor ever did we see them again.</p> - -<p>"But before we sent them off my mate took from the body of the woman -her strange coverings and a little bag of skin which contained many -sparkling stones of different colors and metals of yellow and white -made into things the purposes of which we could not guess.</p> - -<p>"It was evident that the woman had come from a strange land, for she -and all her belongings were unlike anything that either of us ever had -seen before. She herself was different as Nadara is different—Nadara -looks as her mother looked, for Nadara is the little babe that was born -that night.</p> - -<p>"We brought her back to our people after another moon, saying that she -was born to my mate; but there was one woman who knew better, for it -seemed that she had seen us when we found the boat, having been running -away from a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> who wanted her as his mate.</p> - -<p>"But my mate did not want anyone to say that Nadara was not hers, for -it is a great disgrace, as you well know, for a woman to be barren, and -so she several times nearly killed this woman, who knew the truth, to -keep her from telling it to the whole village.</p> - -<p>"But I love Nadara as well as though she had been my own, and so I -should like to see her well mated before I die."</p> - -<p>Thandar had gone white during the narration of the story of Nadara's -birth. He could scarce restrain an impulse to go upon his knees and -thank his God that he had harked to the call of his civilized training -rather than have given in to the easier way, the way these primitive, -beast-like people offered. Providence, he thought, must indeed have -sent him here to rescue her.</p> - -<p>The old man, turning upon his rough pallet, fastened his sunken eyes -questioningly upon Thandar. Nadara, too, with parted lips waited for -him to speak. The old man gasped for breath—there was a strange -rattling sound in his throat.</p> - -<p>Thandar leaned above him, raising his head and shoulders slightly. The -young man never had heard that sound before, but now that he heard it -he needed no interpreter.</p> - -<p>The locust, rubbing his legs along his wings,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> startles the uninitiated -into the belief that a hidden rattler lurks in the pathway; but when -the great diamond back breaks forth in warning none mistakes him for a -locust.</p> - -<p>And so is it with the death rattle in the human throat.</p> - -<p>Thandar knew that it was the end. He saw the old man's mighty effort to -push back the grim reaper that he might speak once more. In the dying -eyes were a question and a plea. Thandar could not misunderstand.</p> - -<p>He reached forward and took Nadara's hand.</p> - -<p>"In my own land we shall be mated," he said. "None other shall wed with -Nadara, and as proof that she is Thandar's she shall wear this always," -and from his finger he slipped a splendid solitaire to the third finger -of Nadara's left hand.</p> - -<p>The old man saw. A look of relief and contentment that was almost a -smile settled upon his features, as, with a gasping sigh, he sank -limply into Thandar's arms, dead.</p> - -<p>That afternoon several of the younger men carried the body of Nadara's -foster father to the top of the cliff, depositing it about half a mile -from the caves. There was no ceremony. In it, though, Waldo Emerson saw -what might have been the first human funeral cortege—simple, sensible -and utilitarian—from which the human race has retro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>graded to the -ostentatious, ridiculous, pestilent burials of present day civilization.</p> - -<p>The young men, acting under Big Fist's orders, carried the worthless -husk to a safe distance from the caves, leaving it there to the rapid -disintegration provided by the beasts and birds of prey.</p> - -<p>Nadara wept, silently. An elderly lady with a single tooth, espying -her, moaned in sympathy. Presently other females, attracted by the -moaning, joined them, and, becoming affected by the strange hysteria -to which womankind is heir, mingled their moans with those of the -toothless one.</p> - -<p>Excited by their own noise they soon were shrieking and screaming in -hideous chorus. Then came Big Fist and others of the men. The din -annoyed them. They set upon the mourners with their fists and teeth -scattering them in all directions. Thus ended the festivities.</p> - -<p>Or would have had not Big Fist made the fatal mistake of launching a -blow at Nadara. Thandar had been standing nearby looking with wonder -upon the strange scene.</p> - -<p>He had noted the quiet grief of the young girl—real grief; and he had -witnessed the hysterical variety of the "mourners"—not sham grief. -Precisely, because they made no pretense to grief—it was noise to -which they aspired. And as the fiendish din had set his own nerves on -edge he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> wondered not at all that Big Fist and the other men should -take steps to quell the tumult.</p> - -<p>The female half-brutes were theirs and Waldo Emerson had reverted -sufficiently to the primitive to feel no incentive to interfere. But -Nadara was not theirs—she was not of them, and even had she not -belonged to him the American would have felt bound to stand between her -and the savage creatures among whom fate had cast her.</p> - -<p>That she did belong to him, however, sent him hot with the blood lust -of the killer as he sprang to intercept the rush of Big Fist toward her.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had learned nothing of the manly art of -self-defense in that other life that had been so zealously guarded from -the rude and vulgar. This was unfortunate since it would have given him -a great advantage over the man-brute. A single well-timed swing to that -unguarded chin would have ended hostilities at once; but of hooks and -jabs and jolts, scientific, Thandar knew nothing.</p> - -<p>Except for his crude weapons he was as primeval in battle as his -original anthropoid progenitor, and quite as often as not he forgot all -about his sword, his knife, his bow and arrows and his spear when, half -stooped, he crouched to meet the charge of a foeman.</p> - -<p>Now he sprang for Big Fist's hairy throat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> There was a sullen thud -as the two bodies met, and then, rolling, biting and tearing, they -struggled hither and thither upon the rocky ground at the base of the -cliff.</p> - -<p>The other men desisted from their attack upon the women. The women -ceased their vocal mourning. In a little circle they formed about the -contestants—a circle which moved this way and that as the fighters -moved, keeping them always in the center.</p> - -<p>Nadara forced her way through them to the front. She wished to be near -Thandar. In her hand she carried a jagged bit of granite—one could -never tell.</p> - -<p>Big Fist was burly—mountainous—but Thandar was muscled like Nagoola, -the black panther. His movements were all grace and ease, but oh, so -irresistible. A sudden and unexpected blow upon the side of Big Fist's -head bent that bullet-shaped thing sidewards with a jerk that almost -dislocated the neck.</p> - -<p>Big Fist shrieked with the pain of it. Thandar, delighted by the result -of the accidental blow, repeated it. Big Fist bellowed—agonized. -He made a last supreme effort to close with his agile foeman, and -succeeded. His teeth sought Thandar's throat, but the act brought his -own jugular close to Thandar's jaws.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> - -<p>The strong white teeth of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones closed upon it as -naturally as though no countless ages had rolled their snail-like way -between himself and the last of his progenitors to bury bloody fangs in -the soft flesh of an antagonist.</p> - -<p>Wasted ages! fleeing from the primitive and the brute toward the -neoteric and the human—in a brief instant your labors are undone, the -veneer of eons crumbles in the heat of some pristine passion revealing -again naked and unashamed, the primitive and the brute.</p> - -<p>Big Fist, white now from terror at impending death, struggled to be -free. Thandar buried his teeth more deeply. There was a sudden rush of -spurting blood that choked him. Big Fist relaxed, inert.</p> - -<p>Thandar, drenched crimson, rose to his feet. The huge body on the -ground before him floundered spasmodically once or twice as the life -blood gushed from the severed jugular. The eyes rolled up and set, -there was a final twitch and Big Fist was dead.</p> - -<p>Thandar turned toward the circle of interested spectators. He singled -out a burly quartet.</p> - -<p>"Bear Big Fist to the cliff top," he commanded. "When you return we -shall choose a king."</p> - -<p>The men did as they were bid. They did not at all understand what -Thandar meant by choosing a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> king. Having slain Big Fist, Thandar was -king, unless some ambitious one desired to dispute his right to reign. -But all had seen him slay Big Fist, and all knew that he had killed -Korth and Flatfoot, so who was there would dare question his kingship?</p> - -<p>When they had come back to the village Thandar gathered them beneath a -great tree that grew close to the base of the cliff. Here they squatted -upon their haunches in a rough circle. Behind them stood the women and -children, wide-eyed and curious.</p> - -<p>"Let us choose a king," said Thandar, when all had come.</p> - -<p>There was a long silence, then one of the older men spoke.</p> - -<p>"I am an old man. I have seen many kings. They come by killing. They go -by killing. Thandar has killed two kings. Now he is king. Who wishes to -kill Thandar and become king?"</p> - -<p>There was no answer.</p> - -<p>The old man arose.</p> - -<p>"It was foolish to come here to choose a king," he said, "when a king -we already have."</p> - -<p>"Wait," commanded Thandar. "Let us choose a king properly. Because I -have killed Flatfoot and Big Fist does not prove that I can make a good -king. Was Flatfoot a good king?"</p> - -<p>"He was a bad man," replied the ancient one.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Has a good man ever been king?" asked Thandar.</p> - -<p>The old fellow puckered his brow in thought.</p> - -<p>"Not for a long time," he said.</p> - -<p>"That is because you always permit a bully and a brute to rule you," -said Thandar. "That is not the proper way to choose a king. Rather you -should come together as we are come, and among you talk over the needs -of the tribe and when you are decided as to what measures are best for -the welfare of the members of the tribe then should you select the man -best fitted to carry out your plans. That is a better way to choose a -king."</p> - -<p>The old man laughed.</p> - -<p>"And then," he said, "would come a Big Fist or a Flatfoot and slay our -king that he might be king in his place."</p> - -<p>"Have you ever seen a man who could slay all the other men of the tribe -at the same time?"</p> - -<p>The old man looked puzzled.</p> - -<p>"That is my answer to your argument," said Thandar. "Those who choose -the king can protect him from his enemies. So long as he is a good king -they should do so, but when he becomes a bad king they can then select -another, and if the bad king refuses to obey the new it would be an -easy matter for several men to kill him or drive him away, no matter -how mighty a fighter he might be."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - -<p>Several of the men nodded understandingly.</p> - -<p>"We had not thought of that," they said. "Thandar is indeed wise."</p> - -<p>"So now," continued the American, "let us choose a king whom the -majority of us want, and then so long as he is a good king the majority -of us must fight for him and protect him. Let us choose a man whom we -know to be a good man regardless of his ability to kill his fellows, -for if he has the majority of the tribe to fight for him what need -will he have to fight for himself? What we want is a wise man—one who -can lead the tribe to fertile lands and good hunting, and in times of -battle direct the fighting intelligently. Flatfoot and Big Fist had not -brains enough between them to do aught but steal the mates of other -men. Such should not be the business of kings. Your king should protect -your mates from such as Flatfoot, and he should punish those who would -steal them."</p> - -<p>"But how may he do these things?" asked a young man, "if he is not the -best fighter in the tribe?"</p> - -<p>"Have I not shown you how?" asked Thandar. "We who make him king shall -be his fighters—he will not need to fight with his own hands."</p> - -<p>Again there was a long silence. Then the old man spoke again.</p> - -<p>"There is wisdom in the talk of Thandar. Let<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> us choose a king who will -have to be good to us if he wishes to remain king. It is very bad for -us to have a king whom we fear."</p> - -<p>"I, for one," said the young man who had previously spoken, "do not -care to be ruled by a king unless he is able to defeat me in battle. If -I can defeat him then I should be king."</p> - -<p>And so they took sides, but at last they compromised by selecting one -whom they knew to be wise and a great fighter as well. Thus they chose -Thandar king.</p> - -<p>"Once each week," said the new king, "we shall gather here and talk -among ourselves of the things which are for the best good of the tribe, -and what seems best to the majority shall be done. The tribe will tell -the king what to do—the king will carry out the work. And all must -fight when the king says fight and all must work when the king says -work, for we shall all be fighting or working for the whole tribe, and -I, Thandar, your king, shall fight and work the hardest of you all."</p> - -<p>It was a new idea to them and placed the kingship in a totally -different light from any by which they had previously viewed it. That -it would take a long time for them to really absorb the idea Thandar -knew, and he was glad that in the meantime they had a king who could -command their respect according to their former standards.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> - -<p>And he smiled when he thought of the change that had taken place in him -since first he had sat trembling, weeping and coughing upon the lonely -shore before the terrifying forest.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIIb" id="CHAPTER_IIIb">CHAPTER III</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE GREAT NAGOOLA</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">aldo Emerson Smith-Jones</span> had gladly embraced the opportunity which -chance had offered him to assume the kingship of the little tribe of -troglodytes. First, because his position would assure Nadara greater -safety, and, second, because of the opening it would give him for the -exercise of his new-found initiative.</p> - -<p>Where before he had shrunk from responsibility he now found himself -anxious to assume it. He longed to do, where formerly he had been -content to but read of the accomplishments of others.</p> - -<p>To his chagrin, however, he soon discovered that the classical -education to which his earlier life had been devoted under the guidance -of a fond and ultra-cultured mother was to prove a most inadequate -foundation upon which to build a practical scheme of life for himself -and his people.</p> - -<p>He wished to teach his tribe to construct permanent and comfortable -houses, but he could not recollect any practical hints on carpentry -that he had obtained from Ovid.</p> - -<p>His people lived by hunting small rodents, robbing birds' nests, and -gathering wild fruit and vege<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>tables. Thandar desired to institute a -scheme of community farming, but the works of the Cyclic Poets, with -which he was quite familiar, seemed to offer little of value along -agricultural lines. He regretted that he had not matriculated at an -agricultural college west of the Alleghanies rather than at Harvard.</p> - -<p>However, he determined to do the best he could with the meager -knowledge he possessed of things practical—a knowledge so meager -that it consisted almost entirely of the bare definition of the word -agriculture.</p> - -<p>It was a germ, however, for it presupposed a knowledge of the results -that might be obtained through agriculture.</p> - -<p>So Thandar found himself a step ahead of the earliest of his -progenitors who had thought to plant purposely the seeds that nature -heretofore had distributed haphazard through the agencies of wind and -bird and beast; but only a step ahead.</p> - -<p>He realized that he occupied a very remarkable position in the march -of ages. He had known and seen and benefited by all the accumulated -knowledge of ages of progression from the stone age to the twentieth -century, and now, suddenly, fate had snatched him back into the stone -age, or possibly a few eons farther back, only to show him that all -that he had from a knowledge of other men's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> knowledge was keen -dissatisfaction with the stone age.</p> - -<p>He had lived in houses of wood and brick and looked through windows -of glass. He had read in the light of gas and electricity, and he -even knew of candles; but he could not fashion the tools to build a -house, he could not have made a brick to have saved his life, glass had -suddenly become one of the wonders of the world to him, and as for gas -and electricity and candles they had become one with the mystery of the -Sphinx.</p> - -<p>He could write verse in excellent Greek, but he was no longer proud of -that fact. He would much rather that he had been able to tan a hide, -or make fire without matches. Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had a year -ago been exceedingly proud of his intellect and his learning, but for -a year his ego had been shrinking until now he felt himself the most -pitiful ignoramus on earth. "Criminally ignorant," he said to Nadara, -"for I have thrown away the opportunities of a lifetime devoted to the -accumulation of useless erudition when I might have been profiting by -the practical knowledge which has dragged the world from the black bit -of barbarism to the light of modern achievement—I might not only have -done this but, myself, added something to the glory and welfare of -mankind. I am no good, Nadara—worse than useless."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> - -<p>The girl touched his strong brown hand caressingly, looking proudly -into his eyes.</p> - -<p>"To me you are very wonderful, Thandar," she said. "With your own hands -you slew Nagoola, the most terrible beast in the world, and Korth, and -Flatfoot, and Big Fist lie dead beneath the vultures because of your -might—single-handed you killed them all; three awesome men. No, my -Thandar is greater than all other men."</p> - -<p>Nor could Waldo Emerson repress the swelling tide of pride that surged -through him as the girl he loved recounted his exploits. No longer did -he think of his achievements as "vulgar physical prowess." The old -Waldo Emerson, whose temperature had risen regularly at three o'clock -each afternoon, whose pitifully skinny body had been racked by coughing -continually, whose eyes had been terror filled by day and by night at -the rustling of dry leaves, was dead.</p> - -<p>In his place stood a great, full blooded man, brown skinned and -steel thewed; fearless, self-reliant, almost brutal in his pride of -power—Thandar, the cave man.</p> - -<p>The months that passed as Thandar led his people from one honeycombed -cliff to another as he sought a fitting place for a permanent village -were filled with happiness for Nadara and the king.</p> - -<p>The girl's happiness was slightly alloyed by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> fact that Thandar -failed to claim her as his own. She could not yet quite understand the -ethics which separated them. Thandar tried repeatedly to explain to her -that some day they were to return to his own world, and that that world -would not accept her unless she had been joined to him according to the -rites and ceremonies which it had originated.</p> - -<p>"Will this marriage ceremony of which you tell me make you love me -more?" asked Nadara.</p> - -<p>Thandar laughed and took her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"I could not love you more," he replied.</p> - -<p>"Then of what good is it?"</p> - -<p>Thandar shook his head.</p> - -<p>"It is difficult to explain," he said, "especially to such a lovable -little pagan as my Nadara. You must be satisfied to know—accept my -word for it—that it is because I love you that we must wait."</p> - -<p>Now it was the girl's turn to shake her head.</p> - -<p>"I cannot understand," she said. "My people take their mates as they -will and they are satisfied and everybody is satisfied and all is well; -but their king, who may mate as he chooses, waits until a man whom he -does not know and who lives across the great water where we may never -go, gives him permission to mate with one who loves him—with one whom -he <i>says</i> he loves."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thandar noticed the emphasis which Nadara put upon the word "says."</p> - -<p>"Some day," he said, "when we have reached my world you will know that -I was right, and you will thank me. Until then, Nadara, you must trust -me, and," he added half to himself, "God knows I have earned your trust -even if you do not know it."</p> - -<p>And so Nadara made believe that she was satisfied but in her heart of -hearts she still feared that Thandar did not really love her, nor did -the half-veiled comments of the women add at all to her peace of mind.</p> - -<p>During all the time that Thandar was with her he had been teaching her -his language for he had set his heart upon taking her home, and he -wished her to be as well prepared for her introduction to Boston and -civilization as he could make her.</p> - -<p>Thandar's plan was to find a suitable location within sight of the sea -that he might always be upon the lookout for a ship. At last he found -such a place—a level meadow land upon a low plateau overlooking the -ocean.</p> - -<p>He had come upon it while he wandered alone several miles from the -temporary cliff dwellings the tribe was occupying. The soil, when he -dug into it, he found to be rich and black. There was timber upon one -side and upon the other overhanging cliffs of soft limestone.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was Thandar's plan to build a village partly of logs against the -face of the cliff, burrowing inward behind the dwellings for such -additional apartments as each family might require.</p> - -<p>The caves alone would have proved sufficient shelter, but the man hoped -by compelling his people to construct a portion of each dwelling of -logs to engender within each family a certain feeling of ownership and -pride in personal possession as would make it less easy for them to -give up their abodes than in the past, when it had been necessary but -to move to another cliff to find caves equally as comfortable as those -which they so easily abandoned.</p> - -<p>In other words he hoped to give them a word which their vocabulary had -never held—home.</p> - -<p>Whether or not he would have succeeded we may never know, for fate -stepped in at the last moment to alter with a single stroke his every -plan and aspiration.</p> - -<p>As he returned to his people that afternoon filled with the enthusiasm -of his hopes a burly, hairy figure crept warily after him. As Thandar -emerged from the brush which reaches close to the cliffs where the -temporary encampment had been made Nadara, watching for him, ran -forward to meet him.</p> - -<p>The creature upon Thandar's trail halted at the edge of the bush. As -his close-set eyes fell upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> the girl his flabby lips vibrated to the -quick intaking of his breath and his red lids half closed in cunning -and desire.</p> - -<p>For a few moments he watched the man and the maid as they turned and -walked slowly toward the cliffs, the arm of the former about the brown -shoulders of the latter. Then he too turned and melted into the tangled -branches behind him.</p> - -<p>That evening Thandar gathered the members of the tribe about him at -the foot of the cliff. They sat around a great fire while Thandar, -their king, explained to them in minutest detail the future that he had -mapped out for them.</p> - -<p>Some of the old men shook their heads, for here was an unheard of -thing—a change from the accustomed ordering of their lives—and they -were loath to change regardless of the benefits which might accrue.</p> - -<p>But for the most part the people welcomed the idea of comfortable -and permanent habitations, though their anticipatory joy, Thandar -reasoned, was due largely to a childish eagerness for something new and -different—whether their enthusiasm would survive the additional labors -which the new life was sure to entail was another question.</p> - -<p>So Thandar laid down the new laws that were to guide his people -thereafter. The men were to make all implements and weapons, for he -had already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> taught them to use arrows and spears. The women were to -keep all edged tools sharp. The men were to hew the logs and build the -houses—the women make garments, cook and keep the houses in order.</p> - -<p>The men were to turn up the soil, the women were to sow the seeds, and -cultivate the growing crops, which, later, all hands must turn to and -harvest.</p> - -<p>The hunting and the fighting devolved upon the men, but the fighting -must be confined to enemies of the tribe. A man who killed another -member of the tribe except in defense of his home or his own person was -to suffer death.</p> - -<p>Other laws he made—good laws—which even these primitive people could -see were good. It was quite late when the last of them crawled into -his comfortless cave to dream of large, airy rooms built of the trees -of the forest; of good food in plenty just before the rains as well as -after; of security from the periodic raids of the "bad men."</p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara were the last to go. Together they sat upon a -narrow ledge before Nadara's cave, the moonlight falling upon their -glistening, naked shoulders, while they talked and dreamed together of -the future.</p> - -<p>Thandar had been talking of the wonderful plans which seemed to fill -his whole mind—of the future of the tribe—of the great strides -toward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> civilization they could make in a few brief years if they could -but be made to follow the simple plans he had in mind.</p> - -<p>"Why," he said, "in ten years they should have bridged a gulf that it -must have required ages for our ancestors to span."</p> - -<p>"And you are planning ten years ahead, Thandar," she asked, "when only -yesterday you were saying that once beside the sea you hoped it would -be but a short time before we might sight a passing vessel that would -bear us away to your civilization? Must we wait ten years, Thandar?"</p> - -<p>"I am planning for them," he replied. "We may not be here to witness -the changes; but I wish to start them upon the road, and when we go I -shall see to it that a king is chosen in my place who has the courage -and the desire to carry out my plans.</p> - -<p>"Yet," he added, musingly, "it would be splendid could we but return -to complete our work. Never, Nadara, have I performed a single -constructive act for the benefit of my fellow man, but now I see an -opportunity to do something, however small it may seem, to—what was -that?"</p> - -<p>A low rumbling muttered threateningly out of the west. Deep and ominous -it sounded, yet so low that it failed to awaken any member of the -sleeping tribe.</p> - -<p>Before either could again speak there came a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> slight trembling of the -earth beneath them, scarcely sufficient to have been noticeable had it -not been preceded by the distant grumbling of the earth's bowels.</p> - -<p>The two upon the moonlit ledge came to their feet, and Nadara drew -close to Thandar, the man's arm encircling her shoulders protectingly.</p> - -<p>"The Great Nagoola," she whispered. "Again he seeks to escape."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" asked Thandar. "It is an earthquake—distant and -quite harmless to us."</p> - -<p>"No, it is The Great Nagoola," insisted Nadara. "Long time ago, when -our fathers' fathers were yet unborn, The Great Nagoola roamed the land -devouring all that chanced to come in his way—men, beasts, birds, -everything.</p> - -<p>"One day my people came upon him sleeping in a deep gorge between two -mountains. They were mighty men in those days, and when they saw their -great enemy asleep there in the gorge half of them went upon one side -and half upon the other, and they pushed the two mountains over into -the gorge upon the sleeping beast, imprisoning him there.</p> - -<p>"It is all true, for my mother had it from her mother, who in turn was -told it by her mother—thus has it been handed down truthfully since it -happened long time ago.</p> - -<p>"And even to this day is occasionally heard the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> growling of The Great -Nagoola in his anger, and the earth shakes and trembles as he strives -far, far beneath to shake the mountains from him and escape. Did you -not hear his voice and feel the ground rock?"</p> - -<p>Thandar laughed.</p> - -<p>"Well, we are quite safe then," he cried, "for with two mountains piled -upon him he cannot escape."</p> - -<p>"Who knows?" asked Nadara. "He is huge—as huge, himself, as a small -mountain. Some day, they say, he will escape, and then naught will -pacify his rage until he has destroyed every living creature upon the -land."</p> - -<p>"Do not worry, little one," said Thandar. "The Great Nagoola will -have to grumble louder and struggle more fiercely before ever he may -dislodge the two mountains. Even now he is quiet again, so run to your -cave, sweetheart, nor bother your pretty head with useless worries—it -is time that all good people were asleep," and he stooped and kissed -her as she turned to go.</p> - -<p>For a moment she clung to him.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid, Thandar," she whispered. "Why, I do not know. I only know -that I am afraid, with a great fear that will not be quiet."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IVb" id="CHAPTER_IVb">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE BATTLE</p> - - -<p class="drop">E<span class="uppercase">arly</span> the following morning while several of the women and children -were at the river drawing water the balance of the tribe of Thandar was -startled into wakefulness by piercing shrieks from the direction the -water carriers had taken.</p> - -<p>Before the great, hairy men, led by the smooth-skinned Thandar, had -reached the foot of the cliff in their rush to the rescue of the women -several of the latter appeared at the edge of the forest, running -swiftly toward the caves.</p> - -<p>Mingled with their screams of terror were cries of: "The bad men! The -bad men!" But these were not needed to acquaint the rescuers with the -cause of the commotion, for at the heels of the women came Thurg and a -score of his vicious brutes. Little better than anthropoid apes were -they. Long armed, hairy, skulking monsters, whose close-set eyes and -retreating foreheads proclaimed more intimate propinquity to the higher -orders of brutes than to civilized man.</p> - -<p>Woe betide male or female who fell into their remorseless clutches, -since to the base passions, unrestrained, that mark the primordial they -were ad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>dicted to the foulest forms of cannibalism.</p> - -<p>In the past their raids upon their neighbors for meat and women had met -with but slight resistance—the terrified cave dwellers scampering to -the safety of their dizzy ledges from whence they might hurl stones and -roll boulders down to the confusion of any foe however ferocious.</p> - -<p>Always the bad men caught a few unwary victims before the safety of the -ledges could be attained, but this time there was a difference. Thurg -was delighted. The men were rushing downward to meet him—great indeed -would be the feast which should follow this day's fighting, for with -the men disposed of there would be but little difficulty in storming -the cliff and carrying off all the women and children, and as he -thought upon these things there floated in his little brain the image -of the beautiful girl he had watched come down the evening before from -the caves to meet the smooth-skinned warrior who twice now had bested -Thurg in battle.</p> - -<p>That Thandar's men might turn the tables upon him never for a moment -occurred to Thurg. Nor was there little wonder, since, mighty as were -the muscles of the cave men, they were weaklings by comparison with the -half-brutes of Thurg—only the smooth-skinned stranger troubled the -muddy mind of the near-man.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> - -<p>It puzzled him a little, though, to see the long slim sticks that the -enemy carried, and the little slivers in skin bags upon their backs, -and the strange curved branches whose ends were connected by slender -bits of gut. What were these things for!</p> - -<p>Soon he was to know—this and other things.</p> - -<p>Thandar's warriors did not rush upon Thurg and his brutes in a close -packed, yelling mob. Instead they trotted slowly forward in a long thin -line that stretched out parallel with the base of the cliff. In the -center, directly in front of the charging bad men, was Thandar, calling -directions to his people, first upon one hand and then upon the other.</p> - -<p>And in accordance with his commands the ends of the line began to -quicken the pace, so that quickly Thurg saw that there were men -before him, and men upon either hand, and now, at fifty feet, while -all were advancing cautiously, crouched for the final hand-to-hand -encounter, he saw the enemy slip each a sliver into the gut of the bent -branches—there was a sudden chorus of twangs, and Thurg felt a sharp -pain in his neck. Involuntarily he clapped his hand to the spot to find -one of the slivers sticking there, scarce an inch from his jugular.</p> - -<p>With a howl of rage he snatched the thing from him, and as he leaped -to the charge to punish these audacious mad-men he noted a dozen of -his hench<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>men plucking slivers from various portions of their bodies, -while two lay quite still upon the grass with just the ends of slivers -protruding from their breasts.</p> - -<p>The sight brought the beast-man to a momentary halt. He saw his fellows -charging in upon the foe—he saw another volley of slivers speed from -the bent branches. Down went another of his fighters, and then the -enemy cast aside their strange weapons at a shouted command from the -smooth-skinned one and grasping their long, slim sticks ran forward to -meet Thurg's people.</p> - -<p>Thurg smiled. It would soon be over now. He turned toward one who was -bearing down upon him—it was Thandar. Thurg crouched to meet the -charge. Rage, revenge, the lust for blood fired his bestial brain. With -his huge paws he would tear the puny stick from this creature's grasp, -and this time he would gain his hold upon that smooth throat. He licked -his lips. And then out of the corner of his eye he glanced to the right.</p> - -<p>What strange sight was this! His people flying? It was incredible! -And yet it was true. Growling and raging in pain and anger they were -running a gauntlet of fire-sharpened lances. Three lay dead. The others -were streaming blood as they fled before the relentless prodding devils -at their backs.</p> - -<p>It was enough for Thurg. He did not wait to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> close with Thandar. A -single howl of dismay broke from his flabby lips, and then he wheeled -and dashed for the wood. He was the last to pass through the rapidly -converging ends of Thandar's primitive battle line. He was running -so fast that, afterward, Nadara who was watching the battle from the -cliff-side insisted that his feet flew higher than his head at each -frantic leap.</p> - -<p>Thandar and his victorious army pursued the enemy through the wood for -a mile or more, then they returned, laughing and shouting, to receive -the plaudits of the old men, the women and the children.</p> - -<p>It was a happy day. There was feasting. And Thandar, having in mind -things he had read of savage races, improvised a dance in honor of the -victory.</p> - -<p>He knew little more of savage dances than his tribesmen did of the -two-step and the waltz; but he knew that dancing and song and play -marked in themselves a great step upward in the evolution of man from -the lower orders, and so he meant to teach these things to his people.</p> - -<p>A red flush spread to his temples as he thought of his dignified father -and his stately mother and with what horrified emotions they would view -him now could they but see him—naked but for a g-string and a panther -skin, moving with leaps and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> bounds, and now stately waltz steps in a -great circle, clapping his hands in time to his movements, while behind -him strung a score of lusty, naked warriors, mimicking his every antic -with the fidelity of apes.</p> - -<p>About them squatted the balance of the tribe more intensely interested -in this, the first ceremonial function of their lives, than with any -other occurrence that had ever befallen them. They, too, now clapped -their hands in time with the dancers.</p> - -<p>Nadara stood with parted lips and wide eyes watching the strange -scene. Within her it seemed that something was struggling for -expression—something that she must have known long, long -ago—something that she had forgotten but that she presently must -recall. With it came an insistent urge—her feet could scarce remain -quietly upon the ground, and great waves of melody and song welled into -her heart and throat, though what they were and what they meant she did -not know.</p> - -<p>She only knew that she was intensely excited and happy and that her -whole being seemed as light and airy as the soft wind that blew across -the gently swaying treetops of the forest.</p> - -<p>Now the dance was done. Thandar had led the warriors back to the feast. -In the center of the circle where the naked bodies of the men had -leaped and swirled to the clapping of many hands was an open space, -deserted. Into it Nadara ran,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> drawn by some subtile excitement of the -soul which she could not have fathomed had she tried—which she did not -try to fathom.</p> - -<p>Around her slim, graceful figure was draped the glossy, black pelt of -Nagoola—another trophy of the prowess of her man. It half concealed -but to accentuate the beauties of her form.</p> - -<p>With eyes half-closed she took a half dozen graceful, tentative steps. -Now the eyes of Thandar and several others were upon her, but she did -not see them. Suddenly, with outthrown arms, she commenced to dance, -bending her lithe body, swaying from side to side as she fell, with -graceful abandon, into steps and poses that seemed as natural to her as -repose.</p> - -<p>About the little circle she wove her simple yet intricate way, and now -every eye was upon her as every savage heart leaped in unison with her -shapely feet, rising and falling in harmony with her lithe, brown limbs.</p> - -<p>And of all the hearts that leaped, fastest leaped the heart of Thandar, -for he saw in the poetry of motion of the untutored girl the proof of -her birth-right—the truth of all that he had guessed of her origin -since her foster father had related the story of her birth upon his -death bed. None but a child of an age-old culture could possess this -inherent talent. Any moment he expected her lips to break<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> forth in -song, nor was he to be disappointed, for presently, as the circling -cave folk commenced to clap their palms in time to her steps, Nadara -lifted her voice in clear and bird-like notes—a worldless paean of -love and life and happiness.</p> - -<p>At last, exhausted, she paused, and as her eyes fell upon Thandar they -broke into a merry laugh.</p> - -<p>"The king is not the only one who can leap and play upon his feet," she -cried.</p> - -<p>Thandar came to the center of the circle and kneeling at her feet took -one of her hands in his and kissed it.</p> - -<p>"The king is only mortal and a man," he said. "It is no reproach that -he cannot equal the divine grace of a goddess. You are very wonderful, -my Nadara," he continued, "From loving you I am coming to worship you."</p> - -<p>And within the deep and silent wood another was stirred with mighty -emotions by the sight of the half-naked, graceful girl. It was Thurg, -the bad man, who had sneaked back alone to the edge of the forest that -he might seek an opportunity to be revenged upon Thandar and his people.</p> - -<p>Half formed in his evil brain had been a certain plan, which the sight -of Nadara, dancing in the firelight, had turned to concrete resolution.</p> - -<p>With the dancing and the feasting over, the tribe of Thandar betook -itself by ones and twos to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> rocky caves that they expected so soon -to desert for the more comfortable village which they were to build -under the direction of their king, to the east, beside the great water.</p> - -<p>At last all was still—the village slept. No sentry guarded their -slumbers, for Thandar, steeped in book learning, must needs add to his -stock of practical knowledge by bitter experience, and never yet had -the cause arisen for a night guard about his village.</p> - -<p>Having defeated Thurg and his people he thought that they would not -return again, and certainly not by night, for the people of this wild -island roamed seldom by night, having too much respect for the teeth -and talons of Nagoola to venture forth after darkness had settled upon -the grim forests and the lonely plains.</p> - -<p>But a tempest of uncontrolled emotions surged through the hairy breast -of Thurg. He forgot Nagoola. He thought only of revenge—revenge and -the black haired beauty who had so many times eluded him.</p> - -<p>And as he saw her dancing in the circle of hand-clapping tribesmen, in -the light of the brush wood fire, his desire for her became a veritable -frenzy.</p> - -<p>He could scarce restrain himself from rushing single-handed among his -foes and snatching the girl before their faces. However, caution came -to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> rescue, and so he waited, albeit impatiently, until the last of -the cave folk had retired to his cavern.</p> - -<p>He had seen into which Nadara had withdrawn—one that lay far up -the face of the steep cliff and directly above the cave occupied by -Thandar. The moon was overcast, the fire at the foot of the cliff had -died to glowing embers, all was wrapped in darkness and in shadow. Far -in the depths of the wood Nagoola coughed and cried. The weird sound -raised the coarse hair at the nape of Thurg's bull neck. He cast an -apprehensive backward glance, then, crouching low, he moved quickly and -silently across the clearing toward the base of the cliff.</p> - -<p>Flattened against a protruding boulder there he waited, listening, for -a moment. No sound broke the stillness of the sleeping village. None -had seen his approach—of that he was convinced.</p> - -<p>Carefully he began the ascent of the cliff face, made difficult by the -removal of the rough ladders that led from ledge to ledge by day, but -which were withdrawn with the retiring of the community to their dark -holes.</p> - -<p>But Thurg had dragged with him from the forest a slim sapling. This he -leaned against the face of the cliff. Its uptilted end just topped the -lowest ledge.</p> - -<p>Thurg was almost as large and quite as clumsy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> in appearance as a -gorilla, yet he was not as far removed from his true arboreal ancestors -as is the great simian, and so he accomplished in silence and with -evident ease what his great bulk might have seemed to have relegated to -the impossible.</p> - -<p>Like a huge cat he scrambled up the frail pole until his fingers -clutched the ledge edge above him. Ape-like he drew himself to a -squatting position there. Then he groped for the ladder that the cave -folk had drawn up from below.</p> - -<p>This he erected to the next ledge above. Thereafter the way was easy, -for the balance of the ledges were connected by steeply inclined trails -cut into the cliff face. This had been an innovation of Thandar's who -considered the rickety ladders not only a nuisance, but extremely -dangerous to life and limb, for scarce a day passed that some child or -woman did not receive a bad fall because of them.</p> - -<p>So Thurg, with Thandar's unintentional aid, came easily to the mouth of -Nadara's cave.</p> - -<p>Great had been the temptation as he passed the cave below to enter and -slay his enemy. Never had Thurg so hated any creature as he hated this -smooth-skinned interloper—with all the venom of his mean soul he hated -him.</p> - -<p>Now he stooped, listening, just beside the entrance to the cave. He -could hear the regular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> breathing of the girl within. The hot blood -surged through his brute veins. His huge paws opened and closed -spasmodically. His breath sucked hot between his flabby lips.</p> - -<p>Just beneath him Thandar lay dreaming. He saw a wonderful vision of a -beautiful nymph dancing in the firelight. In a circle about her sat the -Smith-Joneses, the Percy Standishes, the Livingston-Brownes, the Quincy -Adams-Cootses, and a hundred more equally aristocratic families of -Boston.</p> - -<p>It did not seem strange to Thandar that there was not enough clothing -among the entire assemblage to have recently draped the Laocoön. His -father wore a becoming loin cloth, while the stately Mrs. John Alden -Smith-Jones, his mother, was tastefully arrayed in a scant robe of the -skins of small rodents sewn together with bits of gut.</p> - -<p>As the nymph danced the audience kept time to her steps with loudly -clapping palms, and when she was done they approached her one by one, -crawling upon their hands and knees, and kissed her hand.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he saw that the nymph was Nadara, and as he sprang forward to -claim her a large man with a coarse matted beard, a slanted forehead, -and close-set eyes, leaped out from among the others, seized Nadara and -fled with her toward a waiting trolley car.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> - -<p>He recognized the man as Thurg, and even in his dream it seemed rather -incongruous that he should be clothed in well-fitting evening clothes.</p> - -<p>Nadara screamed once, and the scream roused Thandar from his dream. -Raising upon one elbow he looked toward the entrance of his cave. The -recollection of the dream swept back into his memory. With a little -sigh of relief that it had been but a dream, he settled back once more -upon his bed of grasses, and soon was wrapped in dreamless slumber.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Vb" id="CHAPTER_Vb">CHAPTER V</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE ABDUCTION OF NADARA</p> - - -<p class="drop">C<span class="uppercase">autiously </span>Thurg crawled into the cave where Nadara slept upon her -couch of soft grasses, wrapped in the glossy pelt of Nagoola, the black -panther.</p> - -<p>The hulking form of the beast-man blotted out the faint light that -filtered from the lesser darkness of the night without through the -jagged entrance to the cave.</p> - -<p>All within was Stygian gloom.</p> - -<p>Groping with his hands Thurg came at last upon a corner of the grassy -pallet. Softly he wormed inch by inch closer to the sleeper. Now his -fingers felt the thick fur of the panther skin.</p> - -<p>Lightly, for so gross a thing, his touch followed the recumbent figure -of the girl until his giant paws felt the silky luxuriance of her raven -hair.</p> - -<p>For an instant he paused. Then, quickly and silently, one great palm -clapped roughly over Nadara's mouth, while the other arm encircled her -waist, lifting her from her bed.</p> - -<p>Awakened and terrified, Nadara struggled to free herself and to scream; -but the giant hand across her mouth effectually sealed her lips, while -the arm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> about her waist held her as firmly as might iron bands.</p> - -<p>Thurg spoke no word, but as Nadara's hands came in contact with his -hairy breast and matted beard as she fought for freedom she guessed the -identity of her abductor, and shuddered.</p> - -<p>Waiting only to assure himself that his hold upon his prisoner was -secure and that no trailing end of her robe might trip him in his -flight down the cliff face, Thurg commenced the descent.</p> - -<p>Opposite the entrance to Thandar's cave Nadara redoubled her efforts to -free her mouth that she might scream aloud but once. Thurg, guessing -her desire, pressed his palm the tighter, and in a moment the two had -passed unnoticed to the ledge below.</p> - -<p>Down the winding trail of the upper ledges Thurg's task was -comparatively easy—thanks to Thandar, but at the second ledge from the -bottom of the cliff he was compelled to take to the upper of the two -ladders which completed the way to the ground below.</p> - -<p>And here it was necessary to remove his hand from Nadara's mouth. In a -low growl he warned her to silence with threats of instant death, then -he removed his hand from across her face, grasped the top of the ladder -and swung over the dangerous height with his burden under his arm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> - -<p>For an instant Nadara was too paralyzed with terror to take advantage -of her opportunity, but just as Thurg set foot upon the ledge at the -bottom of the ladder she screamed aloud once.</p> - -<p>Instantly Thurg's hand fell roughly across her lips. Brutally he shook -her, squeezing her body in his mighty grip until she gasped for breath, -and each minute expected to feel her ribs snap to the terrific strain.</p> - -<p>For a moment Thurg stood silently upon the ledge, compressing the -tortured body of his victim and listening for signs of pursuit from -above.</p> - -<p>Presently the agony of her suffering overcame Nadara—she swooned. -Thurg felt her form relax, and his flabby lips twisted to a hideous -grin.</p> - -<p>The cliff was quiet—the girl's scream had not disturbed the slumbers -of her tribesmen. Thurg swung the ladder he had just descended over the -edge of the cliff below, and a moment later he stood at the bottom with -his burden.</p> - -<p>Without noise he removed the ladder and the sapling that he had used in -his ascent, laying them upon the ground at the foot of the cliff. This -would halt, temporarily, any pursuit until the cave men could bring -other ladders from the higher levels, where they doubtless had them -hidden.</p> - -<p>But no pursuit developed, and Thurg disappeared into the dark forest -with his prize.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<p>For a long distance he carried her, his little pig eyes searching and -straining to right and left into the black night for the first sign -of savage beast. The half atrophied muscles of his little ears, still -responding to an almost dead instinct, strove to prick those misshapen -members forward that they might catch the first crackling of dead -leaves beneath the padded paw of the fanged night prowlers.</p> - -<p>But the wood seemed dead. No living creature appeared to thwart the -beast-man's evil intent. Far behind him Thandar slept. Thurg grinned.</p> - -<p>The moon broke through the clouds, splotching the ground all silver -green beneath the forest trees. Nadara awoke from her swoon. They were -in a little open glade. Instantly she recalled the happenings that -had immediately preceded her unconsciousness. In the moonlight she -recognized Thurg. He was smirking horribly down into her upturned face.</p> - -<p>Thandar had often talked with her of religion. He had taught her of -his God, and now the girl thanked Him that Thurg was still too low -in the scale of evolution to have learned to kiss. To have had that -matted beard, those flabby, pendulous lips pressed to hers! It was too -horrible—she closed her eyes in disgust.</p> - -<p>Thurg lowered her to her feet. With one hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> he still clutched her -shoulder. She saw him standing there before her—his greedy, blood-shot -eyes devouring her. His awful lips shook and trembled as his hot breath -sucked quickly in and out in excited gasps.</p> - -<p>She knew that the end was coming. Frantically she cast about her for -some means of defense or escape. Thurg was drawing her toward him.</p> - -<p>Suddenly she drew back her clenched fist and struck him full in the -mouth, then, tearing herself from his grasp, she turned and fled.</p> - -<p>But in a moment he was upon her. Seizing her roughly by the shoulders -he shook her viciously, hurling her to the ground.</p> - -<p>The blood from his wounded lips dropped upon her face and throat.</p> - -<p>From the distance came a deep toned, thunderous rumbling. Thurg raised -his head and listened. Again and again came that awesome sound.</p> - -<p>"The Great Nagoola is coming to punish you," whispered Nadara.</p> - -<p>Thurg still remained squatting beside her. She had ceased to fight, for -now she felt that a greater power than hers was intervening to save her.</p> - -<p>The ground beneath them trembled, shook and then tossed frightfully. -The rumbling and the roaring became deafening. Thurg, his passion -frozen in the face of this new terror, rose to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> feet. For a moment -there was a lull, then came another and more terrific shock.</p> - -<p>The earth rose and fell sickeningly. Fissures opened, engulfing trees, -and then closed like hungry mouths gulping food long denied.</p> - -<p>Thurg was thrown to the ground. Now he was terror stricken. He screamed -aloud in his fear.</p> - -<p>Again there came a lull, and this time the beast-man leaped to his feet -and dashed away into the forest. Nadara was alone.</p> - -<p>Presently the earth commenced to tremble again, and the voice of The -Great Nagoola rumbled across the world. Frightened animals scampered -past Nadara, fleeing in all directions. Little deer, foxes, squirrels -and other rodents in countless numbers scurried, terrified, about.</p> - -<p>A great black panther and his mate trotted shoulder to shoulder into -the glade where Nadara still stood too bewildered to know which way to -fly.</p> - -<p>They eyed her for a moment, as they paused in the moonlight, then -without a second glance they loped away into the brush. Directly behind -them came three deer.</p> - -<p>Nadara realized that she had felt no fear of the panthers as she would -have under ordinary circumstances. Even the little deer ran with their -natural enemies. Every lesser fear was submerged in the overwhelming -terror of the earthquake.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dawn was breaking in the east. The rumblings were diminishing, the -tremors at greater intervals and of lessening violence.</p> - -<p>Nadara started to retrace her steps toward the village. Momentarily she -looked to see Thandar coming in search of her, but she came to the edge -of the forest and no sign of Thandar or another of her tribesmen had -come to cheer her.</p> - -<p>At last she stepped into the open. Before her was the cliff. A cry -of anguish broke from her lips at the sight that met her eyes. Torn, -tortured and crumpled were the lofty crags that had been her home—the -home of the tribe of Thandar.</p> - -<p>The overhanging cliff top had broken away and lay piled in a jagged -heap at the foot of the cliff. The caves had disappeared. The ledges -had crumbled before the titanic struggles of The Great Nagoola. All was -desolation and ruin.</p> - -<p>She approached more closely. Here and there in the awful jumble of -shattered rock were wedged the crushed and mangled forms of men, women -and children.</p> - -<p>Tears coursed down Nadara's cheeks. Sobs wracked her slender figure. -And Thandar! Where was he?</p> - -<p>With utmost difficulty the girl picked her way aloft over the tumbled -debris. She could only guess at the former location of Thandar's cave, -but now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> no sign of cave remained—only the same blank waste of silent -stone.</p> - -<p>Frantically she tugged and tore at massive heaps of sharp edged rock. -Her fingers were cut and bruised and bleeding. She called aloud the -name of her man, but there was no response.</p> - -<p>It was late in the afternoon before, weak and exhausted, she gave up -her futile search. That night she slept in a crevice between two broken -boulders, and the next morning she set out in search of a cave where -she might live out the remainder of her lonely life in what safety and -meager comfort a lone girl could wring from this savage world.</p> - -<p>For a week she wandered hither and thither only to find most of the -caves she had known in the past demolished as had been those of her -people.</p> - -<p>At last she stumbled upon the very cliff which Thandar had chosen as -the permanent home of his people. Here the wrath of the earthquake -seemed to have been less severe, and Nadara found, high in the cliff's -face, a safe and comfortable cavern.</p> - -<p>The last span to it required the use of a slender sapling, which she -could draw up after her, effectually barring the approach of Nagoola -and his people. To further protect herself against the chance of -wandering men the girl carried a quantity of small bits of rock to the -ledge beside the entrance to her cave.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> - -<p>Fruit and nuts and vegetables she took there too, and a great gourd of -water from the spring below. As she completed her last trip, and sat -resting upon the ledge, her eyes wandering over the landscape and out -across the distant ocean, she thought she saw something move in the -shadow of the trees across the open plain beneath her.</p> - -<p>Could it have been a man? Nadara drew her sapling ladder to the ledge -beside her.</p> - -<p>Thurg, fleeing from the wrath of The Great Nagoola, had come at -daybreak to the spot where his people had been camped, but there he -found no sign of them, only the ragged edges of a great fissure, -half-closed, that might have swallowed his entire tribe as he had seen -the fissures in the forest swallow many, many trees at a single bite.</p> - -<p>For some time he sought for signs of his tribesmen, but without -success. Then, his fear of the earthquake allayed, he started back into -the forest to find the girl. For days he sought her. He came to the -ruins of the cliff that had housed her people, and there he discovered -signs that the girl had been there since the demolition of the cliff.</p> - -<p>He saw the print of her dainty feet in the soft earth at the base of -the rocks—he saw how she had searched the debris for Thandar—he saw -her bed of grasses in the crevice between the two boulders, and then, -after diligent search, he found her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> spoor leading away to the east.</p> - -<p>For many days he followed her until, at last, close by the sea, he come -to a level plain at the edge of a forest. Across the narrow plain rose -lofty cliffs—and what was that clambering aloft toward the dark mouth -of a cave?</p> - -<p>Could it be a woman? Thurg's eyes narrowed as he peered intently toward -the cliff. Yes, it was a woman—it was <i>the</i> woman—it was she he -sought, and, she was alone.</p> - -<p>With a whoop of exultation Thurg broke from the forest into the plain, -running swiftly toward the cliff where Nadara crouched beside her -little pile of jagged missiles, prepared to once more battle with this -hideous monster for more than life.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIb" id="CHAPTER_VIb">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE SEARCH</p> - - -<p class="drop">A <span class="uppercase">year</span> had elapsed since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had departed from -the Back Bay home of his aristocratic parents to seek in a long sea -voyage a cure for the hacking cough and hectic cheeks which had in -themselves proclaimed the almost incurable.</p> - -<p>Two months later had come the first meager press notices of the narrow -escape of the steamer, upon which Waldo Emerson had been touring the -south seas, from utter destruction by a huge tidal wave. The dispatch -read:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The captain reports that the great wave swept entirely over the -steamer, momentarily submerging her. Two members of the crew, the -officer upon the bridge, and one passenger were washed away.</p> - -<p>The latter was an American traveling for his health, Waldo E. -Smith-Jones, son of John Alden Smith-Jones of Boston.</p> - -<p>The steamer came about, cruising back and forth for some time, but -as the wave had washed her perilously close to a dangerous shore, -it seemed unsafe to remain longer in the vicinity, for fear of -a recurrence of the tidal wave which would have meant the utter -annihilation of the vessel upon the nearby beach.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - -<p>No sign of any of the poor unfortunates was seen.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones is prostrated.</p> - -<p>Immediately John Alden Smith-Jones had fitted out his yacht, -<i>Priscilla</i>, despatching her under Captain Burlinghame, a retired naval -officer, and an old friend of Mr. Smith-Jones, to the far distant coast -in search of the body of his son, which the captain of the steamer was -of the opinion might very possibly have been washed upon the beach.</p> - -<p>And now Burlinghame was back to report the failure of his mission. -The two men were sitting in the John Alden Smith-Jones library. Mrs. -Smith-Jones was with them.</p> - -<p>"We searched the beach diligently at the point opposite which the tidal -wave struck the steamer," Captain Burlinghame was saying. "For miles up -and down the coast we patrolled every inch of the sand.</p> - -<p>"We found, at one spot upon the edge of the jungle and above the beach, -the body of one of the sailors. It was not and could not have been -Waldo's. The clothing was that of a seaman, the frame was much shorter -and stockier than your son's. There was no sign of any other body along -that entire coast.</p> - -<p>"Thinking it possible one of the men might have been washed ashore -alive we sent parties into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> interior. Here we found a wild and -savage country, and on two occasions met with fierce, white savages, -who hurled rocks at us and fled at the first report of our firearms.</p> - -<p>"We continued our search all around the island, which is of -considerable extent. Upon the east coast I found this," and here the -captain handed Mr. Smith-Jones the bag of jewels which Nadara had -forgotten as she fled from Thandar.</p> - -<p>Briefly he narrated what he knew of the history of the poor woman to -whom it had belonged.</p> - -<p>"I recall the incident well," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, "I had the -pleasure of entertaining the count and countess when they stopped here -upon their honeymoon. They were lovely people, and to think that they -met so tragic an end!"</p> - -<p>The three lapsed into silence. Burlinghame did not know whether he was -glad or sorry that he had not found the bones of Waldo Emerson—that -would have meant the end of hope for his parents. Perhaps much the same -thoughts were running through the minds of the others.</p> - -<p>Somewhere in the nether regions of the great house an electric bell -sounded. Still the three sat on in silence. They heard the houseman -open the front door. They heard low voices, and presently there came a -deferential tap upon the door of the library.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones looked up and nodded. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> the houseman. He held a -letter in his hand.</p> - -<p>"What is it Krutz?" asked the master in a tired voice. It seemed that -nothing ever again would interest him.</p> - -<p>"A special delivery letter, sir," replied the servant. "The boy says -you must sign for it yourself, sir."</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes," replied Mr. Smith-Jones, as he reached for the letter and -the receipt blank.</p> - -<p>He glanced at the post mark—San Francisco.</p> - -<p>Idly he cut the envelope.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me?" He glanced first at his wife and then at Captain -Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>The two nodded.</p> - -<p>Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones opened the letter. There was a single -written sheet and an enclosure in another envelope. He had read but a -couple of lines when he came suddenly upright in his chair.</p> - -<p>Captain Burlinghame and Mrs. Smith-Jones looked at him in polite and -surprised questioning.</p> - -<p>"My God!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "He is alive—Waldo is alive!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones and Captain Burlinghame sprang from their chairs and -ran toward the speaker.</p> - -<p>With trembling hands that made it difficult to read the words that his -trembling voice could scarce utter John Alden Smith-Jones read aloud:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<i>On board the Sally Corwith,<br /> -San Francisco, California.</i><br /> -<br /> -<i>Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones,<br /> -Boston, Mass.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p><i>Dear Sir: Just reached port and hasten to forward letter your son -gave me for his mother. He wouldn't come with us. We found him on —— -——Island, Lat. 10° —" South, Long. 150° —" West. He seemed in -good health and able to look out for himself. Didn't want anything, -he said, except a razor, so we gave him that and one of the men gave -him a plug of chewing tobacco. Urged him to come, but he wouldn't. The -enclosed letter will doubtless tell you all about him.</i></p> - -<p> -<i>Yours truly,<br /> -Henry Dobbs, Master.</i><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Ten south, a hundred and fifty west," mused Captain Burlinghame. -"That's the same island we searched. Where could he have been!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones had opened the letter addressed to her, and was -reading it breathlessly.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>My dear Mother: I feel rather selfish in remaining and possibly -causing you further anxiety, but I have certain duties to perform to -several of the inhabitants which I feel obligated to fulfill before I -depart.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>My treatment here has been all that anyone might desire—even more, I -might say.</i></p> - -<p><i>The climate is delightful. My cough has left me, and I am entirely a -well man—more robust than I ever recall having been in the past.</i></p> - -<p><i>At present I am sojourning in the mountains, having but run down -to the sea shore today, where, happily, I chanced to find the Sally -Corwith in the harbor, and am taking advantage of Captain Dobbs' -kindness to forward this letter to you.</i></p> - -<p><i>Do not worry, dearest mother; my obligations will soon be fulfilled -and then I shall hasten to take the first steamer for Boston.</i></p> - -<p><i>I have met a number of interesting people here—the most interesting -people I have ever met. They quite overwhelm one with their -attentions.</i></p> - -<p><i>And now, as Captain Dobbs is anxious to be away, I will close, with -every assurance of my deepest love for you and father.</i></p> - -<p> -<i>Ever affectionately your son,<br /> -Waldo.</i><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones' eyes were dim with tears—tears of thanksgiving and -happiness.</p> - -<p>"And to think," she exclaimed, "that after all he is alive and -well—quite well. His cough has left him—that is the best part of it, -and he is surrounded by interesting people—just what Waldo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> needed. -For some time I feared, before he sailed, that he was devoting himself -too closely to his studies and to the little coterie of our own set -which surrounded him. This experience will be broadening. Of course -these people may be slightly provincial, but it is evident that they -possess a certain culture and refinement—otherwise my Waldo would -never have described them as 'interesting.' The coarse, illiterate, or -vulgar could never prove 'interesting' to a Smith-Jones."</p> - -<p>Captain Cecil Burlinghame nodded politely—he was thinking of the -naked, hairy man-brutes he had seen within the interior of the island.</p> - -<p>"It is evident, Burlinghame," said Mr. Smith-Jones, "that you -overlooked a portion of this island. It would seem, from Waldo's -letter, that there must be a colony of civilized men and women -somewhere upon it. Of course it is possible that it may be further -inland than you penetrated."</p> - -<p>Burlinghame shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I am puzzled," he said. "We circled the entire coast, yet nowhere did -we see any evidence of a man-improved harbor, such as one might have -reason to expect were there really a colony of advanced humans in the -interior. There would have been at least a shack near the beach in one -of the several natural harbors which indent the coast line was there -even an occasional steamer touching for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> purposes of commerce with the -colonists.</p> - -<p>"No, my friends," he continued, "as much as I should like to believe -it my judgment will not permit me to place any such translation upon -Waldo's letter.</p> - -<p>"That he is safe and happy seems evident, and that is enough for us to -know. Now it should be a simple matter for us to find him—if it is -still your desire to send for him."</p> - -<p>"He may already have left for Boston," said Mrs. Smith-Jones; "his -letter was written several months ago."</p> - -<p>Again Burlinghame shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Do not bank on that, my dear madam," he said kindly. "It may be fifty -years before another vessel touches that forgotten shore—unless it be -one which you yourselves send."</p> - -<p>John Alden Smith-Jones sprang to his feet, and commenced pacing up and -down the library.</p> - -<p>"How soon can the <i>Priscilla</i> be put in shape to make the return voyage -to the island?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"It <i>can</i> be done in a week, if necessary," replied Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>"And you will accompany her, in command?"</p> - -<p>"Gladly."</p> - -<p>"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "And now, my friend, let us lose no -time in starting our preparations. I intend accompanying you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And I shall go too," said Mrs. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>The two men looked at her in surprise.</p> - -<p>"But my dear!" cried her husband, "there is no telling what hardships -and dangers we may encounter—you could never stand such a trip."</p> - -<p>"I am going," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, firmly. "I know my Waldo. I know -his refined and sensitive nature. I know that I am fully capable of -enduring whatever he may have endured. He tells me that he is among -interesting people. Evidently there is nothing to fear, then, from -the inhabitants of the island, and furthermore I wish personally to -meet the people he has been living with. I have always been careful -to surround Waldo with only the nicest people, and if any vulgarizing -influences have been brought to bear upon him since he has been beyond -my mature guidance I wish to know it, that I may determine how to -combat their results."</p> - -<p>That was the end of it. If Mrs. Smith-Jones knew her son, Mr. -Smith-Jones certainly knew his wife.</p> - -<p>A week later the <i>Priscilla</i> sailed from Boston harbor on her long -journey around the Horn to the south seas.</p> - -<p>Most of the old crew had been retained. The first and second officers -were new men. The former, William Stark, had come to Burlinghame well -recommended. From the first he seemed an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> intelligent and experienced -officer. That he was inclined to taciturnity but enhanced his value -in the eyes of Burlinghame. Stark was inclined to be something of a -martinet, so that the crew soon took to hating him cordially, but as -his display of this unpleasant trait was confined wholly to trivial -acts the men contented themselves with grumbling among themselves, -which is the prerogative and pleasure of every good sailorman. Their -loyalty to the splendid Burlinghame, however, was not to be shaken by -even a dozen Starks.</p> - -<p>The monotonous and uneventful journey to the vicinity of ten south -and a hundred and fifty west was finally terminated. At last land -showed on the starboard bow. Excitement reigned supreme throughout the -trim, white <i>Priscilla</i>. Mrs. Smith-Jones peered anxiously and almost -constantly through her binoculars, momentarily expecting to see the -well-known thin and emaciated figure of her Waldo Emerson standing upon -the beach awaiting them.</p> - -<p>For two weeks they sailed along the coast, stopping here and there for -a day while parties tramped inland in search of signs of civilized -habitation. They lay two days in the harbor where the <i>Sally Corwith</i> -had lain. There they pressed farther inland than at any other point, -but all without avail. It was Burlinghame's plan to first make a -cursory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> survey of the entire coast, with only short incursions toward -the center of the island. Should this fail to discover the missing -Waldo the party was then to go over the ground once more, remaining -weeks or months as might be required to thoroughly explore every foot -of the island.</p> - -<p>It was during the pursuit of the initial portion of the program that -they dropped anchor in the self-same harbor upon whose waters Waldo -Emerson and Nadara had seen the <i>Priscilla</i> lying, only to fly from her.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame recalled it as the spot at which the bag of jewels had been -picked up. Next to the Sally Corwith harbor, as they had come to call -the other anchorage, this seemed most fraught with possibilities of -success. They christened it Eugenie Bay, after that poor, unfortunate -lady, Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, whose -jewels had been recovered upon its shore.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame and Waldo's father with half a dozen officers and men of -the <i>Priscilla</i> had spent the day searching the woods, the plain and -the hills for some slight sign of human habitation. Shortly after noon -First Officer Stark stumbled upon the whitened skeleton of a man. In -answer to his shouts the other members of the party hastened to his -side. They found the grim thing lying in a little barren spot among -the tall grasses. About it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> the liquids of decomposition had killed -vegetation leaving the thing alone in all its grisly repulsiveness as -though shocked, nature had withdrawn in terror.</p> - -<p>Stark stood pointing toward it without a word as the others came up. -Burlinghame was the first to reach Stark's side. He bent low over -the bones examining the skull carefully. John Alden Smith-Jones came -panting up. Instantly he saw what Burlinghame was examining he turned -deathly white. Burlinghame looked up at him.</p> - -<p>"It's not," he said. "Look at that skull—either a gorilla or some very -low type of man."</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones breathed a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>"What an awful creature it must have been," he said, when he had fully -taken in the immense breadth of the squat skeleton. "It cannot be that -Waldo has survived in a wilderness peopled by such creatures as this. -Imagine him confronted by such a beast. Timid by nature and never -robust he would have perished of fright at the very sight of this thing -charging down upon him."</p> - -<p>Captain Cecil Burlinghame acquiesced with a nod. He knew Waldo Emerson -well, and so he could not even imagine a meeting between the frail and -cowardly youth and such a beast as this bleaching frame must once have -supported. And at their feet the bones of Flatfoot lay mute witnesses -to the impossible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> - -<p>Presently a shout from one of the sailors attracted their attention -toward the far side of the valley. The man was standing upon a rise of -ground waving his arms and gesticulating violently toward the lofty -cliffs which rose sheer from the rank jungle grasses. All eyes turned -in the direction indicated by the excited sailor. At first they saw -nothing, but presently a figure came in sight upon a little elevation. -It was the figure of a human being, and even at the distance they were -from it all were assured that it was the figure of a female. She was -running toward the cliffs with the speed of a deer. And now behind her, -came another figure. Thick set and squat was the thing that pursued the -woman. It might have been the reanimated skeleton that they had just -discovered.</p> - -<p>Would the creature catch her before she reached the cliff? Would she -find sanctuary even there? Already Burlinghame and Stark had started -toward the cliff on a run. John Alden Smith-Jones followed more slowly. -The men raced after their officers.</p> - -<p>The girl had reached the rocks and was scampering up their precipitous -face like a squirrel. Close behind her came the man. They saw the girl -reach a ledge just below the mouth of a cave in which she evidently -expected to find safety. They saw her clambering up the rickety sapling -that answered for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> a ladder. They breathed sighs of relief, for it -seemed that she was now quite safe—the man was still one ledge below -her.</p> - -<p>But in another moment the watchers were filled with horror. The brute -pursuing her had reached forth a giant hand and seized the base of the -sapling. He was dragging it over the edge of the cliff. In another -moment the girl would be precipitated either into his arms or to a -horrible death upon the jagged rocks beneath her.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame and Stark halted simultaneously. At once two rifles leaped -to their shoulders. There were two reports, so close together that they -seemed as one.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIb" id="CHAPTER_VIIb">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">FIRST MATE STARK</p> - - -<p class="drop">U<span class="uppercase">pon</span> the day that Thurg discovered Nadara he had come racing to the -foot of the cliff, roaring and bellowing like a mad bull. Upward he -clambered half the distance to the girl's lofty perch. Then a bit of -jagged rock, well aimed, had brought him to a sudden halt, spitting -blood and teeth from his injured mouth. He looked up at Nadara and -shrieked out his rage and his threats of vengeance. Nadara launched -another missile at him that caught him full upon one eye, dropping -him like a stone to the narrow ledge upon which he had been standing. -Quickly the girl started to descend to his side to finish the work she -had commenced, for she knew that there could be no peace or safety for -her, now that Thurg had discovered her hiding place, while the monster -lived.</p> - -<p>But she had scarce more than lowered her sapling to the ledge beneath -her when the giant form of the man moved and Thurg sat up. Quickly -Nadara clambered back to her ledge, again drawing her sapling after -her. She was about to hurl another missile at the man when he spoke to -her.</p> - -<p>"We are alone in the world," he said. "All<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> your people and all my -people have been slain by the Great Nagoola. Come down. Let us live -together in peace. There is no other left in all the world."</p> - -<p>Nadara laughed at him.</p> - -<p>"Come down to you!" she cried, mockingly. "Live with you! I would -rather live with the pigs that root in the forest. Go away, or I will -finish what I have commenced, and kill you. I would not live with you -though I knew that you were the last human being on earth."</p> - -<p>Thurg pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Again he tried -to clamber to her side, but again he was repulsed with well-aimed -missiles. At last he withdrew, growling and threatening.</p> - -<p>For weeks he haunted the vicinity of the cliff. Nadara's meager food -supply was soon exhausted. She was forced to descend to replenish her -larder and fill her gourd, or die of starvation and thirst. She made -her trips to the forest at night, though black Nagoola prowled and the -menace of Thurg loomed through the darkness. At last the man discovered -her in one of these nocturnal expeditions and almost caught her before -she reached her ledge of safety.</p> - -<p>For three days he kept her a close prisoner. Again her stock of -provisions was exhausted. She was desperate. Twice had Nagoola nearly -trapped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> her in the forest. She dared not again tempt fate in the -gloomy wood by night. There was nothing left but to risk all in one -last effort to elude Thurg by day and find another asylum in some far -distant corner of the island.</p> - -<p>Carefully she watched her opportunity, and while the beast-man was -temporarily absent seeking food for himself the girl slid swiftly to -the base of the cliff and started through the tall grasses for the -opposite side of the valley.</p> - -<p>Upon this day Thurg had fallen upon the spoor of deer as he had -searched the forest for certain berries that were in season and which -he particularly enjoyed. The trail led along the edge of the wood to -the opposite side of the valley, and over the hills into the region -beyond. All day Thurg followed the fleet animals, until at last not -having come up with them he was forced to give up the pursuit and -return to the cliffs, lest his more valuable quarry should escape.</p> - -<p>Half-way between the hills and the cliff he came suddenly face to -face with Nadara. Not twenty paces separated them. With a howl of -satisfaction Thurg leaped to seize her, but she turned and fled before -he could lay his hand upon her. If Thurg had found his other quarry of -that day swift, so, too, he now found Nadara, for terror gave wings -to her flying feet. Lumbering after her came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> Thurg, and had the -distance been less he would have been left far behind, but it was a -long distance from the spot, where they had met, to Nadara's cliffs. -The girl could out-run the man for a short distance, but when victory -depended upon endurance the advantage was all upon the side of the -brute.</p> - -<p>As they neared the goal Nadara realized that the lead she had gained -at first was rapidly being overcome by the horrid creature panting so -close behind her. She strained every nerve and muscle in a last mad -effort to distance the fate that was closing upon her. She reached -the cliff. Thurg was just behind her. Half spent, she stumbled upward -in, what seemed to her, pitiful slowness. At last her hand grasped -the sapling that led to the mouth of her cave—in another instant she -would be safe. But her new-born hope went out as she felt the sapling -slipping and glanced downward to see Thurg dragging it from its -position.</p> - -<p>She shut her eyes that she might not see the depths below into which -she was about to be hurled, and then there smote upon her ears the most -terrific burst of sound that had ever assailed them, other than the -thunders that rolled down out of the heavens when the rains came. But -this sound did not come from above—it came from the valley beneath.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> - -<p>The ladder ceased to slip. She opened her eyes and glanced downward. -Far below her lay the body of Thurg. She could see that he was quite -dead. He lay upon his face and from his back trickled two tiny streams -of blood from little holes.</p> - -<p>Nadara clambered upward to her ledge, drawing her sapling after her, -and then she looked about for an explanation of the strange noise and -the sudden death of Thurg, for she could not but connect the one with -the other. Below, in the valley, she saw a number of men strangely -garbed. They were coming toward her cliff. She gathered her missiles -closely about her, ready to her hand. Now they were below and calling -up to her. Her eyes dilated in wonder—they spoke the strange tongue -that Thandar had tried to teach her. She called down to them in her own -tongue, but they shook their heads, motioning her to descend. She was -afraid. All her life she had been afraid of men, and with reason—of -all except her old foster father and Thandar. These, evidently, were -men. She could only expect from them the same treatment that Thurg -would have accorded her.</p> - -<p>One of them had started up the face of the cliff. It was Stark. Nadara -seized a bit of rock and hurled it down upon him. He barely dodged -the missile, but he desisted in his attempt to ascend to her. Now -Burlinghame advanced, raising his hand,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> palm toward her in sign that -she should not assault him. She recalled some of the language that -Thandar had taught her—maybe they would understand it.</p> - -<p>"Go-way!" she cried. "Go-way! Nadara kill bad-men."</p> - -<p>A look of pleasure overspread Burlinghame's face—the girl spoke -English.</p> - -<p>"We are not bad men," he called up to her. "We will not harm you."</p> - -<p>"What you want?" asked Nadara, still unconvinced by mere words.</p> - -<p>"We want to talk with you," replied Burlinghame. "We are looking for a -friend who was ship-wrecked upon this island. Come down. We will not -harm you. Have we not already proved our friendship by killing this -fellow who pursued you?"</p> - -<p>This man spoke precisely the tongue of Thandar. Nadara could understand -every word, for Thandar had talked to her much in English. She could -understand it better than she could speak it. If they talked the same -tongue as Thandar they must be from the same country. Maybe they were -Thandar's friends. Anyway they were like him, and Thandar never harmed -women. She could trust them. Slowly she lowered her sapling and began -the descent. Several times she hesitated as though minded to return to -her ledge, but Burlinghame's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> kindly voice and encouragement at last -prevailed, and presently Nadara stood before them.</p> - -<p>The officers and men of the <i>Priscilla</i> crowded around the girl. They -were struck with her beauty, and the simple dignity of her manner and -her carriage. The great black panther skin that fell from her left -shoulder she wore with the majesty of a queen and with a naturalness -that cast no reflection upon her modesty, though it revealed quite -as much of her figure as it hid. William Stark, first officer of the -<i>Priscilla</i>, caught his breath—never, he was positive, had God made a -more lovely creature.</p> - -<p>From the top of the cliff a shaggy man peered down upon the strange -scene. He blinked his little eyes, scratched his matted head, and once -he picked up a large stone that lay near him; but he did not hurl it -upon those below, for he had heard the loud report of the rifles, -seen the smoke belch from the muzzles, and witnessed the sudden and -miraculous collapse of Thurg.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame was speaking to Nadara.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nadara," replied the girl.</p> - -<p>"Where do you live?"</p> - -<p>Nadara jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the cliff at her back. -Burlinghame searched the rocky escarpment with his eyes, but saw no -sign of another living being there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Where are your people?"</p> - -<p>"Dead."</p> - -<p>"All of them?"</p> - -<p>Nadara nodded affirmatively.</p> - -<p>"How long have they been dead and what killed them?" continued -Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>"Almost a moon. The Great Nagoola killed them."</p> - -<p>In answer to other questions Nadara related all that had transpired -since the night of the earthquake. Her description of the catastrophe -convinced the Americans that a violent quake had recently occurred to -shake the island to its foundations.</p> - -<p>"Ask her about Waldo," whispered Mr. Smith-Jones, himself dreading to -put the question.</p> - -<p>"We are looking for a young man," said Burlinghame, "who was lost -overboard from a steamer on the west coast of this island. We know -that he reached the shore alive, for we have heard from him. Have -you ever seen or heard of this stranger? His name is Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones—this gentleman is his father," indicating Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>Nadara looked with wide eyes at John Alden Smith-Jones. So this man was -Thandar's father. She felt very sorry for him, for she knew that he -loved Thandar—Thandar had often told her so.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> She did not know how to -tell him—she shrank from causing another the anguish and misery that -she had endured.</p> - -<p>"Did you know of him?" asked Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>Nadara nodded her head.</p> - -<p>"Where is he?" cried Waldo's father. "Where are the people with whom he -lived here?"</p> - -<p>Nadara came close to John Alden Smith-Jones. There was no fear in her -innocent young heart for this man who was Thandar's father—who loved -Thandar—only a great compassion for him in the sorrow that she was -about to inflict. Gently she took his hand in hers, raising her sad -eyes to his.</p> - -<p>"Where is he? Where is my boy?" whispered Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>"He is with his people, who were my people—the people of whom I have -just told you," replied Nadara softly— "He is dead." And then she -dropped her face upon the man's hand and wept.</p> - -<p>The shock staggered John Alden Smith-Jones. It seemed -incredible—impossible—that Waldo could have lived through all that he -must have lived through to perish at last but a few short weeks before -succor reached him. For a moment he forgot the girl. It was her hot -tears upon his hand that aroused him to a consciousness of the present.</p> - -<p>"Why do you weep?" he cried almost roughly.</p> - -<p>"For you," she replied, "who loved him, too."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You loved Waldo?" asked the boy's father.</p> - -<p>Nadara nodded her tumbled mass of raven hair. John Alden Smith-Jones -looked down upon the bent head of the sobbing girl in silence for -several minutes. Many things were racing through his patrician brain. -He was by training, environment and heredity narrow and Puritanical. -He saw the meager apparel of the girl—he saw her nut brown skin; but -he did not see her nakedness, for something in his heart told him that -sweet virtue clothed her more effectually than could silks and satins -without virtue. Gently he placed an arm about her, drawing her to him.</p> - -<p>"My daughter," he said, and pressed his lips to her forehead.</p> - -<p>It was a solemn and sorrow-ridden party that boarded the <i>Priscilla</i> -an hour later. Mrs. Smith-Jones had seen them coming. Some intuitive -sense may have warned her of the sorrow that lay in store for her upon -their return. At any rate she did not meet them at the rail as in the -past, instead she retired to her cabin to await her husband there. -When he joined her he brought with him a half-naked young woman. Mrs. -Smith-Jones looked upon the girl with ill concealed horror.</p> - -<p>Waldo's mother met the shock of her husband's news with much greater -fortitude than he had expected. As a matter of fact she had been -prepared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> for this from the first. She had never really believed that -Waldo could survive for any considerable time far from the comforts and -luxuries of his Boston home and the watchful care of herself.</p> - -<p>"And who is this—ah—person?" she asked coldly at last, holding her -pince-nez before her eyes as with elevated brows she cast a look of -disapproval upon Nadara.</p> - -<p>The girl, reading more in the older woman's manner than her words, drew -herself up proudly. Mr. Smith-Jones coughed and colored. He stepped to -Nadara's side, placing his arm about her shoulders.</p> - -<p>"She loved Waldo," he said simply.</p> - -<p>"The brazen huzzy!" exclaimed Mrs. Smith-Jones. "To dare to love a -Smith-Jones!"</p> - -<p>"Come, come, Louisa!" ejaculated her husband. "Remember that she too is -suffering—do not add to her sorrow. She loved our boy, and he returned -her love."</p> - -<p>"How do you know that?"</p> - -<p>"She has told me," replied the man.</p> - -<p>"It is not true," cried Mrs. Smith-Jones. "It is not true! Waldo -Emerson would never stoop to love one out of his own high class. Who is -she, and what proof have you that Waldo loved her?"</p> - -<p>"I am Nadara," said the girl proudly, answering for herself, "and this -is the proof that he loved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> me. He told me that this was the pledge -token between us until we could come to his land and be mated according -to the customs there." She held out her left hand, upon the third -finger of which sparkled a great solitaire—a solitaire which Mrs. John -Alden Smith-Jones recognized instantly.</p> - -<p>"He gave you that?" she asked.</p> - -<p>Then she turned toward her husband.</p> - -<p>"What do you intend doing with this girl?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I shall take her back home," replied he. "She should be as a daughter -to us, for Waldo would have made her such had he lived. She cannot -remain upon the island. All her people were killed by the earthquake -that destroyed Waldo. She is in constant danger of attack by wild -beasts and wilder men. We cannot leave her here, and even if we could I -should not do so, for we owe a duty to our dead boy to care for her as -he would have cared for her—and we owe a greater duty to her."</p> - -<p>"I must be alone," was all that Mrs. Smith-Jones replied. "Please take -her away, John. Give her the cabin next to this, and have Marie clothe -her properly—Marie's clothes should about fit her." There was more of -tired anguish in her voice now than of anger.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones led Nadara out and summoned Marie, but Nadara upset his -plans by announcing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> that she wished to return to shore.</p> - -<p>"She does not like me," she said, nodding toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's -cabin, "and I will not stay."</p> - -<p>It took John Alden Smith-Jones a long time to persuade the girl to -change her mind. He pointed out that his wife was greatly over-wrought -by the shock of the news of Waldo's death. He assured Nadara that at -heart she was a kindly woman, and that eventually she would regret -her attitude toward the girl. And at last Nadara consented to remain -aboard the <i>Priscilla</i>. But when Marie would have clothed her in the -garments of civilization she absolutely refused—scorning the hideous -and uncomfortable clothing.</p> - -<p>It was two days before Mrs. Smith-Jones sent for her. When she entered -that lady's cabin the latter exclaimed at once against her barbarous -attire.</p> - -<p>"I gave instructions that Marie should dress you properly," she said. -"You are not decently clothed—that bear skin is shocking."</p> - -<p>Nadara tossed her head, and her eyes flashed fire.</p> - -<p>"I shall never wear your silly clothes," she cried. "This, Thandar gave -me—he slew Nagoola, the black panther, with his own hands, and gave -the skin to me who was to be his mate—do you think I would exchange -it for such foolish garments as those?" and she waved a contemptuous -gesture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's expensive morning gown.</p> - -<p>The elder woman forgot her outraged dignity in the suggestion the girl -had given her for an excuse to be rid of her at the first opportunity. -She had mentioned a party named Thandar. She had brazenly boasted that -this Thandar had killed the beast whose pelt she wore and given her -the thing for a garment. She had admitted that she was to become this -person's "mate." Mrs. Smith-Jones shuddered at the primitive word. At -this moment Mr. Smith-Jones entered the cabin. He smiled pleasantly at -Nadara, and then, seeing in the attitudes of the two women that he had -stepped within a theater of war, he looked questioningly at his wife.</p> - -<p>"Now what, Louisa?" he asked, somewhat sharply.</p> - -<p>"Sufficient, John," exclaimed that lady, "to bear out my original -contention that it was a very unwise move to bring this woman with -us—she has just admitted that she was the promised 'mate' of a person -she calls Thandar. She is brazen—I refuse to permit her to enter -my home; nor shall she remain upon the <i>Priscilla</i> longer than is -necessary to land her at the first civilized port."</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones looked questioningly at Nadara. The girl had guessed -the erroneous reasoning that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> had caused Mrs. Smith-Jones's excitement. -She had forgotten that they did not know that Waldo and Thandar were -one. Now she could scarce repress a smile of amusement nor resist the -temptation to take advantage of Mrs. Smith-Jones's ignorance to bait -her further.</p> - -<p>"You had another lover beside Waldo?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>"I loved Thandar," she replied. "Thandar was king of my people. He -loved me. He slew Nagoola for me and gave me his skin. He slew Korth -and Flatfoot, also. They wanted me, but Thandar slew them. And Big Fist -he slew, and Sag the Killer—oh, Thandar was a mighty fighter. Can you -wonder that I loved him?"</p> - -<p>"He was a hideous murderer!" cried Mrs. Smith-Jones, "and to think that -my poor Waldo; poor, timid, gentle Waldo, was condemned to live among -such savage brutes. Oh, it is too terrible!"</p> - -<p>Nadara's eyes went wide. It was her turn to suffer a shock. "Poor, -timid, gentle Waldo!" Had she heard aright? Could it be that they were -describing the same man? There must be some mistake.</p> - -<p>"Did Waldo know that you loved Thandar?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>"Thandar was Waldo," she replied. "Thandar is the name I gave him—it -means the Brave One.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> He was very brave," she cried. "He was not -'timid,' and he was only 'gentle' with women and children."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones had never been so shocked in all her life. She sprang -to her feet.</p> - -<p>"Leave my cabin!" she cried. "I see through your shallow deception. -You thoughtlessly betrayed yourself and your vulgar immoralities, and -now you try to hide behind a base calumny that pictures my dear, dead -boy as one with your hideous, brutal chief. You shall not deceive me -longer. Leave my cabin, please!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones stood as one paralyzed. He could not believe in the -perfidy of the girl—it seemed impossible that she could have so -deceived him—nor yet could he question the integrity of his own ears. -It was, of course, too far beyond the pale of reason to attempt to -believe that Waldo Emerson and the terrible Thandar were one and the -same. The girl had gone too far, and yet he could not believe that she -was bad. There must be some explanation.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Nadara had left the room, her little chin high in air. -Never again, she determined, would she subject herself to the insults -of Thandar's mother. She went on deck. She had found it difficult -to remain below during the day. She craved the fresh air, and the -excitement to be found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> above. The officers had been very nice to -her. Stark was much with her. The man had fallen desperately in love -with the half-savage girl. As she reached the deck after leaving Mrs. -Smith-Jones's cabin Stark was the first she chanced to meet. She would -have preferred being alone with her sorrow and her anger, but the man -joined her. Together they stood by the rail watching the approach -of heavy clouds. A storm was about to break over them that had been -brewing for several days.</p> - -<p>Stark knew nothing of what had taken place below, but he saw that the -girl was unhappy. He attempted to cheer her. At last he took her hand -and stroked it caressingly as he talked with her. Before she could -guess his intention he was pouring words of love and passion into her -ears. Nadara drew away. A puzzled frown contracted her brows.</p> - -<p>"Do not talk so to Nadara," she said. "She does not love you." And then -she moved away and went to her cabin.</p> - -<p>Stark looked after her as she departed. He was thoroughly aroused. Who -was this savage girl, to repulse him? What would have been her fate but -for his well-directed shot? Was not the man who had been pursuing her -but acting after the customs of her wild people? He would have taken -her by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> force. That was the only way she would have been taken had she -been left upon her own island. That was the only kind of betrothal she -knew. It was what she expected. He had been a fool to approach her with -the soft words of civilization. They had made her despise him. She -would have understood force, and loved him for it. Well, he would show -her that he could be as primitive as any of her savage lovers.</p> - -<p>The storm broke. The wind became a hurricane. The <i>Priscilla</i> was -forced to turn and flee before the anger of the elements, so that she -retraced her course of the past two days and then was blown to the -north.</p> - -<p>Stark saw nothing of Nadara during this period. At the end of -thirty-six hours the wind had died and the sea was settling to its -normal quiet. It was the first evening after the storm. The deck of the -<i>Priscilla</i> was almost deserted. The yacht was moving slowly along not -far off the shore of one of the many islands that dot that part of the -south seas.</p> - -<p>Nadara came on deck for a walk before retiring. Stark and two sailors -were on watch. At sight of the girl the first officer approached -her. He spoke pleasantly as though nothing had occurred to mar their -friendly relations. He talked of the storm and pointed out the black -outlines of the nearby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> shore, and as he talked he led her toward the -stern, out of sight of the sailors forward.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he turned upon her and grasped her in his arms. With brutal -force he crushed her to him, covering her face with kisses. She fought -to free herself, but Stark was a strong man. Slowly he forced her to -the deck. She beat him in the face and upon the breast, and at last, in -the extreme of desperation, she screamed for help. Instantly he struck -her a heavy blow upon the jaw. The slender form of the girl relaxed -upon the deck in unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>Now Stark came to a sudden realization of the gravity of the thing he -had done. He knew that when Nadara regained consciousness his perfidy -would come to the attention of Captain Burlinghame, and he feared the -quiet, ex-naval officer more than he did the devil. He looked over the -rail. It would be an easy thing to dispose of the girl. He had only to -drop her unconscious body into the still waters below. He raised her in -his arms and bore her to the rail. The moon shone down upon her face. -He looked out over the water and saw the shore so close at hand.</p> - -<p>There would be a thorough investigation and the sailors, who had no -love for him, as he well knew, would lose no time in reporting that he -had been the last to be seen with the girl. Evidently he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> in for -it, one way or the other.</p> - -<p>Again he looked down into Nadara's face. She was very beautiful. He -wanted her badly. Slowly his glance wandered to the calm waters of the -ocean and on to the quiet shore line. Then back to the girl. For a -moment he stood irresolute. Then he stepped to the side of the cabin -where hung a life preserver to which was attached a long line.</p> - -<p>He put the life preserver about Nadara. Then he lowered her into the -ocean. The moment he felt her weight transferred from the lowering rope -to the life preserver he vaulted over the yacht's rail into the dark -waters beneath her stern.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIIb" id="CHAPTER_VIIIb">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE WILD MEN</p> - - -<p class="drop">N<span class="uppercase">adara</span> did not regain consciousness until Stark had reached shore -and was dragging her out upon the beach above the surf. For several -minutes after she had opened her eyes she had difficulty in recalling -the events that had immediately preceded Stark's attack upon her. She -felt the life belt still about her, and as Stark stooped above her to -remove it she knew that it was he though she could not distinguish his -features.</p> - -<p>What had happened? Slowly a realization of the man's bold act forced -itself upon her—he had leaped overboard from the <i>Priscilla</i> and swam -ashore with her rather than face the consequences of his brutal conduct -toward her.</p> - -<p>To a girl reared within the protective influences of civilization -Nadara's position would have seemed hopeless; but Nadara knew naught -of other protection than that afforded by her own quick wits and -the agility of her swift young muscles. To her it would have seemed -infinitely more appalling to have been confined within the narrow -limits of the yacht with this man, for there all was strange and new. -She still had half feared and mistrusted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> all aboard the <i>Priscilla</i> -except Thandar's father and Captain Burlinghame; but would they have -protected her from Stark? She did not know. Among her own people only -a father, brother, or mate protected a woman from one who sought her -against her will, and of these she had none upon the little vessel.</p> - -<p>But now it was different. Intuitively she knew that upon a savage -shore, however strange and unfamiliar it might be, she would have -every advantage over the first officer of the <i>Priscilla</i>. His life -had been spent close to the haunts of civilization; he knew nothing -of the woodcraft that was second nature to her; he might perish in -a land of plenty through ignorance of where to search for food, and -of what was edible and what was not. This much her early experience -with Waldo Emerson had taught her. When their paths first had crossed -Waldo had been as ignorant as a new-born babe in the craft of life -primeval—Nadara had had to teach him everything.</p> - -<p>Behind them Nadara heard the gentle soughing of trees—the myriad -noises of the teeming jungle night—and she smiled. It was inky black -about them. Stark had removed the life belt and placed it beneath the -girl's head. He thought her still unconscious—perhaps dead. Now he was -wringing the water from his clothes; his back toward her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nadara rose to her feet—noiseless as Nagoola. Like a shadow she melted -into the blackness of the jungle that fringed the shore. Careful and -alert, she picked her way within the tangled mass for a few yards. At -the hole of a large tree she halted, listening. Then she made a low, -weird sound with her lips, listening again for a moment after. This -she repeated thrice, and then, seemingly satisfied that no danger -lurked above she swung herself into the low-hanging branches, quickly -ascending until she found a comfortable seat where she might rest in -ease.</p> - -<p>Down upon the beach Stark, having wrung the surplus water from his -garments, turned to examine and revive the girl, if she still lived. -Even in the darkness her form had been plainly visible against the -yellow sand, but now she was not there. Stark was dumfounded. His -eyes leaped quickly from one point to another, yet nowhere could they -discover the girl. There was the beach, the sea and the jungle. Which -had she chosen for her flight? It did not take Stark long to guess, and -immediately he turned his steps toward the shapeless, gloomy mass that -marked the forest's fringe.</p> - -<p>As he approached he went more slowly. The thought of entering that -forbidding wood sent cold shivers creeping through him. Could a mere -girl have dared its nameless horrors? She must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> have, and with the -decision came new resolution. What a girl had dared certainly he might -dare. Again he strode briskly toward the jungle.</p> - -<p>Just at its verge he heard a low, weird sound not a dozen paces -within the black, hideous tangle. It was Nadara voicing the two notes -which some ancient forbear of her tribe had discovered would wring -an answering growl from Nagoola, and an uneasy hiss from that other -arch enemy of man—the great, slimy serpent whose sinuous coils twined -threateningly above them in the branches of the trees. Only these -Nadara feared—these and man. So, before entering a tree at night it -was her custom to assure herself that neither Nagoola nor Coovra lurked -in the branches of the tree she had chosen for sanctuary. Stark beat -a hasty retreat, nor did he again venture from the beach during the -balance of the long, dismal night.</p> - -<p>When dawn broke it found Nadara much refreshed by the sleep she had -enjoyed within the comparative safety of the great tree, and Stark -haggard and exhausted by a sleepless night of terror and regret. He -cursed himself, the girl and his bestial passion, and then as his -thoughts conjured her lovely face and perfect figure before his mind's -eye, he leaped to his feet and swung briskly toward the jungle. He -would find her. All that he had sacrificed should not be in vain. He -would find her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> and keep her. Together they would make a home upon this -tropical shore. He would get everything out of life that there was to -get.</p> - -<p>He had taken but a few steps before he discovered, plain in the damp -sand before him, the prints of Nadara's naked feet in a well defined -trail leading toward the wood. With a smile of satisfaction and victory -the man followed it into the maze of vegetation, dank and gloomy even -beneath the warm light of the morning sun.</p> - -<p>By chance he stumbled directly upon Nadara. She had descended from her -tree to search for water. They saw each other simultaneously. The girl -turned and fled farther into the forest. Close behind her came the man. -For several hundred yards the chase led through the thick jungle which -terminated abruptly at the edge of a narrow, rock-covered clearing -beyond which loomed sheer, precipitous cliffs, raising their lofty -heads three hundred feet above the forest.</p> - -<p>A half smile touched Stark's lips as he saw the barrier that nature -had placed in the path of his quarry; but almost instantly it froze -into an expression of horror as a slight noise to his right attracted -his attention from the girl fleeing before him. For an instant he -stood bewildered, then a quick glance toward the girl revealed her -scaling the steep cliff with the agility of a monkey, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> with a cry -to attract her attention he leaped after her once more, but this time -himself the quarry—the hunter become the hunted, for after him raced a -score of painted savages, brandishing long, slim spears, or waving keen -edged parangs.</p> - -<p>Nadara had not needed Stark's warning cry to apprise her of the -proximity of the wild men. She had seen them the instant that she -cleared the jungle, and with the sight of them she knew that she need -no longer harbor fear of the white man. In them, though, she saw a -graver danger for herself, since they, doubtless, would have little -difficulty in overhauling her in their own haunts, while she had not -had much cause for worry as to her ability to elude the white man -indefinitely.</p> - -<p>Part way up the cliffs she paused to look back. Stark had reached the -foot of the lowering escarpment a short distance ahead of his pursuers. -He had chosen this route because of the ease with which the girl had -clambered up the rocky barrier, but he had reckoned without taking -into consideration the lifetime of practice which lay back of Nadara's -agility. From earliest infancy she had lived upon the face and within -the caves of steep cliffs. Her first toddling, baby footsteps had been -along the edge of narrow shelving ledges.</p> - -<p>When the man reached the cliff, however, he found confronting him an -apparently unscalable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> wall. He cast a frightened, appealing glance -at the girl far above him. Twice he essayed to scramble out of reach -of the advancing savages, whose tattooed faces, pendulous slit ears, -and sharp filed, blackened teeth lent to them a more horrid aspect -than even that imparted by their murderous weapons or warlike whoops -and actions. Each time he slipped back, clutching frantically at -rocky projections and such hardy vegetation as had found foothold in -the crevices of the granite. His hands were torn and bleeding, his -face scratched and his clothing rent. And now the savages were upon -him. They had seen that he was unarmed. No need as yet for spear or -parang—they would take him alive.</p> - -<p>And the girl. They had watched her in amazement as she clambered -swiftly up the steep ascent. With all their primitive accomplishments -this was beyond even them. They were a forest people and a river -people. They dwelt in thatched houses raised high upon long piles. They -knew little or nothing of the arts of the cliff dwellers. To them the -feat of this strange, white girl was little short of miraculous.</p> - -<p>Nadara saw them seize roughly upon the terror-stricken Stark. She saw -them bind his hands behind his back, and then she saw them turn their -attention once more toward herself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> - -<p>Three of the warriors attempted to scale the cliff after her. -Slowly they ascended. She smiled at their manifest fear and their -awkwardness—she need have no fear of these, they never could reach -her. She permitted them to approach within a dozen feet of her and -then, loosening a bit of the crumbling granite, she hurled it full at -the head of the foremost. With a yell of pain and terror he toppled -backward upon those below him, the three tumbling, screaming and pawing -to the rocks at the base of the cliff.</p> - -<p>None of them was killed, though all were badly bruised, and he who had -received her missile bled profusely from a wound upon his forehead. -Their fellows laughed at them—it was scant comfort they received -for being bested by a girl. Then they withdrew a short distance, and -squatting in a circle commenced a lengthy palaver. Their repeated -gestures in her direction convinced Nadara that she was the subject of -their debate.</p> - -<p>Presently one of their number arose and approached the foot of the -cliff. There he harangued the girl for several minutes. When he was -done he awaited, evidently for a reply from her; but as Nadara had not -been able to understand a word of the fellow's language she could but -shake her head.</p> - -<p>The spokesman returned to his fellows and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> once again a lengthy council -was held. During it Nadara climbed farther aloft, that she might be -out of range of the slender spears. Upon a narrow ledge she halted, -gathering about her such loose bits of rock as she could dislodge from -the face of the cliff—she would be prepared for a sudden onslaught, -nor for a moment did she doubt the outcome of the battle. She felt -that but for the lack of food and water she could hold this cliff face -forever against innumerable savages—could they climb no better than -these.</p> - -<p>But the wild men did not again attempt to storm her citadel. Instead -they leaped suddenly from their council, and without a glance toward -her disappeared in the forest, taking their prisoner with them. Out of -sight of the girl, they stationed two of their number just within the -screening verdure to capture the girl should she descend. The others -hastened parallel with the cliff until a sudden turn inland took them -to a point from which they could again emerge into the clearing out of -the sight of Nadara.</p> - -<p>Here they took immediately to a well-worn path that led back and forth -upward across the face of the cliff. Stark was dragged and prodded -forward with them in their ascent. Sharp spears and the points of keen -parangs, urged him to haste. By the time the party reached the summit -the white man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> was bleeding from a score of superficial wounds.</p> - -<p>Now the party turned back along the top of the bluff in the direction -from which they had come.</p> - -<p>Nadara, unable to fathom their reason for having abandoned the attempt -to capture her, was, however, not lulled into any feeling of false -security. She knew the cliff was the safest place for her, and yet the -pangs of thirst and hunger warned her that she must soon leave it to -seek sustenance. She was about to descend to the jungle below in search -of food and water, when the faintest of movements of the earth sweeping -creepers depending from a giant buttress tree below her and just within -the verge of the forest arrested her acute attention. She knew that the -movement had been caused by some animal beneath the tree, and finally, -as she watched intently for a moment or two, she descried through an -opening in the wall of verdure the long feathers of an Argus pheasant -with which the war caps of the savages had been adorned.</p> - -<p>Though she knew now that she was watched, she also knew that she could -reach the top of the cliff and possibly find both food and drink, if -it chanced to be near, before the savages could overtake her. Then she -must depend upon her wits and her speed to regain the safety of the -cliff ahead of them. That they would attempt to scale the barrier at -the same point at which she had climbed it she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> doubted, for she had -seen that they were comparatively unaccustomed to this sort of going, -and so she guessed that if they followed her upward at all it would be -by means of some beaten trail of which they had knowledge.</p> - -<p>And so Nadara scaled the heights, passing over and around obstacles -that would have blanched the cheek of the hardiest mountain climber, -with the ease and speed of the chamois. At the summit she found an -open, park-like forest, and into this she plunged, running forward in -quest of food and drink. A few familiar fruits and nuts assuaged the -keenest pangs of hunger, but nowhere could she find water or signs of -water.</p> - -<p>She had traveled for almost a mile, directly inland from the coast, -when she stumbled, purely by chance, upon a little spring hidden in -a leafy bower. The cool, clear water refreshed her, imparting to her -new life and energy. After drinking her fill she sought some means of -carrying a little supply of the priceless liquid back to her cliff -side refuge, but though she searched diligently she could discover no -growing thing which might be transformed into a vessel.</p> - -<p>There was nothing for it then other than to return without the water, -trusting to her wits to find the means of eluding the savages from time -to time as it became necessary for her to quench her thirst.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> Later, -she was sure, she should discover some form of gourd, or the bladder of -an animal in which she could hoard a few precious drops.</p> - -<p>Her woodcraft, combined with her almost uncanny sense of direction, -led her directly back to the spot at which she had topped the cliff. -There was no sign of the savages. She breathed a sigh of relief as she -stepped to the edge of the forest, and then, all about her, from behind -trees and bushes, rose the main body of the wild men. With shouts of -savage glee they leaped upon her. There was no chance for flight—in -every direction brutal faces and murderous weapons barred her way.</p> - -<p>With greater consideration than she had looked forward to they signaled -her to accompany them. Stark was with them. To him slight humanity was -shown. If he lagged, a spear point, already red with his blood, urged -him to greater speed; but to the girl no cruelty nor indignity was -shown.</p> - -<p>In single file, the prisoners in the center of the column, the party -made its way inland. All day they marched, until Stark, unused to this -form of exertion, staggered and fell a dozen times in each mile.</p> - -<p>Nadara could almost have found it in her heart to be sorry for him, had -it not been for the fact that she realized all too keenly that but for -his own bestial brutality neither of them need have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> there to be -subjected to the present torture, and to be tortured by anticipation of -the horrors to come.</p> - -<p>To the girl it seemed that her fate must be a thousand fold more -terrible than the mere death the man was to suffer, for that these -degraded savages would let him live seemed beyond the pale of reason. -She prayed to the God of which her Thandar had taught her for a quick -and merciful death, yet while she prayed she well knew that no such -boon could be expected.</p> - -<p>She compared her captors with Korth and Flatfoot, with Big Fist and -Thurg, nor did she look for greater compassion in them than in the men -she had known best.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon it became evident that Stark could proceed no -farther unless the savages carried him. That they had any intention of -so doing was soon disproved. The first officer of the <i>Priscilla</i> had -fallen for the twentieth time. A dozen vicious spear thrusts had failed -to bring him, staggering and tottering, to his feet as in the past.</p> - -<p>The chief of the party approached the fallen white, kicking him in the -sides and face, and at last pricking him with the sharp point of his -parang. Stark but lay an inert mass of suffering flesh, and groaned. -The chief grew angry. He grasped the white man around the body and -raised him to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> feet, but the moment that he released him Stark fell -to earth once more.</p> - -<p>At last the warrior could evidently control his rage no further. With -a savage whoop he swung his parang aloft, bringing it down full upon -the neck of the prostrate white. The head, grinning horribly, rolled to -Nadara's feet. She looked at it, lying there staring up at her out of -its blank and sightless eyes, without the slightest trace of emotion.</p> - -<p>Nadara, the cave girl, was accustomed to death in all its most horrible -and sudden forms. She saw before her but the head of an enemy. It was -nothing to her—Stark had only himself to thank.</p> - -<p>The chief gathered the severed head into a bit of bark cloth, and -fastening it to the end of his spear, signaled his followers to resume -the journey.</p> - -<p>On and on they went, farther into the interior, and with them went -Nadara, borne to what nameless fate she could but guess.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IXb" id="CHAPTER_IXb">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> - -<p class="center">BUILDING THE BOAT</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">wo</span> days after the earthquake that had saved Nadara from Thurg and -wiped out the people of the girl's tribe, a man moved feebly beneath -the tumbled debris from the roof top of his clogged cavern. It was -Thandar. The tons of rock that had toppled from above and buried -the entrance to his cave had passed him by unscathed, while the few -pounds shaken from the ceiling had stunned him into a long enduring -insensibility.</p> - -<p>Slowly he regained consciousness, but it was a long time before he -could marshal his faculties to even a slight appreciation of the -catastrophe that had overwhelmed him. Then his first thought was of -Nadara. He crawled to what had once been the entrance of his cave. He -had not as yet linked the darkness to its real cause—he thought it -night. It had been night when he closed his eyes. How could he guess -that that had been three nights before, or all the cruel blows that -fate had struck him since he slept!</p> - -<p>At the opening from the cave he met his first surprise and setback—the -way was blocked! What was the meaning of it? He tugged and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> pushed -weakly upon the mass that barred him from escape. Who had imprisoned -him? He recalled the vivid dream in which he had seen Nadara stolen -away by Thurg. The recollection sent him frantically at the pile of -shattered rock and loose debris which choked the doorway.</p> - -<p>To his chagrin he found himself too weak to direct any long sustained -effort against the obstacle. It occurred to him that he must have been -injured. Whoever imprisoned him must first have beaten him. He felt of -his head. Yes, there was a great gash, but his touch told him that it -was not a new one. How long, then, had he been imprisoned? As he sat -pondering this thing he became aware of the gnawing of hunger and the -craving of thirst within his slowly awakening body. The sensations were -almost painful. So much so that they forced him to a realization of the -fact that he must have been without food or water for a considerable -time.</p> - -<p>Again he assailed the mass that held him prisoner, and as he burrowed -slowly into it the truth dawned upon him. He recalled the rumblings of -the Great Nagoola that had frightened Nadara the night of the council. -A terrific quake had done this thing. Thandar shuddered as he thought -of Nadara. Was she, too, imprisoned in her cave, or had the worst -happened her? Frantically, now, he tore at the close-packed rubble. But -he soon discov<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>ered that not in ill-directed haste lay his means of -escape. Slowly and carefully, piece by piece he must remove the broken -rock until he had tunnelled through to the outer world.</p> - -<p>Reason told him that he was not deeply buried, for the fact that he -lived and could breathe was sufficient proof that fresh air was finding -its way through the debris, which it could not have done did the stuff -lie before the cave in any considerable thickness.</p> - -<p>Weak as he was he could work but slowly, so that it was several hours -later before he caught the first glimpse of daylight beyond the -obstacle. After that he progressed more rapidly, and presently he -crawled through a small opening to view the wreckage of the shattered -cliff.</p> - -<p>A flock of vultures rose from their hideous feast as the sight of -Thandar disturbed them. The man shuddered as he looked down upon the -grisly things from which they had risen. Forgetting his hunger and his -thirst he scrambled up over the tortured cliff face to where Nadara's -cave had been. Its mouth was buried as his had been. Again he set to -work, but this time it was easier. When at last he had opened a way -within he hesitated for fear of the blighting sorrow that awaited him.</p> - -<p>At last, nerving himself to the ordeal, he crawled within the cave -that had been Nadara's. Groping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> about in the darkness, expecting each -moment to feel the body of his loved one cold in death, he at last -covered the entire floor—there was no body within.</p> - -<p>Hastily he made his way to the face of the cliff again, and then -commenced a horrible and pitiful search among the ghastly remnants of -men and women that lay scattered about among the tumbled rocks. But -even here his search was vain, for the ghoulish scavengers had torn -from their prey every shred of their former likenesses.</p> - -<p>Weak, exhausted, sorrow ridden and broken, Thandar dragged himself -painfully to the little river. Here he quenched his thirst and bathed -his body. After, he sought food, and then he crawled to a hole he knew -of in the river bank, and curling up upon the dead grasses within, -slept the sun around.</p> - -<p>Refreshed and strengthened by his sleep and the food that he had taken -Thandar emerged from his dark warren with renewed hope. Nadara could -not be dead! It was impossible. She must have escaped and be wandering -about the island. He would search for her until he found her. But as -day followed day and still no sign of Nadara, or any other living human -being he became painfully convinced that he alone of the inhabitants of -the island had survived the cataclysm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> - -<p>The thought of living on through a long life without her cast him into -the blackest pit of despair. He reproached heaven for not having taken -him as well, for without Nadara life was not worth the living. With -the passage of time his grief grew more rather than less acute. As it -increased so too increased the horror of his loneliness. The island -became a hated thing—life a mockery. The chances that a vessel would -touch the shore again during his lifetime seemed remote indeed, unless -his father sent out a relief party, but in his despair he did not even -hope for such a contingency.</p> - -<p>He would not take his own life, though the temptation was great, but he -courted death in every form that the savage island owned. He slept out -upon the ground at night. He sought Nagoola in his lair, and armed only -with his light lance he leaped to close quarters with every one of the -great cats he could find.</p> - -<p>The wild boars, often as formidable as Nagoola himself, were hunted -now as they never had been hunted before. Thandar lived high those -days, and many were the panther pelts that lined his new-found cave -in the cliff beside the sea—the same cliff in which Nadara had found -shelter, and from whence she had gone away with the search party from -the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>One day as Thandar was returning from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> beach where he often went -to scan the horizon for a sail, he saw something moving at the foot -of his cliff. Thandar dropped behind a bush, watching. A moment later -the thing moved again, and Thandar saw that it was a man. Instantly he -sprang to his feet and ran forward. The days that he had been without -human companionship had seemed to drag themselves into as many weary -months. Now he had reached the pinnacle of loneliness from which he -would gladly have embraced the devil had he come in human guise.</p> - -<p>Thandar ran noiselessly. He was almost upon the man, a great, hairy -brute, before the fellow was aware of his presence. At first the fellow -turned to run, but when he saw that Thandar was alone he remained to -fight.</p> - -<p>"I am Roof," he cried, "and I can kill you!"</p> - -<p>The familiar primitive greeting no longer raised Thandar's temperature -or filled him with the fire of battle. He wanted companionship now, not -a quarrel.</p> - -<p>"I am Thandar," he replied.</p> - -<p>The slow-witted, hulking brute recognized him, and stepped back a pace. -He was not so keen to fight now that he had learned the identity of -the man who faced him. He had seen Thandar in battle. He had witnessed -Thurg's defeat at the hands of this smooth-skinned stranger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Let us not fight," continued Thandar. "We are alone upon the island. -I have seen no other than you since the Great Nagoola came forth and -destroyed the people. Let us be friends, hunting together in peace. -Otherwise one of us must kill the other and thereafter live always -alone until death releases him from his terrible solitude."</p> - -<p>Roof peered over Thandar's shoulder toward the wood behind him.</p> - -<p>"Are you alone?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes—have I not told you that all were killed but you and I?"</p> - -<p>"All were not killed," replied Roof. "But I will be friends with -Thandar. We will hunt together and cave together. Roof and Thandar are -brothers."</p> - -<p>He stooped, and gathering a handful of grass advanced toward the -American. Thandar did likewise, and when each had taken the peace -offering of the other and rubbed it upon his forehead the ceremony of -friendship was complete—simple but none the less effectual, for each -knew that the other would rather die than disregard the primitive pact.</p> - -<p>"You said that all were not killed, Roof," said Thandar, the ceremony -over. "What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"All were not killed by the Great Nagoola," replied the bad man. "Thurg -was not killed, nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> was she who was Thandar's mate—she whom Thurg -would have stolen."</p> - -<p>"What?" Thandar almost screamed the question. "Nadara not dead?"</p> - -<p>"Look," said Roof, and he led the way to the foot of the cliff. "See!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied Thandar, "I had noticed that body, but what of it?"</p> - -<p>"It was Thurg," explained Roof. "He sought to reach your mate, who had -taken refuge in that cave far above us. Then came some strange men who -made a great noise with sticks and Thurg fell dead—the loud noise had -killed him from a great distance. Then came the strange men and she -whom you call Nadara went away with them."</p> - -<p>"In which direction?" cried Thandar. "Where did they take her?"</p> - -<p>"They took her to the strange cliff in which they dwelt—the one in -which they came. Never saw man such a thing as this cliff. It floated -upon the face of the water. About its face were many tiny caves, but -the people did not come out of these they came from the top of the -cliff, and clambering down the sides floated ashore in hollow things of -wood. On top of the cliff were two trees without leaves, and only very -short, straight branches. When the cliff went away black smoke came out -of it from a short black stump of a tree between the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> two trees. It was -a very wonderful thing to see; but the most wonderful of all were the -noise-sticks that killed Thurg and Nagoola a long way off."</p> - -<p>Not half of Roof's narrative did Thandar hear. Through his brain roared -and thundered a single mighty thought: Nadara lives! Nadara lives! Life -took on a new meaning to him now. He trembled at the thought of the -chances he had been taking. Now, indeed, must he live. He leaped up and -down, laughing and shouting. He threw his arms about the astonished -Roof, whirling the troglodyte about in a mad waltz. Nadara lives! -Nadara lives!</p> - -<p>Once again the sun shone, the birds sang, nature was her old, happy, -carefree self. Nadara was alive and among civilized men. But then came -a doubt.</p> - -<p>"Did Nadara go willingly with these strangers," he asked Roof, "or did -they take her by force?"</p> - -<p>"They did not take her by force," replied Roof. "They talked with her -for a time, and then she took the hand of one of the men in hers, -stroking it, and he placed his arm about her. Afterward they walked -slowly to the edge of the great water where they got into the strange -things that had brought them to the land, and returned to their -floating cliff. Presently the smoke came out, as I have told you, and -the cliff went away toward the edge of the world. But they are all dead -now."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What?" yelled Thandar.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I saw the cliff sink, very slowly when it was a long way off, -until only the smoke was coming out of the water."</p> - -<p>Thandar breathed a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>"Point," he said, "to the place where the cliff sank beneath the water."</p> - -<p>Roof pointed almost due north.</p> - -<p>"There," he said.</p> - -<p>For days Thandar puzzled over the possible identity of the ship and -the men with whom Nadara had gone so willingly. Doubtless some kindly -mariner, hearing her story, had taken her home, away from the terrors -and the loneliness of this unhappy island. And now the man chafed to be -after her, that he might search the world for his lost love.</p> - -<p>To wait for a ship appeared quite impossible to the impatient -Thandar, for he knew that a ship might never come. There was but one -alternative, and had Waldo Emerson been a less impractical man in the -world to which he had been born he would have cast aside that single -alternative as entirely beyond the pale of possibility. But Waldo was -only practical and wise in the savage ways of the primitive life to -which circumstance had forced him to revert. And so he decided upon -as foolhardy and hair-brained a venture as the mind of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> man might -conceive. It was no less a thing than to build a boat and set out upon -the broad Pacific in search of a civilized port or a vessel that might -bear him to such.</p> - -<p>To Waldo it seemed quite practical. He realized of course that the -venture would be fraught with peril, but would it not be better to -die in an attempt to find his Nadara than to live on forever in the -hopelessness of this forgotten land?</p> - -<p>And so he set to work to build a boat. He had no tools but his crude -knife and the razor the sailor of the <i>Sally Corwith</i> had given -him, so it was quite impossible for him to construct a dug-out. The -possibilities that lie in fire did not occur to him. Finally he hit -upon what seemed the only feasible form of construction.</p> - -<p>With his knife he cut long, pliant saplings, and lesser branches. These -he fashioned into the framework of a boat. Roof helped him, keenly -interested in this new work. The ribs were fastened to the keel and -gunwale by thongs of panther skin, and when the framework was completed -panther skins were stretched over it. The edges of the skin were sewn -together with threads of gut, as tightly as Thandar and Roof could pull -them.</p> - -<p>A mast was rigged well forward, and another panther skin from which the -fur had been scraped was fitted as a sail, square rigged. For rudder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> -Thandar fashioned a long, slender sapling, looped at one end, and the -loop covered with skin laced tightly on. This, he figured, would serve -both as rudder and paddle, as necessity demanded.</p> - -<p>At last all was done. Together Thandar and Roof carried the light, -crude skiff to the ocean. They waded out beyond the surf, and upon the -crest of a receding swell they launched the thing, Thandar leaping in -as it floated upon the water.</p> - -<p>The sail was not taken along for this trial. Thandar merely wished to -know that this craft would float, and right side up. For a moment it -did so, until the sea rushing in at the loose seams filled it with -water.</p> - -<p>Thandar and Roof had great difficulty in dragging it out again upon the -beach. Roof now would have given up, but not so Thandar. It is true -that he was slightly disheartened, for he had set great store upon the -success of his little vessel.</p> - -<p>After they had carried the frail thing beyond high tide Thandar sat -down upon the ground and for an hour he did naught but stare at the -leaky craft. Then he arose and calling to Roof led him into the forest. -For a mile they walked, and then Thandar halted before a tree from the -side of which a thick and sticky stream was slowly oozing. Thandar -had brought along a gourd, and now with a small branch he commenced -transferring the mass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> from the side of the tree to the gourd. Roof -helped him. In an hour the gourd was filled. Then they returned to the -skiff.</p> - -<p>Leaving the gourd there Thandar and Roof walked to a clump of heavy -jungle grasses not far from the cliff where their cave lay. Here -Thandar gathered a great armful of the yellow, ripened grass, telling -Roof to do likewise. This they took back to the skiff, where, by -rolling it assiduously between their hands and pounding it with stones -they reduced it to a mass of soft, tough fiber.</p> - -<p>Now Thandar showed Roof how to twist this fiber into a loose, fluffy -rope, and when he had him well started he daubed the rope with the -rubbery fluid he had filched from the tree, and with a sharp stick -tucked it in every seam and crevice of the skiff.</p> - -<p>It took the better part of two days to accomplish this, and when it was -done and the gourd empty, the two men returned to the tree and refilled -it. This time they built a fire upon their return to the skiff, Roof -spinning a hard wood splinter rapidly between toes and fingers in a -little mass of tinder that lay in a hollowed piece of wood. Presently a -thin spiral of smoke arose from the tinder, growing denser for a moment -until of a sudden it broke into flame.</p> - -<p>The men piled twigs and branches upon the blaze until the fire was well -started. Then Thandar tak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>ing a ball of the viscous matter from the -gourd heated it in the flames, immediately daubing the melting mass -upon the outside of the skiff. In this way, slowly and with infinite -patience, the two at last succeeded in coating the entire outer surface -of the canoe with a waterproof substance that might defy the action of -water almost indefinitely.</p> - -<p>For three days Thandar let the coating dry, and then the craft was -given another trial. The man's heart was in his throat as the canoe -floated upon the crest of a great wave and he leaped into it.</p> - -<p>But a moment later he shouted in relief and delight—the thing floated -like a cork, nor was there the slightest leak discernible. For half an -hour Thandar paddled about the harbor, and then he returned for the -sail. This too, though rather heavy and awkward, worked admirably, and -the balance of the day he spent in sailing, even venturing out into the -ocean.</p> - -<p>Much of the time he paddled, for Waldo Emerson knew more of the galleys -of ancient Greece than he did of sails or sailing, so that for the most -part he sailed with the wind, paddling when he wished to travel in -another direction. But, withal, his attempt filled him with delight, -and he could scarce wait to be off toward civilization and Nadara.</p> - -<p>The next two days were spent in collecting food and water, which -Thandar packed in numerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> gourds, sealing the mouths with the rubbery -substance such as he had used to waterproof his craft. The flesh of -wild hog, and deer, and bird he cut in narrow strips and dried over -a slow fire. In this work Roof assisted him, and at last all was in -readiness for the venture.</p> - -<p>The day of his departure dawned bright and clear. A gentle south wind -gave promise of great speed toward the north. Thandar was wild with -hope and excitement. Roof was to accompany him, but at the last moment -the nerve of the troglodyte failed him, and he ran away and hid in the -forest.</p> - -<p>It was just as well, thought Thandar, for now his provisions would last -twice as long. And so he set out upon his perilous adventure, braving -the mighty Pacific in a frail and unseaworthy cockle-shell with all the -assurance and confidence that is ever born of ignorance.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Xb" id="CHAPTER_Xb">CHAPTER X</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE HEAD-HUNTERS</p> - - -<p class="drop">N<span class="uppercase">ature</span> so far, had been kind to Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. No high -winds or heavy seas had assailed him, and he had been upon the water -for three days now. The wind had held steadily out of the south, -varying but a few points during this time but even so Waldo Emerson -was commencing to doubt and to worry. His supply of water was running -dangerously low, his food supply would last but a few days longer; and -as yet he had sighted no sail, nor seen any land. Furthermore, he had -not the remotest conception of how he might retrace his way to the -island he had just quitted. He could only sail before the wind. Should -the wind veer around into the north he might, by chance, be blown back -to the island. Otherwise he never could reach it. And he was beginning -to wonder if he had not been a trifle to precipitate in his abandonment -of land.</p> - -<p>In common with most other landsmen, Waldo Emerson had little conception -of the vastness of the broad reaches of unbroken water wildernesses -that roll in desolate immensity over three quarters of the globe. -His recollection of maps pictured the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> calm and level blue dotted, -especially in the south seas, with many islands. Their names, often, -were quite reassuring. He recollected, among others, such as the -Society Islands, the Friendly Islands, Christmas Island. He hoped -that he would land upon one of these. There were so many islands upon -the maps, and they seemed so close together that he was not a little -mystified that he had failed to sight several hundred long before this.</p> - -<p>And ships! It appeared incredible that he should have seen not a -single sail. He distinctly recalled the atlas he had examined prior to -embarking upon his health cruise. The Pacific had been lined in all -directions with the routes of long established steamer lanes, and in -between, Waldo had felt, the ocean must be dotted with the innumerable -tramps that come and go between the countless ports that fringe the -major sea.</p> - -<p>And yet for three days nothing had broken the dull monotony of the vast -circle of which he was always the center and the sole occupant. In -three days, thought Waldo, he must have covered an immense distance.</p> - -<p>And three more days dragged their weary lengths. The wind had died to -the faintest of breezes. The canoe was just making headway and that -was all. The water was gone. The food nearly so. Waldo was suffering -from lack of the former. The piti<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>less sun beating down upon him -increased his agony. He stretched his panther skin across the stern and -hid beneath it from the torrid rays. And there he lay until darkness -brought relief.</p> - -<p>During the night the wind sprang up again, but this time from the -west. It rose and with it rose the sea. The man, clinging to his crude -steering blade, struggled to keep the light craft straight before the -wind which was now howling fearfully while great waves, hungry and wide -jawed, raced after him like a pack of ravenous wolves.</p> - -<p>Thandar knew that the unequal struggle against the mighty forces of the -elements could not endure for long. It seemed that each fierce gust -of brutal wind must tear his frail boat to shreds, and yet it was the -very lightness of the thing that saved it, for it rode upon the crests -of waves, blown forward at terrific velocity like a feather before the -hurricane.</p> - -<p>In Thandar's heart was no terror—only regret that he might never again -see his mother, his father, or his Nadara. Yet the night wore on and -still he fled before the storm. The sky was overcast—the darkness -was impenetrable. He imagined all about him still the same wide, -tenantless circle of water, only now storm torn and perpendicular and -black, instead of peacefully horizontal, and soothingly blue-green. And -then, even as he was think<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>ing this there rose before him a thunderous -booming loud above the frenzied bedlam of the storm, his boat was -lifted high in air to dive headforemost into what might be a bottomless -abyss for all Thandar knew. But it was not bottomless. The canoe struck -something and stopped suddenly, pitching Thandar out into a boiling -maelstrom. A great wave picked him up, carrying him with race-horse -velocity within its crest. He felt himself hurled pitilessly upon -smooth, hard sand. The water tried to drag him back, but he fought with -toes and fingers, clutching at the surface of the stuff upon which he -had been dropped. Then the wave abandoned him and raced swiftly back -into the sea.</p> - -<p>Thandar was exhausted, but he knew that he must crawl up out of the -way of the surf, or be dragged back by the next roller. What he had -searched for in vain through six long days he had run down in the -midst of a Stygian night. He had found land! Or, to be more explicit, -land had got in front of him and he had run into it. He had commenced -to wonder if some terrible convulsion of nature had not swallowed up -all the land in the world, leaving only a waste of desolate water. He -forgot his hunger and his thirst in the happiness of the knowledge that -once more he was upon land. He wondered a little what land it might be. -He hoped that dawn would reveal the chimneys and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> steeples of a nearby -city. And then, exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep.</p> - -<p>It was the sun shining down into his upturned face that awoke him. He -was lying upon his back beside a clump of bushes a little way above the -beach. He was about to rise and survey the new world into which fate -and a hurricane had hurled him when he heard a familiar sound upon the -opposite side of his bush. It was the movement of an animal creeping -through long grass.</p> - -<p>Thandar, the cave man, came noiselessly to his hands and knees, peering -cautiously through the intervening network of branches. What he saw -sent his hand groping for his wooden sword with its fire-hardened -point. There, not five paces from him, was a man going cautiously upon -all fours. It was the most horrible appearing man that Thandar had ever -seen—even Thurg appeared lovely by comparison. The creature's ears -were split and heavy ornaments had dragged them down until the lobes -rested upon its shoulders. The face was terribly marked with cicatrices -and tattooing. The teeth were black and pointed. A head-dress of long -feathers waved and nodded above the hideous face. There was much -tattooing upon the arms and legs and abdomen; the breasts were circled -with it. In a belt about the waist lay a sword in its scabbard. In the -man's hand was a long spear.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> - -<p>The warrior was creeping stealthily upon something at Thandar's left. -The latter looked in the direction the other's savage gaze was bent. -Through the bushes he could barely discern a figure moving toward them -along the edge of the beach. The warrior had passed him now and Thandar -stood erect the better to obtain a view of the fellow's quarry.</p> - -<p>Now he saw it plainly—a man strangely garbed in many colors. A -yellow jacket, soiled and torn, covered the upper part of his body. -Strange designs, very elaborate, were embroidered upon the garment -which reached barely to the fellow's waist. Beneath was a red sash in -which were stuck a long pistol and a wicked-looking knife. Baggy blue -trousers reached to the bare ankles and feet. A strip of crimson cloth -wound around the head completed the strange garmenture. The features of -the man were Mongolian.</p> - -<p>Thandar could see the warrior pause as it became evident that the other -was approaching directly toward his place of concealment, but at the -last moment the unconscious quarry turned sharply to his right down -upon the beach. He had discovered the wreck of Thandar's canoe and was -going to investigate it.</p> - -<p>The move placed Thandar almost between the two. Suddenly the native -rose to his feet—his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> victim's back was toward him. Grasping his -spear in his left hand he drew his wicked-looking sword and emerged -cautiously from the bushes. At the same moment the man upon the beach -wheeled quickly as though suddenly warned of his danger. The native, -discovered, leaped forward with raised sword. The man snatched his -pistol from his belt, levelled it at the on-rushing warrior and pulled -the trigger. There was a futile click—that was all. The weapon had -missed fire.</p> - -<p>Instantly a third element was projected into the fray. Thandar, seeing -a more direct link with civilization in the strangely apparelled Mongol -than in the naked savage, leaped to the assistance of the former. With -drawn sword he rushed out upon the savage. The wild man turned at -Thandar's cry, which he had given to divert the fellow's attention from -his now almost helpless victim.</p> - -<p>Thandar knew nothing of the finer points of sword play. He was ignorant -of the wickedness of a Malay parang—the keen, curved sword of the -head-hunter, so he rushed in upon the savage as he would have upon one -of Thurg's near-men.</p> - -<p>The very impetuosity of his attack awed the native. For a moment he -stood his ground, and then, with a cry of terror turned to flee; but he -had failed to turn soon enough. Thandar was upon him. The sharp point -entered his back beneath the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> left shoulder blade, and behind it were -the weight and sinews of the cave man. With a shriek the savage lunged -forward, clutching at the cruel point that now protruded from his -breast. When he touched the earth he was dead.</p> - -<p>Thandar drew his sword from the body of the head-hunter, and turned -toward the man he had rescued. The latter was approaching, talking -excitedly. It was evident that he was thanking Thandar, but no word of -his strange tongue could the American understand. Thandar shook his -head to indicate that he was unfamiliar with the other's language, and -then the latter dropped into pidgin English, which, while almost as -unintelligible to the cultured Bostonian, still contained the battered -remnants of some few words with which he was familiar.</p> - -<p>Thandar depreciated his act by means of gestures, immediately following -these with signs to indicate that he was hungry and thirsty. The -stranger evidently understood him, for he motioned him to follow, -leading the way back along the beach in the direction from which he had -come.</p> - -<p>Before starting, however, he had pointed toward the wreck of Thandar's -canoe and then toward Thandar, nodding his head questioningly as to ask -if the boat belonged to the cave man.</p> - -<p>Around the end of a promontory they came upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> a little cove beside -the beach of which Thandar saw a camp of nearly a score of men similar -in appearance to his guide. These were preparing breakfast beside the -partially completed hull of a rather large boat they seemed to have -been building.</p> - -<p>At sight of Thandar they looked their astonishment, but after hearing -the story of their fellow they greeted the cave man warmly, furnishing -him with food and water in abundance.</p> - -<p>For three days Thandar worked with these men upon their craft, picking -up their story slowly with a slow acquirement of a bowing acquaintance -with the bastard tongue they used when speaking with him. He soon -became aware of the fact that fate had thrown him among a band of -pirates. There were Chinese, Japanese and Malays among them—the -off-scourings of the south seas; men who had become discredited even -among the villainous pirates of their own lands, and had been forced -to join their lots in this remoter and less lucrative field, under an -unhung ruffian, Tsao Ming, the Chinaman whose life Thandar had saved.</p> - -<p>He also learned that the storm that had cast them upon this shore -nearly a month before had demolished their prahu, and what with the -building of another and numerous skirmishes with the savages they had -had a busy time of it.</p> - -<p>Only yesterday while a party of them had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> hunting a mile or -two inland they had been attacked by savages who had killed two and -captured one of their number.</p> - -<p>They told Thandar that these savages were the most ferocious of -head-hunters, but like the majority of their kind preferred ambushing -an unwary victim to meeting him in fair fight in the open. Thandar did -not doubt but that the latter mode of warfare would have been entirely -to the liking of his piratical friends, for never in his life had he -dreamed, even, of so ferocious and warlike a band as was comprised in -this villainous and bloodthirsty aggregation. But the constant nervous -tension under which they had worked, never knowing at what instant an -arrow or a lance would leap from the shades of the jungle to pierce -them in the back, had reduced them to a state of fear that only a -speedy departure from the island could conquer.</p> - -<p>Their boat was almost completed, two more days would see them safely -launched upon the ocean, and Tsao Ming had promised Thandar that he -would carry him to a civilized port from which he could take a steamer -on his return to America.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon of the third day since his arrival among the -pirates the men were suddenly startled by the appearance of an -exhausted and blood smeared apparition amongst them. From the nearby -jungle the man had staggered to fall when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> half-way across the -clearing, spent.</p> - -<p>It was Boloon—he who had been captured by the head-hunters the day -before Thandar had been cast upon the shore. Revived with food and -water the fellow told a most extraordinary tale. From the meager scraps -that were afterward translated into pidgin English for Thandar the -Bostonian learned that Boloon had been dragged far inland to a village -of considerable size.</p> - -<p>Here he had been placed in a room of one of the long houses to await -the pleasure of the chief. It was hinted that he was to be tortured -before his head was removed to grace the rafters of the chief's palace.</p> - -<p>The remarkable portion of his tale related to a strange temple to which -he had been dragged and thrown at the feet of a white goddess. Tsao -Ming and the other pirates were much mystified by this part of the -story, for Boloon insisted that the goddess was white with a mass of -black hair, and that her body was covered by the pelt of a magnificent -black panther.</p> - -<p>Though Tsao Ming pointed out that there were no panthers upon this -island Boloon could not be shaken. He had seen with his own eyes, and -he knew. Furthermore, he argued, there were no white goddesses upon the -island, and yet the woman he had seen was white.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> - -<p>When this strange tale was retold to Thandar he could not but recall -that Nadara had worn a black panther skin, but of course it could -not be Nadara—that was impossible. But yet he asked for a further -description of the goddess—the color of her eyes and hair—the -proportions of her body—her height.</p> - -<p>To all these questions Boloon gave replies that but caused Thandar's -excitement to wax stronger. And then came the final statement that set -him in a frenzy of hope and apprehension.</p> - -<p>"Upon her left hand was a great diamond," said Boloon.</p> - -<p>Thandar turned toward Tsao Ming.</p> - -<p>"I go inland to the temple," he said, "to see who this white goddess -may be. If you wait two days for me and I return you shall have as much -gold as you ask in payment. If you do not wait repair my canoe and hide -it in the bushes where the man hid who would have killed you but for -Thandar."</p> - -<p>"I shall wait three days," replied Tsao Ming. "Nor will I take a single -<i>fun</i> in pay. You saved the life of Tsao Ming—that is not soon to be -forgotten. I would send men with you, but they would not go. They are -afraid of the head-hunters. Too, will I repair your canoe against your -coming after the third day; but," and he shrugged, "you will not come -upon the third day, nor upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> the fourth, nor ever, Thandar. It is -better that you forget the foolish story of the frightened Boloon and -come away from this accursed land with Tsao Ming."</p> - -<p>But Thandar would not relinquish his intention, and so he parted with -the pirates after receiving from Boloon explicit directions for his -journey toward the mysterious temple and the white goddess who might be -Nadara; and yet who could not be.</p> - -<p>Straight into the tangled jungle he plunged, carrying the spear and the -parang of the head-hunter he had killed, and in the string about his -loins one of the long pistols of a dead pirate. This latter Tsao Ming -had forced upon him with a supply of ammunition.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIb" id="CHAPTER_XIb">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE RESCUE</p> - - -<p class="drop">I<span class="uppercase">t was</span> dusk of the second day when Thandar, following the directions -given him by Boloon, came to the edge of the little clearing within -which rose the dingy outlines of many long houses raised upon piles. -Before the village ran a river. Many times had Thandar crossed and -recrossed this stream, for he had become lost twice upon the way and -had to return part way each time to pick up his trail.</p> - -<p>In the center of the village the man could see the outlines of a -loftier structure rearing its head above those of the others. As -darkness fell Thandar crept closer toward his goal—the large building -which Boloon had described as the temple.</p> - -<p>Beneath the high raised houses the cave man crept, disturbing pigs and -chickens as he went, but their noise was no uncommon thing, and rather -than being a menace to his safety it safeguarded him, for it hid the -noise of his own advance.</p> - -<p>At last he came beneath a house nearest the temple. The moon was full -and high. Her brilliant light flooded the open spaces between the -buildings, casting into black darkness the shadows be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>neath. In one of -these Thandar lurked. He saw that the temple was guarded. Before its -only entrance squatted two warriors. How was he to pass them?</p> - -<p>He moved to the end of the shadow of the house beneath which he spied -as far from the guards as possible; but still discovery seemed certain -were he to attempt to rush across the intervening space. He was at a -loss as to what next to do. It seemed foolish to risk all now upon a -bold advance—the time for such a risk would be when he had found the -goddess and learned if she were Nadara, or another; but how might he -cross that strip of moonlight and enter the temple past the two guards, -without risk?</p> - -<p>He moved silently to the far end of the building, in the shadows of -which he watched. For some time he stood looking across at his goal, so -near, and yet seemingly infinitely farther from attainment than the day -he had left the coast in search of it. He noted the long poles stuck -into the ground at irregular intervals about the structure. He wondered -at the significance of the rude carving upon them, of the barbaric -capitals sometimes topped by the head-dress of a savage warrior, again -by a dried and grinning skull, or perhaps the rudely chiseled likeness -of a hideous human face.</p> - -<p>Upon many of the poles were hung shields,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> weapons, clothing and -earthenware vessels. One especially was so weighted down by its -heterogeneous burden that it leaned drunkenly against the eaves of -the temple. Thandar's eye followed it upward to where it touched the -crudely shingled roof. The suggestion was sufficient—where his eye -had climbed he would climb. There was only the moonlight to make the -attempt perilous. If the clouds would but come! But there was no -indication of clouds in the star shot sky.</p> - -<p>He looked toward the guards. They lolled at the opposite end of the -temple, only one of them being visible. The other was hidden by the -angle of the building. The back of the fellow whom Thandar could see -was turned toward the cave man. If they remained thus for a moment -he could reach the roof unnoticed. But then there was the danger of -discovery from one of the other buildings. An occasional whiff of -tobacco smoke told him that some of the men were still awake upon the -verandahs where most of the youths and bachelors slept.</p> - -<p>Thandar crawled to where he could see the only verandah which directly -faced the portion of the temple he had chosen for his attempted -entrance. For an hour he watched the rising and falling glow of the -cigarettes of two of the native men, and listened to the low hum of -their conversation. The hour seemed to drag into an eternity, but at -last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> the glowing butt of first one cigarette and then another was -flicked over into the grass and silence reigned upon the verandah.</p> - -<p>For half an hour longer Thandar waited. The guards before the temple -still squatted as before. The one Thandar could see seemed to have -fallen asleep, for his head drooped forward upon his breast.</p> - -<p>The time had come. There was no need of further delay or -reconnaisance—if he was to be discovered that would be the end of it, -and it would not profit him one iota to know a second or so in advance -of the alarm that he had been detected. So he did not waste time in -stealthy advance, or in much looking this way and that. Instead he -moved swiftly, though silently, directly across the open, moonlit space -to the foot of the leaning pole. He did not cast a glance behind nor to -the right nor left. His whole attention was riveted upon the thing in -hand.</p> - -<p>Thandar had scaled the rickety, toppling saplings of the cliff dwellers -for so long that this pole offered no greater difficulties to him than -would an ordinary staircase to you or me. First he tested it with eyes -and hands to know that it rested securely at the top and that beneath -his weight it would not move noisily out of its present position.</p> - -<p>Assured that it seemed secure, Thandar ran up it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> with the noiseless -celerity of a cat. Gingerly he stepped upon the roof, not knowing the -manner of its construction, which might be weak thatching that would -give beneath him and precipitate him into the interior beneath.</p> - -<p>To his surprise and consternation he found that the roof was of wood, -and quite as solid as one could imagine. It had been his plan to enter -the temple from above, but now it seemed that he was to be thwarted, -for he could not hope to cut silently through a wooden roof with his -parang in the few hours that intervened before dawn.</p> - -<p>He stooped to examine the roof minutely with eyes and fingers. The -moonlight was brilliant. In it he could see quite well. He pulled -away the thin palm frond thatch. Beneath were shingles hand hewn from -billian. In each was a small square hole through which was passed a -strip of rattan that bound the shingle to the frame of the roof.</p> - -<p>Thandar lifted away the thatching over a little space some two feet -square. Then he inserted the point of his keen parang beneath a rattan -tie string, and an instant later had lifted aside a shingle. Another -and another followed the first until an opening in the roof had been -made large enough to easily admit his body.</p> - -<p>Thandar leaned over and peered into the darkness beneath. He could see -nothing. His own body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> was between the moon and the hole in the roof, -shutting out the rays of the satellite from the interior.</p> - -<p>The man lowered his legs cautiously over the edge of the hole. Feeling -about, his feet came in contact with a rafter. A moment later his whole -body had disappeared within the temple. Clinging to the edge of the -hole with one hand, Thandar squatted upon the rafter above the temple -floor.</p> - -<p>Now that his body no longer clogged the aperture in the roof the -moonlight poured through it throwing a brilliant flood upon a portion -of the floor at the opposite side of the interior. The balance was -feebly lighted by the diffused moonlight.</p> - -<p>The temple seemed to consist of a single large room. In the center was -a raised platform, and also about the walls. From the rafters hung -baskets containing human skulls—one swung directly in the moonlight -beneath Thandar. He could see its grisly contents plainly.</p> - -<p>His eyes followed the moonlight toward the area which it touched upon -the far side of the room. It reminded Waldo Emerson of a spot light -thrown from the gallery of a theater upon the stage.</p> - -<p>Directly in the center of the light a woman lay asleep upon the -platform. Thandar's heart stood still. About her figure was wrapped the -glossy hide of Nagoola. Over one bare, brown arm billowed a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> wealth -of thick, black hair, fine as silk, upon the third finger of the left -hand blazed a large solitaire. The woman's face was turned toward the -wall—but Thandar knew that he could not be mistaken—it was Nadara.</p> - -<p>From the rafter upon which he squatted to the floor below was not over -twelve or fifteen feet. Thandar swung downward, clinging to the rafter -with his hands, and dropped, cat-like, upon his naked feet to the floor -below.</p> - -<p>The almost noiseless descent was sufficient, however, to awaken the -sleeper. With the quickness of a panther she swung around and was -upon her feet facing the man almost at the instant he alighted. The -moonlight was now full upon her face. Thandar rushed forward to take -her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Nadara!" he whispered. "Thank God!"</p> - -<p>The girl shrank back. She recognized the voice and the figure; but—her -Thandar was dead! How could it be that he had returned from death? She -was frightened.</p> - -<p>The man saw the evident terror of her action, and paused.</p> - -<p>"What is the matter, Nadara?" he asked. "Don't you know me? Don't you -know Thandar?"</p> - -<p>"Thandar is dead," she whispered.</p> - -<p>The man laughed. In a few words he explained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> that he had been stunned, -but not killed, by the earthquake. Then he came to her side and took -her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Do I feel like a dead man?" he asked.</p> - -<p>She put her arms about his neck and drew his face down to hers. She was -sobbing. Thandar's back was toward the doorway of the temple. Nadara -was facing it. As she raised her eyes to his again her face went deadly -white, and she dragged and pushed him suddenly out of the brilliant -patch of moonlight.</p> - -<p>"The guard!" she whispered. "I just saw something move beyond the door."</p> - -<p>Thandar stepped behind one of the tree trunks that supported the roof, -looking toward the entrance. Yes, there was a man even now coming into -the temple. His eyes were wide with surprise as he glanced upward -toward the hole in the roof. Then he looked in the direction of the -platform upon which Nadara had been sleeping. When he saw that it was -empty he ran back to the doorway and called his companion.</p> - -<p>As he did so Thandar grasped Nadara's hand and drew her around the -opposite side of the temple where the shadows were blackest, toward the -doorway. They had reached the end of the room when the two warriors -came running in, jabbering excitedly. One of them had passed half-way -across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> the temple, and Thandar and Nadara had almost reached the door -when the second savage caught sight of them. With a cry of warning to -his companion he turned upon them with drawn parang.</p> - -<p>As the fellow rushed forward Thandar drew the pistol the pirates had -given him and fired point blank at the fellow's breast. With a howl the -man staggered back and collapsed upon the floor. Then his fellow rushed -to the attack.</p> - -<p>Thandar had no time to reload. He handed the weapon to Nadara.</p> - -<p>"In the pouch at my right side are cartridges," he said. "Get out -several of them, and when I can I will reload."</p> - -<p>As he spoke they had been edging toward the doorway. From the street -beyond they could already hear excited voices raised in questioning. -The shot had aroused the village.</p> - -<p>Now the fellow with the parang was upon them. Thandar was clumsy with -the unaccustomed weapon with which he tried to meet the attack of the -skilled savage. There could have been but one outcome to the unequal -struggle had not Nadara, always quick-witted and resourceful, snatched -a long spear from the temple wall.</p> - -<p>As she dragged it down there fell with it a clattering skull that broke -upon the floor between the fighters. A howl of dismay and rage broke -from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> lips of the head-hunter. This was sacrilege. The holy of the -holies had been profaned. With renewed ferocity he leaped to close -quarters with Thandar, but at the same instant Nadara lunged the sharp -pointed spear into his side, his guard dropped and Thandar's parang -fell full upon his skull.</p> - -<p>"Come!" cried Nadara. "Make your escape the way you came. There is -no hope for you if you remain. I will tell them that the two guards -fought between themselves for me—that one killed the other, and that I -shot the victor to save myself. They will believe me—I will tell them -that I have always had the pistol hidden beneath my robe. Good-bye, my -Thandar. We cannot both escape. If you remain we may both die—you, -certainly."</p> - -<p>Thandar shook his head vehemently.</p> - -<p>"We shall both go—or both die," he replied.</p> - -<p>Nadara pressed his hand.</p> - -<p>"I am glad," was all that she said.</p> - -<p>The savages were pouring from their long houses. The street before the -temple was filling with them. To attempt to escape in that direction -would have been but suicidal.</p> - -<p>"Is there no other exit?" asked Thandar.</p> - -<p>"There is a small window in the back of the temple," replied Nadara, -"in a little room that is sometimes used as a prison for those who are -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> die, but it lets out into another street which by this time is -probably filled with natives."</p> - -<p>"There is the floor," cried Thandar. "We will try the floor there."</p> - -<p>He ran to the main entrance to the temple, and closed the doors. Then -he dragged the two corpses before them, and a long wooden bench. There -was no other movable thing in the temple that had any considerable -weight.</p> - -<p>This done he took Nadara's hand and together the two ran for the little -room. Here again they barricaded the door, and Thandar turned toward -the floor. With his parang he pried up a board—it was laid but roughly -upon the light logs that were the beams. Another was removed with equal -ease, and then he lowered Nadara to the ground beneath the temple.</p> - -<p>Clinging to the piling, Thandar replaced the boards above his head -before he, too, dropped to the ground at Nadara's side. The streets -upon either side of the temple were filled with savages. They could -hear them congregating before the entrance to the temple where all was -now quiet and still within. They were bolstering their courage by much -shouting to the point that would permit them to enter and investigate. -They called the names of the guards, but there was no response.</p> - -<p>"Give me the pistol," said Thandar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> - -<p>He loaded it, keeping several cartridges ready in his hand. Then, with -Nadara at his side, he crept to the back of the temple. Pigs, routed -from their slumbers, grunted and complained. A dog growled at them. -Thandar silenced it with a cut from his parang. When they reached the -edge of the shadow beneath the temple they saw that there were only a -few natives upon this side of the structure, and they were hurrying -rapidly toward the front of the building. A hundred yards away was the -jungle.</p> - -<p>Now a sudden quiet fell upon the horde before the temple doors. There -was the sound of hammering, then a pushing, scraping noise, and -presently shouts of savage rage—the dead bodies of the guardsmen -had been discovered. Now, from above, came the padding of naked feet -running through the temple. The street behind was momentarily deserted.</p> - -<p>"Now!" whispered Thandar.</p> - -<p>He seized Nadara's hand, and together the two raced from beneath the -temple out into the moonlight and across the intervening space between -the long houses toward the jungle. Half-way across, a belated native, -emerging from the verandah of a nearby house, saw them. He set up a -terrific yell and dashed toward them.</p> - -<p>Thandar's pistol roared, and the savage dropped; but the signal had -been given and before the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> reached the jungle a screaming horde of -warriors was upon their heels.</p> - -<p>Thandar was confused. He had lost his bearings since entering the -village and the temple. He turned toward Nadara.</p> - -<p>"I do not know the way to the coast," he cried.</p> - -<p>The girl took his hand.</p> - -<p>"Follow me," she said, and to the memories of each leaped the -recollection of the night she had led him through the forest from the -cliffs of the bad men. Once again was Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, the -learned, indebted to the greater wisdom of the unlettered cave girl for -his salvation.</p> - -<p>Unerringly Nadara ran through the tangled jungle in the direction of -the coast. Though she had been but once over the way she followed the -direct line as unerringly as though each tree was blazed and sign posts -marked each turn.</p> - -<p>Behind them came the noise of the pursuit, but always Nadara and -Thandar fled ahead of it, not once did it gain upon them during the -long hours of flight.</p> - -<p>It was noon before they reached the coast. They came out at the camp -of the pirates, but to Thandar's dismay it was deserted. Tsao Ming had -waited the allotted time and gone. If Thandar had but known it, the -picturesque cut-throat had overstayed the promised period, and had but -scarce left when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> the fugitives emerged from the jungle beside the -beach. In fact his rude craft was but out of sight beyond the northern -promontory. A pistol shot would have recalled him; but Thandar did not -know it, and so he turned dejectedly to search for the hidden canoe.</p> - -<p>It lay behind the little clump of bushes that had hidden Thandar the -morning that he had saved Tsao Ming's life, several hundred yards to -the south.</p> - -<p>All signs of pursuit had now ceased, and so the two walked slowly in -the direction of the craft. They found it just where Tsao Ming had -promised that it would be. It was well and staunchly repaired, and in -addition contained a goodly supply of food and water. Thandar blessed -Tsao Ming, the unhung murderer.</p> - -<p>Together they dragged the frail thing to the water's edge, and were -about to shove it out when, with a chorus of savage yells, a score or -more of the head-hunters leaped from the jungle and bore down upon -them. Thandar turned to meet them with drawn pistol.</p> - -<p>"Get the canoe into the water, Nadara," he called to the girl. "I will -hold them off until it is launched, then we may be able to reach deep -water before they can overtake us."</p> - -<p>Nadara struggled with the unwieldy boat which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> the rollers picked up -and hurled back upon her each time she essayed to launch it. From -the corner of his eye Thandar saw the difficulties that the girl was -having. Already the horde was half-way across the beach, running -rapidly toward them. The man feared to fire except at close range since -his unfamiliarity with firearms rendered him an extremely poor shot. -However, it was evident that Nadara could not launch the thing alone, -and so Thandar turned his pistol upon the approaching savages, pulled -the trigger, and wheeled to assist the girl.</p> - -<p>More by chance than skill the bullet lodged in the body of the foremost -head-hunter. The fellow rolled screaming to the sand, and as one his -companions came to a sudden halt. But seeing that Thandar was busy -with the boat and not appearing to intend to follow up his shot they -presently resumed the charge.</p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara were having all that they could attend to with the -canoe and so the savages came to the water's edge before they realized -their proximity. When he saw them, Thandar wheeled and fired again, -then picking the canoe up bodily above his head he struggled out -through the surf, Nadara walking by his side, steadying him.</p> - -<p>After them came the savages—perhaps half a dozen of the bolder, -when suddenly a great roller<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> caught them all, pursuers and pursued, -sweeping them out into deep water. Thandar and Nadara clung to the -canoe, but the head-hunters were dragged down by the undertow.</p> - -<p>Upon the beach, yelling, threatening and gesticulating, danced thirty -or forty baffled savages; but now Thandar and Nadara had crawled into -the craft, which the outgoing tide was carrying rapidly from shore, and -with the aid of the paddle were soon safely out upon the bosom of the -Pacific.</p> - -<p>Safely?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIIb" id="CHAPTER_XIIb">CHAPTER XII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">PIRATES</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">s the</span> tide and wind carried the light craft out to sea, and the shore -line sank beneath the horizon behind them, Waldo Emerson looked out -upon the future as he did upon the tumbling waste of desolate water -encircling them, with utter hopelessness.</p> - -<p>Once before he had passed by a miracle through the many-sided menaces -of the sea; but that he should be so fortunate again he could not hope. -And now Nadara was with him. Before, only his own suffering and death -had been possible; now he must face the greater agony of witnessing -Nadara's.</p> - -<p>The wind, blowing a steady gale, was raising a considerable sea. The -vast billows rolled, one upon the heels of another, with the regularity -of infantry units doubling at review. The wind and the sea seemed to -have been made to order for the frail vessel that bore Thandar and -Nadara. It rode the long, ponderous waves like a cork; its crude sail -caught the wind and bellied bravely to it, driving the boat swiftly -over the water.</p> - -<p>And scarce had the shore behind them sunk for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>ever from their sight -than dead ahead another shore line showed. Thandar could scarce believe -his eyes. He rubbed them and looked again. Then he asked Nadara to look.</p> - -<p>"What is that ahead?" he asked.</p> - -<p>The girl half rose with an exclamation of joy.</p> - -<p>"Land!" she cried.</p> - -<p>And land it was. The wind, driving them madly, carried them toward -the north end of what appeared to be a large island. Angry breakers -pounded a rocky coast line. To strike there would mean instant death -to them both. But would they strike? As they neared the point of the -island it became evident to Thandar that they would be borne past it. -Could he hope to stem the speed of the little craft and turn it back -into the sheltered water in the lee of the land? The chances were more -than even that the canoe would capsize the instant he cut away the sail -and attempted to paddle across the wind, as would be necessary to come -about the end of the island.</p> - -<p>But there seemed no other way. He handed his parang to Nadara, telling -her to be ready to cut the rawhide strips that supported the sail the -instant that he gave the word. With his paddle clutched tightly in his -hands he knelt in the stern, watching the progress of the canoe past -the rocky point.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> - -<p>At this extremity of the island a narrow tongue of land ran far out -into the sea. It was past the outer point of this tongue that the canoe -was racing. When they had passed Thandar realized the rashness of -attempting to turn the canoe into the trough of the sea even for the -little distance that would have been necessary to make the shelter of -the point, where, almost within reach, he could see the peaceful bosom -of unruffled water lying safely behind the island.</p> - -<p>And yet as he looked ahead upon the limitless waste of ocean before -them he knew that one risk was no greater than the other, and then an -alternative plan occurred to him. He would run a short distance past -the point and then turn almost directly back and attempt to paddle the -canoe in the calm water, running nearly into the face of the wind, thus -avoiding the dangers of the trough.</p> - -<p>There was but a single drawback to this plan—the question of his -ability to drive the canoe against the gale. At least it was worth -trying. He gave Nadara the word to cut down the sail, and at the same -instant, the canoe being upon the crest of a wave, he bent to the -paddle. As the panther skin tumbled at the foot of the rough mast the -nose of the craft swung around in reply to Thandar's vigorous strokes.</p> - -<p>So intent were both upon the life and death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> struggle that they were -waging with the elements that neither saw the long, low-lying craft -that shot from the mouth of a small harbor behind them as they came -into view upon the lee side of the island.</p> - -<p>For a moment the canoe hung broadside to the wind. Thandar struggled -frantically to carry it about. Down they dropped into the trough of a -great sea. Above them hung the overleaning tower of the wave's crest -ready to topple upon them its tons of water. The canoe rose, still -broadside, almost to the crest of the wave—then the thing broke upon -them.</p> - -<p>When Thandar came to the surface his first thought was for Nadara. He -looked about as he shook the water from his eyes. Almost at his side -Nadara's head rose from the sea. As her eyes met his a smile touched -her lips.</p> - -<p>"This is better," she shouted. "Now we can reach shore," and turning -she struck out for land.</p> - -<p>Just behind her swam Thandar. He knew that Nadara was like a fish in -water, but he doubted her ability as he doubted his own to reach the -shore in the face of both wind and tide. A wave carried them high in -air, and from its crest both saw simultaneously a long craft in the -hollow beneath them, and noted the fierce aspect of her crew.</p> - -<p>Nadara, fearing all men but Thandar, would have attempted to elude the -craft, but the glimpse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> that the man had had of those aboard her had -convinced him that he had fallen by good fortune into the company of -Tsao Ming and his crew.</p> - -<p>"They are friends," he screamed to Nadara, and so they let the boat -come alongside and pick them up; but no sooner had Thandar obtained a -good look at the occupants than he discovered that never a face among -them had he seen before.</p> - -<p>They were of the same type as Tsao Ming's motley horde, nor did Waldo -Emerson need inquire their vocation—thief and murderer were writ upon -every countenance. They jabbered questions at Nadara and Thandar in an -assortment of dialects which neither could understand, and it was only -after the craft had been anchored in the little bay and the party had -waded to shore that Thandar tried speaking with them in pidgin English. -Several among them understood him, and he was not long in making it -plain to them that they would be paid well if they carried him and -Nadara to a civilized port.</p> - -<p>The leader, who seemed to be a full blooded negro, laughed at him, -ridiculing the idea that an almost naked man could pay for his liberty. -At the same time the fellow cast such greedy glances at Nadara that -Thandar became convinced that the fellow, for reasons of his own, -preferred not to believe that they could pay in money for their -liberty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> - -<p>It seemed that the party had been about to embark for another portion -of the western coast of the island where the main body of the horde -lay. They had but been waiting for three of their crew who had gone -inland hunting, when they had seen the canoe and put out to capture -its occupants. Now they returned to the little harbor to pick up their -fellows, and continue toward the main camp.</p> - -<p>The black was for dispatching Thandar at once as their boat was already -overcrowded, but there were others who counselled him against it, -reminding him of the probable anger of their chief, who saw only in a -dead prisoner the loss of a possible ransom.</p> - -<p>At last the hunters returned and all embarked. Soon the boat had passed -out of the bay and was making its way south along the west coast of the -island. It was almost dark when her nose was turned toward shore and -the long sweeps brought into play as the sail sagged to the foot of the -mast.</p> - -<p>Between two small, overlapping points that hid what lay behind, -they passed into a landlocked harbor. As the boat breasted the end -of the inner point, Thandar sprang to his feet with a cry of joy -and amazement. Not a hundred yards away, riding quietly upon the -mirror-like surface of the water, lay the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>The pirates looked at their prisoner in astonish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>ment. The black rose -with clenched fists as though prepared to strike him.</p> - -<p>"<i>Priscilla ahoy!</i>" shrieked Waldo Emerson. "Help! Help!"</p> - -<p>The negro grinned. There was no response from the white yacht. Then -the men told Thandar that they had captured the vessel several weeks -before, and were holding her crew prisoners upon land awaiting the -return of the chief who had been unaccountably absent for a long time. -When Waldo Emerson told them that the yacht belonged to his father the -black was glad that he had not killed him, for he should bring a fat -ransom.</p> - -<p>It was dark when they landed, and Thandar and Nadara were forced into -squalid huts that lay side by side with several others just above the -beach. For a long time the man could not sleep. His mind was occupied -with doubts as to the fate of his father and mother. Nadara had told -him that both had been aboard the <i>Priscilla</i>. She had said nothing of -the treatment accorded her by Mrs. Smith-Jones, but Waldo had guessed -near the truth, and he had seen that the sight of the <i>Priscilla</i> had -awakened no enthusiasm or happiness in the girl.</p> - -<p>After a while he dozed only to be awakened by the sound of movement -outside his hut. There was something sinister in the stealthiness of -the sound. Silently Thandar rose and crept to the door. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> pirates -had made no attempt to secure their prisoners—there was no possibility -of their escaping from the island.</p> - -<p>Thandar put his head out into the lesser darkness of the night. He -muttered a little growl of rage and fear, for what he saw was the huge, -dark bulk of a man crawling into Nadara's hut. Instantly the American -followed. At the door of the girl's shelter he paused to listen. Within -he heard a sudden exclamation of fright and the sound of a scuffle. -Then he was within the darkness, and a moment later stumbled against a -man. Thandar's fingers sought the throat. He made no sound. The other -wheeled upon him with a knife. Thandar had expected it. His forearm -warded the first blow, and running down the forearm of the other his -hand found the knife wrist. Then commenced the struggle within the -Stygian blackness of the interior of the hut. Back and forth across the -mud floor the two staggered and reeled—the one attempting to wrench -free the hand that held the knife—the other seeking a hold upon the -throat of his antagonist while he strove to maintain his grip upon the -other's wrist. The heavy breathing of the two rose and fell upon the -silence of the night—that and the scuffling of their feet were the -only sounds of combat. Nadara could not assist Thandar—she knew that -it was he who had come to her rescue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> though she could not see him.</p> - -<p>At last, with a superhuman effort, the night prowler broke away from -Thandar. For a moment silence reigned in the hut. None of the three -could see the other. From beneath his panther skin Thandar drew the -long pistol that Tsao Ming had given him, but he dared not fire for -fear of hitting Nadara, nor dared he ask her to speak that he might -know her position, for then would he have divulged his own to his -antagonist.</p> - -<p>For minutes that seemed hours the three stood in utter silence, -endeavoring to stifle their breathing. Then Thandar heard a cautious -movement upon the opposite side of the room. Was it his foe, or -Nadara. He raised his pistol level with a man's breast, and then -very cautiously he too moved to one side. At the slight sound of his -movement there came a sudden flash and deafening roar from across the -hut—the enemy had fired, and in the flash of his gun all within the -interior was lighted for an instant, and Thandar saw the giant black -not two paces from him, and to the man's left stood Nadara, safe from a -shot from Thandar's pistol.</p> - -<p>The black, not knowing that Thandar was armed, had not guessed that -his chance shot was to prove his own death messenger. The instant that -the flash of the other's gun revealed his whereabouts Thandar's pistol -gave an answering roar, and simul<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>taneously Thandar leaped to one side, -running swiftly to grapple with the black from the side; but when he -came to him, instead of meeting with ferocious resistance as he had -expected, he stumbled over his dead body.</p> - -<p>But now the whole camp was awake. The pirates were running hither and -thither shouting questions and orders in their many tongues. Confusion -reigned supreme, and in the midst of it Thandar grasped Nadara's hand -and ran from the hut. Back of the other huts he ran until he had passed -the end of the camp. Then he turned down toward the water. It was his -intention to reach a boat and make his way to the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>Behind them the confusion of the camp grew as the pirates searched the -huts for an explanation of the two shots—there could have been no -better opportunity for escape. Drawn up on the beach was one of the -<i>Priscilla's</i> own boats. Together Thandar and Nadara pushed it off, and -a moment later were rowing rapidly toward the yacht.</p> - -<p>It was with a feeling of unbounded security and elation that Waldo -Emerson clambered over the side and drew Nadara after him; but his -elation was short lived for scarcely had he set foot upon the deck than -he was seized from behind by half a dozen brawny villains who had been -upon guard on board the <i>Priscilla</i> and had seen the two put off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> from -shore, watched their flight toward the yacht and lain in wait for them -as they clambered over the side.</p> - -<p>The balance of the night they were kept prisoners upon the <i>Priscilla</i>; -but early the next morning they were taken ashore. There they found -all the pirates congregated outside one of the huts. Within were -the passengers and crew of the <i>Priscilla</i>. As Thandar and Nadara -approached they were seized and hustled toward the doorway—with an -accompaniment of oriental oaths they were pushed into the interior.</p> - -<p>Standing about in disconsolate and unhappy groups were the crew of the -<i>Priscilla</i>, Captain Burlinghame and Mr. and Mrs. Smith-Jones. As his -eyes fell upon the last, Waldo Emerson ran toward her with outstretched -arms.</p> - -<p>With a horrified shriek Mrs. Smith-Jones dodged behind her husband -and the captain. Waldo came to a sudden halt. The two men eyed him -threateningly. He looked straight into his father's face.</p> - -<p>"Don't you know me, Father," he asked.</p> - -<p>John Alden Smith-Jones' jaw dropped.</p> - -<p>"Waldo Emerson," he cried. "It cannot be possible!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones emerged from retreat.</p> - -<p>"Waldo Emerson!" she echoed. "It cannot be!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But it is, Mother," cried the young man.</p> - -<p>"What awful apparel!" said Mrs. Smith-Jones after she had embraced her -son. Then her eyes wandered to Nadara, who had been standing in demure -silence just within the doorway.</p> - -<p>"You?" she gasped. "You are not dead?"</p> - -<p>Nadara shook her head, and Waldo Emerson hastened to recount -her adventures since Stark's attack upon her on the deck of the -<i>Priscilla</i>. Mrs. Smith-Jones approached the girl. She placed a hand -upon her shoulder.</p> - -<p>"I have been doing a great deal of thinking since last I saw you," she -said, "and the result of it is that I am going to do something that I -have never before done in my life—I am going to ask your pardon; I -treated you shamefully. I do not need to ask if my son loves you—you -have already told me that you love him—and his eyes have told me where -his heart lies.</p> - -<p>"For long nights I lay awake thinking of the horror of it, and almost -praying that he might be dead rather than come back to find you waiting -for him in Boston—that was before you went overboard. You had no birth -or family, and that to me meant everything; but since I thought that -you were both dead I discovered that I recalled many things about you -that were infinitely to be preferred over birth and breeding.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I cannot tell you just what they are—only I cannot blame my son for -loving you. Only you must discard that horrible garment for something -presentable."</p> - -<p>"Mother!" shouted Waldo Emerson, as he threw his arms about her. "I -knew that you would love her, too, if you ever knew her."</p> - -<p>Just then the door opened and one of the pirates entered.</p> - -<p>"Come," he said.</p> - -<p>They filed out past him. From those outside they learned that it had -been decided to kill them all and after looting the <i>Priscilla</i>, sink -her, as a man-of-war had been sighted cruising off the coast early in -the morning. In their terror they had decided to wait no longer for -the absent chief, and all thoughts of ransom were forgotten in the mad -desire to erase every vestige of their piracy.</p> - -<p>The victims looked at one another in horror. They were entirely -surrounded by the pirates, and one by one were securely bound that -there might be no chance of any escaping. The plan was to lead them -inland to the densest part of the jungle and there to cut their throats -and leave their corpses to the vultures. The pirates appeared to derive -much pleasure in recounting their plan to the prisoners.</p> - -<p>At last all were bound and the death march com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>menced. The last of the -long line of hope forsaken prisoners and brutal, gibing cut-throats -had disappeared in the jungle when a rude craft made its way into the -harbor. At sight of the <i>Priscilla</i> it hesitated and prepared to fly, -but seeing no sign of life aboard it, approached, and finding the decks -deserted, mounted. In the cabins the newcomers discovered two Malays -asleep. These they awoke with much laughter and rude jests.</p> - -<p>The two guards leaped to their feet, feeling for their pistols; but -when they saw who had surprised them they grinned broadly and jabbered -volubly. They addressed all their remarks to a huge and villainous -fellow whom they called chief. He it was whom the pirates had awaited, -and whose prolonged absence had resulted in the determination to -execute the prisoners of the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>When the chief learned of what was going on in the jungle he cursed -and bellowed in rage. He saw many thousand liangs of sycee evaporating -before his eyes. Shouting orders to his fellows to follow him he leaped -into the craft that had brought them to the <i>Priscilla</i>, and a moment -later was pushing rapidly toward the shore. Without waiting to draw the -boat upon the beach the chief plunged into the jungle, his men at his -heels.</p> - -<p>Far ahead of him trudged the weary and fear-sickened prisoners, lashed -onward with sticks and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> the flats of murderous parangs. At last the -pirates halted in a tangled mass of vegetation.</p> - -<p>"Here," said one; but another thought they should proceed a little -further. For a few minutes the two men argued, then the first drew his -parang and advanced upon Thandar.</p> - -<p>"Here!" he insisted and swung the blade about his head.</p> - -<p>A sudden crashing of the underbrush and loud and angry shouts -caused him to turn his eyes in the direction of the interruption. -The prisoners, too, looked. What they saw was not particularly -reassuring—only another very ferocious appearing and exceeding -wrathful pirate followed by a half dozen other villains.</p> - -<p>He rushed into the midst of the group, knocking men to right and left. -The wicked looking fellows who had bullied and cowed the frightened -prisoners but a few moments before now looked the picture of abject -terror.</p> - -<p>The chief came to a halt before the man with the bared parang. His face -was livid, and working spasmodically with rage and excitement. He tried -to speak, and then he turned his eyes upon Thandar, standing there -bound ready for decapitation. As his gaze fell upon this prisoner his -eyes went wide, and then he turned upon the would-be executioner, and -with a mighty blow felled him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> - -<p>That seemed to loose his tongue, and from his mouth flowed a torrent -of the most awful abuse the prisoners had ever heard. It was directed -toward the men who had dared contemplate this thing without his -sanction, and principally against the cowering unfortunate who had not -dared rise from where his chief's heavy fist had sprawled him.</p> - -<p>"And you would have killed Thandar," he shrieked. "Thandar, who saved -my life!"</p> - -<p>And then he fell to kicking the prostrate man until Thandar himself was -forced to intercede in the wretch's behalf.</p> - -<p>With the coming of Tsao Ming the troubles of the prisoners evaporated -in thin air, for when he found that the owner of the <i>Priscilla</i> was -Thandar's father he restored the yacht and all the loot that his men -had taken from it to their rightful owners. Nor would he have stopped -there had they permitted him to have his way, which was no less than -to behead half a dozen of his unfortunate lieutenants who had been -over-zealous in the performance of their piratical duties.</p> - -<p>Tsao Ming's picturesque villains replenished the water casks of the -<i>Priscilla</i> and carried aboard her a sufficient stock of provisions to -insure her company a plentiful table to Honolulu, the port they had -chosen as their first stop.</p> - -<p>And when the preparations were completed a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> dozen piratical prahus -escorted the white yacht a hundred miles upon her northward journey, -firing a farewell salute with volley after volley from the little, -brass six-pounders in their bows.</p> - -<p>As the tiny fleet diminished to mere specks astern, disappearing -beneath the southern horizon, a white flanneled man with close cropped -blonde hair, and a slender, black haired girl in simple shirt waist and -duck skirt watched them from the deck of the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>An involuntary sigh escaped the lips of each, and they turned and -looked into one another's eyes.</p> - -<p>"We are leaving a cruel world that has been kind to us," said the man, -"for with all its cruelties it gave us each other and reunited us when -we were separated."</p> - -<p>"Will civilization be more kind?" asked the girl.</p> - -<p>Thandar shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I do not know," he replied.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIIIb" id="CHAPTER_XIIIb">CHAPTER XIII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">HOMEWARD BOUND</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">t Honolulu</span> Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones and Nadara were married. Before -the ceremony there had been some discussion as to what name should be -used in describing Nadara in the formal contract.</p> - -<p>"Nadara" alone seemed too brief and meaningless to the precise Mrs. -Smith-Jones; but Waldo Emerson and the girl insisted that it was her -name and all-sufficient. So, in lieu of another name, it was finally -decided by all that "Nadara" could not be legally improved upon.</p> - -<p>Prior to the ceremony, which took place on board the <i>Priscilla</i>, Mr. -and Mrs. John Alden Smith-Jones, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, several -invited guests from amongst officials and friends in Honolulu, and the -crew of the <i>Priscilla</i> presented gifts to the bride.</p> - -<p>Captain Burlinghame in presenting his proffered a few words in -explanation of it.</p> - -<p>"To you, Nadara," he said, "these trinkets will hold a deeper meaning -and a greater value than to another, for they come from your own -forgotten island, where they lay for twenty years until, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> chance, -I picked them up close by the sea. The poor lady to whom they once -belonged you never knew—it is quite possible that she never was upon -your savage coast—and how her jewels came there must always remain a -mystery. But two things you hold in common with her, for she was a lady -and she was very beautiful."</p> - -<p>He held toward Nadara in his open palm a little worn bag of the skins -of small rodents, sewn together with bits of gut. At sight of it both -the girl and Waldo Emerson exclaimed in astonishment.</p> - -<p>Nadara took the bag wonderingly in her hands and dumped the contents -into her palm. Waldo pressed forward.</p> - -<p>"Did you know to whom those belonged?" he asked Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>"To Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy," replied the -captain.</p> - -<p>"They belonged to Nadara's mother," returned Waldo. "Her foster parents -were present at her birth and took these jewels from the poor woman's -body after she had passed away. She was washed ashore in a boat in -which there was only a dead man beside herself—Nadara was born that -night."</p> - -<p>And so, when the clergyman had performed the marriage ceremony he -entered upon the certificate in the space provided there for the name -of the woman: Nadara de la Valois.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> - -<p>And they are living in Boston now in a wonderful home that you have -seen if you ever have been to Boston and been driven about in one of -those great sight-seeing motor busses, for the place is pointed out to -all visitors because of the beauty of its architecture and the fame -that attaches to the historic and aristocratic name of its owner, -which, as it happens, is not Smith-Jones at all.</p> - - - - - - - - -<p class="ph3" style="margin-top: 15em;"><i>There's More to Follow!</i></p> - - -<blockquote> - -<p>More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author of -this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of world-wide -reputation, in the Authors Alphabetical List which you will find on -the <i>reverse side</i> of the wrapper of this book. Look it over before -you lay it aside. There are books here you are sure to want—some, -possibly, that you have <i>always</i> wanted.</p> - -<p>It is a <i>selected</i> list; every book in it has achieved a certain -measure of <i>success</i>.</p> - -<p>The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good -Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted -Standard of Value. It will pay you to</p></blockquote> - - -<p><i>Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!</i></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a complete -catalog</i></p></blockquote> - - - - - - -<p class="ph3">THE NOVELS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN OF THE APES</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN THE TERRIBLE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN THE UNTAMED</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BEASTS OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RETURN OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE SON OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MASTER MIND OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE PRINCESS OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE WARLORD OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GODS OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THUVIA, MAID OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CHESSMAN OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MONSTER MEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE WAR CHIEF</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE OUTLAW OF TORN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MAD KING</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MOON MAID</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE ETERNAL LOVER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CAVE GIRL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BANDIT OF HELL'S BEND</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">AT THE EARTH'S CORE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">PELLUCIDAR</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MUCKER</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph3">STIRRING TALES OF THE GREAT WAR</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Erich Maria Remarque</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The greatest of all the War novels. The G. & D. Edition is the -unexpurgated edition—printed from the English text.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">GOD HAVE MERCY ON US! William T. Scanlon</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>These were the words that instinctively came to the lips of hundreds -of American soldiers who survived the experiences told in this book.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WAR BUGS Charles MacArthur</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Leonard Nason says "If WAR BUGS is not a splendid picture of a -'milishy' outfit I'll bite my initials in a green bough."</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISCHA Arnold Zwieg</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Based on an actual case during the European War—it is an impassioned -and powerful drama of man's inhumanity to man.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE TOP KICK Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Infantry, cavalry, artillery, intelligence—Private fights and public -fights—Wine, no women, and cuss words—France in 1918.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">SQUAD James B. Wharton</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The war chronicle of eight men out of whose flesh and blood the -smallest of military units—a squad—is made.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WAR BIRDS The Diary of an Unknown Aviator</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Soaring, looping, zooming, spitting hails of leaden death, planes -everywhere in a war darkened sky. WAR BIRDS is a tale of youth, -loving, fighting, dying.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">SERGEANT EADIE Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>This is the private history of the hard luck sergeant whose exploits -in CHEVRONS made that story one of the most dramatic and thrilling of -war books.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WINGS John Monk Saunders</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Based on the great Paramount picture, WINGS is the Big Parade of the -air, the gallant, fascinating story of an American air pilot.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">LEAVE ME WITH A SMILE Elliott White Springs</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Henry Winton, a famous ace, thrice decorated, twice wounded and many -times disillusioned returns after the war to meet Phyllis, one of the -new order of hard-drinking, unmoral girls.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">NOCTURNE MILITAIRE Elliott White Springs</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>War, with wine and women, tales of love, madness, heroism; flyers -reckless in their gestures toward life and death.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">CHEVRONS Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>One of the sensations of the post-war period, CHEVRONS discloses -the whole pageantry of war with grim truth flavored with the breezy -vulgarity of soldier dialogue.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THREE LIGHTS FROM A MATCH Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Three long short stories, each told with a racy vividness, the real -terror in war with the sputter of machine guns.</p></blockquote> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph3">JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD'S</p> - -<p>STORIES OF ADVENTURE</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LADY OF PERIBONKA</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">SWIFT LIGHTNING</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BLACK HUNTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE ANCIENT HIGHWAY</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">A GENTLEMAN OF COURAGE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE ALASKAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE COUNTRY BEYOND</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE FLAMING FOREST</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RIVER'S END</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GOLDEN SNARE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE WOLF HUNTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GOLD HUNTERS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">NOMADS OF THE NORTH</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">KAZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">BAREE, SON OF KAZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE DANGER TRAIL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE COURAGE OF MARGE O'DOONE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE HUNTED WOMAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE FLOWER OF THE NORTH</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GRIZZLY KING</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">ISOBEL</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph3">ZANE GREY'S NOVELS</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WILD HORSE MESA</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">NEVADA</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">FORLORN RIVER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">UNDER THE TONTO RIM</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE VANISHING AMERICAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TAPPAN'S BURRO</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE THUNDERING HERD</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CALL OF THE CANYON</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WANDERER OF THE WASTELAND</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE DAY OF THE BEAST</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TO THE LAST MAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MYSTERIOUS RIDER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MAN OF THE FOREST</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE DESERT OF WHEAT</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE U.P. TRAIL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WILDFIRE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BORDER LEGION</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RAINBOW TRAIL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LONE STAR RANGER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">DESERT GOLD</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">BETTY ZANE</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>ZANE GREY'S BOOKS FOR BOYS</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">ROPING LIONS IN THE GRAND CANYON</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RED-HEADED OUTFIELD</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">KEN WARD IN THE JUNGLE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE YOUNG LION HUNTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE YOUNG FORESTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE YOUNG PITCHER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE SHORT STOP</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publisher</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAVE GIRL ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Cave Girl - -Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs - -Release Date: October 20, 2022 [eBook #69191] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAVE GIRL *** - - - - -THE CAVE GIRL - -[Illustration: The Cave Girl saves Waldo's life.] - - - - - THE CAVE GIRL - - BY - - EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS - - AUTHOR OF - - TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN, - THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, - PELLUCIDAR, Etc. - - [Illustration] - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - Made in the United States of America - - - - -Copyright - -Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. - -1925 - -Published March, 1925 - -_Copyrighted in Great Britain_ - - -_Printed in the United States of America_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PART I - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I Flotsam 1 - - II The Wild People 14 - - III The Little Eden 24 - - IV Death's Doorway 38 - - V Awakening 53 - - VI A Choice 70 - - VII Thandar, the Seeker 80 - - VIII Nadara Again 90 - - IX The Seeker 97 - - X The Trail's End 111 - - XI Capture 124 - - - PART II - - I King Big Fist 147 - - II King Thandar 161 - - III The Great Nagoola 177 - - IV The Battle 189 - - V The Abduction of Nadara 202 - - VI The Search 212 - - VII First Mate Stark 226 - - VIII The Wild Men 246 - - IX Building the Boat 260 - - X The Head-Hunters 275 - - XI The Rescue 288 - - XII Pirates 304 - - XIII Homeward Bound 321 - - - - -PART I - - - - -THE CAVE GIRL - - - - -CHAPTER I - -FLOTSAM - - -The dim shadow of the thing was but a blur against the dim shadows of -the wood behind it. - -The young man could distinguish no outline that might mark the presence -as either brute or human. - -He could see no eyes, yet he knew that somewhere from out of that -noiseless mass stealthy eyes were fixed upon him. - -This was the fourth time that the thing had crept from out the wood -as darkness was settling--the fourth time during those three horrible -weeks since he had been cast upon that lonely shore that he had -watched, terror-stricken, while night engulfed the shadowy form that -lurked at the forest's edge. - -It had never attacked him, but to his distorted imagination it seemed -to slink closer and closer as night fell--waiting, always waiting for -the moment that it might find him unprepared. - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones was not overly courageous. He had been reared -among surroundings of culture plus and ultra-intellectuality in the -exclusive Back Bay home of his ancestors. - -He had been taught to look with contempt upon all that savored of -muscular superiority--such things were gross, brutal, primitive. - -It had been a giant intellect only that he had craved--he and a fond -mother--and their wishes had been fulfilled. At twenty-one Waldo was an -animated encyclopedia--and about as muscular as a real one. - -Now he slunk shivering with fright at the very edge of the beach, as -far from the grim forest as he could get. - -Cold sweat broke from every pore of his long, lank, six-foot-two -body. His skinny arms and legs trembled as with palsy. Occasionally -he coughed--it had been the cough that had banished him upon this -ill-starred sea voyage. - -As he crouched in the sand, staring with wide, horror-dilated eyes into -the black night, great tears rolled down his thin, white cheeks. - -It was with difficulty that he restrained an overpowering desire -to shriek. His mind was filled with forlorn regrets that he had -not remained at home to meet the wasting death that the doctor had -predicted--a peaceful death at least--not the brutal end which faced -him now. - -The lazy swell of the South Pacific lapped his legs, stretched upon -the sand, for he had retreated before that menacing shadow as far as -the ocean would permit. As the slow minutes dragged into age-long -hours, the nervous strain told so heavily upon the weak boy that toward -midnight he lapsed into merciful unconsciousness. - -The warm sun awoke him the following morning, but it brought with it -but a faint renewal of courage. Things could not creep to his side -unseen now, but still they could come, for the sun would not protect -him. Even now some savage beast might be lurking just within the forest. - -The thought unnerved him to such an extent that he dared not venture -to the woods for the fruit that had formed the major portion of his -sustenance. Along the beach he picked up a few mouthfuls of sea-food, -but that was all. - -The day passed, as had the other terrible days which had preceded it, -in scanning alternately the ocean and the forest's edge--the one for a -ship and the other for the cruel death which he momentarily expected to -see stalk out of the dreary shades to claim him. - -A more practical and a braver man would have constructed some manner -of shelter in which he might have spent his nights in comparative -safety and comfort, but Waldo Emerson's education had been conducted -along lines of undiluted intellectuality--pursuits and knowledge which -were practical were commonplace, and commonplaces were vulgar. It -was preposterous that a Smith-Jones should ever have need of vulgar -knowledge. - -For the twenty-second time since the great wave had washed him from -the steamer's deck and hurled him, choking and sputtering, upon this -inhospitable shore, Waldo Emerson saw the sun sinking rapidly toward -the western horizon. - -As it descended the young man's terror increased, and he kept his eyes -glued upon the spot from which the shadow had emerged the previous -evening. - -He felt that he could not endure another night of the torture he -had passed through four times before. That he should go mad he was -positive, and he commenced to tremble and whimper even while daylight -yet remained. For a time he tried turning his back to the forest, and -then he sat huddled up gazing out upon the ocean; but the tears which -rolled down his cheeks so blurred his eyes that he saw nothing. - -Finally he could endure it no longer, and with a sudden gasp of horror -he wheeled toward the wood. There was nothing visible, yet he broke -down and sobbed like a child, for loneliness and terror. - -When he was able to control his tears for a moment he took the -opportunity to scan the deepening shadows once more. - -The first glance brought a piercing shriek from his white lips. - -The thing was there! - -The young man did not fall groveling to the sand this time--instead, -he stood staring with protruding eyes at the vague form, while shriek -after shriek broke from his grinning lips. - -Reason was tottering. - -The thing, whatever it was, halted at the first blood-curdling cry, and -then when the cries continued it slunk back toward the wood. - -With what remained of his ebbing mentality Waldo Emerson realized that -it were better to die at once than face the awful fears of the black -night. He would rush to meet his fate, and thus end this awful agony of -suspense. - -With the thought came action, so that, still shrieking, he rushed -headlong toward the thing at the wood's rim. As he ran it turned and -fled into the forest, and after it went Waldo Emerson, his long, skinny -legs carrying his emaciated body in great leaps and bounds through the -tearing underbrush. - -He emitted shriek after shriek--ear-piercing shrieks that ended in long -drawn out wails, more wolfish than human. And the thing that fled -through the night before him was shrieking, too, now. - -Time and again the young man stumbled and fell. Thorns and brambles -tore his clothing and his soft flesh. Blood smeared him from head to -feet. Yet on and on he rushed through the semidarkness of the now -moonlit forest. - -At first impelled by the mad desire to embrace death and wrest the -peace of oblivion from its cruel clutch, Waldo Emerson had come to -pursue the screaming shadow before him from an entirely different -motive. Now it was for companionship. He screamed now because of a fear -that the thing would elude him and that he should be left alone in the -depth of this weird wood. - -Slowly but surely it was drawing away from him, and as Waldo Emerson -realized the fact he redoubled his efforts to overtake it. He had -stopped screaming now, for the strain of his physical exertion found -his weak lungs barely adequate to the needs of his gasping respiration. - -Suddenly the pursuit emerged from the forest to cross a little moonlit -clearing, at the opposite side of which towered a high and rocky cliff. -Toward this the fleeing creature sped, and in an instant more was -swallowed, apparently, by the face of the cliff. - -Its disappearance was as mysterious and awesome as its identity had -been, and left the young man in blank despair. - -With the object of pursuit gone, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -sank trembling and exhausted at the foot of the cliff. A paroxysm of -coughing seized him, and thus he lay in an agony of apprehension, -fright, and misery until from very weakness he sank into a deep sleep. - -It was daylight when he awoke--stiff, lame, sore, hungry, and -miserable--but, withal, refreshed and sane. His first consideration -was prompted by the craving of a starved stomach; yet it was with the -utmost difficulty that he urged his cowardly brain to direct his steps -toward the forest, where hung fruit in abundance. - -At every little noise he halted in tense silence, poised to flee. His -knees trembled so violently that they knocked together; but at length -he entered the dim shadows, and presently was gorging himself with ripe -fruits. - -To reach some of the more luscious viands he had picked from the ground -a piece of fallen limb, which tapered from a diameter of four inches -at one end to a trifle over an inch at the other. It was the first -practical thing that Waldo Emerson had done since he had been cast upon -the shore of his new home--in fact, it was, in all likelihood, the -nearest approximation to a practical thing which he had ever done in -all his life. - -Waldo had never been allowed to read fiction, nor had he ever cared to -so waste his time or impoverish his brain, and nowhere in the fund of -deep erudition which he had accumulated could he recall any condition -analogous to those which now confronted him. - -Waldo, of course, knew that there were such things as step-ladders, -and had he had one he would have used it as a means to reach the fruit -above his hand's reach; but that he could knock the delicacies down -with a broken branch seemed indeed a mighty discovery--a valuable -addition to the sum total of human knowledge. Aristotle himself had -never reasoned more logically. - -Waldo had taken the first step in his life toward independent mental -action--heretofore his ideas, his thoughts, his acts, even, had been -borrowed from the musty writing of the ancients, or directed by the -immaculate mind of his superior mother. And he clung to his discovery -as a child clings to a new toy. - -When he emerged from the forest he brought his stick with him. - -He determined to continue the pursuit of the creature that had eluded -him the night before. It would, indeed, be curious to look upon a thing -that feared him. - -In all his life he had never imagined it possible that any creature -could flee from him in fear. A little glow suffused the young man as -the idea timorously sought to take root. - -Could it be that there was a trace of swagger in that long, bony figure -as Waldo directed his steps toward the cliff? Perish the thought! Pride -in vulgar physical prowess! A long line of Smith-Joneses would have -risen in their graves and rent their shrouds at the veriest hint of -such an idea. - -For a long time Waldo walked back and forth along the foot of the -cliff, searching for the avenue of escape used by the fugitive of -yesternight. A dozen times he passed a well-defined trail that led, -winding, up the cliff's face; but Waldo knew nothing of trails--he was -looking for a flight of steps or a doorway. - -Finding neither, he stumbled by accident into the trail; and, although -the evident signs that marked it as such revealed nothing to him, yet -he followed it upward for the simple reason that it was the only place -upon the cliff side where he could find a foothold. - -Some distance up he came to a narrow cleft in the cliff into which the -trail led. Rocks dislodged from above had fallen into it, and, becoming -wedged a few feet from the bottom, left only a small cavelike hole, -into which Waldo peered. - -There was nothing visible, but the interior was dark and forbidding. -Waldo felt cold and clammy. He began to tremble. Then he turned and -looked back toward the forest. - -The thought of another night spent within sight of that dismal place -almost overcame him. No! A thousand times no! Any fate were better than -that, and so after several futile efforts he forced his unwilling body -through the small aperture. - -He found himself on a path between two rocky walls--a path that rose -before him at a steep angle. At intervals the blue sky was visible -above through openings that had not been filled with debris. - -To another it would have been apparent that the cleft had been kept -open by human beings--that it was a thoroughfare which was used, if not -frequently, at least sufficiently often to warrant considerable labor -having been expended upon it to keep it free from the debris which must -be constantly falling from above. - -Where the path led, or what he expected to find at the other end, Waldo -had not the remotest idea. He was not an imaginative youth. But he kept -on up the ascent in the hope that at the end he would find the creature -which had escaped him the night before. - -As it had fled for a brief instant across the clearing beneath -the moon's soft rays, Waldo had thought that it bore a remarkable -resemblance to a human figure; but of that he could not be positive. - -At last his path broke suddenly into the sunlight. The walls on either -side were but little higher than his head, and a moment later he -emerged from the cleft onto a broad and beautiful plateau. - -Before him stretched a wide, grassy plain, and beyond towered a range -of mighty hills. Between them and him lay a belt of forest. - -A new emotion welled in the breast of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. It -was akin to that which Balboa may have felt when he gazed for the -first time upon the mighty Pacific from the Sierra de Quarequa. For -the moment, as he contemplated this new and beautiful scene of rolling -meadowland, distant forest, and serrated hill-tops, he almost forgot -to be afraid. And on the impulse of the instant he set out across the -tableland to explore the unknown which lay beyond the forest. - -Well it was for Waldo Emerson's peace of mind that no faint conception -of what lay there entered his unimaginative mind. To him a land without -civilization--without cities and towns peopled by humans with manners -and customs similar to those which obtain in Boston--was beyond belief. - -As he walked he strained his eyes in every direction for some -indication of human habitation--a fence, a chimney--anything that -would be man-built; but his efforts were unrewarded. - -At the verge of the forest he halted, fearing to enter; but at last, -when he saw that the wood was more open than that near the ocean, and -that there was but little underbrush, he mustered sufficient courage to -step timidly within. - -On careful tiptoe he threaded his way through the park-like grove, -stopping every few minutes to listen, and ready at the first note of -danger to fly screaming toward the open plain. - -Notwithstanding his fears, he reached the opposite boundary of the -forest without seeing or hearing anything to arouse suspicion, and, -emerging from the cool shade, found himself a little distance from a -perpendicular white cliff, the face of which was honeycombed with the -mouths of many caves. - -There was no living creature in sight, nor did the very apparent -artificiality of the caves suggest to the impractical Waldo that they -might be the habitations of perhaps savage human beings. - -With the spell of discovery still upon him, he crossed the open toward -the cliffs; but he had by no means forgotten his chronic state of -abject fear. Ears and eyes were alert for hidden dangers; every few -steps were punctuated by a timid halt and a searching survey of his -surroundings. - -It was during one of these halts, when he had crossed half the distance -between the forest and the cliff, that he discerned a slight movement -in the wood behind him. - -For an instant he stood staring and frozen, unable to determine whether -he had been mistaken or really had seen a creature moving in the forest. - -He had about decided that he had but imagined a presence when a great, -hairy brute of a man stepped suddenly from behind the bole of a tree. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE WILD PEOPLE - - -The creature was naked except for a bit of hide that hung from a -leathern waist thong. - -If Waldo viewed the newcomer with wonder, it was no less than the -wonder which the sight of him inspired in the breast of the hairy -one, for what he saw was as truly remarkable to his eyes as was his -appearance to those of the cultured Bostonian. And Waldo did indeed -present a most startling exterior. His six-feet-two was accentuated by -his extreme skinniness; his gray eyes looked weak and watery within the -inflamed circles which rimmed them, and which had been produced by loss -of sleep and much weeping. - -His yellow hair was tangled and matted, and streaked with dirt and -blood. Blood stained his soiled and tattered ducks. His shirt was but a -mass of frayed ribbons held to him at all only by the neckband. - -As he stood helplessly staring with bulging eyes at the awful figure -glowering at him from the forest his jaw dropped, his knees trembled, -and he seemed about to collapse from sheer terror. - -Then the hideous man crouched and came creeping warily toward him. - -With an agonized scream Waldo turned and fled toward the cliff. A quick -glance over his shoulder brought another series of shrieks from the -frightened fugitive, for it revealed not alone the fact that the awful -man was pursuing him, but that behind him raced at least a dozen more -equally frightful. - -Waldo ran toward the cliffs only because that direction lay straight -away from his pursuers. He had no idea what he should do when he -reached the rocky barrier--he was far too frightened to think. - -His pursuers were gaining upon him, their savage yells mingling with -his piercing cries and spurring him on to undreamed-of pinnacles of -speed. - -As he ran, his knees came nearly to his shoulders at each frantic -bound; his left hand was extended far ahead, clutching wildly at the -air as though he were endeavoring to pull himself ahead, while his -right hand, still grasping the cudgel, described a rapid circle, like -the arm of a windmill gone mad. In action Waldo was an inspiring -spectacle. - -At the foot of the cliff he came to a momentary halt, while he glanced -hurriedly about for a means of escape; but now he saw that the enemy -had spread out toward the right and left, leaving no means of escape -except up the precipitous side of the cliff. Up this narrow trails led -steeply from ledge to ledge. - -In places crude ladders scaled perpendicular heights from one tier of -caves to the next above; but to Waldo the thing which confronted him -seemed absolutely unscalable, and then another backward glance showed -him the rapidly nearing enemy; and he launched himself at the face of -that seemingly impregnable barrier, clutching desperately with fingers -and toes. - -His progress was impeded by the cudgel to which he still clung, but -he did not drop it; though why it would have been difficult to tell, -unless it was that his acts were now purely mechanical, there being no -room in his mind for aught else than terror. - -Close behind him came the foremost cave man; yet, though he had -acquired the agility of a monkey through a lifetime of practice, he -was amazed at the uncanny speed with which Waldo Emerson clawed his -shrieking way aloft. - -Half-way up the ascent, however, a great hairy hand came almost to his -ankle. - -It was during the perilous negotiation of one of the loose and wabbly -ladders--little more than small trees leaning precariously against the -perpendicular rocky surface--that the nearest foeman came so close to -the fugitive; but at the top chance intervened to save Waldo, for a -time at least. It was at the moment that he scrambled frantically to a -tiny ledge from the frightfully slipping sapling. - -In his haste he did by accident what a resourceful man would have done -by intent--in pushing himself onto the ledge he kicked the ladder -outward--for a second it hung toppling in the balance, and then with a -lunge crashed down the cliff's face with its human burden, in its fall -scraping others of the pursuing horde with it. - -A chorus of rage came up from below him, but Waldo had not even turned -his head to learn of his temporary good fortune. Up, ever up he sped, -until at length he stood upon the topmost ledge, facing an overhanging -wall of blank rock that towered another twenty-five feet above him to -the summit of the bluff. Time and again he leaped futilely against the -smooth surface, tearing at it with his nails in a mad endeavor to climb -still higher. - -At his right was the low opening to a black cave, but he did not see -it--his mind could cope with but the single idea: to clamber from -the horrible creatures which pursued him. But finally it was borne -in on his half-mad brain that this was the end--he could fly no -farther--here, in a moment more, death would overtake him. - -He turned to meet it, and below saw a number of the cave men placing -another ladder in lieu of that which had fallen. In a moment they were -resuming the ascent after him. - -On the narrow ledge above them the young man stood, chattering and -grinning like a madman. His pitiful cries were now punctuated with the -hollow coughing which his violent exercise had induced. - -Tears rolled down his begrimed face, leaving crooked, muddy streaks in -their wake. His knees smote together so violently that he could barely -stand, and it was into the face of this apparition of cowardice that -the first of the cave men looked as he scrambled above the ledge on -which Waldo stood. - -And then, of a sudden, there rose within the breast of Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones a spark that generations of overrefinement and emasculating -culture had all but extinguished--the instinct of self-preservation by -force. Heretofore it had been purely by flight. - -With the frenzy of the fear of death upon him, he raised his cudgel, -and, swinging it high above his head, brought it down full upon the -unprotected skull of his enemy. - -Another took the fallen man's place--he, too, went down with a broken -head. Waldo was fighting now like a cornered rat, and through it all -he chattered and gibbered; but he no longer wept. - -At first he was horrified at the bloody havoc he wrought with his -crude weapon. His nature revolted at the sight of blood, and when -he saw it mixed with matted hair along the side of his cudgel, and -realized that it was human hair and human blood, and that he, Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones, had struck the blows that had plastered it there -so thickly in all its hideousness, a wave of nausea swept over him, so -that he almost toppled from his dizzy perch. - -For a few minutes there was a lull in hostilities while the cave men -congregated below, shaking their fists at Waldo and crying out threats -and challenges. The young man stood looking down upon them, scarcely -able to realize that alone he had met savage men in physical encounter -and defeated them. - -He was shocked and horrified; not, odd to say, because of the thing he -had done, but rather because of a strange and unaccountable glow of -pride in his brutal supremacy over brutes. What would his mother have -thought could she have seen her precious boy now? - -Suddenly Waldo became conscious from the corner of his eye that -something was creeping upon him from behind out of the dark cave before -which he had fought. Simultaneously with the realization of it he -swung his cudgel in a wicked blow at this new enemy as he turned to -meet it. - -The creature dodged back, and the blow that would have crushed its -skull grazed a hairbreadth from its face. - -Waldo struck no second blow, and the cold sweat sprang to his forehead -when he realized how nearly he had come to murdering a young girl. -She crouched now in the mouth of the cave, eying him fearfully. Waldo -removed his tattered cap, bowing low. - -"I crave your pardon," he said. "I had no idea that there was a lady -here. I am very glad that I did not injure you." - -There must have been something either in his tone or manner that -reassured her, for she smiled and came out upon the ledge beside him. - -As she did so a scarlet flush mantled Waldo's face and neck and -ears--he could feel them burning. With a nervous cough he turned and -became intently occupied with the distant scenery. - -Presently he cast a surreptitious glance behind him. Shocking! She was -still there. Again he coughed nervously. - -"Excuse me," he said. "But--er--ah--you--I am a total stranger, you -know; hadn't you better go back in, and--er--get your clothes?" - -She made no reply, and so he forced himself to turn toward her once -more. She was smiling at him. - -Waldo had never been so horribly embarrassed in all his life before--it -was a distinct shock to him to realize that the girl was not -embarrassed at all. - -He spoke to her a second time, and at last she answered; but in -a tongue which he did not understand. It bore not the slightest -resemblance to any language, modern or dead, with which he was -familiar, and Waldo was more or less master of them all--especially the -dead ones. - -He tried not to look at her after that, for he realized that he must -appear very ridiculous. - -But now his attention was required by more pressing affairs--the cave -men were returning to the attack. They carried stones this time, and, -while some of them threw the missiles at Waldo, the others attempted -to rash his position. It was then that the girl hurried back into the -cave, only to reappear a moment later carrying some stone utensils in -her arms. - -There was a huge mortar in which she had collected a pestle and several -smaller pieces of stone. She pushed them along the ledge to Waldo. - -At first he did not grasp the meaning of her act; but presently she -pretended to pick up an imaginary missile and hurl it down upon the -creatures below--then she pointed to the things she had brought and to -Waldo. - -He understood. So she was upon his side. He did not understand why, but -he was glad. - -Following her suggestion, he gathered up a couple of the smaller -objects and hurled them down upon the men beneath. - -But on and on they came--Waldo was not a very good shot. The girl was -busy now gathering such of the cave men's missiles as fell upon the -ledge. These she placed in a pile beside Waldo. - -Occasionally the young man would strike an enemy by accident, and then -she would give a little scream of pleasure--clapping her hands and -jumping up and down. - -It was not long before Waldo was surprised to find that this applause -fell sweetly upon his ears. It was then that he began to take better -aim. - -In the midst of it all there flashed suddenly upon him a picture of his -devoted mother and the select coterie of intellectual young people with -which she had always surrounded him. - -Waldo felt a new pang of horror as he tried to realize with what -emotions they would look upon him now as he stood upon the face of a -towering cliff beside an almost naked girl hurling rocks down upon the -heads of hairy men who hopped about, screaming with rage, below him. - -It was awful! A great billow of mortification rolled over him. - -He turned to cast a look of disapprobation at the shameless young woman -behind him--she should not think that he countenanced such coarse and -vulgar proceedings. Their eyes met--in hers he saw the sparkle of -excitement and the joy of life and such a look of comradeship as he -never before had seen in the eyes of another mortal. - -Then she pointed excitedly over the edge of the ledge. - -Waldo looked. - -A great brute of a cave man had crawled, unseen, almost to their refuge. - -He was but five feet below them, and at the moment that he looked up -Waldo dropped a fifty-pound stone mortar full upon his upturned face. - -The young woman emitted a little shriek of joy, and Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, his face bisected by a broad grin, turned toward her. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE LITTLE EDEN - - -The mortar ended hostilities--temporarily, at least; but the cave -men loitered about the base of the cliff during the balance of the -afternoon, occasionally shouting taunts at the two above them. - -These the girl answered, evidently in kind. Sometimes she would point -to Waldo and make ferocious signs, doubtless indicative of the horrible -slaughter which awaited them at his hands if they did not go away and -leave their betters alone. When the young man realized the significance -of her pantomime he felt his heart swell with an emotion which he -feared was pride in brutal, primitive, vulgar physical prowess. - -As the long day wore on Waldo became both very hungry and very thirsty. -In the valley below he could see a tiny brooklet purling, clear and -beautiful, toward the south. The sight of it drove him nearly mad, as -did also that of the fruit which he glimpsed hanging ripe for eating at -the edge of the forest. - -By means of signs he asked the girl if she, too, were hungry, for he -had come to a point now where he could look at her almost without -visible signs of mortification. She nodded her head and, pointing -toward the descending sun, made it plain to him that after dark they -would descend and eat. - -The cave men had not left when darkness came, and it seemed to Waldo a -very foolhardy thing to venture down while they might be about; but the -girl made it so evident that she considered him an invincible warrior -that he was torn with the conflicting emotions of cowardice and an -unaccountable desire to appear well in her eyes, that he might by his -acts justify her belief in him. - -It seemed very wonderful to Waldo that any one should look upon him -in the light of a tower of strength and a haven of refuge; he was not -quite certain in his own mind but that the reputation might lead him -into most uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. Incidentally, he -wondered if the girl was a good runner; he hoped so. - -It must have been quite near midnight when his companion intimated that -the time had arrived when they should fare forth and dine. Waldo wanted -her to go first, but she shrank close to him, timidly, and held back. - -There was nothing else for it, then, than to take the plunge, though -had the sun been shining it would have revealed a very pale and -wide-eyed champion, who slipped gingerly over the side of the ledge to -grope with his feet for a foothold beneath. - -Half-way down the moon rose above the forest--a great, full, tropic -moon, that lighted the face of the cliff almost as brilliantly as might -the sun itself. It shone into the mouth of a cave upon the ledge that -Waldo had just reached in his descent, revealing to the horrified eyes -of the young man a great, hairy form stretched in slumber not a yard -from him. - -As he looked, the wicked little eyes opened and looked straight into -his. - -With difficulty Waldo suppressed a shriek of dismay as he turned to -plunge madly down the precipitous trail. The girl had not yet descended -from the ledge above. - -She must have sensed what had happened, for as Waldo turned to fly she -gave a little cry of terror. At the same instant the cave man leaped to -his feet. But the girl's voice had touched something in the breast of -Waldo Emerson which generations of disuse had almost atrophied, and for -the first time in his life he did a brave and courageous thing. - -He could easily have escaped the cave man and reached the -valley--alone; but at the first note of the young girl's cry he wheeled -and scrambled back to the ledge to face the burly, primitive man, who -could have crushed him with a single blow. - -Waldo Emerson no longer trembled. His nerves and muscles were very -steady as he swung his cudgel in an arc that brought it crashing down -upon the upraised guarding arm of the cave man. - -There was a snapping of bone beneath the blow, a scream of pain--the -man staggered back, the girl sprang to Waldo's side from the ledge -above, and hand in hand they turned and fled down the face of the cliff. - -From a dozen cave-mouths above issued a score of cave men, but the -fleeing pair were half-way across the clearing before the slow-witted -brutes were fully aware of what had happened. By the time they had -taken up the pursuit Waldo and the girl had entered the forest. - -For a few yards the latter led Waldo straight into the shadows of the -wood, then she turned abruptly toward the north, at right angles to the -course they had been pursuing. - -She still clung to the young man's hand, nor did she slacken her speed -the least after they had entered the darkness beneath the trees. She -ran as surely and confidently through the impenetrable night of the -forest as though the way had been lighted by flaming arcs; but Waldo -was continually stumbling and falling. - -The sound of pursuit presently became fainter; it was apparent that the -cave men had continued on straight into the wood; but the girl raced -on with the panting Waldo for what seemed to the winded young man an -eternity. Presently, however, they came to the banks of the little -stream that had been visible from the caves. Here the girl fell into -a walk, and a moment later dragged the Bostonian down a shelving bank -into water that came above his knees. - -Up the bed of the stream she led him, sometimes floundering through -holes so deep that they were entirely submerged. - -Waldo had never learned the vulgar art of swimming, so it was that he -would have drowned but for the strong, brown hand of his companion, -which dragged him, spluttering and coughing, through one awful hole -after another, until, half-strangled and entirely panic-stricken, she -hauled him safely upon a low, grassy bank at the foot of a rocky wall -which formed one side of a gorge, through which the river boiled. - -It must not be assumed that when Waldo Emerson returned to face the -hairy brute who threatened to separate him from his new-found companion -that by a miracle he had been transformed from a hare into a lion--far -from it. - -Now that he had a moment in which to lie quite still and speculate upon -the adventures of the past hour, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -thanked the kindly night that obscured from the eyes of the girl the -pitiable spectacle of his palsied limbs and trembling lip. - -Once again he was in a blue funk, with shattered nerves that begged to -cry aloud in the extremity of their terror. - -It was not warm in the damp cañon, through which the wind swept over -the cold water, so that to Waldo's mental anguish was added the -physical discomfort of cold and wet. He was indeed a miserable figure -as he lay huddled upon the sward, praying for the rising of the sun, -yet dreading the daylight that might reveal him to his enemies. - -But at last dawn came, and after a fitful sleep Waldo awoke to find -himself in a snug and beautiful little paradise hemmed in by the high -cliffs that flanked the river, upon a sloping grassy shore that was all -but invisible except from a short stretch of cliff-top upon the farther -side of the stream. - -A few feet from him lay the girl. - -She was still asleep. Her head was pillowed upon one firm, brown arm. -Her soft black hair fell in disorder across one cheek and over the -other arm, to spread gracefully upon the green grass about her. - -As Waldo looked he saw that she was very comely. Never before had he -seen a girl just like her. His young women friends had been rather prim -and plain, with long, white faces and thin lips that scarcely ever -dared to smile and scorned to unbend in plebeian laughter. - -This girl's lips seemed to have been made for laughing--and for -something else, though at the time it is only fair to Waldo to say that -he did not realize the full possibilities that they presented. - -As his eyes wandered along the lines of her young body his Puritanical -training brought a hot flush of embarrassment to his face, and he -deliberately turned his back upon her. - -It was indeed awful to Waldo Emerson to contemplate, to say the least, -the unconventional position into which fate had forced him. The longer -he pondered it the redder he became. It was frightful--what would his -mother say when she heard of it? - -What would this girl's mother say? But, more to the point, -and--horrible thought--what would her father or her brothers do to -Waldo if they found them thus together--and she with only a scanty -garment of skin about her waist--a garment which reached scarcely below -her knees at any point, and at others terminated far above? - -Waldo was chagrined. He could not understand what the girl could be -thinking of, for in other respects she seemed quite nice, and he was -sure that the great eyes of her reflected only goodness and innocence. - -While he sat thus, thinking, the girl awoke and with a merry laugh -addressed him. - -"Good morning," said Waldo quite severely. - -He wished that he could speak her language, so that he could convey to -her a suggestion of the disapprobation which he felt for her attire. - -He was on the point of attempting it by signs, when she rose, lithe -and graceful as a tigress, and walked to the river's brim. With a deft -movement of her fingers she loosed the thong that held her single -garment, and as it fell to the ground Waldo, with a horrified gasp, -turned upon his face, burying his tightly closed eyes in his hands. - -Then the girl dived into the cool waters for her matutinal bath. - -She called to him several times to join her, but Waldo could not look -at the spectacle presented; his soul was scandalized. - -It was some time after she emerged from the river before he dared risk -a hesitating glance. With a sigh of relief he saw that she had donned -her single garment, and thereafter he could look at her unashamed when -she was thus clothed. He felt that by comparison it constituted a most -modest gown. - -Together they strolled along the river's edge, gathering such fruits -and roots as the girl knew to be edible. Waldo Emerson gathered those -she indicated--with all his learning he found it necessary to depend -upon the untutored mind of this little primitive maiden for guidance. - -Then she taught him how to catch fish with a bent twig and a -lightninglike movement of her brown hands--or, rather, tried to teach -him, for he was far too slow and awkward to succeed. - -Afterward they sat upon the soft grass beneath the shade of a wild -fig-tree to eat the fish she had caught. Waldo wondered how in the -world the girl could make fire without matches, for he was quite sure -that she had none; and even should she be able to make fire it would be -quite useless, since she had neither cooking utensils nor stove. - -He was not left long in wonderment. - -She arranged the fish in a little pile between them, and with a sweet -smile motioned to the man to partake; then she selected one for -herself, and while Waldo Emerson looked on in horror, sunk her firm, -white teeth into the raw fish. - -Waldo turned away in sickening disgust - -The girl seemed surprised and worried that he did not eat. Time and -again she tried to coax him by signs to join her; but he could not even -look at her. He had tried, after the first wave of revolt had subsided, -but when he discovered that she ate the entire fish, without bothering -to clean it or remove the scales, he became too ill to think of food. - -Several times during the following week they ventured from their -hiding-place, and at these times it was evident from the girl's -actions that she was endeavoring to elude their enemies and reach a -place of safety other than that in which they were concealed. But at -each venture her quick ears or sensitive nostrils warned her of the -proximity of danger, so that they had been compelled to hurry back into -their little Eden. - -During this period she taught Waldo many words of her native tongue, so -that by means of signs to bridge the gaps between, they were able to -communicate with a fair degree of satisfaction. Waldo's mastery of the -language was rapid. - -On the tenth day the girl was able to make him understand that she -wished to escape with him to her own people; that these men among whom -he had found her were enemies of her tribe, and that she had been -hiding from them when Waldo stumbled upon her cave. - -"I fled," she said. "My mother was killed. My father took another mate, -always cruel to me. But when I had wandered into the land of these -enemies I was afraid, and would have returned to my father's cave. But -I had gone too far. - -"I would have to run very fast to escape them. Once I ran down a narrow -path to the ocean. It was dark. - -"As I wandered through the woods I came suddenly out upon a beach, and -there I saw a strange figure on the sand. It was you. I wanted to learn -what manner of man you were. But I was very much afraid, so that I -dared only watch you from a distance. - -"Five times I came down to look at you. You never saw me until the last -time, then you set out after me, roaring in a horrible voice. - -"I was very much afraid, for I knew that you must be very brave to -live all alone by the edge of the forest without any shelter, or even -a stone to hurl at Nagoola, should he come out of the woods to devour -you." - -Waldo Emerson shuddered. - -"Who is Nagoola?" he asked. - -"You do not know Nagoola!" the girl exclaimed in surprise. - -"Not by that name," replied Waldo. - -"He is as large," she began in description, "as two men, and black, -with glossy coat. He has two yellow eyes, which see as well by night as -by day. His great paws are armed with mighty claws. He----" - -A rustling from the bushes which fringed the opposite cliff-top caused -her to turn, instantly alert. - -"Ah," she whispered, "there is Nagoola now." - -Waldo looked in the direction of her gaze. - -It was well that the girl did not see his pallid face and popping -eyes as he looked into the evil mask of the great black panther that -crouched watching them from the river's further bank. - -Into Waldo's breast came great panic. It was only because his -fear-prostrated muscles refused to respond to his will that he did not -scurry, screaming, from the sight of that ferocious countenance. - -Then, through the fog of his cowardly terror, he heard again the girl's -sweet voice: "I knew that you must be very brave to live all alone by -the edge of that wicked forest." - -For the first time in his life a wave of shame swept over Waldo Emerson. - -The girl called in a taunting voice to the panther, and then turned, -smiling, toward Waldo. - -"How brave I am now," she laughed. "I am no longer afraid of Nagoola. -You are with me." - -"No," said Waldo Emerson, in a very weak voice, "you need not fear -while I am with you." - -"Oh!" she cried. "Slay him. How proud I should be to return to my -people with one who vanquished Nagoola, and wore his hide about his -loins as proof of his prowess." - -"Y-yes," acquiesced Waldo faintly. - -"But," continued the girl, "you have slain many of Nagoola's brothers -and sisters. It is no longer sport to kill one of his kind." - -"Yes--yes," cried Waldo. "Yes, that is it--panthers bore me now." - -"Oh!" The girl clasped her hands in ecstasy. "How many have you slain?" - -"Er--why, let me see," the young man blundered. "As a matter of fact, I -never kept any record of the panthers I killed." - -Waldo was becoming frantic. He had never lied before in all his life. -He hated a lie and loathed a liar. He wondered why he had lied now. - -Surely it were nothing to boast of to have butchered one of God's -creatures--and as for claiming to have killed so many that he could -not recall the number, it was little short of horrible. Yet he became -conscious of a poignant regret that he had not killed a thousand -panthers, and preserved all the pelts as evidence of his valor. - -The panther still regarded them from the safety of the farther shore. -The girl drew quite close to Waldo in the instinctive plea for -protection that belongs to her sex. She laid a timid hand upon his -skinny arm and raised her great, trusting eyes to his face in reverent -adoration. - -"How do you kill them?" she whispered. "Tell me." - -Then it was that Waldo determined to make a clean breast of it, and -admit that he never before had seen a live panther. But as he opened -his mouth to make the humiliating confession he realized, quite -suddenly, why it was that he had lied--he wished to appear well in the -eyes of this savage, half-clothed girl. - -He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, craved the applause of a barbarian, and -to win it had simulated that physical prowess which generations of -Smith-Joneses had viewed from afar--disgusted, disapproving. - -The girl repeated her question. - -"Oh," said Waldo, "it is really quite simple. After I catch them I beat -them severely with a stick." - -The girl sighed. - -"How wonderful!" she said. - -Waldo became the victim of a number of unpleasant -emotions--mortification for this suddenly developed moral turpitude; -apprehension for the future, when the girl might discover him in his -true colors; fear, consuming, terrible fear, that she might insist upon -his going forth at once to slay Nagoola. - -But she did nothing of the kind, and presently the panther tired of -watching them and turned back into the tangle of bushes behind him. - -It was with a sigh of relief that Waldo saw him depart. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -DEATH'S DOORWAY - - -Late in the afternoon the girl suggested that they start that night -upon the journey toward her village. - -"The bad men will not be abroad after dark," she said. "With you at my -side, I shall not fear Nagoola." - -"How far is it to your village?" asked Waldo. - -"It will take us three nights," she replied. "By day we must hide, -for even you could not vanquish a great number of bad men should they -attack you at once." - -"No," said Waldo; "I presume not." - -"It was very wonderful to watch you, though," she went on, "when you -battled upon the cliff-side, beating them down as they came upon you. -How brave you were! How terrible! You trembled from rage." - -"Yes," admitted Waldo, "I was quite angry. I always tremble like that -when my ire is excited. Sometimes I get so bad that my knees knock -together. If you ever see them do that you will realize how exceedingly -angry I am." - -"Yes," murmured the girl. - -Presently Waldo saw that she was laughing quietly to herself. - -A great fear rose in his breast. Could it be that she was less gullible -than she had appeared? Did she, after all, penetrate the bombast with -which he had sought to cloak his cowardice? - -He finally mustered sufficient courage to ask: "Why do you laugh?" - -"I think of the surprise that awaits old Flatfoot and Korth and the -others when I lead you to them." - -"Why will they be surprised?" asked Waldo. - -"At the way you will crack their heads." - -Waldo shuddered. - -"Why should I crack their heads?" he asked. - -"Why should you crack their heads!" It was apparently incredible to the -girl that he should not understand. - -"How little you know," she said. "You cannot swim, you do not know the -language which men may understand, you would be lost in the woods were -I to leave you, and now you say that you do not know that when you come -to a strange tribe they will try to kill you, and only take you as one -of them when you have proven your worth by killing at least one of -their strongest men." - -"At least one!" said Waldo, half to himself. - -He was dazed by this information. He had expected to be welcomed with -open arms into the best society that the girl's community afforded. -He had thought of it in just this way, for he had not even yet learned -that there might be a whole people living under entirely different -conditions than those which existed in Boston, Massachusetts. - -Her reference to his ignorance also came as a distinct shock to him. He -had always considered himself a man of considerable learning. It had -been his secret boast and his mother's open pride. - -And now to be pitied for his ignorance by one who probably thought the -earth flat, if she ever thought about such matters at all--by one who -could neither read nor write. And the worst of it all was that her -indictment was correct--only she had not gone far enough. - -There was little of practical value that he did know. With the -realization of his limitations Waldo Emerson took, unknown to himself, -a great stride toward a broader wisdom than his narrow soul had ever -conceived. - -That night, after the sun had set and the stars and moon come out, the -two set forth from their retreat toward the northwest, where the girl -said that the village of her people lay. - -They walked hand in hand through the dark wood, the girl directing -their steps, the young man grasping his long cudgel in his right hand -and searching into the shadows for the terrible creatures conjured by -his cowardly brain, but mostly for the two awesome spots of fire which -he had gathered from the girl's talk would mark the presence of Nagoola. - -Strange noises assailed his ears, and once the girl crouched close to -him as her quick ears caught the sound of the movement of a great body -through the underbrush at their left. - -Waldo Emerson was almost paralyzed by terror; but at length the -creature, whatever it may have been, turned off into the forest -without molesting them. For several hours thereafter they suffered no -alarm, but the constant tension of apprehension on the man's already -over-wrought nerves had reduced him to a state of such abject nervous -terror that he was no longer master of himself. - -So it was that when the girl suddenly halted him with an affrighted -little gasp and, pointing straight ahead, whispered, "Nagoola," he went -momentarily mad with fear. - -For a bare instant he paused in his tracks, and then breaking away -from her, he raised his club above his head, and with an awful shriek -dashed--straight toward the panther. - -In the minds of some there may be a doubt as to which of the two--the -sleek, silent, black cat or the grinning, screaming Waldo--was the most -awe-inspiring. - -Be that as it may, it was quite evident that no doubt assailed the mind -of the cat, for with a single answering scream, he turned and faded -into the blackness of the black night. - -But Waldo did not see him go. Still shrieking, he raced on through the -forest until he tripped over a creeper and fell exhausted to the earth. -There he lay panting, twitching, and trembling until the girl found -him, an hour after sunrise. - -At the sound of her voice he would have struggled to his feet and -dashed on into the woods, for he felt that he could never face her -again after the spectacle of cowardice with which he had treated her a -few hours before. - -But even as he gained his feet her first words reassured him, and -dissipated every vestige of his intention to elude her. - -"Did you catch him?" she cried. - -"No," panted Waldo Emerson quite truthfully. "He got away." - -They rested a little while, and then Waldo insisted that they resume -their journey by day instead of by night. He had positively determined -that he never should or could endure another such a night of mental -torture. He would much rather take the chance of meeting with the bad -men than suffer the constant feeling that unseen enemies were peering -out of the darkness at him every moment. - -In the day they would at least have the advantage of seeing their foes -before they were struck. He did not give these reasons to the girl, -however. Under the circumstances he felt that another explanation would -be better adapted to her ears. - -"You see," he said, "if it hadn't been so dark Nagoola might not have -escaped me. It is too bad--too bad." - -"Yes," agreed the girl, "it is too bad. We shall travel by day. It will -be safe now. We have left the country of the bad men, and there are few -men living between us and my people." - -That night they spent in a cave they found in the steep bank of a small -river. - -It was damp and muddy and cold, but they were both very tired, and so -they fell asleep and slept as soundly as though the best of mattresses -lay beneath them. The girl probably slept better, since she had never -been accustomed to anything much superior to this in all her life. - -The journey required five days, instead of three, and during all the -time Waldo was learning more and more woodcraft from the girl. At first -his attitude had been such that he could profit but little from her -greater practical knowledge, for he had been inclined to look down upon -her as an untutored savage. - -Now, however, he was a willing student, and when Waldo Emerson elected -to study there was nothing that he could not master and retain in a -remarkable manner. He had a well-trained mind--the principal trouble -with it being that it had been crammed full of useless knowledge. His -mother had always made the error of confusing knowledge with wisdom. - -Waldo was not the only one to learn new things upon this journey. The -girl learned something, too--something which had been threatening for -days to rise above the threshold of her conscious mind, and now she -realized that it had lain in her heart almost ever since the first -moment that she had been with this strange young man. - -Waldo Emerson had been endowed by nature with a chivalrous heart, and -his training had been such that he mechanically accorded to all women -the gallant little courtesies and consideration which are of the fine -things that go with breeding. Nor was he one whit less punctilious in -his relations with this wild cave girl than he would have been with the -daughter of the finest family of his own aristocracy. - -He had been kind and thoughtful and sympathetic always, and to the -girl, who had never been accustomed to such treatment from men, nor -had ever seen a man accord it to any woman, it seemed little short of -miraculous that such gentle tenderness could belong to a nature so -warlike and ferocious as that with which she had endowed Waldo Emerson. -But she was quite satisfied that it should be so. - -She would not have cared for him had he been gentle with her, yet -cowardly. Had she dreamed of the real truth--had she had the slightest -suspicion that Waldo Emerson was at heart the most arrant poltroon -upon whom the sun had ever shone, she would have loathed and hated -him, for in the primitive code of ethics which governed the savage -community which was her world there was no place for the craven or the -weakling--and Waldo Emerson was both. - -As the realization of her growing sentiment toward the man awakened, it -imparted to her ways with him a sudden coyness and maidenly aloofness -which had been entirely wanting before. Until then their companionship, -in so far as the girl was concerned, had been rather that of one -youth toward another; but now that she found herself thrilling at his -slightest careless touch, she became aware of a paradoxical impulse to -avoid him. - -For the first time in her life, too, she realized her nakedness, and -was ashamed. Possibly this was due to the fact that Waldo appeared so -solicitous in endeavoring to coerce his rags into the impossible feat -of entirely covering his body. - -As they neared their journey's end Waldo became more and more perturbed. - -During the last night horrible visions of Flatfoot and Korth haunted -his dreams. He saw the great, hairy beasts rushing upon him in all the -ferocity of their primeval savagery--tearing him limb from limb in -their bestial rage. - -With a shriek he awoke. - -To the girl's startled inquiry he replied that he had been but dreaming. - -"Did you dream of Flatfoot and Korth?" she laughed. "Of the things that -you will do to them tomorrow?" - -"Yes," replied Waldo; "I dreamed of Flatfoot and Korth." But the girl -did not see how he trembled and hid his head in the hollow of his arm. - -The last day's march was the most agonizing experience of Waldo -Emerson's life. He was positive that he was going to his death, but to -him the horror of the thing lay more in the manner of his coming death -than in the thought of death itself. As a matter of fact, he had again -reached a point when he would have welcomed death. - -The future held for him nothing but a life of discomfort and misery and -constant mental anguish, superinduced by the condition of awful fear -under which he must drag out his existence in this strange and terrible -land. - -Waldo had not the slightest conception as to whether he was upon some -mainland or an unknown island. That the tidal wave had come upon them -somewhere in the South Pacific was all that he knew; but long since he -had given up hope that succor would reach him in time to prevent him -perishing miserably far from his home and his poor mother. - -He could not dwell long upon this dismal theme, because it always -brought tears of self-pity to his eyes, and for some unaccountable -reason Waldo shrunk from the thought of exhibiting this unmanly -weakness before the girl. - -All day long he racked his brain for some valid excuse whereby he might -persuade his companion to lead him elsewhere than to her village. A -thousand times better would be some secluded little garden such as that -which had harbored them for the ten days following their escape from -the cave men. - -If they could but come upon such a place near the coast, where Waldo -could keep a constant watch for passing vessels, he would have been as -happy as he ever expected it would be possible for him in such a savage -land. - -He wanted the girl with him for companionship; he was more afraid when -he was alone. Of course, he realized that she was no fit companion -for a man of his mental attainments; but then she was a human being, -and her society much better than none at all. While hope had still -lingered that he might live to escape and return to his beloved Boston, -he had often wondered whether he would dare tell his mother of his -unconventional acquaintance with this young woman. - -Of course, it would be out of the question for him to go at all into -details. He would not, for example, dare to attempt a description of -her toilet to his prim parent. - -The fact that they had been alone together, day and night for weeks was -another item which troubled Waldo considerably. He knew that the shock -of such information might prostrate his mother, and for a long time he -debated the wisdom of omitting any mention of the girl whatever. - -At length he decided that a little, white lie would be permissible, -inasmuch as his mother's health and the girl's reputation were both at -stake. So he had decided to mention that the girl's aunt had been with -them in the capacity of chaperon; that fixed it nicely, and on this -point Waldo's mind was more at ease. - -Late in the afternoon they wound down a narrow trail that led from -the plateau into a narrow, beautiful valley. A tree-bordered river -meandered through the center of the level plain that formed the -valley's floor, while beyond rose precipitous cliffs, which trailed -off in either direction as far as the eye could reach. - -"There live my people," said the girl, pointing toward the distant -barrier. - -Waldo groaned inwardly. - -"Let us rest here," he said, "until tomorrow, that we may come to your -home rested and refreshed." - -"Oh, no," cried the girl; "we can reach the caves before dark. I can -scarcely wait until I shall have seen how you shall slay Flatfoot, and -maybe Korth also. Though I think that after one of them has felt your -might the others will be glad to take you into the tribe at the price -of your friendship." - -"Is there not some way," ventured the distracted Waldo, "that I may -come into your village without fighting? I should dislike to kill one -of your friends," said Waldo solemnly. - -The girl laughed. - -"Neither Flatfoot nor Korth are friends of mine," she replied; "I hate -them both. They are terrible men. It would be better for all the tribe -were they killed. They are so strong and cruel that we all hate them, -since they use their strength to abuse those who are weaker. - -"They make us all work very hard for them. They take other men's mates, -and if the other men object they kill them. There is scarcely a moon -passes that does not see either Korth or Flatfoot kill some one. - -"Nor is it always men they kill. Often when they are angry they kill -women and little children just for the pleasure of killing; but when -you come among us there will be no more of that, for you will kill them -both if they be not good." - -Waldo was too horrified by this description of his soon-to-be -antagonists to make any reply--his tongue clave to the roof of his -mouth--all his vocal organs seemed paralyzed. - -But the girl did not notice. She went on joyously, ripping Waldo's -nervous system out of him and tearing it into shreds. - -"You see," she continued, "Flatfoot and Korth are greater than the -other men of my tribe. They can do as they will. They are frightful to -look upon, and I have often thought that the hearts of others dried up -when they saw either of them coming for them. - -"And they are so strong! I have seen Korth crush the skull of a -full-grown man with a single blow from his open palm; while one of -Flatfoot's amusements is the breaking of men's arms and legs with his -bare hands." - -They had entered the valley now, and in silence they continued on -toward the fringe of trees which grew beside the little river. - -Nadara led the way toward a ford, which they quickly crossed. All the -way across the valley Waldo had been searching for some avenue of -escape. - -He dared not enter that awful village and face those terrible men, -and he was almost equally averse to admitting to the girl that he was -afraid. - -He would gladly have died to have escaped either alternative, but he -preferred to choose the manner of his death. - -The thought of entering the village and meeting a horrible end at the -hands of the brutes who awaited him there and of being compelled to -demonstrate before the girl's eyes that he was neither a mighty fighter -nor a hero was more than he could endure. - -Occupied with these harrowing speculations, Waldo and Nadara came to -the farther side of the forest, whence they could see the towering -cliffs rising steeply from the valley's bed, three hundred yards away. - -Along their face and at their feet Waldo descried a host of half-naked -men, women, and children moving about in the consummation of their -various duties. Involuntarily he halted. - -The girl came to his side. Together they looked out upon the scene, the -like of which Waldo Emerson never before had seen. - -It was as though he had been suddenly snatched back through countless -ages to a long-dead past and dropped into the midst of the prehistoric -life of his paleolithic progenitors. - -Upon the narrow ledges before their caves, women, with long, flowing -hair, ground food in rude stone mortars. - -Naked children played about them, perilously close to the precipitous -cliff edge. - -Hairy men squatted, gorillalike, before pieces of flat stone, upon -which green hides were stretched, while they scraped, scraped, scraped -with the sharp edge of smaller bits of stone. - -There was no laughter and no song. - -Occasionally Waldo saw one of the fierce creatures address another, and -sometimes one would raise his thick lips in a nasty snarl that exposed -his fighting fangs; but they were too far away for their words to reach -the young man. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -AWAKENING - - -"Come," said the girl, "let us make haste. I cannot wait to be home -again! How good it looks!" - -Waldo gazed at her in horror. It did not seem credible that this -beautiful young creature could be of such clay as that he looked upon. -It was revolting to believe that she had sprung from the loins of one -of those half-brutes, or that a woman as fierce, repulsive, such as -those he saw before him, could have borne her. It made him sick with -disgust. - -He turned from her. - -"Go to your people, Nadara," he said, for an idea had come to him. - -He had evolved a scheme for escaping a meeting with Flatfoot and Korth, -and the sudden disgust which he felt for the girl made it easier for -him to carry out his design. - -"Are you not coming with me?" she cried. - -"Not at once," replied Waldo, quite truthfully. "I wish you to go -first. Were we to go together they might harm you when they rushed out -to attack me." - -The girl had no fear of this, but she felt that it was very thoughtful -of the man to consider her welfare so tenderly. To humor him, she -acceded to his request. - -"As you wish, Thandar," she answered, smiling. - -Thandar was a name of her own choosing, after, Waldo had informed her -in answer to a request for his name, that she might call him Mr. Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones. "I shall call you Thandar," she had replied; "it -is shorter, more easily remembered, and describes you. It means the -Brave One." And so Thandar he had become. - -The girl had scarcely emerged from the forest on her way toward the -cliffs when Thandar the Brave One, turned and ran at top speed in -the opposite direction. When he came to the river he gave immediate -evidence of the strides he had taken in woodcraft during the brief -weeks that he had been under the girl's tutorage, for he plunged -immediately into the water, setting out up-stream upon the gravelly -bottom where he would leave no spoor to be tracked down by the eagle -eyes of these primitive men. - -He supposed that the girl would search for him; but he felt no -compunction at having deserted her so scurvily. Of course, he had no -suspicion of her real sentiments toward him--it would have shocked -him to have imagined that a low-born person, such as she, had become -infatuated with him. - -It would have been embarrassing and unfortunate, but, of course, -quite impossible--since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones could never form an -alliance beneath him. As for the girl herself, he might as readily have -considered the possibility of marrying a cow, so far from any such -thoughts of her had he been. - -On and on he stumbled through the cold water. Sometimes it was above -his head, but Waldo had learned to swim--the girl had made him, partly -by pleas, but largely by the fear that she would ridicule him. - -As night came on he commenced to become afraid, but his fear now was -not such a horribly prostrating thing as it had been a few weeks -before. Without being aware of the fact, Waldo had grown a trifle less -timid, though he was still far from lion-like. - -That night he slept in the crotch of a tree. He selected a small one, -which, though less comfortable, was safer from the approach of Nagoola -than a larger tree would have been. This also had he learned from -Nadara. - -Had he paused to consider, he would have discovered that all he knew -that was worth while he had had from the savage little girl whom he, -from the high pinnacle of his erudition, regarded with such pity. But -Waldo had not as yet learned enough to realize how very little he knew. - -In the morning he continued his flight, gathering his breakfast from -tree and shrub as he fled. Here again was he wholly indebted to Nadara, -for without her training he would have been restricted to a couple of -fruits, whereas now he had a great variety of fruits, roots, berries, -and nuts to choose from in safety. - -The stream that he had been following had now become a narrow, rushing, -mountain torrent. It leaped suddenly over little precipices in wild and -picturesque waterfalls; it rioted in foaming cascades; and ever it led -Waldo farther into high and rugged country. - -The climbing was difficult and oftentimes dangerous. Waldo was -surprised at the steeps he negotiated--perilous ascents from which he -would have shrunk in palsied fear a few weeks earlier. Waldo was coming -on. - -Another fact which struck him with amazement at the same time that it -filled him with rejoicing, was that he no longer coughed. It was quite -beyond belief, too, since never in his life had he been so exposed to -cold and wet and discomfort. - -At home, he realized, he would long since have curled up and died had -he been subjected to one-tenth the exposure that he had undergone since -the great wave had lifted him bodily from the deck of the steamer to -land him unceremoniously in the midst of this new life of hardships and -terrors. - -Toward noon Waldo began to travel with less haste. He had seen or heard -no evidence of pursuit. At times he stopped to look back along the -trail he had passed, but though he could see the little valley below -him for a considerable distance he discovered nothing to arouse alarm. - -Presently he realized that he was very lonely. A dozen times in as many -minutes he thought of observations he would have been glad to make had -there been some one with him to hear. There were queries, too, relative -to this new country that he should have liked very much to propound, -and it flashed upon him that in all the world there was only one whom -he knew who could give him correct answers to these queries. - -He wondered what the girl had thought when he did not follow her into -the village, and set upon Flatfoot and Korth. At the thought he found -himself flushing in a most unaccountable manner. - -What would the girl think! Would she guess the truth? Well, what -difference if she did? What was her opinion to a cultured gentleman -such as Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones? But yet he found his mind constantly -reverting to this unhappy speculation; it was most annoying. - -As he thought of her he discovered with what distinctness he recalled -every feature of her piquant little face, her olive skin tinged -beautifully by the ruddy glow of health; her fine, straight nose and -delicate nostrils, her perfect eyes, soft, yet filled with the fire of -courage and intelligence. Waldo wondered why it was that he recalled -these things now, and dwelt upon them; he had been with her for weeks -without realizing that he had particularly noticed them. - -But most vividly he conjured again the memory of her soft, liquid -speech, her ready retorts, her bright, interesting observations on -the little happenings of their daily life; her thoughtful kindliness -to him, a stranger within her gates, and--again he flushed hotly--her -sincere, though remarkable, belief in his prowess. - -It took Waldo a long time to admit to himself that he missed the -girl; it must have been weeks before he finally did so unreservedly. -Simultaneously he determined to return to her village and find her. He -had even gone so far as to start the return journey when the memory of -her description of Flatfoot and Korth brought him to a sudden halt--a -most humiliating halt. - -The blood surged to his face--he could feel it burning there. And then -Waldo did two things which he had never done before: he looked at his -soul and saw himself as he was, and--he swore. - -"Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones," he said aloud, "you're a darned coward! -Worse than that, you're an unthinkable cad. That girl was kind to you. -She treated you with the tender solicitude of a mother. And how have -you returned her kindness? By looking down upon her with arrogant -condescension. By pitying her. - -"Pitying her! You--you miserable weakling--ingrate, pitying that -fine, intelligent, generous girl. You, with your pitiful little store -of second-hand knowledge, pitying that girl's ignorance. Why, she's -forgotten more real things than you ever heard of, you--you--" Words -utterly failed him. - -Waldo's awakening was thorough--painfully thorough. It left no tiny -hidden recess of his contemptible little soul unrevealed from his -searching self-analysis. Looking back over the twenty-one years of his -uneventful life, he failed to resurrect but a single act of which he -might now be proud, and that, strange to say, in the light of his past -training, had to do neither with culture, intellect, birth, breeding, -nor knowledge. - -It was a purely gross, physical act. It was hideously, violently, -repulsively animal--it was no other than the instant of heroism in -which he had turned back upon the cliff's face to battle with the -horrible, hairy man who had threatened to prevent Nadara's escape. - -Even now Waldo could not realize that it had been he who ventured so -foolhardy an act; but none the less his breast swelled with pride as -he recalled it. It put into the heart of the man a new hope and into -his head a new purpose--a purpose that would have caused his Back Bay -mother to seek an early grave could she have known of it. - -Nor did Waldo Emerson lose any time in initiating the new regime which -was eventually to fit him for the consummation of his splendid purpose. -He thought of it as splendid now, though a few weeks before the vulgar -atrocity of it would have nauseated him. - -Far up in the hills, near the source of the little river, Waldo had -found a rocky cave. This he had chosen as his new home. He cleaned it -out with scrupulous care, littering the floor with leaves and grasses. - -Before the entrance he piled a dozen large boulders, so arranged that -three of them could be removed or replaced either from within or -without, thus forming a means of egress and ingress which could be -effectually closed against intruders. - -From the top of a high promontory, a half mile beyond his cave, Waldo -could obtain a view of the ocean, some eight or ten miles distant. -It was always in his mind that some day a ship would come, and -Waldo longed to return to the haunts of civilization, but he did not -expect the ship before his plans had properly matured and been put -into execution. He argued that he could not sail away from this shore -forever without first seeing Nadara, and restoring the confidence in -him which he felt his recent desertion had unquestionably shaken to its -foundations. - -As a part of his new regime, Waldo required exercise, and to this end -he set about making a trip to the ocean at least once each week. The -way was rough and hazardous, and the first few times Waldo found it -almost beyond his strength to make even one leg of the journey between -sunrise and dark. - -This necessitated sleeping out over night; but this, too, accorded with -the details of the task he had set himself, and so he did it quite -cheerfully and with a sense of martyrdom that he found effectually -stilled his most poignant fits of cowardice. - -As time went on he was able to cover the whole distance to the ocean -and return in a single day. He never coughed now, nor did he glance -fearfully from side to side as he strode through the woods and open -places of his wild domain. - -His eyes were bright and clear, his head and shoulders were thrown well -back, and the mountain climbing had expanded his chest to a degree -that appalled him--the while it gave him much secret satisfaction. It -was a very different Waldo from the miserable creature which had been -vomited up by the ocean upon the sand of that distant beach. - -The days that Waldo did not make a trip to the ocean he spent in -rambling about the hills in the vicinity of his cave. He knew every -rock and tree within five miles of his lair. - -He knew where Nagoola hid by day, and the path that he took down to the -valley by night. Nor did he longer tremble at sight of the great, black -cat. - -True, Waldo avoided him, but it was through cool and deliberate -caution, which is quite another thing from the senseless panic of fear. -Waldo was biding his time. - -He would not always avoid Nagoola. Nagoola was a part of Waldo's great -plan, but Waldo was not ready for him yet. - -The young man still bore his cudgel, and in addition he had practised -throwing rocks until he could almost have hit a nearby bird upon the -wing. Besides these weapons Waldo was working upon a spear. It had -occurred to him that a spear would be a mighty handy weapon against -either man or beast, and so he had set to work to fashion one. - -He found a very straight young sapling, a little over an inch in -diameter and ten feet long. By means of a piece of edged flint he -succeeded in tapering it to a sharp point. A rawhide thong, plaited -from many pieces of small bits of hide taken from the little animals -that had fallen before his missiles, served to sling the crude weapon -across his shoulders when he walked. - -With his spear he practised hour upon hour each day, until he could -transfix a fruit the size of an apple three times out of five, at a -distance of fifty feet, and at a hundred hit a target the size of a man -almost without a miss. - -Six months had passed since he had fled from an encounter with Flatfoot -and Korth. - -Then Waldo had been a skinny, cowardly weakling; now his great frame -had filled out with healthy flesh, while beneath his skin hard muscles -rolled as he bent to one of the many Herculean tasks he had set for -himself. - -For six months he had worked with a single purpose in view, but still -he felt that the day was not yet come when he might safely venture to -put his new-found manhood to the test. - -Down, far down, in the depth of his soul he feared that he was yet a -coward at heart--and he dared not take the risk. It was too much to -expect, he told himself, that a man should be entirely metamorphosed in -a brief half year. He would wait a little longer. - -It was about this time that Waldo first saw a human being after his -last sight of Nadara. - -It was while he was on his way to the ocean, on one of the trips that -had by this time become thrice weekly affairs, that he suddenly came -face to face with a skulking, hairy brute. - -Waldo halted to see what would happen. - -The man eyed him with those small, cunning, red-rimmed eyes that -reminded Waldo of the eyes of a pig. - -Finally Waldo spoke in the language of Nadara. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -"Sag the Killer," replied the man. "Who are you?" - -"Thandar," answered Waldo. - -"I do not know you," said Sag; "but I can kill you." - -He lowered his bull head and came for Waldo like a battering ram. - -The young man dropped the point of his ready spear, bracing his feet. -The point entered Sag's breast below the collar-bone, stopping only -after it had passed entirely through the savage heart. Waldo had not -moved; the momentum of the man's body had been sufficient to impale him. - -As the body rolled over, stiffening after a few convulsive kicks, Waldo -withdrew his spear from it. Blood smeared its point for a distance of a -foot, but Waldo showed no sign of loathing or disgust. - -Instead he smiled. It had been so much easier than he had anticipated. - -Leaving Sag where he had fallen he continued toward the ocean. An hour -later he heard unusual noises behind him. - -He stopped to listen. He was being pursued. From the sounds he -estimated that there must be several in the party, and a moment later, -as he was crossing a clearing, he got his first view of them as they -emerged from the forest he had just quitted. - -There were at least twenty powerfully muscled brutes. In skin bags -thrown across their shoulders each carried a supply of stones, and -these they began to hurl at Waldo as they raced toward him. For a -moment the man held his ground, but he quickly realized the futility of -pitting himself against such odds. - -Turning, he ran toward the forest upon the other side of the clearing -while a shower of rocks whizzed about him. - -Once within the shelter of the trees there was less likelihood of his -being hit by one of the missiles, but occasionally a well-aimed rock -would strike him a glancing blow. Waldo hoped that they would tire of -the chase before the beach was reached, for he knew that there could be -but one outcome of a battle in which one man faced twenty. - -As the pursued and the pursuers raced on through the forest one of the -latter, fleeter than his companions, commenced to close up the gap -which had existed between Waldo and the twenty. On and on he came, -until a backward glance showed Waldo that in another moment this swift -foeman would be upon him. He was younger than his fellows and more -active, and, having thrown all his stones, was free from any burden of -weight other than the single garment about his hips. - -Waldo still clung to his tattered ducks, which from lack of support and -more or less rapid disintegration were continually slipping down from -his hips, so that they tended to hinder his movements and reduce his -speed. - -Had he been as naked as his pursuer he would doubtless have distanced -him; but he was not, and it was evident that because of this fact he -must take a chance in a hand-to-hand encounter that might delay him -sufficiently to permit the balance of the horde to reach him--that -would be the end of everything. - -But Waldo Emerson neither screamed in terror nor trembled. When he -wheeled to meet the now close savage there was a smile upon his lips, -for Waldo Emerson had "killed his man," and there was no longer the -haunting fear within his soul that at heart he was a coward. - -As he turned with couched spear the cave man came to a sudden stop. - -This was not what Waldo had anticipated. The other savages were running -rapidly toward him, but the fellow who had first overhauled him -remained at a safe twenty feet from the point of his weapon. - -Waldo was being cleverly held until the remainder of the enemy could -arrive and overwhelm him. He knew that if he turned to run the fellow -who danced and yelled just beyond his reach would plunge forward and be -upon his back in an instant. - -He tried rushing the man, but the other retreated nimbly, drawing Waldo -still closer to those who were coming on. - -There was no time to be lost. A moment more and the entire twenty would -be upon him; but there were possibilities in a spear that the cave man -in his ignorance dreamed not of. There was a lightninglike movement of -Waldo's arm, and the aborigine saw the spear darting swiftly through -space toward his breast. He tried to dodge, but was too late. Down he -went, clutching madly at the slender thing which protruded from his -heart. - -Although one of the dead man's companions was now quite close, Waldo -could not relinquish his weapon without an effort--it had cost him -considerable time to make, and twice today it had saved his life. -Forgetful that he had ever been a coward he leaped toward the fallen -man, reaching his side at the same instant as his foremost pursuer. - -The two came together like mad bulls--the savage reaching for Waldo's -throat, Waldo wielding his light cudgel. For a moment they struggled -backward and forward, turning and twisting, the cave man in an effort -to close upon Waldo's wind, Waldo to hold the other at arm's length for -the brief instant that would be necessary for one sudden, effective -blow from the cudgel. - -The other savages were almost upon them when the young man found his -antagonist's throat. Throwing all his weight and strength into the -effort, Waldo forced the cave man back until there was room between -them for the play of the stick. A single blow was sufficient. - -As the limp body of his foeman slipped from his grasp, Waldo snatched -his precious spear from the heart of its victim, and with the hands of -the infuriated pack almost upon him, turned once more into his flight -toward the ocean. - -The howling band was close upon his heels now, nor could he greatly -increase the distance that separated him from them. He wondered what -the outcome of the matter was to be; he did not wish to die. His -thoughts kept reverting to his boyhood home, to his indulgent mother, -to the friends that had been his. He felt that at the last moment he -was about to lose his nerve--that, after all, his hard earned manliness -was counterfeit. - -Then there came to him a vision of an oval, olive face framed by a mass -of soft, black hair; and before it the fear of death dissolved into a -grim smile. He did not pause to analyze the reason for it--nor could he -have done so then had he tried. He only knew that with those eyes upon -him he could not be aught else than courageous. - -A moment later he burst through the last fringe of underbrush to emerge -upon the clearing that faced the sea. - -There by a tiny rivulet he saw a sight that filled him with -thanksgiving, and farther out upon the ocean that which he had been -waiting and hoping for for all these long, hard months--a ship. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -A CHOICE - - -Seamen upon the beach were filling water-casks. - -There were a dozen of them, and as Waldo plunged from the forest they -looked with startled apprehension at the strange apparition. A great, -brown giant they saw, clad in a few ragged strings of white duck, for -Waldo had kept his apparel as immaculately clean as hard rubbing in -cold water would permit. - -In one hand the strange creature carried a long, bloody spear, in the -other a light cudgel. Long, yellow hair streamed back over his broad -shoulders. - -Several of the men--those who were armed--leveled guns and revolvers at -him; but when, as he drew closer, they saw a broad grin upon his face, -and heard in perfectly good English, "Don't shoot; I'm a white man," -they lowered their weapons and awaited him. - -He had scarcely reached them when they saw a swarm of naked men dash -from the forest in his wake. Waldo saw their eyes directed past him and -knew that his pursuers had come into view. - -"You'll have to shoot at them, I imagine," he said. "They're not -exactly domesticated. Try firing over their heads at first; maybe you -can scare them away without hurting any of them." - -He disliked the idea of seeing the poor savages slaughtered. It didn't -seem just like fair play to mow them down with bullets. - -The sailors followed his suggestion. At the first reports the cave men -halted in surprise and consternation. - -"Let's rush 'em," suggested one of the men, and this was all that was -needed to send them scurrying back into the woods. - -Waldo found that the ship was English, and that all the men spoke his -mother tongue in more or less understandable fashion. The second mate, -who was in charge of the landing party, proved to have originated in -Boston. It was much like being at home again. - -Waldo was so excited and wanted to ask so many questions all at once -that he became almost unintelligible. It seemed scarcely possible that -a ship had really come. - -He realized now that he had never actually entertained any very -definite belief that a ship ever would come to this out-of-the-way -corner of the world. He had hoped and dreamed, but down in the bottom -of his heart he must have felt that years might elapse before he would -be rescued. - -Even now it was difficult to believe that these were really civilized -beings like himself. - -They were on their way to a civilized world; they would soon be -surrounded by their families and friends, and he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, was going with them! - -In a few months he would see his mother and his father and all his -friends--he would be among his books once more. - -Even as the last thought flashed through his mind it was succeeded by -mild wonderment that this outlook failed to raise his temperature as he -might have expected that it would. His books had been his real life in -the past--could it be that they had lost something of their glamour? -Had his brief experience with the realities of life dulled the edge of -his appetite for second-hand hopes, aspirations, deeds, and emotions? - -It had. - -Waldo yet craved his books, but they alone would no longer suffice. He -wanted something bigger, something more real and tangible--he wanted to -read and study, but even more he wanted to do. And back there in his -own world there would be plenty awaiting the doing. - -His heart thrilled at the possibilities that lay before the new -Waldo Emerson--possibilities of which he never would have dreamed -but for the strange chance which had snatched him bodily from one -life to throw him into this new one, which had forced upon him the -development of attributes of self-reliance, courage, initiative, and -resourcefulness that would have lain dormant within him always but for -the necessity which had given birth to them. - -Yes, Waldo realized that he owed a great deal to this experience--a -great deal to--. And then a sudden realization of the truth rushed in -upon him--he owed everything to Nadara. - -"I was never ship-wrecked on a desert island," said the second mate, -breaking in upon Waldo's reveries, "but I can imagine just about how -good you feel at the thought that you are at last rescued and that in -an hour or so you will see the shoreline of your prison growing smaller -and smaller upon the southern horizon." - -"Yes," acquiesced Waldo in a far away voice: "it's awfully good of you, -but I am not going with you." - - * * * * * - -Two hours later Waldo Emerson stood alone upon the beach, watching the -diminishing hull of a great ship as it dropped over the rim of the -world far to the north. - -A vague hint of tears dimmed his vision; then he threw back his -shoulders, swallowed the thing that had risen into his throat, and -with high held head turned back into the forest. - -In one hand he carried a razor and a plug of tobacco--the sole mementos -of his recent brief contact with the world of civilization. The kindly -sailors had urged him to reconsider his decision, but when he remained -obdurate they had insisted that they be permitted to leave some of the -comforts of life with him. - -The only thing that he could think of that he wanted very badly -was a razor--firearms he would not accept, for he had worked out a -rather fine chivalry of his own here in this savage world--a chivalry -which would not permit him to take any advantage over the primeval -inhabitants he had found here other than what his own hands and head -might give him. - -At the last moment one of the seamen, prompted by a generous heart and -a keen realization of what life must be without even bare necessities, -had thrust upon Waldo the plug of tobacco. As he looked at it now the -young man smiled. - -"That would indeed be the last step, according to mother's ideas," he -soliloquized. "No lower could I sink." - -The ship that bore away Waldo's chance of escape carried also a long -letter to Waldo's mother. In portions it was rather vague and rambling. -It mentioned, among other things, that he had an obligation to fulfil -before he could leave his present habitat; but that the moment he was -free he should "take the first steamer for Boston." - -The skipper of the ship which had just sailed away had told Waldo -that in so far as he knew there might never be another ship touch -his island, which was so far out of the beaten course that only the -shoreline of it had ever been explored, and scarce a score of vessels -had reported it since Captain Cook discovered it in 1773. - -Yet it was in the face of this that Waldo had refused to leave. As -he walked slowly through the wood on his way back toward his cave he -tried to convince himself that he had acted purely from motives of -gratitude and fairness--that as a gentleman he could do no less than -see Nadara and thank her for the friendly services she had rendered -him; but for some reason this seemed a very futile and childish excuse -for relinquishing what might easily be his only opportunity to return -to civilization. - -His final decision was that he had acted the part of a fool; yet as he -walked he hummed a joyous tune, and his heart was full of happiness and -pleasant expectations of what he could not have told. - -To one thing he had made up his mind, and that was that the next sun -would see him on his way to the village of Nadara. His experience with -the savages that day had convinced him that he might with reasonable -safety face Flatfoot and Korth. - -The more he dwelt upon this idea the more light-hearted he became--he -could not understand it. He should be plunged into the blackest -despair, for had he not but just relinquished a chance to return -home, and was he not within a day or two to enter the village of the -ferocious Flatfoot and the mighty Korth? Even so, his heart sang. - -Waldo saw nothing of his enemies of the earlier part of the day as -he moved cautiously through the forest or crossed the little plains -and meadows which lay along the route between the ocean and his lair; -but his thoughts often reverted to them and to his adventures of the -morning, and the result was that he became aware of a deficiency in his -equipment--a deficiency which his recent battle made glaringly apparent. - -In fact, there were two points that might be easily remedied. One was -the lack of a shield. Had he had protection of this nature he would -have been in comparatively little danger from the shower of missiles -that the savages had flung at him. - -The other was a sword. With a sword and shield he could have let his -enemies come to very close quarters with perfect impunity to himself -and then have run them through with infinite ease. - -This new idea would necessitate a delay in his plans; he must finish -both shield and sword before he departed for the village of Flatfoot. -What with his meditation and his planning, Waldo had made poor time on -the return journey from the coast so that it was after sunset when he -entered the last deep ravine beyond the farther summit of which lay -his rocky home. In the depths of the ravine it was already quite dark, -though a dim twilight still hung upon the surrounding hill-tops. - -He had about completed the arduous ascent of the last steep trail, at -the crest of which was his journey's end, when above him, silhouetted -against the darkening sky, loomed a great black, crouching mass, from -the center of which blazed two balls of fire. - -It was Nagoola, and he occupied the center of the only trail that led -over the edge of the ridge from the ravine below. - -"I had almost forgotten you, Nagoola," murmured Waldo Emerson. "I could -never have gone upon my journey without first interviewing you, but I -could have wished a different time and place than this. Let us postpone -the matter for a day or so," he concluded aloud; but the only response -from Nagoola was an ominous growl. Waldo felt rather uncomfortable. - -He could not have come upon the great, black panther at a more -inopportune time or place. It was too dark for Waldo's human eyes, and -the cat was above him and Waldo upon a steep hillside that under the -best of conditions offered but a precarious foothold. He tried to shoo -the formidable beast away by shouts and menacing gesticulations, but -Nagoola would not shoo. - -Instead he crept slowly forward, edging his sinuous body inch by inch -along the rocky trail until it hung poised above the waiting man a -dozen feet below him. - -Six months before Waldo would long since have been shrieking in -meteorlike flight down the bed of the ravine behind him. That a -wonderful transformation had been wrought within him was evident from -the fact that no cry of fright escaped him, and that, far from fleeing, -he edged inch by inch upward toward the menacing creature hanging there -above him. He carried his spear with the point leveled a trifle below -those baleful eyes. - -He had advanced but a foot or two, however, when, with an awful shriek, -the terrible beast launched itself full upon him. - -As the heavy body struck him Waldo went over backward down the cliff, -and with him went Nagoola. - -Clawing, tearing, and scratching, the two rolled and bounded down -the rocky hillside until, near the bottom, they came to a sudden stop -against a large tree. - -The growling and screeching ceased, the clawing paws and hands were -still. Presently the tropic moon rose over the hill-top to look down -upon a little tangled mound of man and beast that lay very quiet -against the bole of a great tree near the bottom of a dark ravine. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THANDAR, THE SEEKER - - -For a long time there was no sign of life in that strange pile of -flesh and bone and brawn and glossy black fur and long, yellow hair -and blood. But toward dawn it moved a little, down near the bottom of -the heap, and a little later there was a groan, and then all was still -again for many minutes. - -Presently it moved again, this time more energetically, and after -several efforts a yellow head streaked and matted with blood emerged -from beneath. It required the better part of an hour for the stunned -and lacerated Waldo to extricate himself from the entangling embrace of -Nagoola. - -When, finally, he staggered to his feet he saw that the great cat lay -dead before him, the broken shaft of the spear protruding from the -sleek, black breast. - -It was quite evident that the beast had lived but the barest fraction -of an instant after it had launched itself upon the man; but during -that brief interval of time it had wrought sore havoc with its mighty -talons, though fortunately for Waldo the great jaws had not found him. - -From breast to knees ghastly wounds were furrowed in the man's brown -skin where the powerful hind feet of the beast had raked him. - -That he owed his life to the chance that had brought about the -encounter upon a steep hillside rather than on the level seemed quite -apparent, for during their tumble down the declivity Nagoola had been -unable to score with any degree of accuracy. - -As Waldo looked down upon himself he was at first horrified by the -frightful appearance of his wounds; but when a closer examination -showed them to be superficial he realized that the only danger lay -in infection. Every bone and muscle in his body ached from the -man-handling and the fall, and the wounds themselves were painful, -almost excruciatingly so when a movement of his body stretched or tore -them; but notwithstanding his suffering he found himself smiling as he -contemplated the remnants of his long-suffering ducks. - -There remained of their once stylish glory not a shred--the panther's -sharp claws had finished what time and brambles had so well commenced. -And of their linen partner--the white outing shirt--only the neckband -remained; with a single fragment as large as one's hand depending -behind. - -"Nature is a wonderful leveler," thought Waldo. "It is evident that -she hates artificiality as she does a vacuum. I shall really need you -now," he concluded, looking at the beautiful, black coat of Nagoola. - -Despite his suffering, Waldo crawled to his lair, where he selected a -couple of sharp-edged stones from his collection and returned to the -side of Nagoola. - -Leaving his tools there he went on down to the bottom of the ravine, -where in a little crystal stream he bathed his wounds. Then he returned -once more to his kill. - -After half a day of the most arduous labor Waldo succeeded in removing -the panther's hide, which he dragged laboriously to his lair, where he -fell exhausted, unable even to crawl within. - -The next day Waldo worked upon the inner surface of the hide, removing -every particle of flesh by scraping it with a sharp stone, so that -there might be no danger of decomposition. - -He was still very weak and sore, but he could not bear the thought of -losing the pelt that had cost him so much to obtain. - -When the last vestige of flesh had been scraped away he crawled into -his lair, where he remained for a week, only emerging for food and -water. At the end of that time his wounds were almost healed, and -he had entirely recovered from his lameness and the shock of the -adventure, so that it was with real pleasure and exultation that he -gloated over his beautiful trophy. - -Always as he thought of the time that he should have it made ready for -girting about his loins he saw himself, not through his own eyes, but -as he imagined that another would see him, and that other was Nadara. - -For many days Waldo scraped and pounded the great skin as he had seen -the cave men scrape and pound in the brief instant he had watched them -with Nadara from the edge of the forest before the village of Flatfoot. -At last he was rewarded with a pelt sufficiently pliable for the -purpose of the rude apparel he contemplated. - -A strip an inch wide he trimmed off to form a supporting belt. With -this he tied the black skin about his waist, passed one arm through a -hole he had made for that purpose near the upper edge; bringing the -fore paws forward about his chest, he crossed and fastened them to -secure the garment from falling from the upper part of his body. - -It was a very proud Waldo that strutted forth in the finery of his new -apparel; but the pride was in the prowess that had won the thing for -him--vulgar, gross, brutal physical prowess--the very attribute upon -which he had looked with supercilious contempt six months before. - -Next Waldo turned his attention toward the fashioning of a sword, -a new spear, and a shield. The first two were comparatively easy of -accomplishment--he had them both completed in half a day, and from a -two-inch strip of panther hide he made also a sword belt to pass over -his right shoulder and support his sword at his left side; but the -shield almost defied his small skill and new-born ingenuity. - -With small twigs and grasses he succeeded, after nearly a week of -painstaking endeavor, in weaving a rude, oval buckler some three feet -long by two wide, which he covered with the skins of several small -animals that had fallen before his death-dealing stones. A strip of -hide fastened upon the back of the shield held it to his left arm. - -With it Waldo felt more secure against the swiftly thrown missiles of -the savages he knew he should encounter on his forthcoming expedition. - -At last came the morning for departure. Rising with the sun, Waldo -took his morning "tub" in the cold spring that rose a few yards from -his cave, then he got out the razor that the sailor had given him, and -after scraping off his scanty, yellow beard, hacked his tawny hair -until it no longer fell about his shoulders and in his eyes. - -Then he gathered up his weapons, rolled the boulders before the -entrance to his cave, and turning his back upon his rough home set -off down the little stream toward the distant valley where it wound -through the forest along the face of the cliffs to Flatfoot and Korth. - -As he stepped lightly along the hazardous trail, leaping from ledge -to ledge in the descent of the many sheer drops over which the stream -fell, he might have been a reincarnation of some primeval hunter from -whose savage loins had sprung the warriors and the strong men of a -world. - -The tall, well-muscled, brown body; the clear, bright eyes; the -high-held head; the sword, the spear, the shield were all a far cry -from the weak and futile thing that had lain groveling in the sand upon -the beach, sweating and shrieking in terror six short months before. -And yet it was the same. - -What one good but mistaken woman had smothered another had brought out, -and the result of the influence of both was a much finer specimen of -manhood than either might have evolved alone. - -In the afternoon of the third day Waldo came to the forest opposite the -cliffs where lay the home of Nadara. Cautiously he stole from tree to -tree until he could look out unseen upon the honeycombed face of the -lofty escarpment. - -All was lifeless and deserted. The cave mouths looked out upon the -valley, sad and lonely. There was no sign of life in any direction as -far as Waldo could see. - -Coming from the forest he crossed the clearing and approached the -cliffs. His eye, now become alert in woodcraft, detected the young -grass growing in what had once been well-beaten trails. He needed no -further evidence to assure him that the caves were deserted, and had -been for some time. - -One by one he entered and explored several of the cliff dwellings. All -gave the same mute corroboration of what was everywhere apparent--the -village had been evacuated without haste in an orderly manner. -Everything of value had been removed--only a few broken utensils -remaining as indication that it had ever constituted human habitation. - -Waldo was utterly confounded. He had not the remotest idea in which -direction to search. During the balance of the afternoon he wandered -along the various ledges, entering first one cave and then another. - -He wondered which had been Nadara's. He tried to imagine her life among -these crude, primitive surroundings; among the beast-like men and women -who were her people. She did not seem to harmonize with either. He was -convinced that she was more out of place here than Flatfoot would have -been in a Back Bay drawing-room. - -The more his mind dwelt upon her the sadder he became. He tried to -convince himself that it was purely disappointment in being thwarted -in his desire to thank her for her kindness to him, and demonstrate -that her confidence in his prowess had not been misplaced; but always -he discovered that his thoughts returned to Nadara rather than to the -ostensible object of his adventure. - -In short he began to realize, rather vaguely it is true, that he had -come because he wanted to see the girl again; but why he wanted to see -her he did not know. - -That night he slept in one of the deserted caves, and the next morning -set forth upon his quest for Nadara. For three days he searched the -little valley, but without results. There was no sign of any other -village within it. - -Then he passed over into another valley to the north. For weeks he -wandered hither and thither without being rewarded by even a sight of a -human being. - -Early one afternoon as he was topping a barrier in search of other -valleys he came suddenly face to face with a great, hairy man. Both -stopped--the hairy one glaring with his nasty little eyes. - -"I can kill you," growled the savage. - -Waldo had no desire to fight--it was information he was searching. But -he almost smiled at the ready greeting of the man. It was the same that -Sag the Killer had accorded him that day he had gone down to the sea -for the last time. - -It came as readily and as glibly from these primitive men as "good -morning" falls from the lips of the civilized races, yet among the -latter he realized that it had its counterpart in the stony stares -which Anglo Saxon strangers vouchsafe one another. - -"I have no quarrel with you," replied Waldo. "Let us be friends." - -"You are afraid," taunted the hairy one. - -Waldo pointed to his sable garment. - -"Ask Nagoola," he said. - -The man looked at the trophy. There could be no mightier argument for a -man's valor than that. He came a step closer that he might scrutinize -it more carefully. - -"Full-grown and in perfect health," he grunted to himself. "This is -no worn and mangy hide peeled from the rotting carcass of one dead of -sickness. - -"How did you slay Nagoola?" he asked suddenly. - -Waldo indicated his spear, then he drew his garment aside and pointed -to the vivid, new-healed scars that striped his body. - -"We met at dusk at a cliff-top. He was above, I below. When we reached -the bottom of the ravine Nagoola was dead. But it was nothing for -Thandar. I am Thandar." - -Waldo rightly suspected that a little bravado would make a good -impression on the intellect primeval, nor was he mistaken. - -"What do you here in my country?" asked the man, but his tone was less -truculent than before. - -"I am searching for Flatfoot and Korth--and Nadara," said Waldo. - -The other's eyes narrowed. - -"What would you of them?" he asked. - -"Nadara was good to me--I would repay her." - -"But Flatfoot and Korth--what of them?" insisted the man. - -"My business is with them. When I see them I shall transact it," Waldo -parried, for he had seen the cunning look in the man's eyes and he did -not like it. "Can you lead me to them?" - -"I can tell you where they are, but I am not bound thither," replied -the man. "Three days toward the setting sun will bring you to the -village of Flatfoot. There you will find Korth also--and Nadara," and -without further parley the savage turned and trotted toward the east. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -NADARA AGAIN - - -Waldo watched him out of sight, half minded to follow, for he was far -from satisfied that the fellow had been entirely honest with him. Why -he should have been otherwise Waldo could not imagine, but nevertheless -there had been an indefinable suggestion of duplicity in the man's -behavior that had puzzled him. - -However, Waldo took up his search toward the west, passing down from -the hills into a deep valley, the bottom of which was overgrown by a -thick tangle of tropical jungle. - -He had forced his way through this for nearly half a mile when he -came to the bank of a wide, slow-moving river. Its water was thick -with sediment--not clean, sparkling, and inviting, as were the little -mountain streams of the hills and valleys farther south. - -Waldo traveled along the edge of the river in a northwesterly -direction, searching for a ford. The steep, muddy banks offered no -foothold, so he dared not venture a crossing until he could be sure of -a safe landing upon the opposite shore. - -A couple of hundred yards from the point at which he had come upon the -stream he found a broad trail leading down into the water, and on the -other side saw a similar track cutting up through the bank. - -This, evidently, was the ford he sought, but as he started toward the -river he noticed the imprints of the feet of many animals--human and -brute. - -Waldo stooped to examine them minutely. There were the broad pads of -Nagoola, the smaller imprints of countless rodents, but back and forth -among them all were old and new signs of man. - -There were the great, flat-foot prints of huge adult males, the smaller -but equally flat-footed impresses of the women and children; but one -there was that caught his eye particularly. - -It was the fine and dainty outline of a perfect foot, with the arch -well defined. It was new, as were many of the others, and, like the -other newer ones, it led down to the river and then back again, as -though she who made it had come for water and then returned from whence -she had come. Waldo knew that the tracks leading away from the river -were the newer, because where the two trails overlapped those coming up -from the ford were always over those which led downward. - -The multiplicity of signs indicated a considerable community, and their -newness the proximity of the makers. - -Waldo hesitated but a moment before he reached a decision, and then he -turned up the trail away from the river, and at a rapid trot followed -the spoor along its winding course through the jungle to where it -emerged at the base of the foothills, to wind upward toward their crest. - -He found that the trail he was following crossed the hills but a few -yards from the spot at which he had met the cave man a short time -before. Evidently the man had been returning from the river when he had -espied Waldo. - -The young man could see where the fellow's tracks had left the main -trail, and he followed them to the point where the man had stood during -his conversation with Waldo; from there they led toward the east for -a short distance, and then turned suddenly north to reenter the main -trail. - -Waldo could see that as soon as the man had reached a point from which -he would be safe from the stranger's observation he had broken into a -rapid trot, and as he already had two hours' start Waldo felt that he -would have to hurry were he to overtake him. - -Just why he wished to do so he did not consider, but, intuitively -possibly, he felt that the surly brute could give him much more and -accurate information than he had. Nor could Waldo eliminate the memory -of those dainty feminine footprints. - -It was foolish, of course, and he fully realized the fact; but his -silly mind would insist upon attributing them to the cave girl--Nadara. - -For two hours he trotted doggedly along the trail, which for the most -part was well defined. There were places, of course, which taxed his -trailing ability, but by circling widely from these points he always -was able to pick up the tracks again. - -He had come down from the hills and entered an open forest, where the -trail was entirely lost in the mossy carpet that lay beneath the trees, -when he was startled by a scream--a woman's scream--and the hoarse -gutturals of two men, deep and angry. - -Hastening toward the sound, Waldo came upon the authors of the -commotion in a little glade half hidden by surrounding bushes. - -There were three actors in the hideous tragedy--a hairy brute dragging -a protesting girl by her long, black hair and an old man, who followed, -protesting futilely against the outrage that threatened the young woman. - -None of them saw Waldo as he ran toward them until he was almost upon -them, and then the beast who grasped the girl looked up, and Waldo -recognized him as the same who had sent him toward the west earlier in -the day. - -At the same instant he saw the girl was Nadara. - -In the brief interval that the recognition required there sloughed from -the heart and mind and soul of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones every particle -of the civilization and culture and refinement that had required -countless ages in the building, stripping him naked, age on age, down -to the primordial beast that had begot his first human progenitor. - -He saw red through blood as he leaped for the throat of the man-beast -whose ruthless hands were upon Nadara. - -His lip curled in the fighting snarl that exposed his long-unused -canine fangs. - -He forgot sword and shield and spear. - -He was no longer a man, but a terrible beast; and the hairy brute that -witnessed the metamorphosis blanched and shrank back in fear. - -But he could not escape the fury of that mad charge or the raging -creature that sought his throat. - -For a moment they struggled in a surging, swaying embrace, and then -toppled to the ground--the hairy one beneath. - -Rolling, tearing, and biting, they battled--each seeking a death hold -upon the other. - -Time and again the gleaming teeth of the once-fastidious Bostonian sank -into the breast and shoulder of his antagonist, but it was the jugular -his primal instinct sought. - -The girl and the old man had drawn away where they could watch the -battle in safety. Nadara's eyes were wide in fascination. - -Her slim, brown hands were tight pressed against her rapidly rising -and falling breasts as she leaned a little forward with parted lips, -drinking in every detail of the conflict between the two beasts. - -Ah, but was the yellow-haired giant really fighting for possession of -her, or merely in protection, because she was a woman? - -She could readily conceive from her knowledge of him that he might be -acting now solely from some peculiar sense of duty which she realized -that he might entertain, although she could not herself understand it. - -Yes, that was it, and when he had conquered his rival he would run away -again, as he had months before. At the thought Nadara felt herself -flush with mortification. No, he should never have another opportunity -to repeat that terrible affront. - -As she allowed her mind to dwell on the humiliating moment that had -witnessed the discovery that Thandar had fled from her at the very -threshold of her home Nadara found herself hating him again as fiercely -as she had all these long months--a hatred that had almost dissolved -at sight of him as he rushed out of the underbrush a moment before to -wrest her from the clutches of her hideous tormentor. - -Waldo and his antagonist were still tearing futilely at one another -in mad efforts to maim or kill. The giant muscles of the cave man -gave him but little if any advantage over his agile, though slightly -less-powerful, adversary. - -The hairy one used his teeth to better advantage, with the result that -Waldo was badly torn and bleeding from a dozen wounds. - -Both were weakening now, and it seemed to the girl who watched that the -younger man would be the first to succumb to the terrific strain under -which both had been. She took a step forward and, stooping, picked up a -stone. - -Her small strength would be ample to turn the scales as she might -choose--a sharp blow upon the head of either would give his adversary -the trifling advantage that would spell death for the one she struck. - -The two men had struggled to their feet again as she approached with -raised weapon. - -At the very moment that it left her hand they swung completely round, -so that Waldo faced her, and in the instant before the missile struck -his forehead he saw Nadara in the very act of throwing--upon her face -an expression of hatred and loathing. - -Then he lost consciousness and went down, dragging with him the cave -man, upon whose throat his fingers had just found their hold. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE SEEKER - - -When the old man saw what had happened he ran forward and grasped -Nadara by the wrist. - -"Quick!" he cried--"quick, my daughter! You have killed him who would -have saved you, and now nothing but flight may keep Korth from having -his way with you." - -As in a trance the girl turned and departed with him. - -They had scarcely disappeared within the underbrush when Waldo returned -to consciousness, so slight had been the effect of the blow upon his -head. - -To his surprise he found the cave man lying very still beside him, but -an instant later he read the reason for it in the little projecting -ridge of rock upon which lay his foe's forehead--in falling the savage -man had struck thus and lost consciousness. - -Almost immediately the hairy one opened his eyes, but before he could -gather his scattered senses sinewy fingers found his throat, and he -lapsed once more into oblivion--from which there was no awakening. - -As Waldo staggered to his feet he saw that the girl had vanished, and -there swept back into his mind the memory of the hate that had been in -her face as she struck him down. - -It seemed incredible that she should have turned against him so, and -at the very moment, too, when he had risked his life in her service; -but that she had there could be no doubt, for he had seen her cast -the stone--with his own eyes he had seen her, and, too, he had seen -the hatred and loathing in her face as she looked straight into his. -But what he had not seen was the look of horror that followed as the -missile struck him instead of Korth, sending him crumpling to earth. - -Slowly Waldo turned away from the scene of battle, and without even a -second look at his vanquished enemy limped painfully into the brush. -His heart was very heavy and he was weak from exhaustion and loss -of blood, but he staggered on, back toward his mountain lair, as he -thought, until unable to go further he sank down upon a little grassy -knoll and slept. - -When Nadara recovered from the shock of the thing she had done -sufficiently to reason for herself she realized that after all Thandar -might not be dead, and though the old man protested long and loudly -against it, she insisted upon retracing her steps toward the spot where -they had left the yellow giant in the clutches of Korth. - -Very cautiously the girl threaded her way through the maze of shrubbery -and creepers that filled the intervening space between the forest -trees, until she came silently to the edge of the clearing in which the -two had fought. - -As she peered anxiously through the last curtain of foliage she saw a -single body lying quiet and still upon the sward, and an instant later -recognized it as Korth's. For several minutes she watched it before she -became convinced that the man who had so terrorized her whole childish -life could never again offer her harm. - -She looked about for Thandar, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nadara -could scarcely believe that her eyes were not deceiving her. - -It was incredible that the yellow one could have gone down to -unconsciousness before her unintentional blow and yet have mastered the -mighty Korth; but how else could Korth have met his death and Thandar -be gone? - -She approached quite close to the dead man, turning the body over with -her foot until the throat was visible. There she saw the finger-marks -that had done the work, and with a little thrill of pride she turned -back into the forest, calling Thandar's name aloud. - -But Thandar did not hear. Half a mile away he lay weak and unconscious -from loss of blood. - -Morning found Nadara sleeping in a sturdy tree upon the trail along -which Waldo had followed Korth. She had discovered the footprints -of the two men the evening before while she had been searching -unsuccessfully for the trail which Waldo had followed after the battle. -She hoped now that the spoor might lead her to Thandar's cave, to which -she felt it quite possible he might have returned by another way. - -When the girl awoke she again took up her journey, following the tracks -as unerringly as a hound up through the hilly country, across the -divide and down into the jungle to the very watering place at which her -tribe had drank a few days earlier. Here she made a brief stay. - -Then on again down the river, back through the jungle and onto the -divide once more. She was much mystified by the windings of the trail, -but for days she followed the fading spoor until, becoming fainter and -fainter as it grew older, she lost it entirely at last. - -She was quite sure by now, however, that it led from her tribe's former -territory, and so she kept on, hoping against hope, that soon she would -come across the fresh track of Thandar where he had passed her on his -return journey to his home. - -Nadara had eluded the old man when she started upon her search for -Thandar, so it was that the old fellow returned to the dwellings of -his people alone the following day. - -Flatfoot was the first to greet him. - -"Where is the girl?" he growled. "And where is Korth? Has he taken her? -Answer me the truth or I will break every bone in your carcass." - -"I do not know where the girl is," answered the old man truthfully -enough, "but Korth lies dead in the little glade beyond the three great -trees. A mighty man killed him as he was dragging Nadara off into the -thicket----" - -"And the man has taken the girl for himself?" yelled Flatfoot. "You old -thief you. This is some of your work. Always have you tried to cheat -me of this girl since first you knew that I desired her. Whither went -they? Quick! before I kill you." - -"I do not know," replied the old man. "For hours I searched, until -darkness came, but neither of them could I find, and my old eyes are no -longer keen for trailing, so I was forced to abandon my hunt and return -here when morning came." - -"By the three trees the trail starts, you say?" cried Flatfoot. "That -is enough--I shall find them. And when I return with the girl it will -be time enough to kill you; now it would delay me too much," and with -that the cave man hurried away into the forest. - -It took him half a day to find Nadara's trail, but at last his search -was rewarded, and as she had made no effort to hide it he moved rapidly -along in the wake of the unsuspecting girl; but he was not as swift as -she, and the chase bid fair to be a long one. - -When Waldo woke he found the sun beating down upon his face, and though -he was lame and sore he felt quite strong enough to continue his -journey; but whither he should go he did not know. - -Now that Nadara had turned against him the island held nothing for him, -and he was on the point of starting back toward his far distant lair -from where he might visit the ocean often to watch for a passing ship, -when the sudden decision came to him to see the girl again, regardless -of her evident hostility, and learn from her own lips the exact reason -of her hatred for him. - -He had had no idea that the loss of her friendship would prove such -a blow to him, so that his pride suffered as well as his heart as he -contemplated his harrowed emotions. - -Of course he was reasonably sure that Nadara's attitude was due to -his ungallant desertion, for which act he had long suffered the most -acute pangs of remorse and contrition. Yet he felt that her apparent -vindictiveness was not warranted by even the grave offense against -chivalry and gratitude of which he had been guilty. - -It presently occurred to him that by the traitorous attack which -he believed that she had made upon him while he was acting in her -defense she had forfeited every claim which her former kindness might -have given her upon him, but with this realization came another--a -humiliating thought--he still wished to see her! - -He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, had become so devoid of pride that he -would voluntarily search out one who had wronged and outraged his -friendship, with the avowed determination of seeking a reconciliation. -It was unthinkable, and yet, as he admitted the impossibility of it, he -set forth in search of her. - -Waldo wondered not a little at the strange emotion--inherent gregarious -instinct, he thought it--which drew him toward Nadara. - -It did not occur to him that during all the past solitary months he had -scarcely missed the old companionship of his Back Bay friends; that for -once that they had been the subject of his reveries the cave girl had -held the center of that mental stage a thousand times. - -He failed to realize that it was not the companionship of the many that -he craved; that it was not the community instinct, or that his strange -longing could be satisfied by but a single individual. No, Waldo -Emerson did not know what was the matter with him, nor was it likely -that he ever would find out before it was too late. - -The young man attempted to retrace his steps to the battle-ground of -the previous day, but he had been so dazed after the encounter that -he had no clear recollection of the direction he had taken after he -quitted the glade. - -So it was that he stumbled in precisely the opposite direction, -presently emerging from the underbrush almost at the foot of a low -cliff tunneled with many caves. All about were the morose, unhappy -community whose savage lives were spent in almost continual wandering -from one filthy, comfortless warren to another equally foul and -wretched. - -At sight of them Waldo did not flee in dismay, as most certainly would -have been the case a few months earlier. Instead, he walked confidently -toward them. - -As he approached they ceased whatever work they were engaged upon and -eyed him suspiciously. Then several burly males approached him warily. - -At a hundred yards they halted. - -"What do you want?" they cried. "If you come to our village we can kill -you." - -Before Waldo could reply an old man crawled from a cave near the base -of the cliff, and as his eyes fell upon the stranger he hurried as -rapidly as his ancient limbs would carry him to the little knot of -ruffians who composed the reception committee. - -He spoke to them for a moment in a low tone, and as he was talking -Waldo recognized him as the old man who had accompanied Nadara on the -previous day at the battle in the glade. When he had finished speaking -one of the cave men assented to whatever proposal the decrepit one had -made, and Waldo saw that each of the others nodded his head in approval. - -Then the old man advanced slowly toward Waldo. When he had come quite -close he spoke. - -"I am an old man," he said. "Thandar would not kill an old man?" - -"Of course not; but how know you that my name is Thandar?" replied -Waldo. - -"Nadara, she who is my daughter, has spoken of you often. Yesterday we -saw you as you battled with that son of Nagoola--Nadara told me then -that it was you. What would Thandar among the people of Flatfoot?" - -"I come as a friend," replied Waldo, "among the friends of Nadara. For -Flatfoot I care nothing. He is no friend of Nadara, whose friends are -Thandar's friends, and whose enemies are Thandar's enemies. Where is -Nadara--but first, where is Flatfoot? I have come to kill him." - -The words and the savage challenge slipped as easily from the cultured -tongue of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones as though he had been born and -reared in the most rocky and barren cave of this savage island, nor did -they sound strange or unusual to him. It seemed that he had said the -most natural and proper thing under the circumstances that there was to -say. - -"Flatfoot is not here," said the old man, "nor is Nadara. She--" but -here Waldo interrupted him. - -"Korth, then," he demanded. "Where is Korth? I can kill him first and -Flatfoot when he returns." - -The old man looked at the speaker in unfeigned surprise. - -"Korth!" he exclaimed. "Korth is dead. Can it be that you do not know -that he, whom you killed yesterday, was Korth?" - -Waldo's eyes opened as wide in surprise as had the old man's. - -Korth! He had killed the redoubtable Korth with his bare hands--Korth, -who could crush the skull of a full-grown man with a single blow from -his open palm. - -Clearly he recollected the very words in which Nadara had described -this horrible brute that time she had harrowed his poor, coward nerves, -as they approached the village of Flatfoot. And now he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, had met and killed the creature from whom he had so -fearfully fled a few months ago! - -And, wonder of wonders, he had not even thought to use the weapons upon -which he had spent so many hours of handicraft and months of practise -in preparation for just this occasion. Of a sudden he recalled the old -man's statement that Nadara was not there. - -"Where is she--Nadara?" he cried, turning so suddenly upon the ancient -one that the old fellow drew back in alarm. - -"I have done nothing to harm her," he cried. "I followed and would have -brought her back, but I am old and could not find her. Once, when I was -young, there was no better trailer or mighty warrior among my people -than I, but----" - -"Yes, yes," exclaimed Waldo impatiently; "but Nadara! Where is she?" - -"I do not know," replied the old man. "She has gone, and I could not -find her. Well do I remember how, years ago, when the trail of an enemy -was faint or the signs of game hard to find, men would come to ask me -to help them, but now----" - -"Of course," interrupted Waldo; "but Nadara. Do you not even know in -what direction she has gone?" - -"No; but since Flatfoot has set forth upon her trail it should be easy -to track the two of them." - -"Flatfoot set out after Nadara!" cried, Waldo. "Why?" - -"For many moons he has craved her for his mate, as has Korth," -explained Nadara's father; "but I think that each feared the other, and -because of that fact Nadara was saved from both; but at last Korth came -upon us alone and away from the village, and then he grasped Nadara and -would have taken her away, for Flatfoot was not about to prevent. - -"You came then, and the rest you know. If I had been younger neither -Flatfoot nor Korth would have dared menace Nadara, for when I was a -young man I was very terrible and the record of my kills was a----" - -"How long since did Flatfoot set out after Nadara?" Waldo broke in. - -"But a few hours since," replied the old man. "It would be an easy -thing for me to overtake him by night had I the speed of my youth, for -I well remember----" - -"From where did Flatfoot start upon the trail?" cried the young man. -"Lead me to the place." - -"This way then, Thandar," said the other, starting off toward the -forest. "I will show you if you will save Nadara from Flatfoot. I love -her. She has been very kind and good to me. She is unlike the rest of -our people. - -"I should die happy if I knew that you have saved her from Flatfoot, -but I am an old man and may not live until Nadara returns. Ah, that -reminds me; there is that in my cave which belongs to Nadara, and were -I to die there would be none to protect it for her. - -"Will you wait for the moment that it will take me to run and fetch it, -that you may carry it to her, for I am sure that you will find her; -though I am not as sure that you will overcome Flatfoot if you meet -him. He is a very terrible man." - -Waldo hated to waste a minute of the precious time that was allowing -Flatfoot to win nearer and nearer Nadara; but if it were in a service -for the girl who had been so kind to him and for the happiness of her -old father he could not refuse, so he waited impatiently while the old -fellow tottered off toward the caves. - -Those who had come half-way to meet Waldo had hovered at a safe -distance while he had been speaking to Nadara's father, and when the -two turned toward the forest all had returned to their work in evident -relief; for the old man had told them that the stranger was the mighty -warrior who had killed the terrible Korth with his bare hands, nor had -the story lost anything in the telling. - -After what seemed hours to the waiting Waldo the old man returned with -a little package carefully wrapped in the skin of a small rodent, the -seams laboriously sewed in a manner of lacing with pieces of gut. - -"This is Nadara's," he said as they continued their way toward the -forest. "It contains many strange things of which I know not the -meaning or purpose. They all were taken from the body of her mother -when the woman died. You will give them to her?" - -"Yes," said Waldo. "I will give them to Nadara, or die in the trying of -it." - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE TRAIL'S END - - -Soon they came upon the trail of Flatfoot in the glade by the three -great trees; they had not searched for it sooner, for the old man knew -that it would start from that point upon its quest for the girl. - -The tracks circled the glade a dozen times in widening laps until at -last, at the point where Flatfoot must have picked up the spoor of -Nadara, they broke suddenly away into the underbrush. Once the way was -plain Waldo bid the old man be of good heart, for he would surely bring -his daughter back to him unharmed if the thing lay in the power of man. - -Then he hurried off upon the new-made trail that lay as plain and -readable before him as had the printed page of his former life; but -never had he bent with such keen interest to the reading of his -favorite author as he did to this absorbing drama written in the turned -leaves, the scattered twigs, and the soft mud of a primeval forest by -the feet of a savage man and a savage maid. - -Toward mid-afternoon Waldo became aware that he was much weaker from -the effects of his battle with Korth than he had supposed. He had lost -much blood from his wounds, and the exertion of following the trail at -a swift pace had reopened some of the worse ones, so that now, as he -ran, he was leaving a little trail of blood behind him. - -The discovery made him almost frantic, for it seemed to presage -failure. His condition would handicap him in the race after the two -along whose track he pursued so that it would be a miracle were he to -reach Flatfoot before the brute overtook Nadara. - -And if he did overtake him in time--what then? Would he be physically -able to cope with the brawny monster? He feared that he would not, but -that he kept doggedly to the grueling chase augured well for the new -manhood that had been so recently born within him. - -On and on he stumbled, until at dusk he slipped and fell exhausted to -the earth. Twice he struggled to his feet in an attempt to go on, but -he was forced to give in, lying where he was until morning. - -Slightly refreshed, he ate of the roots and fruit which abounded in the -forest, taking up the chase again, but this time more slowly. - -He was now convinced that the way led back along the same trail which -he had followed into the country, and when he reached the point at -which he had first met Korth on the previous day he cut across the -little space which intervened between the cave man's tracks and the -point at which he had stood before he went down over the divide into -the jungle toward the river and the ford. - -A moment later he was rewarded by the sight of Nadara's dainty -footprints as well as those of Flatfoot leading away along his old -trail. The act had saved him several miles of needless tracking. - -All that day he followed as rapidly as his weakened condition would -permit, but his best efforts seemed dismally snail-like. - -Along the way he bowled over a couple of large rodents, which he ate -raw, for he had long since learned the desirability of a meat diet for -one undergoing severe physical exertion, and had conquered his natural -aversion for the uncooked flesh. He even had come to relish it, though -often as he dined thus upon meat a broad grin illumined his countenance -at the thought of the horror with which his mother and his Boston -friends would view such a hideous performance. - -As he continued trailing the two he was at first surprised to discover -the fidelity with which Nadara had clung to his old trail, and because -of this fact he often was able to save miles at a time by taking -cross-cuts where, on his way in, he had made wide detours. - -But at last on the third day, when he attempted this at a place which -would have saved him fully ten miles, he was dismayed by the discovery -that he could not again pick up either Nadara's trail or that of the -cave man. Even his own old trail was entirely obliterated. - -It was this fact which caused him the greatest concern, for it meant -that if Nadara really had been following it she must now be wandering -rather aimlessly, possibly in an attempt to again locate it. In which -event her speed would be materially reduced, and the probability of her -capture by Flatfoot much enhanced. - -It was possible, too, that the beast already had overtaken her--this, -in fact, might be the true cause of the cessation of the pursuit along -the way which it had proceeded up to this point. - -The thought sent Waldo back along his former route, which he was able -to follow by recollection, though the spoor was seldom visible. - -He came upon no sign of those he sought that day, but the next morning -he found the point at which Nadara had lost his old trail upon a rocky -ridge. The girl evidently assumed that it would lead into the valley -below where she might pick it up again in the soft earth, and so her -footprints led down a shelving bluff, while plain above them showed the -huge imprints of Flatfoot. - -Up to this point at least he had not caught up with her. Waldo -breathed a sigh of relief at the discovery. The trail was at least two -days old, for Nadara and Flatfoot had traveled much more rapidly than -the wounded man who haunted their footsteps like a grim shadow. - -About noon Waldo came to a little stream at which both those who -preceded him had evidently stopped to drink--he could see where they -had knelt in the soft grass at the water's edge. - -As Waldo stopped to quench his own thirst his eyes rested for an -instant upon the farther bank, which at that point was little more than -ten feet from him. He saw that the opposite shore was less grassy, -and that it sloped down to the water, forming a muddy beach partially -submerged. - -But what riveted his attention were several deep imprints in the mud. - -He could not be certain, of course, at that distance, but he was sure -enough that he had recognized them to cause him to leap to his feet, -forgetful of his thirst, and plunge through the stream for a closer -inspection. - -As he bent to examine the spoor at close range he could scarce repress -a cry of exultation--they had been made by the hands and knees of -Nadara as she had stooped to drink at the very spot not twenty-four -hours before. - -She must have circled back toward the brook for some reason; but by -far the greatest cause for rejoicing was the fact that Nadara's trail -alone was there. Flatfoot had not yet come upon her, and Waldo now was -between them. - -The knowledge that he might yet be in time, and that he was gaining -sufficiently in strength to make it reasonably certain that he could -overhaul the girl eventually, filled Waldo with renewed vigor. He -hastened along Nadara's trail now with something of the energy that had -been his directly before his battle with Korth. - -His wounds had ceased bleeding, and for several days he had eaten well, -and by night slept soundly, for he had reasoned that only by conserving -his energy and fortifying himself in every way possible could he succor -the girl. - -That night he slept in a little thicket which had evidently harbored -Nadara the night before. - -The following day the way lay across a rolling country, cut by numerous -deep ravines and lofty divides. That the pace was telling on the girl -Waldo could read in the telltale spoor that revealed her lagging -footsteps. Upon each eminence the man halted to strain his eyes ahead -for a sight of her. - -About noon he discerned far ahead a shimmering line which he knew must -be the sea. Surely his long pursuit must end there. - -As he was about to plunge on again along Nadara's trail something drew -his eyes toward the rear, and there upon another hill-top a mile or two -behind he saw the stocky figure of a half-naked man--it was Flatfoot. - -The cave man must have seen Waldo at the same instant, for, with a -menacing wave of his huge fist, he increased his gait to a run, an -instant later disappearing into the ravine which lay at the bottom of -the hill upon which he had come into view. - -Waldo was undecided whether to wait for the encounter where he was or -hasten on in an effort to overtake Nadara, that she might not escape -him entirely. He knew that he stood a good chance of being killed in -the conflict, and he also knew that were he victorious it might easily -be at such a terrible price that he would be physically incapable of -continuing his search for the girl for many days. - -As he meditated his eyes wandered back and forth across the landscape -before him searching for Nadara. - -To his right lay, at a little distance, a level plain which stretched -to the foot of low-lying cliffs at the valley's southern rim, some -three or four miles distant In this direction his view was almost -unobstructed, but it was not in the direction of the girl's flight, so -that it was but by accident that Waldo's eyes swept casually across -the peaceful scene which would, at another time, have chained his -attention with its quiet and alluring beauty. - -It was as he swept a backward glance in the direction of Flatfoot -that his eye was arrested by the hint of something far out across the -valley, a little behind his own position. - -To the Waldo of a few months previous it would not have been visible, -but the new woodcraft of the man scented the abnormal in the vague -suggestion of movement out among the long-waving grasses of the plain. - -And now, with every sense alert and riveted upon the spot, he was quick -to perceive that it was an animal moving slowly toward the cliffs at -the upper end of the valley. Presently a little rise of ground, less -thickly grassed, brought the creature into full view for an instant; -but in that instant Waldo saw that the thing he watched was a woman. - -As he turned to hurry after her he saw Flatfoot top another hill a half -mile nearer than he had before been, and as the cave man came into view -he turned his eyes in the direction that Waldo had been looking. A -second later and he had abandoned the pursuit of Waldo and was running -rapidly toward the woman. - -Nadara had apparently circled back once more, this time from the sea, -and coming up the valley had passed Waldo and come opposite Flatfoot -before either of them had discovered her. The young man gave a little -cry of alarm as he realized that the cave man was nearer to the girl -than he--by a good half mile, he judged, and so he put every ounce of -his speed into the wild dash he made down the hill into a gully which -led out upon the valley. - -On and on he raced unable to see either Flatfoot or Nadara; hoping, -ever hoping, that he would be the first to win to her side; for Nadara -had told him of the atrocities that such a creature as Flatfoot might -perpetrate upon a woman rather than permit her to escape him or fall -into the hands of another. - -Nadara, being up wind, caught neither the scent nor noise of the two -who were racing madly toward her. The first knowledge she had that -she was not alone in the valley was the sight of Flatfoot as he broke -suddenly through a clump of tall grass not fifty paces from her. - -She gave a little scream and started to run; but she was very tired -from the days of unremitting flight which had so sorely taxed her -endurance, and thus it was no wonder that she slipped and fell before -she had taken a dozen steps. - -Scarcely had she gained her feet when Flatfoot was upon her, one hand -grasping her by the arm. - -"Come with me in peace or I will kill you!" he cried. - -"Kill me, then," retorted the despairing girl, "for I shall never come -with you; first will I kill myself." - -Flatfoot did not wish to kill her, nor did he wish her to escape, as -she would be very likely to do should he be interrupted by the fellow -who must even now be quite close to them. - -Possibly if he could keep the girl quiet they might hide in the grass -until their pursuer had gone by, and so Flatfoot, acting upon the idea, -clapped a rough hand over Nadara's mouth and dragged her back along the -trail he had just made. - -The girl struggled--striking and clawing at the hairy brute that pulled -her along at his side--but she was as helpless in his clutches as if -she had been a day-old babe. - -She did not know that help was so close at hand, or she would have -found the means to free her mouth and cry out once at least. As it was, -she wondered that Flatfoot should attempt to silence her in this way if -there were none to hear her screams. - -For days she had known that the cave man was on her trail, for once in -doubling back upon herself she had passed but a short distance from a -ridge she had traversed the preceding day, and had seen the man's squat -figure and recognized his awkward, shuffling trot. - -It was this knowledge that had turned her away from the old village -toward which she had been traveling since she lost Thandar's trail, and -sent her in search of a new country in which she might lose herself -from Flatfoot. - -As the man dragged her roughly on through the grass Nadara racked her -brain for some means of escape, or a way to end her misery before the -beast could have his way with her. But there came no ray of hope to her -poor, unhappy heart. - -If Thandar were but there! He would save her, even if it were but to -desert her the next instant. - -But did she wish to be saved again by him? Now that she pondered the -idea she was quite sure that she would rather die than see him again, -for had he not twice run away from her? - -In her misery she put this interpretation upon the remarkable -disappearance of Thandar after his battle with Korth--he had waited -until she was out of sight and then he had risen and fled for fear she -might return and discover him. She wondered why he should dislike her -so much. - -She was quite sure that she had been very good to him, and had tried -not to annoy him while they were together. Maybe he looked down upon -her, for surely he was of a superior race; of that she was quite -positive. - -And so Nadara was very miserable and unhappy and hopeless as the -brutal Flatfoot dragged her far into the tall jungle-grass. Presently -she noticed that the cave man repeatedly cast glances toward the rear. - -What could he expect from that direction, or from any direction -whatever, so far as that was concerned? Were they not days and days -from their own people, in a land where there seemed no men at all? - -Flatfoot heard no sign of pursuit. He was growing more confident. The -stranger had lost their trail. The cave man moved less rapidly, and as -he went he looked now for a burrow into which he might crawl with the -maiden. Then there would be no further danger whatever. - -Tomorrow Flatfoot would come out and find the fellow and kill him, but -now he had pleasanter work in view, nor did he wish to be disturbed. - -And at that very moment he caught a stealthy movement in the grasses a -few yards to his right. Waldo had come upon the spot at which Flatfoot -had overtaken Nadara but a few moments after the brute had dragged her -away, and on the instant had sought a higher piece of ground from which -he could overlook the tall grass. - -Nor had he been long in finding a spot that, coupled with his six feet -two, brought his eyes above the level of the surrounding jungle. - -There he watched for a little until he discerned a movement of the -grasstops at a little distance from him. After that it was but a matter -of trailing. - -When Flatfoot saw what he took to be his enemy he threw Nadara across -his shoulder and started on a run in the opposite direction--at right -angles to the way he had been going. - -The ruse proved good, for when Waldo came to the point at which he had -figured his path would cross the cave man's he found no sign of the -latter, and in searching about to locate the trail lost many minutes of -valuable time. But at last he came upon that which he sought, and with -redoubled speed set out at a rapid run through the tall grasses. - -He had proceeded but a short distance when the trail broke suddenly -into the open, close by the base of the cliffs that he had seen from -the hill that had given him his fleeting glimpse of Nadara. - -Ahead of him he saw the two he sought--Nadara across the burly -shoulders of Flatfoot--and the cave man was making for the caves that -dotted the face of the cliff. Were he to reach these he might defend -one of them against a single antagonist indefinitely. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -CAPTURE - - -Almost at the moment that Waldo emerged from the jungle Nadara saw him, -and with a lunge threw herself from Flatfoot's shoulder. - -The man turned with a fierce growl of rage, and his eyes fell upon the -giant rushing toward them. - -The girl was now struggling madly to escape or delay her captor. There -could be but one outcome, as Flatfoot knew. He must fight now, but the -girl should never escape him. - -Raising the huge fist that had killed many a full-grown man with a -single blow he aimed a wicked one at the side of Nadara's head. - -The first one she dodged, and as the arm went up to strike again, -Thandar threw his spear-arm far back and with a mighty forward surge -drove his light weapon across the hundred feet that separated him from -Flatfoot. - -It was an awful risk--there was not a foot to spare between the hairy -breast that was his target and the beautiful head of the fair captive. -Should either move between the time the spear left his hand and the -instant that it found its mark it might pierce the one it had been sped -to save. - -Flatfoot's fist was crashing down toward that lovely face at the -instant that the spear found him; but he had moved--just enough to -place his arm before his breast--so that it was the falling arm that -received the weapon instead of the heart that it had been intended for. - -But it served its purpose. With a howl of pain and rage, Flatfoot, -forgetful of the girl in the madness of his anger, dropped her and -sprang toward Waldo. - -The latter had drawn his sword--naught but a sharpened stick of hard -wood--and stood waiting to receive his foe. It was his first attempt to -put either sword or shield into practical use, and he was anxious to -discover their value. - -As Flatfoot came toward his antagonist he pulled the spear from the -muscles of his arm, and, stooping, gathered up one of the many rocks -that lay scattered about at the base of the cliff. - -The cave man was roaring like a mad bull; hate and murder shot from his -close-set eyes; his upper lip curled back, showing his fighting fangs, -and a light froth flecked his bristling beard. - -Waldo was sure there had never existed a more fearsome creature, and he -marveled that he was not afraid. The very thought of what the effect -of this terrible monster's mad charge would have been upon him a short -while ago brought a smile to his lips. - -At sight of that taunting smile Flatfoot hurled the rock full at the -maddening face. With a quick movement of his left arm Waldo caught the -missile on his buckler, from whence it dropped harmlessly to the ground. - -Flatfoot did not throw again, and an instant later he was upon the -Bostonian--the pride and hope of the cultured and aristocratic Back Bay -Smith-Joneses. - -When he reached for the agile, blond giant he found a thin sheet of -hide-covered twigs in his way, and when he tried to tear down this -barrier the point of a sharpened stick was thrust into his abdomen. - -This was no way to fight! - -Flatfoot was scandalized. He jumped back a few feet and glared at -Waldo. Then he lowered his head and came at him once more with the very -evident intention of rushing him off his feet by the very weight and -impetuosity of his charge. - -This time the sharp stick slipped quickly over the top of the -hide-covered atrocity and pierced Flatfoot's neck just where it joined -his thick skull. - -Burying a foot of its point beneath the muscles of the shoulder, it -brought a scream of pain and rage from the hairy beast. - -Before Waldo could withdraw his weapon from the tough sinews, Flatfoot -had straightened up with a sudden jerk that snapped the sword short, -leaving but a short stub in his antagonist's hand. - -Nadara had been watching the battle breathlessly, ready to flee should -it turn against her champion, yet at the same time searching for an -opportunity to aid him. - -Like Flatfoot, the girl had never before seen spear or sword or shield -in use, and while she marveled at the advantage which they gave -Thandar, she became dubious as to the result of the encounter when she -saw the sword broken, for the spear had been snapped into kindling-wood -by Flatfoot when he tore it from his arm. - -But Waldo still had his cudgel, fastened by a thong to his sword-belt, -and as the cave man rushed upon him again he swung a mighty blow to the -low, brutal forehead. - -Momentarily stunned, the fellow reeled backward for a step, and again -Waldo wielded his new weapon. - -Flatfoot trembled, his knees smote together, he staggered drunkenly, -and then, when Waldo looked to see him go down, the brute power that -was in him, responding to nature's first law, sent him hurtling at the -Bostonian's throat in the snarling, blind rage of the death-smitten -beast. - -Catapulted by all the enormous strength of his mighty muscles, the -squat, bear-like animal bore Waldo to earth, and at the same instant -each found the other's throat with sinewy, viselike fingers. - -They lay very still now, choking with firm, relentless clutch. Every -ounce of muscle was needed, every grain of endurance. - -Waldo was suffering agonies after a moment of that awful death-grip. He -could feel his gasping, pain-racked lungs struggling for air. - -He tried to wriggle free from those horrible fingers, but not once did -he loosen his own hold upon the throat of Flatfoot; instead he tried to -close a little tighter each second that he felt his own life ebbing. He -became weaker and weaker. The pain was unendurable now. - -A haze obscured his vision--everything became black--his brain was -whizzing about at frightful velocity within the awful darkness of his -skull. - -The girl was bending close above them now, for both were struggling -less violently. She had been minded to come to Thandar's rescue when -suddenly she recalled his desertion of her, and all the wild hatred of -the primitive mind surged through her. - -Let him die, she thought. He had spurned her, cast her off; he looked -down upon her. - -Well, let him take care of himself, then, and she turned deliberately -away to leave the two men to decide the outcome of their own battle, -and started back upon the trail in the direction of her tribe's -village. - -But she had taken scarce a score of steps when something flamed up in -her heart that withered the last remnant of her malice toward Thandar. -As she turned back again toward the combatants she attempted to justify -this new weakness by the thought that it was only fair that she should -give the yellow one aid in return for the aid that he had rendered her; -that done, she could go on her way with a clear conscience. - -She wished never to see him again, but she could not have his blood -upon her hands. At that thought she gave a little cry and ran to where -the men lay. - -Both were almost quiet now; their struggles had nearly ceased. Just -as she reached them Flatfoot relaxed, his hands slipped from Waldo's -throat and he lay entirely motionless. - -Then the fair giant struggled convulsively once or twice; he gasped, -his eyes rolled up and set, and with a sudden twitching of his muscles -he stiffened rigidly and was very still. - -Nadara gave one horrified look at the ghastly face of her champion, and -fled into the jungle. - -She stumbled on for a quarter of a mile as fast as her tired limbs -would carry her through the entangling grasses, and then she came to -that which she sought--a little stream, winding slowly through the -valley down toward the ocean. - -Dropping to her knees beside it she filled her mouth with the -refreshing water. In an instant she was up again and off in the -direction from which she had just come. - -Throwing herself at Waldo's side, she wet his face with the water from -her mouth. She chafed his hands, shook him, blew upon his face when -the water was exhausted, and then, tears streaming from her eyes, she -threw herself upon him, covering his face with kisses, and moaning -inarticulate words of love and endearment that were half stifled by -anguished sobs of grief. - -Suddenly her lamentations ceased as quickly as they had begun. She -raised her head from where it had been buried beside the man's and -looked intently into his face. - -Then she placed her ear upon his breast; with a delighted cry she -resumed chafing his hands, for she had heard the beating of his heart. - -Presently Waldo gasped, and for a moment suffered the agonies of -returning respiration. When he opened his eyes in consciousness he saw -Nadara bending over him--a severely disinterested expression upon her -beautiful face. He turned his head to one side; there lay Flatfoot -quite dead. - -It was several moments before he could speak. Then he rose, very -unsteadily, to his feet. - -"Nadara," he said, "Korth lies dead beside the three great trees in the -glade that is near the village that was Flatfoot's. Here is the dead -body of Flatfoot, and about my loins hangs the pelt of Nagoola, taken -in fair fight. - -"I have done all that you desired of me; I have tried to repay you for -your kindness to me when I was a stranger in your land. I do not know -why you should have tried to kill me while I battled with Korth. - -"No more do I know why you have allowed me to live today when it would -have been so easy to have despatched me as I lay unconscious here -beside Flatfoot. - -"I read dislike upon your face, and I am sorry, for I would have parted -with you in friendship, so that when the time comes that I return to -my own land I should be able to carry away with me only the pleasant -memory of it. When we have rested and are refreshed I shall take you -back to your father." - -All that had been surging to the girl's lips of love and gratitude -from a heart that was filled with both was congealed by the cold tone -which marked this dispassionate recital of the discharge of a moral -obligation. - -Possibly Waldo's tone was colored by the vivid memory of the look of -hate that he had seen in the girl's eyes at the instant that he went -down before her missile as he battled with Korth, for it was not even -tinged with friendliness. - -And so the girl's manner was equally distant when she replied; in fact, -it was even colder, for it was fraught with bitterness. - -"Thandar owed nothing to Nadara," she said, "and though it matters not -at all, it is only fair to say that the stone that struck you as you -battled in the glade was intended for Korth." - -Waldo's face brightened. A load that he had not realized lay there was -lifted from his heart. - -"You did not want to hurt me, then?" he cried. - -"Why should I want to hurt you?" returned the girl. - -"I thought"--and here Waldo spoiled the fair start they had made at a -reconciliation--"I thought," he said, "that you were angry because I -ran away from you after we had come to your village that time, months -ago." - -Nadara's head went high and she laughed aloud. - -"I angry? I was surprised that you did not come to the village, but -after an hour I had forgotten the matter--it was with difficulty that -I recognized you when I next saw you, so utterly had the occurrence -departed from my thoughts." - -Waldo wondered why he should feel such humiliation at this frank -avowal. Of what moment to him was this girl's estimation of him? Why -did he feel a flush suffuse his face at the knowledge that he was of so -little moment to her that she had entirely forgotten him within a few -months? - -Waldo was mortified and angry. He changed the subject brusquely; -hereafter he should eschew personalities. - -"Let us find a cave at a distance from the dead man," he said, "and -there we may rest until you are ready to attempt the return journey." - -"I am ready now," replied Nadara; "nor do I need or desire your -company. I can return alone, as I came." - -"No," remonstrated Waldo doggedly; "I shall go with you whether you -wish it or not. I shall see you safely with your father. I promised -him." - -Nadara had been delighted with the first clause of his reply, but when -it became evident that his only desire to return with her was to fulfil -a promise made her father she became furious, though she was careful -not to let him see it. - -"Very well," she replied; "you may come if you wish, though it is -neither necessary nor as I would have it. I prefer being alone." - -"I shall not force my company upon you," said Waldo haughtily. "I can -follow a few paces behind you." - -There was an injured air in his last words which did not escape the -girl. She wondered if he really deserved the harsh attitude she had -maintained. - -They found a cave a half-mile down the valley, where they took up their -quarters against the time that Waldo should be rested, for the girl -insisted that she was fully able to commence the return journey at once. - -The man knew better, and so he let her have it that the delay was on -his account rather than hers, for he doubted her ability to cope with -the hardships of the long journey without an interval for recuperation. - -The next morning found them both rested and in better spirits, so that -there was no return to their acrimonious encounter of the previous day. - -As they walked out toward the forest that lay down the valley in the -direction of the ocean Waldo dropped a few paces behind the girl in -polite deference to her expressed wish of the day before. - -As he walked he watched the graceful movements of her lithe figure and -the lines of her clear-cut profile as she turned her head this way and -that in search of food. - -How beautiful she was! It was incredible that this wild cave girl -should have greater beauty and a more regal carriage than the queens -and beauties of civilization, and yet Waldo was forced to admit that -he had never even dreamed, much less seen, such absolute physical -perfection. - -He wished that he could say as much for her disposition; that was -atrocious. It was unbelievable that such a wondrous exterior could -harbor so much ingratitude and coldness. - -Presently they came among the trees where the ripe fruit hung, and as -Waldo climbed nimbly among the branches and tossed the most luscious -down to her, the girl, in her turn, watched him. - -She noted more closely the marvelous change that a few months had -wrought. She had thought him wonderful before, but now he was a very -god. She did not think just this, for she knew nothing of gods--other -than the demons that were supposed to enter the bodies of the sick; but -she thought of him as some superior creature, and then she ceased to -feel aggrieved that he should care so little for her. - -He was not a man--he was something more than a man, and she had been -very wicked to have treated him so shamefully. She would make amends. - -So she tried to be more kind thereafter, though there still remained a -trace of aloofness. - -Together they sat upon the turf and ate their fruit, and as they ate -they talked a little, for it is difficult for two young people to -harbor animosity for a great time, especially when there is none other -for them to talk to. - -"When you have returned with me to my father, Thandar," the girl asked, -"where shall you go then?" - -"I shall return to the sea where I may watch for a ship to take me back -to my own land," he replied. - -"I have seen but one ship in all my life," said Nadara, "and that was -years ago. It was when we lived close by the big water that it stopped -a long way from shore and sent many smaller boats to land. - -"There were many men in the boats, and when they landed, my father and -mother took me far into the forest away from the sea, and there we -stayed for many days until the strangers had sailed. They wandered up -and down the coast and came back into the forests and the jungles for a -few miles. - -"My mother said that they were searching for me, and that if they found -me they would take me away. I was very much frightened." - -At the mention of her mother Waldo recalled the little parcel that -Nadara's father had given into his custody for the girl. He unfastened -it from the thong that circled his waist, where it had hung beneath his -panther-skin garment. - -"Here is something your father asked me to bring you," he said, -handing the package to Nadara. - -The girl took it and examined it as though it was entirely unfamiliar. - -"What is it?" she asked. - -"Your father did not say, other than that it contained articles that -your mother wore when she died," he said tenderly, for a great pity had -welled up in his heart for this poor, motherless girl. - -"That my mother wore!" Nadara repeated, her brows contracted in a -puzzled frown. "When my mother died she wore nothing but a single -garment of many small skins--very old and worn--and that was buried -with her. I do not understand." - -She made no effort to open the package, but sat gazing far off toward -the ocean which was just visible through the trees, entirely absorbed -in the reverie which Waldo's words had engendered. - -"Could the thing that the old woman told me have been true?" the girl -mused half aloud. "Could it have been because it was true that my -mother fell upon her with tooth and nail until she had nearly killed -her? I wonder if----" - -But here she stopped, her eyes riveted in sudden fear and hopelessness -upon a thing that she had just espied in the distance. - -A great lump rose in her throat, tears came to her eyes, and with them -the full measure of realization of what that thing beyond the forest -meant to her. - -She turned her eyes toward the man. He was sitting with bowed head, -playing idly with a large beetle that he had penned within a tiny -palisade of small twigs. - -At length he made an opening in the barrier. - -"Go your way, poor thing," he murmured. "Heaven knows I realize too -well the horrors of captivity to keep any other creature from its -fellows and its home." - -A choking sigh that was almost a sob racked the girl. At the sound -Waldo looked up to see her pathetic, unhappy eyes upon him. Of a sudden -there enveloped him a great desire to take her in his arms and comfort -her. He knew not why she was unhappy, but her sorrow cried aloud to -him--as he thought simply to the protective instinct that was merely an -attribute of his sex. - -Nadara raised her hand slowly and pointed through the trees. It was as -though she had torn her heart from her breast, so harrowing she felt -the consequences of her act would be, but it was for his sake--for the -sake of the man she loved. - -As Waldo's eyes followed the direction of her pointing finger he came -suddenly to his feet with a wild cry of joy; through the trees, out -upon the shimmering surface of the placid sea, there lay a graceful, -white yacht. - -"Thank God!" cried the man fervently, and sinking to his knees he -raised his hands aloft toward the author of joy and sorrow. - -A moment later he sprang to his feet. - -"Home! Nadara. Home!" he cried. "Can't you realize it? I am going home. -I am saved! Oh, Nadara, child, can't you realize what it means to me? -Home! Home! Home!" - -He had been looking toward the yacht as he spoke, but now he turned -toward the girl. She was crouching upon the ground, her face in her -hands, her slender figure shaken by convulsive tears. - -He came toward her and, kneeling, laid his hand upon her shoulder. - -"Nadara!" he said gently. "Why do you cry, child? What is the matter?" -But she only shook her head, moaning. - -He raised her to her feet, and as he supported her his arm circled her -shoulders. - -"Tell me, Nadara, why you are unhappy?" he urged. - -But still she could not speak for sobbing, and only buried her face -upon his breast. - -He was holding her very close now, and with the pressure of her body -against his a fire that, unknown, had been smoldering in his heart -for months burst into sudden flame, and in the heat of it there were -consumed the mists that had been before the eyes of his heart all that -time. - -"Nadara," he asked in a very low voice, "is it because I am going that -you cry?" - -But at that she pulled away from him, and through her tears her eyes -blazed. - -"No!" she cried. "I shall be glad when you have gone. I wish that -you had never come. I--I--hate you!" She turned and fled back up the -valley, forgetful of the little packet Thandar had brought her, which -lay forgotten upon the ground where she had dropped it. - -Without so much as a backward glance toward the yacht Waldo was off in -pursuit of her; but Nadara was as fleet as a hare, so that it was a -much winded Waldo who finally overhauled her half-way up the face of a -cliff two miles from the ocean. - -"Go away!" cried the girl. "Go back with your own kind, to your own -home!" - -Waldo did not answer. - -Waldo was no more. - -It was Thandar, the cave man, who took Nadara in his strong arms and -crushed her to him. - -"My girl!" he cried. "My girl! I love you! And because I am a fool I -did not learn until it was almost too late." - -He did not ask if she loved him, for he was Thandar, the cave man. Nor, -a moment later, did he need to ask, since her strong, brown arms crept -up about his neck and drew his lips down to hers. - -It was quite half an hour later before either thought of the yacht -again. From where they stood upon the cliff's face they could see the -ocean and the beach. - -Several boats were drawn up and a number of men were coming toward the -forest. Presently they would discover the two upon the cliff. - -"We shall go back together now," said Thandar. - -"I am afraid," replied Nadara. - -For a time the man stood gazing at the dainty yacht, and far beyond -it into the civilization which it represented, and he saw there suave -men and sneering women, and among them was a slender brown beauty who -shrank from the cruel glances of the women--and Waldo writhed at this -and at the greedy eyes of the suave men as they appraised the girl--and -he, too, was afraid. - -"Come," he said, taking Nadara by the hand, "let us hurry back into the -hills before they discover us." - -Just as the men from the yacht, which Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones had -despatched to the South Seas in search of his missing son, emerged from -the forest into a view of the valley and the cliffs a cave man and his -mate clambered over the brow of the latter and disappeared toward the -hills beyond. - -It was nearly dusk as the searchers from the yacht were returning -toward the beach. - -They had found no sign of human habitation in the little valley, nor -anywhere along the coast that they had so carefully explored. - -The commander of the expedition, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, a retired -naval officer, was in advance. - -They had penetrated the woods nearly to the beach when his foot struck -against a package wrapped in the skin of a small rodent. - -He stooped and picked it up. - -"Here is the first evidence that another human being than ourselves has -ever set foot upon this island," he said as he cut the gut lacing with -his pocket knife. - -Within the first wrapping he found a chamois-bag such as women -sometimes use to carry jewels about their persons. - -From this he emptied into his palm a dozen priceless rings, a few -old-fashioned brooches, bracelets, and lockets. - -In one of the latter he discovered the ivory miniature of a woman--a -very beautiful woman. - -In the other side of the locket was engraved: "To Eugénie Marie Céleste -de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, from Henri, her husband. 17th January, -18--" - -"Gad!" cried the old captain. "Now what do you make of that? - -"The Count and Countess of Crecy were returning to Paris from their -honeymoon trip round the world in the steam yacht _Dolphin_ nearly -twenty years ago, and after they touched at Australia were never heard -of again. - -"What tragedy, what mystery, what romance might not these sparkling -gems disclose had they but tongues!" - - - - -THE CAVE GIRL - - - - -PART II - - -NOTE: _Part II of this book appeared serially under the title_ "The -Cave Man" - - - - -CHAPTER I - -KING BIG FIST - - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, scion of the aristocratic house of the John -Alden Smith-Joneses of Boston, clambered up the rocky face of the -precipitous cliff with the agility of a monkey. - -His right hand clasped the slim brown fingers of his half-naked mate, -assisting her over the more dangerous or difficult stretches. - -At the summit the two turned their faces back toward the sea. Beyond -the gently waving forest trees stretched the broad expanse of -shimmering ocean. In the foreground, upon the bosom of a tiny harbor, -lay a graceful yacht--a beautiful toy it looked from the distance of -the cliff top. - -For the first time the man obtained an unobstructed view of the craft. -Before, when they first had discovered it, the boles of the forest -trees had revealed it but in part. - -Now he saw it fully from stem to stern with all its well-known, -graceful lines standing out distinctly against the deep blue of the -water. - -The shock of recognition brought an involuntary exclamation from his -lips. The girl looked quickly up into his face. - -"What is it, Thandar?" she asked. "What do you see?" - -"The yacht!" he whispered. "It is the _Priscilla_--my father's. He is -searching for me." - -"And you wish to go?" - -For some time he did not speak--only stood there gazing at the distant -yacht. And the young girl at his side remained quite motionless and -silent, too, looking up at the man's profile, watching the expression -upon his face with a look of dumb misery upon her own. - -Quickly through the man's mind was running the gamut of his past. He -recalled his careful and tender upbringing--the time, the money, the -fond pride that had been expended upon his education. He thought of the -result--the narrow-minded, weakling egoist; the pusillanimous coward -that had been washed from the deck of a passing steamer upon the sandy -beach of this savage, forgotten shore. - -And yet it had been love, solicitous and tender, that had prompted his -parents to their misguided efforts. He was their only son. They were -doubtless grieving for him. They were no longer young, and in their -declining years it appeared to him a pathetic thing that they should be -robbed of the happiness which he might bring them by returning to the -old life. - -But could he ever return to the bookish existence that once had seemed -so pleasant? - -Had not this brief year into which had been crowded so much of wild, -primitive life made impossible a return to the narrow, self-centered -existence? Had it not taught him that there was infinitely more in life -than ever had been written into the dry and musty pages of books? - -It had taught him to want life at first hand--not through the proxy of -the printed page. It and--Nadara. He glanced toward the girl. - -Could he give her up? No! A thousand times, no! - -He read in her face the fear that lurked in her heart. No, he could -not give her up. He owed to her all that he possessed of which he was -most proud--his mighty physique, his new found courage, his woodcraft, -his ability to cope, primitively, with the primitive world, her savage -world which he had learned to love. - -No, he could not give her up; but--what? His gaze lingered upon her -sweet face. Slowly there sank into his understanding something of the -reason for his love of this wild, half-savage cave girl other than the -primitive passion of the sexes. - -He saw now not only the physical beauty of her face and figure, but -the sweet, pure innocence of her girlishness, and, most of all, the -wondrous tenderness of her love of him that was mirrored in her eyes. - -To remain and take her as his mate after the manner and customs of her -own people would reflect no shame upon himself or her; but was she not -deserving of the highest honor that it lay within his power to offer at -the altar of her love? - -She--his wonderful Nadara--must become his through the most solemn and -dignified ceremony that civilized man had devised. What the young woman -of his past life demanded was none too good for her. - -Again the girl voiced her question. - -"You wish to go?" - -"Yes, Nadara," he replied, "I must go back to my own people--and you -must go with me." - -Her face lighted with pleasure and happiness as she heard his last -words; but the expression was quickly followed by one of doubt and fear. - -"I am afraid," she said; "but if you wish it I will go." - -"You need not fear, Nadara. None will harm you by word or deed while -Thandar is with you. Come, let us return to the sea and the yacht -before she sails." - -Hand in hand they retraced their steps down the steep cliff, across the -little valley toward the forest and the sea. - -Nadara walked very close to Thandar, her hand snuggled in his and her -shoulder pressed tightly against his side, for she was afraid of the -new life among the strange creatures of civilization. - -At the far side of the valley, just before one enters the forest, -there grows a thick jungle of bamboo--really but a narrow strip, not -more than a hundred feet through at its greatest width; but so dense -as to quite shut out from view any creature even a few feet within its -narrow, gloomy avenues. - -Into this the two plunged, Thandar in the lead, Nadara close behind -him, stepping exactly in his footprints--an involuntary concession to -training, for there was no need here either of deceiving a pursuer, -or taking advantage of easier going. The trail was well-marked and -smooth-beaten by many a padded paw. - -It wound erratically, following the line of least resistance--it -forked, and there were other trails which entered it from time to time, -or crossed it. The hundred feet it traversed seemed much more when -measured by the trail. - -The two had come almost to the forest side of the jungle when a sharp -turn in the path brought Thandar face to face with a huge, bear-like -man. - -The fellow wore a g-string of soft hide, and over one shoulder dangled -an old and filthy leopard skin--otherwise, he was naked. His thick, -coarse hair was matted low over his forehead. The balance of his face -was covered by a bushy red beard. - -At sight of Thandar his close set, little eyes burned with sudden -rage and cunning. From his thick lips burst a savage yell--it was the -preliminary challenge. - -Ordinarily a certain amount of vituperation and coarse insults must -pass between strangers meeting upon this inhospitable isle before they -fly at one another's throat. - -"I am Thurg," bellowed the brute. "I can kill you," and then followed a -volley of vulgar allusions to Thandar's possible origin, and the origin -of his ancestors. - -"The bad men," whispered Nadara. - -With her words there swept into the man's memory the scene upon the -face of the cliff that night a year before when, even in the throes of -cowardly terror, he had turned to do battle with a huge cave man that -the fellow might not prevent the escape of Nadara. - -He glanced at the right forearm of the creature who faced him. A smile -touched Thandar's lips--the arm was crooked as from the knitting of a -broken bone, poorly set. - -"You would kill Thandar--again?" he asked tauntingly, pointing toward -the deformed member. - -Then came recognition to the red-rimmed eyes of Thurg, as, with -another ferocious bellow, he launched himself toward the author of his -old hurt. - -Thandar met the charge with his short stick of pointed hard wood--his -"sword" he called it. It entered the fleshy part of Thurg's breast, -calling forth a howl of pain and a trickling stream of crimson. - -Thurg retreated. This was no way to fight. He was scandalized. - -For several minutes he stood glaring at his foe, screaming hideous -threats and insults at him. Then once more he charged. - -Again the painful point entered his body, but this time he pressed in -clutching madly at the goad and for a hold upon Thandar's body. - -The latter held Thurg at arm's length, prodding him with the -fire-hardened point of his wooden sword. - -The cave man's little brain wondered at the skill and prowess of this -stranger who had struck him a single blow with a cudgel many moons -before and then run like a rabbit to escape his wrath. - -Why was it that he did not run now? What strange change had taken place -in him? He had expected an easy victim when he finally had recognized -his foe; but instead he had met with brawn and ferocity equal to his -own and with a strange weapon, the like of which he never before had -seen. - -Thandar was puncturing him rapidly now, and Thurg was screaming in rage -and suffering. Presently he could endure it no longer. With a sudden -wrench he tore himself loose and ran, bellowing, through the jungle. - -Thandar did not pursue. It was enough that he had rid himself of his -enemy. He turned toward Nadara, smiling. - -"It will seem very tame in Boston," he said; but though she gave him -an answering smile, she did not understand, for to her Boston was but -another land of primeval forests, and dense jungles; of hairy, battling -men, and fierce beasts. - -At the edge of the forest they came again upon Thurg, but this time he -was surrounded by a score of his burly tribesmen. Thandar knew better -than to pit himself against so many. - -Thurg came rushing down upon them, his fellows at his heels. In loud -tones he screamed anew his challenge, and the beasts behind him took it -up until the forest echoed to their hideous bellowing. - -He had seen Nadara as he had battled with Thandar, and recognized her -as the girl he had desired a year before--the girl whom this stranger -had robbed him of. - -Now he was determined to wreak vengeance on the man and at the same -time recapture the girl. - -Thandar and Nadara turned back into the jungle where but a single enemy -could attack them at a time in the narrow trails. Here they managed to -elude pursuit for several hours, coming again into the forest nearly a -mile below the beach where the _Priscilla_ had lain at anchor. - -Thurg and his fellows had apparently given up the chase--they had -neither seen nor heard aught of them for some time. Now the two -hastened back through the wood to reach a point on the shore opposite -the yacht. - -At last they came in sight of the harbor. Thandar halted. A look of -horror and disappointment supplanted the expression of pleasurable -anticipation that had lighted his countenance--the yacht was not there. - -A mile out they discerned her, steaming rapidly north. - -Thandar ran to the beach. He tore the black panther's hide from his -shoulders, waving it frantically above his head, the while he shouted -in futile endeavor to attract attention from the dwindling craft. - -Then, quite suddenly, he collapsed upon the beach, burying his face in -his hands. - -Presently Nadara crept close to his side. Her soft arms encircled his -shoulders as she drew his cheek close to hers in an attempt to comfort -him. - -"Is it so terrible," she asked, "to be left here alone with your -Nadara?" - -"It is not that," he answered. "If you were mine I should not care so -much, but you cannot be mine until we have reached civilization and -you have been made mine in accordance with the laws and customs of -civilized men. And now who knows when another ship may come--if ever -another will come?" - -"But I am yours, Thandar," insisted the girl. "You are my man--you -have told me that you love me, and I have replied that I would be your -mate--who can give us to each other better than we can give ourselves?" - -He tried, as best he could, to explain to her the marriage customs and -ceremonies of his own world, but she found it difficult to understand -how it might be that a stranger whom neither might possibly ever have -seen before could make it right for her to love her Thandar, or that it -should be wrong for her to love him without the stranger's permission. - -To Thandar the future looked most black and hopeless. With his sudden -determination to take Nadara back to his own people he had been -overwhelmed with a mad yearning for home. - -He realized that his past apathy to the idea of returning to Boston had -been due solely to recollection of Boston as he had known it--Boston -without Nadara; but now that she was to have gone back with him Boston -seemed the most desirable spot in the world. - -As he sat pondering the unfortunate happenings that had so delayed them -that the yacht had sailed before they reached the shore, he also cast -about for some plan to mitigate their disappointment. - -To live forever upon this savage island did not seem such an appalling -thing as it had a year before--but then he had not realized his love -for the wild young creature at his side. Ah, if she could but be made -his wife then his exile here would be a happy rather than a doleful lot. - -What if he had been born here too? With the thought came a new idea -that seemed to offer an avenue from his dilemma. Had he, too, been -native born how would he have wed Nadara? - -Why through the ceremony of their own people, of course. And if men and -women were thus wed here, living together in faithfulness throughout -their lives, what more sacred a union could civilization offer? - -He sprang to his feet. - -"Come, Nadara!" he cried. "We shall return to your people, and there -you shall become my wife." - -Nadara was puzzled, but she made no comment; content simply to leave -the future to her lord and master; to do whatever would bring Thandar -the greatest happiness. - -The return to the dwellings of Nadara's people occupied three -never-to-be-forgotten days. - -How different this journey by comparison with that of a year since, -when the cave girl had been leading the terror-stricken Waldo Emerson -in flight from the bad men toward, to him, an equally horrible fate at -the hands of Korth and Flatfoot! - -Then the forest glades echoed to the pads of fierce beasts and the -stealthy passage of naked, human horrors. No twig snapped that did not -portend instant and terrifying death. - -Now Korth and Flatfoot were dead at the hands of the metamorphosed -Waldo. The racking cough was gone. He had encountered the bad men and -others like them and come away with honors. Even Nagoola, the sleek, -black devil-cat of the hideous nights, no longer sent the slightest -tremor through the rehabilitated nerves. - -Did not Thandar wear Nagoola's pelt about his shoulder and loins--a -pelt that he had taken in hand to hand encounter with the dread beast? - -Slowly they walked beneath the shade of giant trees, beside pleasant -streams, or, again, across open valleys where the grass grew knee high -and countless, perfumed wild flowers opened a pathway before their -naked feet. - -At night they slept where night found them. Sometimes in the deserted -lair of a wild beast, or again perched among the branches of a -spreading tree where parallel branches permitted the construction of -rude platforms. - -And Thandar was always most solicitous to see that Nadara's couch was -of the softest grasses and that his own lay at a little distance from -hers and in a position where he might best protect her from prowling -beasts. - -Again was Nadara puzzled, but still she made no comment. - -Finally they came to her village. - -Several of the younger men came forth to meet them; but when they saw -that the man was he who had slain Korth they bridled their truculence, -all but one, Big Fist, who had assumed the role of king since Flatfoot -had left. - -"I can kill you," he announced by way of greeting, "for I am Big Fist, -and until Flatfoot returns I am king--and maybe afterward, for some day -I shall kill Flatfoot." - -"I do not wish to fight you," replied Thandar. "Already have I killed -Korth, and Flatfoot will return no more, for Flatfoot I have killed -also. And I can kill Big Fist, but what is the use? Why should we -fight? Let us be friends, for we must live together, and if we do not -kill one another there will be more of us to meet the bad men, should -they come, and kill them." - -When Big Fist heard that Flatfoot was dead and by the hand of this -stranger he pined less to measure his strength with that of the -newcomer. He saw the knothole that the other offered, and promptly he -sought to crawl through it, but with honor. - -"Very well," he said, "I shall not kill you--you need not be afraid. -But you must know that I am king, and do as I say that you shall do." - -"'Afraid,'" Thandar laughed. "You may be king," he said, "but as for -doing what you say--" and again he laughed. - -It was a very different Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones from the thing that -the sea had spewed up twelve months before. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -KING THANDAR - - -The first thing that Thandar did after he entered the village was to -seek out Nadara's father. - -They found the old man in the poorest and least protected cave in the -cliff side, exposed to the attack of the first prowling carnivore, or -skulking foeman. - -He was sick, and there was none to care for him; but he did not -complain. That was the way of his people. When a man became too old -to be of service to the community it were better that he died, and so -they did nothing to delay the inevitable. When one became an absolute -burden upon his fellows it was customary to hasten the end--a carefully -delivered blow with a heavy rock was calculated quickly to relieve the -burdens of the community and the suffering of the invalid. - -Thandar and Nadara came in and sat down beside him. The old fellow -seemed glad to see them. - -"I am Thandar," said the young man. "I wish to take your daughter as my -mate." - -The old man looked at him questioningly for a moment. - -"You have killed Korth and Flatfoot--who is to prevent you from taking -Nadara?" - -"I wish to be joined to her with your permission and in accordance with -the marriage ceremonies of your people," said Thandar. - -The old man shook his head. - -"I do not understand you," he replied at last. "There are several fine -caves that are not occupied--if you wish a better one you have but to -slay the present occupants if they do not get out when you tell them -to--but I think they will get out when the slayer of Korth and Flatfoot -tells them to." - -"I am not worried about a cave," said Thandar. "Tell me how men take -their wives among you." - -"If they do not come with us willingly we take them by the hair and -drag them with us," replied Nadara's father. "My mate would not come -with me," he continued, "and even after I had caught her and dragged -her to my cave she broke away and fled from me, but again I overhauled -her, for when I was young none could run more swiftly, and this time I -did what I should have done at first--I beat her upon the head until -she went to sleep. When she awoke she was in my own cave, and it was -night, and she did not try to ran away any more." - -For a long time Thandar sat in thought. Presently he spoke addressing -Nadara. - -"In my country we do not take our wives in any such way, nor shall I -take you thus. We must be married properly, according to the customs -and laws of civilization." - -Nadara made no reply. To her it seemed that Thandar must care very -little for her--that was about the only explanation she could put upon -his strange behavior. It made her sad. And then the other women would -laugh at her--of that she was quite certain, and that, too, made her -feel very badly--they would see that Thandar did not want her. - -The old man, lying upon his scant bed of matted, filthy grasses, had -heard the conversation. He was as much at sea as Nadara. At last he -spoke--very feebly now, for rapidly he was nearing dissolution. - -"I am a very old man," he said to Thandar. "I have not long to live. -Before I die I should like to know that Nadara has a mate who will -protect her. I love her, though--" He hesitated. - -"Though what?" asked Thandar. - -"I have never told," whispered the old fellow. "My mate would not let -me, but now that I am about to die it can do no harm. Nadara is not my -daughter." - -The girl sprang to her feet. - -"Not your daughter? Then who am I?" - -"I do not know who you are, except that you are not even of my people. -All that I know I will tell you now before I die. Come close, for my -voice is dying faster than my body." - -The young man and the girl came nearer to his side, and squatting there -leaned close that they might catch each faintly articulated syllable. - -"My mate and I," commenced the old man, "were childless, though many -moons had passed since I took her to my cave. She wanted a little one, -for thus only may women have aught upon which to lavish their love. - -"We had been hunting together for several days alone and far from the -village, for I was a great hunter when I was young--no greater ever -lived among our people. - -"And one day we came down to the great water, and there, a short -distance from the shore we saw a strange thing that floated upon the -surface of the water, and when it was blown closer to us we saw that -it was hollow and that in it were two people--a man and a woman. Both -appeared to be dead. - -"Finally I waded out to meet the thing, dragging it to shore, and there -sure enough was a man and a woman, and the man was dead--quite dead. He -must have been dead for a long time; but the woman was not dead. - -"She was very fair though her eyes and hair were black. We carried her -ashore, and that night a little girl was born to her, but the woman -died before morning. - -"We put her back into the strange thing that had brought her--she and -the dead man who had come with her--and shoved them off upon the great -water, where the breeze, which had changed over night, together with -the water which runs away from the land twice each day carried them out -of sight, nor ever did we see them again. - -"But before we sent them off my mate took from the body of the woman -her strange coverings and a little bag of skin which contained many -sparkling stones of different colors and metals of yellow and white -made into things the purposes of which we could not guess. - -"It was evident that the woman had come from a strange land, for she -and all her belongings were unlike anything that either of us ever had -seen before. She herself was different as Nadara is different--Nadara -looks as her mother looked, for Nadara is the little babe that was born -that night. - -"We brought her back to our people after another moon, saying that she -was born to my mate; but there was one woman who knew better, for it -seemed that she had seen us when we found the boat, having been running -away from a man who wanted her as his mate. - -"But my mate did not want anyone to say that Nadara was not hers, for -it is a great disgrace, as you well know, for a woman to be barren, and -so she several times nearly killed this woman, who knew the truth, to -keep her from telling it to the whole village. - -"But I love Nadara as well as though she had been my own, and so I -should like to see her well mated before I die." - -Thandar had gone white during the narration of the story of Nadara's -birth. He could scarce restrain an impulse to go upon his knees and -thank his God that he had harked to the call of his civilized training -rather than have given in to the easier way, the way these primitive, -beast-like people offered. Providence, he thought, must indeed have -sent him here to rescue her. - -The old man, turning upon his rough pallet, fastened his sunken eyes -questioningly upon Thandar. Nadara, too, with parted lips waited for -him to speak. The old man gasped for breath--there was a strange -rattling sound in his throat. - -Thandar leaned above him, raising his head and shoulders slightly. The -young man never had heard that sound before, but now that he heard it -he needed no interpreter. - -The locust, rubbing his legs along his wings, startles the uninitiated -into the belief that a hidden rattler lurks in the pathway; but when -the great diamond back breaks forth in warning none mistakes him for a -locust. - -And so is it with the death rattle in the human throat. - -Thandar knew that it was the end. He saw the old man's mighty effort to -push back the grim reaper that he might speak once more. In the dying -eyes were a question and a plea. Thandar could not misunderstand. - -He reached forward and took Nadara's hand. - -"In my own land we shall be mated," he said. "None other shall wed with -Nadara, and as proof that she is Thandar's she shall wear this always," -and from his finger he slipped a splendid solitaire to the third finger -of Nadara's left hand. - -The old man saw. A look of relief and contentment that was almost a -smile settled upon his features, as, with a gasping sigh, he sank -limply into Thandar's arms, dead. - -That afternoon several of the younger men carried the body of Nadara's -foster father to the top of the cliff, depositing it about half a mile -from the caves. There was no ceremony. In it, though, Waldo Emerson saw -what might have been the first human funeral cortege--simple, sensible -and utilitarian--from which the human race has retrograded to the -ostentatious, ridiculous, pestilent burials of present day civilization. - -The young men, acting under Big Fist's orders, carried the worthless -husk to a safe distance from the caves, leaving it there to the rapid -disintegration provided by the beasts and birds of prey. - -Nadara wept, silently. An elderly lady with a single tooth, espying -her, moaned in sympathy. Presently other females, attracted by the -moaning, joined them, and, becoming affected by the strange hysteria -to which womankind is heir, mingled their moans with those of the -toothless one. - -Excited by their own noise they soon were shrieking and screaming in -hideous chorus. Then came Big Fist and others of the men. The din -annoyed them. They set upon the mourners with their fists and teeth -scattering them in all directions. Thus ended the festivities. - -Or would have had not Big Fist made the fatal mistake of launching a -blow at Nadara. Thandar had been standing nearby looking with wonder -upon the strange scene. - -He had noted the quiet grief of the young girl--real grief; and he had -witnessed the hysterical variety of the "mourners"--not sham grief. -Precisely, because they made no pretense to grief--it was noise to -which they aspired. And as the fiendish din had set his own nerves on -edge he wondered not at all that Big Fist and the other men should -take steps to quell the tumult. - -The female half-brutes were theirs and Waldo Emerson had reverted -sufficiently to the primitive to feel no incentive to interfere. But -Nadara was not theirs--she was not of them, and even had she not -belonged to him the American would have felt bound to stand between her -and the savage creatures among whom fate had cast her. - -That she did belong to him, however, sent him hot with the blood lust -of the killer as he sprang to intercept the rush of Big Fist toward her. - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had learned nothing of the manly art of -self-defense in that other life that had been so zealously guarded from -the rude and vulgar. This was unfortunate since it would have given him -a great advantage over the man-brute. A single well-timed swing to that -unguarded chin would have ended hostilities at once; but of hooks and -jabs and jolts, scientific, Thandar knew nothing. - -Except for his crude weapons he was as primeval in battle as his -original anthropoid progenitor, and quite as often as not he forgot all -about his sword, his knife, his bow and arrows and his spear when, half -stooped, he crouched to meet the charge of a foeman. - -Now he sprang for Big Fist's hairy throat. There was a sullen thud -as the two bodies met, and then, rolling, biting and tearing, they -struggled hither and thither upon the rocky ground at the base of the -cliff. - -The other men desisted from their attack upon the women. The women -ceased their vocal mourning. In a little circle they formed about the -contestants--a circle which moved this way and that as the fighters -moved, keeping them always in the center. - -Nadara forced her way through them to the front. She wished to be near -Thandar. In her hand she carried a jagged bit of granite--one could -never tell. - -Big Fist was burly--mountainous--but Thandar was muscled like Nagoola, -the black panther. His movements were all grace and ease, but oh, so -irresistible. A sudden and unexpected blow upon the side of Big Fist's -head bent that bullet-shaped thing sidewards with a jerk that almost -dislocated the neck. - -Big Fist shrieked with the pain of it. Thandar, delighted by the result -of the accidental blow, repeated it. Big Fist bellowed--agonized. -He made a last supreme effort to close with his agile foeman, and -succeeded. His teeth sought Thandar's throat, but the act brought his -own jugular close to Thandar's jaws. - -The strong white teeth of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones closed upon it as -naturally as though no countless ages had rolled their snail-like way -between himself and the last of his progenitors to bury bloody fangs in -the soft flesh of an antagonist. - -Wasted ages! fleeing from the primitive and the brute toward the -neoteric and the human--in a brief instant your labors are undone, the -veneer of eons crumbles in the heat of some pristine passion revealing -again naked and unashamed, the primitive and the brute. - -Big Fist, white now from terror at impending death, struggled to be -free. Thandar buried his teeth more deeply. There was a sudden rush of -spurting blood that choked him. Big Fist relaxed, inert. - -Thandar, drenched crimson, rose to his feet. The huge body on the -ground before him floundered spasmodically once or twice as the life -blood gushed from the severed jugular. The eyes rolled up and set, -there was a final twitch and Big Fist was dead. - -Thandar turned toward the circle of interested spectators. He singled -out a burly quartet. - -"Bear Big Fist to the cliff top," he commanded. "When you return we -shall choose a king." - -The men did as they were bid. They did not at all understand what -Thandar meant by choosing a king. Having slain Big Fist, Thandar was -king, unless some ambitious one desired to dispute his right to reign. -But all had seen him slay Big Fist, and all knew that he had killed -Korth and Flatfoot, so who was there would dare question his kingship? - -When they had come back to the village Thandar gathered them beneath a -great tree that grew close to the base of the cliff. Here they squatted -upon their haunches in a rough circle. Behind them stood the women and -children, wide-eyed and curious. - -"Let us choose a king," said Thandar, when all had come. - -There was a long silence, then one of the older men spoke. - -"I am an old man. I have seen many kings. They come by killing. They go -by killing. Thandar has killed two kings. Now he is king. Who wishes to -kill Thandar and become king?" - -There was no answer. - -The old man arose. - -"It was foolish to come here to choose a king," he said, "when a king -we already have." - -"Wait," commanded Thandar. "Let us choose a king properly. Because I -have killed Flatfoot and Big Fist does not prove that I can make a good -king. Was Flatfoot a good king?" - -"He was a bad man," replied the ancient one. - -"Has a good man ever been king?" asked Thandar. - -The old fellow puckered his brow in thought. - -"Not for a long time," he said. - -"That is because you always permit a bully and a brute to rule you," -said Thandar. "That is not the proper way to choose a king. Rather you -should come together as we are come, and among you talk over the needs -of the tribe and when you are decided as to what measures are best for -the welfare of the members of the tribe then should you select the man -best fitted to carry out your plans. That is a better way to choose a -king." - -The old man laughed. - -"And then," he said, "would come a Big Fist or a Flatfoot and slay our -king that he might be king in his place." - -"Have you ever seen a man who could slay all the other men of the tribe -at the same time?" - -The old man looked puzzled. - -"That is my answer to your argument," said Thandar. "Those who choose -the king can protect him from his enemies. So long as he is a good king -they should do so, but when he becomes a bad king they can then select -another, and if the bad king refuses to obey the new it would be an -easy matter for several men to kill him or drive him away, no matter -how mighty a fighter he might be." - -Several of the men nodded understandingly. - -"We had not thought of that," they said. "Thandar is indeed wise." - -"So now," continued the American, "let us choose a king whom the -majority of us want, and then so long as he is a good king the majority -of us must fight for him and protect him. Let us choose a man whom we -know to be a good man regardless of his ability to kill his fellows, -for if he has the majority of the tribe to fight for him what need -will he have to fight for himself? What we want is a wise man--one who -can lead the tribe to fertile lands and good hunting, and in times of -battle direct the fighting intelligently. Flatfoot and Big Fist had not -brains enough between them to do aught but steal the mates of other -men. Such should not be the business of kings. Your king should protect -your mates from such as Flatfoot, and he should punish those who would -steal them." - -"But how may he do these things?" asked a young man, "if he is not the -best fighter in the tribe?" - -"Have I not shown you how?" asked Thandar. "We who make him king shall -be his fighters--he will not need to fight with his own hands." - -Again there was a long silence. Then the old man spoke again. - -"There is wisdom in the talk of Thandar. Let us choose a king who will -have to be good to us if he wishes to remain king. It is very bad for -us to have a king whom we fear." - -"I, for one," said the young man who had previously spoken, "do not -care to be ruled by a king unless he is able to defeat me in battle. If -I can defeat him then I should be king." - -And so they took sides, but at last they compromised by selecting one -whom they knew to be wise and a great fighter as well. Thus they chose -Thandar king. - -"Once each week," said the new king, "we shall gather here and talk -among ourselves of the things which are for the best good of the tribe, -and what seems best to the majority shall be done. The tribe will tell -the king what to do--the king will carry out the work. And all must -fight when the king says fight and all must work when the king says -work, for we shall all be fighting or working for the whole tribe, and -I, Thandar, your king, shall fight and work the hardest of you all." - -It was a new idea to them and placed the kingship in a totally -different light from any by which they had previously viewed it. That -it would take a long time for them to really absorb the idea Thandar -knew, and he was glad that in the meantime they had a king who could -command their respect according to their former standards. - -And he smiled when he thought of the change that had taken place in him -since first he had sat trembling, weeping and coughing upon the lonely -shore before the terrifying forest. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE GREAT NAGOOLA - - -Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had gladly embraced the opportunity which -chance had offered him to assume the kingship of the little tribe of -troglodytes. First, because his position would assure Nadara greater -safety, and, second, because of the opening it would give him for the -exercise of his new-found initiative. - -Where before he had shrunk from responsibility he now found himself -anxious to assume it. He longed to do, where formerly he had been -content to but read of the accomplishments of others. - -To his chagrin, however, he soon discovered that the classical -education to which his earlier life had been devoted under the guidance -of a fond and ultra-cultured mother was to prove a most inadequate -foundation upon which to build a practical scheme of life for himself -and his people. - -He wished to teach his tribe to construct permanent and comfortable -houses, but he could not recollect any practical hints on carpentry -that he had obtained from Ovid. - -His people lived by hunting small rodents, robbing birds' nests, and -gathering wild fruit and vegetables. Thandar desired to institute a -scheme of community farming, but the works of the Cyclic Poets, with -which he was quite familiar, seemed to offer little of value along -agricultural lines. He regretted that he had not matriculated at an -agricultural college west of the Alleghanies rather than at Harvard. - -However, he determined to do the best he could with the meager -knowledge he possessed of things practical--a knowledge so meager -that it consisted almost entirely of the bare definition of the word -agriculture. - -It was a germ, however, for it presupposed a knowledge of the results -that might be obtained through agriculture. - -So Thandar found himself a step ahead of the earliest of his -progenitors who had thought to plant purposely the seeds that nature -heretofore had distributed haphazard through the agencies of wind and -bird and beast; but only a step ahead. - -He realized that he occupied a very remarkable position in the march -of ages. He had known and seen and benefited by all the accumulated -knowledge of ages of progression from the stone age to the twentieth -century, and now, suddenly, fate had snatched him back into the stone -age, or possibly a few eons farther back, only to show him that all -that he had from a knowledge of other men's knowledge was keen -dissatisfaction with the stone age. - -He had lived in houses of wood and brick and looked through windows -of glass. He had read in the light of gas and electricity, and he -even knew of candles; but he could not fashion the tools to build a -house, he could not have made a brick to have saved his life, glass had -suddenly become one of the wonders of the world to him, and as for gas -and electricity and candles they had become one with the mystery of the -Sphinx. - -He could write verse in excellent Greek, but he was no longer proud of -that fact. He would much rather that he had been able to tan a hide, -or make fire without matches. Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had a year -ago been exceedingly proud of his intellect and his learning, but for -a year his ego had been shrinking until now he felt himself the most -pitiful ignoramus on earth. "Criminally ignorant," he said to Nadara, -"for I have thrown away the opportunities of a lifetime devoted to the -accumulation of useless erudition when I might have been profiting by -the practical knowledge which has dragged the world from the black bit -of barbarism to the light of modern achievement--I might not only have -done this but, myself, added something to the glory and welfare of -mankind. I am no good, Nadara--worse than useless." - -The girl touched his strong brown hand caressingly, looking proudly -into his eyes. - -"To me you are very wonderful, Thandar," she said. "With your own hands -you slew Nagoola, the most terrible beast in the world, and Korth, and -Flatfoot, and Big Fist lie dead beneath the vultures because of your -might--single-handed you killed them all; three awesome men. No, my -Thandar is greater than all other men." - -Nor could Waldo Emerson repress the swelling tide of pride that surged -through him as the girl he loved recounted his exploits. No longer did -he think of his achievements as "vulgar physical prowess." The old -Waldo Emerson, whose temperature had risen regularly at three o'clock -each afternoon, whose pitifully skinny body had been racked by coughing -continually, whose eyes had been terror filled by day and by night at -the rustling of dry leaves, was dead. - -In his place stood a great, full blooded man, brown skinned and -steel thewed; fearless, self-reliant, almost brutal in his pride of -power--Thandar, the cave man. - -The months that passed as Thandar led his people from one honeycombed -cliff to another as he sought a fitting place for a permanent village -were filled with happiness for Nadara and the king. - -The girl's happiness was slightly alloyed by the fact that Thandar -failed to claim her as his own. She could not yet quite understand the -ethics which separated them. Thandar tried repeatedly to explain to her -that some day they were to return to his own world, and that that world -would not accept her unless she had been joined to him according to the -rites and ceremonies which it had originated. - -"Will this marriage ceremony of which you tell me make you love me -more?" asked Nadara. - -Thandar laughed and took her in his arms. - -"I could not love you more," he replied. - -"Then of what good is it?" - -Thandar shook his head. - -"It is difficult to explain," he said, "especially to such a lovable -little pagan as my Nadara. You must be satisfied to know--accept my -word for it--that it is because I love you that we must wait." - -Now it was the girl's turn to shake her head. - -"I cannot understand," she said. "My people take their mates as they -will and they are satisfied and everybody is satisfied and all is well; -but their king, who may mate as he chooses, waits until a man whom he -does not know and who lives across the great water where we may never -go, gives him permission to mate with one who loves him--with one whom -he _says_ he loves." - -Thandar noticed the emphasis which Nadara put upon the word "says." - -"Some day," he said, "when we have reached my world you will know that -I was right, and you will thank me. Until then, Nadara, you must trust -me, and," he added half to himself, "God knows I have earned your trust -even if you do not know it." - -And so Nadara made believe that she was satisfied but in her heart of -hearts she still feared that Thandar did not really love her, nor did -the half-veiled comments of the women add at all to her peace of mind. - -During all the time that Thandar was with her he had been teaching her -his language for he had set his heart upon taking her home, and he -wished her to be as well prepared for her introduction to Boston and -civilization as he could make her. - -Thandar's plan was to find a suitable location within sight of the sea -that he might always be upon the lookout for a ship. At last he found -such a place--a level meadow land upon a low plateau overlooking the -ocean. - -He had come upon it while he wandered alone several miles from the -temporary cliff dwellings the tribe was occupying. The soil, when he -dug into it, he found to be rich and black. There was timber upon one -side and upon the other overhanging cliffs of soft limestone. - -It was Thandar's plan to build a village partly of logs against the -face of the cliff, burrowing inward behind the dwellings for such -additional apartments as each family might require. - -The caves alone would have proved sufficient shelter, but the man hoped -by compelling his people to construct a portion of each dwelling of -logs to engender within each family a certain feeling of ownership and -pride in personal possession as would make it less easy for them to -give up their abodes than in the past, when it had been necessary but -to move to another cliff to find caves equally as comfortable as those -which they so easily abandoned. - -In other words he hoped to give them a word which their vocabulary had -never held--home. - -Whether or not he would have succeeded we may never know, for fate -stepped in at the last moment to alter with a single stroke his every -plan and aspiration. - -As he returned to his people that afternoon filled with the enthusiasm -of his hopes a burly, hairy figure crept warily after him. As Thandar -emerged from the brush which reaches close to the cliffs where the -temporary encampment had been made Nadara, watching for him, ran -forward to meet him. - -The creature upon Thandar's trail halted at the edge of the bush. As -his close-set eyes fell upon the girl his flabby lips vibrated to the -quick intaking of his breath and his red lids half closed in cunning -and desire. - -For a few moments he watched the man and the maid as they turned and -walked slowly toward the cliffs, the arm of the former about the brown -shoulders of the latter. Then he too turned and melted into the tangled -branches behind him. - -That evening Thandar gathered the members of the tribe about him at -the foot of the cliff. They sat around a great fire while Thandar, -their king, explained to them in minutest detail the future that he had -mapped out for them. - -Some of the old men shook their heads, for here was an unheard of -thing--a change from the accustomed ordering of their lives--and they -were loath to change regardless of the benefits which might accrue. - -But for the most part the people welcomed the idea of comfortable -and permanent habitations, though their anticipatory joy, Thandar -reasoned, was due largely to a childish eagerness for something new and -different--whether their enthusiasm would survive the additional labors -which the new life was sure to entail was another question. - -So Thandar laid down the new laws that were to guide his people -thereafter. The men were to make all implements and weapons, for he -had already taught them to use arrows and spears. The women were to -keep all edged tools sharp. The men were to hew the logs and build the -houses--the women make garments, cook and keep the houses in order. - -The men were to turn up the soil, the women were to sow the seeds, and -cultivate the growing crops, which, later, all hands must turn to and -harvest. - -The hunting and the fighting devolved upon the men, but the fighting -must be confined to enemies of the tribe. A man who killed another -member of the tribe except in defense of his home or his own person was -to suffer death. - -Other laws he made--good laws--which even these primitive people could -see were good. It was quite late when the last of them crawled into -his comfortless cave to dream of large, airy rooms built of the trees -of the forest; of good food in plenty just before the rains as well as -after; of security from the periodic raids of the "bad men." - -Thandar and Nadara were the last to go. Together they sat upon a -narrow ledge before Nadara's cave, the moonlight falling upon their -glistening, naked shoulders, while they talked and dreamed together of -the future. - -Thandar had been talking of the wonderful plans which seemed to fill -his whole mind--of the future of the tribe--of the great strides -toward civilization they could make in a few brief years if they could -but be made to follow the simple plans he had in mind. - -"Why," he said, "in ten years they should have bridged a gulf that it -must have required ages for our ancestors to span." - -"And you are planning ten years ahead, Thandar," she asked, "when only -yesterday you were saying that once beside the sea you hoped it would -be but a short time before we might sight a passing vessel that would -bear us away to your civilization? Must we wait ten years, Thandar?" - -"I am planning for them," he replied. "We may not be here to witness -the changes; but I wish to start them upon the road, and when we go I -shall see to it that a king is chosen in my place who has the courage -and the desire to carry out my plans. - -"Yet," he added, musingly, "it would be splendid could we but return -to complete our work. Never, Nadara, have I performed a single -constructive act for the benefit of my fellow man, but now I see an -opportunity to do something, however small it may seem, to--what was -that?" - -A low rumbling muttered threateningly out of the west. Deep and ominous -it sounded, yet so low that it failed to awaken any member of the -sleeping tribe. - -Before either could again speak there came a slight trembling of the -earth beneath them, scarcely sufficient to have been noticeable had it -not been preceded by the distant grumbling of the earth's bowels. - -The two upon the moonlit ledge came to their feet, and Nadara drew -close to Thandar, the man's arm encircling her shoulders protectingly. - -"The Great Nagoola," she whispered. "Again he seeks to escape." - -"What do you mean?" asked Thandar. "It is an earthquake--distant and -quite harmless to us." - -"No, it is The Great Nagoola," insisted Nadara. "Long time ago, when -our fathers' fathers were yet unborn, The Great Nagoola roamed the land -devouring all that chanced to come in his way--men, beasts, birds, -everything. - -"One day my people came upon him sleeping in a deep gorge between two -mountains. They were mighty men in those days, and when they saw their -great enemy asleep there in the gorge half of them went upon one side -and half upon the other, and they pushed the two mountains over into -the gorge upon the sleeping beast, imprisoning him there. - -"It is all true, for my mother had it from her mother, who in turn was -told it by her mother--thus has it been handed down truthfully since it -happened long time ago. - -"And even to this day is occasionally heard the growling of The Great -Nagoola in his anger, and the earth shakes and trembles as he strives -far, far beneath to shake the mountains from him and escape. Did you -not hear his voice and feel the ground rock?" - -Thandar laughed. - -"Well, we are quite safe then," he cried, "for with two mountains piled -upon him he cannot escape." - -"Who knows?" asked Nadara. "He is huge--as huge, himself, as a small -mountain. Some day, they say, he will escape, and then naught will -pacify his rage until he has destroyed every living creature upon the -land." - -"Do not worry, little one," said Thandar. "The Great Nagoola will -have to grumble louder and struggle more fiercely before ever he may -dislodge the two mountains. Even now he is quiet again, so run to your -cave, sweetheart, nor bother your pretty head with useless worries--it -is time that all good people were asleep," and he stooped and kissed -her as she turned to go. - -For a moment she clung to him. - -"I am afraid, Thandar," she whispered. "Why, I do not know. I only know -that I am afraid, with a great fear that will not be quiet." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BATTLE - - -Early the following morning while several of the women and children -were at the river drawing water the balance of the tribe of Thandar was -startled into wakefulness by piercing shrieks from the direction the -water carriers had taken. - -Before the great, hairy men, led by the smooth-skinned Thandar, had -reached the foot of the cliff in their rush to the rescue of the women -several of the latter appeared at the edge of the forest, running -swiftly toward the caves. - -Mingled with their screams of terror were cries of: "The bad men! The -bad men!" But these were not needed to acquaint the rescuers with the -cause of the commotion, for at the heels of the women came Thurg and a -score of his vicious brutes. Little better than anthropoid apes were -they. Long armed, hairy, skulking monsters, whose close-set eyes and -retreating foreheads proclaimed more intimate propinquity to the higher -orders of brutes than to civilized man. - -Woe betide male or female who fell into their remorseless clutches, -since to the base passions, unrestrained, that mark the primordial they -were addicted to the foulest forms of cannibalism. - -In the past their raids upon their neighbors for meat and women had met -with but slight resistance--the terrified cave dwellers scampering to -the safety of their dizzy ledges from whence they might hurl stones and -roll boulders down to the confusion of any foe however ferocious. - -Always the bad men caught a few unwary victims before the safety of the -ledges could be attained, but this time there was a difference. Thurg -was delighted. The men were rushing downward to meet him--great indeed -would be the feast which should follow this day's fighting, for with -the men disposed of there would be but little difficulty in storming -the cliff and carrying off all the women and children, and as he -thought upon these things there floated in his little brain the image -of the beautiful girl he had watched come down the evening before from -the caves to meet the smooth-skinned warrior who twice now had bested -Thurg in battle. - -That Thandar's men might turn the tables upon him never for a moment -occurred to Thurg. Nor was there little wonder, since, mighty as were -the muscles of the cave men, they were weaklings by comparison with the -half-brutes of Thurg--only the smooth-skinned stranger troubled the -muddy mind of the near-man. - -It puzzled him a little, though, to see the long slim sticks that the -enemy carried, and the little slivers in skin bags upon their backs, -and the strange curved branches whose ends were connected by slender -bits of gut. What were these things for! - -Soon he was to know--this and other things. - -Thandar's warriors did not rush upon Thurg and his brutes in a close -packed, yelling mob. Instead they trotted slowly forward in a long thin -line that stretched out parallel with the base of the cliff. In the -center, directly in front of the charging bad men, was Thandar, calling -directions to his people, first upon one hand and then upon the other. - -And in accordance with his commands the ends of the line began to -quicken the pace, so that quickly Thurg saw that there were men -before him, and men upon either hand, and now, at fifty feet, while -all were advancing cautiously, crouched for the final hand-to-hand -encounter, he saw the enemy slip each a sliver into the gut of the bent -branches--there was a sudden chorus of twangs, and Thurg felt a sharp -pain in his neck. Involuntarily he clapped his hand to the spot to find -one of the slivers sticking there, scarce an inch from his jugular. - -With a howl of rage he snatched the thing from him, and as he leaped -to the charge to punish these audacious mad-men he noted a dozen of -his henchmen plucking slivers from various portions of their bodies, -while two lay quite still upon the grass with just the ends of slivers -protruding from their breasts. - -The sight brought the beast-man to a momentary halt. He saw his fellows -charging in upon the foe--he saw another volley of slivers speed from -the bent branches. Down went another of his fighters, and then the -enemy cast aside their strange weapons at a shouted command from the -smooth-skinned one and grasping their long, slim sticks ran forward to -meet Thurg's people. - -Thurg smiled. It would soon be over now. He turned toward one who was -bearing down upon him--it was Thandar. Thurg crouched to meet the -charge. Rage, revenge, the lust for blood fired his bestial brain. With -his huge paws he would tear the puny stick from this creature's grasp, -and this time he would gain his hold upon that smooth throat. He licked -his lips. And then out of the corner of his eye he glanced to the right. - -What strange sight was this! His people flying? It was incredible! -And yet it was true. Growling and raging in pain and anger they were -running a gauntlet of fire-sharpened lances. Three lay dead. The others -were streaming blood as they fled before the relentless prodding devils -at their backs. - -It was enough for Thurg. He did not wait to close with Thandar. A -single howl of dismay broke from his flabby lips, and then he wheeled -and dashed for the wood. He was the last to pass through the rapidly -converging ends of Thandar's primitive battle line. He was running -so fast that, afterward, Nadara who was watching the battle from the -cliff-side insisted that his feet flew higher than his head at each -frantic leap. - -Thandar and his victorious army pursued the enemy through the wood for -a mile or more, then they returned, laughing and shouting, to receive -the plaudits of the old men, the women and the children. - -It was a happy day. There was feasting. And Thandar, having in mind -things he had read of savage races, improvised a dance in honor of the -victory. - -He knew little more of savage dances than his tribesmen did of the -two-step and the waltz; but he knew that dancing and song and play -marked in themselves a great step upward in the evolution of man from -the lower orders, and so he meant to teach these things to his people. - -A red flush spread to his temples as he thought of his dignified father -and his stately mother and with what horrified emotions they would view -him now could they but see him--naked but for a g-string and a panther -skin, moving with leaps and bounds, and now stately waltz steps in a -great circle, clapping his hands in time to his movements, while behind -him strung a score of lusty, naked warriors, mimicking his every antic -with the fidelity of apes. - -About them squatted the balance of the tribe more intensely interested -in this, the first ceremonial function of their lives, than with any -other occurrence that had ever befallen them. They, too, now clapped -their hands in time with the dancers. - -Nadara stood with parted lips and wide eyes watching the strange -scene. Within her it seemed that something was struggling for -expression--something that she must have known long, long -ago--something that she had forgotten but that she presently must -recall. With it came an insistent urge--her feet could scarce remain -quietly upon the ground, and great waves of melody and song welled into -her heart and throat, though what they were and what they meant she did -not know. - -She only knew that she was intensely excited and happy and that her -whole being seemed as light and airy as the soft wind that blew across -the gently swaying treetops of the forest. - -Now the dance was done. Thandar had led the warriors back to the feast. -In the center of the circle where the naked bodies of the men had -leaped and swirled to the clapping of many hands was an open space, -deserted. Into it Nadara ran, drawn by some subtile excitement of the -soul which she could not have fathomed had she tried--which she did not -try to fathom. - -Around her slim, graceful figure was draped the glossy, black pelt of -Nagoola--another trophy of the prowess of her man. It half concealed -but to accentuate the beauties of her form. - -With eyes half-closed she took a half dozen graceful, tentative steps. -Now the eyes of Thandar and several others were upon her, but she did -not see them. Suddenly, with outthrown arms, she commenced to dance, -bending her lithe body, swaying from side to side as she fell, with -graceful abandon, into steps and poses that seemed as natural to her as -repose. - -About the little circle she wove her simple yet intricate way, and now -every eye was upon her as every savage heart leaped in unison with her -shapely feet, rising and falling in harmony with her lithe, brown limbs. - -And of all the hearts that leaped, fastest leaped the heart of Thandar, -for he saw in the poetry of motion of the untutored girl the proof of -her birth-right--the truth of all that he had guessed of her origin -since her foster father had related the story of her birth upon his -death bed. None but a child of an age-old culture could possess this -inherent talent. Any moment he expected her lips to break forth in -song, nor was he to be disappointed, for presently, as the circling -cave folk commenced to clap their palms in time to her steps, Nadara -lifted her voice in clear and bird-like notes--a worldless paean of -love and life and happiness. - -At last, exhausted, she paused, and as her eyes fell upon Thandar they -broke into a merry laugh. - -"The king is not the only one who can leap and play upon his feet," she -cried. - -Thandar came to the center of the circle and kneeling at her feet took -one of her hands in his and kissed it. - -"The king is only mortal and a man," he said. "It is no reproach that -he cannot equal the divine grace of a goddess. You are very wonderful, -my Nadara," he continued, "From loving you I am coming to worship you." - -And within the deep and silent wood another was stirred with mighty -emotions by the sight of the half-naked, graceful girl. It was Thurg, -the bad man, who had sneaked back alone to the edge of the forest that -he might seek an opportunity to be revenged upon Thandar and his people. - -Half formed in his evil brain had been a certain plan, which the sight -of Nadara, dancing in the firelight, had turned to concrete resolution. - -With the dancing and the feasting over, the tribe of Thandar betook -itself by ones and twos to the rocky caves that they expected so soon -to desert for the more comfortable village which they were to build -under the direction of their king, to the east, beside the great water. - -At last all was still--the village slept. No sentry guarded their -slumbers, for Thandar, steeped in book learning, must needs add to his -stock of practical knowledge by bitter experience, and never yet had -the cause arisen for a night guard about his village. - -Having defeated Thurg and his people he thought that they would not -return again, and certainly not by night, for the people of this wild -island roamed seldom by night, having too much respect for the teeth -and talons of Nagoola to venture forth after darkness had settled upon -the grim forests and the lonely plains. - -But a tempest of uncontrolled emotions surged through the hairy breast -of Thurg. He forgot Nagoola. He thought only of revenge--revenge and -the black haired beauty who had so many times eluded him. - -And as he saw her dancing in the circle of hand-clapping tribesmen, in -the light of the brush wood fire, his desire for her became a veritable -frenzy. - -He could scarce restrain himself from rushing single-handed among his -foes and snatching the girl before their faces. However, caution came -to his rescue, and so he waited, albeit impatiently, until the last of -the cave folk had retired to his cavern. - -He had seen into which Nadara had withdrawn--one that lay far up -the face of the steep cliff and directly above the cave occupied by -Thandar. The moon was overcast, the fire at the foot of the cliff had -died to glowing embers, all was wrapped in darkness and in shadow. Far -in the depths of the wood Nagoola coughed and cried. The weird sound -raised the coarse hair at the nape of Thurg's bull neck. He cast an -apprehensive backward glance, then, crouching low, he moved quickly and -silently across the clearing toward the base of the cliff. - -Flattened against a protruding boulder there he waited, listening, for -a moment. No sound broke the stillness of the sleeping village. None -had seen his approach--of that he was convinced. - -Carefully he began the ascent of the cliff face, made difficult by the -removal of the rough ladders that led from ledge to ledge by day, but -which were withdrawn with the retiring of the community to their dark -holes. - -But Thurg had dragged with him from the forest a slim sapling. This he -leaned against the face of the cliff. Its uptilted end just topped the -lowest ledge. - -Thurg was almost as large and quite as clumsy in appearance as a -gorilla, yet he was not as far removed from his true arboreal ancestors -as is the great simian, and so he accomplished in silence and with -evident ease what his great bulk might have seemed to have relegated to -the impossible. - -Like a huge cat he scrambled up the frail pole until his fingers -clutched the ledge edge above him. Ape-like he drew himself to a -squatting position there. Then he groped for the ladder that the cave -folk had drawn up from below. - -This he erected to the next ledge above. Thereafter the way was easy, -for the balance of the ledges were connected by steeply inclined trails -cut into the cliff face. This had been an innovation of Thandar's who -considered the rickety ladders not only a nuisance, but extremely -dangerous to life and limb, for scarce a day passed that some child or -woman did not receive a bad fall because of them. - -So Thurg, with Thandar's unintentional aid, came easily to the mouth of -Nadara's cave. - -Great had been the temptation as he passed the cave below to enter and -slay his enemy. Never had Thurg so hated any creature as he hated this -smooth-skinned interloper--with all the venom of his mean soul he hated -him. - -Now he stooped, listening, just beside the entrance to the cave. He -could hear the regular breathing of the girl within. The hot blood -surged through his brute veins. His huge paws opened and closed -spasmodically. His breath sucked hot between his flabby lips. - -Just beneath him Thandar lay dreaming. He saw a wonderful vision of a -beautiful nymph dancing in the firelight. In a circle about her sat the -Smith-Joneses, the Percy Standishes, the Livingston-Brownes, the Quincy -Adams-Cootses, and a hundred more equally aristocratic families of -Boston. - -It did not seem strange to Thandar that there was not enough clothing -among the entire assemblage to have recently draped the Laocoön. His -father wore a becoming loin cloth, while the stately Mrs. John Alden -Smith-Jones, his mother, was tastefully arrayed in a scant robe of the -skins of small rodents sewn together with bits of gut. - -As the nymph danced the audience kept time to her steps with loudly -clapping palms, and when she was done they approached her one by one, -crawling upon their hands and knees, and kissed her hand. - -Suddenly he saw that the nymph was Nadara, and as he sprang forward to -claim her a large man with a coarse matted beard, a slanted forehead, -and close-get eyes, leaped out from among the others, seized Nadara and -fled with her toward a waiting trolley car. - -He recognized the man as Thurg, and even in his dream it seemed rather -incongruous that he should be clothed in well-fitting evening clothes. - -Nadara screamed once, and the scream roused Thandar from his dream. -Raising upon one elbow he looked toward the entrance of his cave. The -recollection of the dream swept back into his memory. With a little -sigh of relief that it had been but a dream, he settled back once more -upon his bed of grasses, and soon was wrapped in dreamless slumber. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE ABDUCTION OF NADARA - - -Cautiously Thurg crawled into the cave where Nadara slept upon her -couch of soft grasses, wrapped in the glossy pelt of Nagoola, the black -panther. - -The hulking form of the beast-man blotted out the faint light that -filtered from the lesser darkness of the night without through the -jagged entrance to the cave. - -All within was Stygian gloom. - -Groping with his hands Thurg came at last upon a corner of the grassy -pallet. Softly he wormed inch by inch closer to the sleeper. Now his -fingers felt the thick fur of the panther skin. - -Lightly, for so gross a thing, his touch followed the recumbent figure -of the girl until his giant paws felt the silky luxuriance of her raven -hair. - -For an instant he paused. Then, quickly and silently, one great palm -clapped roughly over Nadara's mouth, while the other arm encircled her -waist, lifting her from her bed. - -Awakened and terrified, Nadara struggled to free herself and to scream; -but the giant hand across her mouth effectually sealed her lips, while -the arm about her waist held her as firmly as might iron bands. - -Thurg spoke no word, but as Nadara's hands came in contact with his -hairy breast and matted beard as she fought for freedom she guessed the -identity of her abductor, and shuddered. - -Waiting only to assure himself that his hold upon his prisoner was -secure and that no trailing end of her robe might trip him in his -flight down the cliff face, Thurg commenced the descent. - -Opposite the entrance to Thandar's cave Nadara redoubled her efforts to -free her mouth that she might scream aloud but once. Thurg, guessing -her desire, pressed his palm the tighter, and in a moment the two had -passed unnoticed to the ledge below. - -Down the winding trail of the upper ledges Thurg's task was -comparatively easy--thanks to Thandar, but at the second ledge from the -bottom of the cliff he was compelled to take to the upper of the two -ladders which completed the way to the ground below. - -And here it was necessary to remove his hand from Nadara's mouth. In a -low growl he warned her to silence with threats of instant death, then -he removed his hand from across her face, grasped the top of the ladder -and swung over the dangerous height with his burden under his arm. - -For an instant Nadara was too paralyzed with terror to take advantage -of her opportunity, but just as Thurg set foot upon the ledge at the -bottom of the ladder she screamed aloud once. - -Instantly Thurg's hand fell roughly across her lips. Brutally he shook -her, squeezing her body in his mighty grip until she gasped for breath, -and each minute expected to feel her ribs snap to the terrific strain. - -For a moment Thurg stood silently upon the ledge, compressing the -tortured body of his victim and listening for signs of pursuit from -above. - -Presently the agony of her suffering overcame Nadara--she swooned. -Thurg felt her form relax, and his flabby lips twisted to a hideous -grin. - -The cliff was quiet--the girl's scream had not disturbed the slumbers -of her tribesmen. Thurg swung the ladder he had just descended over the -edge of the cliff below, and a moment later he stood at the bottom with -his burden. - -Without noise he removed the ladder and the sapling that he had used in -his ascent, laying them upon the ground at the foot of the cliff. This -would halt, temporarily, any pursuit until the cave men could bring -other ladders from the higher levels, where they doubtless had them -hidden. - -But no pursuit developed, and Thurg disappeared into the dark forest -with his prize. - -For a long distance he carried her, his little pig eyes searching and -straining to right and left into the black night for the first sign -of savage beast. The half atrophied muscles of his little ears, still -responding to an almost dead instinct, strove to prick those misshapen -members forward that they might catch the first crackling of dead -leaves beneath the padded paw of the fanged night prowlers. - -But the wood seemed dead. No living creature appeared to thwart the -beast-man's evil intent. Far behind him Thandar slept. Thurg grinned. - -The moon broke through the clouds, splotching the ground all silver -green beneath the forest trees. Nadara awoke from her swoon. They were -in a little open glade. Instantly she recalled the happenings that -had immediately preceded her unconsciousness. In the moonlight she -recognized Thurg. He was smirking horribly down into her upturned face. - -Thandar had often talked with her of religion. He had taught her of -his God, and now the girl thanked Him that Thurg was still too low -in the scale of evolution to have learned to kiss. To have had that -matted beard, those flabby, pendulous lips pressed to hers! It was too -horrible--she closed her eyes in disgust. - -Thurg lowered her to her feet. With one hand he still clutched her -shoulder. She saw him standing there before her--his greedy, blood-shot -eyes devouring her. His awful lips shook and trembled as his hot breath -sucked quickly in and out in excited gasps. - -She knew that the end was coming. Frantically she cast about her for -some means of defense or escape. Thurg was drawing her toward him. - -Suddenly she drew back her clenched fist and struck him full in the -mouth, then, tearing herself from his grasp, she turned and fled. - -But in a moment he was upon her. Seizing her roughly by the shoulders -he shook her viciously, hurling her to the ground. - -The blood from his wounded lips dropped upon her face and throat. - -From the distance came a deep toned, thunderous rumbling. Thurg raised -his head and listened. Again and again came that awesome sound. - -"The Great Nagoola is coming to punish you," whispered Nadara. - -Thurg still remained squatting beside her. She had ceased to fight, for -now she felt that a greater power than hers was intervening to save her. - -The ground beneath them trembled, shook and then tossed frightfully. -The rumbling and the roaring became deafening. Thurg, his passion -frozen in the face of this new terror, rose to his feet. For a moment -there was a lull, then came another and more terrific shock. - -The earth rose and fell sickeningly. Fissures opened, engulfing trees, -and then closed like hungry mouths gulping food long denied. - -Thurg was thrown to the ground. Now he was terror stricken. He screamed -aloud in his fear. - -Again there came a lull, and this time the beast-man leaped to his feet -and dashed away into the forest. Nadara was alone. - -Presently the earth commenced to tremble again, and the voice of The -Great Nagoola rumbled across the world. Frightened animals scampered -past Nadara, fleeing in all directions. Little deer, foxes, squirrels -and other rodents in countless numbers scurried, terrified, about. - -A great black panther and his mate trotted shoulder to shoulder into -the glade where Nadara still stood too bewildered to know which way to -fly. - -They eyed her for a moment, as they paused in the moonlight, then -without a second glance they loped away into the brush. Directly behind -them came three deer. - -Nadara realized that she had felt no fear of the panthers as she would -have under ordinary circumstances. Even the little deer ran with their -natural enemies. Every lesser fear was submerged in the overwhelming -terror of the earthquake. - -Dawn was breaking in the east. The rumblings were diminishing, the -tremors at greater intervals and of lessening violence. - -Nadara started to retrace her steps toward the village. Momentarily she -looked to see Thandar coming in search of her, but she came to the edge -of the forest and no sign of Thandar or another of her tribesmen had -come to cheer her. - -At last she stepped into the open. Before her was the cliff. A cry -of anguish broke from her lips at the sight that met her eyes. Torn, -tortured and crumpled were the lofty crags that had been her home--the -home of the tribe of Thandar. - -The overhanging cliff top had broken away and lay piled in a jagged -heap at the foot of the cliff. The caves had disappeared. The ledges -had crumbled before the titanic struggles of The Great Nagoola. All was -desolation and ruin. - -She approached more closely. Here and there in the awful jumble of -shattered rock were wedged the crushed and mangled forms of men, women -and children. - -Tears coursed down Nadara's cheeks. Sobs wracked her slender figure. -And Thandar! Where was he? - -With utmost difficulty the girl picked her way aloft over the tumbled -debris. She could only guess at the former location of Thandar's cave, -but now no sign of cave remained--only the same blank waste of silent -stone. - -Frantically she tugged and tore at massive heaps of sharp edged rock. -Her fingers were cut and bruised and bleeding. She called aloud the -name of her man, but there was no response. - -It was late in the afternoon before, weak and exhausted, she gave up -her futile search. That night she slept in a crevice between two broken -boulders, and the next morning she set out in search of a cave where -she might live out the remainder of her lonely life in what safety and -meager comfort a lone girl could wring from this savage world. - -For a week she wandered hither and thither only to find most of the -caves she had known in the past demolished as had been those of her -people. - -At last she stumbled upon the very cliff which Thandar had chosen as -the permanent home of his people. Here the wrath of the earthquake -seemed to have been less severe, and Nadara found, high in the cliff's -face, a safe and comfortable cavern. - -The last span to it required the use of a slender sapling, which she -could draw up after her, effectually barring the approach of Nagoola -and his people. To further protect herself against the chance of -wandering men the girl carried a quantity of small bits of rock to the -ledge beside the entrance to her cave. - -Fruit and nuts and vegetables she took there too, and a great gourd of -water from the spring below. As she completed her last trip, and sat -resting upon the ledge, her eyes wandering over the landscape and out -across the distant ocean, she thought she saw something move in the -shadow of the trees across the open plain beneath her. - -Could it have been a man? Nadara drew her sapling ladder to the ledge -beside her. - -Thurg, fleeing from the wrath of The Great Nagoola, had come at -daybreak to the spot where his people had been camped, but there he -found no sign of them, only the ragged edges of a great fissure, -half-closed, that might have swallowed his entire tribe as he had seen -the fissures in the forest swallow many, many trees at a single bite. - -For some time he sought for signs of his tribesmen, but without -success. Then, his fear of the earthquake allayed, he started back into -the forest to find the girl. For days he sought her. He came to the -ruins of the cliff that had housed her people, and there he discovered -signs that the girl had been there since the demolition of the cliff. - -He saw the print of her dainty feet in the soft earth at the base of -the rocks--he saw how she had searched the debris for Thandar--he saw -her bed of grasses in the crevice between the two boulders, and then, -after diligent search, he found her spoor leading away to the east. - -For many days he followed her until, at last, close by the sea, he come -to a level plain at the edge of a forest. Across the narrow plain rose -lofty cliffs--and what was that clambering aloft toward the dark mouth -of a cave? - -Could it be a woman? Thurg's eyes narrowed as he peered intently toward -the cliff. Yes, it was a woman--it was _the_ woman--it was she he -sought, and, she was alone. - -With a whoop of exultation Thurg broke from the forest into the plain, -running swiftly toward the cliff where Nadara crouched beside her -little pile of jagged missiles, prepared to once more battle with this -hideous monster for more than life. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE SEARCH - - -A year had elapsed since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had departed from -the Back Bay home of his aristocratic parents to seek in a long sea -voyage a cure for the hacking cough and hectic cheeks which had in -themselves proclaimed the almost incurable. - -Two months later had come the first meager press notices of the narrow -escape of the steamer, upon which Waldo Emerson had been touring the -south seas, from utter destruction by a huge tidal wave. The dispatch -read: - - The captain reports that the great wave swept entirely over the - steamer, momentarily submerging her. Two members of the crew, the - officer upon the bridge, and one passenger were washed away. - - The latter was an American traveling for his health, Waldo E. - Smith-Jones, son of John Alden Smith-Jones of Boston. - - The steamer came about, cruising back and forth for some time, but - as the wave had washed her perilously close to a dangerous shore, - it seemed unsafe to remain longer in the vicinity, for fear of - a recurrence of the tidal wave which would have meant the utter - annihilation of the vessel upon the nearby beach. - -No sign of any of the poor unfortunates was seen. - -Mrs. Smith-Jones is prostrated. - -Immediately John Alden Smith-Jones had fitted out his yacht, -_Priscilla_, despatching her under Captain Burlinghame, a retired naval -officer, and an old friend of Mr. Smith-Jones, to the far distant coast -in search of the body of his son, which the captain of the steamer was -of the opinion might very possibly have been washed upon the beach. - -And now Burlinghame was back to report the failure of his mission. -The two men were sitting in the John Alden Smith-Jones library. Mrs. -Smith-Jones was with them. - -"We searched the beach diligently at the point opposite which the tidal -wave struck the steamer," Captain Burlinghame was saying. "For miles up -and down the coast we patrolled every inch of the sand. - -"We found, at one spot upon the edge of the jungle and above the beach, -the body of one of the sailors. It was not and could not have been -Waldo's. The clothing was that of a seaman, the frame was much shorter -and stockier than your son's. There was no sign of any other body along -that entire coast. - -"Thinking it possible one of the men might have been washed ashore -alive we sent parties into the interior. Here we found a wild and -savage country, and on two occasions met with fierce, white savages, -who hurled rocks at us and fled at the first report of our firearms. - -"We continued our search all around the island, which is of -considerable extent. Upon the east coast I found this," and here the -captain handed Mr. Smith-Jones the bag of jewels which Nadara had -forgotten as she fled from Thandar. - -Briefly he narrated what he knew of the history of the poor woman to -whom it had belonged. - -"I recall the incident well," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, "I had the -pleasure of entertaining the count and countess when they stopped here -upon their honeymoon. They were lovely people, and to think that they -met so tragic an end!" - -The three lapsed into silence. Burlinghame did not know whether he was -glad or sorry that he had not found the bones of Waldo Emerson--that -would have meant the end of hope for his parents. Perhaps much the same -thoughts were running through the minds of the others. - -Somewhere in the nether regions of the great house an electric bell -sounded. Still the three sat on in silence. They heard the houseman -open the front door. They heard low voices, and presently there came a -deferential tap upon the door of the library. - -Mr. Smith-Jones looked up and nodded. It was the houseman. He held a -letter in his hand. - -"What is it Krutz?" asked the master in a tired voice. It seemed that -nothing ever again would interest him. - -"A special delivery letter, sir," replied the servant. "The boy says -you must sign for it yourself, sir." - -"Ah, yes," replied Mr. Smith-Jones, as he reached for the letter and -the receipt blank. - -He glanced at the post mark--San Francisco. - -Idly he cut the envelope. - -"Pardon me?" He glanced first at his wife and then at Captain -Burlinghame. - -The two nodded. - -Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones opened the letter. There was a single -written sheet and an enclosure in another envelope. He had read but a -couple of lines when he came suddenly upright in his chair. - -Captain Burlinghame and Mrs. Smith-Jones looked at him in polite and -surprised questioning. - -"My God!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "He is alive--Waldo is alive!" - -Mrs. Smith-Jones and Captain Burlinghame sprang from their chairs and -ran toward the speaker. - -With trembling hands that made it difficult to read the words that his -trembling voice could scarce utter John Alden Smith-Jones read aloud: - - _On board the Sally Corwith, - San Francisco, California._ - - _Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones, - Boston, Mass._ - - _Dear Sir: Just reached port and hasten to forward letter your son - gave me for his mother. He wouldn't come with us. We found him on ---- - ----Island, Lat. 10° --" South, Long. 150° --" West. He seemed in - good health and able to look out for himself. Didn't want anything, - he said, except a razor, so we gave him that and one of the men gave - him a plug of chewing tobacco. Urged him to come, but he wouldn't. The - enclosed letter will doubtless tell you all about him._ - - _Yours truly, - Henry Dobbs, Master._ - -"Ten south, a hundred and fifty west," mused Captain Burlinghame. -"That's the same island we searched. Where could he have been!" - -Mrs. Smith-Jones had opened the letter addressed to her, and was -reading it breathlessly. - - _My dear Mother: I feel rather selfish in remaining and possibly - causing you further anxiety, but I have certain duties to perform to - several of the inhabitants which I feel obligated to fulfill before I - depart._ - - _My treatment here has been all that anyone might desire--even more, I - might say._ - - _The climate is delightful. My cough has left me, and I am entirely a - well man--more robust than I ever recall having been in the past._ - - _At present I am sojourning in the mountains, having but run down - to the sea shore today, where, happily, I chanced to find the Sally - Corwith in the harbor, and am taking advantage of Captain Dobbs' - kindness to forward this letter to you._ - - _Do not worry, dearest mother; my obligations will soon be fulfilled - and then I shall hasten to take the first steamer for Boston._ - - _I have met a number of interesting people here--the most interesting - people I have ever met. They quite overwhelm one with their - attentions._ - - _And now, as Captain Dobbs is anxious to be away, I will close, with - every assurance of my deepest love for you and father._ - - _Ever affectionately your son, - Waldo._ - -Mrs. Smith-Jones' eyes were dim with tears--tears of thanksgiving and -happiness. - -"And to think," she exclaimed, "that after all he is alive and -well--quite well. His cough has left him--that is the best part of it, -and he is surrounded by interesting people--just what Waldo needed. -For some time I feared, before he sailed, that he was devoting himself -too closely to his studies and to the little coterie of our own set -which surrounded him. This experience will be broadening. Of course -these people may be slightly provincial, but it is evident that they -possess a certain culture and refinement--otherwise my Waldo would -never have described them as 'interesting.' The coarse, illiterate, or -vulgar could never prove 'interesting' to a Smith-Jones." - -Captain Cecil Burlinghame nodded politely--he was thinking of the -naked, hairy man-brutes he had seen within the interior of the island. - -"It is evident, Burlinghame," said Mr. Smith-Jones, "that you -overlooked a portion of this island. It would seem, from Waldo's -letter, that there must be a colony of civilized men and women -somewhere upon it. Of course it is possible that it may be further -inland than you penetrated." - -Burlinghame shook his head. - -"I am puzzled," he said. "We circled the entire coast, yet nowhere did -we see any evidence of a man-improved harbor, such as one might have -reason to expect were there really a colony of advanced humans in the -interior. There would have been at least a shack near the beach in one -of the several natural harbors which indent the coast line was there -even an occasional steamer touching for purposes of commerce with the -colonists. - -"No, my friends," he continued, "as much as I should like to believe -it my judgment will not permit me to place any such translation upon -Waldo's letter. - -"That he is safe and happy seems evident, and that is enough for us to -know. Now it should be a simple matter for us to find him--if it is -still your desire to send for him." - -"He may already have left for Boston," said Mrs. Smith-Jones; "his -letter was written several months ago." - -Again Burlinghame shook his head. - -"Do not bank on that, my dear madam," he said kindly. "It may be fifty -years before another vessel touches that forgotten shore--unless it be -one which you yourselves send." - -John Alden Smith-Jones sprang to his feet, and commenced pacing up and -down the library. - -"How soon can the _Priscilla_ be put in shape to make the return voyage -to the island?" he asked. - -"It _can_ be done in a week, if necessary," replied Burlinghame. - -"And you will accompany her, in command?" - -"Gladly." - -"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "And now, my friend, let us lose no -time in starting our preparations. I intend accompanying you." - -"And I shall go too," said Mrs. Smith-Jones. - -The two men looked at her in surprise. - -"But my dear!" cried her husband, "there is no telling what hardships -and dangers we may encounter--you could never stand such a trip." - -"I am going," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, firmly. "I know my Waldo. I know -his refined and sensitive nature. I know that I am fully capable of -enduring whatever he may have endured. He tells me that he is among -interesting people. Evidently there is nothing to fear, then, from -the inhabitants of the island, and furthermore I wish personally to -meet the people he has been living with. I have always been careful -to surround Waldo with only the nicest people, and if any vulgarizing -influences have been brought to bear upon him since he has been beyond -my mature guidance I wish to know it, that I may determine how to -combat their results." - -That was the end of it. If Mrs. Smith-Jones knew her son, Mr. -Smith-Jones certainly knew his wife. - -A week later the _Priscilla_ sailed from Boston harbor on her long -journey around the Horn to the south seas. - -Most of the old crew had been retained. The first and second officers -were new men. The former, William Stark, had come to Burlinghame well -recommended. From the first he seemed an intelligent and experienced -officer. That he was inclined to taciturnity but enhanced his value -in the eyes of Burlinghame. Stark was inclined to be something of a -martinet, so that the crew soon took to hating him cordially, but as -his display of this unpleasant trait was confined wholly to trivial -acts the men contented themselves with grumbling among themselves, -which is the prerogative and pleasure of every good sailorman. Their -loyalty to the splendid Burlinghame, however, was not to be shaken by -even a dozen Starks. - -The monotonous and uneventful journey to the vicinity of ten south -and a hundred and fifty west was finally terminated. At last land -showed on the starboard bow. Excitement reigned supreme throughout the -trim, white _Priscilla_. Mrs. Smith-Jones peered anxiously and almost -constantly through her binoculars, momentarily expecting to see the -well-known thin and emaciated figure of her Waldo Emerson standing upon -the beach awaiting them. - -For two weeks they sailed along the coast, stopping here and there for -a day while parties tramped inland in search of signs of civilized -habitation. They lay two days in the harbor where the _Sally Corwith_ -had lain. There they pressed farther inland than at any other point, -but all without avail. It was Burlinghame's plan to first make a -cursory survey of the entire coast, with only short incursions toward -the center of the island. Should this fail to discover the missing -Waldo the party was then to go over the ground once more, remaining -weeks or months as might be required to thoroughly explore every foot -of the island. - -It was during the pursuit of the initial portion of the program that -they dropped anchor in the self-same harbor upon whose waters Waldo -Emerson and Nadara had seen the _Priscilla_ lying, only to fly from her. - -Burlinghame recalled it as the spot at which the bag of jewels had been -picked up. Next to the Sally Corwith harbor, as they had come to call -the other anchorage, this seemed most fraught with possibilities of -success. They christened it Eugenie Bay, after that poor, unfortunate -lady, Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, whose -jewels had been recovered upon its shore. - -Burlinghame and Waldo's father with half a dozen officers and men of -the _Priscilla_ had spent the day searching the woods, the plain and -the hills for some slight sign of human habitation. Shortly after noon -First Officer Stark stumbled upon the whitened skeleton of a man. In -answer to his shouts the other members of the party hastened to his -side. They found the grim thing lying in a little barren spot among -the tall grasses. About it the liquids of decomposition had killed -vegetation leaving the thing alone in all its grisly repulsiveness as -though shocked, nature had withdrawn in terror. - -Stark stood pointing toward it without a word as the others came up. -Burlinghame was the first to reach Stark's side. He bent low over -the bones examining the skull carefully. John Alden Smith-Jones came -panting up. Instantly he saw what Burlinghame was examining he turned -deathly white. Burlinghame looked up at him. - -"It's not," he said. "Look at that skull--either a gorilla or some very -low type of man." - -Mr. Smith-Jones breathed a sigh of relief. - -"What an awful creature it must have been," he said, when he had fully -taken in the immense breadth of the squat skeleton. "It cannot be that -Waldo has survived in a wilderness peopled by such creatures as this. -Imagine him confronted by such a beast. Timid by nature and never -robust he would have perished of fright at the very sight of this thing -charging down upon him." - -Captain Cecil Burlinghame acquiesced with a nod. He knew Waldo Emerson -well, and so he could not even imagine a meeting between the frail and -cowardly youth and such a beast as this bleaching frame must once have -supported. And at their feet the bones of Flatfoot lay mute witnesses -to the impossible. - -Presently a shout from one of the sailors attracted their attention -toward the far side of the valley. The man was standing upon a rise of -ground waving his arms and gesticulating violently toward the lofty -cliffs which rose sheer from the rank jungle grasses. All eyes turned -in the direction indicated by the excited sailor. At first they saw -nothing, but presently a figure came in sight upon a little elevation. -It was the figure of a human being, and even at the distance they were -from it all were assured that it was the figure of a female. She was -running toward the cliffs with the speed of a deer. And now behind her, -came another figure. Thick set and squat was the thing that pursued the -woman. It might have been the reanimated skeleton that they had just -discovered. - -Would the creature catch her before she reached the cliff? Would she -find sanctuary even there? Already Burlinghame and Stark had started -toward the cliff on a run. John Alden Smith-Jones followed more slowly. -The men raced after their officers. - -The girl had reached the rocks and was scampering up their precipitous -face like a squirrel. Close behind her came the man. They saw the girl -reach a ledge just below the mouth of a cave in which she evidently -expected to find safety. They saw her clambering up the rickety sapling -that answered for a ladder. They breathed sighs of relief, for it -seemed that she was now quite safe--the man was still one ledge below -her. - -But in another moment the watchers were filled with horror. The brute -pursuing her had reached forth a giant hand and seized the base of the -sapling. He was dragging it over the edge of the cliff. In another -moment the girl would be precipitated either into his arms or to a -horrible death upon the jagged rocks beneath her. - -Burlinghame and Stark halted simultaneously. At once two rifles leaped -to their shoulders. There were two reports, so close together that they -seemed as one. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -FIRST MATE STARK - - -Upon the day that Thurg discovered Nadara he had come racing to the -foot of the cliff, roaring and bellowing like a mad bull. Upward he -clambered half the distance to the girl's lofty perch. Then a bit of -jagged rock, well aimed, had brought him to a sudden halt, spitting -blood and teeth from his injured mouth. He looked up at Nadara and -shrieked out his rage and his threats of vengeance. Nadara launched -another missile at him that caught him full upon one eye, dropping -him like a stone to the narrow ledge upon which he had been standing. -Quickly the girl started to descend to his side to finish the work she -had commenced, for she knew that there could be no peace or safety for -her, now that Thurg had discovered her hiding place, while the monster -lived. - -But she had scarce more than lowered her sapling to the ledge beneath -her when the giant form of the man moved and Thurg sat up. Quickly -Nadara clambered back to her ledge, again drawing her sapling after -her. She was about to hurl another missile at the man when he spoke to -her. - -"We are alone in the world," he said. "All your people and all my -people have been slain by the Great Nagoola. Come down. Let us live -together in peace. There is no other left in all the world." - -Nadara laughed at him. - -"Come down to you!" she cried, mockingly. "Live with you! I would -rather live with the pigs that root in the forest. Go away, or I will -finish what I have commenced, and kill you. I would not live with you -though I knew that you were the last human being on earth." - -Thurg pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Again he tried -to clamber to her side, but again he was repulsed with well-aimed -missiles. At last he withdrew, growling and threatening. - -For weeks he haunted the vicinity of the cliff. Nadara's meager food -supply was soon exhausted. She was forced to descend to replenish her -larder and fill her gourd, or die of starvation and thirst. She made -her trips to the forest at night, though black Nagoola prowled and the -menace of Thurg loomed through the darkness. At last the man discovered -her in one of these nocturnal expeditions and almost caught her before -she reached her ledge of safety. - -For three days he kept her a close prisoner. Again her stock of -provisions was exhausted. She was desperate. Twice had Nagoola nearly -trapped her in the forest. She dared not again tempt fate in the -gloomy wood by night. There was nothing left but to risk all in one -last effort to elude Thurg by day and find another asylum in some far -distant corner of the island. - -Carefully she watched her opportunity, and while the beast-man was -temporarily absent seeking food for himself the girl slid swiftly to -the base of the cliff and started through the tall grasses for the -opposite side of the valley. - -Upon this day Thurg had fallen upon the spoor of deer as he had -searched the forest for certain berries that were in season and which -he particularly enjoyed. The trail led along the edge of the wood to -the opposite side of the valley, and over the hills into the region -beyond. All day Thurg followed the fleet animals, until at last not -having come up with them he was forced to give up the pursuit and -return to the cliffs, lest his more valuable quarry should escape. - -Half-way between the hills and the cliff he came suddenly face to -face with Nadara. Not twenty paces separated them. With a howl of -satisfaction Thurg leaped to seize her, but she turned and fled before -he could lay his hand upon her. If Thurg had found his other quarry of -that day swift, so, too, he now found Nadara, for terror gave wings -to her flying feet. Lumbering after her came Thurg, and had the -distance been less he would have been left far behind, but it was a -long distance from the spot, where they had met, to Nadara's cliffs. -The girl could out-run the man for a short distance, but when victory -depended upon endurance the advantage was all upon the side of the -brute. - -As they neared the goal Nadara realized that the lead she had gained -at first was rapidly being overcome by the horrid creature panting so -close behind her. She strained every nerve and muscle in a last mad -effort to distance the fate that was closing upon her. She reached -the cliff. Thurg was just behind her. Half spent, she stumbled upward -in, what seemed to her, pitiful slowness. At last her hand grasped -the sapling that led to the mouth of her cave--in another instant she -would be safe. But her new-born hope went out as she felt the sapling -slipping and glanced downward to see Thurg dragging it from its -position. - -She shut her eyes that she might not see the depths below into which -she was about to be hurled, and then there smote upon her ears the most -terrific burst of sound that had ever assailed them, other than the -thunders that rolled down out of the heavens when the rains came. But -this sound did not come from above--it came from the valley beneath. - -The ladder ceased to slip. She opened her eyes and glanced downward. -Far below her lay the body of Thurg. She could see that he was quite -dead. He lay upon his face and from his back trickled two tiny streams -of blood from little holes. - -Nadara clambered upward to her ledge, drawing her sapling after her, -and then she looked about for an explanation of the strange noise and -the sudden death of Thurg, for she could not but connect the one with -the other. Below, in the valley, she saw a number of men strangely -garbed. They were coming toward her cliff. She gathered her missiles -closely about her, ready to her hand. Now they were below and calling -up to her. Her eyes dilated in wonder--they spoke the strange tongue -that Thandar had tried to teach her. She called down to them in her own -tongue, but they shook their heads, motioning her to descend. She was -afraid. All her life she had been afraid of men, and with reason--of -all except her old foster father and Thandar. These, evidently, were -men. She could only expect from them the same treatment that Thurg -would have accorded her. - -One of them had started up the face of the cliff. It was Stark. Nadara -seized a bit of rock and hurled it down upon him. He barely dodged -the missile, but he desisted in his attempt to ascend to her. Now -Burlinghame advanced, raising his hand, palm toward her in sign that -she should not assault him. She recalled some of the language that -Thandar had taught her--maybe they would understand it. - -"Go-way!" she cried. "Go-way! Nadara kill bad-men." - -A look of pleasure overspread Burlinghame's face--the girl spoke -English. - -"We are not bad men," he called up to her. "We will not harm you." - -"What you want?" asked Nadara, still unconvinced by mere words. - -"We want to talk with you," replied Burlinghame. "We are looking for a -friend who was ship-wrecked upon this island. Come down. We will not -harm you. Have we not already proved our friendship by killing this -fellow who pursued you?" - -This man spoke precisely the tongue of Thandar. Nadara could understand -every word, for Thandar had talked to her much in English. She could -understand it better than she could speak it. If they talked the same -tongue as Thandar they must be from the same country. Maybe they were -Thandar's friends. Anyway they were like him, and Thandar never harmed -women. She could trust them. Slowly she lowered her sapling and began -the descent. Several times she hesitated as though minded to return to -her ledge, but Burlinghame's kindly voice and encouragement at last -prevailed, and presently Nadara stood before them. - -The officers and men of the _Priscilla_ crowded around the girl. They -were struck with her beauty, and the simple dignity of her manner and -her carriage. The great black panther skin that fell from her left -shoulder she wore with the majesty of a queen and with a naturalness -that cast no reflection upon her modesty, though it revealed quite -as much of her figure as it hid. William Stark, first officer of the -_Priscilla_, caught his breath--never, he was positive, had God made a -more lovely creature. - -From the top of the cliff a shaggy man peered down upon the strange -scene. He blinked his little eyes, scratched his matted head, and once -he picked up a large stone that lay near him; but he did not hurl it -upon those below, for he had heard the loud report of the rifles, -seen the smoke belch from the muzzles, and witnessed the sudden and -miraculous collapse of Thurg. - -Burlinghame was speaking to Nadara. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -"Nadara," replied the girl. - -"Where do you live?" - -Nadara jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the cliff at her back. -Burlinghame searched the rocky escarpment with his eyes, but saw no -sign of another living being there. - -"Where are your people?" - -"Dead." - -"All of them?" - -Nadara nodded affirmatively. - -"How long have they been dead and what killed them?" continued -Burlinghame. - -"Almost a moon. The Great Nagoola killed them." - -In answer to other questions Nadara related all that had transpired -since the night of the earthquake. Her description of the catastrophe -convinced the Americans that a violent quake had recently occurred to -shake the island to its foundations. - -"Ask her about Waldo," whispered Mr. Smith-Jones, himself dreading to -put the question. - -"We are looking for a young man," said Burlinghame, "who was lost -overboard from a steamer on the west coast of this island. We know -that he reached the shore alive, for we have heard from him. Have -you ever seen or heard of this stranger? His name is Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones--this gentleman is his father," indicating Mr. Smith-Jones. - -Nadara looked with wide eyes at John Alden Smith-Jones. So this man was -Thandar's father. She felt very sorry for him, for she knew that he -loved Thandar--Thandar had often told her so. She did not know how to -tell him--she shrank from causing another the anguish and misery that -she had endured. - -"Did you know of him?" asked Burlinghame. - -Nadara nodded her head. - -"Where is he?" cried Waldo's father. "Where are the people with whom he -lived here?" - -Nadara came close to John Alden Smith-Jones. There was no fear in her -innocent young heart for this man who was Thandar's father--who loved -Thandar--only a great compassion for him in the sorrow that she was -about to inflict. Gently she took his hand in hers, raising her sad -eyes to his. - -"Where is he? Where is my boy?" whispered Mr. Smith-Jones. - -"He is with his people, who were my people--the people of whom I have -just told you," replied Nadara softly-- "He is dead." And then she -dropped her face upon the man's hand and wept. - -The shock staggered John Alden Smith-Jones. It seemed -incredible--impossible--that Waldo could have lived through all that he -must have lived through to perish at last but a few short weeks before -succor reached him. For a moment he forgot the girl. It was her hot -tears upon his hand that aroused him to a consciousness of the present. - -"Why do you weep?" he cried almost roughly. - -"For you," she replied, "who loved him, too." - -"You loved Waldo?" asked the boy's father. - -Nadara nodded her tumbled mass of raven hair. John Alden Smith-Jones -looked down upon the bent head of the sobbing girl in silence for -several minutes. Many things were racing through his patrician brain. -He was by training, environment and heredity narrow and Puritanical. -He saw the meager apparel of the girl--he saw her nut brown skin; but -he did not see her nakedness, for something in his heart told him that -sweet virtue clothed her more effectually than could silks and satins -without virtue. Gently he placed an arm about her, drawing her to him. - -"My daughter," he said, and pressed his lips to her forehead. - -It was a solemn and sorrow-ridden party that boarded the _Priscilla_ -an hour later. Mrs. Smith-Jones had seen them coming. Some intuitive -sense may have warned her of the sorrow that lay in store for her upon -their return. At any rate she did not meet them at the rail as in the -past, instead she retired to her cabin to await her husband there. -When he joined her he brought with him a half-naked young woman. Mrs. -Smith-Jones looked upon the girl with ill concealed horror. - -Waldo's mother met the shock of her husband's news with much greater -fortitude than he had expected. As a matter of fact she had been -prepared for this from the first. She had never really believed that -Waldo could survive for any considerable time far from the comforts and -luxuries of his Boston home and the watchful care of herself. - -"And who is this--ah--person?" she asked coldly at last, holding her -pince-nez before her eyes as with elevated brows she cast a look of -disapproval upon Nadara. - -The girl, reading more in the older woman's manner than her words, drew -herself up proudly. Mr. Smith-Jones coughed and colored. He stepped to -Nadara's side, placing his arm about her shoulders. - -"She loved Waldo," he said simply. - -"The brazen huzzy!" exclaimed Mrs. Smith-Jones. "To dare to love a -Smith-Jones!" - -"Come, come, Louisa!" ejaculated her husband. "Remember that she too is -suffering--do not add to her sorrow. She loved our boy, and he returned -her love." - -"How do you know that?" - -"She has told me," replied the man. - -"It is not true," cried Mrs. Smith-Jones. "It is not true! Waldo -Emerson would never stoop to love one out of his own high class. Who is -she, and what proof have you that Waldo loved her?" - -"I am Nadara," said the girl proudly, answering for herself, "and this -is the proof that he loved me. He told me that this was the pledge -token between us until we could come to his land and be mated according -to the customs there." She held out her left hand, upon the third -finger of which sparkled a great solitaire--a solitaire which Mrs. John -Alden Smith-Jones recognized instantly. - -"He gave you that?" she asked. - -Then she turned toward her husband. - -"What do you intend doing with this girl?" she asked. - -"I shall take her back home," replied he. "She should be as a daughter -to us, for Waldo would have made her such had he lived. She cannot -remain upon the island. All her people were killed by the earthquake -that destroyed Waldo. She is in constant danger of attack by wild -beasts and wilder men. We cannot leave her here, and even if we could I -should not do so, for we owe a duty to our dead boy to care for her as -he would have cared for her--and we owe a greater duty to her." - -"I must be alone," was all that Mrs. Smith-Jones replied. "Please take -her away, John. Give her the cabin next to this, and have Marie clothe -her properly--Marie's clothes should about fit her." There was more of -tired anguish in her voice now than of anger. - -Mr. Smith-Jones led Nadara out and summoned Marie, but Nadara upset his -plans by announcing that she wished to return to shore. - -"She does not like me," she said, nodding toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's -cabin, "and I will not stay." - -It took John Alden Smith-Jones a long time to persuade the girl to -change her mind. He pointed out that his wife was greatly over-wrought -by the shock of the news of Waldo's death. He assured Nadara that at -heart she was a kindly woman, and that eventually she would regret -her attitude toward the girl. And at last Nadara consented to remain -aboard the _Priscilla_. But when Marie would have clothed her in the -garments of civilization she absolutely refused--scorning the hideous -and uncomfortable clothing. - -It was two days before Mrs. Smith-Jones sent for her. When she entered -that lady's cabin the latter exclaimed at once against her barbarous -attire. - -"I gave instructions that Marie should dress you properly," she said. -"You are not decently clothed--that bear skin is shocking." - -Nadara tossed her head, and her eyes flashed fire. - -"I shall never wear your silly clothes," she cried. "This, Thandar gave -me--he slew Nagoola, the black panther, with his own hands, and gave -the skin to me who was to be his mate--do you think I would exchange -it for such foolish garments as those?" and she waved a contemptuous -gesture toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's expensive morning gown. - -The elder woman forgot her outraged dignity in the suggestion the girl -had given her for an excuse to be rid of her at the first opportunity. -She had mentioned a party named Thandar. She had brazenly boasted that -this Thandar had killed the beast whose pelt she wore and given her -the thing for a garment. She had admitted that she was to become this -person's "mate." Mrs. Smith-Jones shuddered at the primitive word. At -this moment Mr. Smith-Jones entered the cabin. He smiled pleasantly at -Nadara, and then, seeing in the attitudes of the two women that he had -stepped within a theater of war, he looked questioningly at his wife. - -"Now what, Louisa?" he asked, somewhat sharply. - -"Sufficient, John," exclaimed that lady, "to bear out my original -contention that it was a very unwise move to bring this woman with -us--she has just admitted that she was the promised 'mate' of a person -she calls Thandar. She is brazen--I refuse to permit her to enter -my home; nor shall she remain upon the _Priscilla_ longer than is -necessary to land her at the first civilized port." - -Mr. Smith-Jones looked questioningly at Nadara. The girl had guessed -the erroneous reasoning that had caused Mrs. Smith-Jones's excitement. -She had forgotten that they did not know that Waldo and Thandar were -one. Now she could scarce repress a smile of amusement nor resist the -temptation to take advantage of Mrs. Smith-Jones's ignorance to bait -her further. - -"You had another lover beside Waldo?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones. - -"I loved Thandar," she replied. "Thandar was king of my people. He -loved me. He slew Nagoola for me and gave me his skin. He slew Korth -and Flatfoot, also. They wanted me, but Thandar slew them. And Big Fist -he slew, and Sag the Killer--oh, Thandar was a mighty fighter. Can you -wonder that I loved him?" - -"He was a hideous murderer!" cried Mrs. Smith-Jones, "and to think that -my poor Waldo; poor, timid, gentle Waldo, was condemned to live among -such savage brutes. Oh, it is too terrible!" - -Nadara's eyes went wide. It was her turn to suffer a shock. "Poor, -timid, gentle Waldo!" Had she heard aright? Could it be that they were -describing the same man? There must be some mistake. - -"Did Waldo know that you loved Thandar?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones. - -"Thandar was Waldo," she replied. "Thandar is the name I gave him--it -means the Brave One. He was very brave," she cried. "He was not -'timid,' and he was only 'gentle' with women and children." - -Mrs. Smith-Jones had never been so shocked in all her life. She sprang -to her feet. - -"Leave my cabin!" she cried. "I see through your shallow deception. -You thoughtlessly betrayed yourself and your vulgar immoralities, and -now you try to hide behind a base calumny that pictures my dear, dead -boy as one with your hideous, brutal chief. You shall not deceive me -longer. Leave my cabin, please!" - -Mr. Smith-Jones stood as one paralyzed. He could not believe in the -perfidy of the girl--it seemed impossible that she could have so -deceived him--nor yet could he question the integrity of his own ears. -It was, of course, too far beyond the pale of reason to attempt to -believe that Waldo Emerson and the terrible Thandar were one and the -same. The girl had gone too far, and yet he could not believe that she -was bad. There must be some explanation. - -In the meantime Nadara had left the room, her little chin high in air. -Never again, she determined, would she subject herself to the insults -of Thandar's mother. She went on deck. She had found it difficult -to remain below during the day. She craved the fresh air, and the -excitement to be found above. The officers had been very nice to -her. Stark was much with her. The man had fallen desperately in love -with the half-savage girl. As she reached the deck after leaving Mrs. -Smith-Jones's cabin Stark was the first she chanced to meet. She would -have preferred being alone with her sorrow and her anger, but the man -joined her. Together they stood by the rail watching the approach -of heavy clouds. A storm was about to break over them that had been -brewing for several days. - -Stark knew nothing of what had taken place below, but he saw that the -girl was unhappy. He attempted to cheer her. At last he took her hand -and stroked it caressingly as he talked with her. Before she could -guess his intention he was pouring words of love and passion into her -ears. Nadara drew away. A puzzled frown contracted her brows. - -"Do not talk so to Nadara," she said. "She does not love you." And then -she moved away and went to her cabin. - -Stark looked after her as she departed. He was thoroughly aroused. Who -was this savage girl, to repulse him? What would have been her fate but -for his well-directed shot? Was not the man who had been pursuing her -but acting after the customs of her wild people? He would have taken -her by force. That was the only way she would have been taken had she -been left upon her own island. That was the only kind of betrothal she -knew. It was what she expected. He had been a fool to approach her with -the soft words of civilization. They had made her despise him. She -would have understood force, and loved him for it. Well, he would show -her that he could be as primitive as any of her savage lovers. - -The storm broke. The wind became a hurricane. The _Priscilla_ was -forced to turn and flee before the anger of the elements, so that she -retraced her course of the past two days and then was blown to the -north. - -Stark saw nothing of Nadara during this period. At the end of -thirty-six hours the wind had died and the sea was settling to its -normal quiet. It was the first evening after the storm. The deck of the -_Priscilla_ was almost deserted. The yacht was moving slowly along not -far off the shore of one of the many islands that dot that part of the -south seas. - -Nadara came on deck for a walk before retiring. Stark and two sailors -were on watch. At sight of the girl the first officer approached -her. He spoke pleasantly as though nothing had occurred to mar their -friendly relations. He talked of the storm and pointed out the black -outlines of the nearby shore, and as he talked he led her toward the -stern, out of sight of the sailors forward. - -Suddenly he turned upon her and grasped her in his arms. With brutal -force he crushed her to him, covering her face with kisses. She fought -to free herself, but Stark was a strong man. Slowly he forced her to -the deck. She beat him in the face and upon the breast, and at last, in -the extreme of desperation, she screamed for help. Instantly he struck -her a heavy blow upon the jaw. The slender form of the girl relaxed -upon the deck in unconsciousness. - -Now Stark came to a sudden realization of the gravity of the thing he -had done. He knew that when Nadara regained consciousness his perfidy -would come to the attention of Captain Burlinghame, and he feared the -quiet, ex-naval officer more than he did the devil. He looked over the -rail. It would be an easy thing to dispose of the girl. He had only to -drop her unconscious body into the still waters below. He raised her in -his arms and bore her to the rail. The moon shone down upon her face. -He looked out over the water and saw the shore so close at hand. - -There would be a thorough investigation and the sailors, who had no -love for him, as he well knew, would lose no time in reporting that he -had been the last to be seen with the girl. Evidently he was in for -it, one way or the other. - -Again he looked down into Nadara's face. She was very beautiful. He -wanted her badly. Slowly his glance wandered to the calm waters of the -ocean and on to the quiet shore line. Then back to the girl. For a -moment he stood irresolute. Then he stepped to the side of the cabin -where hung a life preserver to which was attached a long line. - -He put the life preserver about Nadara. Then he lowered her into the -ocean. The moment he felt her weight transferred from the lowering rope -to the life preserver he vaulted over the yacht's rail into the dark -waters beneath her stern. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE WILD MEN - - -Nadara did not regain consciousness until Stark had reached shore -and was dragging her out upon the beach above the surf. For several -minutes after she had opened her eyes she had difficulty in recalling -the events that had immediately preceded Stark's attack upon her. She -felt the life belt still about her, and as Stark stooped above her to -remove it she knew that it was he though she could not distinguish his -features. - -What had happened? Slowly a realization of the man's bold act forced -itself upon her--he had leaped overboard from the _Priscilla_ and swam -ashore with her rather than face the consequences of his brutal conduct -toward her. - -To a girl reared within the protective influences of civilization -Nadara's position would have seemed hopeless; but Nadara knew naught -of other protection than that afforded by her own quick wits and -the agility of her swift young muscles. To her it would have seemed -infinitely more appalling to have been confined within the narrow -limits of the yacht with this man, for there all was strange and new. -She still had half feared and mistrusted all aboard the _Priscilla_ -except Thandar's father and Captain Burlinghame; but would they have -protected her from Stark? She did not know. Among her own people only -a father, brother, or mate protected a woman from one who sought her -against her will, and of these she had none upon the little vessel. - -But now it was different. Intuitively she knew that upon a savage -shore, however strange and unfamiliar it might be, she would have -every advantage over the first officer of the _Priscilla_. His life -had been spent close to the haunts of civilization; he knew nothing -of the woodcraft that was second nature to her; he might perish in -a land of plenty through ignorance of where to search for food, and -of what was edible and what was not. This much her early experience -with Waldo Emerson had taught her. When their paths first had crossed -Waldo had been as ignorant as a new-born babe in the craft of life -primeval--Nadara had had to teach him everything. - -Behind them Nadara heard the gentle soughing of trees--the myriad -noises of the teeming jungle night--and she smiled. It was inky black -about them. Stark had removed the life belt and placed it beneath the -girl's head. He thought her still unconscious--perhaps dead. Now he was -wringing the water from his clothes; his back toward her. - -Nadara rose to her feet--noiseless as Nagoola. Like a shadow she melted -into the blackness of the jungle that fringed the shore. Careful and -alert, she picked her way within the tangled mass for a few yards. At -the hole of a large tree she halted, listening. Then she made a low, -weird sound with her lips, listening again for a moment after. This -she repeated thrice, and then, seemingly satisfied that no danger -lurked above she swung herself into the low-hanging branches, quickly -ascending until she found a comfortable seat where she might rest in -ease. - -Down upon the beach Stark, having wrung the surplus water from his -garments, turned to examine and revive the girl, if she still lived. -Even in the darkness her form had been plainly visible against the -yellow sand, but now she was not there. Stark was dumfounded. His -eyes leaped quickly from one point to another, yet nowhere could they -discover the girl. There was the beach, the sea and the jungle. Which -had she chosen for her flight? It did not take Stark long to guess, and -immediately he turned his steps toward the shapeless, gloomy mass that -marked the forest's fringe. - -As he approached he went more slowly. The thought of entering that -forbidding wood sent cold shivers creeping through him. Could a mere -girl have dared its nameless horrors? She must have, and with the -decision came new resolution. What a girl had dared certainly he might -dare. Again he strode briskly toward the jungle. - -Just at its verge he heard a low, weird sound not a dozen paces -within the black, hideous tangle. It was Nadara voicing the two notes -which some ancient forbear of her tribe had discovered would wring -an answering growl from Nagoola, and an uneasy hiss from that other -arch enemy of man--the great, slimy serpent whose sinuous coils twined -threateningly above them in the branches of the trees. Only these -Nadara feared--these and man. So, before entering a tree at night it -was her custom to assure herself that neither Nagoola nor Coovra lurked -in the branches of the tree she had chosen for sanctuary. Stark beat -a hasty retreat, nor did he again venture from the beach during the -balance of the long, dismal night. - -When dawn broke it found Nadara much refreshed by the sleep she had -enjoyed within the comparative safety of the great tree, and Stark -haggard and exhausted by a sleepless night of terror and regret. He -cursed himself, the girl and his bestial passion, and then as his -thoughts conjured her lovely face and perfect figure before his mind's -eye, he leaped to his feet and swung briskly toward the jungle. He -would find her. All that he had sacrificed should not be in vain. He -would find her and keep her. Together they would make a home upon this -tropical shore. He would get everything out of life that there was to -get. - -He had taken but a few steps before he discovered, plain in the damp -sand before him, the prints of Nadara's naked feet in a well defined -trail leading toward the wood. With a smile of satisfaction and victory -the man followed it into the maze of vegetation, dank and gloomy even -beneath the warm light of the morning sun. - -By chance he stumbled directly upon Nadara. She had descended from her -tree to search for water. They saw each other simultaneously. The girl -turned and fled farther into the forest. Close behind her came the man. -For several hundred yards the chase led through the thick jungle which -terminated abruptly at the edge of a narrow, rock-covered clearing -beyond which loomed sheer, precipitous cliffs, raising their lofty -heads three hundred feet above the forest. - -A half smile touched Stark's lips as he saw the barrier that nature -had placed in the path of his quarry; but almost instantly it froze -into an expression of horror as a slight noise to his right attracted -his attention from the girl fleeing before him. For an instant he -stood bewildered, then a quick glance toward the girl revealed her -scaling the steep cliff with the agility, of a monkey, and with a cry -to attract her attention he leaped after her once more, but this time -himself the quarry--the hunter become the hunted, for after him raced a -score of painted savages, brandishing long, slim spears, or waving keen -edged parangs. - -Nadara had not needed Stark's warning cry to apprise her of the -proximity of the wild men. She had seen them the instant that she -cleared the jungle, and with the sight of them she knew that she need -no longer harbor fear of the white man. In them, though, she saw a -graver danger for herself, since they, doubtless, would have little -difficulty in overhauling her in their own haunts, while she had not -had much cause for worry as to her ability to elude the white man -indefinitely. - -Part way up the cliffs she paused to look back. Stark had reached the -foot of the lowering escarpment a short distance ahead of his pursuers. -He had chosen this route because of the ease with which the girl had -clambered up the rocky barrier, but he had reckoned without taking -into consideration the lifetime of practice which lay back of Nadara's -agility. From earliest infancy she had lived upon the face and within -the caves of steep cliffs. Her first toddling, baby footsteps had been -along the edge of narrow shelving ledges. - -When the man reached the cliff, however, he found confronting him an -apparently unscalable wall. He cast a frightened, appealing glance -at the girl far above him. Twice he essayed to scramble out of reach -of the advancing savages, whose tattooed faces, pendulous slit ears, -and sharp filed, blackened teeth lent to them a more horrid aspect -than even that imparted by their murderous weapons or warlike whoops -and actions. Each time he slipped back, clutching frantically at -rocky projections and such hardy vegetation as had found foothold in -the crevices of the granite. His hands were torn and bleeding, his -face scratched and his clothing rent. And now the savages were upon -him. They had seen that he was unarmed. No need as yet for spear or -parang--they would take him alive. - -And the girl. They had watched her in amazement as she clambered -swiftly up the steep ascent. With all their primitive accomplishments -this was beyond even them. They were a forest people and a river -people. They dwelt in thatched houses raised high upon long piles. They -knew little or nothing of the arts of the cliff dwellers. To them the -feat of this strange, white girl was little short of miraculous. - -Nadara saw them seize roughly upon the terror-stricken Stark. She saw -them bind his hands behind his back, and then she saw them turn their -attention once more toward herself. - -Three of the warriors attempted to scale the cliff after her. -Slowly they ascended. She smiled at their manifest fear and their -awkwardness--she need have no fear of these, they never could reach -her. She permitted them to approach within a dozen feet of her and -then, loosening a bit of the crumbling granite, she hurled it full at -the head of the foremost. With a yell of pain and terror he toppled -backward upon those below him, the three tumbling, screaming and pawing -to the rocks at the base of the cliff. - -None of them was killed, though all were badly bruised, and he who had -received her missile bled profusely from a wound upon his forehead. -Their fellows laughed at them--it was scant comfort they received -for being bested by a girl. Then they withdrew a short distance, and -squatting in a circle commenced a lengthy palaver. Their repeated -gestures in her direction convinced Nadara that she was the subject of -their debate. - -Presently one of their number arose and approached the foot of the -cliff. There he harangued the girl for several minutes. When he was -done he awaited, evidently for a reply from her; but as Nadara had not -been able to understand a word of the fellow's language she could but -shake her head. - -The spokesman returned to his fellows and once again a lengthy council -was held. During it Nadara climbed farther aloft, that she might be -out of range of the slender spears. Upon a narrow ledge she halted, -gathering about her such loose bits of rock as she could dislodge from -the face of the cliff--she would be prepared for a sudden onslaught, -nor for a moment did she doubt the outcome of the battle. She felt -that but for the lack of food and water she could hold this cliff face -forever against innumerable savages--could they climb no better than -these. - -But the wild men did not again attempt to storm her citadel. Instead -they leaped suddenly from their council, and without a glance toward -her disappeared in the forest, taking their prisoner with them. Out of -sight of the girl, they stationed two of their number just within the -screening verdure to capture the girl should she descend. The others -hastened parallel with the cliff until a sudden turn inland took them -to a point from which they could again emerge into the clearing out of -the sight of Nadara. - -Here they took immediately to a well-worn path that led back and forth -upward across the face of the cliff. Stark was dragged and prodded -forward with them in their ascent. Sharp spears and the points of keen -parangs, urged him to haste. By the time the party reached the summit -the white man was bleeding from a score of superficial wounds. - -Now the party turned back along the top of the bluff in the direction -from which they had come. - -Nadara, unable to fathom their reason for having abandoned the attempt -to capture her, was, however, not lulled into any feeling of false -security. She knew the cliff was the safest place for her, and yet the -pangs of thirst and hunger warned her that she must soon leave it to -seek sustenance. She was about to descend to the jungle below in search -of food and water, when the faintest of movements of the earth sweeping -creepers depending from a giant buttress tree below her and just within -the verge of the forest arrested her acute attention. She knew that the -movement had been caused by some animal beneath the tree, and finally, -as she watched intently for a moment or two, she descried through an -opening in the wall of verdure the long feathers of an Argus pheasant -with which the war caps of the savages had been adorned. - -Though she knew now that she was watched, she also knew that she could -reach the top of the cliff and possibly find both food and drink, if -it chanced to be near, before the savages could overtake her. Then she -must depend upon her wits and her speed to regain the safety of the -cliff ahead of them. That they would attempt to scale the barrier at -the same point at which she had climbed it she doubted, for she had -seen that they were comparatively unaccustomed to this sort of going, -and so she guessed that if they followed her upward at all it would be -by means of some beaten trail of which they had knowledge. - -And so Nadara scaled the heights, passing over and around obstacles -that would have blanched the cheek of the hardiest mountain climber, -with the ease and speed of the chamois. At the summit she found an -open, park-like forest, and into this she plunged, running forward in -quest of food and drink. A few familiar fruits and nuts assuaged the -keenest pangs of hunger, but nowhere could she find water or signs of -water. - -She had traveled for almost a mile, directly inland from the coast, -when she stumbled, purely by chance, upon a little spring hidden in -a leafy bower. The cool, clear water refreshed her, imparting to her -new life and energy. After drinking her fill she sought some means of -carrying a little supply of the priceless liquid back to her cliff -side refuge, but though she searched diligently she could discover no -growing thing which might be transformed into a vessel. - -There was nothing for it then other than to return without the water, -trusting to her wits to find the means of eluding the savages from time -to time as it became necessary for her to quench her thirst. Later, -she was sure, she should discover some form of gourd, or the bladder of -an animal in which she could hoard a few precious drops. - -Her woodcraft, combined with her almost uncanny sense of direction, -led her directly back to the spot at which she had topped the cliff. -There was no sign of the savages. She breathed a sigh of relief as she -stepped to the edge of the forest, and then, all about her, from behind -trees and bushes, rose the main body of the wild men. With shouts of -savage glee they leaped upon her. There was no chance for flight--in -every direction brutal faces and murderous weapons barred her way. - -With greater consideration than she had looked forward to they signaled -her to accompany them. Stark was with them. To him slight humanity was -shown. If he lagged, a spear point, already red with his blood, urged -him to greater speed; but to the girl no cruelty nor indignity was -shown. - -In single file, the prisoners in the center of the column, the party -made its way inland. All day they marched, until Stark, unused to this -form of exertion, staggered and fell a dozen times in each mile. - -Nadara could almost have found it in her heart to be sorry for him, had -it not been for the fact that she realized all too keenly that but for -his own bestial brutality neither of them need have been there to be -subjected to the present torture, and to be tortured by anticipation of -the horrors to come. - -To the girl it seemed that her fate must be a thousand fold more -terrible than the mere death the man was to suffer, for that these -degraded savages would let him live seemed beyond the pale of reason. -She prayed to the God of which her Thandar had taught her for a quick -and merciful death, yet while she prayed she well knew that no such -boon could be expected. - -She compared her captors with Korth and Flatfoot, with Big Fist and -Thurg, nor did she look for greater compassion in them than in the men -she had known best. - -Late in the afternoon it became evident that Stark could proceed no -farther unless the savages carried him. That they had any intention of -so doing was soon disproved. The first officer of the _Priscilla_ had -fallen for the twentieth time. A dozen vicious spear thrusts had failed -to bring him, staggering and tottering, to his feet as in the past. - -The chief of the party approached the fallen white, kicking him in the -sides and face, and at last pricking him with the sharp point of his -parang. Stark but lay an inert mass of suffering flesh, and groaned. -The chief grew angry. He grasped the white man around the body and -raised him to his feet, but the moment that he released him Stark fell -to earth once more. - -At last the warrior could evidently control his rage no further. With -a savage whoop he swung his parang aloft, bringing it down full upon -the neck of the prostrate white. The head, grinning horribly, rolled to -Nadara's feet. She looked at it, lying there staring up at her out of -its blank and sightless eyes, without the slightest trace of emotion. - -Nadara, the cave girl, was accustomed to death in all its most horrible -and sudden forms. She saw before her but the head of an enemy. It was -nothing to her--Stark had only himself to thank. - -The chief gathered the severed head into a bit of bark cloth, and -fastening it to the end of his spear, signaled his followers to resume -the journey. - -On and on they went, farther into the interior, and with them went -Nadara, borne to what nameless fate she could but guess. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -BUILDING THE BOAT - - -Two days after the earthquake that had saved Nadara from Thurg and -wiped out the people of the girl's tribe, a man moved feebly beneath -the tumbled debris from the roof top of his clogged tavern. It was -Thandar. The tons of rock that had toppled from above and buried -the entrance to his cave had passed him by unscathed, while the few -pounds shaken from the ceiling had stunned him into a long enduring -insensibility. - -Slowly he regained consciousness, but it was a long time before he -could marshal his faculties to even a slight appreciation of the -catastrophe that had overwhelmed him. Then his first thought was of -Nadara. He crawled to what had once been the entrance of his cave. He -had not as yet linked the darkness to its real cause--he thought it -night. It had been night when he closed his eyes. How could he guess -that that had been three nights before, or all the cruel blows that -fate had struck him since he slept! - -At the opening from the cave he met his first surprise and setback--the -way was blocked! What was the meaning of it? He tugged and pushed -weakly upon the mass that barred him from escape. Who had imprisoned -him? He recalled the vivid dream in which he had seen Nadara stolen -away by Thurg. The recollection sent him frantically at the pile of -shattered rock and loose debris which choked the doorway. - -To his chagrin he found himself too weak to direct any long sustained -effort against the obstacle. It occurred to him that he must have been -injured. Whoever imprisoned him must first have beaten him. He felt of -his head. Yes, there was a great gash, but his touch told him that it -was not a new one. How long, then, had he been imprisoned? As he sat -pondering this thing he became aware of the gnawing of hunger and the -craving of thirst within his slowly awakening body. The sensations were -almost painful. So much so that they forced him to a realization of the -fact that he must have been without food or water for a considerable -time. - -Again he assailed the mass that held him prisoner, and as he burrowed -slowly into it the truth dawned upon him. He recalled the rumblings of -the Great Nagoola that had frightened Nadara the night of the council. -A terrific quake had done this thing. Thandar shuddered as he thought -of Nadara. Was she, too, imprisoned in her cave, or had the worst -happened her? Frantically, now, he tore at the close-packed rubble. But -he soon discovered that not in ill-directed haste lay his means of -escape. Slowly and carefully, piece by piece he must remove the broken -rock until he had tunnelled through to the outer world. - -Reason told him that he was not deeply buried, for the fact that he -lived and could breathe was sufficient proof that fresh air was finding -its way through the debris, which it could not have done did the stuff -lie before the cave in any considerable thickness. - -Weak as he was he could work but slowly, so that it was several hours -later before he caught the first glimpse of daylight beyond the -obstacle. After that he progressed more rapidly, and presently he -crawled through a small opening to view the wreckage of the shattered -cliff. - -A flock of vultures rose from their hideous feast as the sight of -Thandar disturbed them. The man shuddered as he looked down upon the -grisly things from which they had risen. Forgetting his hunger and his -thirst he scrambled up over the tortured cliff face to where Nadara's -cave had been. Its mouth was buried as his had been. Again he set to -work, but this time it was easier. When at last he had opened a way -within he hesitated for fear of the blighting sorrow that awaited him. - -At last, nerving himself to the ordeal, he crawled within the cave -that had been Nadara's. Groping about in the darkness, expecting each -moment to feel the body of his loved one cold in death, he at last -covered the entire floor--there was no body within. - -Hastily he made his way to the face of the cliff again, and then -commenced a horrible and pitiful search among the ghastly remnants of -men and women that lay scattered about among the tumbled rocks. But -even here his search was vain, for the ghoulish scavengers had torn -from their prey every shred of their former likenesses. - -Weak, exhausted, sorrow ridden and broken, Thandar dragged himself -painfully to the little river. Here he quenched his thirst and bathed -his body. After, he sought food, and then he crawled to a hole he knew -of in the river bank, and curling up upon the dead grasses within, -slept the sun around. - -Refreshed and strengthened by his sleep and the food that he had taken -Thandar emerged from his dark warren with renewed hope. Nadara could -not be dead! It was impossible. She must have escaped and be wandering -about the island. He would search for her until he found her. But as -day followed day and still no sign of Nadara, or any other living human -being he became painfully convinced that he alone of the inhabitants of -the island had survived the cataclysm. - -The thought of living on through a long life without her cast him into -the blackest pit of despair. He reproached heaven for not having taken -him as well, for without Nadara life was not worth the living. With -the passage of time his grief grew more rather than less acute. As it -increased so too increased the horror of his loneliness. The island -became a hated thing--life a mockery. The chances that a vessel would -touch the shore again during his lifetime seemed remote indeed, unless -his father sent out a relief party, but in his despair he did not even -hope for such a contingency. - -He would not take his own life, though the temptation was great, but he -courted death in every form that the savage island owned. He slept out -upon the ground at night. He sought Nagoola in his lair, and armed only -with his light lance he leaped to close quarters with every one of the -great cats he could find. - -The wild boars, often as formidable as Nagoola himself, were hunted -now as they never had been hunted before. Thandar lived high those -days, and many were the panther pelts that lined his new-found cave -in the cliff beside the sea--the same cliff in which Nadara had found -shelter, and from whence she had gone away with the search party from -the _Priscilla_. - -One day as Thandar was returning from the beach where he often went -to scan the horizon for a sail, he saw something moving at the foot -of his cliff. Thandar dropped behind a bush, watching. A moment later -the thing moved again, and Thandar saw that it was a man. Instantly he -sprang to his feet and ran forward. The days that he had been without -human companionship had seemed to drag themselves into as many weary -months. Now he had reached the pinnacle of loneliness from which he -would gladly have embraced the devil had he come in human guise. - -Thandar ran noiselessly. He was almost upon the man, a great, hairy -brute, before the fellow was aware of his presence. At first the fellow -turned to run, but when he saw that Thandar was alone he remained to -fight. - -"I am Roof," he cried, "and I can kill you!" - -The familiar primitive greeting no longer raised Thandar's temperature -or filled him with the fire of battle. He wanted companionship now, not -a quarrel. - -"I am Thandar," he replied. - -The slow-witted, hulking brute recognized him, and stepped back a pace. -He was not so keen to fight now that he had learned the identity of -the man who faced him. He had seen Thandar in battle. He had witnessed -Thurg's defeat at the hands of this smooth-skinned stranger. - -"Let us not fight," continued Thandar. "We are alone upon the island. -I have seen no other than you since the Great Nagoola came forth and -destroyed the people. Let us be friends, hunting together in peace. -Otherwise one of us must kill the other and thereafter live always -alone until death releases him from his terrible solitude." - -Roof peered over Thandar's shoulder toward the wood behind him. - -"Are you alone?" he asked. - -"Yes--have I not told you that all were killed but you and I?" - -"All were not killed," replied Roof. "But I will be friends with -Thandar. We will hunt together and cave together. Roof and Thandar are -brothers." - -He stooped, and gathering a handful of grass advanced toward the -American. Thandar did likewise, and when each had taken the peace -offering of the other and rubbed it upon his forehead the ceremony of -friendship was complete--simple but none the less effectual, for each -knew that the other would rather die than disregard the primitive pact. - -"You said that all were not killed, Roof," said Thandar, the ceremony -over. "What do you mean?" - -"All were not killed by the Great Nagoola," replied the bad man. "Thurg -was not killed, nor was she who was Thandar's mate--she whom Thurg -would have stolen." - -"What?" Thandar almost screamed the question. "Nadara not dead?" - -"Look," said Roof, and he led the way to the foot of the cliff. "See!" - -"Yes," replied Thandar, "I had noticed that body, but what of it?" - -"It was Thurg," explained Roof. "He sought to reach your mate, who had -taken refuge in that cave far above us. Then came some strange men who -made a great noise with sticks and Thurg fell dead--the loud noise had -killed him from a great distance. Then came the strange men and she -whom you call Nadara went away with them." - -"In which direction?" cried Thandar. "Where did they take her?" - -"They took her to the strange cliff in which they dwelt--the one in -which they came. Never saw man such a thing as this cliff. It floated -upon the face of the water. About its face were many tiny caves, but -the people did not come out of these they came from the top of the -cliff, and clambering down the sides floated ashore in hollow things of -wood. On top of the cliff were two trees without leaves, and only very -short, straight branches. When the cliff went away black smoke came out -of it from a short black stump of a tree between the two trees. It was -a very wonderful thing to see; but the most wonderful of all were the -noise-sticks that killed Thurg and Nagoola a long way off." - -Not half of Roof's narrative did Thandar hear. Through his brain roared -and thundered a single mighty thought: Nadara lives! Nadara lives! Life -took on a new meaning to him now. He trembled at the thought of the -chances he had been taking. Now, indeed, must he live. He leaped up and -down, laughing and shouting. He threw his arms about the astonished -Roof, whirling the troglodyte about in a mad waltz. Nadara lives! -Nadara lives! - -Once again the sun shone, the birds sang, nature was her old, happy, -carefree self. Nadara was alive and among civilized men. But then came -a doubt. - -"Did Nadara go willingly with these strangers," he asked Roof, "or did -they take her by force?" - -"They did not take her by force," replied Roof. "They talked with her -for a time, and then she took the hand of one of the men in hers, -stroking it, and he placed his arm about her. Afterward they walked -slowly to the edge of the great water where they got into the strange -things that had brought them to the land, and returned to their -floating cliff. Presently the smoke came out, as I have told you, and -the cliff went away toward the edge of the world. But they are all dead -now." - -"What?" yelled Thandar. - -"Yes, I saw the cliff sink, very slowly when it was a long way off, -until only the smoke was coming out of the water." - -Thandar breathed a sigh of relief. - -"Point," he said, "to the place where the cliff sank beneath the water." - -Roof pointed almost due north. - -"There," he said. - -For days Thandar puzzled over the possible identity of the ship and -the men with whom Nadara had gone so willingly. Doubtless some kindly -mariner, hearing her story, had taken her home, away from the terrors -and the loneliness of this unhappy island. And now the man chafed to be -after her, that he might search the world for his lost love. - -To wait for a ship appeared quite impossible to the impatient -Thandar, for he knew that a ship might never come. There was but one -alternative, and had Waldo Emerson been a less impractical man in the -world to which he had been born he would have cast aside that single -alternative as entirely beyond the pale of possibility. But Waldo was -only practical and wise in the savage ways of the primitive life to -which circumstance had forced him to revert. And so he decided upon -as foolhardy and hair-brained a venture as the mind of man might -conceive. It was no less a thing than to build a boat and set out upon -the broad Pacific in search of a civilized port or a vessel that might -bear him to such. - -To Waldo it seemed quite practical. He realized of course that the -venture would be fraught with peril, but would it not be better to -die in an attempt to find his Nadara than to live on forever in the -hopelessness of this forgotten land? - -And so he set to work to build a boat. He had no tools but his crude -knife and the razor the sailor of the _Sally Corwith_ had given -him, so it was quite impossible for him to construct a dug-out. The -possibilities that lie in fire did not occur to him. Finally he hit -upon what seemed the only feasible form of construction. - -With his knife he cut long, pliant saplings, and lesser branches. These -he fashioned into the framework of a boat. Roof helped him, keenly -interested in this new work. The ribs were fastened to the keel and -gunwale by thongs of panther skin, and when the framework was completed -panther skins were stretched over it. The edges of the skin were sewn -together with threads of gut, as tightly as Thandar and Roof could pull -them. - -A mast was rigged well forward, and another panther skin from which the -fur had been scraped was fitted as a sail, square rigged. For rudder -Thandar fashioned a long, slender sapling, looped at one end, and the -loop covered with skin laced tightly on. This, he figured, would serve -both as rudder and paddle, as necessity demanded. - -At last all was done. Together Thandar and Roof carried the light, -crude skiff to the ocean. They waded out beyond the surf, and upon the -crest of a receding swell they launched the thing, Thandar leaping in -as it floated upon the water. - -The sail was not taken along for this trial. Thandar merely wished to -know that this craft would float, and right side up. For a moment it -did so, until the sea rushing in at the loose seams filled it with -water. - -Thandar and Roof had great difficulty in dragging it out again upon the -beach. Roof now would have given up, but not so Thandar. It is true -that he was slightly disheartened, for he had set great store upon the -success of his little vessel. - -After they had carried the frail thing beyond high tide Thandar sat -down upon the ground and for an hour he did naught but stare at the -leaky craft. Then he arose and calling to Roof led him into the forest. -For a mile they walked, and then Thandar halted before a tree from the -side of which a thick and sticky stream was slowly oozing. Thandar -had brought along a gourd, and now with a small branch he commenced -transferring the mass from the side of the tree to the gourd. Roof -helped him. In an hour the gourd was filled. Then they returned to the -skiff. - -Leaving the gourd there Thandar and Roof walked to a clump of heavy -jungle grasses not far from the cliff where their cave lay. Here -Thandar gathered a great armful of the yellow, ripened grass, telling -Roof to do likewise. This they took back to the skiff, where, by -rolling it assiduously between their hands and pounding it with stones -they reduced it to a mass of soft, tough fiber. - -Now Thandar showed Roof how to twist this fiber into a loose, fluffy -rope, and when he had him well started he daubed the rope with the -rubbery fluid he had filched from the tree, and with a sharp stick -tucked it in every seam and crevice of the skiff. - -It took the better part of two days to accomplish this, and when it was -done and the gourd empty, the two men returned to the tree and refilled -it. This time they built a fire upon their return to the skiff, Roof -spinning a hard wood splinter rapidly between toes and fingers in a -little mass of tinder that lay in a hollowed piece of wood. Presently a -thin spiral of smoke arose from the tinder, growing denser for a moment -until of a sudden it broke into flame. - -The men piled twigs and branches upon the blaze until the fire was well -started. Then Thandar taking a ball of the viscous matter from the -gourd heated it in the flames, immediately daubing the melting mass -upon the outside of the skiff. In this way, slowly and with infinite -patience, the two at last succeeded in coating the entire outer surface -of the canoe with a waterproof substance that might defy the action of -water almost indefinitely. - -For three days Thandar let the coating dry, and then the craft was -given another trial. The man's heart was in his throat as the canoe -floated upon the crest of a great wave and he leaped into it. - -But a moment later he shouted in relief and delight--the thing floated -like a cork, nor was there the slightest leak discernible. For half an -hour Thandar paddled about the harbor, and then he returned for the -sail. This too, though rather heavy and awkward, worked admirably, and -the balance of the day he spent in sailing, even venturing out into the -ocean. - -Much of the time he paddled, for Waldo Emerson knew more of the galleys -of ancient Greece than he did of sails or sailing, so that for the most -part he sailed with the wind, paddling when he wished to travel in -another direction. But, withal, his attempt filled him with delight, -and he could scarce wait to be off toward civilization and Nadara. - -The next two days were spent in collecting food and water, which -Thandar packed in numerous gourds, sealing the mouths with the rubbery -substance such as he had used to waterproof his craft. The flesh of -wild hog, and deer, and bird he cut in narrow strips and dried over -a slow fire. In this work Roof assisted him, and at last all was in -readiness for the venture. - -The day of his departure dawned bright and clear. A gentle south wind -gave promise of great speed toward the north. Thandar was wild with -hope and excitement. Roof was to accompany him, but at the last moment -the nerve of the troglodyte failed him, and he ran away and hid in the -forest. - -It was just as well, thought Thandar, for now his provisions would last -twice as long. And so he set out upon his perilous adventure, braving -the mighty Pacific in a frail and unseaworthy cockle-shell with all the -assurance and confidence that is ever born of ignorance. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE HEAD-HUNTERS - - -Nature so far, had been kind to Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. No high -winds or heavy seas had assailed him, and he had been upon the water -for three days now. The wind had held steadily out of the south, -varying but a few points during this time but even so Waldo Emerson -was commencing to doubt and to worry. His supply of water was running -dangerously low, his food supply would last but a few days longer; and -as yet he had sighted no sail, nor seen any land. Furthermore, he had -not the remotest conception of how he might retrace his way to the -island he had just quitted. He could only sail before the wind. Should -the wind veer around into the north he might, by chance, be blown back -to the island. Otherwise he never could reach it. And he was beginning -to wonder if he had not been a trifle to precipitate in his abandonment -of land. - -In common with most other landsmen, Waldo Emerson had little conception -of the vastness of the broad reaches of unbroken water wildernesses -that roll in desolate immensity over three quarters of the globe. -His recollection of maps pictured the calm and level blue dotted, -especially in the south seas, with many islands. Their names, often, -were quite reassuring. He recollected, among others, such as the -Society Islands, the Friendly Islands, Christmas Island. He hoped -that he would land upon one of these. There were so many islands upon -the maps, and they seemed so close together that he was not a little -mystified that he had failed to sight several hundred long before this. - -And ships! It appeared incredible that he should have seen not a -single sail. He distinctly recalled the atlas he had examined prior to -embarking upon his health cruise. The Pacific had been lined in all -directions with the routes of long established steamer lanes, and in -between, Waldo had felt, the ocean must be dotted with the innumerable -tramps that come and go between the countless ports that fringe the -major sea. - -And yet for three days nothing had broken the dull monotony of the vast -circle of which he was always the center and the sole occupant. In -three days, thought Waldo, he must have covered an immense distance. - -And three more days dragged their weary lengths. The wind had died to -the faintest of breezes. The canoe was just making headway and that -was all. The water was gone. The food nearly so. Waldo was suffering -from lack of the former. The pitiless sun beating down upon him -increased his agony. He stretched his panther skin across the stern and -hid beneath it from the torrid rays. And there he lay until darkness -brought relief. - -During the night the wind sprang up again, but this time from the -west. It rose and with it rose the sea. The man, clinging to his crude -steering blade, struggled to keep the light craft straight before the -wind which was now howling fearfully while great waves, hungry and wide -jawed, raced after him like a pack of ravenous wolves. - -Thandar knew that the unequal struggle against the mighty forces of the -elements could not endure for long. It seemed that each fierce gust -of brutal wind must tear his frail boat to shreds, and yet it was the -very lightness of the thing that saved it, for it rode upon the crests -of waves, blown forward at terrific velocity like a feather before the -hurricane. - -In Thandar's heart was no terror--only regret that he might never again -see his mother, his father, or his Nadara. Yet the night wore on and -still he fled before the storm. The sky was overcast--the darkness -was impenetrable. He imagined all about him still the same wide, -tenantless circle of water, only now storm torn and perpendicular and -black, instead of peacefully horizontal, and soothingly blue-green. And -then, even as he was thinking this there rose before him a thunderous -booming loud above the frenzied bedlam of the storm, his boat was -lifted high in air to dive headforemost into what might be a bottomless -abyss for all Thandar knew. But it was not bottomless. The canoe struck -something and stopped suddenly, pitching Thandar out into a boiling -maelstrom. A great wave picked him up, carrying him with race-horse -velocity within its crest. He felt himself hurled pitilessly upon -smooth, hard sand. The water tried to drag him back, but he fought with -toes and fingers, clutching at the surface of the stuff upon which he -had been dropped. Then the wave abandoned him and raced swiftly back -into the sea. - -Thandar was exhausted, but he knew that he must crawl up out of the -way of the surf, or be dragged back by the next roller. What he had -searched for in vain through six long days he had run down in the -midst of a Stygian night. He had found land! Or, to be more explicit, -land had got in front of him and he had run into it. He had commenced -to wonder if some terrible convulsion of nature had not swallowed up -all the land in the world, leaving only a waste of desolate water. He -forgot his hunger and his thirst in the happiness of the knowledge that -once more he was upon land. He wondered a little what land it might be. -He hoped that dawn would reveal the chimneys and steeples of a nearby -city. And then, exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep. - -It was the sun shining down into his upturned face that awoke him. He -was lying upon his back beside a clump of bushes a little way above the -beach. He was about to rise and survey the new world into which fate -and a hurricane had hurled him when he heard a familiar sound upon the -opposite side of his bush. It was the movement of an animal creeping -through long grass. - -Thandar, the cave man, came noiselessly to his hands and knees, peering -cautiously through the intervening network of branches. What he saw -sent his hand groping for his wooden sword with its fire-hardened -point. There, not five paces from him, was a man going cautiously upon -all fours. It was the most horrible appearing man that Thandar had ever -seen--even Thurg appeared lovely by comparison. The creature's ears -were split and heavy ornaments had dragged them down until the lobes -rested upon its shoulders. The face was terribly marked with cicatrices -and tattooing. The teeth were black and pointed. A head-dress of long -feathers waved and nodded above the hideous face. There was much -tattooing upon the arms and legs and abdomen; the breasts were circled -with it. In a belt about the waist lay a sword in its scabbard. In the -man's hand was a long spear. - -The warrior was creeping stealthily upon something at Thandar's left. -The latter looked in the direction the other's savage gaze was bent. -Through the bushes he could barely discern a figure moving toward them -along the edge of the beach. The warrior had passed him now and Thandar -stood erect the better to obtain a view of the fellow's quarry. - -Now he saw it plainly--a man strangely garbed in many colors. A -yellow jacket, soiled and torn, covered the upper part of his body. -Strange designs, very elaborate, were embroidered upon the garment -which reached barely to the fellow's waist. Beneath was a red sash in -which were stuck a long pistol and a wicked-looking knife. Baggy blue -trousers reached to the bare ankles and feet. A strip of crimson cloth -wound around the head completed the strange garmenture. The features of -the man were Mongolian. - -Thandar could see the warrior pause as it became evident that the other -was approaching directly toward his place of concealment, but at the -last moment the unconscious quarry turned sharply to his right down -upon the beach. He had discovered the wreck of Thandar's canoe and was -going to investigate it. - -The move placed Thandar almost between the two. Suddenly the native -rose to his feet--his victim's back was toward him. Grasping his -spear in his left hand he drew his wicked-looking sword and emerged -cautiously from the bushes. At the same moment the man upon the beach -wheeled quickly as though suddenly warned of his danger. The native, -discovered, leaped forward with raised sword. The man snatched his -pistol from his belt, levelled it at the on-rushing warrior and pulled -the trigger. There was a futile click--that was all. The weapon had -missed fire. - -Instantly a third element was projected into the fray. Thandar, seeing -a more direct link with civilization in the strangely apparelled Mongol -than in the naked savage, leaped to the assistance of the former. With -drawn sword he rushed out upon the savage. The wild man turned at -Thandar's cry, which he had given to divert the fellow's attention from -his now almost helpless victim. - -Thandar knew nothing of the finer points of sword play. He was ignorant -of the wickedness of a Malay parang--the keen, curved sword of the -head-hunter, so he rushed in upon the savage as he would have upon one -of Thurg's near-men. - -The very impetuosity of his attack awed the native. For a moment he -stood his ground, and then, with a cry of terror turned to flee; but he -had failed to turn soon enough. Thandar was upon him. The sharp point -entered his back beneath the left shoulder blade, and behind it were -the weight and sinews of the cave man. With a shriek the savage lunged -forward, clutching at the cruel point that now protruded from his -breast. When he touched the earth he was dead. - -Thandar drew his sword from the body of the head-hunter, and turned -toward the man he had rescued. The latter was approaching, talking -excitedly. It was evident that he was thanking Thandar, but no word of -his strange tongue could the American understand. Thandar shook his -head to indicate that he was unfamiliar with the other's language, and -then the latter dropped into pidgin English, which, while almost as -unintelligible to the cultured Bostonian, still contained the battered -remnants of some few words with which he was familiar. - -Thandar depreciated his act by means of gestures, immediately following -these with signs to indicate that he was hungry and thirsty. The -stranger evidently understood him, for he motioned him to follow, -leading the way back along the beach in the direction from which he had -come. - -Before starting, however, he had pointed toward the wreck of Thandar's -canoe and then toward Thandar, nodding his head questioningly as to ask -if the boat belonged to the cave man. - -Around the end of a promontory they came upon a little cove beside -the beach of which Thandar saw a camp of nearly a score of men similar -in appearance to his guide. These were preparing breakfast beside the -partially completed hull of a rather large boat they seemed to have -been building. - -At sight of Thandar they looked their astonishment, but after hearing -the story of their fellow they greeted the cave man warmly, furnishing -him with food and water in abundance. - -For three days Thandar worked with these men upon their craft, picking -up their story slowly with a slow acquirement of a bowing acquaintance -with the bastard tongue they used when speaking with him. He soon -became aware of the fact that fate had thrown him among a band of -pirates. There were Chinese, Japanese and Malays among them--the -off-scourings of the south seas; men who had become discredited even -among the villainous pirates of their own lands, and had been forced -to join their lots in this remoter and less lucrative field, under an -unhung ruffian, Tsao Ming, the Chinaman whose life Thandar had saved. - -He also learned that the storm that had cast them upon this shore -nearly a month before had demolished their prahu, and what with the -building of another and numerous skirmishes with the savages they had -had a busy time of it. - -Only yesterday while a party of them had been hunting a mile or -two inland they had been attacked by savages who had killed two and -captured one of their number. - -They told Thandar that these savages were the most ferocious of -head-hunters, but like the majority of their kind preferred ambushing -an unwary victim to meeting him in fair fight in the open. Thandar did -not doubt but that the latter mode of warfare would have been entirely -to the liking of his piratical friends, for never in his life had he -dreamed, even, of so ferocious and warlike a band as was comprised in -this villainous and bloodthirsty aggregation. But the constant nervous -tension under which they had worked, never knowing at what instant an -arrow or a lance would leap from the shades of the jungle to pierce -them in the back, had reduced them to a state of fear that only a -speedy departure from the island could conquer. - -Their boat was almost completed, two more days would see them safely -launched upon the ocean, and Tsao Ming had promised Thandar that he -would carry him to a civilized port from which he could take a steamer -on his return to America. - -Late in the afternoon of the third day since his arrival among the -pirates the men were suddenly startled by the appearance of an -exhausted and blood smeared apparition amongst them. From the nearby -jungle the man had staggered to fall when half-way across the -clearing, spent. - -It was Boloon--he who had been captured by the head-hunters the day -before Thandar had been cast upon the shore. Revived with food and -water the fellow told a most extraordinary tale. From the meager scraps -that were afterward translated into pidgin English for Thandar the -Bostonian learned that Boloon had been dragged far inland to a village -of considerable size. - -Here he had been placed in a room of one of the long houses to await -the pleasure of the chief. It was hinted that he was to be tortured -before his head was removed to grace the rafters of the chief's palace. - -The remarkable portion of his tale related to a strange temple to which -he had been dragged and thrown at the feet of a white goddess. Tsao -Ming and the other pirates were much mystified by this part of the -story, for Boloon insisted that the goddess was white with a mass of -black hair, and that her body was covered by the pelt of a magnificent -black panther. - -Though Tsao Ming pointed out that there were no panthers upon this -island Boloon could not be shaken. He had seen with his own eyes, and -he knew. Furthermore, he argued, there were no white goddesses upon the -island, and yet the woman he had seen was white. - -When this strange tale was retold to Thandar he could not but recall -that Nadara had worn a black panther skin, but of course it could -not be Nadara--that was impossible. But yet he asked for a further -description of the goddess--the color of her eyes and hair--the -proportions of her body--her height. - -To all these questions Boloon gave replies that but caused Thandar's -excitement to wax stronger. And then came the final statement that set -him in a frenzy of hope and apprehension. - -"Upon her left hand was a great diamond," said Boloon. - -Thandar turned toward Tsao Ming. - -"I go inland to the temple," he said, "to see who this white goddess -may be. If you wait two days for me and I return you shall have as much -gold as you ask in payment. If you do not wait repair my canoe and hide -it in the bushes where the man hid who would have killed you but for -Thandar." - -"I shall wait three days," replied Tsao Ming. "Nor will I take a single -_fun_ in pay. You saved the life of Tsao Ming--that is not soon to be -forgotten. I would send men with you, but they would not go. They are -afraid of the head-hunters. Too, will I repair your canoe against your -coming after the third day; but," and he shrugged, "you will not come -upon the third day, nor upon the fourth, nor ever, Thandar. It is -better that you forget the foolish, story of the frightened Boloon and -come away from this accursed land with Tsao Ming." - -But Thandar would not relinquish his intention, and so he parted with -the pirates after receiving from Boloon explicit directions for his -journey toward the mysterious temple and the white goddess who might be -Nadara; and yet who could not be. - -Straight into the tangled jungle he plunged, carrying the spear and the -parang of the head-hunter he had killed, and in the string about his -loins one of the long pistols of a dead pirate. This latter Tsao Ming -had forced upon him with a supply of ammunition. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE RESCUE - - -It was dusk of the second day when Thandar, following the directions -given him by Boloon, came to the edge of the little clearing within -which rose the dingy outlines of many long houses raised upon piles. -Before the village ran a river. Many times had Thandar crossed and -recrossed this stream, for he had become lost twice upon the way and -had to return part way each time to pick up his trail. - -In the center of the village the man could see the outlines of a -loftier structure rearing its head above those of the others. As -darkness fell Thandar crept closer toward his goal--the large building -which Boloon had described as the temple. - -Beneath the high raised houses the cave man crept, disturbing pigs and -chickens as he went, but their noise was no uncommon thing, and rather -than being a menace to his safety it safeguarded him, for it hid the -noise of his own advance. - -At last he came beneath a house nearest the temple. The moon was full -and high. Her brilliant light flooded the open spaces between the -buildings, casting into black darkness the shadows beneath. In one of -these Thandar lurked. He saw that the temple was guarded. Before its -only entrance squatted two warriors. How was he to pass them? - -He moved to the end of the shadow of the house beneath which he spied -as far from the guards as possible; but still discovery seemed certain -were he to attempt to rush across the intervening space. He was at a -loss as to what next to do. It seemed foolish to risk all now upon a -bold advance--the time for such a risk would be when he had found the -goddess and learned if she were Nadara, or another; but how might he -cross that strip of moonlight and enter the temple past the two guards, -without risk? - -He moved silently to the far end of the building, in the shadows of -which he watched. For some time he stood looking across at his goal, so -near, and yet seemingly infinitely farther from attainment than the day -he had left the coast in search of it. He noted the long poles stuck -into the ground at irregular intervals about the structure. He wondered -at the significance of the rude carving upon them, of the barbaric -capitals sometimes topped by the head-dress of a savage warrior, again -by a dried and grinning skull, or perhaps the rudely chiseled likeness -of a hideous human face. - -Upon many of the poles were hung shields, weapons, clothing and -earthenware vessels. One especially was so weighted down by its -heterogeneous burden that it leaned drunkenly against the eaves of -the temple. Thandar's eye followed it upward to where it touched the -crudely shingled roof. The suggestion was sufficient--where his eye -had climbed he would climb. There was only the moonlight to make the -attempt perilous. If the clouds would but come! But there was no -indication of clouds in the star shot sky. - -He looked toward the guards. They lolled at the opposite end of the -temple, only one of them being visible. The other was hidden by the -angle of the building. The back of the fellow whom Thandar could see -was turned toward the cave man. If they remained thus for a moment -he could reach the roof unnoticed. But then there was the danger of -discovery from one of the other buildings. An occasional whiff of -tobacco smoke told him that some of the men were still awake upon the -verandahs where most of the youths and bachelors slept. - -Thandar crawled to where he could see the only verandah which directly -faced the portion of the temple he had chosen for his attempted -entrance. For an hour he watched the rising and falling glow of the -cigarettes of two of the native men, and listened to the low hum of -their conversation. The hour seemed to drag into an eternity, but at -last the glowing butt of first one cigarette and then another was -flicked over into the grass and silence reigned upon the verandah. - -For half an hour longer Thandar waited. The guards before the temple -still squatted as before. The one Thandar could see seemed to have -fallen asleep, for his head drooped forward upon his breast. - -The time had come. There was no need of further delay or -reconnaisance--if he was to be discovered that would be the end of it, -and it would not profit him one iota to know a second or so in advance -of the alarm that he had been detected. So he did not waste time in -stealthy advance, or in much looking this way and that. Instead he -moved swiftly, though silently, directly across the open, moonlit space -to the foot of the leaning pole. He did not cast a glance behind nor to -the right nor left. His whole attention was riveted upon the thing in -hand. - -Thandar had scaled the rickety, toppling saplings of the cliff dwellers -for so long that this pole offered no greater difficulties to him than -would an ordinary staircase to you or me. First he tested it with eyes -and hands to know that it rested securely at the top and that beneath -his weight it would not move noisily out of its present position. - -Assured that it seemed secure, Thandar ran up it with the noiseless -celerity of a cat. Gingerly he stepped upon the roof, not knowing the -manner of its construction, which might be weak thatching that would -give beneath him and precipitate him into the interior beneath. - -To his surprise and consternation he found that the roof was of wood, -and quite as solid as one could imagine. It had been his plan to enter -the temple from above, but now it seemed that he was to be thwarted, -for he could not hope to cut silently through a wooden roof with his -parang in the few hours that intervened before dawn. - -He stooped to examine the roof minutely with eyes and fingers. The -moonlight was brilliant. In it he could see quite well. He pulled -away the thin palm frond thatch. Beneath were shingles hand hewn from -billian. In each was a small square hole through which was passed a -strip of rattan that bound the shingle to the frame of the roof. - -Thandar lifted away the thatching over a little space some two feet -square. Then he inserted the point of his keen parang beneath a rattan -tie string, and an instant later had lifted aside a shingle. Another -and another followed the first until an opening in the roof had been -made large enough to easily admit his body. - -Thandar leaned over and peered into the darkness beneath. He could see -nothing. His own body was between the moon and the hole in the roof, -shutting out the rays of the satellite from the interior. - -The man lowered his legs cautiously over the edge of the hole. Feeling -about, his feet came in contact with a rafter. A moment later his whole -body had disappeared within the temple. Clinging to the edge of the -hole with one hand, Thandar squatted upon the rafter above the temple -floor. - -Now that his body no longer clogged the aperture in the roof the -moonlight poured through it throwing a brilliant flood upon a portion -of the floor at the opposite side of the interior. The balance was -feebly lighted by the diffused moonlight. - -The temple seemed to consist of a single large room. In the center was -a raised platform, and also about the walls. From the rafters hung -baskets containing human skulls--one swung directly in the moonlight -beneath Thandar. He could see its grisly contents plainly. - -His eyes followed the moonlight toward the area which it touched upon -the far side of the room. It reminded Waldo Emerson of a spot light -thrown from the gallery of a theater upon the stage. - -Directly in the center of the light a woman lay asleep upon the -platform. Thandar's heart stood still. About her figure was wrapped the -glossy hide of Nagoola. Over one bare, brown arm billowed a wealth -of thick, black hair, fine as silk, upon the third finger of the left -hand blazed a large solitaire. The woman's face was turned toward the -wall--but Thandar knew that he could not be mistaken--it was Nadara. - -From the rafter upon which he squatted to the floor below was not over -twelve or fifteen feet. Thandar swung downward, clinging to the rafter -with his hands, and dropped, cat-like, upon his naked feet to the floor -below. - -The almost noiseless descent was sufficient, however, to awaken the -sleeper. With the quickness of a panther she swung around and was -upon her feet facing the man almost at the instant he alighted. The -moonlight was now full upon her face. Thandar rushed forward to take -her in his arms. - -"Nadara!" he whispered. "Thank God!" - -The girl shrank back. She recognized the voice and the figure; but--her -Thandar was dead! How could it be that he had returned from death? She -was frightened. - -The man saw the evident terror of her action, and paused. - -"What is the matter, Nadara?" he asked. "Don't you know me? Don't you -know Thandar?" - -"Thandar is dead," she whispered. - -The man laughed. In a few words he explained that he had been stunned, -but not killed, by the earthquake. Then he came to her side and took -her in his arms. - -"Do I feel like a dead man?" he asked. - -She put her arms about his neck and drew his face down to hers. She was -sobbing. Thandar's back was toward the doorway of the temple. Nadara -was facing it. As she raised her eyes to his again her face went deadly -white, and she dragged and pushed him suddenly cut of the brilliant -patch of moonlight. - -"The guard!" she whispered. "I just saw something move beyond the door." - -Thandar stepped behind one of the tree trunks that supported the roof, -looking toward the entrance. Yes, there was a man even now coming into -the temple. His eyes were wide with surprise as he glanced upward -toward the hole in the roof. Then he looked in the direction of the -platform upon which Nadara had been sleeping. When he saw that it was -empty he ran back to the doorway and called his companion. - -As he did so Thandar grasped Nadara's hand and drew her around the -opposite side of the temple where the shadows were blackest, toward the -doorway. They had reached the end of the room when the two warriors -came running in, jabbering excitedly. One of them had passed half-way -across the temple, and Thandar and Nadara had almost reached the door -when the second savage caught sight of them. With a cry of warning to -his companion he turned upon them with drawn parang. - -As the fellow rushed forward Thandar drew the pistol the pirates had -given him and fired point blank at the fellow's breast. With a howl the -man staggered back and collapsed upon the floor. Then his fellow rushed -to the attack. - -Thandar had no time to reload. He handed the weapon to Nadara. - -"In the pouch at my right side are cartridges," he said. "Get out -several of them, and when I can I will reload." - -As he spoke they had been edging toward the doorway. From the street -beyond they could already hear excited voices raised in questioning. -The shot had aroused the village. - -Now the fellow with the parang was upon them. Thandar was clumsy with -the unaccustomed weapon with which he tried to meet the attack of the -skilled savage. There could have been but one outcome to the unequal -struggle had not Nadara, always quick-witted and resourceful, snatched -a long spear from the temple wall. - -As she dragged it down there fell with it a clattering skull that broke -upon the floor between the fighters. A howl of dismay and rage broke -from the lips of the head-hunter. This was sacrilege. The holy of the -holies had been profaned. With renewed ferocity he leaped to close -quarters with Thandar, but at the same instant Nadara lunged the sharp -pointed spear into his side, his guard dropped and Thandar's parang -fell full upon his skull. - -"Come!" cried Nadara. "Make your escape the way you came. There is -no hope for you if you remain. I will tell them that the two guards -fought between themselves for me--that one killed the other, and that I -shot the victor to save myself. They will believe me--I will tell them -that I have always had the pistol hidden beneath my robe. Good-bye, my -Thandar. We cannot both escape. If you remain we may both die--you, -certainly." - -Thandar shook his head vehemently. - -"We shall both go--or both die," he replied. - -Nadara pressed his hand. - -"I am glad," was all that she said. - -The savages were pouring from their long houses. The street before the -temple was filling with them. To attempt to escape in that direction -would have been but suicidal. - -"Is there no other exit?" asked Thandar. - -"There is a small window in the back of the temple," replied Nadara, -"in a little room that is sometimes used as a prison for those who are -to die, but it lets out into another street which by this time is -probably filled with natives." - -"There is the floor," cried Thandar. "We will try the floor there." - -He ran to the main entrance to the temple, and closed the doors. Then -he dragged the two corpses before them, and a long wooden bench. There -was no other movable thing in the temple that had any considerable -weight. - -This done he took Nadara's hand and together the two ran for the little -room. Here again they barricaded the door, and Thandar turned toward -the floor. With his parang he pried up a board--it was laid but roughly -upon the light logs that were the beams. Another was removed with equal -ease, and then he lowered Nadara to the ground beneath the temple. - -Clinging to the piling, Thandar replaced the boards above his head -before he, too, dropped to the ground at Nadara's side. The streets -upon either side of the temple were filled with savages. They could -hear them congregating before the entrance to the temple where all was -now quiet and still within. They were bolstering their courage by much -shouting to the point that would permit them to enter and investigate. -They called the names of the guards, but there was no response. - -"Give me the pistol," said Thandar. - -He loaded it, keeping several cartridges ready in his hand. Then, with -Nadara at his side, he crept to the back of the temple. Pigs, routed -from their slumbers, grunted and complained. A dog growled at them. -Thandar silenced it with a cut from his parang. When they reached the -edge of the shadow beneath the temple they saw that there were only a -few natives upon this side of the structure, and they were hurrying -rapidly toward the front of the building. A hundred yards away was the -jungle. - -Now a sudden quiet fell upon the horde before the temple doors. There -was the sound of hammering, then a pushing, scraping noise, and -presently shouts of savage rage--the dead bodies of the guardsmen -had been discovered. Now, from above, came the padding of naked feet -running through the temple. The street behind was momentarily deserted. - -"Now!" whispered Thandar. - -He seized Nadara's hand, and together the two raced from beneath the -temple out into the moonlight and across the intervening space between -the long houses toward the jungle. Half-way across, a belated native, -emerging from the verandah of a nearby house, saw them. He set up a -terrific yell and dashed toward them. - -Thandar's pistol roared, and the savage dropped; but the signal had -been given and before the two reached the jungle a screaming horde of -warriors was upon their heels. - -Thandar was confused. He had lost his bearings since entering the -village and the temple. He turned toward Nadara. - -"I do not know the way to the coast," he cried. - -The girl took his hand. - -"Follow me," she said, and to the memories of each leaped the -recollection of the night she had led him through the forest from the -cliffs of the bad men. Once again was Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, the -learned, indebted to the greater wisdom of the unlettered cave girl for -his salvation. - -Unerringly Nadara ran through the tangled jungle in the direction of -the coast. Though she had been but once over the way she followed the -direct line as unerringly as though each tree was blazed and sign posts -marked each turn. - -Behind them came the noise of the pursuit, but always Nadara and -Thandar fled ahead of it, not once did it gain upon them during the -long hours of flight. - -It was noon before they reached the coast. They came out at the camp -of the pirates, but to Thandar's dismay it was deserted. Tsao Ming had -waited the allotted time and gone. If Thandar had but known it, the -picturesque cut-throat had overstayed the promised period, and had but -scarce left when the fugitives emerged from the jungle beside the -beach. In fact his rude craft was but out of sight beyond the northern -promontory. A pistol shot would have recalled him; but Thandar did not -know it, and so he turned dejectedly to search for the hidden canoe. - -It lay behind the little clump of bushes that had hidden Thandar the -morning that he had saved Tsao Ming's life, several hundred yards to -the south. - -All signs of pursuit had now ceased, and so the two walked slowly in -the direction of the craft. They found it just where Tsao Ming had -promised that it would be. It was well and staunchly repaired, and in -addition contained a goodly supply of food and water. Thandar blessed -Tsao Ming, the unhung murderer. - -Together they dragged the frail thing to the water's edge, and were -about to shove it out when, with a chorus of savage yells, a score or -more of the head-hunters leaped from the jungle and bore down upon -them. Thandar turned to meet them with drawn pistol. - -"Get the canoe into the water, Nadara," he called to the girl. "I will -hold them off until it is launched, then we may be able to reach deep -water before they can overtake us." - -Nadara struggled with the unwieldy boat which the rollers picked up -and hurled back upon her each time she essayed to launch it. From -the corner of his eye Thandar saw the difficulties that the girl was -having. Already the horde was half-way across the beach, running -rapidly toward them. The man feared to fire except at close range since -his unfamiliarity with firearms rendered him an extremely poor shot. -However, it was evident that Nadara could not launch the thing alone, -and so Thandar turned his pistol upon the approaching savages, pulled -the trigger, and wheeled to assist the girl. - -More by chance than skill the bullet lodged in the body of the foremost -head-hunter. The fellow rolled screaming to the sand, and as one his -companions came to a sudden halt. But seeing that Thandar was busy -with the boat and not appearing to intend to follow up his shot they -presently resumed the charge. - -Thandar and Nadara were having all that they could attend to with the -canoe and so the savages came to the water's edge before they realized -their proximity. When he saw them, Thandar wheeled and fired again, -then picking the canoe up bodily above his head he struggled out -through the surf, Nadara walking by his side, steadying him. - -After them came the savages--perhaps half a dozen of the bolder, -when suddenly a great roller caught them all, pursuers and pursued, -sweeping them out into deep water. Thandar and Nadara clung to the -canoe, but the head-hunters were dragged down by the undertow. - -Upon the beach, yelling, threatening and gesticulating, danced thirty -or forty baffled savages; but now Thandar and Nadara had crawled into -the craft, which the outgoing tide was carrying rapidly from shore, and -with the aid of the paddle were soon safely out upon the bosom of the -Pacific. - -Safely? - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -PIRATES - - -As the tide and wind carried the light craft out to sea, and the shore -line sank beneath the horizon behind them, Waldo Emerson looked out -upon the future as he did upon the tumbling waste of desolate water -encircling them, with utter hopelessness. - -Once before he had passed by a miracle through the many-sided menaces -of the sea; but that he should be so fortunate again he could not hope. -And now Nadara was with him. Before, only his own suffering and death -had been possible; now he must face the greater agony of witnessing -Nadara's. - -The wind, blowing a steady gale, was raising a considerable sea. The -vast billows rolled, one upon the heels of another, with the regularity -of infantry units doubling at review. The wind and the sea seemed to -have been made to order for the frail vessel that bore Thandar and -Nadara. It rode the long, ponderous waves like a cork; its crude sail -caught the wind and bellied bravely to it, driving the boat swiftly -over the water. - -And scarce had the shore behind them sunk forever from their sight -than dead ahead another shore line showed. Thandar could scarce believe -his eyes. He rubbed them and looked again. Then he asked Nadara to look. - -"What is that ahead?" he asked. - -The girl half rose with an exclamation of joy. - -"Land!" she cried. - -And land it was. The wind, driving them madly, carried them toward -the north end of what appeared to be a large island. Angry breakers -pounded a rocky coast line. To strike there would mean instant death -to them both. But would they strike? As they neared the point of the -island it became evident to Thandar that they would be borne past it. -Could he hope to stem the speed of the little craft and turn it back -into the sheltered water in the lee of the land? The chances were more -than even that the canoe would capsize the instant he cut away the sail -and attempted to paddle across the wind, as would be necessary to come -about the end of the island. - -But there seemed no other way. He handed his parang to Nadara, telling -her to be ready to cut the rawhide strips that supported the sail the -instant that he gave the word. With his paddle clutched tightly in his -hands he knelt in the stern, watching the progress of the canoe past -the rocky point. - -At this extremity of the island a narrow tongue of land ran far out -into the sea. It was past the outer point of this tongue that the canoe -was racing. When they had passed Thandar realized the rashness of -attempting to turn the canoe into the trough of the sea even for the -little distance that would have been necessary to make the shelter of -the point, where, almost within reach, he could see the peaceful bosom -of unruffled water lying safely behind the island. - -And yet as he looked ahead upon the limitless waste of ocean before -them he knew that one risk was no greater than the other, and then an -alternative plan occurred to him. He would run a short distance past -the point and then turn almost directly back and attempt to paddle the -canoe in the calm water, running nearly into the face of the wind, thus -avoiding the dangers of the trough. - -There was but a single drawback to this plan--the question of his -ability to drive the canoe against the gale. At least it was worth -trying. He gave Nadara the word to cut down the sail, and at the same -instant, the canoe being upon the crest of a wave, he bent to the -paddle. As the panther skin tumbled at the foot of the rough mast the -nose of the craft swung around in reply to Thandar's vigorous strokes. - -So intent were both upon the life and death struggle that they were -waging with the elements that neither saw the long, low-lying craft -that shot from the mouth of a small harbor behind them as they came -into view upon the lee side of the island. - -For a moment the canoe hung broadside to the wind. Thandar struggled -frantically to carry it about. Down they dropped into the trough of a -great sea. Above them hung the overleaning tower of the wave's crest -ready to topple upon them its tons of water. The canoe rose, still -broadside, almost to the crest of the wave--then the thing broke upon -them. - -When Thandar came to the surface his first thought was for Nadara. He -looked about as he shook the water from his eyes. Almost at his side -Nadara's head rose from the sea. As her eyes met his a smile touched -her lips. - -"This is better," she shouted. "Now we can reach shore," and turning -she struck out for land. - -Just behind her swam Thandar. He knew that Nadara was like a fish in -water, but he doubted her ability as he doubted his own to reach the -shore in the face of both wind and tide. A wave carried them high in -air, and from its crest both saw simultaneously a long craft in the -hollow beneath them, and noted the fierce aspect of her crew. - -Nadara, fearing all men but Thandar, would have attempted to elude the -craft, but the glimpse that the man had had of those aboard her had -convinced him that he had fallen by good fortune into the company of -Tsao Ming and his crew. - -"They are friends," he screamed to Nadara, and so they let the boat -come alongside and pick them up; but no sooner had Thandar obtained a -good look at the occupants than he discovered that never a face among -them had he seen before. - -They were of the same type as Tsao Ming's motley horde, nor did Waldo -Emerson need inquire their vocation--thief and murderer were writ upon -every countenance. They jabbered questions at Nadara and Thandar in an -assortment of dialects which neither could understand, and it was only -after the craft had been anchored in the little bay and the party had -waded to shore that Thandar tried speaking with them in pidgin English. -Several among them understood him, and he was not long in making it -plain to them that they would be paid well if they carried him and -Nadara to a civilized port. - -The leader, who seemed to be a full blooded negro, laughed at him, -ridiculing the idea that an almost naked man could pay for his liberty. -At the same time the fellow cast such greedy glances at Nadara that -Thandar became convinced that the fellow, for reasons of his own, -preferred not to believe that they could pay in money for their -liberty. - -It seemed that the party had been about to embark for another portion -of the western coast of the island where the main body of the horde -lay. They had but been waiting for three of their crew who had gone -inland hunting, when they had seen the canoe and put out to capture -its occupants. Now they returned to the little harbor to pick up their -fellows, and continue toward the main camp. - -The black was for dispatching Thandar at once as their boat was already -overcrowded, but there were others who counselled him against it, -reminding him of the probable anger of their chief, who saw only in a -dead prisoner the loss of a possible ransom. - -At last the hunters returned and all embarked. Soon the boat had passed -out of the bay and was making its way south along the west coast of the -island. It was almost dark when her nose was turned toward shore and -the long sweeps brought into play as the sail sagged to the foot of the -mast. - -Between two small, overlapping points that hid what lay behind, -they passed into a landlocked harbor. As the boat breasted the end -of the inner point, Thandar sprang to his feet with a cry of joy -and amazement. Not a hundred yards away, riding quietly upon the -mirror-like surface of the water, lay the _Priscilla_. - -The pirates looked at their prisoner in astonishment. The black rose -with clenched fists as though prepared to strike him. - -"_Priscilla ahoy!_" shrieked Waldo Emerson. "Help! Help!" - -The negro grinned. There was no response from the white yacht. Then -the men told Thandar that they had captured the vessel several weeks -before, and were holding her crew prisoners upon land awaiting the -return of the chief who had been unaccountably absent for a long time. -When Waldo Emerson told them that the yacht belonged to his father the -black was glad that he had not killed him, for he should bring a fat -ransom. - -It was dark when they landed, and Thandar and Nadara were forced into -squalid huts that lay side by side with several others just above the -beach. For a long time the man could not sleep. His mind was occupied -with doubts as to the fate of his father and mother. Nadara had told -him that both had been aboard the _Priscilla_. She had said nothing of -the treatment accorded her by Mrs. Smith-Jones, but Waldo had guessed -near the truth, and he had seen that the sight of the _Priscilla_ had -awakened no enthusiasm or happiness in the girl. - -After a while he dozed only to be awakened by the sound of movement -outside his hut. There was something sinister in the stealthiness of -the sound. Silently Thandar rose and crept to the door. The pirates -had made no attempt to secure their prisoners--there was no possibility -of their escaping from the island. - -Thandar put his head out into the lesser darkness of the night. He -muttered a little growl of rage and fear, for what he saw was the huge, -dark bulk of a man crawling into Nadara's hut. Instantly the American -followed. At the door of the girl's shelter he paused to listen. Within -he heard a sudden exclamation of fright and the sound of a scuffle. -Then he was within the darkness, and a moment later stumbled against a -man. Thandar's fingers sought the throat. He made no sound. The other -wheeled upon him with a knife. Thandar had expected it. His forearm -warded the first blow, and running down the forearm of the other his -hand found the knife wrist. Then commenced the struggle within the -Stygian blackness of the interior of the hut. Back and forth across the -mud floor the two staggered and reeled--the one attempting to wrench -free the hand that held the knife--the other seeking a hold upon the -throat of his antagonist while he strove to maintain his grip upon the -other's wrist. The heavy breathing of the two rose and fell upon the -silence of the night--that and the scuffling of their feet were the -only sounds of combat. Nadara could not assist Thandar--she knew that -it was he who had come to her rescue though she could not see him. - -At last, with a superhuman effort, the night prowler broke away from -Thandar. For a moment silence reigned in the hut. None of the three -could see the other. From beneath his panther skin Thandar drew the -long pistol that Tsao Ming had given him, but he dared not fire for -fear of hitting Nadara, nor dared he ask her to speak that he might -know her position, for then would he have divulged his own to his -antagonist. - -For minutes that seemed hours the three stood in utter silence, -endeavoring to stifle their breathing. Then Thandar heard a cautious -movement upon the opposite side of the room. Was it his foe, or -Nadara. He raised his pistol level with a man's breast, and then -very cautiously he too moved to one side. At the slight sound of his -movement there came a sudden flash and deafening roar from across the -hut--the enemy had fired, and in the flash of his gun all within the -interior was lighted for an instant, and Thandar saw the giant black -not two paces from him, and to the man's left stood Nadara, safe from a -shot from Thandar's pistol. - -The black, not knowing that Thandar was armed, had not guessed that -his chance shot was to prove his own death messenger. The instant that -the flash of the other's gun revealed his whereabouts Thandar's pistol -gave an answering roar, and simultaneously Thandar leaped to one side, -running swiftly to grapple with the black from the side; but when he -came to him, instead of meeting with ferocious resistance as he had -expected, he stumbled over his dead body. - -But now the whole camp was awake. The pirates were running hither and -thither shouting questions and orders in their many tongues. Confusion -reigned supreme, and in the midst of it Thandar grasped Nadara's hand -and ran from the hut. Back of the other huts he ran until he had passed -the end of the camp. Then he turned down toward the water. It was his -intention to reach a boat and make his way to the _Priscilla_. - -Behind them the confusion of the camp grew as the pirates searched the -huts for an explanation of the two shots--there could have been no -better opportunity for escape. Drawn up on the beach was one of the -_Priscilla's_ own boats. Together Thandar and Nadara pushed it off, and -a moment later were rowing rapidly toward the yacht. - -It was with a feeling of unbounded security and elation that Waldo -Emerson clambered over the side and drew Nadara after him; but his -elation was short lived for scarcely had he set foot upon the deck than -he was seized from behind by half a dozen brawny villains who had been -upon guard on board the _Priscilla_ and had seen the two put off from -shore, watched their flight toward the yacht and lain in wait for them -as they clambered over the side. - -The balance of the night they were kept prisoners upon the _Priscilla_; -but early the next morning they were taken ashore. There they found -all the pirates congregated outside one of the huts. Within were -the passengers and crew of the _Priscilla_. As Thandar and Nadara -approached they were seized and hustled toward the doorway--with an -accompaniment of oriental oaths they were pushed into the interior. - -Standing about in disconsolate and unhappy groups were the crew of the -_Priscilla_, Captain Burlinghame and Mr. and Mrs. Smith-Jones. As his -eyes fell upon the last, Waldo Emerson ran toward her with outstretched -arms. - -With a horrified shriek Mrs. Smith-Jones dodged behind her husband -and the captain. Waldo came to a sudden halt. The two men eyed him -threateningly. He looked straight into his father's face. - -"Don't you know me, Father," he asked. - -John Alden Smith-Jones' jaw dropped. - -"Waldo Emerson," he cried. "It cannot be possible!" - -Mrs. Smith-Jones emerged from retreat. - -"Waldo Emerson!" she echoed. "It cannot be!" - -"But it is, Mother," cried the young man. - -"What awful apparel!" said Mrs. Smith-Jones after she had embraced her -son. Then her eyes wandered to Nadara, who had been standing in demure -silence just within the doorway. - -"You?" she gasped. "You are not dead?" - -Nadara shook her head, and Waldo Emerson hastened to recount -her adventures since Stark's attack upon her on the deck of the -_Priscilla_. Mrs. Smith-Jones approached the girl. She placed a hand -upon her shoulder. - -"I have been doing a great deal of thinking since last I saw you," she -said, "and the result of it is that I am going to do something that I -have never before done in my life--I am going to ask your pardon; I -treated you shamefully. I do not need to ask if my son loves you--you -have already told me that you love him--and his eyes have told me where -his heart lies. - -"For long nights I lay awake thinking of the horror of it, and almost -praying that he might be dead rather than come back to find you waiting -for him in Boston--that was before you went overboard. You had no birth -or family, and that to me meant everything; but since I thought that -you were both dead I discovered that I recalled many things about you -that were infinitely to be preferred over birth and breeding. - -"I cannot tell you just what they are--only I cannot blame my son for -loving you. Only you must discard that horrible garment for something -presentable." - -"Mother!" shouted Waldo Emerson, as he threw his arms about her. "I -knew that you would love her, too, if you ever knew her." - -Just then the door opened and one of the pirates entered. - -"Come," he said. - -They filed out past him. From those outside they learned that it had -been decided to kill them all and after looting the _Priscilla_, sink -her, as a man-of-war had been sighted cruising off the coast early in -the morning. In their terror they had decided to wait no longer for -the absent chief, and all thoughts of ransom were forgotten in the mad -desire to erase every vestige of their piracy. - -The victims looked at one another in horror. They were entirely -surrounded by the pirates, and one by one were securely bound that -there might be no chance of any escaping. The plan was to lead them -inland to the densest part of the jungle and there to cut their throats -and leave their corpses to the vultures. The pirates appeared to derive -much pleasure in recounting their plan to the prisoners. - -At last all were bound and the death march commenced. The last of the -long line of hope forsaken prisoners and brutal, gibing cut-throats -had disappeared in the jungle when a rude craft made its way into the -harbor. At sight of the _Priscilla_ it hesitated and prepared to fly, -but seeing no sign of life aboard it, approached, and finding the decks -deserted, mounted. In the cabins the newcomers discovered two Malays -asleep. These they awoke with much laughter and rude jests. - -The two guards leaped to their feet, feeling for their pistols; but -when they saw who had surprised them they grinned broadly and jabbered -volubly. They addressed all their remarks to a huge and villainous -fellow whom they called chief. He it was whom the pirates had awaited, -and whose prolonged absence had resulted in the determination to -execute the prisoners of the _Priscilla_. - -When the chief learned of what was going on in the jungle he cursed -and bellowed in rage. He saw many thousand liangs of sycee evaporating -before his eyes. Shouting orders to his fellows to follow him he leaped -into the craft that had brought them to the _Priscilla_, and a moment -later was pushing rapidly toward the shore. Without waiting to draw the -boat upon the beach the chief plunged into the jungle, his men at his -heels. - -Far ahead of him trudged the weary and fear-sickened prisoners, lashed -onward with sticks and the flats of murderous parangs. At last the -pirates halted in a tangled mass of vegetation. - -"Here," said one; but another thought they should proceed a little -further. For a few minutes the two men argued, then the first drew his -parang and advanced upon Thandar. - -"Here!" he insisted and swung the blade about his head. - -A sudden crashing of the underbrush and loud and angry shouts -caused him to turn his eyes in the direction of the interruption. -The prisoners, too, looked. What they saw was not particularly -reassuring--only another very ferocious appearing and exceeding -wrathful pirate followed by a half dozen other villains. - -He rushed into the midst of the group, knocking men to right and left. -The wicked looking fellows who had bullied and cowed the frightened -prisoners but a few moments before now looked the picture of abject -terror. - -The chief came to a halt before the man with the bared parang. His face -was livid, and working spasmodically with rage and excitement. He tried -to speak, and then he turned his eyes upon Thandar, standing there -bound ready for decapitation. As his gaze fell upon this prisoner his -eyes went wide, and then he turned upon the would-be executioner, and -with a mighty blow felled him. - -That seemed to loose his tongue, and from his mouth flowed a torrent -of the most awful abuse the prisoners had ever heard. It was directed -toward the men who had dared contemplate this thing without his -sanction, and principally against the cowering unfortunate who had not -dared rise from where his chief's heavy fist had sprawled him. - -"And you would have killed Thandar," he shrieked. "Thandar, who saved -my life!" - -And then he fell to kicking the prostrate man until Thandar himself was -forced to intercede in the wretch's behalf. - -With the coming of Tsao Ming the troubles of the prisoners evaporated -in thin air, for when he found that the owner of the _Priscilla_ was -Thandar's father he restored the yacht and all the loot that his men -had taken from it to their rightful owners. Nor would he have stopped -there had they permitted him to have his way, which was no less than -to behead half a dozen of his unfortunate lieutenants who had been -over-zealous in the performance of their piratical duties. - -Tsao Ming's picturesque villains replenished the water casks of the -_Priscilla_ and carried aboard her a sufficient stock of provisions to -insure her company a plentiful table to Honolulu, the port they had -chosen as their first stop. - -And when the preparations were completed a dozen piratical prahus -escorted the white yacht a hundred miles upon her northward journey, -firing a farewell salute with volley after volley from the little, -brass six-pounders in their bows. - -As the tiny fleet diminished to mere specks astern, disappearing -beneath the southern horizon, a white flanneled man with close cropped -blonde hair, and a slender, black haired girl in simple shirt waist and -duck skirt watched them from the deck of the _Priscilla_. - -An involuntary sigh escaped the lips of each, and they turned and -looked into one another's eyes. - -"We are leaving a cruel world that has been kind to us," said the man, -"for with all its cruelties it gave us each other and reunited us when -we were separated." - -"Will civilization be more kind?" asked the girl. - -Thandar shook his head. - -"I do not know," he replied. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -HOMEWARD BOUND - - -At Honolulu Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones and Nadara were married. Before -the ceremony there had been some discussion as to what name should be -used in describing Nadara in the formal contract. - -"Nadara" alone seemed too brief and meaningless to the precise Mrs. -Smith-Jones; but Waldo Emerson and the girl insisted that it was her -name and all-sufficient. So, in lieu of another name, it was finally -decided by all that "Nadara" could not be legally improved upon. - -Prior to the ceremony, which took place on board the _Priscilla_, Mr. -and Mrs. John Alden Smith-Jones, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, several -invited guests from amongst officials and friends in Honolulu, and the -crew of the _Priscilla_ presented gifts to the bride. - -Captain Burlinghame in presenting his proffered a few words in -explanation of it. - -"To you, Nadara," he said, "these trinkets will hold a deeper meaning -and a greater value than to another, for they come from your own -forgotten island, where they lay for twenty years until, by chance, -I picked them up close by the sea. The poor lady to whom they once -belonged you never knew--it is quite possible that she never was upon -your savage coast--and how her jewels came there must always remain a -mystery. But two things you hold in common with her, for she was a lady -and she was very beautiful." - -He held toward Nadara in his open palm a little worn bag of the skins -of small rodents, sewn together with bits of gut. At sight of it both -the girl and Waldo Emerson exclaimed in astonishment. - -Nadara took the bag wonderingly in her hands and dumped the contents -into her palm. Waldo pressed forward. - -"Did you know to whom those belonged?" he asked Burlinghame. - -"To Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy," replied the -captain. - -"They belonged to Nadara's mother," returned Waldo. "Her foster parents -were present at her birth and took these jewels from the poor woman's -body after she had passed away. She was washed ashore in a boat in -which there was only a dead man beside herself--Nadara was born that -night." - -And so, when the clergyman had performed the marriage ceremony he -entered upon the certificate in the space provided there for the name -of the woman: Nadara de la Valois. - -And they are living in Boston now in a wonderful home that you have -seen if you ever have been to Boston and been driven about in one of -those great sight-seeing motor busses, for the place is pointed out to -all visitors because of the beauty of its architecture and the fame -that attaches to the historic and aristocratic name of its owner, -which, as it happens, is not Smith-Jones at all. - - - - -_There's More to Follow!_ - - - More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author of - this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of world-wide - reputation, in the Authors Alphabetical List which you will find on - the _reverse side_ of the wrapper of this book. Look it over before - you lay it aside. There are books here you are sure to want--some, - possibly, that you have _always_ wanted. - - It is a _selected_ list; every book in it has achieved a certain - measure of _success_. - - The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good - Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted - Standard of Value. It will pay you to - - -_Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!_ - - _In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a complete - catalog_ - - - - -THE NOVELS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list. - - - TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE - TARZAN OF THE APES - TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR - TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN - TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION - TARZAN THE TERRIBLE - TARZAN THE UNTAMED - THE BEASTS OF TARZAN - THE RETURN OF TARZAN - THE SON OF TARZAN - JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN - THE MASTER MIND OF MARS - THE PRINCESS OF MARS - THE WARLORD OF MARS - THE GODS OF MARS - THUVIA, MAID OF MARS - THE CHESSMAN OF MARS - THE MONSTER MEN - THE WAR CHIEF - THE OUTLAW OF TORN - THE MAD KING - THE MOON MAID - THE ETERNAL LOVER - THE CAVE GIRL - THE BANDIT OF HELL'S BEND - THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT - AT THE EARTH'S CORE - PELLUCIDAR - THE MUCKER - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -STIRRING TALES OF THE GREAT WAR - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list - - - ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Erich Maria Remarque - - The greatest of all the War novels. The G. & D. Edition is the - unexpurgated edition--printed from the English text. - - GOD HAVE MERCY ON US! William T. Scanlon - - These were the words that instinctively came to the lips of hundreds - of American soldiers who survived the experiences told in this book. - - WAR BUGS Charles MacArthur - - Leonard Nason says "If WAR BUGS is not a splendid picture of a - 'milishy' outfit I'll bite my initials in a green bough." - - THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISCHA Arnold Zwieg - - Based on an actual case during the European War--it is an impassioned - and powerful drama of man's inhumanity to man. - - THE TOP KICK Leonard Nason - - Infantry, cavalry, artillery, intelligence--Private fights and public - fights--Wine, no women, and cuss words--France in 1918. - - SQUAD James B. Wharton - - The war chronicle of eight men out of whose flesh and blood the - smallest of military units--a squad--is made. - - WAR BIRDS The Diary of an Unknown Aviator - - Soaring, looping, sooming, spitting hails of leaden death, planes - everywhere in a war darkened sky. WAR BIRDS is a tale of youth, - loving, fighting, dying. - - SERGEANT EADIE Leonard Nason - - This is the private history of the hard luck sergeant whose exploits - in CHEVRONS made that story one of the most dramatic and thrilling of - war books. - - WINGS John Monk Saunders - - Based on the great Paramount picture, WINGS is the Big Parade of the - air, the gallant, fascinating story of an American air pilot. - - LEAVE ME WITH A SMILE Elliott White Springs - - Henry Winton, a famous ace, thrice decorated, twice wounded and many - times disillusioned returns after the war to meet Phyllis, one of the - new order of hard-drinking, unmoral girls. - - NOCTURNE MILITAIRE Elliott White Springs - - War, with wine and women, tales of love, madness, heroism; flyers - reckless in their gestures toward life and death. - - CHEVRONS Leonard Nason - - One of the sensations of the post-war period, CHEVRONS discloses - the whole pageantry of war with grim truth flavored with the breezy - vulgarity of soldier dialogue. - - THREE LIGHTS FROM A MATCH Leonard Nason - - Three long short stories, each told with a racy vividness, the real - terror in war with the sputter of machine guns. - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD'S - -STORIES OF ADVENTURE - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list - - - THE LADY OF PERIBONKA - THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM - SWIFT LIGHTNING - THE BLACK HUNTER - THE ANCIENT HIGHWAY - A GENTLEMAN OF COURAGE - THE ALASKAN - THE COUNTRY BEYOND - THE FLAMING FOREST - THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN - THE RIVER'S END - THE GOLDEN SNARE - BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY - THE WOLF HUNTER - THE GOLD HUNTERS - NOMADS OF THE NORTH - KAZAN - THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM - BAREE, SON OF KAZAN - THE DANGER TRAIL - THE COURAGE OF MARGE O'DOONE - THE HUNTED WOMAN - THE FLOWER OF THE NORTH - THE GRIZZLY KING - ISOBEL - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK - - - - -ZANE GREY'S NOVELS - -May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list - - - WILD HORSE MESA - NEVADA - FORLORN RIVER - UNDER THE TONTO RIM - THE VANISHING AMERICAN - TAPPAN'S BURRO - THE THUNDERING HERD - THE CALL OF THE CANYON - WANDERER OF THE WASTELAND - THE DAY OF THE BEAST - TO THE LAST MAN - THE MYSTERIOUS RIDER - THE MAN OF THE FOREST - THE DESERT OF WHEAT - THE U.P. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Cave Girl</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 20, 2022 [eBook #69191]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAVE GIRL ***</div> - - - - - -<p class="ph3">THE CAVE GIRL</p> - - -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/illus01.jpg" alt="pic" /> -</p> - -<p class="caption"> The Cave Girl saves Waldo's life.</p> - - - - - -<p class="ph1" style="margin-top: 10em;">THE CAVE GIRL</p> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 10em;">BY</p> - -<p class="ph3">EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS</p> - -<p class="ph5">AUTHOR OF</p> - -<p class="ph4">TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN,<br /> -THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT,<br /> -PELLUCIDAR, <span class="smcap">Etc.</span></p> - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 10em;">GROSSET & DUNLAP</p> -<p class="ph5">PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</p> - - - - - - - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 10em;">Copyright</p> - -<p class="ph5">Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.</p> - -<p class="ph6">1925</p> - -<p class="ph6">Published March, 1925</p> - -<p class="ph6"><i>Copyrighted in Great Britain</i></p> - - - - - - - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - - - -<table summary="toc" width ="55%"> - - -<tr><td align="right">CHAPTER</td> <td> </td> <td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="3" align="center"><a href="#PART_I">PART I</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">I</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Ia">Flotsam</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">II</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIa">The Wild People</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">III</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIIa">The Little Eden</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IVa">Death's Doorway</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">V </td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_Va">Awakening</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIa">A Choice</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIa">Thandar, the Seeker</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIIa">Nadara Again</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IXa">The Seeker</a></td> <td align="right"> <a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">X</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Xa">The Trail's End</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIa">Capture</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="3" align="center"><a href="#THE_CAVE_GIRL">PART II</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">I</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Ib">King Big Fist</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">II</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIb">King Thandar</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">III </td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_IIIb">The Great Nagoola</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IVb">The Battle</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">V </td><td><a href="#CHAPTER_Vb">The Abduction of Nadara</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIb">The Search</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIb">First Mate Stark</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIIIb">The Wild Men</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IXb">Building the Boat</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">X</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_Xb">The Head-Hunters</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIb">The Rescue</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIIb">Pirates</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIIIb">Homeward Bound</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td></tr> -</table> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="PART_I" id="PART_I">PART I</a></h2> - - - - -<h2>THE CAVE GIRL</h2> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Ia" id="CHAPTER_Ia">CHAPTER I</a></h2> - -<p class="center">FLOTSAM</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> dim shadow of the thing was but a blur against the dim shadows of -the wood behind it.</p> - -<p>The young man could distinguish no outline that might mark the presence -as either brute or human.</p> - -<p>He could see no eyes, yet he knew that somewhere from out of that -noiseless mass stealthy eyes were fixed upon him.</p> - -<p>This was the fourth time that the thing had crept from out the wood -as darkness was settling—the fourth time during those three horrible -weeks since he had been cast upon that lonely shore that he had -watched, terror-stricken, while night engulfed the shadowy form that -lurked at the forest's edge.</p> - -<p>It had never attacked him, but to his distorted imagination it seemed -to slink closer and closer as night fell—waiting, always waiting for -the moment that it might find him unprepared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones was not overly courageous. He had been reared -among surroundings of culture plus and ultra-intellectuality in the -exclusive Back Bay home of his ancestors.</p> - -<p>He had been taught to look with contempt upon all that savored of -muscular superiority—such things were gross, brutal, primitive.</p> - -<p>It had been a giant intellect only that he had craved—he and a fond -mother—and their wishes had been fulfilled. At twenty-one Waldo was an -animated encyclopedia—and about as muscular as a real one.</p> - -<p>Now he slunk shivering with fright at the very edge of the beach, as -far from the grim forest as he could get.</p> - -<p>Cold sweat broke from every pore of his long, lank, six-foot-two -body. His skinny arms and legs trembled as with palsy. Occasionally -he coughed—it had been the cough that had banished him upon this -ill-starred sea voyage.</p> - -<p>As he crouched in the sand, staring with wide, horror-dilated eyes into -the black night, great tears rolled down his thin, white cheeks.</p> - -<p>It was with difficulty that he restrained an overpowering desire -to shriek. His mind was filled with forlorn regrets that he had -not remained at home to meet the wasting death that the doctor had -predicted—a peaceful death at least—not the brutal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> end which faced -him now.</p> - -<p>The lazy swell of the South Pacific lapped his legs, stretched upon -the sand, for he had retreated before that menacing shadow as far as -the ocean would permit. As the slow minutes dragged into age-long -hours, the nervous strain told so heavily upon the weak boy that toward -midnight he lapsed into merciful unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>The warm sun awoke him the following morning, but it brought with it -but a faint renewal of courage. Things could not creep to his side -unseen now, but still they could come, for the sun would not protect -him. Even now some savage beast might be lurking just within the forest.</p> - -<p>The thought unnerved him to such an extent that he dared not venture -to the woods for the fruit that had formed the major portion of his -sustenance. Along the beach he picked up a few mouthfuls of sea-food, -but that was all.</p> - -<p>The day passed, as had the other terrible days which had preceded it, -in scanning alternately the ocean and the forest's edge—the one for a -ship and the other for the cruel death which he momentarily expected to -see stalk out of the dreary shades to claim him.</p> - -<p>A more practical and a braver man would have constructed some manner -of shelter in which he might have spent his nights in comparative -safety<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> and comfort, but Waldo Emerson's education had been conducted -along lines of undiluted intellectuality—pursuits and knowledge which -were practical were commonplace, and commonplaces were vulgar. It -was preposterous that a Smith-Jones should ever have need of vulgar -knowledge.</p> - -<p>For the twenty-second time since the great wave had washed him from -the steamer's deck and hurled him, choking and sputtering, upon this -inhospitable shore, Waldo Emerson saw the sun sinking rapidly toward -the western horizon.</p> - -<p>As it descended the young man's terror increased, and he kept his eyes -glued upon the spot from which the shadow had emerged the previous -evening.</p> - -<p>He felt that he could not endure another night of the torture he -had passed through four times before. That he should go mad he was -positive, and he commenced to tremble and whimper even while daylight -yet remained. For a time he tried turning his back to the forest, and -then he sat huddled up gazing out upon the ocean; but the tears which -rolled down his cheeks so blurred his eyes that he saw nothing.</p> - -<p>Finally he could endure it no longer, and with a sudden gasp of horror -he wheeled toward the wood. There was nothing visible, yet he broke -down and sobbed like a child, for loneliness and terror.</p> - -<p>When he was able to control his tears for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> moment he took the -opportunity to scan the deepening shadows once more.</p> - -<p>The first glance brought a piercing shriek from his white lips.</p> - -<p>The thing was there!</p> - -<p>The young man did not fall groveling to the sand this time—instead, -he stood staring with protruding eyes at the vague form, while shriek -after shriek broke from his grinning lips.</p> - -<p>Reason was tottering.</p> - -<p>The thing, whatever it was, halted at the first blood-curdling cry, and -then when the cries continued it slunk back toward the wood.</p> - -<p>With what remained of his ebbing mentality Waldo Emerson realized that -it were better to die at once than face the awful fears of the black -night. He would rush to meet his fate, and thus end this awful agony of -suspense.</p> - -<p>With the thought came action, so that, still shrieking, he rushed -headlong toward the thing at the wood's rim. As he ran it turned and -fled into the forest, and after it went Waldo Emerson, his long, skinny -legs carrying his emaciated body in great leaps and bounds through the -tearing underbrush.</p> - -<p>He emitted shriek after shriek—ear-piercing shrieks that ended in long -drawn out wails, more wolfish than human. And the thing that fled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -through the night before him was shrieking, too, now.</p> - -<p>Time and again the young man stumbled and fell. Thorns and brambles -tore his clothing and his soft flesh. Blood smeared him from head to -feet. Yet on and on he rushed through the semidarkness of the now -moonlit forest.</p> - -<p>At first impelled by the mad desire to embrace death and wrest the -peace of oblivion from its cruel clutch, Waldo Emerson had come to -pursue the screaming shadow before him from an entirely different -motive. Now it was for companionship. He screamed now because of a fear -that the thing would elude him and that he should be left alone in the -depth of this weird wood.</p> - -<p>Slowly but surely it was drawing away from him, and as Waldo Emerson -realized the fact he redoubled his efforts to overtake it. He had -stopped screaming now, for the strain of his physical exertion found -his weak lungs barely adequate to the needs of his gasping respiration.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the pursuit emerged from the forest to cross a little moonlit -clearing, at the opposite side of which towered a high and rocky cliff. -Toward this the fleeing creature sped, and in an instant more was -swallowed, apparently, by the face of the cliff.</p> - -<p>Its disappearance was as mysterious and awesome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> as its identity had -been, and left the young man in blank despair.</p> - -<p>With the object of pursuit gone, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -sank trembling and exhausted at the foot of the cliff. A paroxysm of -coughing seized him, and thus he lay in an agony of apprehension, -fright, and misery until from very weakness he sank into a deep sleep.</p> - -<p>It was daylight when he awoke—stiff, lame, sore, hungry, and -miserable—but, withal, refreshed and sane. His first consideration -was prompted by the craving of a starved stomach; yet it was with the -utmost difficulty that he urged his cowardly brain to direct his steps -toward the forest, where hung fruit in abundance.</p> - -<p>At every little noise he halted in tense silence, poised to flee. His -knees trembled so violently that they knocked together; but at length -he entered the dim shadows, and presently was gorging himself with ripe -fruits.</p> - -<p>To reach some of the more luscious viands he had picked from the ground -a piece of fallen limb, which tapered from a diameter of four inches -at one end to a trifle over an inch at the other. It was the first -practical thing that Waldo Emerson had done since he had been cast upon -the shore of his new home—in fact, it was, in all likelihood, the -nearest approximation to a practical thing which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> he had ever done in -all his life.</p> - -<p>Waldo had never been allowed to read fiction, nor had he ever cared to -so waste his time or impoverish his brain, and nowhere in the fund of -deep erudition which he had accumulated could he recall any condition -analogous to those which now confronted him.</p> - -<p>Waldo, of course, knew that there were such things as step-ladders, -and had he had one he would have used it as a means to reach the fruit -above his hand's reach; but that he could knock the delicacies down -with a broken branch seemed indeed a mighty discovery—a valuable -addition to the sum total of human knowledge. Aristotle himself had -never reasoned more logically.</p> - -<p>Waldo had taken the first step in his life toward independent mental -action—heretofore his ideas, his thoughts, his acts, even, had been -borrowed from the musty writing of the ancients, or directed by the -immaculate mind of his superior mother. And he clung to his discovery -as a child clings to a new toy.</p> - -<p>When he emerged from the forest he brought his stick with him.</p> - -<p>He determined to continue the pursuit of the creature that had eluded -him the night before. It would, indeed, be curious to look upon a thing -that feared him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p>In all his life he had never imagined it possible that any creature -could flee from him in fear. A little glow suffused the young man as -the idea timorously sought to take root.</p> - -<p>Could it be that there was a trace of swagger in that long, bony figure -as Waldo directed his steps toward the cliff? Perish the thought! Pride -in vulgar physical prowess! A long line of Smith-Joneses would have -risen in their graves and rent their shrouds at the veriest hint of -such an idea.</p> - -<p>For a long time Waldo walked back and forth along the foot of the -cliff, searching for the avenue of escape used by the fugitive of -yesternight. A dozen times he passed a well-defined trail that led, -winding, up the cliff's face; but Waldo knew nothing of trails—he was -looking for a flight of steps or a doorway.</p> - -<p>Finding neither, he stumbled by accident into the trail; and, although -the evident signs that marked it as such revealed nothing to him, yet -he followed it upward for the simple reason that it was the only place -upon the cliff side where he could find a foothold.</p> - -<p>Some distance up he came to a narrow cleft in the cliff into which the -trail led. Rocks dislodged from above had fallen into it, and, becoming -wedged a few feet from the bottom, left only a small cavelike hole, -into which Waldo peered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was nothing visible, but the interior was dark and forbidding. -Waldo felt cold and clammy. He began to tremble. Then he turned and -looked back toward the forest.</p> - -<p>The thought of another night spent within sight of that dismal place -almost overcame him. No! A thousand times no! Any fate were better than -that, and so after several futile efforts he forced his unwilling body -through the small aperture.</p> - -<p>He found himself on a path between two rocky walls—a path that rose -before him at a steep angle. At intervals the blue sky was visible -above through openings that had not been filled with debris.</p> - -<p>To another it would have been apparent that the cleft had been kept -open by human beings—that it was a thoroughfare which was used, if not -frequently, at least sufficiently often to warrant considerable labor -having been expended upon it to keep it free from the debris which must -be constantly falling from above.</p> - -<p>Where the path led, or what he expected to find at the other end, Waldo -had not the remotest idea. He was not an imaginative youth. But he kept -on up the ascent in the hope that at the end he would find the creature -which had escaped him the night before.</p> - -<p>As it had fled for a brief instant across the clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>ing beneath -the moon's soft rays, Waldo had thought that it bore a remarkable -resemblance to a human figure; but of that he could not be positive.</p> - -<p>At last his path broke suddenly into the sunlight. The walls on either -side were but little higher than his head, and a moment later he -emerged from the cleft onto a broad and beautiful plateau.</p> - -<p>Before him stretched a wide, grassy plain, and beyond towered a range -of mighty hills. Between them and him lay a belt of forest.</p> - -<p>A new emotion welled in the breast of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. It -was akin to that which Balboa may have felt when he gazed for the -first time upon the mighty Pacific from the Sierra de Quarequa. For -the moment, as he contemplated this new and beautiful scene of rolling -meadowland, distant forest, and serrated hill-tops, he almost forgot -to be afraid. And on the impulse of the instant he set out across the -tableland to explore the unknown which lay beyond the forest.</p> - -<p>Well it was for Waldo Emerson's peace of mind that no faint conception -of what lay there entered his unimaginative mind. To him a land without -civilization—without cities and towns peopled by humans with manners -and customs similar to those which obtain in Boston—was beyond belief.</p> - -<p>As he walked he strained his eyes in every direction for some -indication of human habitation—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> fence, a chimney—anything that -would be man-built; but his efforts were unrewarded.</p> - -<p>At the verge of the forest he halted, fearing to enter; but at last, -when he saw that the wood was more open than that near the ocean, and -that there was but little underbrush, he mustered sufficient courage to -step timidly within.</p> - -<p>On careful tiptoe he threaded his way through the park-like grove, -stopping every few minutes to listen, and ready at the first note of -danger to fly screaming toward the open plain.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding his fears, he reached the opposite boundary of the -forest without seeing or hearing anything to arouse suspicion, and, -emerging from the cool shade, found himself a little distance from a -perpendicular white cliff, the face of which was honeycombed with the -mouths of many caves.</p> - -<p>There was no living creature in sight, nor did the very apparent -artificiality of the caves suggest to the impractical Waldo that they -might be the habitations of perhaps savage human beings.</p> - -<p>With the spell of discovery still upon him, he crossed the open toward -the cliffs; but he had by no means forgotten his chronic state of -abject fear. Ears and eyes were alert for hidden dangers; every few -steps were punctuated by a timid halt and a searching survey of his -surroundings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was during one of these halts, when he had crossed half the distance -between the forest and the cliff, that he discerned a slight movement -in the wood behind him.</p> - -<p>For an instant he stood staring and frozen, unable to determine whether -he had been mistaken or really had seen a creature moving in the forest.</p> - -<p>He had about decided that he had but imagined a presence when a great, -hairy brute of a man stepped suddenly from behind the bole of a tree.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIa" id="CHAPTER_IIa">CHAPTER II</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE WILD PEOPLE</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> creature was naked except for a bit of hide that hung from a -leathern waist thong.</p> - -<p>If Waldo viewed the newcomer with wonder, it was no less than the -wonder which the sight of him inspired in the breast of the hairy -one, for what he saw was as truly remarkable to his eyes as was his -appearance to those of the cultured Bostonian. And Waldo did indeed -present a most startling exterior. His six-feet-two was accentuated by -his extreme skinniness; his gray eyes looked weak and watery within the -inflamed circles which rimmed them, and which had been produced by loss -of sleep and much weeping.</p> - -<p>His yellow hair was tangled and matted, and streaked with dirt and -blood. Blood stained his soiled and tattered ducks. His shirt was but a -mass of frayed ribbons held to him at all only by the neckband.</p> - -<p>As he stood helplessly staring with bulging eyes at the awful figure -glowering at him from the forest his jaw dropped, his knees trembled, -and he seemed about to collapse from sheer terror.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then the hideous man crouched and came creeping warily toward him.</p> - -<p>With an agonized scream Waldo turned and fled toward the cliff. A quick -glance over his shoulder brought another series of shrieks from the -frightened fugitive, for it revealed not alone the fact that the awful -man was pursuing him, but that behind him raced at least a dozen more -equally frightful.</p> - -<p>Waldo ran toward the cliffs only because that direction lay straight -away from his pursuers. He had no idea what he should do when he -reached the rocky barrier—he was far too frightened to think.</p> - -<p>His pursuers were gaining upon him, their savage yells mingling with -his piercing cries and spurring him on to undreamed-of pinnacles of -speed.</p> - -<p>As he ran, his knees came nearly to his shoulders at each frantic -bound; his left hand was extended far ahead, clutching wildly at the -air as though he were endeavoring to pull himself ahead, while his -right hand, still grasping the cudgel, described a rapid circle, like -the arm of a windmill gone mad. In action Waldo was an inspiring -spectacle.</p> - -<p>At the foot of the cliff he came to a momentary halt, while he glanced -hurriedly about for a means of escape; but now he saw that the enemy -had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> spread out toward the right and left, leaving no means of escape -except up the precipitous side of the cliff. Up this narrow trails led -steeply from ledge to ledge.</p> - -<p>In places crude ladders scaled perpendicular heights from one tier of -caves to the next above; but to Waldo the thing which confronted him -seemed absolutely unscalable, and then another backward glance showed -him the rapidly nearing enemy; and he launched himself at the face of -that seemingly impregnable barrier, clutching desperately with fingers -and toes.</p> - -<p>His progress was impeded by the cudgel to which he still clung, but -he did not drop it; though why it would have been difficult to tell, -unless it was that his acts were now purely mechanical, there being no -room in his mind for aught else than terror.</p> - -<p>Close behind him came the foremost cave man; yet, though he had -acquired the agility of a monkey through a lifetime of practice, he -was amazed at the uncanny speed with which Waldo Emerson clawed his -shrieking way aloft.</p> - -<p>Half-way up the ascent, however, a great hairy hand came almost to his -ankle.</p> - -<p>It was during the perilous negotiation of one of the loose and wabbly -ladders—little more than small trees leaning precariously against the -perpendicular rocky surface—that the nearest foe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>man came so close to -the fugitive; but at the top chance intervened to save Waldo, for a -time at least. It was at the moment that he scrambled frantically to a -tiny ledge from the frightfully slipping sapling.</p> - -<p>In his haste he did by accident what a resourceful man would have done -by intent—in pushing himself onto the ledge he kicked the ladder -outward—for a second it hung toppling in the balance, and then with a -lunge crashed down the cliff's face with its human burden, in its fall -scraping others of the pursuing horde with it.</p> - -<p>A chorus of rage came up from below him, but Waldo had not even turned -his head to learn of his temporary good fortune. Up, ever up he sped, -until at length he stood upon the topmost ledge, facing an overhanging -wall of blank rock that towered another twenty-five feet above him to -the summit of the bluff. Time and again he leaped futilely against the -smooth surface, tearing at it with his nails in a mad endeavor to climb -still higher.</p> - -<p>At his right was the low opening to a black cave, but he did not see -it—his mind could cope with but the single idea: to clamber from -the horrible creatures which pursued him. But finally it was borne -in on his half-mad brain that this was the end—he could fly no -farther—here, in a moment more, death would overtake him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned to meet it, and below saw a number of the cave men placing -another ladder in lieu of that which had fallen. In a moment they were -resuming the ascent after him.</p> - -<p>On the narrow ledge above them the young man stood, chattering and -grinning like a madman. His pitiful cries were now punctuated with the -hollow coughing which his violent exercise had induced.</p> - -<p>Tears rolled down his begrimed face, leaving crooked, muddy streaks in -their wake. His knees smote together so violently that he could barely -stand, and it was into the face of this apparition of cowardice that -the first of the cave men looked as he scrambled above the ledge on -which Waldo stood.</p> - -<p>And then, of a sudden, there rose within the breast of Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones a spark that generations of overrefinement and emasculating -culture had all but extinguished—the instinct of self-preservation by -force. Heretofore it had been purely by flight.</p> - -<p>With the frenzy of the fear of death upon him, he raised his cudgel, -and, swinging it high above his head, brought it down full upon the -unprotected skull of his enemy.</p> - -<p>Another took the fallen man's place—he, too, went down with a broken -head. Waldo was fighting now like a cornered rat, and through it all -he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> chattered and gibbered; but he no longer wept.</p> - -<p>At first he was horrified at the bloody havoc he wrought with his -crude weapon. His nature revolted at the sight of blood, and when -he saw it mixed with matted hair along the side of his cudgel, and -realized that it was human hair and human blood, and that he, Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones, had struck the blows that had plastered it there -so thickly in all its hideousness, a wave of nausea swept over him, so -that he almost toppled from his dizzy perch.</p> - -<p>For a few minutes there was a lull in hostilities while the cave men -congregated below, shaking their fists at Waldo and crying out threats -and challenges. The young man stood looking down upon them, scarcely -able to realize that alone he had met savage men in physical encounter -and defeated them.</p> - -<p>He was shocked and horrified; not, odd to say, because of the thing he -had done, but rather because of a strange and unaccountable glow of -pride in his brutal supremacy over brutes. What would his mother have -thought could she have seen her precious boy now?</p> - -<p>Suddenly Waldo became conscious from the corner of his eye that -something was creeping upon him from behind out of the dark cave before -which he had fought. Simultaneously with the realization<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> of it he -swung his cudgel in a wicked blow at this new enemy as he turned to -meet it.</p> - -<p>The creature dodged back, and the blow that would have crushed its -skull grazed a hairbreadth from its face.</p> - -<p>Waldo struck no second blow, and the cold sweat sprang to his forehead -when he realized how nearly he had come to murdering a young girl. -She crouched now in the mouth of the cave, eying him fearfully. Waldo -removed his tattered cap, bowing low.</p> - -<p>"I crave your pardon," he said. "I had no idea that there was a lady -here. I am very glad that I did not injure you."</p> - -<p>There must have been something either in his tone or manner that -reassured her, for she smiled and came out upon the ledge beside him.</p> - -<p>As she did so a scarlet flush mantled Waldo's face and neck and -ears—he could feel them burning. With a nervous cough he turned and -became intently occupied with the distant scenery.</p> - -<p>Presently he cast a surreptitious glance behind him. Shocking! She was -still there. Again he coughed nervously.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me," he said. "But—er—ah—you—I am a total stranger, you -know; hadn't you better go back in, and—er—get your clothes?"</p> - -<p>She made no reply, and so he forced himself to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> turn toward her once -more. She was smiling at him.</p> - -<p>Waldo had never been so horribly embarrassed in all his life before—it -was a distinct shock to him to realize that the girl was not -embarrassed at all.</p> - -<p>He spoke to her a second time, and at last she answered; but in -a tongue which he did not understand. It bore not the slightest -resemblance to any language, modern or dead, with which he was -familiar, and Waldo was more or less master of them all—especially the -dead ones.</p> - -<p>He tried not to look at her after that, for he realized that he must -appear very ridiculous.</p> - -<p>But now his attention was required by more pressing affairs—the cave -men were returning to the attack. They carried stones this time, and, -while some of them threw the missiles at Waldo, the others attempted -to rash his position. It was then that the girl hurried back into the -cave, only to reappear a moment later carrying some stone utensils in -her arms.</p> - -<p>There was a huge mortar in which she had collected a pestle and several -smaller pieces of stone. She pushed them along the ledge to Waldo.</p> - -<p>At first he did not grasp the meaning of her act; but presently she -pretended to pick up an imaginary missile and hurl it down upon the -creatures below—then she pointed to the things she had brought and to -Waldo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<p>He understood. So she was upon his side. He did not understand why, but -he was glad.</p> - -<p>Following her suggestion, he gathered up a couple of the smaller -objects and hurled them down upon the men beneath.</p> - -<p>But on and on they came—Waldo was not a very good shot. The girl was -busy now gathering such of the cave men's missiles as fell upon the -ledge. These she placed in a pile beside Waldo.</p> - -<p>Occasionally the young man would strike an enemy by accident, and then -she would give a little scream of pleasure—clapping her hands and -jumping up and down.</p> - -<p>It was not long before Waldo was surprised to find that this applause -fell sweetly upon his ears. It was then that he began to take better -aim.</p> - -<p>In the midst of it all there flashed suddenly upon him a picture of his -devoted mother and the select coterie of intellectual young people with -which she had always surrounded him.</p> - -<p>Waldo felt a new pang of horror as he tried to realize with what -emotions they would look upon him now as he stood upon the face of a -towering cliff beside an almost naked girl hurling rocks down upon the -heads of hairy men who hopped about, screaming with rage, below him.</p> - -<p>It was awful! A great billow of mortification rolled over him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned to cast a look of disapprobation at the shameless young woman -behind him—she should not think that he countenanced such coarse and -vulgar proceedings. Their eyes met—in hers he saw the sparkle of -excitement and the joy of life and such a look of comradeship as he -never before had seen in the eyes of another mortal.</p> - -<p>Then she pointed excitedly over the edge of the ledge.</p> - -<p>Waldo looked.</p> - -<p>A great brute of a cave man had crawled, unseen, almost to their refuge.</p> - -<p>He was but five feet below them, and at the moment that he looked up -Waldo dropped a fifty-pound stone mortar full upon his upturned face.</p> - -<p>The young woman emitted a little shriek of joy, and Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, his face bisected by a broad grin, turned toward her.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIIa" id="CHAPTER_IIIa">CHAPTER III</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE LITTLE EDEN</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> mortar ended hostilities—temporarily, at least; but the cave -men loitered about the base of the cliff during the balance of the -afternoon, occasionally shouting taunts at the two above them.</p> - -<p>These the girl answered, evidently in kind. Sometimes she would point -to Waldo and make ferocious signs, doubtless indicative of the horrible -slaughter which awaited them at his hands if they did not go away and -leave their betters alone. When the young man realized the significance -of her pantomime he felt his heart swell with an emotion which he -feared was pride in brutal, primitive, vulgar physical prowess.</p> - -<p>As the long day wore on Waldo became both very hungry and very thirsty. -In the valley below he could see a tiny brooklet purling, clear and -beautiful, toward the south. The sight of it drove him nearly mad, as -did also that of the fruit which he glimpsed hanging ripe for eating at -the edge of the forest.</p> - -<p>By means of signs he asked the girl if she, too, were hungry, for he -had come to a point now where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> he could look at her almost without -visible signs of mortification. She nodded her head and, pointing -toward the descending sun, made it plain to him that after dark they -would descend and eat.</p> - -<p>The cave men had not left when darkness came, and it seemed to Waldo a -very foolhardy thing to venture down while they might be about; but the -girl made it so evident that she considered him an invincible warrior -that he was torn with the conflicting emotions of cowardice and an -unaccountable desire to appear well in her eyes, that he might by his -acts justify her belief in him.</p> - -<p>It seemed very wonderful to Waldo that any one should look upon him -in the light of a tower of strength and a haven of refuge; he was not -quite certain in his own mind but that the reputation might lead him -into most uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. Incidentally, he -wondered if the girl was a good runner; he hoped so.</p> - -<p>It must have been quite near midnight when his companion intimated that -the time had arrived when they should fare forth and dine. Waldo wanted -her to go first, but she shrank close to him, timidly, and held back.</p> - -<p>There was nothing else for it, then, than to take the plunge, though -had the sun been shining it would have revealed a very pale and -wide-eyed champion, who slipped gingerly over the side of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> ledge to -grope with his feet for a foothold beneath.</p> - -<p>Half-way down the moon rose above the forest—a great, full, tropic -moon, that lighted the face of the cliff almost as brilliantly as might -the sun itself. It shone into the mouth of a cave upon the ledge that -Waldo had just reached in his descent, revealing to the horrified eyes -of the young man a great, hairy form stretched in slumber not a yard -from him.</p> - -<p>As he looked, the wicked little eyes opened and looked straight into -his.</p> - -<p>With difficulty Waldo suppressed a shriek of dismay as he turned to -plunge madly down the precipitous trail. The girl had not yet descended -from the ledge above.</p> - -<p>She must have sensed what had happened, for as Waldo turned to fly she -gave a little cry of terror. At the same instant the cave man leaped to -his feet. But the girl's voice had touched something in the breast of -Waldo Emerson which generations of disuse had almost atrophied, and for -the first time in his life he did a brave and courageous thing.</p> - -<p>He could easily have escaped the cave man and reached the -valley—alone; but at the first note of the young girl's cry he wheeled -and scrambled back to the ledge to face the burly, primitive man, who -could have crushed him with a single blow.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson no longer trembled. His nerves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> and muscles were very -steady as he swung his cudgel in an arc that brought it crashing down -upon the upraised guarding arm of the cave man.</p> - -<p>There was a snapping of bone beneath the blow, a scream of pain—the -man staggered back, the girl sprang to Waldo's side from the ledge -above, and hand in hand they turned and fled down the face of the cliff.</p> - -<p>From a dozen cave-mouths above issued a score of cave men, but the -fleeing pair were half-way across the clearing before the slow-witted -brutes were fully aware of what had happened. By the time they had -taken up the pursuit Waldo and the girl had entered the forest.</p> - -<p>For a few yards the latter led Waldo straight into the shadows of the -wood, then she turned abruptly toward the north, at right angles to the -course they had been pursuing.</p> - -<p>She still clung to the young man's hand, nor did she slacken her speed -the least after they had entered the darkness beneath the trees. She -ran as surely and confidently through the impenetrable night of the -forest as though the way had been lighted by flaming arcs; but Waldo -was continually stumbling and falling.</p> - -<p>The sound of pursuit presently became fainter; it was apparent that the -cave men had continued on straight into the wood; but the girl raced -on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> with the panting Waldo for what seemed to the winded young man an -eternity. Presently, however, they came to the banks of the little -stream that had been visible from the caves. Here the girl fell into -a walk, and a moment later dragged the Bostonian down a shelving bank -into water that came above his knees.</p> - -<p>Up the bed of the stream she led him, sometimes floundering through -holes so deep that they were entirely submerged.</p> - -<p>Waldo had never learned the vulgar art of swimming, so it was that he -would have drowned but for the strong, brown hand of his companion, -which dragged him, spluttering and coughing, through one awful hole -after another, until, half-strangled and entirely panic-stricken, she -hauled him safely upon a low, grassy bank at the foot of a rocky wall -which formed one side of a gorge, through which the river boiled.</p> - -<p>It must not be assumed that when Waldo Emerson returned to face the -hairy brute who threatened to separate him from his new-found companion -that by a miracle he had been transformed from a hare into a lion—far -from it.</p> - -<p>Now that he had a moment in which to lie quite still and speculate upon -the adventures of the past hour, the reaction came, and Waldo Emerson -thanked the kindly night that obscured from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> eyes of the girl the -pitiable spectacle of his palsied limbs and trembling lip.</p> - -<p>Once again he was in a blue funk, with shattered nerves that begged to -cry aloud in the extremity of their terror.</p> - -<p>It was not warm in the damp cañon, through which the wind swept over -the cold water, so that to Waldo's mental anguish was added the -physical discomfort of cold and wet. He was indeed a miserable figure -as he lay huddled upon the sward, praying for the rising of the sun, -yet dreading the daylight that might reveal him to his enemies.</p> - -<p>But at last dawn came, and after a fitful sleep Waldo awoke to find -himself in a snug and beautiful little paradise hemmed in by the high -cliffs that flanked the river, upon a sloping grassy shore that was all -but invisible except from a short stretch of cliff-top upon the farther -side of the stream.</p> - -<p>A few feet from him lay the girl.</p> - -<p>She was still asleep. Her head was pillowed upon one firm, brown arm. -Her soft black hair fell in disorder across one cheek and over the -other arm, to spread gracefully upon the green grass about her.</p> - -<p>As Waldo looked he saw that she was very comely. Never before had he -seen a girl just like her. His young women friends had been rather prim -and plain, with long, white faces and thin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> lips that scarcely ever -dared to smile and scorned to unbend in plebeian laughter.</p> - -<p>This girl's lips seemed to have been made for laughing—and for -something else, though at the time it is only fair to Waldo to say that -he did not realize the full possibilities that they presented.</p> - -<p>As his eyes wandered along the lines of her young body his Puritanical -training brought a hot flush of embarrassment to his face, and he -deliberately turned his back upon her.</p> - -<p>It was indeed awful to Waldo Emerson to contemplate, to say the least, -the unconventional position into which fate had forced him. The longer -he pondered it the redder he became. It was frightful—what would his -mother say when she heard of it?</p> - -<p>What would this girl's mother say? But, more to the point, -and—horrible thought—what would her father or her brothers do to -Waldo if they found them thus together—and she with only a scanty -garment of skin about her waist—a garment which reached scarcely below -her knees at any point, and at others terminated far above?</p> - -<p>Waldo was chagrined. He could not understand what the girl could be -thinking of, for in other respects she seemed quite nice, and he was -sure that the great eyes of her reflected only goodness and innocence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - -<p>While he sat thus, thinking, the girl awoke and with a merry laugh -addressed him.</p> - -<p>"Good morning," said Waldo quite severely.</p> - -<p>He wished that he could speak her language, so that he could convey to -her a suggestion of the disapprobation which he felt for her attire.</p> - -<p>He was on the point of attempting it by signs, when she rose, lithe -and graceful as a tigress, and walked to the river's brim. With a deft -movement of her fingers she loosed the thong that held her single -garment, and as it fell to the ground Waldo, with a horrified gasp, -turned upon his face, burying his tightly closed eyes in his hands.</p> - -<p>Then the girl dived into the cool waters for her matutinal bath.</p> - -<p>She called to him several times to join her, but Waldo could not look -at the spectacle presented; his soul was scandalized.</p> - -<p>It was some time after she emerged from the river before he dared risk -a hesitating glance. With a sigh of relief he saw that she had donned -her single garment, and thereafter he could look at her unashamed when -she was thus clothed. He felt that by comparison it constituted a most -modest gown.</p> - -<p>Together they strolled along the river's edge, gathering such fruits -and roots as the girl knew to be edible. Waldo Emerson gathered those -she in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>dicated—with all his learning he found it necessary to depend -upon the untutored mind of this little primitive maiden for guidance.</p> - -<p>Then she taught him how to catch fish with a bent twig and a -lightninglike movement of her brown hands—or, rather, tried to teach -him, for he was far too slow and awkward to succeed.</p> - -<p>Afterward they sat upon the soft grass beneath the shade of a wild -fig-tree to eat the fish she had caught. Waldo wondered how in the -world the girl could make fire without matches, for he was quite sure -that she had none; and even should she be able to make fire it would be -quite useless, since she had neither cooking utensils nor stove.</p> - -<p>He was not left long in wonderment.</p> - -<p>She arranged the fish in a little pile between them, and with a sweet -smile motioned to the man to partake; then she selected one for -herself, and while Waldo Emerson looked on in horror, sunk her firm, -white teeth into the raw fish.</p> - -<p>Waldo turned away in sickening disgust</p> - -<p>The girl seemed surprised and worried that he did not eat. Time and -again she tried to coax him by signs to join her; but he could not even -look at her. He had tried, after the first wave of revolt had subsided, -but when he discovered that she ate the entire fish, without bothering -to clean it or remove the scales, he became too ill to think of food.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<p>Several times during the following week they ventured from their -hiding-place, and at these times it was evident from the girl's -actions that she was endeavoring to elude their enemies and reach a -place of safety other than that in which they were concealed. But at -each venture her quick ears or sensitive nostrils warned her of the -proximity of danger, so that they had been compelled to hurry back into -their little Eden.</p> - -<p>During this period she taught Waldo many words of her native tongue, so -that by means of signs to bridge the gaps between, they were able to -communicate with a fair degree of satisfaction. Waldo's mastery of the -language was rapid.</p> - -<p>On the tenth day the girl was able to make him understand that she -wished to escape with him to her own people; that these men among whom -he had found her were enemies of her tribe, and that she had been -hiding from them when Waldo stumbled upon her cave.</p> - -<p>"I fled," she said. "My mother was killed. My father took another mate, -always cruel to me. But when I had wandered into the land of these -enemies I was afraid, and would have returned to my father's cave. But -I had gone too far.</p> - -<p>"I would have to run very fast to escape them. Once I ran down a narrow -path to the ocean. It was dark.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> - -<p>"As I wandered through the woods I came suddenly out upon a beach, and -there I saw a strange figure on the sand. It was you. I wanted to learn -what manner of man you were. But I was very much afraid, so that I -dared only watch you from a distance.</p> - -<p>"Five times I came down to look at you. You never saw me until the last -time, then you set out after me, roaring in a horrible voice.</p> - -<p>"I was very much afraid, for I knew that you must be very brave to -live all alone by the edge of the forest without any shelter, or even -a stone to hurl at Nagoola, should he come out of the woods to devour -you."</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson shuddered.</p> - -<p>"Who is Nagoola?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"You do not know Nagoola!" the girl exclaimed in surprise.</p> - -<p>"Not by that name," replied Waldo.</p> - -<p>"He is as large," she began in description, "as two men, and black, -with glossy coat. He has two yellow eyes, which see as well by night as -by day. His great paws are armed with mighty claws. He——"</p> - -<p>A rustling from the bushes which fringed the opposite cliff-top caused -her to turn, instantly alert.</p> - -<p>"Ah," she whispered, "there is Nagoola now."</p> - -<p>Waldo looked in the direction of her gaze.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was well that the girl did not see his pallid face and popping -eyes as he looked into the evil mask of the great black panther that -crouched watching them from the river's further bank.</p> - -<p>Into Waldo's breast came great panic. It was only because his -fear-prostrated muscles refused to respond to his will that he did not -scurry, screaming, from the sight of that ferocious countenance.</p> - -<p>Then, through the fog of his cowardly terror, he heard again the girl's -sweet voice: "I knew that you must be very brave to live all alone by -the edge of that wicked forest."</p> - -<p>For the first time in his life a wave of shame swept over Waldo Emerson.</p> - -<p>The girl called in a taunting voice to the panther, and then turned, -smiling, toward Waldo.</p> - -<p>"How brave I am now," she laughed. "I am no longer afraid of Nagoola. -You are with me."</p> - -<p>"No," said Waldo Emerson, in a very weak voice, "you need not fear -while I am with you."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" she cried. "Slay him. How proud I should be to return to my -people with one who vanquished Nagoola, and wore his hide about his -loins as proof of his prowess."</p> - -<p>"Y-yes," acquiesced Waldo faintly.</p> - -<p>"But," continued the girl, "you have slain many of Nagoola's brothers -and sisters. It is no longer sport to kill one of his kind."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes—yes," cried Waldo. "Yes, that is it—panthers bore me now."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" The girl clasped her hands in ecstasy. "How many have you slain?"</p> - -<p>"Er—why, let me see," the young man blundered. "As a matter of fact, I -never kept any record of the panthers I killed."</p> - -<p>Waldo was becoming frantic. He had never lied before in all his life. -He hated a lie and loathed a liar. He wondered why he had lied now.</p> - -<p>Surely it were nothing to boast of to have butchered one of God's -creatures—and as for claiming to have killed so many that he could -not recall the number, it was little short of horrible. Yet he became -conscious of a poignant regret that he had not killed a thousand -panthers, and preserved all the pelts as evidence of his valor.</p> - -<p>The panther still regarded them from the safety of the farther shore. -The girl drew quite close to Waldo in the instinctive plea for -protection that belongs to her sex. She laid a timid hand upon his -skinny arm and raised her great, trusting eyes to his face in reverent -adoration.</p> - -<p>"How do you kill them?" she whispered. "Tell me."</p> - -<p>Then it was that Waldo determined to make a clean breast of it, and -admit that he never before had seen a live panther. But as he opened -his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> mouth to make the humiliating confession he realized, quite -suddenly, why it was that he had lied—he wished to appear well in the -eyes of this savage, half-clothed girl.</p> - -<p>He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, craved the applause of a barbarian, and -to win it had simulated that physical prowess which generations of -Smith-Joneses had viewed from afar—disgusted, disapproving.</p> - -<p>The girl repeated her question.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Waldo, "it is really quite simple. After I catch them I beat -them severely with a stick."</p> - -<p>The girl sighed.</p> - -<p>"How wonderful!" she said.</p> - -<p>Waldo became the victim of a number of unpleasant -emotions—mortification for this suddenly developed moral turpitude; -apprehension for the future, when the girl might discover him in his -true colors; fear, consuming, terrible fear, that she might insist upon -his going forth at once to slay Nagoola.</p> - -<p>But she did nothing of the kind, and presently the panther tired of -watching them and turned back into the tangle of bushes behind him.</p> - -<p>It was with a sigh of relief that Waldo saw him depart.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IVa" id="CHAPTER_IVa">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> - -<p class="center">DEATH'S DOORWAY</p> - - -<p class="drop">L<span class="uppercase">ate</span> in the afternoon the girl suggested that they start that night -upon the journey toward her village.</p> - -<p>"The bad men will not be abroad after dark," she said. "With you at my -side, I shall not fear Nagoola."</p> - -<p>"How far is it to your village?" asked Waldo.</p> - -<p>"It will take us three nights," she replied. "By day we must hide, -for even you could not vanquish a great number of bad men should they -attack you at once."</p> - -<p>"No," said Waldo; "I presume not."</p> - -<p>"It was very wonderful to watch you, though," she went on, "when you -battled upon the cliff-side, beating them down as they came upon you. -How brave you were! How terrible! You trembled from rage."</p> - -<p>"Yes," admitted Waldo, "I was quite angry. I always tremble like that -when my ire is excited. Sometimes I get so bad that my knees knock -together. If you ever see them do that you will realize how exceedingly -angry I am."</p> - -<p>"Yes," murmured the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> - -<p>Presently Waldo saw that she was laughing quietly to herself.</p> - -<p>A great fear rose in his breast. Could it be that she was less gullible -than she had appeared? Did she, after all, penetrate the bombast with -which he had sought to cloak his cowardice?</p> - -<p>He finally mustered sufficient courage to ask: "Why do you laugh?"</p> - -<p>"I think of the surprise that awaits old Flatfoot and Korth and the -others when I lead you to them."</p> - -<p>"Why will they be surprised?" asked Waldo.</p> - -<p>"At the way you will crack their heads."</p> - -<p>Waldo shuddered.</p> - -<p>"Why should I crack their heads?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Why should you crack their heads!" It was apparently incredible to the -girl that he should not understand.</p> - -<p>"How little you know," she said. "You cannot swim, you do not know the -language which men may understand, you would be lost in the woods were -I to leave you, and now you say that you do not know that when you come -to a strange tribe they will try to kill you, and only take you as one -of them when you have proven your worth by killing at least one of -their strongest men."</p> - -<p>"At least one!" said Waldo, half to himself.</p> - -<p>He was dazed by this information. He had expected to be welcomed with -open arms into the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> society that the girl's community afforded. -He had thought of it in just this way, for he had not even yet learned -that there might be a whole people living under entirely different -conditions than those which existed in Boston, Massachusetts.</p> - -<p>Her reference to his ignorance also came as a distinct shock to him. He -had always considered himself a man of considerable learning. It had -been his secret boast and his mother's open pride.</p> - -<p>And now to be pitied for his ignorance by one who probably thought the -earth flat, if she ever thought about such matters at all—by one who -could neither read nor write. And the worst of it all was that her -indictment was correct—only she had not gone far enough.</p> - -<p>There was little of practical value that he did know. With the -realization of his limitations Waldo Emerson took, unknown to himself, -a great stride toward a broader wisdom than his narrow soul had ever -conceived.</p> - -<p>That night, after the sun had set and the stars and moon come out, the -two set forth from their retreat toward the northwest, where the girl -said that the village of her people lay.</p> - -<p>They walked hand in hand through the dark wood, the girl directing -their steps, the young man grasping his long cudgel in his right hand -and searching into the shadows for the terrible creatures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> conjured by -his cowardly brain, but mostly for the two awesome spots of fire which -he had gathered from the girl's talk would mark the presence of Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Strange noises assailed his ears, and once the girl crouched close to -him as her quick ears caught the sound of the movement of a great body -through the underbrush at their left.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson was almost paralyzed by terror; but at length the -creature, whatever it may have been, turned off into the forest -without molesting them. For several hours thereafter they suffered no -alarm, but the constant tension of apprehension on the man's already -over-wrought nerves had reduced him to a state of such abject nervous -terror that he was no longer master of himself.</p> - -<p>So it was that when the girl suddenly halted him with an affrighted -little gasp and, pointing straight ahead, whispered, "Nagoola," he went -momentarily mad with fear.</p> - -<p>For a bare instant he paused in his tracks, and then breaking away -from her, he raised his club above his head, and with an awful shriek -dashed—straight toward the panther.</p> - -<p>In the minds of some there may be a doubt as to which of the two—the -sleek, silent, black cat or the grinning, screaming Waldo—was the most -awe-inspiring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - -<p>Be that as it may, it was quite evident that no doubt assailed the mind -of the cat, for with a single answering scream, he turned and faded -into the blackness of the black night.</p> - -<p>But Waldo did not see him go. Still shrieking, he raced on through the -forest until he tripped over a creeper and fell exhausted to the earth. -There he lay panting, twitching, and trembling until the girl found -him, an hour after sunrise.</p> - -<p>At the sound of her voice he would have struggled to his feet and -dashed on into the woods, for he felt that he could never face her -again after the spectacle of cowardice with which he had treated her a -few hours before.</p> - -<p>But even as he gained his feet her first words reassured him, and -dissipated every vestige of his intention to elude her.</p> - -<p>"Did you catch him?" she cried.</p> - -<p>"No," panted Waldo Emerson quite truthfully. "He got away."</p> - -<p>They rested a little while, and then Waldo insisted that they resume -their journey by day instead of by night. He had positively determined -that he never should or could endure another such a night of mental -torture. He would much rather take the chance of meeting with the bad -men than suffer the constant feeling that unseen enemies were peering -out of the darkness at him every moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the day they would at least have the advantage of seeing their foes -before they were struck. He did not give these reasons to the girl, -however. Under the circumstances he felt that another explanation would -be better adapted to her ears.</p> - -<p>"You see," he said, "if it hadn't been so dark Nagoola might not have -escaped me. It is too bad—too bad."</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed the girl, "it is too bad. We shall travel by day. It will -be safe now. We have left the country of the bad men, and there are few -men living between us and my people."</p> - -<p>That night they spent in a cave they found in the steep bank of a small -river.</p> - -<p>It was damp and muddy and cold, but they were both very tired, and so -they fell asleep and slept as soundly as though the best of mattresses -lay beneath them. The girl probably slept better, since she had never -been accustomed to anything much superior to this in all her life.</p> - -<p>The journey required five days, instead of three, and during all the -time Waldo was learning more and more woodcraft from the girl. At first -his attitude had been such that he could profit but little from her -greater practical knowledge, for he had been inclined to look down upon -her as an untutored savage.</p> - -<p>Now, however, he was a willing student, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> when Waldo Emerson elected -to study there was nothing that he could not master and retain in a -remarkable manner. He had a well-trained mind—the principal trouble -with it being that it had been crammed full of useless knowledge. His -mother had always made the error of confusing knowledge with wisdom.</p> - -<p>Waldo was not the only one to learn new things upon this journey. The -girl learned something, too—something which had been threatening for -days to rise above the threshold of her conscious mind, and now she -realized that it had lain in her heart almost ever since the first -moment that she had been with this strange young man.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson had been endowed by nature with a chivalrous heart, and -his training had been such that he mechanically accorded to all women -the gallant little courtesies and consideration which are of the fine -things that go with breeding. Nor was he one whit less punctilious in -his relations with this wild cave girl than he would have been with the -daughter of the finest family of his own aristocracy.</p> - -<p>He had been kind and thoughtful and sympathetic always, and to the -girl, who had never been accustomed to such treatment from men, nor -had ever seen a man accord it to any woman, it seemed little short of -miraculous that such gentle tender<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>ness could belong to a nature so -warlike and ferocious as that with which she had endowed Waldo Emerson. -But she was quite satisfied that it should be so.</p> - -<p>She would not have cared for him had he been gentle with her, yet -cowardly. Had she dreamed of the real truth—had she had the slightest -suspicion that Waldo Emerson was at heart the most arrant poltroon -upon whom the sun had ever shone, she would have loathed and hated -him, for in the primitive code of ethics which governed the savage -community which was her world there was no place for the craven or the -weakling—and Waldo Emerson was both.</p> - -<p>As the realization of her growing sentiment toward the man awakened, it -imparted to her ways with him a sudden coyness and maidenly aloofness -which had been entirely wanting before. Until then their companionship, -in so far as the girl was concerned, had been rather that of one -youth toward another; but now that she found herself thrilling at his -slightest careless touch, she became aware of a paradoxical impulse to -avoid him.</p> - -<p>For the first time in her life, too, she realized her nakedness, and -was ashamed. Possibly this was due to the fact that Waldo appeared so -solicitous in endeavoring to coerce his rags into the impossible feat -of entirely covering his body.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>As they neared their journey's end Waldo became more and more perturbed.</p> - -<p>During the last night horrible visions of Flatfoot and Korth haunted -his dreams. He saw the great, hairy beasts rushing upon him in all the -ferocity of their primeval savagery—tearing him limb from limb in -their bestial rage.</p> - -<p>With a shriek he awoke.</p> - -<p>To the girl's startled inquiry he replied that he had been but dreaming.</p> - -<p>"Did you dream of Flatfoot and Korth?" she laughed. "Of the things that -you will do to them tomorrow?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied Waldo; "I dreamed of Flatfoot and Korth." But the girl -did not see how he trembled and hid his head in the hollow of his arm.</p> - -<p>The last day's march was the most agonizing experience of Waldo -Emerson's life. He was positive that he was going to his death, but to -him the horror of the thing lay more in the manner of his coming death -than in the thought of death itself. As a matter of fact, he had again -reached a point when he would have welcomed death.</p> - -<p>The future held for him nothing but a life of discomfort and misery and -constant mental anguish, superinduced by the condition of awful fear -under which he must drag out his existence in this strange and terrible -land.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo had not the slightest conception as to whether he was upon some -mainland or an unknown island. That the tidal wave had come upon them -somewhere in the South Pacific was all that he knew; but long since he -had given up hope that succor would reach him in time to prevent him -perishing miserably far from his home and his poor mother.</p> - -<p>He could not dwell long upon this dismal theme, because it always -brought tears of self-pity to his eyes, and for some unaccountable -reason Waldo shrunk from the thought of exhibiting this unmanly -weakness before the girl.</p> - -<p>All day long he racked his brain for some valid excuse whereby he might -persuade his companion to lead him elsewhere than to her village. A -thousand times better would be some secluded little garden such as that -which had harbored them for the ten days following their escape from -the cave men.</p> - -<p>If they could but come upon such a place near the coast, where Waldo -could keep a constant watch for passing vessels, he would have been as -happy as he ever expected it would be possible for him in such a savage -land.</p> - -<p>He wanted the girl with him for companionship; he was more afraid when -he was alone. Of course, he realized that she was no fit companion -for a man of his mental attainments; but then she was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> human being, -and her society much better than none at all. While hope had still -lingered that he might live to escape and return to his beloved Boston, -he had often wondered whether he would dare tell his mother of his -unconventional acquaintance with this young woman.</p> - -<p>Of course, it would be out of the question for him to go at all into -details. He would not, for example, dare to attempt a description of -her toilet to his prim parent.</p> - -<p>The fact that they had been alone together, day and night for weeks was -another item which troubled Waldo considerably. He knew that the shock -of such information might prostrate his mother, and for a long time he -debated the wisdom of omitting any mention of the girl whatever.</p> - -<p>At length he decided that a little, white lie would be permissible, -inasmuch as his mother's health and the girl's reputation were both at -stake. So he had decided to mention that the girl's aunt had been with -them in the capacity of chaperon; that fixed it nicely, and on this -point Waldo's mind was more at ease.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon they wound down a narrow trail that led from -the plateau into a narrow, beautiful valley. A tree-bordered river -meandered through the center of the level plain that formed the -valley's floor, while beyond rose precipitous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> cliffs, which trailed -off in either direction as far as the eye could reach.</p> - -<p>"There live my people," said the girl, pointing toward the distant -barrier.</p> - -<p>Waldo groaned inwardly.</p> - -<p>"Let us rest here," he said, "until tomorrow, that we may come to your -home rested and refreshed."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," cried the girl; "we can reach the caves before dark. I can -scarcely wait until I shall have seen how you shall slay Flatfoot, and -maybe Korth also. Though I think that after one of them has felt your -might the others will be glad to take you into the tribe at the price -of your friendship."</p> - -<p>"Is there not some way," ventured the distracted Waldo, "that I may -come into your village without fighting? I should dislike to kill one -of your friends," said Waldo solemnly.</p> - -<p>The girl laughed.</p> - -<p>"Neither Flatfoot nor Korth are friends of mine," she replied; "I hate -them both. They are terrible men. It would be better for all the tribe -were they killed. They are so strong and cruel that we all hate them, -since they use their strength to abuse those who are weaker.</p> - -<p>"They make us all work very hard for them. They take other men's mates, -and if the other men object they kill them. There is scarcely a moon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -passes that does not see either Korth or Flatfoot kill some one.</p> - -<p>"Nor is it always men they kill. Often when they are angry they kill -women and little children just for the pleasure of killing; but when -you come among us there will be no more of that, for you will kill them -both if they be not good."</p> - -<p>Waldo was too horrified by this description of his soon-to-be -antagonists to make any reply—his tongue clave to the roof of his -mouth—all his vocal organs seemed paralyzed.</p> - -<p>But the girl did not notice. She went on joyously, ripping Waldo's -nervous system out of him and tearing it into shreds.</p> - -<p>"You see," she continued, "Flatfoot and Korth are greater than the -other men of my tribe. They can do as they will. They are frightful to -look upon, and I have often thought that the hearts of others dried up -when they saw either of them coming for them.</p> - -<p>"And they are so strong! I have seen Korth crush the skull of a -full-grown man with a single blow from his open palm; while one of -Flatfoot's amusements is the breaking of men's arms and legs with his -bare hands."</p> - -<p>They had entered the valley now, and in silence they continued on -toward the fringe of trees which grew beside the little river.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nadara led the way toward a ford, which they quickly crossed. All the -way across the valley Waldo had been searching for some avenue of -escape.</p> - -<p>He dared not enter that awful village and face those terrible men, -and he was almost equally averse to admitting to the girl that he was -afraid.</p> - -<p>He would gladly have died to have escaped either alternative, but he -preferred to choose the manner of his death.</p> - -<p>The thought of entering the village and meeting a horrible end at the -hands of the brutes who awaited him there and of being compelled to -demonstrate before the girl's eyes that he was neither a mighty fighter -nor a hero was more than he could endure.</p> - -<p>Occupied with these harrowing speculations, Waldo and Nadara came to -the farther side of the forest, whence they could see the towering -cliffs rising steeply from the valley's bed, three hundred yards away.</p> - -<p>Along their face and at their feet Waldo descried a host of half-naked -men, women, and children moving about in the consummation of their -various duties. Involuntarily he halted.</p> - -<p>The girl came to his side. Together they looked out upon the scene, the -like of which Waldo Emerson never before had seen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was as though he had been suddenly snatched back through countless -ages to a long-dead past and dropped into the midst of the prehistoric -life of his paleolithic progenitors.</p> - -<p>Upon the narrow ledges before their caves, women, with long, flowing -hair, ground food in rude stone mortars.</p> - -<p>Naked children played about them, perilously close to the precipitous -cliff edge.</p> - -<p>Hairy men squatted, gorillalike, before pieces of flat stone, upon -which green hides were stretched, while they scraped, scraped, scraped -with the sharp edge of smaller bits of stone.</p> - -<p>There was no laughter and no song.</p> - -<p>Occasionally Waldo saw one of the fierce creatures address another, and -sometimes one would raise his thick lips in a nasty snarl that exposed -his fighting fangs; but they were too far away for their words to reach -the young man.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Va" id="CHAPTER_Va">CHAPTER V</a></h2> - -<p class="center">AWAKENING</p> - - -<p class="drop">"C<span class="uppercase">ome</span>," said the girl, "let us make haste. I cannot wait to be home -again! How good it looks!"</p> - -<p>Waldo gazed at her in horror. It did not seem credible that this -beautiful young creature could be of such clay as that he looked upon. -It was revolting to believe that she had sprung from the loins of one -of those half-brutes, or that a woman as fierce, repulsive, such as -those he saw before him, could have borne her. It made him sick with -disgust.</p> - -<p>He turned from her.</p> - -<p>"Go to your people, Nadara," he said, for an idea had come to him.</p> - -<p>He had evolved a scheme for escaping a meeting with Flatfoot and Korth, -and the sudden disgust which he felt for the girl made it easier for -him to carry out his design.</p> - -<p>"Are you not coming with me?" she cried.</p> - -<p>"Not at once," replied Waldo, quite truthfully. "I wish you to go -first. Were we to go together they might harm you when they rushed out -to attack me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> - -<p>The girl had no fear of this, but she felt that it was very thoughtful -of the man to consider her welfare so tenderly. To humor him, she -acceded to his request.</p> - -<p>"As you wish, Thandar," she answered, smiling.</p> - -<p>Thandar was a name of her own choosing, after, Waldo had informed her -in answer to a request for his name, that she might call him Mr. Waldo -Emerson Smith-Jones. "I shall call you Thandar," she had replied; "it -is shorter, more easily remembered, and describes you. It means the -Brave One." And so Thandar he had become.</p> - -<p>The girl had scarcely emerged from the forest on her way toward the -cliffs when Thandar the Brave One, turned and ran at top speed in -the opposite direction. When he came to the river he gave immediate -evidence of the strides he had taken in woodcraft during the brief -weeks that he had been under the girl's tutorage, for he plunged -immediately into the water, setting out up-stream upon the gravelly -bottom where he would leave no spoor to be tracked down by the eagle -eyes of these primitive men.</p> - -<p>He supposed that the girl would search for him; but he felt no -compunction at having deserted her so scurvily. Of course, he had no -suspicion of her real sentiments toward him—it would have shocked -him to have imagined that a low-born per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>son, such as she, had become -infatuated with him.</p> - -<p>It would have been embarrassing and unfortunate, but, of course, -quite impossible—since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones could never form an -alliance beneath him. As for the girl herself, he might as readily have -considered the possibility of marrying a cow, so far from any such -thoughts of her had he been.</p> - -<p>On and on he stumbled through the cold water. Sometimes it was above -his head, but Waldo had learned to swim—the girl had made him, partly -by pleas, but largely by the fear that she would ridicule him.</p> - -<p>As night came on he commenced to become afraid, but his fear now was -not such a horribly prostrating thing as it had been a few weeks -before. Without being aware of the fact, Waldo had grown a trifle less -timid, though he was still far from lion-like.</p> - -<p>That night he slept in the crotch of a tree. He selected a small one, -which, though less comfortable, was safer from the approach of Nagoola -than a larger tree would have been. This also had he learned from -Nadara.</p> - -<p>Had he paused to consider, he would have discovered that all he knew -that was worth while he had had from the savage little girl whom he, -from the high pinnacle of his erudition, regarded with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> such pity. But -Waldo had not as yet learned enough to realize how very little he knew.</p> - -<p>In the morning he continued his flight, gathering his breakfast from -tree and shrub as he fled. Here again was he wholly indebted to Nadara, -for without her training he would have been restricted to a couple of -fruits, whereas now he had a great variety of fruits, roots, berries, -and nuts to choose from in safety.</p> - -<p>The stream that he had been following had now become a narrow, rushing, -mountain torrent. It leaped suddenly over little precipices in wild and -picturesque waterfalls; it rioted in foaming cascades; and ever it led -Waldo farther into high and rugged country.</p> - -<p>The climbing was difficult and oftentimes dangerous. Waldo was -surprised at the steeps he negotiated—perilous ascents from which he -would have shrunk in palsied fear a few weeks earlier. Waldo was coming -on.</p> - -<p>Another fact which struck him with amazement at the same time that it -filled him with rejoicing, was that he no longer coughed. It was quite -beyond belief, too, since never in his life had he been so exposed to -cold and wet and discomfort.</p> - -<p>At home, he realized, he would long since have curled up and died had -he been subjected to one-tenth the exposure that he had undergone since -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> great wave had lifted him bodily from the deck of the steamer to -land him unceremoniously in the midst of this new life of hardships and -terrors.</p> - -<p>Toward noon Waldo began to travel with less haste. He had seen or heard -no evidence of pursuit. At times he stopped to look back along the -trail he had passed, but though he could see the little valley below -him for a considerable distance he discovered nothing to arouse alarm.</p> - -<p>Presently he realized that he was very lonely. A dozen times in as many -minutes he thought of observations he would have been glad to make had -there been some one with him to hear. There were queries, too, relative -to this new country that he should have liked very much to propound, -and it flashed upon him that in all the world there was only one whom -he knew who could give him correct answers to these queries.</p> - -<p>He wondered what the girl had thought when he did not follow her into -the village, and set upon Flatfoot and Korth. At the thought he found -himself flushing in a most unaccountable manner.</p> - -<p>What would the girl think! Would she guess the truth? Well, what -difference if she did? What was her opinion to a cultured gentleman -such as Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones? But yet he found his mind constantly -reverting to this unhappy speculation; it was most annoying.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he thought of her he discovered with what distinctness he recalled -every feature of her piquant little face, her olive skin tinged -beautifully by the ruddy glow of health; her fine, straight nose and -delicate nostrils, her perfect eyes, soft, yet filled with the fire of -courage and intelligence. Waldo wondered why it was that he recalled -these things now, and dwelt upon them; he had been with her for weeks -without realizing that he had particularly noticed them.</p> - -<p>But most vividly he conjured again the memory of her soft, liquid -speech, her ready retorts, her bright, interesting observations on -the little happenings of their daily life; her thoughtful kindliness -to him, a stranger within her gates, and—again he flushed hotly—her -sincere, though remarkable, belief in his prowess.</p> - -<p>It took Waldo a long time to admit to himself that he missed the -girl; it must have been weeks before he finally did so unreservedly. -Simultaneously he determined to return to her village and find her. He -had even gone so far as to start the return journey when the memory of -her description of Flatfoot and Korth brought him to a sudden halt—a -most humiliating halt.</p> - -<p>The blood surged to his face—he could feel it burning there. And then -Waldo did two things which he had never done before: he looked at his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -soul and saw himself as he was, and—he swore.</p> - -<p>"Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones," he said aloud, "you're a darned coward! -Worse than that, you're an unthinkable cad. That girl was kind to you. -She treated you with the tender solicitude of a mother. And how have -you returned her kindness? By looking down upon her with arrogant -condescension. By pitying her.</p> - -<p>"Pitying her! You—you miserable weakling—ingrate, pitying that -fine, intelligent, generous girl. You, with your pitiful little store -of second-hand knowledge, pitying that girl's ignorance. Why, she's -forgotten more real things than you ever heard of, you—you—" Words -utterly failed him.</p> - -<p>Waldo's awakening was thorough—painfully thorough. It left no tiny -hidden recess of his contemptible little soul unrevealed from his -searching self-analysis. Looking back over the twenty-one years of his -uneventful life, he failed to resurrect but a single act of which he -might now be proud, and that, strange to say, in the light of his past -training, had to do neither with culture, intellect, birth, breeding, -nor knowledge.</p> - -<p>It was a purely gross, physical act. It was hideously, violently, -repulsively animal—it was no other than the instant of heroism in -which he had turned back upon the cliff's face to battle with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -horrible, hairy man who had threatened to prevent Nadara's escape.</p> - -<p>Even now Waldo could not realize that it had been he who ventured so -foolhardy an act; but none the less his breast swelled with pride as -he recalled it. It put into the heart of the man a new hope and into -his head a new purpose—a purpose that would have caused his Back Bay -mother to seek an early grave could she have known of it.</p> - -<p>Nor did Waldo Emerson lose any time in initiating the new regime which -was eventually to fit him for the consummation of his splendid purpose. -He thought of it as splendid now, though a few weeks before the vulgar -atrocity of it would have nauseated him.</p> - -<p>Far up in the hills, near the source of the little river, Waldo had -found a rocky cave. This he had chosen as his new home. He cleaned it -out with scrupulous care, littering the floor with leaves and grasses.</p> - -<p>Before the entrance he piled a dozen large boulders, so arranged that -three of them could be removed or replaced either from within or -without, thus forming a means of egress and ingress which could be -effectually closed against intruders.</p> - -<p>From the top of a high promontory, a half mile beyond his cave, Waldo -could obtain a view of the ocean, some eight or ten miles distant. -It was al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>ways in his mind that some day a ship would come, and -Waldo longed to return to the haunts of civilization, but he did not -expect the ship before his plans had properly matured and been put -into execution. He argued that he could not sail away from this shore -forever without first seeing Nadara, and restoring the confidence in -him which he felt his recent desertion had unquestionably shaken to its -foundations.</p> - -<p>As a part of his new regime, Waldo required exercise, and to this end -he set about making a trip to the ocean at least once each week. The -way was rough and hazardous, and the first few times Waldo found it -almost beyond his strength to make even one leg of the journey between -sunrise and dark.</p> - -<p>This necessitated sleeping out over night; but this, too, accorded with -the details of the task he had set himself, and so he did it quite -cheerfully and with a sense of martyrdom that he found effectually -stilled his most poignant fits of cowardice.</p> - -<p>As time went on he was able to cover the whole distance to the ocean -and return in a single day. He never coughed now, nor did he glance -fearfully from side to side as he strode through the woods and open -places of his wild domain.</p> - -<p>His eyes were bright and clear, his head and shoulders were thrown well -back, and the mountain climbing had expanded his chest to a degree -that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> appalled him—the while it gave him much secret satisfaction. It -was a very different Waldo from the miserable creature which had been -vomited up by the ocean upon the sand of that distant beach.</p> - -<p>The days that Waldo did not make a trip to the ocean he spent in -rambling about the hills in the vicinity of his cave. He knew every -rock and tree within five miles of his lair.</p> - -<p>He knew where Nagoola hid by day, and the path that he took down to the -valley by night. Nor did he longer tremble at sight of the great, black -cat.</p> - -<p>True, Waldo avoided him, but it was through cool and deliberate -caution, which is quite another thing from the senseless panic of fear. -Waldo was biding his time.</p> - -<p>He would not always avoid Nagoola. Nagoola was a part of Waldo's great -plan, but Waldo was not ready for him yet.</p> - -<p>The young man still bore his cudgel, and in addition he had practised -throwing rocks until he could almost have hit a nearby bird upon the -wing. Besides these weapons Waldo was working upon a spear. It had -occurred to him that a spear would be a mighty handy weapon against -either man or beast, and so he had set to work to fashion one.</p> - -<p>He found a very straight young sapling, a little over an inch in -diameter and ten feet long. By<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> means of a piece of edged flint he -succeeded in tapering it to a sharp point. A rawhide thong, plaited -from many pieces of small bits of hide taken from the little animals -that had fallen before his missiles, served to sling the crude weapon -across his shoulders when he walked.</p> - -<p>With his spear he practised hour upon hour each day, until he could -transfix a fruit the size of an apple three times out of five, at a -distance of fifty feet, and at a hundred hit a target the size of a man -almost without a miss.</p> - -<p>Six months had passed since he had fled from an encounter with Flatfoot -and Korth.</p> - -<p>Then Waldo had been a skinny, cowardly weakling; now his great frame -had filled out with healthy flesh, while beneath his skin hard muscles -rolled as he bent to one of the many Herculean tasks he had set for -himself.</p> - -<p>For six months he had worked with a single purpose in view, but still -he felt that the day was not yet come when he might safely venture to -put his new-found manhood to the test.</p> - -<p>Down, far down, in the depth of his soul he feared that he was yet a -coward at heart—and he dared not take the risk. It was too much to -expect, he told himself, that a man should be entirely metamorphosed in -a brief half year. He would wait a little longer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was about this time that Waldo first saw a human being after his -last sight of Nadara.</p> - -<p>It was while he was on his way to the ocean, on one of the trips that -had by this time become thrice weekly affairs, that he suddenly came -face to face with a skulking, hairy brute.</p> - -<p>Waldo halted to see what would happen.</p> - -<p>The man eyed him with those small, cunning, red-rimmed eyes that -reminded Waldo of the eyes of a pig.</p> - -<p>Finally Waldo spoke in the language of Nadara.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Sag the Killer," replied the man. "Who are you?"</p> - -<p>"Thandar," answered Waldo.</p> - -<p>"I do not know you," said Sag; "but I can kill you."</p> - -<p>He lowered his bull head and came for Waldo like a battering ram.</p> - -<p>The young man dropped the point of his ready spear, bracing his feet. -The point entered Sag's breast below the collar-bone, stopping only -after it had passed entirely through the savage heart. Waldo had not -moved; the momentum of the man's body had been sufficient to impale him.</p> - -<p>As the body rolled over, stiffening after a few convulsive kicks, Waldo -withdrew his spear from it. Blood smeared its point for a distance of a -foot,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> but Waldo showed no sign of loathing or disgust.</p> - -<p>Instead he smiled. It had been so much easier than he had anticipated.</p> - -<p>Leaving Sag where he had fallen he continued toward the ocean. An hour -later he heard unusual noises behind him.</p> - -<p>He stopped to listen. He was being pursued. From the sounds he -estimated that there must be several in the party, and a moment later, -as he was crossing a clearing, he got his first view of them as they -emerged from the forest he had just quitted.</p> - -<p>There were at least twenty powerfully muscled brutes. In skin bags -thrown across their shoulders each carried a supply of stones, and -these they began to hurl at Waldo as they raced toward him. For a -moment the man held his ground, but he quickly realized the futility of -pitting himself against such odds.</p> - -<p>Turning, he ran toward the forest upon the other side of the clearing -while a shower of rocks whizzed about him.</p> - -<p>Once within the shelter of the trees there was less likelihood of his -being hit by one of the missiles, but occasionally a well-aimed rock -would strike him a glancing blow. Waldo hoped that they would tire of -the chase before the beach was reached, for he knew that there could be -but one outcome of a battle in which one man faced twenty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<p>As the pursued and the pursuers raced on through the forest one of the -latter, fleeter than his companions, commenced to close up the gap -which had existed between Waldo and the twenty. On and on he came, -until a backward glance showed Waldo that in another moment this swift -foeman would be upon him. He was younger than his fellows and more -active, and, having thrown all his stones, was free from any burden of -weight other than the single garment about his hips.</p> - -<p>Waldo still clung to his tattered ducks, which from lack of support and -more or less rapid disintegration were continually slipping down from -his hips, so that they tended to hinder his movements and reduce his -speed.</p> - -<p>Had he been as naked as his pursuer he would doubtless have distanced -him; but he was not, and it was evident that because of this fact he -must take a chance in a hand-to-hand encounter that might delay him -sufficiently to permit the balance of the horde to reach him—that -would be the end of everything.</p> - -<p>But Waldo Emerson neither screamed in terror nor trembled. When he -wheeled to meet the now close savage there was a smile upon his lips, -for Waldo Emerson had "killed his man," and there was no longer the -haunting fear within his soul that at heart he was a coward.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he turned with couched spear the cave man came to a sudden stop.</p> - -<p>This was not what Waldo had anticipated. The other savages were running -rapidly toward him, but the fellow who had first overhauled him -remained at a safe twenty feet from the point of his weapon.</p> - -<p>Waldo was being cleverly held until the remainder of the enemy could -arrive and overwhelm him. He knew that if he turned to run the fellow -who danced and yelled just beyond his reach would plunge forward and be -upon his back in an instant.</p> - -<p>He tried rushing the man, but the other retreated nimbly, drawing Waldo -still closer to those who were coming on.</p> - -<p>There was no time to be lost. A moment more and the entire twenty would -be upon him; but there were possibilities in a spear that the cave man -in his ignorance dreamed not of. There was a lightninglike movement of -Waldo's arm, and the aborigine saw the spear darting swiftly through -space toward his breast. He tried to dodge, but was too late. Down he -went, clutching madly at the slender thing which protruded from his -heart.</p> - -<p>Although one of the dead man's companions was now quite close, Waldo -could not relinquish his weapon without an effort—it had cost him -considerable time to make, and twice today it had saved his life. -Forgetful that he had ever been a coward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> he leaped toward the fallen -man, reaching his side at the same instant as his foremost pursuer.</p> - -<p>The two came together like mad bulls—the savage reaching for Waldo's -throat, Waldo wielding his light cudgel. For a moment they struggled -backward and forward, turning and twisting, the cave man in an effort -to close upon Waldo's wind, Waldo to hold the other at arm's length for -the brief instant that would be necessary for one sudden, effective -blow from the cudgel.</p> - -<p>The other savages were almost upon them when the young man found his -antagonist's throat. Throwing all his weight and strength into the -effort, Waldo forced the cave man back until there was room between -them for the play of the stick. A single blow was sufficient.</p> - -<p>As the limp body of his foeman slipped from his grasp, Waldo snatched -his precious spear from the heart of its victim, and with the hands of -the infuriated pack almost upon him, turned once more into his flight -toward the ocean.</p> - -<p>The howling band was close upon his heels now, nor could he greatly -increase the distance that separated him from them. He wondered what -the outcome of the matter was to be; he did not wish to die. His -thoughts kept reverting to his boyhood home, to his indulgent mother, -to the friends that had been his. He felt that at the last moment he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -was about to lose his nerve—that, after all, his hard earned manliness -was counterfeit.</p> - -<p>Then there came to him a vision of an oval, olive face framed by a mass -of soft, black hair; and before it the fear of death dissolved into a -grim smile. He did not pause to analyze the reason for it—nor could he -have done so then had he tried. He only knew that with those eyes upon -him he could not be aught else than courageous.</p> - -<p>A moment later he burst through the last fringe of underbrush to emerge -upon the clearing that faced the sea.</p> - -<p>There by a tiny rivulet he saw a sight that filled him with -thanksgiving, and farther out upon the ocean that which he had been -waiting and hoping for for all these long, hard months—a ship.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIa" id="CHAPTER_VIa">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">A CHOICE</p> - - -<p class="drop">S<span class="uppercase">eamen</span> upon the beach were filling water-casks.</p> - -<p>There were a dozen of them, and as Waldo plunged from the forest they -looked with startled apprehension at the strange apparition. A great, -brown giant they saw, clad in a few ragged strings of white duck, for -Waldo had kept his apparel as immaculately clean as hard rubbing in -cold water would permit.</p> - -<p>In one hand the strange creature carried a long, bloody spear, in the -other a light cudgel. Long, yellow hair streamed back over his broad -shoulders.</p> - -<p>Several of the men—those who were armed—leveled guns and revolvers at -him; but when, as he drew closer, they saw a broad grin upon his face, -and heard in perfectly good English, "Don't shoot; I'm a white man," -they lowered their weapons and awaited him.</p> - -<p>He had scarcely reached them when they saw a swarm of naked men dash -from the forest in his wake. Waldo saw their eyes directed past him and -knew that his pursuers had come into view.</p> - -<p>"You'll have to shoot at them, I imagine," he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> said. "They're not -exactly domesticated. Try firing over their heads at first; maybe you -can scare them away without hurting any of them."</p> - -<p>He disliked the idea of seeing the poor savages slaughtered. It didn't -seem just like fair play to mow them down with bullets.</p> - -<p>The sailors followed his suggestion. At the first reports the cave men -halted in surprise and consternation.</p> - -<p>"Let's rush 'em," suggested one of the men, and this was all that was -needed to send them scurrying back into the woods.</p> - -<p>Waldo found that the ship was English, and that all the men spoke his -mother tongue in more or less understandable fashion. The second mate, -who was in charge of the landing party, proved to have originated in -Boston. It was much like being at home again.</p> - -<p>Waldo was so excited and wanted to ask so many questions all at once -that he became almost unintelligible. It seemed scarcely possible that -a ship had really come.</p> - -<p>He realized now that he had never actually entertained any very -definite belief that a ship ever would come to this out-of-the-way -corner of the world. He had hoped and dreamed, but down in the bottom -of his heart he must have felt that years might elapse before he would -be rescued.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<p>Even now it was difficult to believe that these were really civilized -beings like himself.</p> - -<p>They were on their way to a civilized world; they would soon be -surrounded by their families and friends, and he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, was going with them!</p> - -<p>In a few months he would see his mother and his father and all his -friends—he would be among his books once more.</p> - -<p>Even as the last thought flashed through his mind it was succeeded by -mild wonderment that this outlook failed to raise his temperature as he -might have expected that it would. His books had been his real life in -the past—could it be that they had lost something of their glamour? -Had his brief experience with the realities of life dulled the edge of -his appetite for second-hand hopes, aspirations, deeds, and emotions?</p> - -<p>It had.</p> - -<p>Waldo yet craved his books, but they alone would no longer suffice. He -wanted something bigger, something more real and tangible—he wanted to -read and study, but even more he wanted to do. And back there in his -own world there would be plenty awaiting the doing.</p> - -<p>His heart thrilled at the possibilities that lay before the new -Waldo Emerson—possibilities of which he never would have dreamed -but for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> strange chance which had snatched him bodily from one -life to throw him into this new one, which had forced upon him the -development of attributes of self-reliance, courage, initiative, and -resourcefulness that would have lain dormant within him always but for -the necessity which had given birth to them.</p> - -<p>Yes, Waldo realized that he owed a great deal to this experience—a -great deal to—. And then a sudden realization of the truth rushed in -upon him—he owed everything to Nadara.</p> - -<p>"I was never ship-wrecked on a desert island," said the second mate, -breaking in upon Waldo's reveries, "but I can imagine just about how -good you feel at the thought that you are at last rescued and that in -an hour or so you will see the shoreline of your prison growing smaller -and smaller upon the southern horizon."</p> - -<p>"Yes," acquiesced Waldo in a far away voice: "it's awfully good of you, -but I am not going with you."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two hours later Waldo Emerson stood alone upon the beach, watching the -diminishing hull of a great ship as it dropped over the rim of the -world far to the north.</p> - -<p>A vague hint of tears dimmed his vision; then he threw back his -shoulders, swallowed the thing that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> had risen into his throat, and -with high held head turned back into the forest.</p> - -<p>In one hand he carried a razor and a plug of tobacco—the sole mementos -of his recent brief contact with the world of civilization. The kindly -sailors had urged him to reconsider his decision, but when he remained -obdurate they had insisted that they be permitted to leave some of the -comforts of life with him.</p> - -<p>The only thing that he could think of that he wanted very badly -was a razor—firearms he would not accept, for he had worked out a -rather fine chivalry of his own here in this savage world—a chivalry -which would not permit him to take any advantage over the primeval -inhabitants he had found here other than what his own hands and head -might give him.</p> - -<p>At the last moment one of the seamen, prompted by a generous heart and -a keen realization of what life must be without even bare necessities, -had thrust upon Waldo the plug of tobacco. As he looked at it now the -young man smiled.</p> - -<p>"That would indeed be the last step, according to mother's ideas," he -soliloquized. "No lower could I sink."</p> - -<p>The ship that bore away Waldo's chance of escape carried also a long -letter to Waldo's mother. In portions it was rather vague and rambling. -It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> mentioned, among other things, that he had an obligation to fulfil -before he could leave his present habitat; but that the moment he was -free he should "take the first steamer for Boston."</p> - -<p>The skipper of the ship which had just sailed away had told Waldo -that in so far as he knew there might never be another ship touch -his island, which was so far out of the beaten course that only the -shoreline of it had ever been explored, and scarce a score of vessels -had reported it since Captain Cook discovered it in 1773.</p> - -<p>Yet it was in the face of this that Waldo had refused to leave. As -he walked slowly through the wood on his way back toward his cave he -tried to convince himself that he had acted purely from motives of -gratitude and fairness—that as a gentleman he could do no less than -see Nadara and thank her for the friendly services she had rendered -him; but for some reason this seemed a very futile and childish excuse -for relinquishing what might easily be his only opportunity to return -to civilization.</p> - -<p>His final decision was that he had acted the part of a fool; yet as he -walked he hummed a joyous tune, and his heart was full of happiness and -pleasant expectations of what he could not have told.</p> - -<p>To one thing he had made up his mind, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> was that the next sun -would see him on his way to the village of Nadara. His experience with -the savages that day had convinced him that he might with reasonable -safety face Flatfoot and Korth.</p> - -<p>The more he dwelt upon this idea the more light-hearted he became—he -could not understand it. He should be plunged into the blackest -despair, for had he not but just relinquished a chance to return -home, and was he not within a day or two to enter the village of the -ferocious Flatfoot and the mighty Korth? Even so, his heart sang.</p> - -<p>Waldo saw nothing of his enemies of the earlier part of the day as -he moved cautiously through the forest or crossed the little plains -and meadows which lay along the route between the ocean and his lair; -but his thoughts often reverted to them and to his adventures of the -morning, and the result was that he became aware of a deficiency in his -equipment—a deficiency which his recent battle made glaringly apparent.</p> - -<p>In fact, there were two points that might be easily remedied. One was -the lack of a shield. Had he had protection of this nature he would -have been in comparatively little danger from the shower of missiles -that the savages had flung at him.</p> - -<p>The other was a sword. With a sword and shield he could have let his -enemies come to very close quarters with perfect impunity to himself -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> then have run them through with infinite ease.</p> - -<p>This new idea would necessitate a delay in his plans; he must finish -both shield and sword before he departed for the village of Flatfoot. -What with his meditation and his planning, Waldo had made poor time on -the return journey from the coast so that it was after sunset when he -entered the last deep ravine beyond the farther summit of which lay -his rocky home. In the depths of the ravine it was already quite dark, -though a dim twilight still hung upon the surrounding hill-tops.</p> - -<p>He had about completed the arduous ascent of the last steep trail, at -the crest of which was his journey's end, when above him, silhouetted -against the darkening sky, loomed a great black, crouching mass, from -the center of which blazed two balls of fire.</p> - -<p>It was Nagoola, and he occupied the center of the only trail that led -over the edge of the ridge from the ravine below.</p> - -<p>"I had almost forgotten you, Nagoola," murmured Waldo Emerson. "I could -never have gone upon my journey without first interviewing you, but I -could have wished a different time and place than this. Let us postpone -the matter for a day or so," he concluded aloud; but the only response -from Nagoola was an ominous growl. Waldo felt rather uncomfortable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> - -<p>He could not have come upon the great, black panther at a more -inopportune time or place. It was too dark for Waldo's human eyes, and -the cat was above him and Waldo upon a steep hillside that under the -best of conditions offered but a precarious foothold. He tried to shoo -the formidable beast away by shouts and menacing gesticulations, but -Nagoola would not shoo.</p> - -<p>Instead he crept slowly forward, edging his sinuous body inch by inch -along the rocky trail until it hung poised above the waiting man a -dozen feet below him.</p> - -<p>Six months before Waldo would long since have been shrieking in -meteorlike flight down the bed of the ravine behind him. That a -wonderful transformation had been wrought within him was evident from -the fact that no cry of fright escaped him, and that, far from fleeing, -he edged inch by inch upward toward the menacing creature hanging there -above him. He carried his spear with the point leveled a trifle below -those baleful eyes.</p> - -<p>He had advanced but a foot or two, however, when, with an awful shriek, -the terrible beast launched itself full upon him.</p> - -<p>As the heavy body struck him Waldo went over backward down the cliff, -and with him went Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Clawing, tearing, and scratching, the two rolled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and bounded down -the rocky hillside until, near the bottom, they came to a sudden stop -against a large tree.</p> - -<p>The growling and screeching ceased, the clawing paws and hands were -still. Presently the tropic moon rose over the hill-top to look down -upon a little tangled mound of man and beast that lay very quiet -against the bole of a great tree near the bottom of a dark ravine.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIa" id="CHAPTER_VIIa">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THANDAR, THE SEEKER</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">or</span> a long time there was no sign of life in that strange pile of -flesh and bone and brawn and glossy black fur and long, yellow hair -and blood. But toward dawn it moved a little, down near the bottom of -the heap, and a little later there was a groan, and then all was still -again for many minutes.</p> - -<p>Presently it moved again, this time more energetically, and after -several efforts a yellow head streaked and matted with blood emerged -from beneath. It required the better part of an hour for the stunned -and lacerated Waldo to extricate himself from the entangling embrace of -Nagoola.</p> - -<p>When, finally, he staggered to his feet he saw that the great cat lay -dead before him, the broken shaft of the spear protruding from the -sleek, black breast.</p> - -<p>It was quite evident that the beast had lived but the barest fraction -of an instant after it had launched itself upon the man; but during -that brief interval of time it had wrought sore havoc with its mighty -talons, though fortunately for Waldo the great jaws had not found him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> - -<p>From breast to knees ghastly wounds were furrowed in the man's brown -skin where the powerful hind feet of the beast had raked him.</p> - -<p>That he owed his life to the chance that had brought about the -encounter upon a steep hillside rather than on the level seemed quite -apparent, for during their tumble down the declivity Nagoola had been -unable to score with any degree of accuracy.</p> - -<p>As Waldo looked down upon himself he was at first horrified by the -frightful appearance of his wounds; but when a closer examination -showed them to be superficial he realized that the only danger lay -in infection. Every bone and muscle in his body ached from the -man-handling and the fall, and the wounds themselves were painful, -almost excruciatingly so when a movement of his body stretched or tore -them; but notwithstanding his suffering he found himself smiling as he -contemplated the remnants of his long-suffering ducks.</p> - -<p>There remained of their once stylish glory not a shred—the panther's -sharp claws had finished what time and brambles had so well commenced. -And of their linen partner—the white outing shirt—only the neckband -remained; with a single fragment as large as one's hand depending -behind.</p> - -<p>"Nature is a wonderful leveler," thought Waldo. "It is evident that -she hates artificiality as she does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> a vacuum. I shall really need you -now," he concluded, looking at the beautiful, black coat of Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Despite his suffering, Waldo crawled to his lair, where he selected a -couple of sharp-edged stones from his collection and returned to the -side of Nagoola.</p> - -<p>Leaving his tools there he went on down to the bottom of the ravine, -where in a little crystal stream he bathed his wounds. Then he returned -once more to his kill.</p> - -<p>After half a day of the most arduous labor Waldo succeeded in removing -the panther's hide, which he dragged laboriously to his lair, where he -fell exhausted, unable even to crawl within.</p> - -<p>The next day Waldo worked upon the inner surface of the hide, removing -every particle of flesh by scraping it with a sharp stone, so that -there might be no danger of decomposition.</p> - -<p>He was still very weak and sore, but he could not bear the thought of -losing the pelt that had cost him so much to obtain.</p> - -<p>When the last vestige of flesh had been scraped away he crawled into -his lair, where he remained for a week, only emerging for food and -water. At the end of that time his wounds were almost healed, and -he had entirely recovered from his lameness and the shock of the -adventure, so that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> was with real pleasure and exultation that he -gloated over his beautiful trophy.</p> - -<p>Always as he thought of the time that he should have it made ready for -girting about his loins he saw himself, not through his own eyes, but -as he imagined that another would see him, and that other was Nadara.</p> - -<p>For many days Waldo scraped and pounded the great skin as he had seen -the cave men scrape and pound in the brief instant he had watched them -with Nadara from the edge of the forest before the village of Flatfoot. -At last he was rewarded with a pelt sufficiently pliable for the -purpose of the rude apparel he contemplated.</p> - -<p>A strip an inch wide he trimmed off to form a supporting belt. With -this he tied the black skin about his waist, passed one arm through a -hole he had made for that purpose near the upper edge; bringing the -fore paws forward about his chest, he crossed and fastened them to -secure the garment from falling from the upper part of his body.</p> - -<p>It was a very proud Waldo that strutted forth in the finery of his new -apparel; but the pride was in the prowess that had won the thing for -him—vulgar, gross, brutal physical prowess—the very attribute upon -which he had looked with supercilious contempt six months before.</p> - -<p>Next Waldo turned his attention toward the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> fashioning of a sword, -a new spear, and a shield. The first two were comparatively easy of -accomplishment—he had them both completed in half a day, and from a -two-inch strip of panther hide he made also a sword belt to pass over -his right shoulder and support his sword at his left side; but the -shield almost defied his small skill and new-born ingenuity.</p> - -<p>With small twigs and grasses he succeeded, after nearly a week of -painstaking endeavor, in weaving a rude, oval buckler some three feet -long by two wide, which he covered with the skins of several small -animals that had fallen before his death-dealing stones. A strip of -hide fastened upon the back of the shield held it to his left arm.</p> - -<p>With it Waldo felt more secure against the swiftly thrown missiles of -the savages he knew he should encounter on his forthcoming expedition.</p> - -<p>At last came the morning for departure. Rising with the sun, Waldo -took his morning "tub" in the cold spring that rose a few yards from -his cave, then he got out the razor that the sailor had given him, and -after scraping off his scanty, yellow beard, hacked his tawny hair -until it no longer fell about his shoulders and in his eyes.</p> - -<p>Then he gathered up his weapons, rolled the boulders before the -entrance to his cave, and turning his back upon his rough home set -off down the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> little stream toward the distant valley where it wound -through the forest along the face of the cliffs to Flatfoot and Korth.</p> - -<p>As he stepped lightly along the hazardous trail, leaping from ledge -to ledge in the descent of the many sheer drops over which the stream -fell, he might have been a reincarnation of some primeval hunter from -whose savage loins had sprung the warriors and the strong men of a -world.</p> - -<p>The tall, well-muscled, brown body; the clear, bright eyes; the -high-held head; the sword, the spear, the shield were all a far cry -from the weak and futile thing that had lain groveling in the sand upon -the beach, sweating and shrieking in terror six short months before. -And yet it was the same.</p> - -<p>What one good but mistaken woman had smothered another had brought out, -and the result of the influence of both was a much finer specimen of -manhood than either might have evolved alone.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon of the third day Waldo came to the forest opposite the -cliffs where lay the home of Nadara. Cautiously he stole from tree to -tree until he could look out unseen upon the honeycombed face of the -lofty escarpment.</p> - -<p>All was lifeless and deserted. The cave mouths looked out upon the -valley, sad and lonely. There was no sign of life in any direction as -far as Waldo could see.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> - -<p>Coming from the forest he crossed the clearing and approached the -cliffs. His eye, now become alert in woodcraft, detected the young -grass growing in what had once been well-beaten trails. He needed no -further evidence to assure him that the caves were deserted, and had -been for some time.</p> - -<p>One by one he entered and explored several of the cliff dwellings. All -gave the same mute corroboration of what was everywhere apparent—the -village had been evacuated without haste in an orderly manner. -Everything of value had been removed—only a few broken utensils -remaining as indication that it had ever constituted human habitation.</p> - -<p>Waldo was utterly confounded. He had not the remotest idea in which -direction to search. During the balance of the afternoon he wandered -along the various ledges, entering first one cave and then another.</p> - -<p>He wondered which had been Nadara's. He tried to imagine her life among -these crude, primitive surroundings; among the beast-like men and women -who were her people. She did not seem to harmonize with either. He was -convinced that she was more out of place here than Flatfoot would have -been in a Back Bay drawing-room.</p> - -<p>The more his mind dwelt upon her the sadder he became. He tried to -convince himself that it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> purely disappointment in being thwarted -in his desire to thank her for her kindness to him, and demonstrate -that her confidence in his prowess had not been misplaced; but always -he discovered that his thoughts returned to Nadara rather than to the -ostensible object of his adventure.</p> - -<p>In short he began to realize, rather vaguely it is true, that he had -come because he wanted to see the girl again; but why he wanted to see -her he did not know.</p> - -<p>That night he slept in one of the deserted caves, and the next morning -set forth upon his quest for Nadara. For three days he searched the -little valley, but without results. There was no sign of any other -village within it.</p> - -<p>Then he passed over into another valley to the north. For weeks he -wandered hither and thither without being rewarded by even a sight of a -human being.</p> - -<p>Early one afternoon as he was topping a barrier in search of other -valleys he came suddenly face to face with a great, hairy man. Both -stopped—the hairy one glaring with his nasty little eyes.</p> - -<p>"I can kill you," growled the savage.</p> - -<p>Waldo had no desire to fight—it was information he was searching. But -he almost smiled at the ready greeting of the man. It was the same that -Sag the Killer had accorded him that day he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> gone down to the sea -for the last time.</p> - -<p>It came as readily and as glibly from these primitive men as "good -morning" falls from the lips of the civilized races, yet among the -latter he realized that it had its counterpart in the stony stares -which Anglo Saxon strangers vouchsafe one another.</p> - -<p>"I have no quarrel with you," replied Waldo. "Let us be friends."</p> - -<p>"You are afraid," taunted the hairy one.</p> - -<p>Waldo pointed to his sable garment.</p> - -<p>"Ask Nagoola," he said.</p> - -<p>The man looked at the trophy. There could be no mightier argument for a -man's valor than that. He came a step closer that he might scrutinize -it more carefully.</p> - -<p>"Full-grown and in perfect health," he grunted to himself. "This is -no worn and mangy hide peeled from the rotting carcass of one dead of -sickness.</p> - -<p>"How did you slay Nagoola?" he asked suddenly.</p> - -<p>Waldo indicated his spear, then he drew his garment aside and pointed -to the vivid, new-healed scars that striped his body.</p> - -<p>"We met at dusk at a cliff-top. He was above, I below. When we reached -the bottom of the ravine Nagoola was dead. But it was nothing for -Thandar. I am Thandar."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo rightly suspected that a little bravado would make a good -impression on the intellect primeval, nor was he mistaken.</p> - -<p>"What do you here in my country?" asked the man, but his tone was less -truculent than before.</p> - -<p>"I am searching for Flatfoot and Korth—and Nadara," said Waldo.</p> - -<p>The other's eyes narrowed.</p> - -<p>"What would you of them?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nadara was good to me—I would repay her."</p> - -<p>"But Flatfoot and Korth—what of them?" insisted the man.</p> - -<p>"My business is with them. When I see them I shall transact it," Waldo -parried, for he had seen the cunning look in the man's eyes and he did -not like it. "Can you lead me to them?"</p> - -<p>"I can tell you where they are, but I am not bound thither," replied -the man. "Three days toward the setting sun will bring you to the -village of Flatfoot. There you will find Korth also—and Nadara," and -without further parley the savage turned and trotted toward the east.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIIa" id="CHAPTER_VIIIa">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">NADARA AGAIN</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">aldo</span> watched him out of sight, half minded to follow, for he was far -from satisfied that the fellow had been entirely honest with him. Why -he should have been otherwise Waldo could not imagine, but nevertheless -there had been an indefinable suggestion of duplicity in the man's -behavior that had puzzled him.</p> - -<p>However, Waldo took up his search toward the west, passing down from -the hills into a deep valley, the bottom of which was overgrown by a -thick tangle of tropical jungle.</p> - -<p>He had forced his way through this for nearly half a mile when he -came to the bank of a wide, slow-moving river. Its water was thick -with sediment—not clean, sparkling, and inviting, as were the little -mountain streams of the hills and valleys farther south.</p> - -<p>Waldo traveled along the edge of the river in a northwesterly -direction, searching for a ford. The steep, muddy banks offered no -foothold, so he dared not venture a crossing until he could be sure of -a safe landing upon the opposite shore.</p> - -<p>A couple of hundred yards from the point at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> which he had come upon the -stream he found a broad trail leading down into the water, and on the -other side saw a similar track cutting up through the bank.</p> - -<p>This, evidently, was the ford he sought, but as he started toward the -river he noticed the imprints of the feet of many animals—human and -brute.</p> - -<p>Waldo stooped to examine them minutely. There were the broad pads of -Nagoola, the smaller imprints of countless rodents, but back and forth -among them all were old and new signs of man.</p> - -<p>There were the great, flat-foot prints of huge adult males, the smaller -but equally flat-footed impresses of the women and children; but one -there was that caught his eye particularly.</p> - -<p>It was the fine and dainty outline of a perfect foot, with the arch -well defined. It was new, as were many of the others, and, like the -other newer ones, it led down to the river and then back again, as -though she who made it had come for water and then returned from whence -she had come. Waldo knew that the tracks leading away from the river -were the newer, because where the two trails overlapped those coming up -from the ford were always over those which led downward.</p> - -<p>The multiplicity of signs indicated a considerable community, and their -newness the proximity of the makers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo hesitated but a moment before he reached a decision, and then he -turned up the trail away from the river, and at a rapid trot followed -the spoor along its winding course through the jungle to where it -emerged at the base of the foothills, to wind upward toward their crest.</p> - -<p>He found that the trail he was following crossed the hills but a few -yards from the spot at which he had met the cave man a short time -before. Evidently the man had been returning from the river when he had -espied Waldo.</p> - -<p>The young man could see where the fellow's tracks had left the main -trail, and he followed them to the point where the man had stood during -his conversation with Waldo; from there they led toward the east for -a short distance, and then turned suddenly north to reenter the main -trail.</p> - -<p>Waldo could see that as soon as the man had reached a point from which -he would be safe from the stranger's observation he had broken into a -rapid trot, and as he already had two hours' start Waldo felt that he -would have to hurry were he to overtake him.</p> - -<p>Just why he wished to do so he did not consider, but, intuitively -possibly, he felt that the surly brute could give him much more and -accurate information than he had. Nor could Waldo eliminate the memory -of those dainty feminine footprints.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was foolish, of course, and he fully realized the fact; but his -silly mind would insist upon attributing them to the cave girl—Nadara.</p> - -<p>For two hours he trotted doggedly along the trail, which for the most -part was well defined. There were places, of course, which taxed his -trailing ability, but by circling widely from these points he always -was able to pick up the tracks again.</p> - -<p>He had come down from the hills and entered an open forest, where the -trail was entirely lost in the mossy carpet that lay beneath the trees, -when he was startled by a scream—a woman's scream—and the hoarse -gutturals of two men, deep and angry.</p> - -<p>Hastening toward the sound, Waldo came upon the authors of the -commotion in a little glade half hidden by surrounding bushes.</p> - -<p>There were three actors in the hideous tragedy—a hairy brute dragging -a protesting girl by her long, black hair and an old man, who followed, -protesting futilely against the outrage that threatened the young woman.</p> - -<p>None of them saw Waldo as he ran toward them until he was almost upon -them, and then the beast who grasped the girl looked up, and Waldo -recognized him as the same who had sent him toward the west earlier in -the day.</p> - -<p>At the same instant he saw the girl was Nadara.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the brief interval that the recognition required there sloughed from -the heart and mind and soul of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones every particle -of the civilization and culture and refinement that had required -countless ages in the building, stripping him naked, age on age, down -to the primordial beast that had begot his first human progenitor.</p> - -<p>He saw red through blood as he leaped for the throat of the man-beast -whose ruthless hands were upon Nadara.</p> - -<p>His lip curled in the fighting snarl that exposed his long-unused -canine fangs.</p> - -<p>He forgot sword and shield and spear.</p> - -<p>He was no longer a man, but a terrible beast; and the hairy brute that -witnessed the metamorphosis blanched and shrank back in fear.</p> - -<p>But he could not escape the fury of that mad charge or the raging -creature that sought his throat.</p> - -<p>For a moment they struggled in a surging, swaying embrace, and then -toppled to the ground—the hairy one beneath.</p> - -<p>Rolling, tearing, and biting, they battled—each seeking a death hold -upon the other.</p> - -<p>Time and again the gleaming teeth of the once-fastidious Bostonian sank -into the breast and shoulder of his antagonist, but it was the jugular -his primal instinct sought.</p> - -<p>The girl and the old man had drawn away where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> they could watch the -battle in safety. Nadara's eyes were wide in fascination.</p> - -<p>Her slim, brown hands were tight pressed against her rapidly rising -and falling breasts as she leaned a little forward with parted lips, -drinking in every detail of the conflict between the two beasts.</p> - -<p>Ah, but was the yellow-haired giant really fighting for possession of -her, or merely in protection, because she was a woman?</p> - -<p>She could readily conceive from her knowledge of him that he might be -acting now solely from some peculiar sense of duty which she realized -that he might entertain, although she could not herself understand it.</p> - -<p>Yes, that was it, and when he had conquered his rival he would run away -again, as he had months before. At the thought Nadara felt herself -flush with mortification. No, he should never have another opportunity -to repeat that terrible affront.</p> - -<p>As she allowed her mind to dwell on the humiliating moment that had -witnessed the discovery that Thandar had fled from her at the very -threshold of her home Nadara found herself hating him again as fiercely -as she had all these long months—a hatred that had almost dissolved -at sight of him as he rushed out of the underbrush a moment before to -wrest her from the clutches of her hideous tormentor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> - -<p>Waldo and his antagonist were still tearing futilely at one another -in mad efforts to maim or kill. The giant muscles of the cave man -gave him but little if any advantage over his agile, though slightly -less-powerful, adversary.</p> - -<p>The hairy one used his teeth to better advantage, with the result that -Waldo was badly torn and bleeding from a dozen wounds.</p> - -<p>Both were weakening now, and it seemed to the girl who watched that the -younger man would be the first to succumb to the terrific strain under -which both had been. She took a step forward and, stooping, picked up a -stone.</p> - -<p>Her small strength would be ample to turn the scales as she might -choose—a sharp blow upon the head of either would give his adversary -the trifling advantage that would spell death for the one she struck.</p> - -<p>The two men had struggled to their feet again as she approached with -raised weapon.</p> - -<p>At the very moment that it left her hand they swung completely round, -so that Waldo faced her, and in the instant before the missile struck -his forehead he saw Nadara in the very act of throwing—upon her face -an expression of hatred and loathing.</p> - -<p>Then he lost consciousness and went down, dragging with him the cave -man, upon whose throat his fingers had just found their hold.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IXa" id="CHAPTER_IXa">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE SEEKER</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">hen</span> the old man saw what had happened he ran forward and grasped -Nadara by the wrist.</p> - -<p>"Quick!" he cried—"quick, my daughter! You have killed him who would -have saved you, and now nothing but flight may keep Korth from having -his way with you."</p> - -<p>As in a trance the girl turned and departed with him.</p> - -<p>They had scarcely disappeared within the underbrush when Waldo returned -to consciousness, so slight had been the effect of the blow upon his -head.</p> - -<p>To his surprise he found the cave man lying very still beside him, but -an instant later he read the reason for it in the little projecting -ridge of rock upon which lay his foe's forehead—in falling the savage -man had struck thus and lost consciousness.</p> - -<p>Almost immediately the hairy one opened his eyes, but before he could -gather his scattered senses sinewy fingers found his throat, and he -lapsed once more into oblivion—from which there was no awakening.</p> - -<p>As Waldo staggered to his feet he saw that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> girl had vanished, and -there swept back into his mind the memory of the hate that had been in -her face as she struck him down.</p> - -<p>It seemed incredible that she should have turned against him so, and -at the very moment, too, when he had risked his life in her service; -but that she had there could be no doubt, for he had seen her cast -the stone—with his own eyes he had seen her, and, too, he had seen -the hatred and loathing in her face as she looked straight into his. -But what he had not seen was the look of horror that followed as the -missile struck him instead of Korth, sending him crumpling to earth.</p> - -<p>Slowly Waldo turned away from the scene of battle, and without even a -second look at his vanquished enemy limped painfully into the brush. -His heart was very heavy and he was weak from exhaustion and loss -of blood, but he staggered on, back toward his mountain lair, as he -thought, until unable to go further he sank down upon a little grassy -knoll and slept.</p> - -<p>When Nadara recovered from the shock of the thing she had done -sufficiently to reason for herself she realized that after all Thandar -might not be dead, and though the old man protested long and loudly -against it, she insisted upon retracing her steps toward the spot where -they had left the yellow giant in the clutches of Korth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> - -<p>Very cautiously the girl threaded her way through the maze of shrubbery -and creepers that filled the intervening space between the forest -trees, until she came silently to the edge of the clearing in which the -two had fought.</p> - -<p>As she peered anxiously through the last curtain of foliage she saw a -single body lying quiet and still upon the sward, and an instant later -recognized it as Korth's. For several minutes she watched it before she -became convinced that the man who had so terrorized her whole childish -life could never again offer her harm.</p> - -<p>She looked about for Thandar, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nadara -could scarcely believe that her eyes were not deceiving her.</p> - -<p>It was incredible that the yellow one could have gone down to -unconsciousness before her unintentional blow and yet have mastered the -mighty Korth; but how else could Korth have met his death and Thandar -be gone?</p> - -<p>She approached quite close to the dead man, turning the body over with -her foot until the throat was visible. There she saw the finger-marks -that had done the work, and with a little thrill of pride she turned -back into the forest, calling Thandar's name aloud.</p> - -<p>But Thandar did not hear. Half a mile away he lay weak and unconscious -from loss of blood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> - -<p>Morning found Nadara sleeping in a sturdy tree upon the trail along -which Waldo had followed Korth. She had discovered the footprints -of the two men the evening before while she had been searching -unsuccessfully for the trail which Waldo had followed after the battle. -She hoped now that the spoor might lead her to Thandar's cave, to which -she felt it quite possible he might have returned by another way.</p> - -<p>When the girl awoke she again took up her journey, following the tracks -as unerringly as a hound up through the hilly country, across the -divide and down into the jungle to the very watering place at which her -tribe had drank a few days earlier. Here she made a brief stay.</p> - -<p>Then on again down the river, back through the jungle and onto the -divide once more. She was much mystified by the windings of the trail, -but for days she followed the fading spoor until, becoming fainter and -fainter as it grew older, she lost it entirely at last.</p> - -<p>She was quite sure by now, however, that it led from her tribe's former -territory, and so she kept on, hoping against hope, that soon she would -come across the fresh track of Thandar where he had passed her on his -return journey to his home.</p> - -<p>Nadara had eluded the old man when she started upon her search for -Thandar, so it was that the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> fellow returned to the dwellings of -his people alone the following day.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot was the first to greet him.</p> - -<p>"Where is the girl?" he growled. "And where is Korth? Has he taken her? -Answer me the truth or I will break every bone in your carcass."</p> - -<p>"I do not know where the girl is," answered the old man truthfully -enough, "but Korth lies dead in the little glade beyond the three great -trees. A mighty man killed him as he was dragging Nadara off into the -thicket——"</p> - -<p>"And the man has taken the girl for himself?" yelled Flatfoot. "You old -thief you. This is some of your work. Always have you tried to cheat -me of this girl since first you knew that I desired her. Whither went -they? Quick! before I kill you."</p> - -<p>"I do not know," replied the old man. "For hours I searched, until -darkness came, but neither of them could I find, and my old eyes are no -longer keen for trailing, so I was forced to abandon my hunt and return -here when morning came."</p> - -<p>"By the three trees the trail starts, you say?" cried Flatfoot. "That -is enough—I shall find them. And when I return with the girl it will -be time enough to kill you; now it would delay me too much," and with -that the cave man hurried away into the forest.</p> - -<p>It took him half a day to find Nadara's trail, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> at last his search -was rewarded, and as she had made no effort to hide it he moved rapidly -along in the wake of the unsuspecting girl; but he was not as swift as -she, and the chase bid fair to be a long one.</p> - -<p>When Waldo woke he found the sun beating down upon his face, and though -he was lame and sore he felt quite strong enough to continue his -journey; but whither he should go he did not know.</p> - -<p>Now that Nadara had turned against him the island held nothing for him, -and he was on the point of starting back toward his far distant lair -from where he might visit the ocean often to watch for a passing ship, -when the sudden decision came to him to see the girl again, regardless -of her evident hostility, and learn from her own lips the exact reason -of her hatred for him.</p> - -<p>He had had no idea that the loss of her friendship would prove such -a blow to him, so that his pride suffered as well as his heart as he -contemplated his harrowed emotions.</p> - -<p>Of course he was reasonably sure that Nadara's attitude was due to -his ungallant desertion, for which act he had long suffered the most -acute pangs of remorse and contrition. Yet he felt that her apparent -vindictiveness was not warranted by even the grave offense against -chivalry and gratitude of which he had been guilty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> - -<p>It presently occurred to him that by the traitorous attack which -he believed that she had made upon him while he was acting in her -defense she had forfeited every claim which her former kindness might -have given her upon him, but with this realization came another—a -humiliating thought—he still wished to see her!</p> - -<p>He, Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, had become so devoid of pride that he -would voluntarily search out one who had wronged and outraged his -friendship, with the avowed determination of seeking a reconciliation. -It was unthinkable, and yet, as he admitted the impossibility of it, he -set forth in search of her.</p> - -<p>Waldo wondered not a little at the strange emotion—inherent gregarious -instinct, he thought it—which drew him toward Nadara.</p> - -<p>It did not occur to him that during all the past solitary months he had -scarcely missed the old companionship of his Back Bay friends; that for -once that they had been the subject of his reveries the cave girl had -held the center of that mental stage a thousand times.</p> - -<p>He failed to realize that it was not the companionship of the many that -he craved; that it was not the community instinct, or that his strange -longing could be satisfied by but a single individual. No, Waldo -Emerson did not know what was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> matter with him, nor was it likely -that he ever would find out before it was too late.</p> - -<p>The young man attempted to retrace his steps to the battle-ground of -the previous day, but he had been so dazed after the encounter that -he had no clear recollection of the direction he had taken after he -quitted the glade.</p> - -<p>So it was that he stumbled in precisely the opposite direction, -presently emerging from the underbrush almost at the foot of a low -cliff tunneled with many caves. All about were the morose, unhappy -community whose savage lives were spent in almost continual wandering -from one filthy, comfortless warren to another equally foul and -wretched.</p> - -<p>At sight of them Waldo did not flee in dismay, as most certainly would -have been the case a few months earlier. Instead, he walked confidently -toward them.</p> - -<p>As he approached they ceased whatever work they were engaged upon and -eyed him suspiciously. Then several burly males approached him warily.</p> - -<p>At a hundred yards they halted.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?" they cried. "If you come to our village we can kill -you."</p> - -<p>Before Waldo could reply an old man crawled from a cave near the base -of the cliff, and as his eyes fell upon the stranger he hurried as -rapidly as his ancient limbs would carry him to the little knot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of -ruffians who composed the reception committee.</p> - -<p>He spoke to them for a moment in a low tone, and as he was talking -Waldo recognized him as the old man who had accompanied Nadara on the -previous day at the battle in the glade. When he had finished speaking -one of the cave men assented to whatever proposal the decrepit one had -made, and Waldo saw that each of the others nodded his head in approval.</p> - -<p>Then the old man advanced slowly toward Waldo. When he had come quite -close he spoke.</p> - -<p>"I am an old man," he said. "Thandar would not kill an old man?"</p> - -<p>"Of course not; but how know you that my name is Thandar?" replied -Waldo.</p> - -<p>"Nadara, she who is my daughter, has spoken of you often. Yesterday we -saw you as you battled with that son of Nagoola—Nadara told me then -that it was you. What would Thandar among the people of Flatfoot?"</p> - -<p>"I come as a friend," replied Waldo, "among the friends of Nadara. For -Flatfoot I care nothing. He is no friend of Nadara, whose friends are -Thandar's friends, and whose enemies are Thandar's enemies. Where is -Nadara—but first, where is Flatfoot? I have come to kill him."</p> - -<p>The words and the savage challenge slipped as easily from the cultured -tongue of Waldo Emerson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> Smith-Jones as though he had been born and -reared in the most rocky and barren cave of this savage island, nor did -they sound strange or unusual to him. It seemed that he had said the -most natural and proper thing under the circumstances that there was to -say.</p> - -<p>"Flatfoot is not here," said the old man, "nor is Nadara. She—" but -here Waldo interrupted him.</p> - -<p>"Korth, then," he demanded. "Where is Korth? I can kill him first and -Flatfoot when he returns."</p> - -<p>The old man looked at the speaker in unfeigned surprise.</p> - -<p>"Korth!" he exclaimed. "Korth is dead. Can it be that you do not know -that he, whom you killed yesterday, was Korth?"</p> - -<p>Waldo's eyes opened as wide in surprise as had the old man's.</p> - -<p>Korth! He had killed the redoubtable Korth with his bare hands—Korth, -who could crush the skull of a full-grown man with a single blow from -his open palm.</p> - -<p>Clearly he recollected the very words in which Nadara had described -this horrible brute that time she had harrowed his poor, coward nerves, -as they approached the village of Flatfoot. And now he, Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones, had met and killed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> the creature from whom he had so -fearfully fled a few months ago!</p> - -<p>And, wonder of wonders, he had not even thought to use the weapons upon -which he had spent so many hours of handicraft and months of practise -in preparation for just this occasion. Of a sudden he recalled the old -man's statement that Nadara was not there.</p> - -<p>"Where is she—Nadara?" he cried, turning so suddenly upon the ancient -one that the old fellow drew back in alarm.</p> - -<p>"I have done nothing to harm her," he cried. "I followed and would have -brought her back, but I am old and could not find her. Once, when I was -young, there was no better trailer or mighty warrior among my people -than I, but——"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," exclaimed Waldo impatiently; "but Nadara! Where is she?"</p> - -<p>"I do not know," replied the old man. "She has gone, and I could not -find her. Well do I remember how, years ago, when the trail of an enemy -was faint or the signs of game hard to find, men would come to ask me -to help them, but now——"</p> - -<p>"Of course," interrupted Waldo; "but Nadara. Do you not even know in -what direction she has gone?"</p> - -<p>"No; but since Flatfoot has set forth upon her trail it should be easy -to track the two of them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Flatfoot set out after Nadara!" cried, Waldo. "Why?"</p> - -<p>"For many moons he has craved her for his mate, as has Korth," -explained Nadara's father; "but I think that each feared the other, and -because of that fact Nadara was saved from both; but at last Korth came -upon us alone and away from the village, and then he grasped Nadara and -would have taken her away, for Flatfoot was not about to prevent.</p> - -<p>"You came then, and the rest you know. If I had been younger neither -Flatfoot nor Korth would have dared menace Nadara, for when I was a -young man I was very terrible and the record of my kills was a——"</p> - -<p>"How long since did Flatfoot set out after Nadara?" Waldo broke in.</p> - -<p>"But a few hours since," replied the old man. "It would be an easy -thing for me to overtake him by night had I the speed of my youth, for -I well remember——"</p> - -<p>"From where did Flatfoot start upon the trail?" cried the young man. -"Lead me to the place."</p> - -<p>"This way then, Thandar," said the other, starting off toward the -forest. "I will show you if you will save Nadara from Flatfoot. I love -her. She has been very kind and good to me. She is unlike the rest of -our people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I should die happy if I knew that you have saved her from Flatfoot, -but I am an old man and may not live until Nadara returns. Ah, that -reminds me; there is that in my cave which belongs to Nadara, and were -I to die there would be none to protect it for her.</p> - -<p>"Will you wait for the moment that it will take me to run and fetch it, -that you may carry it to her, for I am sure that you will find her; -though I am not as sure that you will overcome Flatfoot if you meet -him. He is a very terrible man."</p> - -<p>Waldo hated to waste a minute of the precious time that was allowing -Flatfoot to win nearer and nearer Nadara; but if it were in a service -for the girl who had been so kind to him and for the happiness of her -old father he could not refuse, so he waited impatiently while the old -fellow tottered off toward the caves.</p> - -<p>Those who had come half-way to meet Waldo had hovered at a safe -distance while he had been speaking to Nadara's father, and when the -two turned toward the forest all had returned to their work in evident -relief; for the old man had told them that the stranger was the mighty -warrior who had killed the terrible Korth with his bare hands, nor had -the story lost anything in the telling.</p> - -<p>After what seemed hours to the waiting Waldo the old man returned with -a little package care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>fully wrapped in the skin of a small rodent, the -seams laboriously sewed in a manner of lacing with pieces of gut.</p> - -<p>"This is Nadara's," he said as they continued their way toward the -forest. "It contains many strange things of which I know not the -meaning or purpose. They all were taken from the body of her mother -when the woman died. You will give them to her?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Waldo. "I will give them to Nadara, or die in the trying of -it."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Xa" id="CHAPTER_Xa">CHAPTER X</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE TRAIL'S END</p> - - -<p class="drop">S<span class="uppercase">oon</span> they came upon the trail of Flatfoot in the glade by the three -great trees; they had not searched for it sooner, for the old man knew -that it would start from that point upon its quest for the girl.</p> - -<p>The tracks circled the glade a dozen times in widening laps until at -last, at the point where Flatfoot must have picked up the spoor of -Nadara, they broke suddenly away into the underbrush. Once the way was -plain Waldo bid the old man be of good heart, for he would surely bring -his daughter back to him unharmed if the thing lay in the power of man.</p> - -<p>Then he hurried off upon the new-made trail that lay as plain and -readable before him as had the printed page of his former life; but -never had he bent with such keen interest to the reading of his -favorite author as he did to this absorbing drama written in the turned -leaves, the scattered twigs, and the soft mud of a primeval forest by -the feet of a savage man and a savage maid.</p> - -<p>Toward mid-afternoon Waldo became aware that he was much weaker from -the effects of his battle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> with Korth than he had supposed. He had lost -much blood from his wounds, and the exertion of following the trail at -a swift pace had reopened some of the worse ones, so that now, as he -ran, he was leaving a little trail of blood behind him.</p> - -<p>The discovery made him almost frantic, for it seemed to presage -failure. His condition would handicap him in the race after the two -along whose track he pursued so that it would be a miracle were he to -reach Flatfoot before the brute overtook Nadara.</p> - -<p>And if he did overtake him in time—what then? Would he be physically -able to cope with the brawny monster? He feared that he would not, but -that he kept doggedly to the grueling chase augured well for the new -manhood that had been so recently born within him.</p> - -<p>On and on he stumbled, until at dusk he slipped and fell exhausted to -the earth. Twice he struggled to his feet in an attempt to go on, but -he was forced to give in, lying where he was until morning.</p> - -<p>Slightly refreshed, he ate of the roots and fruit which abounded in the -forest, taking up the chase again, but this time more slowly.</p> - -<p>He was now convinced that the way led back along the same trail which -he had followed into the country, and when he reached the point at -which he had first met Korth on the previous day he cut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> across the -little space which intervened between the cave man's tracks and the -point at which he had stood before he went down over the divide into -the jungle toward the river and the ford.</p> - -<p>A moment later he was rewarded by the sight of Nadara's dainty -footprints as well as those of Flatfoot leading away along his old -trail. The act had saved him several miles of needless tracking.</p> - -<p>All that day he followed as rapidly as his weakened condition would -permit, but his best efforts seemed dismally snail-like.</p> - -<p>Along the way he bowled over a couple of large rodents, which he ate -raw, for he had long since learned the desirability of a meat diet for -one undergoing severe physical exertion, and had conquered his natural -aversion for the uncooked flesh. He even had come to relish it, though -often as he dined thus upon meat a broad grin illumined his countenance -at the thought of the horror with which his mother and his Boston -friends would view such a hideous performance.</p> - -<p>As he continued trailing the two he was at first surprised to discover -the fidelity with which Nadara had clung to his old trail, and because -of this fact he often was able to save miles at a time by taking -cross-cuts where, on his way in, he had made wide detours.</p> - -<p>But at last on the third day, when he attempted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> this at a place which -would have saved him fully ten miles, he was dismayed by the discovery -that he could not again pick up either Nadara's trail or that of the -cave man. Even his own old trail was entirely obliterated.</p> - -<p>It was this fact which caused him the greatest concern, for it meant -that if Nadara really had been following it she must now be wandering -rather aimlessly, possibly in an attempt to again locate it. In which -event her speed would be materially reduced, and the probability of her -capture by Flatfoot much enhanced.</p> - -<p>It was possible, too, that the beast already had overtaken her—this, -in fact, might be the true cause of the cessation of the pursuit along -the way which it had proceeded up to this point.</p> - -<p>The thought sent Waldo back along his former route, which he was able -to follow by recollection, though the spoor was seldom visible.</p> - -<p>He came upon no sign of those he sought that day, but the next morning -he found the point at which Nadara had lost his old trail upon a rocky -ridge. The girl evidently assumed that it would lead into the valley -below where she might pick it up again in the soft earth, and so her -footprints led down a shelving bluff, while plain above them showed the -huge imprints of Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>Up to this point at least he had not caught up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> with her. Waldo -breathed a sigh of relief at the discovery. The trail was at least two -days old, for Nadara and Flatfoot had traveled much more rapidly than -the wounded man who haunted their footsteps like a grim shadow.</p> - -<p>About noon Waldo came to a little stream at which both those who -preceded him had evidently stopped to drink—he could see where they -had knelt in the soft grass at the water's edge.</p> - -<p>As Waldo stopped to quench his own thirst his eyes rested for an -instant upon the farther bank, which at that point was little more than -ten feet from him. He saw that the opposite shore was less grassy, -and that it sloped down to the water, forming a muddy beach partially -submerged.</p> - -<p>But what riveted his attention were several deep imprints in the mud.</p> - -<p>He could not be certain, of course, at that distance, but he was sure -enough that he had recognized them to cause him to leap to his feet, -forgetful of his thirst, and plunge through the stream for a closer -inspection.</p> - -<p>As he bent to examine the spoor at close range he could scarce repress -a cry of exultation—they had been made by the hands and knees of -Nadara as she had stooped to drink at the very spot not twenty-four -hours before.</p> - -<p>She must have circled back toward the brook for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> some reason; but by -far the greatest cause for rejoicing was the fact that Nadara's trail -alone was there. Flatfoot had not yet come upon her, and Waldo now was -between them.</p> - -<p>The knowledge that he might yet be in time, and that he was gaining -sufficiently in strength to make it reasonably certain that he could -overhaul the girl eventually, filled Waldo with renewed vigor. He -hastened along Nadara's trail now with something of the energy that had -been his directly before his battle with Korth.</p> - -<p>His wounds had ceased bleeding, and for several days he had eaten well, -and by night slept soundly, for he had reasoned that only by conserving -his energy and fortifying himself in every way possible could he succor -the girl.</p> - -<p>That night he slept in a little thicket which had evidently harbored -Nadara the night before.</p> - -<p>The following day the way lay across a rolling country, cut by numerous -deep ravines and lofty divides. That the pace was telling on the girl -Waldo could read in the telltale spoor that revealed her lagging -footsteps. Upon each eminence the man halted to strain his eyes ahead -for a sight of her.</p> - -<p>About noon he discerned far ahead a shimmering line which he knew must -be the sea. Surely his long pursuit must end there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> - -<p>As he was about to plunge on again along Nadara's trail something drew -his eyes toward the rear, and there upon another hill-top a mile or two -behind he saw the stocky figure of a half-naked man—it was Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>The cave man must have seen Waldo at the same instant, for, with a -menacing wave of his huge fist, he increased his gait to a run, an -instant later disappearing into the ravine which lay at the bottom of -the hill upon which he had come into view.</p> - -<p>Waldo was undecided whether to wait for the encounter where he was or -hasten on in an effort to overtake Nadara, that she might not escape -him entirely. He knew that he stood a good chance of being killed in -the conflict, and he also knew that were he victorious it might easily -be at such a terrible price that he would be physically incapable of -continuing his search for the girl for many days.</p> - -<p>As he meditated his eyes wandered back and forth across the landscape -before him searching for Nadara.</p> - -<p>To his right lay, at a little distance, a level plain which stretched -to the foot of low-lying cliffs at the valley's southern rim, some -three or four miles distant In this direction his view was almost -unobstructed, but it was not in the direction of the girl's flight, so -that it was but by accident that Waldo's eyes swept casually across -the peaceful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> scene which would, at another time, have chained his -attention with its quiet and alluring beauty.</p> - -<p>It was as he swept a backward glance in the direction of Flatfoot -that his eye was arrested by the hint of something far out across the -valley, a little behind his own position.</p> - -<p>To the Waldo of a few months previous it would not have been visible, -but the new woodcraft of the man scented the abnormal in the vague -suggestion of movement out among the long-waving grasses of the plain.</p> - -<p>And now, with every sense alert and riveted upon the spot, he was quick -to perceive that it was an animal moving slowly toward the cliffs at -the upper end of the valley. Presently a little rise of ground, less -thickly grassed, brought the creature into full view for an instant; -but in that instant Waldo saw that the thing he watched was a woman.</p> - -<p>As he turned to hurry after her he saw Flatfoot top another hill a half -mile nearer than he had before been, and as the cave man came into view -he turned his eyes in the direction that Waldo had been looking. A -second later and he had abandoned the pursuit of Waldo and was running -rapidly toward the woman.</p> - -<p>Nadara had apparently circled back once more, this time from the sea, -and coming up the valley had passed Waldo and come opposite Flatfoot -be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>fore either of them had discovered her. The young man gave a little -cry of alarm as he realized that the cave man was nearer to the girl -than he—by a good half mile, he judged, and so he put every ounce of -his speed into the wild dash he made down the hill into a gully which -led out upon the valley.</p> - -<p>On and on he raced unable to see either Flatfoot or Nadara; hoping, -ever hoping, that he would be the first to win to her side; for Nadara -had told him of the atrocities that such a creature as Flatfoot might -perpetrate upon a woman rather than permit her to escape him or fall -into the hands of another.</p> - -<p>Nadara, being up wind, caught neither the scent nor noise of the two -who were racing madly toward her. The first knowledge she had that -she was not alone in the valley was the sight of Flatfoot as he broke -suddenly through a clump of tall grass not fifty paces from her.</p> - -<p>She gave a little scream and started to run; but she was very tired -from the days of unremitting flight which had so sorely taxed her -endurance, and thus it was no wonder that she slipped and fell before -she had taken a dozen steps.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had she gained her feet when Flatfoot was upon her, one hand -grasping her by the arm.</p> - -<p>"Come with me in peace or I will kill you!" he cried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Kill me, then," retorted the despairing girl, "for I shall never come -with you; first will I kill myself."</p> - -<p>Flatfoot did not wish to kill her, nor did he wish her to escape, as -she would be very likely to do should he be interrupted by the fellow -who must even now be quite close to them.</p> - -<p>Possibly if he could keep the girl quiet they might hide in the grass -until their pursuer had gone by, and so Flatfoot, acting upon the idea, -clapped a rough hand over Nadara's mouth and dragged her back along the -trail he had just made.</p> - -<p>The girl struggled—striking and clawing at the hairy brute that pulled -her along at his side—but she was as helpless in his clutches as if -she had been a day-old babe.</p> - -<p>She did not know that help was so close at hand, or she would have -found the means to free her mouth and cry out once at least. As it was, -she wondered that Flatfoot should attempt to silence her in this way if -there were none to hear her screams.</p> - -<p>For days she had known that the cave man was on her trail, for once in -doubling back upon herself she had passed but a short distance from a -ridge she had traversed the preceding day, and had seen the man's squat -figure and recognized his awkward, shuffling trot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was this knowledge that had turned her away from the old village -toward which she had been traveling since she lost Thandar's trail, and -sent her in search of a new country in which she might lose herself -from Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>As the man dragged her roughly on through the grass Nadara racked her -brain for some means of escape, or a way to end her misery before the -beast could have his way with her. But there came no ray of hope to her -poor, unhappy heart.</p> - -<p>If Thandar were but there! He would save her, even if it were but to -desert her the next instant.</p> - -<p>But did she wish to be saved again by him? Now that she pondered the -idea she was quite sure that she would rather die than see him again, -for had he not twice run away from her?</p> - -<p>In her misery she put this interpretation upon the remarkable -disappearance of Thandar after his battle with Korth—he had waited -until she was out of sight and then he had risen and fled for fear she -might return and discover him. She wondered why he should dislike her -so much.</p> - -<p>She was quite sure that she had been very good to him, and had tried -not to annoy him while they were together. Maybe he looked down upon -her, for surely he was of a superior race; of that she was quite -positive.</p> - -<p>And so Nadara was very miserable and unhappy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> and hopeless as the -brutal Flatfoot dragged her far into the tall jungle-grass. Presently -she noticed that the cave man repeatedly cast glances toward the rear.</p> - -<p>What could he expect from that direction, or from any direction -whatever, so far as that was concerned? Were they not days and days -from their own people, in a land where there seemed no men at all?</p> - -<p>Flatfoot heard no sign of pursuit. He was growing more confident. The -stranger had lost their trail. The cave man moved less rapidly, and as -he went he looked now for a burrow into which he might crawl with the -maiden. Then there would be no further danger whatever.</p> - -<p>Tomorrow Flatfoot would come out and find the fellow and kill him, but -now he had pleasanter work in view, nor did he wish to be disturbed.</p> - -<p>And at that very moment he caught a stealthy movement in the grasses a -few yards to his right. Waldo had come upon the spot at which Flatfoot -had overtaken Nadara but a few moments after the brute had dragged her -away, and on the instant had sought a higher piece of ground from which -he could overlook the tall grass.</p> - -<p>Nor had he been long in finding a spot that, coupled with his six feet -two, brought his eyes above the level of the surrounding jungle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> - -<p>There he watched for a little until he discerned a movement of the -grasstops at a little distance from him. After that it was but a matter -of trailing.</p> - -<p>When Flatfoot saw what he took to be his enemy he threw Nadara across -his shoulder and started on a run in the opposite direction—at right -angles to the way he had been going.</p> - -<p>The ruse proved good, for when Waldo came to the point at which he had -figured his path would cross the cave man's he found no sign of the -latter, and in searching about to locate the trail lost many minutes of -valuable time. But at last he came upon that which he sought, and with -redoubled speed set out at a rapid run through the tall grasses.</p> - -<p>He had proceeded but a short distance when the trail broke suddenly -into the open, close by the base of the cliffs that he had seen from -the hill that had given him his fleeting glimpse of Nadara.</p> - -<p>Ahead of him he saw the two he sought—Nadara across the burly -shoulders of Flatfoot—and the cave man was making for the caves that -dotted the face of the cliff. Were he to reach these he might defend -one of them against a single antagonist indefinitely.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIa" id="CHAPTER_XIa">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">CAPTURE</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">lmost</span> at the moment that Waldo emerged from the jungle Nadara saw him, -and with a lunge threw herself from Flatfoot's shoulder.</p> - -<p>The man turned with a fierce growl of rage, and his eyes fell upon the -giant rushing toward them.</p> - -<p>The girl was now struggling madly to escape or delay her captor. There -could be but one outcome, as Flatfoot knew. He must fight now, but the -girl should never escape him.</p> - -<p>Raising the huge fist that had killed many a full-grown man with a -single blow he aimed a wicked one at the side of Nadara's head.</p> - -<p>The first one she dodged, and as the arm went up to strike again, -Thandar threw his spear-arm far back and with a mighty forward surge -drove his light weapon across the hundred feet that separated him from -Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>It was an awful risk—there was not a foot to spare between the hairy -breast that was his target and the beautiful head of the fair captive. -Should either move between the time the spear left his hand and the -instant that it found its mark it might pierce the one it had been sped -to save.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot's fist was crashing down toward that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> lovely face at the -instant that the spear found him; but he had moved—just enough to -place his arm before his breast—so that it was the falling arm that -received the weapon instead of the heart that it had been intended for.</p> - -<p>But it served its purpose. With a howl of pain and rage, Flatfoot, -forgetful of the girl in the madness of his anger, dropped her and -sprang toward Waldo.</p> - -<p>The latter had drawn his sword—naught but a sharpened stick of hard -wood—and stood waiting to receive his foe. It was his first attempt to -put either sword or shield into practical use, and he was anxious to -discover their value.</p> - -<p>As Flatfoot came toward his antagonist he pulled the spear from the -muscles of his arm, and, stooping, gathered up one of the many rocks -that lay scattered about at the base of the cliff.</p> - -<p>The cave man was roaring like a mad bull; hate and murder shot from his -close-set eyes; his upper lip curled back, showing his fighting fangs, -and a light froth flecked his bristling beard.</p> - -<p>Waldo was sure there had never existed a more fearsome creature, and he -marveled that he was not afraid. The very thought of what the effect -of this terrible monster's mad charge would have been upon him a short -while ago brought a smile to his lips.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> - -<p>At sight of that taunting smile Flatfoot hurled the rock full at the -maddening face. With a quick movement of his left arm Waldo caught the -missile on his buckler, from whence it dropped harmlessly to the ground.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot did not throw again, and an instant later he was upon the -Bostonian—the pride and hope of the cultured and aristocratic Back Bay -Smith-Joneses.</p> - -<p>When he reached for the agile, blond giant he found a thin sheet of -hide-covered twigs in his way, and when he tried to tear down this -barrier the point of a sharpened stick was thrust into his abdomen.</p> - -<p>This was no way to fight!</p> - -<p>Flatfoot was scandalized. He jumped back a few feet and glared at -Waldo. Then he lowered his head and came at him once more with the very -evident intention of rushing him off his feet by the very weight and -impetuosity of his charge.</p> - -<p>This time the sharp stick slipped quickly over the top of the -hide-covered atrocity and pierced Flatfoot's neck just where it joined -his thick skull.</p> - -<p>Burying a foot of its point beneath the muscles of the shoulder, it -brought a scream of pain and rage from the hairy beast.</p> - -<p>Before Waldo could withdraw his weapon from the tough sinews, Flatfoot -had straightened up with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> a sudden jerk that snapped the sword short, -leaving but a short stub in his antagonist's hand.</p> - -<p>Nadara had been watching the battle breathlessly, ready to flee should -it turn against her champion, yet at the same time searching for an -opportunity to aid him.</p> - -<p>Like Flatfoot, the girl had never before seen spear or sword or shield -in use, and while she marveled at the advantage which they gave -Thandar, she became dubious as to the result of the encounter when she -saw the sword broken, for the spear had been snapped into kindling-wood -by Flatfoot when he tore it from his arm.</p> - -<p>But Waldo still had his cudgel, fastened by a thong to his sword-belt, -and as the cave man rushed upon him again he swung a mighty blow to the -low, brutal forehead.</p> - -<p>Momentarily stunned, the fellow reeled backward for a step, and again -Waldo wielded his new weapon.</p> - -<p>Flatfoot trembled, his knees smote together, he staggered drunkenly, -and then, when Waldo looked to see him go down, the brute power that -was in him, responding to nature's first law, sent him hurtling at the -Bostonian's throat in the snarling, blind rage of the death-smitten -beast.</p> - -<p>Catapulted by all the enormous strength of his mighty muscles, the -squat, bear-like animal bore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> Waldo to earth, and at the same instant -each found the other's throat with sinewy, viselike fingers.</p> - -<p>They lay very still now, choking with firm, relentless clutch. Every -ounce of muscle was needed, every grain of endurance.</p> - -<p>Waldo was suffering agonies after a moment of that awful death-grip. He -could feel his gasping, pain-racked lungs struggling for air.</p> - -<p>He tried to wriggle free from those horrible fingers, but not once did -he loosen his own hold upon the throat of Flatfoot; instead he tried to -close a little tighter each second that he felt his own life ebbing. He -became weaker and weaker. The pain was unendurable now.</p> - -<p>A haze obscured his vision—everything became black—his brain was -whizzing about at frightful velocity within the awful darkness of his -skull.</p> - -<p>The girl was bending close above them now, for both were struggling -less violently. She had been minded to come to Thandar's rescue when -suddenly she recalled his desertion of her, and all the wild hatred of -the primitive mind surged through her.</p> - -<p>Let him die, she thought. He had spurned her, cast her off; he looked -down upon her.</p> - -<p>Well, let him take care of himself, then, and she turned deliberately -away to leave the two men to decide the outcome of their own battle, -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> started back upon the trail in the direction of her tribe's -village.</p> - -<p>But she had taken scarce a score of steps when something flamed up in -her heart that withered the last remnant of her malice toward Thandar. -As she turned back again toward the combatants she attempted to justify -this new weakness by the thought that it was only fair that she should -give the yellow one aid in return for the aid that he had rendered her; -that done, she could go on her way with a clear conscience.</p> - -<p>She wished never to see him again, but she could not have his blood -upon her hands. At that thought she gave a little cry and ran to where -the men lay.</p> - -<p>Both were almost quiet now; their struggles had nearly ceased. Just -as she reached them Flatfoot relaxed, his hands slipped from Waldo's -throat and he lay entirely motionless.</p> - -<p>Then the fair giant struggled convulsively once or twice; he gasped, -his eyes rolled up and set, and with a sudden twitching of his muscles -he stiffened rigidly and was very still.</p> - -<p>Nadara gave one horrified look at the ghastly face of her champion, and -fled into the jungle.</p> - -<p>She stumbled on for a quarter of a mile as fast as her tired limbs -would carry her through the entangling grasses, and then she came to -that which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> she sought—a little stream, winding slowly through the -valley down toward the ocean.</p> - -<p>Dropping to her knees beside it she filled her mouth with the -refreshing water. In an instant she was up again and off in the -direction from which she had just come.</p> - -<p>Throwing herself at Waldo's side, she wet his face with the water from -her mouth. She chafed his hands, shook him, blew upon his face when -the water was exhausted, and then, tears streaming from her eyes, she -threw herself upon him, covering his face with kisses, and moaning -inarticulate words of love and endearment that were half stifled by -anguished sobs of grief.</p> - -<p>Suddenly her lamentations ceased as quickly as they had begun. She -raised her head from where it had been buried beside the man's and -looked intently into his face.</p> - -<p>Then she placed her ear upon his breast; with a delighted cry she -resumed chafing his hands, for she had heard the beating of his heart.</p> - -<p>Presently Waldo gasped, and for a moment suffered the agonies of -returning respiration. When he opened his eyes in consciousness he saw -Nadara bending over him—a severely disinterested expression upon her -beautiful face. He turned his head to one side; there lay Flatfoot -quite dead.</p> - -<p>It was several moments before he could speak.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> Then he rose, very -unsteadily, to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Nadara," he said, "Korth lies dead beside the three great trees in the -glade that is near the village that was Flatfoot's. Here is the dead -body of Flatfoot, and about my loins hangs the pelt of Nagoola, taken -in fair fight.</p> - -<p>"I have done all that you desired of me; I have tried to repay you for -your kindness to me when I was a stranger in your land. I do not know -why you should have tried to kill me while I battled with Korth.</p> - -<p>"No more do I know why you have allowed me to live today when it would -have been so easy to have despatched me as I lay unconscious here -beside Flatfoot.</p> - -<p>"I read dislike upon your face, and I am sorry, for I would have parted -with you in friendship, so that when the time comes that I return to -my own land I should be able to carry away with me only the pleasant -memory of it. When we have rested and are refreshed I shall take you -back to your father."</p> - -<p>All that had been surging to the girl's lips of love and gratitude -from a heart that was filled with both was congealed by the cold tone -which marked this dispassionate recital of the discharge of a moral -obligation.</p> - -<p>Possibly Waldo's tone was colored by the vivid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> memory of the look of -hate that he had seen in the girl's eyes at the instant that he went -down before her missile as he battled with Korth, for it was not even -tinged with friendliness.</p> - -<p>And so the girl's manner was equally distant when she replied; in fact, -it was even colder, for it was fraught with bitterness.</p> - -<p>"Thandar owed nothing to Nadara," she said, "and though it matters not -at all, it is only fair to say that the stone that struck you as you -battled in the glade was intended for Korth."</p> - -<p>Waldo's face brightened. A load that he had not realized lay there was -lifted from his heart.</p> - -<p>"You did not want to hurt me, then?" he cried.</p> - -<p>"Why should I want to hurt you?" returned the girl.</p> - -<p>"I thought"—and here Waldo spoiled the fair start they had made at a -reconciliation—"I thought," he said, "that you were angry because I -ran away from you after we had come to your village that time, months -ago."</p> - -<p>Nadara's head went high and she laughed aloud.</p> - -<p>"I angry? I was surprised that you did not come to the village, but -after an hour I had forgotten the matter—it was with difficulty that -I recognized you when I next saw you, so utterly had the occurrence -departed from my thoughts."</p> - -<p>Waldo wondered why he should feel such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> humiliation at this frank -avowal. Of what moment to him was this girl's estimation of him? Why -did he feel a flush suffuse his face at the knowledge that he was of so -little moment to her that she had entirely forgotten him within a few -months?</p> - -<p>Waldo was mortified and angry. He changed the subject brusquely; -hereafter he should eschew personalities.</p> - -<p>"Let us find a cave at a distance from the dead man," he said, "and -there we may rest until you are ready to attempt the return journey."</p> - -<p>"I am ready now," replied Nadara; "nor do I need or desire your -company. I can return alone, as I came."</p> - -<p>"No," remonstrated Waldo doggedly; "I shall go with you whether you -wish it or not. I shall see you safely with your father. I promised -him."</p> - -<p>Nadara had been delighted with the first clause of his reply, but when -it became evident that his only desire to return with her was to fulfil -a promise made her father she became furious, though she was careful -not to let him see it.</p> - -<p>"Very well," she replied; "you may come if you wish, though it is -neither necessary nor as I would have it. I prefer being alone."</p> - -<p>"I shall not force my company upon you," said Waldo haughtily. "I can -follow a few paces behind you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was an injured air in his last words which did not escape the -girl. She wondered if he really deserved the harsh attitude she had -maintained.</p> - -<p>They found a cave a half-mile down the valley, where they took up their -quarters against the time that Waldo should be rested, for the girl -insisted that she was fully able to commence the return journey at once.</p> - -<p>The man knew better, and so he let her have it that the delay was on -his account rather than hers, for he doubted her ability to cope with -the hardships of the long journey without an interval for recuperation.</p> - -<p>The next morning found them both rested and in better spirits, so that -there was no return to their acrimonious encounter of the previous day.</p> - -<p>As they walked out toward the forest that lay down the valley in the -direction of the ocean Waldo dropped a few paces behind the girl in -polite deference to her expressed wish of the day before.</p> - -<p>As he walked he watched the graceful movements of her lithe figure and -the lines of her clear-cut profile as she turned her head this way and -that in search of food.</p> - -<p>How beautiful she was! It was incredible that this wild cave girl -should have greater beauty and a more regal carriage than the queens -and beauties of civilization, and yet Waldo was forced to admit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> that -he had never even dreamed, much less seen, such absolute physical -perfection.</p> - -<p>He wished that he could say as much for her disposition; that was -atrocious. It was unbelievable that such a wondrous exterior could -harbor so much ingratitude and coldness.</p> - -<p>Presently they came among the trees where the ripe fruit hung, and as -Waldo climbed nimbly among the branches and tossed the most luscious -down to her, the girl, in her turn, watched him.</p> - -<p>She noted more closely the marvelous change that a few months had -wrought. She had thought him wonderful before, but now he was a very -god. She did not think just this, for she knew nothing of gods—other -than the demons that were supposed to enter the bodies of the sick; but -she thought of him as some superior creature, and then she ceased to -feel aggrieved that he should care so little for her.</p> - -<p>He was not a man—he was something more than a man, and she had been -very wicked to have treated him so shamefully. She would make amends.</p> - -<p>So she tried to be more kind thereafter, though there still remained a -trace of aloofness.</p> - -<p>Together they sat upon the turf and ate their fruit, and as they ate -they talked a little, for it is difficult for two young people to -harbor animosity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> for a great time, especially when there is none other -for them to talk to.</p> - -<p>"When you have returned with me to my father, Thandar," the girl asked, -"where shall you go then?"</p> - -<p>"I shall return to the sea where I may watch for a ship to take me back -to my own land," he replied.</p> - -<p>"I have seen but one ship in all my life," said Nadara, "and that was -years ago. It was when we lived close by the big water that it stopped -a long way from shore and sent many smaller boats to land.</p> - -<p>"There were many men in the boats, and when they landed, my father and -mother took me far into the forest away from the sea, and there we -stayed for many days until the strangers had sailed. They wandered up -and down the coast and came back into the forests and the jungles for a -few miles.</p> - -<p>"My mother said that they were searching for me, and that if they found -me they would take me away. I was very much frightened."</p> - -<p>At the mention of her mother Waldo recalled the little parcel that -Nadara's father had given into his custody for the girl. He unfastened -it from the thong that circled his waist, where it had hung beneath his -panther-skin garment.</p> - -<p>"Here is something your father asked me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> bring you," he said, -handing the package to Nadara.</p> - -<p>The girl took it and examined it as though it was entirely unfamiliar.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Your father did not say, other than that it contained articles that -your mother wore when she died," he said tenderly, for a great pity had -welled up in his heart for this poor, motherless girl.</p> - -<p>"That my mother wore!" Nadara repeated, her brows contracted in a -puzzled frown. "When my mother died she wore nothing but a single -garment of many small skins—very old and worn—and that was buried -with her. I do not understand."</p> - -<p>She made no effort to open the package, but sat gazing far off toward -the ocean which was just visible through the trees, entirely absorbed -in the reverie which Waldo's words had engendered.</p> - -<p>"Could the thing that the old woman told me have been true?" the girl -mused half aloud. "Could it have been because it was true that my -mother fell upon her with tooth and nail until she had nearly killed -her? I wonder if——"</p> - -<p>But here she stopped, her eyes riveted in sudden fear and hopelessness -upon a thing that she had just espied in the distance.</p> - -<p>A great lump rose in her throat, tears came to her eyes, and with them -the full measure of realization<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> of what that thing beyond the forest -meant to her.</p> - -<p>She turned her eyes toward the man. He was sitting with bowed head, -playing idly with a large beetle that he had penned within a tiny -palisade of small twigs.</p> - -<p>At length he made an opening in the barrier.</p> - -<p>"Go your way, poor thing," he murmured. "Heaven knows I realize too -well the horrors of captivity to keep any other creature from its -fellows and its home."</p> - -<p>A choking sigh that was almost a sob racked the girl. At the sound -Waldo looked up to see her pathetic, unhappy eyes upon him. Of a sudden -there enveloped him a great desire to take her in his arms and comfort -her. He knew not why she was unhappy, but her sorrow cried aloud to -him—as he thought simply to the protective instinct that was merely an -attribute of his sex.</p> - -<p>Nadara raised her hand slowly and pointed through the trees. It was as -though she had torn her heart from her breast, so harrowing she felt -the consequences of her act would be, but it was for his sake—for the -sake of the man she loved.</p> - -<p>As Waldo's eyes followed the direction of her pointing finger he came -suddenly to his feet with a wild cry of joy; through the trees, out -upon the shimmering surface of the placid sea, there lay a graceful, -white yacht.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Thank God!" cried the man fervently, and sinking to his knees he -raised his hands aloft toward the author of joy and sorrow.</p> - -<p>A moment later he sprang to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Home! Nadara. Home!" he cried. "Can't you realize it? I am going home. -I am saved! Oh, Nadara, child, can't you realize what it means to me? -Home! Home! Home!"</p> - -<p>He had been looking toward the yacht as he spoke, but now he turned -toward the girl. She was crouching upon the ground, her face in her -hands, her slender figure shaken by convulsive tears.</p> - -<p>He came toward her and, kneeling, laid his hand upon her shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Nadara!" he said gently. "Why do you cry, child? What is the matter?" -But she only shook her head, moaning.</p> - -<p>He raised her to her feet, and as he supported her his arm circled her -shoulders.</p> - -<p>"Tell me, Nadara, why you are unhappy?" he urged.</p> - -<p>But still she could not speak for sobbing, and only buried her face -upon his breast.</p> - -<p>He was holding her very close now, and with the pressure of her body -against his a fire that, unknown, had been smoldering in his heart -for months burst into sudden flame, and in the heat of it there were -consumed the mists that had been be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>fore the eyes of his heart all that -time.</p> - -<p>"Nadara," he asked in a very low voice, "is it because I am going that -you cry?"</p> - -<p>But at that she pulled away from him, and through her tears her eyes -blazed.</p> - -<p>"No!" she cried. "I shall be glad when you have gone. I wish that -you had never come. I—I—hate you!" She turned and fled back up the -valley, forgetful of the little packet Thandar had brought her, which -lay forgotten upon the ground where she had dropped it.</p> - -<p>Without so much as a backward glance toward the yacht Waldo was off in -pursuit of her; but Nadara was as fleet as a hare, so that it was a -much winded Waldo who finally overhauled her half-way up the face of a -cliff two miles from the ocean.</p> - -<p>"Go away!" cried the girl. "Go back with your own kind, to your own -home!"</p> - -<p>Waldo did not answer.</p> - -<p>Waldo was no more.</p> - -<p>It was Thandar, the cave man, who took Nadara in his strong arms and -crushed her to him.</p> - -<p>"My girl!" he cried. "My girl! I love you! And because I am a fool I -did not learn until it was almost too late."</p> - -<p>He did not ask if she loved him, for he was Thandar, the cave man. Nor, -a moment later, did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> he need to ask, since her strong, brown arms crept -up about his neck and drew his lips down to hers.</p> - -<p>It was quite half an hour later before either thought of the yacht -again. From where they stood upon the cliff's face they could see the -ocean and the beach.</p> - -<p>Several boats were drawn up and a number of men were coming toward the -forest. Presently they would discover the two upon the cliff.</p> - -<p>"We shall go back together now," said Thandar.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid," replied Nadara.</p> - -<p>For a time the man stood gazing at the dainty yacht, and far beyond -it into the civilization which it represented, and he saw there suave -men and sneering women, and among them was a slender brown beauty who -shrank from the cruel glances of the women—and Waldo writhed at this -and at the greedy eyes of the suave men as they appraised the girl—and -he, too, was afraid.</p> - -<p>"Come," he said, taking Nadara by the hand, "let us hurry back into the -hills before they discover us."</p> - -<p>Just as the men from the yacht, which Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones had -despatched to the South Seas in search of his missing son, emerged from -the forest into a view of the valley and the cliffs a cave man and his -mate clambered over the brow of the latter and disappeared toward the -hills beyond.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was nearly dusk as the searchers from the yacht were returning -toward the beach.</p> - -<p>They had found no sign of human habitation in the little valley, nor -anywhere along the coast that they had so carefully explored.</p> - -<p>The commander of the expedition, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, a retired -naval officer, was in advance.</p> - -<p>They had penetrated the woods nearly to the beach when his foot struck -against a package wrapped in the skin of a small rodent.</p> - -<p>He stooped and picked it up.</p> - -<p>"Here is the first evidence that another human being than ourselves has -ever set foot upon this island," he said as he cut the gut lacing with -his pocket knife.</p> - -<p>Within the first wrapping he found a chamois-bag such as women -sometimes use to carry jewels about their persons.</p> - -<p>From this he emptied into his palm a dozen priceless rings, a few -old-fashioned brooches, bracelets, and lockets.</p> - -<p>In one of the latter he discovered the ivory miniature of a woman—a -very beautiful woman.</p> - -<p>In the other side of the locket was engraved: "To Eugénie Marie Céleste -de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, from Henri, her husband. 17th January, -18—"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Gad!" cried the old captain. "Now what do you make of that?</p> - -<p>"The Count and Countess of Crecy were returning to Paris from their -honeymoon trip round the world in the steam yacht <i>Dolphin</i> nearly -twenty years ago, and after they touched at Australia were never heard -of again.</p> - -<p>"What tragedy, what mystery, what romance might not these sparkling -gems disclose had they but tongues!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="THE_CAVE_GIRL" id="THE_CAVE_GIRL">THE CAVE GIRL</a></h2> - -<p class="ph2">PART II</p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note</span>: <i>Part II of this book appeared serially under the title</i> -"The Cave Man"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Ib" id="CHAPTER_Ib">CHAPTER I</a></h2> - -<p class="center">KING BIG FIST</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">aldo Emerson Smith-Jones</span>, scion of the aristocratic house of the John -Alden Smith-Joneses of Boston, clambered up the rocky face of the -precipitous cliff with the agility of a monkey.</p> - -<p>His right hand clasped the slim brown fingers of his half-naked mate, -assisting her over the more dangerous or difficult stretches.</p> - -<p>At the summit the two turned their faces back toward the sea. Beyond -the gently waving forest trees stretched the broad expanse of -shimmering ocean. In the foreground, upon the bosom of a tiny harbor, -lay a graceful yacht—a beautiful toy it looked from the distance of -the cliff top.</p> - -<p>For the first time the man obtained an unobstructed view of the craft. -Before, when they first had discovered it, the boles of the forest -trees had revealed it but in part.</p> - -<p>Now he saw it fully from stem to stern with all its well-known, -graceful lines standing out distinctly against the deep blue of the -water.</p> - -<p>The shock of recognition brought an involuntary exclamation from his -lips. The girl looked quickly up into his face.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What is it, Thandar?" she asked. "What do you see?"</p> - -<p>"The yacht!" he whispered. "It is the <i>Priscilla</i>—my father's. He is -searching for me."</p> - -<p>"And you wish to go?"</p> - -<p>For some time he did not speak—only stood there gazing at the distant -yacht. And the young girl at his side remained quite motionless and -silent, too, looking up at the man's profile, watching the expression -upon his face with a look of dumb misery upon her own.</p> - -<p>Quickly through the man's mind was running the gamut of his past. He -recalled his careful and tender upbringing—the time, the money, the -fond pride that had been expended upon his education. He thought of the -result—the narrow-minded, weakling egoist; the pusillanimous coward -that had been washed from the deck of a passing steamer upon the sandy -beach of this savage, forgotten shore.</p> - -<p>And yet it had been love, solicitous and tender, that had prompted his -parents to their misguided efforts. He was their only son. They were -doubtless grieving for him. They were no longer young, and in their -declining years it appeared to him a pathetic thing that they should be -robbed of the happiness which he might bring them by returning to the -old life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> - -<p>But could he ever return to the bookish existence that once had seemed -so pleasant?</p> - -<p>Had not this brief year into which had been crowded so much of wild, -primitive life made impossible a return to the narrow, self-centered -existence? Had it not taught him that there was infinitely more in life -than ever had been written into the dry and musty pages of books?</p> - -<p>It had taught him to want life at first hand—not through the proxy of -the printed page. It and—Nadara. He glanced toward the girl.</p> - -<p>Could he give her up? No! A thousand times, no!</p> - -<p>He read in her face the fear that lurked in her heart. No, he could -not give her up. He owed to her all that he possessed of which he was -most proud—his mighty physique, his new found courage, his woodcraft, -his ability to cope, primitively, with the primitive world, her savage -world which he had learned to love.</p> - -<p>No, he could not give her up; but—what? His gaze lingered upon her -sweet face. Slowly there sank into his understanding something of the -reason for his love of this wild, half-savage cave girl other than the -primitive passion of the sexes.</p> - -<p>He saw now not only the physical beauty of her face and figure, but -the sweet, pure innocence of her girlishness, and, most of all, the -wondrous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> tenderness of her love of him that was mirrored in her eyes.</p> - -<p>To remain and take her as his mate after the manner and customs of her -own people would reflect no shame upon himself or her; but was she not -deserving of the highest honor that it lay within his power to offer at -the altar of her love?</p> - -<p>She—his wonderful Nadara—must become his through the most solemn and -dignified ceremony that civilized man had devised. What the young woman -of his past life demanded was none too good for her.</p> - -<p>Again the girl voiced her question.</p> - -<p>"You wish to go?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Nadara," he replied, "I must go back to my own people—and you -must go with me."</p> - -<p>Her face lighted with pleasure and happiness as she heard his last -words; but the expression was quickly followed by one of doubt and fear.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid," she said; "but if you wish it I will go."</p> - -<p>"You need not fear, Nadara. None will harm you by word or deed while -Thandar is with you. Come, let us return to the sea and the yacht -before she sails."</p> - -<p>Hand in hand they retraced their steps down the steep cliff, across the -little valley toward the forest and the sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nadara walked very close to Thandar, her hand snuggled in his and her -shoulder pressed tightly against his side, for she was afraid of the -new life among the strange creatures of civilization.</p> - -<p>At the far side of the valley, just before one enters the forest, -there grows a thick jungle of bamboo—really but a narrow strip, not -more than a hundred feet through at its greatest width; but so dense -as to quite shut out from view any creature even a few feet within its -narrow, gloomy avenues.</p> - -<p>Into this the two plunged, Thandar in the lead, Nadara close behind -him, stepping exactly in his footprints—an involuntary concession to -training, for there was no need here either of deceiving a pursuer, -or taking advantage of easier going. The trail was well-marked and -smooth-beaten by many a padded paw.</p> - -<p>It wound erratically, following the line of least resistance—it -forked, and there were other trails which entered it from time to time, -or crossed it. The hundred feet it traversed seemed much more when -measured by the trail.</p> - -<p>The two had come almost to the forest side of the jungle when a sharp -turn in the path brought Thandar face to face with a huge, bear-like -man.</p> - -<p>The fellow wore a g-string of soft hide, and over one shoulder dangled -an old and filthy leopard skin—otherwise, he was naked. His thick, -coarse hair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> was matted low over his forehead. The balance of his face -was covered by a bushy red beard.</p> - -<p>At sight of Thandar his close set, little eyes burned with sudden -rage and cunning. From his thick lips burst a savage yell—it was the -preliminary challenge.</p> - -<p>Ordinarily a certain amount of vituperation and coarse insults must -pass between strangers meeting upon this inhospitable isle before they -fly at one another's throat.</p> - -<p>"I am Thurg," bellowed the brute. "I can kill you," and then followed a -volley of vulgar allusions to Thandar's possible origin, and the origin -of his ancestors.</p> - -<p>"The bad men," whispered Nadara.</p> - -<p>With her words there swept into the man's memory the scene upon the -face of the cliff that night a year before when, even in the throes of -cowardly terror, he had turned to do battle with a huge cave man that -the fellow might not prevent the escape of Nadara.</p> - -<p>He glanced at the right forearm of the creature who faced him. A smile -touched Thandar's lips—the arm was crooked as from the knitting of a -broken bone, poorly set.</p> - -<p>"You would kill Thandar—again?" he asked tauntingly, pointing toward -the deformed member.</p> - -<p>Then came recognition to the red-rimmed eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> of Thurg, as, with -another ferocious bellow, he launched himself toward the author of his -old hurt.</p> - -<p>Thandar met the charge with his short stick of pointed hard wood—his -"sword" he called it. It entered the fleshy part of Thurg's breast, -calling forth a howl of pain and a trickling stream of crimson.</p> - -<p>Thurg retreated. This was no way to fight. He was scandalized.</p> - -<p>For several minutes he stood glaring at his foe, screaming hideous -threats and insults at him. Then once more he charged.</p> - -<p>Again the painful point entered his body, but this time he pressed in -clutching madly at the goad and for a hold upon Thandar's body.</p> - -<p>The latter held Thurg at arm's length, prodding him with the -fire-hardened point of his wooden sword.</p> - -<p>The cave man's little brain wondered at the skill and prowess of this -stranger who had struck him a single blow with a cudgel many moons -before and then run like a rabbit to escape his wrath.</p> - -<p>Why was it that he did not run now? What strange change had taken place -in him? He had expected an easy victim when he finally had recognized -his foe; but instead he had met with brawn and ferocity equal to his -own and with a strange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> weapon, the like of which he never before had -seen.</p> - -<p>Thandar was puncturing him rapidly now, and Thurg was screaming in rage -and suffering. Presently he could endure it no longer. With a sudden -wrench he tore himself loose and ran, bellowing, through the jungle.</p> - -<p>Thandar did not pursue. It was enough that he had rid himself of his -enemy. He turned toward Nadara, smiling.</p> - -<p>"It will seem very tame in Boston," he said; but though she gave him -an answering smile, she did not understand, for to her Boston was but -another land of primeval forests, and dense jungles; of hairy, battling -men, and fierce beasts.</p> - -<p>At the edge of the forest they came again upon Thurg, but this time he -was surrounded by a score of his burly tribesmen. Thandar knew better -than to pit himself against so many.</p> - -<p>Thurg came rushing down upon them, his fellows at his heels. In loud -tones he screamed anew his challenge, and the beasts behind him took it -up until the forest echoed to their hideous bellowing.</p> - -<p>He had seen Nadara as he had battled with Thandar, and recognized her -as the girl he had desired a year before—the girl whom this stranger -had robbed him of.</p> - -<p>Now he was determined to wreak vengeance on the man and at the same -time recapture the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara turned back into the jungle where but a single enemy -could attack them at a time in the narrow trails. Here they managed to -elude pursuit for several hours, coming again into the forest nearly a -mile below the beach where the <i>Priscilla</i> had lain at anchor.</p> - -<p>Thurg and his fellows had apparently given up the chase—they had -neither seen nor heard aught of them for some time. Now the two -hastened back through the wood to reach a point on the shore opposite -the yacht.</p> - -<p>At last they came in sight of the harbor. Thandar halted. A look of -horror and disappointment supplanted the expression of pleasurable -anticipation that had lighted his countenance—the yacht was not there.</p> - -<p>A mile out they discerned her, steaming rapidly north.</p> - -<p>Thandar ran to the beach. He tore the black panther's hide from his -shoulders, waving it frantically above his head, the while he shouted -in futile endeavor to attract attention from the dwindling craft.</p> - -<p>Then, quite suddenly, he collapsed upon the beach, burying his face in -his hands.</p> - -<p>Presently Nadara crept close to his side. Her soft arms encircled his -shoulders as she drew his cheek close to hers in an attempt to comfort -him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Is it so terrible," she asked, "to be left here alone with your -Nadara?"</p> - -<p>"It is not that," he answered. "If you were mine I should not care so -much, but you cannot be mine until we have reached civilization and -you have been made mine in accordance with the laws and customs of -civilized men. And now who knows when another ship may come—if ever -another will come?"</p> - -<p>"But I am yours, Thandar," insisted the girl. "You are my man—you -have told me that you love me, and I have replied that I would be your -mate—who can give us to each other better than we can give ourselves?"</p> - -<p>He tried, as best he could, to explain to her the marriage customs and -ceremonies of his own world, but she found it difficult to understand -how it might be that a stranger whom neither might possibly ever have -seen before could make it right for her to love her Thandar, or that it -should be wrong for her to love him without the stranger's permission.</p> - -<p>To Thandar the future looked most black and hopeless. With his sudden -determination to take Nadara back to his own people he had been -overwhelmed with a mad yearning for home.</p> - -<p>He realized that his past apathy to the idea of returning to Boston had -been due solely to recol<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>lection of Boston as he had known it—Boston -without Nadara; but now that she was to have gone back with him Boston -seemed the most desirable spot in the world.</p> - -<p>As he sat pondering the unfortunate happenings that had so delayed them -that the yacht had sailed before they reached the shore, he also cast -about for some plan to mitigate their disappointment.</p> - -<p>To live forever upon this savage island did not seem such an appalling -thing as it had a year before—but then he had not realized his love -for the wild young creature at his side. Ah, if she could but be made -his wife then his exile here would be a happy rather than a doleful lot.</p> - -<p>What if he had been born here too? With the thought came a new idea -that seemed to offer an avenue from his dilemma. Had he, too, been -native born how would he have wed Nadara?</p> - -<p>Why through the ceremony of their own people, of course. And if men and -women were thus wed here, living together in faithfulness throughout -their lives, what more sacred a union could civilization offer?</p> - -<p>He sprang to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Come, Nadara!" he cried. "We shall return to your people, and there -you shall become my wife."</p> - -<p>Nadara was puzzled, but she made no comment; content simply to leave -the future to her lord and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> master; to do whatever would bring Thandar -the greatest happiness.</p> - -<p>The return to the dwellings of Nadara's people occupied three -never-to-be-forgotten days.</p> - -<p>How different this journey by comparison with that of a year since, -when the cave girl had been leading the terror-stricken Waldo Emerson -in flight from the bad men toward, to him, an equally horrible fate at -the hands of Korth and Flatfoot!</p> - -<p>Then the forest glades echoed to the pads of fierce beasts and the -stealthy passage of naked, human horrors. No twig snapped that did not -portend instant and terrifying death.</p> - -<p>Now Korth and Flatfoot were dead at the hands of the metamorphosed -Waldo. The racking cough was gone. He had encountered the bad men and -others like them and come away with honors. Even Nagoola, the sleek, -black devil-cat of the hideous nights, no longer sent the slightest -tremor through the rehabilitated nerves.</p> - -<p>Did not Thandar wear Nagoola's pelt about his shoulder and loins—a -pelt that he had taken in hand to hand encounter with the dread beast?</p> - -<p>Slowly they walked beneath the shade of giant trees, beside pleasant -streams, or, again, across open valleys where the grass grew knee high -and countless, perfumed wild flowers opened a pathway before their -naked feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> - -<p>At night they slept where night found them. Sometimes in the deserted -lair of a wild beast, or again perched among the branches of a -spreading tree where parallel branches permitted the construction of -rude platforms.</p> - -<p>And Thandar was always most solicitous to see that Nadara's couch was -of the softest grasses and that his own lay at a little distance from -hers and in a position where he might best protect her from prowling -beasts.</p> - -<p>Again was Nadara puzzled, but still she made no comment.</p> - -<p>Finally they came to her village.</p> - -<p>Several of the younger men came forth to meet them; but when they saw -that the man was he who had slain Korth they bridled their truculence, -all but one, Big Fist, who had assumed the role of king since Flatfoot -had left.</p> - -<p>"I can kill you," he announced by way of greeting, "for I am Big Fist, -and until Flatfoot returns I am king—and maybe afterward, for some day -I shall kill Flatfoot."</p> - -<p>"I do not wish to fight you," replied Thandar. "Already have I killed -Korth, and Flatfoot will return no more, for Flatfoot I have killed -also. And I can kill Big Fist, but what is the use? Why should we -fight? Let us be friends, for we must live together, and if we do not -kill one another there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> will be more of us to meet the bad men, should -they come, and kill them."</p> - -<p>When Big Fist heard that Flatfoot was dead and by the hand of this -stranger he pined less to measure his strength with that of the -newcomer. He saw the knothole that the other offered, and promptly he -sought to crawl through it, but with honor.</p> - -<p>"Very well," he said, "I shall not kill you—you need not be afraid. -But you must know that I am king, and do as I say that you shall do."</p> - -<p>"'Afraid,'" Thandar laughed. "You may be king," he said, "but as for -doing what you say—" and again he laughed.</p> - -<p>It was a very different Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones from the thing that -the sea had spewed up twelve months before.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIb" id="CHAPTER_IIb">CHAPTER II</a></h2> - -<p class="center">KING THANDAR</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> first thing that Thandar did after he entered the village was to -seek out Nadara's father.</p> - -<p>They found the old man in the poorest and least protected cave in the -cliff side, exposed to the attack of the first prowling carnivore, or -skulking foeman.</p> - -<p>He was sick, and there was none to care for him; but he did not -complain. That was the way of his people. When a man became too old -to be of service to the community it were better that he died, and so -they did nothing to delay the inevitable. When one became an absolute -burden upon his fellows it was customary to hasten the end—a carefully -delivered blow with a heavy rock was calculated quickly to relieve the -burdens of the community and the suffering of the invalid.</p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara came in and sat down beside him. The old fellow -seemed glad to see them.</p> - -<p>"I am Thandar," said the young man. "I wish to take your daughter as my -mate."</p> - -<p>The old man looked at him questioningly for a moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You have killed Korth and Flatfoot—who is to prevent you from taking -Nadara?"</p> - -<p>"I wish to be joined to her with your permission and in accordance with -the marriage ceremonies of your people," said Thandar.</p> - -<p>The old man shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I do not understand you," he replied at last. "There are several fine -caves that are not occupied—if you wish a better one you have but to -slay the present occupants if they do not get out when you tell them -to—but I think they will get out when the slayer of Korth and Flatfoot -tells them to."</p> - -<p>"I am not worried about a cave," said Thandar. "Tell me how men take -their wives among you."</p> - -<p>"If they do not come with us willingly we take them by the hair and -drag them with us," replied Nadara's father. "My mate would not come -with me," he continued, "and even after I had caught her and dragged -her to my cave she broke away and fled from me, but again I overhauled -her, for when I was young none could run more swiftly, and this time I -did what I should have done at first—I beat her upon the head until -she went to sleep. When she awoke she was in my own cave, and it was -night, and she did not try to ran away any more."</p> - -<p>For a long time Thandar sat in thought. Presently he spoke addressing -Nadara.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> - -<p>"In my country we do not take our wives in any such way, nor shall I -take you thus. We must be married properly, according to the customs -and laws of civilization."</p> - -<p>Nadara made no reply. To her it seemed that Thandar must care very -little for her—that was about the only explanation she could put upon -his strange behavior. It made her sad. And then the other women would -laugh at her—of that she was quite certain, and that, too, made her -feel very badly—they would see that Thandar did not want her.</p> - -<p>The old man, lying upon his scant bed of matted, filthy grasses, had -heard the conversation. He was as much at sea as Nadara. At last he -spoke—very feebly now, for rapidly he was nearing dissolution.</p> - -<p>"I am a very old man," he said to Thandar. "I have not long to live. -Before I die I should like to know that Nadara has a mate who will -protect her. I love her, though—" He hesitated.</p> - -<p>"Though what?" asked Thandar.</p> - -<p>"I have never told," whispered the old fellow. "My mate would not let -me, but now that I am about to die it can do no harm. Nadara is not my -daughter."</p> - -<p>The girl sprang to her feet.</p> - -<p>"Not your daughter? Then who am I?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I do not know who you are, except that you are not even of my people. -All that I know I will tell you now before I die. Come close, for my -voice is dying faster than my body."</p> - -<p>The young man and the girl came nearer to his side, and squatting there -leaned close that they might catch each faintly articulated syllable.</p> - -<p>"My mate and I," commenced the old man, "were childless, though many -moons had passed since I took her to my cave. She wanted a little one, -for thus only may women have aught upon which to lavish their love.</p> - -<p>"We had been hunting together for several days alone and far from the -village, for I was a great hunter when I was young—no greater ever -lived among our people.</p> - -<p>"And one day we came down to the great water, and there, a short -distance from the shore we saw a strange thing that floated upon the -surface of the water, and when it was blown closer to us we saw that -it was hollow and that in it were two people—a man and a woman. Both -appeared to be dead.</p> - -<p>"Finally I waded out to meet the thing, dragging it to shore, and there -sure enough was a man and a woman, and the man was dead—quite dead. He -must have been dead for a long time; but the woman was not dead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - -<p>"She was very fair though her eyes and hair were black. We carried her -ashore, and that night a little girl was born to her, but the woman -died before morning.</p> - -<p>"We put her back into the strange thing that had brought her—she and -the dead man who had come with her—and shoved them off upon the great -water, where the breeze, which had changed over night, together with -the water which runs away from the land twice each day carried them out -of sight, nor ever did we see them again.</p> - -<p>"But before we sent them off my mate took from the body of the woman -her strange coverings and a little bag of skin which contained many -sparkling stones of different colors and metals of yellow and white -made into things the purposes of which we could not guess.</p> - -<p>"It was evident that the woman had come from a strange land, for she -and all her belongings were unlike anything that either of us ever had -seen before. She herself was different as Nadara is different—Nadara -looks as her mother looked, for Nadara is the little babe that was born -that night.</p> - -<p>"We brought her back to our people after another moon, saying that she -was born to my mate; but there was one woman who knew better, for it -seemed that she had seen us when we found the boat, having been running -away from a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> who wanted her as his mate.</p> - -<p>"But my mate did not want anyone to say that Nadara was not hers, for -it is a great disgrace, as you well know, for a woman to be barren, and -so she several times nearly killed this woman, who knew the truth, to -keep her from telling it to the whole village.</p> - -<p>"But I love Nadara as well as though she had been my own, and so I -should like to see her well mated before I die."</p> - -<p>Thandar had gone white during the narration of the story of Nadara's -birth. He could scarce restrain an impulse to go upon his knees and -thank his God that he had harked to the call of his civilized training -rather than have given in to the easier way, the way these primitive, -beast-like people offered. Providence, he thought, must indeed have -sent him here to rescue her.</p> - -<p>The old man, turning upon his rough pallet, fastened his sunken eyes -questioningly upon Thandar. Nadara, too, with parted lips waited for -him to speak. The old man gasped for breath—there was a strange -rattling sound in his throat.</p> - -<p>Thandar leaned above him, raising his head and shoulders slightly. The -young man never had heard that sound before, but now that he heard it -he needed no interpreter.</p> - -<p>The locust, rubbing his legs along his wings,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> startles the uninitiated -into the belief that a hidden rattler lurks in the pathway; but when -the great diamond back breaks forth in warning none mistakes him for a -locust.</p> - -<p>And so is it with the death rattle in the human throat.</p> - -<p>Thandar knew that it was the end. He saw the old man's mighty effort to -push back the grim reaper that he might speak once more. In the dying -eyes were a question and a plea. Thandar could not misunderstand.</p> - -<p>He reached forward and took Nadara's hand.</p> - -<p>"In my own land we shall be mated," he said. "None other shall wed with -Nadara, and as proof that she is Thandar's she shall wear this always," -and from his finger he slipped a splendid solitaire to the third finger -of Nadara's left hand.</p> - -<p>The old man saw. A look of relief and contentment that was almost a -smile settled upon his features, as, with a gasping sigh, he sank -limply into Thandar's arms, dead.</p> - -<p>That afternoon several of the younger men carried the body of Nadara's -foster father to the top of the cliff, depositing it about half a mile -from the caves. There was no ceremony. In it, though, Waldo Emerson saw -what might have been the first human funeral cortege—simple, sensible -and utilitarian—from which the human race has retro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>graded to the -ostentatious, ridiculous, pestilent burials of present day civilization.</p> - -<p>The young men, acting under Big Fist's orders, carried the worthless -husk to a safe distance from the caves, leaving it there to the rapid -disintegration provided by the beasts and birds of prey.</p> - -<p>Nadara wept, silently. An elderly lady with a single tooth, espying -her, moaned in sympathy. Presently other females, attracted by the -moaning, joined them, and, becoming affected by the strange hysteria -to which womankind is heir, mingled their moans with those of the -toothless one.</p> - -<p>Excited by their own noise they soon were shrieking and screaming in -hideous chorus. Then came Big Fist and others of the men. The din -annoyed them. They set upon the mourners with their fists and teeth -scattering them in all directions. Thus ended the festivities.</p> - -<p>Or would have had not Big Fist made the fatal mistake of launching a -blow at Nadara. Thandar had been standing nearby looking with wonder -upon the strange scene.</p> - -<p>He had noted the quiet grief of the young girl—real grief; and he had -witnessed the hysterical variety of the "mourners"—not sham grief. -Precisely, because they made no pretense to grief—it was noise to -which they aspired. And as the fiendish din had set his own nerves on -edge he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> wondered not at all that Big Fist and the other men should -take steps to quell the tumult.</p> - -<p>The female half-brutes were theirs and Waldo Emerson had reverted -sufficiently to the primitive to feel no incentive to interfere. But -Nadara was not theirs—she was not of them, and even had she not -belonged to him the American would have felt bound to stand between her -and the savage creatures among whom fate had cast her.</p> - -<p>That she did belong to him, however, sent him hot with the blood lust -of the killer as he sprang to intercept the rush of Big Fist toward her.</p> - -<p>Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had learned nothing of the manly art of -self-defense in that other life that had been so zealously guarded from -the rude and vulgar. This was unfortunate since it would have given him -a great advantage over the man-brute. A single well-timed swing to that -unguarded chin would have ended hostilities at once; but of hooks and -jabs and jolts, scientific, Thandar knew nothing.</p> - -<p>Except for his crude weapons he was as primeval in battle as his -original anthropoid progenitor, and quite as often as not he forgot all -about his sword, his knife, his bow and arrows and his spear when, half -stooped, he crouched to meet the charge of a foeman.</p> - -<p>Now he sprang for Big Fist's hairy throat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> There was a sullen thud -as the two bodies met, and then, rolling, biting and tearing, they -struggled hither and thither upon the rocky ground at the base of the -cliff.</p> - -<p>The other men desisted from their attack upon the women. The women -ceased their vocal mourning. In a little circle they formed about the -contestants—a circle which moved this way and that as the fighters -moved, keeping them always in the center.</p> - -<p>Nadara forced her way through them to the front. She wished to be near -Thandar. In her hand she carried a jagged bit of granite—one could -never tell.</p> - -<p>Big Fist was burly—mountainous—but Thandar was muscled like Nagoola, -the black panther. His movements were all grace and ease, but oh, so -irresistible. A sudden and unexpected blow upon the side of Big Fist's -head bent that bullet-shaped thing sidewards with a jerk that almost -dislocated the neck.</p> - -<p>Big Fist shrieked with the pain of it. Thandar, delighted by the result -of the accidental blow, repeated it. Big Fist bellowed—agonized. -He made a last supreme effort to close with his agile foeman, and -succeeded. His teeth sought Thandar's throat, but the act brought his -own jugular close to Thandar's jaws.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> - -<p>The strong white teeth of Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones closed upon it as -naturally as though no countless ages had rolled their snail-like way -between himself and the last of his progenitors to bury bloody fangs in -the soft flesh of an antagonist.</p> - -<p>Wasted ages! fleeing from the primitive and the brute toward the -neoteric and the human—in a brief instant your labors are undone, the -veneer of eons crumbles in the heat of some pristine passion revealing -again naked and unashamed, the primitive and the brute.</p> - -<p>Big Fist, white now from terror at impending death, struggled to be -free. Thandar buried his teeth more deeply. There was a sudden rush of -spurting blood that choked him. Big Fist relaxed, inert.</p> - -<p>Thandar, drenched crimson, rose to his feet. The huge body on the -ground before him floundered spasmodically once or twice as the life -blood gushed from the severed jugular. The eyes rolled up and set, -there was a final twitch and Big Fist was dead.</p> - -<p>Thandar turned toward the circle of interested spectators. He singled -out a burly quartet.</p> - -<p>"Bear Big Fist to the cliff top," he commanded. "When you return we -shall choose a king."</p> - -<p>The men did as they were bid. They did not at all understand what -Thandar meant by choosing a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> king. Having slain Big Fist, Thandar was -king, unless some ambitious one desired to dispute his right to reign. -But all had seen him slay Big Fist, and all knew that he had killed -Korth and Flatfoot, so who was there would dare question his kingship?</p> - -<p>When they had come back to the village Thandar gathered them beneath a -great tree that grew close to the base of the cliff. Here they squatted -upon their haunches in a rough circle. Behind them stood the women and -children, wide-eyed and curious.</p> - -<p>"Let us choose a king," said Thandar, when all had come.</p> - -<p>There was a long silence, then one of the older men spoke.</p> - -<p>"I am an old man. I have seen many kings. They come by killing. They go -by killing. Thandar has killed two kings. Now he is king. Who wishes to -kill Thandar and become king?"</p> - -<p>There was no answer.</p> - -<p>The old man arose.</p> - -<p>"It was foolish to come here to choose a king," he said, "when a king -we already have."</p> - -<p>"Wait," commanded Thandar. "Let us choose a king properly. Because I -have killed Flatfoot and Big Fist does not prove that I can make a good -king. Was Flatfoot a good king?"</p> - -<p>"He was a bad man," replied the ancient one.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Has a good man ever been king?" asked Thandar.</p> - -<p>The old fellow puckered his brow in thought.</p> - -<p>"Not for a long time," he said.</p> - -<p>"That is because you always permit a bully and a brute to rule you," -said Thandar. "That is not the proper way to choose a king. Rather you -should come together as we are come, and among you talk over the needs -of the tribe and when you are decided as to what measures are best for -the welfare of the members of the tribe then should you select the man -best fitted to carry out your plans. That is a better way to choose a -king."</p> - -<p>The old man laughed.</p> - -<p>"And then," he said, "would come a Big Fist or a Flatfoot and slay our -king that he might be king in his place."</p> - -<p>"Have you ever seen a man who could slay all the other men of the tribe -at the same time?"</p> - -<p>The old man looked puzzled.</p> - -<p>"That is my answer to your argument," said Thandar. "Those who choose -the king can protect him from his enemies. So long as he is a good king -they should do so, but when he becomes a bad king they can then select -another, and if the bad king refuses to obey the new it would be an -easy matter for several men to kill him or drive him away, no matter -how mighty a fighter he might be."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - -<p>Several of the men nodded understandingly.</p> - -<p>"We had not thought of that," they said. "Thandar is indeed wise."</p> - -<p>"So now," continued the American, "let us choose a king whom the -majority of us want, and then so long as he is a good king the majority -of us must fight for him and protect him. Let us choose a man whom we -know to be a good man regardless of his ability to kill his fellows, -for if he has the majority of the tribe to fight for him what need -will he have to fight for himself? What we want is a wise man—one who -can lead the tribe to fertile lands and good hunting, and in times of -battle direct the fighting intelligently. Flatfoot and Big Fist had not -brains enough between them to do aught but steal the mates of other -men. Such should not be the business of kings. Your king should protect -your mates from such as Flatfoot, and he should punish those who would -steal them."</p> - -<p>"But how may he do these things?" asked a young man, "if he is not the -best fighter in the tribe?"</p> - -<p>"Have I not shown you how?" asked Thandar. "We who make him king shall -be his fighters—he will not need to fight with his own hands."</p> - -<p>Again there was a long silence. Then the old man spoke again.</p> - -<p>"There is wisdom in the talk of Thandar. Let<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> us choose a king who will -have to be good to us if he wishes to remain king. It is very bad for -us to have a king whom we fear."</p> - -<p>"I, for one," said the young man who had previously spoken, "do not -care to be ruled by a king unless he is able to defeat me in battle. If -I can defeat him then I should be king."</p> - -<p>And so they took sides, but at last they compromised by selecting one -whom they knew to be wise and a great fighter as well. Thus they chose -Thandar king.</p> - -<p>"Once each week," said the new king, "we shall gather here and talk -among ourselves of the things which are for the best good of the tribe, -and what seems best to the majority shall be done. The tribe will tell -the king what to do—the king will carry out the work. And all must -fight when the king says fight and all must work when the king says -work, for we shall all be fighting or working for the whole tribe, and -I, Thandar, your king, shall fight and work the hardest of you all."</p> - -<p>It was a new idea to them and placed the kingship in a totally -different light from any by which they had previously viewed it. That -it would take a long time for them to really absorb the idea Thandar -knew, and he was glad that in the meantime they had a king who could -command their respect according to their former standards.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> - -<p>And he smiled when he thought of the change that had taken place in him -since first he had sat trembling, weeping and coughing upon the lonely -shore before the terrifying forest.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIIb" id="CHAPTER_IIIb">CHAPTER III</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE GREAT NAGOOLA</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">aldo Emerson Smith-Jones</span> had gladly embraced the opportunity which -chance had offered him to assume the kingship of the little tribe of -troglodytes. First, because his position would assure Nadara greater -safety, and, second, because of the opening it would give him for the -exercise of his new-found initiative.</p> - -<p>Where before he had shrunk from responsibility he now found himself -anxious to assume it. He longed to do, where formerly he had been -content to but read of the accomplishments of others.</p> - -<p>To his chagrin, however, he soon discovered that the classical -education to which his earlier life had been devoted under the guidance -of a fond and ultra-cultured mother was to prove a most inadequate -foundation upon which to build a practical scheme of life for himself -and his people.</p> - -<p>He wished to teach his tribe to construct permanent and comfortable -houses, but he could not recollect any practical hints on carpentry -that he had obtained from Ovid.</p> - -<p>His people lived by hunting small rodents, robbing birds' nests, and -gathering wild fruit and vege<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>tables. Thandar desired to institute a -scheme of community farming, but the works of the Cyclic Poets, with -which he was quite familiar, seemed to offer little of value along -agricultural lines. He regretted that he had not matriculated at an -agricultural college west of the Alleghanies rather than at Harvard.</p> - -<p>However, he determined to do the best he could with the meager -knowledge he possessed of things practical—a knowledge so meager -that it consisted almost entirely of the bare definition of the word -agriculture.</p> - -<p>It was a germ, however, for it presupposed a knowledge of the results -that might be obtained through agriculture.</p> - -<p>So Thandar found himself a step ahead of the earliest of his -progenitors who had thought to plant purposely the seeds that nature -heretofore had distributed haphazard through the agencies of wind and -bird and beast; but only a step ahead.</p> - -<p>He realized that he occupied a very remarkable position in the march -of ages. He had known and seen and benefited by all the accumulated -knowledge of ages of progression from the stone age to the twentieth -century, and now, suddenly, fate had snatched him back into the stone -age, or possibly a few eons farther back, only to show him that all -that he had from a knowledge of other men's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> knowledge was keen -dissatisfaction with the stone age.</p> - -<p>He had lived in houses of wood and brick and looked through windows -of glass. He had read in the light of gas and electricity, and he -even knew of candles; but he could not fashion the tools to build a -house, he could not have made a brick to have saved his life, glass had -suddenly become one of the wonders of the world to him, and as for gas -and electricity and candles they had become one with the mystery of the -Sphinx.</p> - -<p>He could write verse in excellent Greek, but he was no longer proud of -that fact. He would much rather that he had been able to tan a hide, -or make fire without matches. Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had a year -ago been exceedingly proud of his intellect and his learning, but for -a year his ego had been shrinking until now he felt himself the most -pitiful ignoramus on earth. "Criminally ignorant," he said to Nadara, -"for I have thrown away the opportunities of a lifetime devoted to the -accumulation of useless erudition when I might have been profiting by -the practical knowledge which has dragged the world from the black bit -of barbarism to the light of modern achievement—I might not only have -done this but, myself, added something to the glory and welfare of -mankind. I am no good, Nadara—worse than useless."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> - -<p>The girl touched his strong brown hand caressingly, looking proudly -into his eyes.</p> - -<p>"To me you are very wonderful, Thandar," she said. "With your own hands -you slew Nagoola, the most terrible beast in the world, and Korth, and -Flatfoot, and Big Fist lie dead beneath the vultures because of your -might—single-handed you killed them all; three awesome men. No, my -Thandar is greater than all other men."</p> - -<p>Nor could Waldo Emerson repress the swelling tide of pride that surged -through him as the girl he loved recounted his exploits. No longer did -he think of his achievements as "vulgar physical prowess." The old -Waldo Emerson, whose temperature had risen regularly at three o'clock -each afternoon, whose pitifully skinny body had been racked by coughing -continually, whose eyes had been terror filled by day and by night at -the rustling of dry leaves, was dead.</p> - -<p>In his place stood a great, full blooded man, brown skinned and -steel thewed; fearless, self-reliant, almost brutal in his pride of -power—Thandar, the cave man.</p> - -<p>The months that passed as Thandar led his people from one honeycombed -cliff to another as he sought a fitting place for a permanent village -were filled with happiness for Nadara and the king.</p> - -<p>The girl's happiness was slightly alloyed by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> fact that Thandar -failed to claim her as his own. She could not yet quite understand the -ethics which separated them. Thandar tried repeatedly to explain to her -that some day they were to return to his own world, and that that world -would not accept her unless she had been joined to him according to the -rites and ceremonies which it had originated.</p> - -<p>"Will this marriage ceremony of which you tell me make you love me -more?" asked Nadara.</p> - -<p>Thandar laughed and took her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"I could not love you more," he replied.</p> - -<p>"Then of what good is it?"</p> - -<p>Thandar shook his head.</p> - -<p>"It is difficult to explain," he said, "especially to such a lovable -little pagan as my Nadara. You must be satisfied to know—accept my -word for it—that it is because I love you that we must wait."</p> - -<p>Now it was the girl's turn to shake her head.</p> - -<p>"I cannot understand," she said. "My people take their mates as they -will and they are satisfied and everybody is satisfied and all is well; -but their king, who may mate as he chooses, waits until a man whom he -does not know and who lives across the great water where we may never -go, gives him permission to mate with one who loves him—with one whom -he <i>says</i> he loves."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thandar noticed the emphasis which Nadara put upon the word "says."</p> - -<p>"Some day," he said, "when we have reached my world you will know that -I was right, and you will thank me. Until then, Nadara, you must trust -me, and," he added half to himself, "God knows I have earned your trust -even if you do not know it."</p> - -<p>And so Nadara made believe that she was satisfied but in her heart of -hearts she still feared that Thandar did not really love her, nor did -the half-veiled comments of the women add at all to her peace of mind.</p> - -<p>During all the time that Thandar was with her he had been teaching her -his language for he had set his heart upon taking her home, and he -wished her to be as well prepared for her introduction to Boston and -civilization as he could make her.</p> - -<p>Thandar's plan was to find a suitable location within sight of the sea -that he might always be upon the lookout for a ship. At last he found -such a place—a level meadow land upon a low plateau overlooking the -ocean.</p> - -<p>He had come upon it while he wandered alone several miles from the -temporary cliff dwellings the tribe was occupying. The soil, when he -dug into it, he found to be rich and black. There was timber upon one -side and upon the other overhanging cliffs of soft limestone.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was Thandar's plan to build a village partly of logs against the -face of the cliff, burrowing inward behind the dwellings for such -additional apartments as each family might require.</p> - -<p>The caves alone would have proved sufficient shelter, but the man hoped -by compelling his people to construct a portion of each dwelling of -logs to engender within each family a certain feeling of ownership and -pride in personal possession as would make it less easy for them to -give up their abodes than in the past, when it had been necessary but -to move to another cliff to find caves equally as comfortable as those -which they so easily abandoned.</p> - -<p>In other words he hoped to give them a word which their vocabulary had -never held—home.</p> - -<p>Whether or not he would have succeeded we may never know, for fate -stepped in at the last moment to alter with a single stroke his every -plan and aspiration.</p> - -<p>As he returned to his people that afternoon filled with the enthusiasm -of his hopes a burly, hairy figure crept warily after him. As Thandar -emerged from the brush which reaches close to the cliffs where the -temporary encampment had been made Nadara, watching for him, ran -forward to meet him.</p> - -<p>The creature upon Thandar's trail halted at the edge of the bush. As -his close-set eyes fell upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> the girl his flabby lips vibrated to the -quick intaking of his breath and his red lids half closed in cunning -and desire.</p> - -<p>For a few moments he watched the man and the maid as they turned and -walked slowly toward the cliffs, the arm of the former about the brown -shoulders of the latter. Then he too turned and melted into the tangled -branches behind him.</p> - -<p>That evening Thandar gathered the members of the tribe about him at -the foot of the cliff. They sat around a great fire while Thandar, -their king, explained to them in minutest detail the future that he had -mapped out for them.</p> - -<p>Some of the old men shook their heads, for here was an unheard of -thing—a change from the accustomed ordering of their lives—and they -were loath to change regardless of the benefits which might accrue.</p> - -<p>But for the most part the people welcomed the idea of comfortable -and permanent habitations, though their anticipatory joy, Thandar -reasoned, was due largely to a childish eagerness for something new and -different—whether their enthusiasm would survive the additional labors -which the new life was sure to entail was another question.</p> - -<p>So Thandar laid down the new laws that were to guide his people -thereafter. The men were to make all implements and weapons, for he -had already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> taught them to use arrows and spears. The women were to -keep all edged tools sharp. The men were to hew the logs and build the -houses—the women make garments, cook and keep the houses in order.</p> - -<p>The men were to turn up the soil, the women were to sow the seeds, and -cultivate the growing crops, which, later, all hands must turn to and -harvest.</p> - -<p>The hunting and the fighting devolved upon the men, but the fighting -must be confined to enemies of the tribe. A man who killed another -member of the tribe except in defense of his home or his own person was -to suffer death.</p> - -<p>Other laws he made—good laws—which even these primitive people could -see were good. It was quite late when the last of them crawled into -his comfortless cave to dream of large, airy rooms built of the trees -of the forest; of good food in plenty just before the rains as well as -after; of security from the periodic raids of the "bad men."</p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara were the last to go. Together they sat upon a -narrow ledge before Nadara's cave, the moonlight falling upon their -glistening, naked shoulders, while they talked and dreamed together of -the future.</p> - -<p>Thandar had been talking of the wonderful plans which seemed to fill -his whole mind—of the future of the tribe—of the great strides -toward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> civilization they could make in a few brief years if they could -but be made to follow the simple plans he had in mind.</p> - -<p>"Why," he said, "in ten years they should have bridged a gulf that it -must have required ages for our ancestors to span."</p> - -<p>"And you are planning ten years ahead, Thandar," she asked, "when only -yesterday you were saying that once beside the sea you hoped it would -be but a short time before we might sight a passing vessel that would -bear us away to your civilization? Must we wait ten years, Thandar?"</p> - -<p>"I am planning for them," he replied. "We may not be here to witness -the changes; but I wish to start them upon the road, and when we go I -shall see to it that a king is chosen in my place who has the courage -and the desire to carry out my plans.</p> - -<p>"Yet," he added, musingly, "it would be splendid could we but return -to complete our work. Never, Nadara, have I performed a single -constructive act for the benefit of my fellow man, but now I see an -opportunity to do something, however small it may seem, to—what was -that?"</p> - -<p>A low rumbling muttered threateningly out of the west. Deep and ominous -it sounded, yet so low that it failed to awaken any member of the -sleeping tribe.</p> - -<p>Before either could again speak there came a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> slight trembling of the -earth beneath them, scarcely sufficient to have been noticeable had it -not been preceded by the distant grumbling of the earth's bowels.</p> - -<p>The two upon the moonlit ledge came to their feet, and Nadara drew -close to Thandar, the man's arm encircling her shoulders protectingly.</p> - -<p>"The Great Nagoola," she whispered. "Again he seeks to escape."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" asked Thandar. "It is an earthquake—distant and -quite harmless to us."</p> - -<p>"No, it is The Great Nagoola," insisted Nadara. "Long time ago, when -our fathers' fathers were yet unborn, The Great Nagoola roamed the land -devouring all that chanced to come in his way—men, beasts, birds, -everything.</p> - -<p>"One day my people came upon him sleeping in a deep gorge between two -mountains. They were mighty men in those days, and when they saw their -great enemy asleep there in the gorge half of them went upon one side -and half upon the other, and they pushed the two mountains over into -the gorge upon the sleeping beast, imprisoning him there.</p> - -<p>"It is all true, for my mother had it from her mother, who in turn was -told it by her mother—thus has it been handed down truthfully since it -happened long time ago.</p> - -<p>"And even to this day is occasionally heard the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> growling of The Great -Nagoola in his anger, and the earth shakes and trembles as he strives -far, far beneath to shake the mountains from him and escape. Did you -not hear his voice and feel the ground rock?"</p> - -<p>Thandar laughed.</p> - -<p>"Well, we are quite safe then," he cried, "for with two mountains piled -upon him he cannot escape."</p> - -<p>"Who knows?" asked Nadara. "He is huge—as huge, himself, as a small -mountain. Some day, they say, he will escape, and then naught will -pacify his rage until he has destroyed every living creature upon the -land."</p> - -<p>"Do not worry, little one," said Thandar. "The Great Nagoola will -have to grumble louder and struggle more fiercely before ever he may -dislodge the two mountains. Even now he is quiet again, so run to your -cave, sweetheart, nor bother your pretty head with useless worries—it -is time that all good people were asleep," and he stooped and kissed -her as she turned to go.</p> - -<p>For a moment she clung to him.</p> - -<p>"I am afraid, Thandar," she whispered. "Why, I do not know. I only know -that I am afraid, with a great fear that will not be quiet."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IVb" id="CHAPTER_IVb">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE BATTLE</p> - - -<p class="drop">E<span class="uppercase">arly</span> the following morning while several of the women and children -were at the river drawing water the balance of the tribe of Thandar was -startled into wakefulness by piercing shrieks from the direction the -water carriers had taken.</p> - -<p>Before the great, hairy men, led by the smooth-skinned Thandar, had -reached the foot of the cliff in their rush to the rescue of the women -several of the latter appeared at the edge of the forest, running -swiftly toward the caves.</p> - -<p>Mingled with their screams of terror were cries of: "The bad men! The -bad men!" But these were not needed to acquaint the rescuers with the -cause of the commotion, for at the heels of the women came Thurg and a -score of his vicious brutes. Little better than anthropoid apes were -they. Long armed, hairy, skulking monsters, whose close-set eyes and -retreating foreheads proclaimed more intimate propinquity to the higher -orders of brutes than to civilized man.</p> - -<p>Woe betide male or female who fell into their remorseless clutches, -since to the base passions, unrestrained, that mark the primordial they -were ad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>dicted to the foulest forms of cannibalism.</p> - -<p>In the past their raids upon their neighbors for meat and women had met -with but slight resistance—the terrified cave dwellers scampering to -the safety of their dizzy ledges from whence they might hurl stones and -roll boulders down to the confusion of any foe however ferocious.</p> - -<p>Always the bad men caught a few unwary victims before the safety of the -ledges could be attained, but this time there was a difference. Thurg -was delighted. The men were rushing downward to meet him—great indeed -would be the feast which should follow this day's fighting, for with -the men disposed of there would be but little difficulty in storming -the cliff and carrying off all the women and children, and as he -thought upon these things there floated in his little brain the image -of the beautiful girl he had watched come down the evening before from -the caves to meet the smooth-skinned warrior who twice now had bested -Thurg in battle.</p> - -<p>That Thandar's men might turn the tables upon him never for a moment -occurred to Thurg. Nor was there little wonder, since, mighty as were -the muscles of the cave men, they were weaklings by comparison with the -half-brutes of Thurg—only the smooth-skinned stranger troubled the -muddy mind of the near-man.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> - -<p>It puzzled him a little, though, to see the long slim sticks that the -enemy carried, and the little slivers in skin bags upon their backs, -and the strange curved branches whose ends were connected by slender -bits of gut. What were these things for!</p> - -<p>Soon he was to know—this and other things.</p> - -<p>Thandar's warriors did not rush upon Thurg and his brutes in a close -packed, yelling mob. Instead they trotted slowly forward in a long thin -line that stretched out parallel with the base of the cliff. In the -center, directly in front of the charging bad men, was Thandar, calling -directions to his people, first upon one hand and then upon the other.</p> - -<p>And in accordance with his commands the ends of the line began to -quicken the pace, so that quickly Thurg saw that there were men -before him, and men upon either hand, and now, at fifty feet, while -all were advancing cautiously, crouched for the final hand-to-hand -encounter, he saw the enemy slip each a sliver into the gut of the bent -branches—there was a sudden chorus of twangs, and Thurg felt a sharp -pain in his neck. Involuntarily he clapped his hand to the spot to find -one of the slivers sticking there, scarce an inch from his jugular.</p> - -<p>With a howl of rage he snatched the thing from him, and as he leaped -to the charge to punish these audacious mad-men he noted a dozen of -his hench<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>men plucking slivers from various portions of their bodies, -while two lay quite still upon the grass with just the ends of slivers -protruding from their breasts.</p> - -<p>The sight brought the beast-man to a momentary halt. He saw his fellows -charging in upon the foe—he saw another volley of slivers speed from -the bent branches. Down went another of his fighters, and then the -enemy cast aside their strange weapons at a shouted command from the -smooth-skinned one and grasping their long, slim sticks ran forward to -meet Thurg's people.</p> - -<p>Thurg smiled. It would soon be over now. He turned toward one who was -bearing down upon him—it was Thandar. Thurg crouched to meet the -charge. Rage, revenge, the lust for blood fired his bestial brain. With -his huge paws he would tear the puny stick from this creature's grasp, -and this time he would gain his hold upon that smooth throat. He licked -his lips. And then out of the corner of his eye he glanced to the right.</p> - -<p>What strange sight was this! His people flying? It was incredible! -And yet it was true. Growling and raging in pain and anger they were -running a gauntlet of fire-sharpened lances. Three lay dead. The others -were streaming blood as they fled before the relentless prodding devils -at their backs.</p> - -<p>It was enough for Thurg. He did not wait to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> close with Thandar. A -single howl of dismay broke from his flabby lips, and then he wheeled -and dashed for the wood. He was the last to pass through the rapidly -converging ends of Thandar's primitive battle line. He was running -so fast that, afterward, Nadara who was watching the battle from the -cliff-side insisted that his feet flew higher than his head at each -frantic leap.</p> - -<p>Thandar and his victorious army pursued the enemy through the wood for -a mile or more, then they returned, laughing and shouting, to receive -the plaudits of the old men, the women and the children.</p> - -<p>It was a happy day. There was feasting. And Thandar, having in mind -things he had read of savage races, improvised a dance in honor of the -victory.</p> - -<p>He knew little more of savage dances than his tribesmen did of the -two-step and the waltz; but he knew that dancing and song and play -marked in themselves a great step upward in the evolution of man from -the lower orders, and so he meant to teach these things to his people.</p> - -<p>A red flush spread to his temples as he thought of his dignified father -and his stately mother and with what horrified emotions they would view -him now could they but see him—naked but for a g-string and a panther -skin, moving with leaps and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> bounds, and now stately waltz steps in a -great circle, clapping his hands in time to his movements, while behind -him strung a score of lusty, naked warriors, mimicking his every antic -with the fidelity of apes.</p> - -<p>About them squatted the balance of the tribe more intensely interested -in this, the first ceremonial function of their lives, than with any -other occurrence that had ever befallen them. They, too, now clapped -their hands in time with the dancers.</p> - -<p>Nadara stood with parted lips and wide eyes watching the strange -scene. Within her it seemed that something was struggling for -expression—something that she must have known long, long -ago—something that she had forgotten but that she presently must -recall. With it came an insistent urge—her feet could scarce remain -quietly upon the ground, and great waves of melody and song welled into -her heart and throat, though what they were and what they meant she did -not know.</p> - -<p>She only knew that she was intensely excited and happy and that her -whole being seemed as light and airy as the soft wind that blew across -the gently swaying treetops of the forest.</p> - -<p>Now the dance was done. Thandar had led the warriors back to the feast. -In the center of the circle where the naked bodies of the men had -leaped and swirled to the clapping of many hands was an open space, -deserted. Into it Nadara ran,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> drawn by some subtile excitement of the -soul which she could not have fathomed had she tried—which she did not -try to fathom.</p> - -<p>Around her slim, graceful figure was draped the glossy, black pelt of -Nagoola—another trophy of the prowess of her man. It half concealed -but to accentuate the beauties of her form.</p> - -<p>With eyes half-closed she took a half dozen graceful, tentative steps. -Now the eyes of Thandar and several others were upon her, but she did -not see them. Suddenly, with outthrown arms, she commenced to dance, -bending her lithe body, swaying from side to side as she fell, with -graceful abandon, into steps and poses that seemed as natural to her as -repose.</p> - -<p>About the little circle she wove her simple yet intricate way, and now -every eye was upon her as every savage heart leaped in unison with her -shapely feet, rising and falling in harmony with her lithe, brown limbs.</p> - -<p>And of all the hearts that leaped, fastest leaped the heart of Thandar, -for he saw in the poetry of motion of the untutored girl the proof of -her birth-right—the truth of all that he had guessed of her origin -since her foster father had related the story of her birth upon his -death bed. None but a child of an age-old culture could possess this -inherent talent. Any moment he expected her lips to break<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> forth in -song, nor was he to be disappointed, for presently, as the circling -cave folk commenced to clap their palms in time to her steps, Nadara -lifted her voice in clear and bird-like notes—a worldless paean of -love and life and happiness.</p> - -<p>At last, exhausted, she paused, and as her eyes fell upon Thandar they -broke into a merry laugh.</p> - -<p>"The king is not the only one who can leap and play upon his feet," she -cried.</p> - -<p>Thandar came to the center of the circle and kneeling at her feet took -one of her hands in his and kissed it.</p> - -<p>"The king is only mortal and a man," he said. "It is no reproach that -he cannot equal the divine grace of a goddess. You are very wonderful, -my Nadara," he continued, "From loving you I am coming to worship you."</p> - -<p>And within the deep and silent wood another was stirred with mighty -emotions by the sight of the half-naked, graceful girl. It was Thurg, -the bad man, who had sneaked back alone to the edge of the forest that -he might seek an opportunity to be revenged upon Thandar and his people.</p> - -<p>Half formed in his evil brain had been a certain plan, which the sight -of Nadara, dancing in the firelight, had turned to concrete resolution.</p> - -<p>With the dancing and the feasting over, the tribe of Thandar betook -itself by ones and twos to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> rocky caves that they expected so soon -to desert for the more comfortable village which they were to build -under the direction of their king, to the east, beside the great water.</p> - -<p>At last all was still—the village slept. No sentry guarded their -slumbers, for Thandar, steeped in book learning, must needs add to his -stock of practical knowledge by bitter experience, and never yet had -the cause arisen for a night guard about his village.</p> - -<p>Having defeated Thurg and his people he thought that they would not -return again, and certainly not by night, for the people of this wild -island roamed seldom by night, having too much respect for the teeth -and talons of Nagoola to venture forth after darkness had settled upon -the grim forests and the lonely plains.</p> - -<p>But a tempest of uncontrolled emotions surged through the hairy breast -of Thurg. He forgot Nagoola. He thought only of revenge—revenge and -the black haired beauty who had so many times eluded him.</p> - -<p>And as he saw her dancing in the circle of hand-clapping tribesmen, in -the light of the brush wood fire, his desire for her became a veritable -frenzy.</p> - -<p>He could scarce restrain himself from rushing single-handed among his -foes and snatching the girl before their faces. However, caution came -to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> rescue, and so he waited, albeit impatiently, until the last of -the cave folk had retired to his cavern.</p> - -<p>He had seen into which Nadara had withdrawn—one that lay far up -the face of the steep cliff and directly above the cave occupied by -Thandar. The moon was overcast, the fire at the foot of the cliff had -died to glowing embers, all was wrapped in darkness and in shadow. Far -in the depths of the wood Nagoola coughed and cried. The weird sound -raised the coarse hair at the nape of Thurg's bull neck. He cast an -apprehensive backward glance, then, crouching low, he moved quickly and -silently across the clearing toward the base of the cliff.</p> - -<p>Flattened against a protruding boulder there he waited, listening, for -a moment. No sound broke the stillness of the sleeping village. None -had seen his approach—of that he was convinced.</p> - -<p>Carefully he began the ascent of the cliff face, made difficult by the -removal of the rough ladders that led from ledge to ledge by day, but -which were withdrawn with the retiring of the community to their dark -holes.</p> - -<p>But Thurg had dragged with him from the forest a slim sapling. This he -leaned against the face of the cliff. Its uptilted end just topped the -lowest ledge.</p> - -<p>Thurg was almost as large and quite as clumsy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> in appearance as a -gorilla, yet he was not as far removed from his true arboreal ancestors -as is the great simian, and so he accomplished in silence and with -evident ease what his great bulk might have seemed to have relegated to -the impossible.</p> - -<p>Like a huge cat he scrambled up the frail pole until his fingers -clutched the ledge edge above him. Ape-like he drew himself to a -squatting position there. Then he groped for the ladder that the cave -folk had drawn up from below.</p> - -<p>This he erected to the next ledge above. Thereafter the way was easy, -for the balance of the ledges were connected by steeply inclined trails -cut into the cliff face. This had been an innovation of Thandar's who -considered the rickety ladders not only a nuisance, but extremely -dangerous to life and limb, for scarce a day passed that some child or -woman did not receive a bad fall because of them.</p> - -<p>So Thurg, with Thandar's unintentional aid, came easily to the mouth of -Nadara's cave.</p> - -<p>Great had been the temptation as he passed the cave below to enter and -slay his enemy. Never had Thurg so hated any creature as he hated this -smooth-skinned interloper—with all the venom of his mean soul he hated -him.</p> - -<p>Now he stooped, listening, just beside the entrance to the cave. He -could hear the regular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> breathing of the girl within. The hot blood -surged through his brute veins. His huge paws opened and closed -spasmodically. His breath sucked hot between his flabby lips.</p> - -<p>Just beneath him Thandar lay dreaming. He saw a wonderful vision of a -beautiful nymph dancing in the firelight. In a circle about her sat the -Smith-Joneses, the Percy Standishes, the Livingston-Brownes, the Quincy -Adams-Cootses, and a hundred more equally aristocratic families of -Boston.</p> - -<p>It did not seem strange to Thandar that there was not enough clothing -among the entire assemblage to have recently draped the Laocoön. His -father wore a becoming loin cloth, while the stately Mrs. John Alden -Smith-Jones, his mother, was tastefully arrayed in a scant robe of the -skins of small rodents sewn together with bits of gut.</p> - -<p>As the nymph danced the audience kept time to her steps with loudly -clapping palms, and when she was done they approached her one by one, -crawling upon their hands and knees, and kissed her hand.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he saw that the nymph was Nadara, and as he sprang forward to -claim her a large man with a coarse matted beard, a slanted forehead, -and close-get eyes, leaped out from among the others, seized Nadara and -fled with her toward a waiting trolley car.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> - -<p>He recognized the man as Thurg, and even in his dream it seemed rather -incongruous that he should be clothed in well-fitting evening clothes.</p> - -<p>Nadara screamed once, and the scream roused Thandar from his dream. -Raising upon one elbow he looked toward the entrance of his cave. The -recollection of the dream swept back into his memory. With a little -sigh of relief that it had been but a dream, he settled back once more -upon his bed of grasses, and soon was wrapped in dreamless slumber.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Vb" id="CHAPTER_Vb">CHAPTER V</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE ABDUCTION OF NADARA</p> - - -<p class="drop">C<span class="uppercase">autiously </span>Thurg crawled into the cave where Nadara slept upon her -couch of soft grasses, wrapped in the glossy pelt of Nagoola, the black -panther.</p> - -<p>The hulking form of the beast-man blotted out the faint light that -filtered from the lesser darkness of the night without through the -jagged entrance to the cave.</p> - -<p>All within was Stygian gloom.</p> - -<p>Groping with his hands Thurg came at last upon a corner of the grassy -pallet. Softly he wormed inch by inch closer to the sleeper. Now his -fingers felt the thick fur of the panther skin.</p> - -<p>Lightly, for so gross a thing, his touch followed the recumbent figure -of the girl until his giant paws felt the silky luxuriance of her raven -hair.</p> - -<p>For an instant he paused. Then, quickly and silently, one great palm -clapped roughly over Nadara's mouth, while the other arm encircled her -waist, lifting her from her bed.</p> - -<p>Awakened and terrified, Nadara struggled to free herself and to scream; -but the giant hand across her mouth effectually sealed her lips, while -the arm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> about her waist held her as firmly as might iron bands.</p> - -<p>Thurg spoke no word, but as Nadara's hands came in contact with his -hairy breast and matted beard as she fought for freedom she guessed the -identity of her abductor, and shuddered.</p> - -<p>Waiting only to assure himself that his hold upon his prisoner was -secure and that no trailing end of her robe might trip him in his -flight down the cliff face, Thurg commenced the descent.</p> - -<p>Opposite the entrance to Thandar's cave Nadara redoubled her efforts to -free her mouth that she might scream aloud but once. Thurg, guessing -her desire, pressed his palm the tighter, and in a moment the two had -passed unnoticed to the ledge below.</p> - -<p>Down the winding trail of the upper ledges Thurg's task was -comparatively easy—thanks to Thandar, but at the second ledge from the -bottom of the cliff he was compelled to take to the upper of the two -ladders which completed the way to the ground below.</p> - -<p>And here it was necessary to remove his hand from Nadara's mouth. In a -low growl he warned her to silence with threats of instant death, then -he removed his hand from across her face, grasped the top of the ladder -and swung over the dangerous height with his burden under his arm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> - -<p>For an instant Nadara was too paralyzed with terror to take advantage -of her opportunity, but just as Thurg set foot upon the ledge at the -bottom of the ladder she screamed aloud once.</p> - -<p>Instantly Thurg's hand fell roughly across her lips. Brutally he shook -her, squeezing her body in his mighty grip until she gasped for breath, -and each minute expected to feel her ribs snap to the terrific strain.</p> - -<p>For a moment Thurg stood silently upon the ledge, compressing the -tortured body of his victim and listening for signs of pursuit from -above.</p> - -<p>Presently the agony of her suffering overcame Nadara—she swooned. -Thurg felt her form relax, and his flabby lips twisted to a hideous -grin.</p> - -<p>The cliff was quiet—the girl's scream had not disturbed the slumbers -of her tribesmen. Thurg swung the ladder he had just descended over the -edge of the cliff below, and a moment later he stood at the bottom with -his burden.</p> - -<p>Without noise he removed the ladder and the sapling that he had used in -his ascent, laying them upon the ground at the foot of the cliff. This -would halt, temporarily, any pursuit until the cave men could bring -other ladders from the higher levels, where they doubtless had them -hidden.</p> - -<p>But no pursuit developed, and Thurg disappeared into the dark forest -with his prize.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<p>For a long distance he carried her, his little pig eyes searching and -straining to right and left into the black night for the first sign -of savage beast. The half atrophied muscles of his little ears, still -responding to an almost dead instinct, strove to prick those misshapen -members forward that they might catch the first crackling of dead -leaves beneath the padded paw of the fanged night prowlers.</p> - -<p>But the wood seemed dead. No living creature appeared to thwart the -beast-man's evil intent. Far behind him Thandar slept. Thurg grinned.</p> - -<p>The moon broke through the clouds, splotching the ground all silver -green beneath the forest trees. Nadara awoke from her swoon. They were -in a little open glade. Instantly she recalled the happenings that -had immediately preceded her unconsciousness. In the moonlight she -recognized Thurg. He was smirking horribly down into her upturned face.</p> - -<p>Thandar had often talked with her of religion. He had taught her of -his God, and now the girl thanked Him that Thurg was still too low -in the scale of evolution to have learned to kiss. To have had that -matted beard, those flabby, pendulous lips pressed to hers! It was too -horrible—she closed her eyes in disgust.</p> - -<p>Thurg lowered her to her feet. With one hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> he still clutched her -shoulder. She saw him standing there before her—his greedy, blood-shot -eyes devouring her. His awful lips shook and trembled as his hot breath -sucked quickly in and out in excited gasps.</p> - -<p>She knew that the end was coming. Frantically she cast about her for -some means of defense or escape. Thurg was drawing her toward him.</p> - -<p>Suddenly she drew back her clenched fist and struck him full in the -mouth, then, tearing herself from his grasp, she turned and fled.</p> - -<p>But in a moment he was upon her. Seizing her roughly by the shoulders -he shook her viciously, hurling her to the ground.</p> - -<p>The blood from his wounded lips dropped upon her face and throat.</p> - -<p>From the distance came a deep toned, thunderous rumbling. Thurg raised -his head and listened. Again and again came that awesome sound.</p> - -<p>"The Great Nagoola is coming to punish you," whispered Nadara.</p> - -<p>Thurg still remained squatting beside her. She had ceased to fight, for -now she felt that a greater power than hers was intervening to save her.</p> - -<p>The ground beneath them trembled, shook and then tossed frightfully. -The rumbling and the roaring became deafening. Thurg, his passion -frozen in the face of this new terror, rose to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> feet. For a moment -there was a lull, then came another and more terrific shock.</p> - -<p>The earth rose and fell sickeningly. Fissures opened, engulfing trees, -and then closed like hungry mouths gulping food long denied.</p> - -<p>Thurg was thrown to the ground. Now he was terror stricken. He screamed -aloud in his fear.</p> - -<p>Again there came a lull, and this time the beast-man leaped to his feet -and dashed away into the forest. Nadara was alone.</p> - -<p>Presently the earth commenced to tremble again, and the voice of The -Great Nagoola rumbled across the world. Frightened animals scampered -past Nadara, fleeing in all directions. Little deer, foxes, squirrels -and other rodents in countless numbers scurried, terrified, about.</p> - -<p>A great black panther and his mate trotted shoulder to shoulder into -the glade where Nadara still stood too bewildered to know which way to -fly.</p> - -<p>They eyed her for a moment, as they paused in the moonlight, then -without a second glance they loped away into the brush. Directly behind -them came three deer.</p> - -<p>Nadara realized that she had felt no fear of the panthers as she would -have under ordinary circumstances. Even the little deer ran with their -natural enemies. Every lesser fear was submerged in the overwhelming -terror of the earthquake.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dawn was breaking in the east. The rumblings were diminishing, the -tremors at greater intervals and of lessening violence.</p> - -<p>Nadara started to retrace her steps toward the village. Momentarily she -looked to see Thandar coming in search of her, but she came to the edge -of the forest and no sign of Thandar or another of her tribesmen had -come to cheer her.</p> - -<p>At last she stepped into the open. Before her was the cliff. A cry -of anguish broke from her lips at the sight that met her eyes. Torn, -tortured and crumpled were the lofty crags that had been her home—the -home of the tribe of Thandar.</p> - -<p>The overhanging cliff top had broken away and lay piled in a jagged -heap at the foot of the cliff. The caves had disappeared. The ledges -had crumbled before the titanic struggles of The Great Nagoola. All was -desolation and ruin.</p> - -<p>She approached more closely. Here and there in the awful jumble of -shattered rock were wedged the crushed and mangled forms of men, women -and children.</p> - -<p>Tears coursed down Nadara's cheeks. Sobs wracked her slender figure. -And Thandar! Where was he?</p> - -<p>With utmost difficulty the girl picked her way aloft over the tumbled -debris. She could only guess at the former location of Thandar's cave, -but now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> no sign of cave remained—only the same blank waste of silent -stone.</p> - -<p>Frantically she tugged and tore at massive heaps of sharp edged rock. -Her fingers were cut and bruised and bleeding. She called aloud the -name of her man, but there was no response.</p> - -<p>It was late in the afternoon before, weak and exhausted, she gave up -her futile search. That night she slept in a crevice between two broken -boulders, and the next morning she set out in search of a cave where -she might live out the remainder of her lonely life in what safety and -meager comfort a lone girl could wring from this savage world.</p> - -<p>For a week she wandered hither and thither only to find most of the -caves she had known in the past demolished as had been those of her -people.</p> - -<p>At last she stumbled upon the very cliff which Thandar had chosen as -the permanent home of his people. Here the wrath of the earthquake -seemed to have been less severe, and Nadara found, high in the cliff's -face, a safe and comfortable cavern.</p> - -<p>The last span to it required the use of a slender sapling, which she -could draw up after her, effectually barring the approach of Nagoola -and his people. To further protect herself against the chance of -wandering men the girl carried a quantity of small bits of rock to the -ledge beside the entrance to her cave.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> - -<p>Fruit and nuts and vegetables she took there too, and a great gourd of -water from the spring below. As she completed her last trip, and sat -resting upon the ledge, her eyes wandering over the landscape and out -across the distant ocean, she thought she saw something move in the -shadow of the trees across the open plain beneath her.</p> - -<p>Could it have been a man? Nadara drew her sapling ladder to the ledge -beside her.</p> - -<p>Thurg, fleeing from the wrath of The Great Nagoola, had come at -daybreak to the spot where his people had been camped, but there he -found no sign of them, only the ragged edges of a great fissure, -half-closed, that might have swallowed his entire tribe as he had seen -the fissures in the forest swallow many, many trees at a single bite.</p> - -<p>For some time he sought for signs of his tribesmen, but without -success. Then, his fear of the earthquake allayed, he started back into -the forest to find the girl. For days he sought her. He came to the -ruins of the cliff that had housed her people, and there he discovered -signs that the girl had been there since the demolition of the cliff.</p> - -<p>He saw the print of her dainty feet in the soft earth at the base of -the rocks—he saw how she had searched the debris for Thandar—he saw -her bed of grasses in the crevice between the two boulders, and then, -after diligent search, he found her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> spoor leading away to the east.</p> - -<p>For many days he followed her until, at last, close by the sea, he come -to a level plain at the edge of a forest. Across the narrow plain rose -lofty cliffs—and what was that clambering aloft toward the dark mouth -of a cave?</p> - -<p>Could it be a woman? Thurg's eyes narrowed as he peered intently toward -the cliff. Yes, it was a woman—it was <i>the</i> woman—it was she he -sought, and, she was alone.</p> - -<p>With a whoop of exultation Thurg broke from the forest into the plain, -running swiftly toward the cliff where Nadara crouched beside her -little pile of jagged missiles, prepared to once more battle with this -hideous monster for more than life.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIb" id="CHAPTER_VIb">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE SEARCH</p> - - -<p class="drop">A <span class="uppercase">year</span> had elapsed since Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones had departed from -the Back Bay home of his aristocratic parents to seek in a long sea -voyage a cure for the hacking cough and hectic cheeks which had in -themselves proclaimed the almost incurable.</p> - -<p>Two months later had come the first meager press notices of the narrow -escape of the steamer, upon which Waldo Emerson had been touring the -south seas, from utter destruction by a huge tidal wave. The dispatch -read:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The captain reports that the great wave swept entirely over the -steamer, momentarily submerging her. Two members of the crew, the -officer upon the bridge, and one passenger were washed away.</p> - -<p>The latter was an American traveling for his health, Waldo E. -Smith-Jones, son of John Alden Smith-Jones of Boston.</p> - -<p>The steamer came about, cruising back and forth for some time, but -as the wave had washed her perilously close to a dangerous shore, -it seemed unsafe to remain longer in the vicinity, for fear of -a recurrence of the tidal wave which would have meant the utter -annihilation of the vessel upon the nearby beach.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - -<p>No sign of any of the poor unfortunates was seen.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones is prostrated.</p> - -<p>Immediately John Alden Smith-Jones had fitted out his yacht, -<i>Priscilla</i>, despatching her under Captain Burlinghame, a retired naval -officer, and an old friend of Mr. Smith-Jones, to the far distant coast -in search of the body of his son, which the captain of the steamer was -of the opinion might very possibly have been washed upon the beach.</p> - -<p>And now Burlinghame was back to report the failure of his mission. -The two men were sitting in the John Alden Smith-Jones library. Mrs. -Smith-Jones was with them.</p> - -<p>"We searched the beach diligently at the point opposite which the tidal -wave struck the steamer," Captain Burlinghame was saying. "For miles up -and down the coast we patrolled every inch of the sand.</p> - -<p>"We found, at one spot upon the edge of the jungle and above the beach, -the body of one of the sailors. It was not and could not have been -Waldo's. The clothing was that of a seaman, the frame was much shorter -and stockier than your son's. There was no sign of any other body along -that entire coast.</p> - -<p>"Thinking it possible one of the men might have been washed ashore -alive we sent parties into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> interior. Here we found a wild and -savage country, and on two occasions met with fierce, white savages, -who hurled rocks at us and fled at the first report of our firearms.</p> - -<p>"We continued our search all around the island, which is of -considerable extent. Upon the east coast I found this," and here the -captain handed Mr. Smith-Jones the bag of jewels which Nadara had -forgotten as she fled from Thandar.</p> - -<p>Briefly he narrated what he knew of the history of the poor woman to -whom it had belonged.</p> - -<p>"I recall the incident well," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, "I had the -pleasure of entertaining the count and countess when they stopped here -upon their honeymoon. They were lovely people, and to think that they -met so tragic an end!"</p> - -<p>The three lapsed into silence. Burlinghame did not know whether he was -glad or sorry that he had not found the bones of Waldo Emerson—that -would have meant the end of hope for his parents. Perhaps much the same -thoughts were running through the minds of the others.</p> - -<p>Somewhere in the nether regions of the great house an electric bell -sounded. Still the three sat on in silence. They heard the houseman -open the front door. They heard low voices, and presently there came a -deferential tap upon the door of the library.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones looked up and nodded. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> the houseman. He held a -letter in his hand.</p> - -<p>"What is it Krutz?" asked the master in a tired voice. It seemed that -nothing ever again would interest him.</p> - -<p>"A special delivery letter, sir," replied the servant. "The boy says -you must sign for it yourself, sir."</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes," replied Mr. Smith-Jones, as he reached for the letter and -the receipt blank.</p> - -<p>He glanced at the post mark—San Francisco.</p> - -<p>Idly he cut the envelope.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me?" He glanced first at his wife and then at Captain -Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>The two nodded.</p> - -<p>Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones opened the letter. There was a single -written sheet and an enclosure in another envelope. He had read but a -couple of lines when he came suddenly upright in his chair.</p> - -<p>Captain Burlinghame and Mrs. Smith-Jones looked at him in polite and -surprised questioning.</p> - -<p>"My God!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "He is alive—Waldo is alive!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones and Captain Burlinghame sprang from their chairs and -ran toward the speaker.</p> - -<p>With trembling hands that made it difficult to read the words that his -trembling voice could scarce utter John Alden Smith-Jones read aloud:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -<i>On board the Sally Corwith,<br /> -San Francisco, California.</i><br /> -<br /> -<i>Mr. John Alden Smith-Jones,<br /> -Boston, Mass.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p><i>Dear Sir: Just reached port and hasten to forward letter your son -gave me for his mother. He wouldn't come with us. We found him on —— -——Island, Lat. 10° —" South, Long. 150° —" West. He seemed in -good health and able to look out for himself. Didn't want anything, -he said, except a razor, so we gave him that and one of the men gave -him a plug of chewing tobacco. Urged him to come, but he wouldn't. The -enclosed letter will doubtless tell you all about him.</i></p> - -<p> -<i>Yours truly,<br /> -Henry Dobbs, Master.</i><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Ten south, a hundred and fifty west," mused Captain Burlinghame. -"That's the same island we searched. Where could he have been!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones had opened the letter addressed to her, and was -reading it breathlessly.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>My dear Mother: I feel rather selfish in remaining and possibly -causing you further anxiety, but I have certain duties to perform to -several of the inhabitants which I feel obligated to fulfill before I -depart.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>My treatment here has been all that anyone might desire—even more, I -might say.</i></p> - -<p><i>The climate is delightful. My cough has left me, and I am entirely a -well man—more robust than I ever recall having been in the past.</i></p> - -<p><i>At present I am sojourning in the mountains, having but run down -to the sea shore today, where, happily, I chanced to find the Sally -Corwith in the harbor, and am taking advantage of Captain Dobbs' -kindness to forward this letter to you.</i></p> - -<p><i>Do not worry, dearest mother; my obligations will soon be fulfilled -and then I shall hasten to take the first steamer for Boston.</i></p> - -<p><i>I have met a number of interesting people here—the most interesting -people I have ever met. They quite overwhelm one with their -attentions.</i></p> - -<p><i>And now, as Captain Dobbs is anxious to be away, I will close, with -every assurance of my deepest love for you and father.</i></p> - -<p> -<i>Ever affectionately your son,<br /> -Waldo.</i><br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones' eyes were dim with tears—tears of thanksgiving and -happiness.</p> - -<p>"And to think," she exclaimed, "that after all he is alive and -well—quite well. His cough has left him—that is the best part of it, -and he is surrounded by interesting people—just what Waldo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> needed. -For some time I feared, before he sailed, that he was devoting himself -too closely to his studies and to the little coterie of our own set -which surrounded him. This experience will be broadening. Of course -these people may be slightly provincial, but it is evident that they -possess a certain culture and refinement—otherwise my Waldo would -never have described them as 'interesting.' The coarse, illiterate, or -vulgar could never prove 'interesting' to a Smith-Jones."</p> - -<p>Captain Cecil Burlinghame nodded politely—he was thinking of the -naked, hairy man-brutes he had seen within the interior of the island.</p> - -<p>"It is evident, Burlinghame," said Mr. Smith-Jones, "that you -overlooked a portion of this island. It would seem, from Waldo's -letter, that there must be a colony of civilized men and women -somewhere upon it. Of course it is possible that it may be further -inland than you penetrated."</p> - -<p>Burlinghame shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I am puzzled," he said. "We circled the entire coast, yet nowhere did -we see any evidence of a man-improved harbor, such as one might have -reason to expect were there really a colony of advanced humans in the -interior. There would have been at least a shack near the beach in one -of the several natural harbors which indent the coast line was there -even an occasional steamer touching for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> purposes of commerce with the -colonists.</p> - -<p>"No, my friends," he continued, "as much as I should like to believe -it my judgment will not permit me to place any such translation upon -Waldo's letter.</p> - -<p>"That he is safe and happy seems evident, and that is enough for us to -know. Now it should be a simple matter for us to find him—if it is -still your desire to send for him."</p> - -<p>"He may already have left for Boston," said Mrs. Smith-Jones; "his -letter was written several months ago."</p> - -<p>Again Burlinghame shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Do not bank on that, my dear madam," he said kindly. "It may be fifty -years before another vessel touches that forgotten shore—unless it be -one which you yourselves send."</p> - -<p>John Alden Smith-Jones sprang to his feet, and commenced pacing up and -down the library.</p> - -<p>"How soon can the <i>Priscilla</i> be put in shape to make the return voyage -to the island?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"It <i>can</i> be done in a week, if necessary," replied Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>"And you will accompany her, in command?"</p> - -<p>"Gladly."</p> - -<p>"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Smith-Jones. "And now, my friend, let us lose no -time in starting our preparations. I intend accompanying you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And I shall go too," said Mrs. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>The two men looked at her in surprise.</p> - -<p>"But my dear!" cried her husband, "there is no telling what hardships -and dangers we may encounter—you could never stand such a trip."</p> - -<p>"I am going," said Mrs. Smith-Jones, firmly. "I know my Waldo. I know -his refined and sensitive nature. I know that I am fully capable of -enduring whatever he may have endured. He tells me that he is among -interesting people. Evidently there is nothing to fear, then, from -the inhabitants of the island, and furthermore I wish personally to -meet the people he has been living with. I have always been careful -to surround Waldo with only the nicest people, and if any vulgarizing -influences have been brought to bear upon him since he has been beyond -my mature guidance I wish to know it, that I may determine how to -combat their results."</p> - -<p>That was the end of it. If Mrs. Smith-Jones knew her son, Mr. -Smith-Jones certainly knew his wife.</p> - -<p>A week later the <i>Priscilla</i> sailed from Boston harbor on her long -journey around the Horn to the south seas.</p> - -<p>Most of the old crew had been retained. The first and second officers -were new men. The former, William Stark, had come to Burlinghame well -recommended. From the first he seemed an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> intelligent and experienced -officer. That he was inclined to taciturnity but enhanced his value -in the eyes of Burlinghame. Stark was inclined to be something of a -martinet, so that the crew soon took to hating him cordially, but as -his display of this unpleasant trait was confined wholly to trivial -acts the men contented themselves with grumbling among themselves, -which is the prerogative and pleasure of every good sailorman. Their -loyalty to the splendid Burlinghame, however, was not to be shaken by -even a dozen Starks.</p> - -<p>The monotonous and uneventful journey to the vicinity of ten south -and a hundred and fifty west was finally terminated. At last land -showed on the starboard bow. Excitement reigned supreme throughout the -trim, white <i>Priscilla</i>. Mrs. Smith-Jones peered anxiously and almost -constantly through her binoculars, momentarily expecting to see the -well-known thin and emaciated figure of her Waldo Emerson standing upon -the beach awaiting them.</p> - -<p>For two weeks they sailed along the coast, stopping here and there for -a day while parties tramped inland in search of signs of civilized -habitation. They lay two days in the harbor where the <i>Sally Corwith</i> -had lain. There they pressed farther inland than at any other point, -but all without avail. It was Burlinghame's plan to first make a -cursory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> survey of the entire coast, with only short incursions toward -the center of the island. Should this fail to discover the missing -Waldo the party was then to go over the ground once more, remaining -weeks or months as might be required to thoroughly explore every foot -of the island.</p> - -<p>It was during the pursuit of the initial portion of the program that -they dropped anchor in the self-same harbor upon whose waters Waldo -Emerson and Nadara had seen the <i>Priscilla</i> lying, only to fly from her.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame recalled it as the spot at which the bag of jewels had been -picked up. Next to the Sally Corwith harbor, as they had come to call -the other anchorage, this seemed most fraught with possibilities of -success. They christened it Eugenie Bay, after that poor, unfortunate -lady, Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy, whose -jewels had been recovered upon its shore.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame and Waldo's father with half a dozen officers and men of -the <i>Priscilla</i> had spent the day searching the woods, the plain and -the hills for some slight sign of human habitation. Shortly after noon -First Officer Stark stumbled upon the whitened skeleton of a man. In -answer to his shouts the other members of the party hastened to his -side. They found the grim thing lying in a little barren spot among -the tall grasses. About it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> the liquids of decomposition had killed -vegetation leaving the thing alone in all its grisly repulsiveness as -though shocked, nature had withdrawn in terror.</p> - -<p>Stark stood pointing toward it without a word as the others came up. -Burlinghame was the first to reach Stark's side. He bent low over -the bones examining the skull carefully. John Alden Smith-Jones came -panting up. Instantly he saw what Burlinghame was examining he turned -deathly white. Burlinghame looked up at him.</p> - -<p>"It's not," he said. "Look at that skull—either a gorilla or some very -low type of man."</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones breathed a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>"What an awful creature it must have been," he said, when he had fully -taken in the immense breadth of the squat skeleton. "It cannot be that -Waldo has survived in a wilderness peopled by such creatures as this. -Imagine him confronted by such a beast. Timid by nature and never -robust he would have perished of fright at the very sight of this thing -charging down upon him."</p> - -<p>Captain Cecil Burlinghame acquiesced with a nod. He knew Waldo Emerson -well, and so he could not even imagine a meeting between the frail and -cowardly youth and such a beast as this bleaching frame must once have -supported. And at their feet the bones of Flatfoot lay mute witnesses -to the impossible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> - -<p>Presently a shout from one of the sailors attracted their attention -toward the far side of the valley. The man was standing upon a rise of -ground waving his arms and gesticulating violently toward the lofty -cliffs which rose sheer from the rank jungle grasses. All eyes turned -in the direction indicated by the excited sailor. At first they saw -nothing, but presently a figure came in sight upon a little elevation. -It was the figure of a human being, and even at the distance they were -from it all were assured that it was the figure of a female. She was -running toward the cliffs with the speed of a deer. And now behind her, -came another figure. Thick set and squat was the thing that pursued the -woman. It might have been the reanimated skeleton that they had just -discovered.</p> - -<p>Would the creature catch her before she reached the cliff? Would she -find sanctuary even there? Already Burlinghame and Stark had started -toward the cliff on a run. John Alden Smith-Jones followed more slowly. -The men raced after their officers.</p> - -<p>The girl had reached the rocks and was scampering up their precipitous -face like a squirrel. Close behind her came the man. They saw the girl -reach a ledge just below the mouth of a cave in which she evidently -expected to find safety. They saw her clambering up the rickety sapling -that answered for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> a ladder. They breathed sighs of relief, for it -seemed that she was now quite safe—the man was still one ledge below -her.</p> - -<p>But in another moment the watchers were filled with horror. The brute -pursuing her had reached forth a giant hand and seized the base of the -sapling. He was dragging it over the edge of the cliff. In another -moment the girl would be precipitated either into his arms or to a -horrible death upon the jagged rocks beneath her.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame and Stark halted simultaneously. At once two rifles leaped -to their shoulders. There were two reports, so close together that they -seemed as one.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIb" id="CHAPTER_VIIb">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">FIRST MATE STARK</p> - - -<p class="drop">U<span class="uppercase">pon</span> the day that Thurg discovered Nadara he had come racing to the -foot of the cliff, roaring and bellowing like a mad bull. Upward he -clambered half the distance to the girl's lofty perch. Then a bit of -jagged rock, well aimed, had brought him to a sudden halt, spitting -blood and teeth from his injured mouth. He looked up at Nadara and -shrieked out his rage and his threats of vengeance. Nadara launched -another missile at him that caught him full upon one eye, dropping -him like a stone to the narrow ledge upon which he had been standing. -Quickly the girl started to descend to his side to finish the work she -had commenced, for she knew that there could be no peace or safety for -her, now that Thurg had discovered her hiding place, while the monster -lived.</p> - -<p>But she had scarce more than lowered her sapling to the ledge beneath -her when the giant form of the man moved and Thurg sat up. Quickly -Nadara clambered back to her ledge, again drawing her sapling after -her. She was about to hurl another missile at the man when he spoke to -her.</p> - -<p>"We are alone in the world," he said. "All<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> your people and all my -people have been slain by the Great Nagoola. Come down. Let us live -together in peace. There is no other left in all the world."</p> - -<p>Nadara laughed at him.</p> - -<p>"Come down to you!" she cried, mockingly. "Live with you! I would -rather live with the pigs that root in the forest. Go away, or I will -finish what I have commenced, and kill you. I would not live with you -though I knew that you were the last human being on earth."</p> - -<p>Thurg pleaded and threatened, but all to no avail. Again he tried -to clamber to her side, but again he was repulsed with well-aimed -missiles. At last he withdrew, growling and threatening.</p> - -<p>For weeks he haunted the vicinity of the cliff. Nadara's meager food -supply was soon exhausted. She was forced to descend to replenish her -larder and fill her gourd, or die of starvation and thirst. She made -her trips to the forest at night, though black Nagoola prowled and the -menace of Thurg loomed through the darkness. At last the man discovered -her in one of these nocturnal expeditions and almost caught her before -she reached her ledge of safety.</p> - -<p>For three days he kept her a close prisoner. Again her stock of -provisions was exhausted. She was desperate. Twice had Nagoola nearly -trapped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> her in the forest. She dared not again tempt fate in the -gloomy wood by night. There was nothing left but to risk all in one -last effort to elude Thurg by day and find another asylum in some far -distant corner of the island.</p> - -<p>Carefully she watched her opportunity, and while the beast-man was -temporarily absent seeking food for himself the girl slid swiftly to -the base of the cliff and started through the tall grasses for the -opposite side of the valley.</p> - -<p>Upon this day Thurg had fallen upon the spoor of deer as he had -searched the forest for certain berries that were in season and which -he particularly enjoyed. The trail led along the edge of the wood to -the opposite side of the valley, and over the hills into the region -beyond. All day Thurg followed the fleet animals, until at last not -having come up with them he was forced to give up the pursuit and -return to the cliffs, lest his more valuable quarry should escape.</p> - -<p>Half-way between the hills and the cliff he came suddenly face to -face with Nadara. Not twenty paces separated them. With a howl of -satisfaction Thurg leaped to seize her, but she turned and fled before -he could lay his hand upon her. If Thurg had found his other quarry of -that day swift, so, too, he now found Nadara, for terror gave wings -to her flying feet. Lumbering after her came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> Thurg, and had the -distance been less he would have been left far behind, but it was a -long distance from the spot, where they had met, to Nadara's cliffs. -The girl could out-run the man for a short distance, but when victory -depended upon endurance the advantage was all upon the side of the -brute.</p> - -<p>As they neared the goal Nadara realized that the lead she had gained -at first was rapidly being overcome by the horrid creature panting so -close behind her. She strained every nerve and muscle in a last mad -effort to distance the fate that was closing upon her. She reached -the cliff. Thurg was just behind her. Half spent, she stumbled upward -in, what seemed to her, pitiful slowness. At last her hand grasped -the sapling that led to the mouth of her cave—in another instant she -would be safe. But her new-born hope went out as she felt the sapling -slipping and glanced downward to see Thurg dragging it from its -position.</p> - -<p>She shut her eyes that she might not see the depths below into which -she was about to be hurled, and then there smote upon her ears the most -terrific burst of sound that had ever assailed them, other than the -thunders that rolled down out of the heavens when the rains came. But -this sound did not come from above—it came from the valley beneath.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> - -<p>The ladder ceased to slip. She opened her eyes and glanced downward. -Far below her lay the body of Thurg. She could see that he was quite -dead. He lay upon his face and from his back trickled two tiny streams -of blood from little holes.</p> - -<p>Nadara clambered upward to her ledge, drawing her sapling after her, -and then she looked about for an explanation of the strange noise and -the sudden death of Thurg, for she could not but connect the one with -the other. Below, in the valley, she saw a number of men strangely -garbed. They were coming toward her cliff. She gathered her missiles -closely about her, ready to her hand. Now they were below and calling -up to her. Her eyes dilated in wonder—they spoke the strange tongue -that Thandar had tried to teach her. She called down to them in her own -tongue, but they shook their heads, motioning her to descend. She was -afraid. All her life she had been afraid of men, and with reason—of -all except her old foster father and Thandar. These, evidently, were -men. She could only expect from them the same treatment that Thurg -would have accorded her.</p> - -<p>One of them had started up the face of the cliff. It was Stark. Nadara -seized a bit of rock and hurled it down upon him. He barely dodged -the missile, but he desisted in his attempt to ascend to her. Now -Burlinghame advanced, raising his hand,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> palm toward her in sign that -she should not assault him. She recalled some of the language that -Thandar had taught her—maybe they would understand it.</p> - -<p>"Go-way!" she cried. "Go-way! Nadara kill bad-men."</p> - -<p>A look of pleasure overspread Burlinghame's face—the girl spoke -English.</p> - -<p>"We are not bad men," he called up to her. "We will not harm you."</p> - -<p>"What you want?" asked Nadara, still unconvinced by mere words.</p> - -<p>"We want to talk with you," replied Burlinghame. "We are looking for a -friend who was ship-wrecked upon this island. Come down. We will not -harm you. Have we not already proved our friendship by killing this -fellow who pursued you?"</p> - -<p>This man spoke precisely the tongue of Thandar. Nadara could understand -every word, for Thandar had talked to her much in English. She could -understand it better than she could speak it. If they talked the same -tongue as Thandar they must be from the same country. Maybe they were -Thandar's friends. Anyway they were like him, and Thandar never harmed -women. She could trust them. Slowly she lowered her sapling and began -the descent. Several times she hesitated as though minded to return to -her ledge, but Burlinghame's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> kindly voice and encouragement at last -prevailed, and presently Nadara stood before them.</p> - -<p>The officers and men of the <i>Priscilla</i> crowded around the girl. They -were struck with her beauty, and the simple dignity of her manner and -her carriage. The great black panther skin that fell from her left -shoulder she wore with the majesty of a queen and with a naturalness -that cast no reflection upon her modesty, though it revealed quite -as much of her figure as it hid. William Stark, first officer of the -<i>Priscilla</i>, caught his breath—never, he was positive, had God made a -more lovely creature.</p> - -<p>From the top of the cliff a shaggy man peered down upon the strange -scene. He blinked his little eyes, scratched his matted head, and once -he picked up a large stone that lay near him; but he did not hurl it -upon those below, for he had heard the loud report of the rifles, -seen the smoke belch from the muzzles, and witnessed the sudden and -miraculous collapse of Thurg.</p> - -<p>Burlinghame was speaking to Nadara.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nadara," replied the girl.</p> - -<p>"Where do you live?"</p> - -<p>Nadara jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the cliff at her back. -Burlinghame searched the rocky escarpment with his eyes, but saw no -sign of another living being there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Where are your people?"</p> - -<p>"Dead."</p> - -<p>"All of them?"</p> - -<p>Nadara nodded affirmatively.</p> - -<p>"How long have they been dead and what killed them?" continued -Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>"Almost a moon. The Great Nagoola killed them."</p> - -<p>In answer to other questions Nadara related all that had transpired -since the night of the earthquake. Her description of the catastrophe -convinced the Americans that a violent quake had recently occurred to -shake the island to its foundations.</p> - -<p>"Ask her about Waldo," whispered Mr. Smith-Jones, himself dreading to -put the question.</p> - -<p>"We are looking for a young man," said Burlinghame, "who was lost -overboard from a steamer on the west coast of this island. We know -that he reached the shore alive, for we have heard from him. Have -you ever seen or heard of this stranger? His name is Waldo Emerson -Smith-Jones—this gentleman is his father," indicating Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>Nadara looked with wide eyes at John Alden Smith-Jones. So this man was -Thandar's father. She felt very sorry for him, for she knew that he -loved Thandar—Thandar had often told her so.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> She did not know how to -tell him—she shrank from causing another the anguish and misery that -she had endured.</p> - -<p>"Did you know of him?" asked Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>Nadara nodded her head.</p> - -<p>"Where is he?" cried Waldo's father. "Where are the people with whom he -lived here?"</p> - -<p>Nadara came close to John Alden Smith-Jones. There was no fear in her -innocent young heart for this man who was Thandar's father—who loved -Thandar—only a great compassion for him in the sorrow that she was -about to inflict. Gently she took his hand in hers, raising her sad -eyes to his.</p> - -<p>"Where is he? Where is my boy?" whispered Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>"He is with his people, who were my people—the people of whom I have -just told you," replied Nadara softly— "He is dead." And then she -dropped her face upon the man's hand and wept.</p> - -<p>The shock staggered John Alden Smith-Jones. It seemed -incredible—impossible—that Waldo could have lived through all that he -must have lived through to perish at last but a few short weeks before -succor reached him. For a moment he forgot the girl. It was her hot -tears upon his hand that aroused him to a consciousness of the present.</p> - -<p>"Why do you weep?" he cried almost roughly.</p> - -<p>"For you," she replied, "who loved him, too."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You loved Waldo?" asked the boy's father.</p> - -<p>Nadara nodded her tumbled mass of raven hair. John Alden Smith-Jones -looked down upon the bent head of the sobbing girl in silence for -several minutes. Many things were racing through his patrician brain. -He was by training, environment and heredity narrow and Puritanical. -He saw the meager apparel of the girl—he saw her nut brown skin; but -he did not see her nakedness, for something in his heart told him that -sweet virtue clothed her more effectually than could silks and satins -without virtue. Gently he placed an arm about her, drawing her to him.</p> - -<p>"My daughter," he said, and pressed his lips to her forehead.</p> - -<p>It was a solemn and sorrow-ridden party that boarded the <i>Priscilla</i> -an hour later. Mrs. Smith-Jones had seen them coming. Some intuitive -sense may have warned her of the sorrow that lay in store for her upon -their return. At any rate she did not meet them at the rail as in the -past, instead she retired to her cabin to await her husband there. -When he joined her he brought with him a half-naked young woman. Mrs. -Smith-Jones looked upon the girl with ill concealed horror.</p> - -<p>Waldo's mother met the shock of her husband's news with much greater -fortitude than he had expected. As a matter of fact she had been -prepared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> for this from the first. She had never really believed that -Waldo could survive for any considerable time far from the comforts and -luxuries of his Boston home and the watchful care of herself.</p> - -<p>"And who is this—ah—person?" she asked coldly at last, holding her -pince-nez before her eyes as with elevated brows she cast a look of -disapproval upon Nadara.</p> - -<p>The girl, reading more in the older woman's manner than her words, drew -herself up proudly. Mr. Smith-Jones coughed and colored. He stepped to -Nadara's side, placing his arm about her shoulders.</p> - -<p>"She loved Waldo," he said simply.</p> - -<p>"The brazen huzzy!" exclaimed Mrs. Smith-Jones. "To dare to love a -Smith-Jones!"</p> - -<p>"Come, come, Louisa!" ejaculated her husband. "Remember that she too is -suffering—do not add to her sorrow. She loved our boy, and he returned -her love."</p> - -<p>"How do you know that?"</p> - -<p>"She has told me," replied the man.</p> - -<p>"It is not true," cried Mrs. Smith-Jones. "It is not true! Waldo -Emerson would never stoop to love one out of his own high class. Who is -she, and what proof have you that Waldo loved her?"</p> - -<p>"I am Nadara," said the girl proudly, answering for herself, "and this -is the proof that he loved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> me. He told me that this was the pledge -token between us until we could come to his land and be mated according -to the customs there." She held out her left hand, upon the third -finger of which sparkled a great solitaire—a solitaire which Mrs. John -Alden Smith-Jones recognized instantly.</p> - -<p>"He gave you that?" she asked.</p> - -<p>Then she turned toward her husband.</p> - -<p>"What do you intend doing with this girl?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I shall take her back home," replied he. "She should be as a daughter -to us, for Waldo would have made her such had he lived. She cannot -remain upon the island. All her people were killed by the earthquake -that destroyed Waldo. She is in constant danger of attack by wild -beasts and wilder men. We cannot leave her here, and even if we could I -should not do so, for we owe a duty to our dead boy to care for her as -he would have cared for her—and we owe a greater duty to her."</p> - -<p>"I must be alone," was all that Mrs. Smith-Jones replied. "Please take -her away, John. Give her the cabin next to this, and have Marie clothe -her properly—Marie's clothes should about fit her." There was more of -tired anguish in her voice now than of anger.</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones led Nadara out and summoned Marie, but Nadara upset his -plans by announcing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> that she wished to return to shore.</p> - -<p>"She does not like me," she said, nodding toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's -cabin, "and I will not stay."</p> - -<p>It took John Alden Smith-Jones a long time to persuade the girl to -change her mind. He pointed out that his wife was greatly over-wrought -by the shock of the news of Waldo's death. He assured Nadara that at -heart she was a kindly woman, and that eventually she would regret -her attitude toward the girl. And at last Nadara consented to remain -aboard the <i>Priscilla</i>. But when Marie would have clothed her in the -garments of civilization she absolutely refused—scorning the hideous -and uncomfortable clothing.</p> - -<p>It was two days before Mrs. Smith-Jones sent for her. When she entered -that lady's cabin the latter exclaimed at once against her barbarous -attire.</p> - -<p>"I gave instructions that Marie should dress you properly," she said. -"You are not decently clothed—that bear skin is shocking."</p> - -<p>Nadara tossed her head, and her eyes flashed fire.</p> - -<p>"I shall never wear your silly clothes," she cried. "This, Thandar gave -me—he slew Nagoola, the black panther, with his own hands, and gave -the skin to me who was to be his mate—do you think I would exchange -it for such foolish garments as those?" and she waved a contemptuous -gesture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> toward Mrs. Smith-Jones's expensive morning gown.</p> - -<p>The elder woman forgot her outraged dignity in the suggestion the girl -had given her for an excuse to be rid of her at the first opportunity. -She had mentioned a party named Thandar. She had brazenly boasted that -this Thandar had killed the beast whose pelt she wore and given her -the thing for a garment. She had admitted that she was to become this -person's "mate." Mrs. Smith-Jones shuddered at the primitive word. At -this moment Mr. Smith-Jones entered the cabin. He smiled pleasantly at -Nadara, and then, seeing in the attitudes of the two women that he had -stepped within a theater of war, he looked questioningly at his wife.</p> - -<p>"Now what, Louisa?" he asked, somewhat sharply.</p> - -<p>"Sufficient, John," exclaimed that lady, "to bear out my original -contention that it was a very unwise move to bring this woman with -us—she has just admitted that she was the promised 'mate' of a person -she calls Thandar. She is brazen—I refuse to permit her to enter -my home; nor shall she remain upon the <i>Priscilla</i> longer than is -necessary to land her at the first civilized port."</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones looked questioningly at Nadara. The girl had guessed -the erroneous reasoning that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> had caused Mrs. Smith-Jones's excitement. -She had forgotten that they did not know that Waldo and Thandar were -one. Now she could scarce repress a smile of amusement nor resist the -temptation to take advantage of Mrs. Smith-Jones's ignorance to bait -her further.</p> - -<p>"You had another lover beside Waldo?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>"I loved Thandar," she replied. "Thandar was king of my people. He -loved me. He slew Nagoola for me and gave me his skin. He slew Korth -and Flatfoot, also. They wanted me, but Thandar slew them. And Big Fist -he slew, and Sag the Killer—oh, Thandar was a mighty fighter. Can you -wonder that I loved him?"</p> - -<p>"He was a hideous murderer!" cried Mrs. Smith-Jones, "and to think that -my poor Waldo; poor, timid, gentle Waldo, was condemned to live among -such savage brutes. Oh, it is too terrible!"</p> - -<p>Nadara's eyes went wide. It was her turn to suffer a shock. "Poor, -timid, gentle Waldo!" Had she heard aright? Could it be that they were -describing the same man? There must be some mistake.</p> - -<p>"Did Waldo know that you loved Thandar?" asked Mr. Smith-Jones.</p> - -<p>"Thandar was Waldo," she replied. "Thandar is the name I gave him—it -means the Brave One.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> He was very brave," she cried. "He was not -'timid,' and he was only 'gentle' with women and children."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones had never been so shocked in all her life. She sprang -to her feet.</p> - -<p>"Leave my cabin!" she cried. "I see through your shallow deception. -You thoughtlessly betrayed yourself and your vulgar immoralities, and -now you try to hide behind a base calumny that pictures my dear, dead -boy as one with your hideous, brutal chief. You shall not deceive me -longer. Leave my cabin, please!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Smith-Jones stood as one paralyzed. He could not believe in the -perfidy of the girl—it seemed impossible that she could have so -deceived him—nor yet could he question the integrity of his own ears. -It was, of course, too far beyond the pale of reason to attempt to -believe that Waldo Emerson and the terrible Thandar were one and the -same. The girl had gone too far, and yet he could not believe that she -was bad. There must be some explanation.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Nadara had left the room, her little chin high in air. -Never again, she determined, would she subject herself to the insults -of Thandar's mother. She went on deck. She had found it difficult -to remain below during the day. She craved the fresh air, and the -excitement to be found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> above. The officers had been very nice to -her. Stark was much with her. The man had fallen desperately in love -with the half-savage girl. As she reached the deck after leaving Mrs. -Smith-Jones's cabin Stark was the first she chanced to meet. She would -have preferred being alone with her sorrow and her anger, but the man -joined her. Together they stood by the rail watching the approach -of heavy clouds. A storm was about to break over them that had been -brewing for several days.</p> - -<p>Stark knew nothing of what had taken place below, but he saw that the -girl was unhappy. He attempted to cheer her. At last he took her hand -and stroked it caressingly as he talked with her. Before she could -guess his intention he was pouring words of love and passion into her -ears. Nadara drew away. A puzzled frown contracted her brows.</p> - -<p>"Do not talk so to Nadara," she said. "She does not love you." And then -she moved away and went to her cabin.</p> - -<p>Stark looked after her as she departed. He was thoroughly aroused. Who -was this savage girl, to repulse him? What would have been her fate but -for his well-directed shot? Was not the man who had been pursuing her -but acting after the customs of her wild people? He would have taken -her by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> force. That was the only way she would have been taken had she -been left upon her own island. That was the only kind of betrothal she -knew. It was what she expected. He had been a fool to approach her with -the soft words of civilization. They had made her despise him. She -would have understood force, and loved him for it. Well, he would show -her that he could be as primitive as any of her savage lovers.</p> - -<p>The storm broke. The wind became a hurricane. The <i>Priscilla</i> was -forced to turn and flee before the anger of the elements, so that she -retraced her course of the past two days and then was blown to the -north.</p> - -<p>Stark saw nothing of Nadara during this period. At the end of -thirty-six hours the wind had died and the sea was settling to its -normal quiet. It was the first evening after the storm. The deck of the -<i>Priscilla</i> was almost deserted. The yacht was moving slowly along not -far off the shore of one of the many islands that dot that part of the -south seas.</p> - -<p>Nadara came on deck for a walk before retiring. Stark and two sailors -were on watch. At sight of the girl the first officer approached -her. He spoke pleasantly as though nothing had occurred to mar their -friendly relations. He talked of the storm and pointed out the black -outlines of the nearby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> shore, and as he talked he led her toward the -stern, out of sight of the sailors forward.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he turned upon her and grasped her in his arms. With brutal -force he crushed her to him, covering her face with kisses. She fought -to free herself, but Stark was a strong man. Slowly he forced her to -the deck. She beat him in the face and upon the breast, and at last, in -the extreme of desperation, she screamed for help. Instantly he struck -her a heavy blow upon the jaw. The slender form of the girl relaxed -upon the deck in unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>Now Stark came to a sudden realization of the gravity of the thing he -had done. He knew that when Nadara regained consciousness his perfidy -would come to the attention of Captain Burlinghame, and he feared the -quiet, ex-naval officer more than he did the devil. He looked over the -rail. It would be an easy thing to dispose of the girl. He had only to -drop her unconscious body into the still waters below. He raised her in -his arms and bore her to the rail. The moon shone down upon her face. -He looked out over the water and saw the shore so close at hand.</p> - -<p>There would be a thorough investigation and the sailors, who had no -love for him, as he well knew, would lose no time in reporting that he -had been the last to be seen with the girl. Evidently he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> in for -it, one way or the other.</p> - -<p>Again he looked down into Nadara's face. She was very beautiful. He -wanted her badly. Slowly his glance wandered to the calm waters of the -ocean and on to the quiet shore line. Then back to the girl. For a -moment he stood irresolute. Then he stepped to the side of the cabin -where hung a life preserver to which was attached a long line.</p> - -<p>He put the life preserver about Nadara. Then he lowered her into the -ocean. The moment he felt her weight transferred from the lowering rope -to the life preserver he vaulted over the yacht's rail into the dark -waters beneath her stern.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIIb" id="CHAPTER_VIIIb">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE WILD MEN</p> - - -<p class="drop">N<span class="uppercase">adara</span> did not regain consciousness until Stark had reached shore -and was dragging her out upon the beach above the surf. For several -minutes after she had opened her eyes she had difficulty in recalling -the events that had immediately preceded Stark's attack upon her. She -felt the life belt still about her, and as Stark stooped above her to -remove it she knew that it was he though she could not distinguish his -features.</p> - -<p>What had happened? Slowly a realization of the man's bold act forced -itself upon her—he had leaped overboard from the <i>Priscilla</i> and swam -ashore with her rather than face the consequences of his brutal conduct -toward her.</p> - -<p>To a girl reared within the protective influences of civilization -Nadara's position would have seemed hopeless; but Nadara knew naught -of other protection than that afforded by her own quick wits and -the agility of her swift young muscles. To her it would have seemed -infinitely more appalling to have been confined within the narrow -limits of the yacht with this man, for there all was strange and new. -She still had half feared and mistrusted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> all aboard the <i>Priscilla</i> -except Thandar's father and Captain Burlinghame; but would they have -protected her from Stark? She did not know. Among her own people only -a father, brother, or mate protected a woman from one who sought her -against her will, and of these she had none upon the little vessel.</p> - -<p>But now it was different. Intuitively she knew that upon a savage -shore, however strange and unfamiliar it might be, she would have -every advantage over the first officer of the <i>Priscilla</i>. His life -had been spent close to the haunts of civilization; he knew nothing -of the woodcraft that was second nature to her; he might perish in -a land of plenty through ignorance of where to search for food, and -of what was edible and what was not. This much her early experience -with Waldo Emerson had taught her. When their paths first had crossed -Waldo had been as ignorant as a new-born babe in the craft of life -primeval—Nadara had had to teach him everything.</p> - -<p>Behind them Nadara heard the gentle soughing of trees—the myriad -noises of the teeming jungle night—and she smiled. It was inky black -about them. Stark had removed the life belt and placed it beneath the -girl's head. He thought her still unconscious—perhaps dead. Now he was -wringing the water from his clothes; his back toward her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nadara rose to her feet—noiseless as Nagoola. Like a shadow she melted -into the blackness of the jungle that fringed the shore. Careful and -alert, she picked her way within the tangled mass for a few yards. At -the hole of a large tree she halted, listening. Then she made a low, -weird sound with her lips, listening again for a moment after. This -she repeated thrice, and then, seemingly satisfied that no danger -lurked above she swung herself into the low-hanging branches, quickly -ascending until she found a comfortable seat where she might rest in -ease.</p> - -<p>Down upon the beach Stark, having wrung the surplus water from his -garments, turned to examine and revive the girl, if she still lived. -Even in the darkness her form had been plainly visible against the -yellow sand, but now she was not there. Stark was dumfounded. His -eyes leaped quickly from one point to another, yet nowhere could they -discover the girl. There was the beach, the sea and the jungle. Which -had she chosen for her flight? It did not take Stark long to guess, and -immediately he turned his steps toward the shapeless, gloomy mass that -marked the forest's fringe.</p> - -<p>As he approached he went more slowly. The thought of entering that -forbidding wood sent cold shivers creeping through him. Could a mere -girl have dared its nameless horrors? She must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> have, and with the -decision came new resolution. What a girl had dared certainly he might -dare. Again he strode briskly toward the jungle.</p> - -<p>Just at its verge he heard a low, weird sound not a dozen paces -within the black, hideous tangle. It was Nadara voicing the two notes -which some ancient forbear of her tribe had discovered would wring -an answering growl from Nagoola, and an uneasy hiss from that other -arch enemy of man—the great, slimy serpent whose sinuous coils twined -threateningly above them in the branches of the trees. Only these -Nadara feared—these and man. So, before entering a tree at night it -was her custom to assure herself that neither Nagoola nor Coovra lurked -in the branches of the tree she had chosen for sanctuary. Stark beat -a hasty retreat, nor did he again venture from the beach during the -balance of the long, dismal night.</p> - -<p>When dawn broke it found Nadara much refreshed by the sleep she had -enjoyed within the comparative safety of the great tree, and Stark -haggard and exhausted by a sleepless night of terror and regret. He -cursed himself, the girl and his bestial passion, and then as his -thoughts conjured her lovely face and perfect figure before his mind's -eye, he leaped to his feet and swung briskly toward the jungle. He -would find her. All that he had sacrificed should not be in vain. He -would find her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> and keep her. Together they would make a home upon this -tropical shore. He would get everything out of life that there was to -get.</p> - -<p>He had taken but a few steps before he discovered, plain in the damp -sand before him, the prints of Nadara's naked feet in a well defined -trail leading toward the wood. With a smile of satisfaction and victory -the man followed it into the maze of vegetation, dank and gloomy even -beneath the warm light of the morning sun.</p> - -<p>By chance he stumbled directly upon Nadara. She had descended from her -tree to search for water. They saw each other simultaneously. The girl -turned and fled farther into the forest. Close behind her came the man. -For several hundred yards the chase led through the thick jungle which -terminated abruptly at the edge of a narrow, rock-covered clearing -beyond which loomed sheer, precipitous cliffs, raising their lofty -heads three hundred feet above the forest.</p> - -<p>A half smile touched Stark's lips as he saw the barrier that nature -had placed in the path of his quarry; but almost instantly it froze -into an expression of horror as a slight noise to his right attracted -his attention from the girl fleeing before him. For an instant he -stood bewildered, then a quick glance toward the girl revealed her -scaling the steep cliff with the agility, of a monkey, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> with a cry -to attract her attention he leaped after her once more, but this time -himself the quarry—the hunter become the hunted, for after him raced a -score of painted savages, brandishing long, slim spears, or waving keen -edged parangs.</p> - -<p>Nadara had not needed Stark's warning cry to apprise her of the -proximity of the wild men. She had seen them the instant that she -cleared the jungle, and with the sight of them she knew that she need -no longer harbor fear of the white man. In them, though, she saw a -graver danger for herself, since they, doubtless, would have little -difficulty in overhauling her in their own haunts, while she had not -had much cause for worry as to her ability to elude the white man -indefinitely.</p> - -<p>Part way up the cliffs she paused to look back. Stark had reached the -foot of the lowering escarpment a short distance ahead of his pursuers. -He had chosen this route because of the ease with which the girl had -clambered up the rocky barrier, but he had reckoned without taking -into consideration the lifetime of practice which lay back of Nadara's -agility. From earliest infancy she had lived upon the face and within -the caves of steep cliffs. Her first toddling, baby footsteps had been -along the edge of narrow shelving ledges.</p> - -<p>When the man reached the cliff, however, he found confronting him an -apparently unscalable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> wall. He cast a frightened, appealing glance -at the girl far above him. Twice he essayed to scramble out of reach -of the advancing savages, whose tattooed faces, pendulous slit ears, -and sharp filed, blackened teeth lent to them a more horrid aspect -than even that imparted by their murderous weapons or warlike whoops -and actions. Each time he slipped back, clutching frantically at -rocky projections and such hardy vegetation as had found foothold in -the crevices of the granite. His hands were torn and bleeding, his -face scratched and his clothing rent. And now the savages were upon -him. They had seen that he was unarmed. No need as yet for spear or -parang—they would take him alive.</p> - -<p>And the girl. They had watched her in amazement as she clambered -swiftly up the steep ascent. With all their primitive accomplishments -this was beyond even them. They were a forest people and a river -people. They dwelt in thatched houses raised high upon long piles. They -knew little or nothing of the arts of the cliff dwellers. To them the -feat of this strange, white girl was little short of miraculous.</p> - -<p>Nadara saw them seize roughly upon the terror-stricken Stark. She saw -them bind his hands behind his back, and then she saw them turn their -attention once more toward herself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> - -<p>Three of the warriors attempted to scale the cliff after her. -Slowly they ascended. She smiled at their manifest fear and their -awkwardness—she need have no fear of these, they never could reach -her. She permitted them to approach within a dozen feet of her and -then, loosening a bit of the crumbling granite, she hurled it full at -the head of the foremost. With a yell of pain and terror he toppled -backward upon those below him, the three tumbling, screaming and pawing -to the rocks at the base of the cliff.</p> - -<p>None of them was killed, though all were badly bruised, and he who had -received her missile bled profusely from a wound upon his forehead. -Their fellows laughed at them—it was scant comfort they received -for being bested by a girl. Then they withdrew a short distance, and -squatting in a circle commenced a lengthy palaver. Their repeated -gestures in her direction convinced Nadara that she was the subject of -their debate.</p> - -<p>Presently one of their number arose and approached the foot of the -cliff. There he harangued the girl for several minutes. When he was -done he awaited, evidently for a reply from her; but as Nadara had not -been able to understand a word of the fellow's language she could but -shake her head.</p> - -<p>The spokesman returned to his fellows and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> once again a lengthy council -was held. During it Nadara climbed farther aloft, that she might be -out of range of the slender spears. Upon a narrow ledge she halted, -gathering about her such loose bits of rock as she could dislodge from -the face of the cliff—she would be prepared for a sudden onslaught, -nor for a moment did she doubt the outcome of the battle. She felt -that but for the lack of food and water she could hold this cliff face -forever against innumerable savages—could they climb no better than -these.</p> - -<p>But the wild men did not again attempt to storm her citadel. Instead -they leaped suddenly from their council, and without a glance toward -her disappeared in the forest, taking their prisoner with them. Out of -sight of the girl, they stationed two of their number just within the -screening verdure to capture the girl should she descend. The others -hastened parallel with the cliff until a sudden turn inland took them -to a point from which they could again emerge into the clearing out of -the sight of Nadara.</p> - -<p>Here they took immediately to a well-worn path that led back and forth -upward across the face of the cliff. Stark was dragged and prodded -forward with them in their ascent. Sharp spears and the points of keen -parangs, urged him to haste. By the time the party reached the summit -the white man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> was bleeding from a score of superficial wounds.</p> - -<p>Now the party turned back along the top of the bluff in the direction -from which they had come.</p> - -<p>Nadara, unable to fathom their reason for having abandoned the attempt -to capture her, was, however, not lulled into any feeling of false -security. She knew the cliff was the safest place for her, and yet the -pangs of thirst and hunger warned her that she must soon leave it to -seek sustenance. She was about to descend to the jungle below in search -of food and water, when the faintest of movements of the earth sweeping -creepers depending from a giant buttress tree below her and just within -the verge of the forest arrested her acute attention. She knew that the -movement had been caused by some animal beneath the tree, and finally, -as she watched intently for a moment or two, she descried through an -opening in the wall of verdure the long feathers of an Argus pheasant -with which the war caps of the savages had been adorned.</p> - -<p>Though she knew now that she was watched, she also knew that she could -reach the top of the cliff and possibly find both food and drink, if -it chanced to be near, before the savages could overtake her. Then she -must depend upon her wits and her speed to regain the safety of the -cliff ahead of them. That they would attempt to scale the barrier at -the same point at which she had climbed it she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> doubted, for she had -seen that they were comparatively unaccustomed to this sort of going, -and so she guessed that if they followed her upward at all it would be -by means of some beaten trail of which they had knowledge.</p> - -<p>And so Nadara scaled the heights, passing over and around obstacles -that would have blanched the cheek of the hardiest mountain climber, -with the ease and speed of the chamois. At the summit she found an -open, park-like forest, and into this she plunged, running forward in -quest of food and drink. A few familiar fruits and nuts assuaged the -keenest pangs of hunger, but nowhere could she find water or signs of -water.</p> - -<p>She had traveled for almost a mile, directly inland from the coast, -when she stumbled, purely by chance, upon a little spring hidden in -a leafy bower. The cool, clear water refreshed her, imparting to her -new life and energy. After drinking her fill she sought some means of -carrying a little supply of the priceless liquid back to her cliff -side refuge, but though she searched diligently she could discover no -growing thing which might be transformed into a vessel.</p> - -<p>There was nothing for it then other than to return without the water, -trusting to her wits to find the means of eluding the savages from time -to time as it became necessary for her to quench her thirst.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> Later, -she was sure, she should discover some form of gourd, or the bladder of -an animal in which she could hoard a few precious drops.</p> - -<p>Her woodcraft, combined with her almost uncanny sense of direction, -led her directly back to the spot at which she had topped the cliff. -There was no sign of the savages. She breathed a sigh of relief as she -stepped to the edge of the forest, and then, all about her, from behind -trees and bushes, rose the main body of the wild men. With shouts of -savage glee they leaped upon her. There was no chance for flight—in -every direction brutal faces and murderous weapons barred her way.</p> - -<p>With greater consideration than she had looked forward to they signaled -her to accompany them. Stark was with them. To him slight humanity was -shown. If he lagged, a spear point, already red with his blood, urged -him to greater speed; but to the girl no cruelty nor indignity was -shown.</p> - -<p>In single file, the prisoners in the center of the column, the party -made its way inland. All day they marched, until Stark, unused to this -form of exertion, staggered and fell a dozen times in each mile.</p> - -<p>Nadara could almost have found it in her heart to be sorry for him, had -it not been for the fact that she realized all too keenly that but for -his own bestial brutality neither of them need have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> there to be -subjected to the present torture, and to be tortured by anticipation of -the horrors to come.</p> - -<p>To the girl it seemed that her fate must be a thousand fold more -terrible than the mere death the man was to suffer, for that these -degraded savages would let him live seemed beyond the pale of reason. -She prayed to the God of which her Thandar had taught her for a quick -and merciful death, yet while she prayed she well knew that no such -boon could be expected.</p> - -<p>She compared her captors with Korth and Flatfoot, with Big Fist and -Thurg, nor did she look for greater compassion in them than in the men -she had known best.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon it became evident that Stark could proceed no -farther unless the savages carried him. That they had any intention of -so doing was soon disproved. The first officer of the <i>Priscilla</i> had -fallen for the twentieth time. A dozen vicious spear thrusts had failed -to bring him, staggering and tottering, to his feet as in the past.</p> - -<p>The chief of the party approached the fallen white, kicking him in the -sides and face, and at last pricking him with the sharp point of his -parang. Stark but lay an inert mass of suffering flesh, and groaned. -The chief grew angry. He grasped the white man around the body and -raised him to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> feet, but the moment that he released him Stark fell -to earth once more.</p> - -<p>At last the warrior could evidently control his rage no further. With -a savage whoop he swung his parang aloft, bringing it down full upon -the neck of the prostrate white. The head, grinning horribly, rolled to -Nadara's feet. She looked at it, lying there staring up at her out of -its blank and sightless eyes, without the slightest trace of emotion.</p> - -<p>Nadara, the cave girl, was accustomed to death in all its most horrible -and sudden forms. She saw before her but the head of an enemy. It was -nothing to her—Stark had only himself to thank.</p> - -<p>The chief gathered the severed head into a bit of bark cloth, and -fastening it to the end of his spear, signaled his followers to resume -the journey.</p> - -<p>On and on they went, farther into the interior, and with them went -Nadara, borne to what nameless fate she could but guess.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IXb" id="CHAPTER_IXb">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> - -<p class="center">BUILDING THE BOAT</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">wo</span> days after the earthquake that had saved Nadara from Thurg and -wiped out the people of the girl's tribe, a man moved feebly beneath -the tumbled debris from the roof top of his clogged tavern. It was -Thandar. The tons of rock that had toppled from above and buried -the entrance to his cave had passed him by unscathed, while the few -pounds shaken from the ceiling had stunned him into a long enduring -insensibility.</p> - -<p>Slowly he regained consciousness, but it was a long time before he -could marshal his faculties to even a slight appreciation of the -catastrophe that had overwhelmed him. Then his first thought was of -Nadara. He crawled to what had once been the entrance of his cave. He -had not as yet linked the darkness to its real cause—he thought it -night. It had been night when he closed his eyes. How could he guess -that that had been three nights before, or all the cruel blows that -fate had struck him since he slept!</p> - -<p>At the opening from the cave he met his first surprise and setback—the -way was blocked! What was the meaning of it? He tugged and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> pushed -weakly upon the mass that barred him from escape. Who had imprisoned -him? He recalled the vivid dream in which he had seen Nadara stolen -away by Thurg. The recollection sent him frantically at the pile of -shattered rock and loose debris which choked the doorway.</p> - -<p>To his chagrin he found himself too weak to direct any long sustained -effort against the obstacle. It occurred to him that he must have been -injured. Whoever imprisoned him must first have beaten him. He felt of -his head. Yes, there was a great gash, but his touch told him that it -was not a new one. How long, then, had he been imprisoned? As he sat -pondering this thing he became aware of the gnawing of hunger and the -craving of thirst within his slowly awakening body. The sensations were -almost painful. So much so that they forced him to a realization of the -fact that he must have been without food or water for a considerable -time.</p> - -<p>Again he assailed the mass that held him prisoner, and as he burrowed -slowly into it the truth dawned upon him. He recalled the rumblings of -the Great Nagoola that had frightened Nadara the night of the council. -A terrific quake had done this thing. Thandar shuddered as he thought -of Nadara. Was she, too, imprisoned in her cave, or had the worst -happened her? Frantically, now, he tore at the close-packed rubble. But -he soon discov<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>ered that not in ill-directed haste lay his means of -escape. Slowly and carefully, piece by piece he must remove the broken -rock until he had tunnelled through to the outer world.</p> - -<p>Reason told him that he was not deeply buried, for the fact that he -lived and could breathe was sufficient proof that fresh air was finding -its way through the debris, which it could not have done did the stuff -lie before the cave in any considerable thickness.</p> - -<p>Weak as he was he could work but slowly, so that it was several hours -later before he caught the first glimpse of daylight beyond the -obstacle. After that he progressed more rapidly, and presently he -crawled through a small opening to view the wreckage of the shattered -cliff.</p> - -<p>A flock of vultures rose from their hideous feast as the sight of -Thandar disturbed them. The man shuddered as he looked down upon the -grisly things from which they had risen. Forgetting his hunger and his -thirst he scrambled up over the tortured cliff face to where Nadara's -cave had been. Its mouth was buried as his had been. Again he set to -work, but this time it was easier. When at last he had opened a way -within he hesitated for fear of the blighting sorrow that awaited him.</p> - -<p>At last, nerving himself to the ordeal, he crawled within the cave -that had been Nadara's. Groping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> about in the darkness, expecting each -moment to feel the body of his loved one cold in death, he at last -covered the entire floor—there was no body within.</p> - -<p>Hastily he made his way to the face of the cliff again, and then -commenced a horrible and pitiful search among the ghastly remnants of -men and women that lay scattered about among the tumbled rocks. But -even here his search was vain, for the ghoulish scavengers had torn -from their prey every shred of their former likenesses.</p> - -<p>Weak, exhausted, sorrow ridden and broken, Thandar dragged himself -painfully to the little river. Here he quenched his thirst and bathed -his body. After, he sought food, and then he crawled to a hole he knew -of in the river bank, and curling up upon the dead grasses within, -slept the sun around.</p> - -<p>Refreshed and strengthened by his sleep and the food that he had taken -Thandar emerged from his dark warren with renewed hope. Nadara could -not be dead! It was impossible. She must have escaped and be wandering -about the island. He would search for her until he found her. But as -day followed day and still no sign of Nadara, or any other living human -being he became painfully convinced that he alone of the inhabitants of -the island had survived the cataclysm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> - -<p>The thought of living on through a long life without her cast him into -the blackest pit of despair. He reproached heaven for not having taken -him as well, for without Nadara life was not worth the living. With -the passage of time his grief grew more rather than less acute. As it -increased so too increased the horror of his loneliness. The island -became a hated thing—life a mockery. The chances that a vessel would -touch the shore again during his lifetime seemed remote indeed, unless -his father sent out a relief party, but in his despair he did not even -hope for such a contingency.</p> - -<p>He would not take his own life, though the temptation was great, but he -courted death in every form that the savage island owned. He slept out -upon the ground at night. He sought Nagoola in his lair, and armed only -with his light lance he leaped to close quarters with every one of the -great cats he could find.</p> - -<p>The wild boars, often as formidable as Nagoola himself, were hunted -now as they never had been hunted before. Thandar lived high those -days, and many were the panther pelts that lined his new-found cave -in the cliff beside the sea—the same cliff in which Nadara had found -shelter, and from whence she had gone away with the search party from -the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>One day as Thandar was returning from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> beach where he often went -to scan the horizon for a sail, he saw something moving at the foot -of his cliff. Thandar dropped behind a bush, watching. A moment later -the thing moved again, and Thandar saw that it was a man. Instantly he -sprang to his feet and ran forward. The days that he had been without -human companionship had seemed to drag themselves into as many weary -months. Now he had reached the pinnacle of loneliness from which he -would gladly have embraced the devil had he come in human guise.</p> - -<p>Thandar ran noiselessly. He was almost upon the man, a great, hairy -brute, before the fellow was aware of his presence. At first the fellow -turned to run, but when he saw that Thandar was alone he remained to -fight.</p> - -<p>"I am Roof," he cried, "and I can kill you!"</p> - -<p>The familiar primitive greeting no longer raised Thandar's temperature -or filled him with the fire of battle. He wanted companionship now, not -a quarrel.</p> - -<p>"I am Thandar," he replied.</p> - -<p>The slow-witted, hulking brute recognized him, and stepped back a pace. -He was not so keen to fight now that he had learned the identity of -the man who faced him. He had seen Thandar in battle. He had witnessed -Thurg's defeat at the hands of this smooth-skinned stranger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Let us not fight," continued Thandar. "We are alone upon the island. -I have seen no other than you since the Great Nagoola came forth and -destroyed the people. Let us be friends, hunting together in peace. -Otherwise one of us must kill the other and thereafter live always -alone until death releases him from his terrible solitude."</p> - -<p>Roof peered over Thandar's shoulder toward the wood behind him.</p> - -<p>"Are you alone?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes—have I not told you that all were killed but you and I?"</p> - -<p>"All were not killed," replied Roof. "But I will be friends with -Thandar. We will hunt together and cave together. Roof and Thandar are -brothers."</p> - -<p>He stooped, and gathering a handful of grass advanced toward the -American. Thandar did likewise, and when each had taken the peace -offering of the other and rubbed it upon his forehead the ceremony of -friendship was complete—simple but none the less effectual, for each -knew that the other would rather die than disregard the primitive pact.</p> - -<p>"You said that all were not killed, Roof," said Thandar, the ceremony -over. "What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"All were not killed by the Great Nagoola," replied the bad man. "Thurg -was not killed, nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> was she who was Thandar's mate—she whom Thurg -would have stolen."</p> - -<p>"What?" Thandar almost screamed the question. "Nadara not dead?"</p> - -<p>"Look," said Roof, and he led the way to the foot of the cliff. "See!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied Thandar, "I had noticed that body, but what of it?"</p> - -<p>"It was Thurg," explained Roof. "He sought to reach your mate, who had -taken refuge in that cave far above us. Then came some strange men who -made a great noise with sticks and Thurg fell dead—the loud noise had -killed him from a great distance. Then came the strange men and she -whom you call Nadara went away with them."</p> - -<p>"In which direction?" cried Thandar. "Where did they take her?"</p> - -<p>"They took her to the strange cliff in which they dwelt—the one in -which they came. Never saw man such a thing as this cliff. It floated -upon the face of the water. About its face were many tiny caves, but -the people did not come out of these they came from the top of the -cliff, and clambering down the sides floated ashore in hollow things of -wood. On top of the cliff were two trees without leaves, and only very -short, straight branches. When the cliff went away black smoke came out -of it from a short black stump of a tree between the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> two trees. It was -a very wonderful thing to see; but the most wonderful of all were the -noise-sticks that killed Thurg and Nagoola a long way off."</p> - -<p>Not half of Roof's narrative did Thandar hear. Through his brain roared -and thundered a single mighty thought: Nadara lives! Nadara lives! Life -took on a new meaning to him now. He trembled at the thought of the -chances he had been taking. Now, indeed, must he live. He leaped up and -down, laughing and shouting. He threw his arms about the astonished -Roof, whirling the troglodyte about in a mad waltz. Nadara lives! -Nadara lives!</p> - -<p>Once again the sun shone, the birds sang, nature was her old, happy, -carefree self. Nadara was alive and among civilized men. But then came -a doubt.</p> - -<p>"Did Nadara go willingly with these strangers," he asked Roof, "or did -they take her by force?"</p> - -<p>"They did not take her by force," replied Roof. "They talked with her -for a time, and then she took the hand of one of the men in hers, -stroking it, and he placed his arm about her. Afterward they walked -slowly to the edge of the great water where they got into the strange -things that had brought them to the land, and returned to their -floating cliff. Presently the smoke came out, as I have told you, and -the cliff went away toward the edge of the world. But they are all dead -now."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What?" yelled Thandar.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I saw the cliff sink, very slowly when it was a long way off, -until only the smoke was coming out of the water."</p> - -<p>Thandar breathed a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>"Point," he said, "to the place where the cliff sank beneath the water."</p> - -<p>Roof pointed almost due north.</p> - -<p>"There," he said.</p> - -<p>For days Thandar puzzled over the possible identity of the ship and -the men with whom Nadara had gone so willingly. Doubtless some kindly -mariner, hearing her story, had taken her home, away from the terrors -and the loneliness of this unhappy island. And now the man chafed to be -after her, that he might search the world for his lost love.</p> - -<p>To wait for a ship appeared quite impossible to the impatient -Thandar, for he knew that a ship might never come. There was but one -alternative, and had Waldo Emerson been a less impractical man in the -world to which he had been born he would have cast aside that single -alternative as entirely beyond the pale of possibility. But Waldo was -only practical and wise in the savage ways of the primitive life to -which circumstance had forced him to revert. And so he decided upon -as foolhardy and hair-brained a venture as the mind of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> man might -conceive. It was no less a thing than to build a boat and set out upon -the broad Pacific in search of a civilized port or a vessel that might -bear him to such.</p> - -<p>To Waldo it seemed quite practical. He realized of course that the -venture would be fraught with peril, but would it not be better to -die in an attempt to find his Nadara than to live on forever in the -hopelessness of this forgotten land?</p> - -<p>And so he set to work to build a boat. He had no tools but his crude -knife and the razor the sailor of the <i>Sally Corwith</i> had given -him, so it was quite impossible for him to construct a dug-out. The -possibilities that lie in fire did not occur to him. Finally he hit -upon what seemed the only feasible form of construction.</p> - -<p>With his knife he cut long, pliant saplings, and lesser branches. These -he fashioned into the framework of a boat. Roof helped him, keenly -interested in this new work. The ribs were fastened to the keel and -gunwale by thongs of panther skin, and when the framework was completed -panther skins were stretched over it. The edges of the skin were sewn -together with threads of gut, as tightly as Thandar and Roof could pull -them.</p> - -<p>A mast was rigged well forward, and another panther skin from which the -fur had been scraped was fitted as a sail, square rigged. For rudder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> -Thandar fashioned a long, slender sapling, looped at one end, and the -loop covered with skin laced tightly on. This, he figured, would serve -both as rudder and paddle, as necessity demanded.</p> - -<p>At last all was done. Together Thandar and Roof carried the light, -crude skiff to the ocean. They waded out beyond the surf, and upon the -crest of a receding swell they launched the thing, Thandar leaping in -as it floated upon the water.</p> - -<p>The sail was not taken along for this trial. Thandar merely wished to -know that this craft would float, and right side up. For a moment it -did so, until the sea rushing in at the loose seams filled it with -water.</p> - -<p>Thandar and Roof had great difficulty in dragging it out again upon the -beach. Roof now would have given up, but not so Thandar. It is true -that he was slightly disheartened, for he had set great store upon the -success of his little vessel.</p> - -<p>After they had carried the frail thing beyond high tide Thandar sat -down upon the ground and for an hour he did naught but stare at the -leaky craft. Then he arose and calling to Roof led him into the forest. -For a mile they walked, and then Thandar halted before a tree from the -side of which a thick and sticky stream was slowly oozing. Thandar -had brought along a gourd, and now with a small branch he commenced -transferring the mass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> from the side of the tree to the gourd. Roof -helped him. In an hour the gourd was filled. Then they returned to the -skiff.</p> - -<p>Leaving the gourd there Thandar and Roof walked to a clump of heavy -jungle grasses not far from the cliff where their cave lay. Here -Thandar gathered a great armful of the yellow, ripened grass, telling -Roof to do likewise. This they took back to the skiff, where, by -rolling it assiduously between their hands and pounding it with stones -they reduced it to a mass of soft, tough fiber.</p> - -<p>Now Thandar showed Roof how to twist this fiber into a loose, fluffy -rope, and when he had him well started he daubed the rope with the -rubbery fluid he had filched from the tree, and with a sharp stick -tucked it in every seam and crevice of the skiff.</p> - -<p>It took the better part of two days to accomplish this, and when it was -done and the gourd empty, the two men returned to the tree and refilled -it. This time they built a fire upon their return to the skiff, Roof -spinning a hard wood splinter rapidly between toes and fingers in a -little mass of tinder that lay in a hollowed piece of wood. Presently a -thin spiral of smoke arose from the tinder, growing denser for a moment -until of a sudden it broke into flame.</p> - -<p>The men piled twigs and branches upon the blaze until the fire was well -started. Then Thandar tak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>ing a ball of the viscous matter from the -gourd heated it in the flames, immediately daubing the melting mass -upon the outside of the skiff. In this way, slowly and with infinite -patience, the two at last succeeded in coating the entire outer surface -of the canoe with a waterproof substance that might defy the action of -water almost indefinitely.</p> - -<p>For three days Thandar let the coating dry, and then the craft was -given another trial. The man's heart was in his throat as the canoe -floated upon the crest of a great wave and he leaped into it.</p> - -<p>But a moment later he shouted in relief and delight—the thing floated -like a cork, nor was there the slightest leak discernible. For half an -hour Thandar paddled about the harbor, and then he returned for the -sail. This too, though rather heavy and awkward, worked admirably, and -the balance of the day he spent in sailing, even venturing out into the -ocean.</p> - -<p>Much of the time he paddled, for Waldo Emerson knew more of the galleys -of ancient Greece than he did of sails or sailing, so that for the most -part he sailed with the wind, paddling when he wished to travel in -another direction. But, withal, his attempt filled him with delight, -and he could scarce wait to be off toward civilization and Nadara.</p> - -<p>The next two days were spent in collecting food and water, which -Thandar packed in numerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> gourds, sealing the mouths with the rubbery -substance such as he had used to waterproof his craft. The flesh of -wild hog, and deer, and bird he cut in narrow strips and dried over -a slow fire. In this work Roof assisted him, and at last all was in -readiness for the venture.</p> - -<p>The day of his departure dawned bright and clear. A gentle south wind -gave promise of great speed toward the north. Thandar was wild with -hope and excitement. Roof was to accompany him, but at the last moment -the nerve of the troglodyte failed him, and he ran away and hid in the -forest.</p> - -<p>It was just as well, thought Thandar, for now his provisions would last -twice as long. And so he set out upon his perilous adventure, braving -the mighty Pacific in a frail and unseaworthy cockle-shell with all the -assurance and confidence that is ever born of ignorance.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_Xb" id="CHAPTER_Xb">CHAPTER X</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE HEAD-HUNTERS</p> - - -<p class="drop">N<span class="uppercase">ature</span> so far, had been kind to Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones. No high -winds or heavy seas had assailed him, and he had been upon the water -for three days now. The wind had held steadily out of the south, -varying but a few points during this time but even so Waldo Emerson -was commencing to doubt and to worry. His supply of water was running -dangerously low, his food supply would last but a few days longer; and -as yet he had sighted no sail, nor seen any land. Furthermore, he had -not the remotest conception of how he might retrace his way to the -island he had just quitted. He could only sail before the wind. Should -the wind veer around into the north he might, by chance, be blown back -to the island. Otherwise he never could reach it. And he was beginning -to wonder if he had not been a trifle to precipitate in his abandonment -of land.</p> - -<p>In common with most other landsmen, Waldo Emerson had little conception -of the vastness of the broad reaches of unbroken water wildernesses -that roll in desolate immensity over three quarters of the globe. -His recollection of maps pictured the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> calm and level blue dotted, -especially in the south seas, with many islands. Their names, often, -were quite reassuring. He recollected, among others, such as the -Society Islands, the Friendly Islands, Christmas Island. He hoped -that he would land upon one of these. There were so many islands upon -the maps, and they seemed so close together that he was not a little -mystified that he had failed to sight several hundred long before this.</p> - -<p>And ships! It appeared incredible that he should have seen not a -single sail. He distinctly recalled the atlas he had examined prior to -embarking upon his health cruise. The Pacific had been lined in all -directions with the routes of long established steamer lanes, and in -between, Waldo had felt, the ocean must be dotted with the innumerable -tramps that come and go between the countless ports that fringe the -major sea.</p> - -<p>And yet for three days nothing had broken the dull monotony of the vast -circle of which he was always the center and the sole occupant. In -three days, thought Waldo, he must have covered an immense distance.</p> - -<p>And three more days dragged their weary lengths. The wind had died to -the faintest of breezes. The canoe was just making headway and that -was all. The water was gone. The food nearly so. Waldo was suffering -from lack of the former. The piti<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>less sun beating down upon him -increased his agony. He stretched his panther skin across the stern and -hid beneath it from the torrid rays. And there he lay until darkness -brought relief.</p> - -<p>During the night the wind sprang up again, but this time from the -west. It rose and with it rose the sea. The man, clinging to his crude -steering blade, struggled to keep the light craft straight before the -wind which was now howling fearfully while great waves, hungry and wide -jawed, raced after him like a pack of ravenous wolves.</p> - -<p>Thandar knew that the unequal struggle against the mighty forces of the -elements could not endure for long. It seemed that each fierce gust -of brutal wind must tear his frail boat to shreds, and yet it was the -very lightness of the thing that saved it, for it rode upon the crests -of waves, blown forward at terrific velocity like a feather before the -hurricane.</p> - -<p>In Thandar's heart was no terror—only regret that he might never again -see his mother, his father, or his Nadara. Yet the night wore on and -still he fled before the storm. The sky was overcast—the darkness -was impenetrable. He imagined all about him still the same wide, -tenantless circle of water, only now storm torn and perpendicular and -black, instead of peacefully horizontal, and soothingly blue-green. And -then, even as he was think<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>ing this there rose before him a thunderous -booming loud above the frenzied bedlam of the storm, his boat was -lifted high in air to dive headforemost into what might be a bottomless -abyss for all Thandar knew. But it was not bottomless. The canoe struck -something and stopped suddenly, pitching Thandar out into a boiling -maelstrom. A great wave picked him up, carrying him with race-horse -velocity within its crest. He felt himself hurled pitilessly upon -smooth, hard sand. The water tried to drag him back, but he fought with -toes and fingers, clutching at the surface of the stuff upon which he -had been dropped. Then the wave abandoned him and raced swiftly back -into the sea.</p> - -<p>Thandar was exhausted, but he knew that he must crawl up out of the -way of the surf, or be dragged back by the next roller. What he had -searched for in vain through six long days he had run down in the -midst of a Stygian night. He had found land! Or, to be more explicit, -land had got in front of him and he had run into it. He had commenced -to wonder if some terrible convulsion of nature had not swallowed up -all the land in the world, leaving only a waste of desolate water. He -forgot his hunger and his thirst in the happiness of the knowledge that -once more he was upon land. He wondered a little what land it might be. -He hoped that dawn would reveal the chimneys and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> steeples of a nearby -city. And then, exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep.</p> - -<p>It was the sun shining down into his upturned face that awoke him. He -was lying upon his back beside a clump of bushes a little way above the -beach. He was about to rise and survey the new world into which fate -and a hurricane had hurled him when he heard a familiar sound upon the -opposite side of his bush. It was the movement of an animal creeping -through long grass.</p> - -<p>Thandar, the cave man, came noiselessly to his hands and knees, peering -cautiously through the intervening network of branches. What he saw -sent his hand groping for his wooden sword with its fire-hardened -point. There, not five paces from him, was a man going cautiously upon -all fours. It was the most horrible appearing man that Thandar had ever -seen—even Thurg appeared lovely by comparison. The creature's ears -were split and heavy ornaments had dragged them down until the lobes -rested upon its shoulders. The face was terribly marked with cicatrices -and tattooing. The teeth were black and pointed. A head-dress of long -feathers waved and nodded above the hideous face. There was much -tattooing upon the arms and legs and abdomen; the breasts were circled -with it. In a belt about the waist lay a sword in its scabbard. In the -man's hand was a long spear.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> - -<p>The warrior was creeping stealthily upon something at Thandar's left. -The latter looked in the direction the other's savage gaze was bent. -Through the bushes he could barely discern a figure moving toward them -along the edge of the beach. The warrior had passed him now and Thandar -stood erect the better to obtain a view of the fellow's quarry.</p> - -<p>Now he saw it plainly—a man strangely garbed in many colors. A -yellow jacket, soiled and torn, covered the upper part of his body. -Strange designs, very elaborate, were embroidered upon the garment -which reached barely to the fellow's waist. Beneath was a red sash in -which were stuck a long pistol and a wicked-looking knife. Baggy blue -trousers reached to the bare ankles and feet. A strip of crimson cloth -wound around the head completed the strange garmenture. The features of -the man were Mongolian.</p> - -<p>Thandar could see the warrior pause as it became evident that the other -was approaching directly toward his place of concealment, but at the -last moment the unconscious quarry turned sharply to his right down -upon the beach. He had discovered the wreck of Thandar's canoe and was -going to investigate it.</p> - -<p>The move placed Thandar almost between the two. Suddenly the native -rose to his feet—his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> victim's back was toward him. Grasping his -spear in his left hand he drew his wicked-looking sword and emerged -cautiously from the bushes. At the same moment the man upon the beach -wheeled quickly as though suddenly warned of his danger. The native, -discovered, leaped forward with raised sword. The man snatched his -pistol from his belt, levelled it at the on-rushing warrior and pulled -the trigger. There was a futile click—that was all. The weapon had -missed fire.</p> - -<p>Instantly a third element was projected into the fray. Thandar, seeing -a more direct link with civilization in the strangely apparelled Mongol -than in the naked savage, leaped to the assistance of the former. With -drawn sword he rushed out upon the savage. The wild man turned at -Thandar's cry, which he had given to divert the fellow's attention from -his now almost helpless victim.</p> - -<p>Thandar knew nothing of the finer points of sword play. He was ignorant -of the wickedness of a Malay parang—the keen, curved sword of the -head-hunter, so he rushed in upon the savage as he would have upon one -of Thurg's near-men.</p> - -<p>The very impetuosity of his attack awed the native. For a moment he -stood his ground, and then, with a cry of terror turned to flee; but he -had failed to turn soon enough. Thandar was upon him. The sharp point -entered his back beneath the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> left shoulder blade, and behind it were -the weight and sinews of the cave man. With a shriek the savage lunged -forward, clutching at the cruel point that now protruded from his -breast. When he touched the earth he was dead.</p> - -<p>Thandar drew his sword from the body of the head-hunter, and turned -toward the man he had rescued. The latter was approaching, talking -excitedly. It was evident that he was thanking Thandar, but no word of -his strange tongue could the American understand. Thandar shook his -head to indicate that he was unfamiliar with the other's language, and -then the latter dropped into pidgin English, which, while almost as -unintelligible to the cultured Bostonian, still contained the battered -remnants of some few words with which he was familiar.</p> - -<p>Thandar depreciated his act by means of gestures, immediately following -these with signs to indicate that he was hungry and thirsty. The -stranger evidently understood him, for he motioned him to follow, -leading the way back along the beach in the direction from which he had -come.</p> - -<p>Before starting, however, he had pointed toward the wreck of Thandar's -canoe and then toward Thandar, nodding his head questioningly as to ask -if the boat belonged to the cave man.</p> - -<p>Around the end of a promontory they came upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> a little cove beside -the beach of which Thandar saw a camp of nearly a score of men similar -in appearance to his guide. These were preparing breakfast beside the -partially completed hull of a rather large boat they seemed to have -been building.</p> - -<p>At sight of Thandar they looked their astonishment, but after hearing -the story of their fellow they greeted the cave man warmly, furnishing -him with food and water in abundance.</p> - -<p>For three days Thandar worked with these men upon their craft, picking -up their story slowly with a slow acquirement of a bowing acquaintance -with the bastard tongue they used when speaking with him. He soon -became aware of the fact that fate had thrown him among a band of -pirates. There were Chinese, Japanese and Malays among them—the -off-scourings of the south seas; men who had become discredited even -among the villainous pirates of their own lands, and had been forced -to join their lots in this remoter and less lucrative field, under an -unhung ruffian, Tsao Ming, the Chinaman whose life Thandar had saved.</p> - -<p>He also learned that the storm that had cast them upon this shore -nearly a month before had demolished their prahu, and what with the -building of another and numerous skirmishes with the savages they had -had a busy time of it.</p> - -<p>Only yesterday while a party of them had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> hunting a mile or -two inland they had been attacked by savages who had killed two and -captured one of their number.</p> - -<p>They told Thandar that these savages were the most ferocious of -head-hunters, but like the majority of their kind preferred ambushing -an unwary victim to meeting him in fair fight in the open. Thandar did -not doubt but that the latter mode of warfare would have been entirely -to the liking of his piratical friends, for never in his life had he -dreamed, even, of so ferocious and warlike a band as was comprised in -this villainous and bloodthirsty aggregation. But the constant nervous -tension under which they had worked, never knowing at what instant an -arrow or a lance would leap from the shades of the jungle to pierce -them in the back, had reduced them to a state of fear that only a -speedy departure from the island could conquer.</p> - -<p>Their boat was almost completed, two more days would see them safely -launched upon the ocean, and Tsao Ming had promised Thandar that he -would carry him to a civilized port from which he could take a steamer -on his return to America.</p> - -<p>Late in the afternoon of the third day since his arrival among the -pirates the men were suddenly startled by the appearance of an -exhausted and blood smeared apparition amongst them. From the nearby -jungle the man had staggered to fall when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> half-way across the -clearing, spent.</p> - -<p>It was Boloon—he who had been captured by the head-hunters the day -before Thandar had been cast upon the shore. Revived with food and -water the fellow told a most extraordinary tale. From the meager scraps -that were afterward translated into pidgin English for Thandar the -Bostonian learned that Boloon had been dragged far inland to a village -of considerable size.</p> - -<p>Here he had been placed in a room of one of the long houses to await -the pleasure of the chief. It was hinted that he was to be tortured -before his head was removed to grace the rafters of the chief's palace.</p> - -<p>The remarkable portion of his tale related to a strange temple to which -he had been dragged and thrown at the feet of a white goddess. Tsao -Ming and the other pirates were much mystified by this part of the -story, for Boloon insisted that the goddess was white with a mass of -black hair, and that her body was covered by the pelt of a magnificent -black panther.</p> - -<p>Though Tsao Ming pointed out that there were no panthers upon this -island Boloon could not be shaken. He had seen with his own eyes, and -he knew. Furthermore, he argued, there were no white goddesses upon the -island, and yet the woman he had seen was white.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> - -<p>When this strange tale was retold to Thandar he could not but recall -that Nadara had worn a black panther skin, but of course it could -not be Nadara—that was impossible. But yet he asked for a further -description of the goddess—the color of her eyes and hair—the -proportions of her body—her height.</p> - -<p>To all these questions Boloon gave replies that but caused Thandar's -excitement to wax stronger. And then came the final statement that set -him in a frenzy of hope and apprehension.</p> - -<p>"Upon her left hand was a great diamond," said Boloon.</p> - -<p>Thandar turned toward Tsao Ming.</p> - -<p>"I go inland to the temple," he said, "to see who this white goddess -may be. If you wait two days for me and I return you shall have as much -gold as you ask in payment. If you do not wait repair my canoe and hide -it in the bushes where the man hid who would have killed you but for -Thandar."</p> - -<p>"I shall wait three days," replied Tsao Ming. "Nor will I take a single -<i>fun</i> in pay. You saved the life of Tsao Ming—that is not soon to be -forgotten. I would send men with you, but they would not go. They are -afraid of the head-hunters. Too, will I repair your canoe against your -coming after the third day; but," and he shrugged, "you will not come -upon the third day, nor upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> the fourth, nor ever, Thandar. It is -better that you forget the foolish, story of the frightened Boloon and -come away from this accursed land with Tsao Ming."</p> - -<p>But Thandar would not relinquish his intention, and so he parted with -the pirates after receiving from Boloon explicit directions for his -journey toward the mysterious temple and the white goddess who might be -Nadara; and yet who could not be.</p> - -<p>Straight into the tangled jungle he plunged, carrying the spear and the -parang of the head-hunter he had killed, and in the string about his -loins one of the long pistols of a dead pirate. This latter Tsao Ming -had forced upon him with a supply of ammunition.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIb" id="CHAPTER_XIb">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> - -<p class="center">THE RESCUE</p> - - -<p class="drop">I<span class="uppercase">t was</span> dusk of the second day when Thandar, following the directions -given him by Boloon, came to the edge of the little clearing within -which rose the dingy outlines of many long houses raised upon piles. -Before the village ran a river. Many times had Thandar crossed and -recrossed this stream, for he had become lost twice upon the way and -had to return part way each time to pick up his trail.</p> - -<p>In the center of the village the man could see the outlines of a -loftier structure rearing its head above those of the others. As -darkness fell Thandar crept closer toward his goal—the large building -which Boloon had described as the temple.</p> - -<p>Beneath the high raised houses the cave man crept, disturbing pigs and -chickens as he went, but their noise was no uncommon thing, and rather -than being a menace to his safety it safeguarded him, for it hid the -noise of his own advance.</p> - -<p>At last he came beneath a house nearest the temple. The moon was full -and high. Her brilliant light flooded the open spaces between the -buildings, casting into black darkness the shadows be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>neath. In one of -these Thandar lurked. He saw that the temple was guarded. Before its -only entrance squatted two warriors. How was he to pass them?</p> - -<p>He moved to the end of the shadow of the house beneath which he spied -as far from the guards as possible; but still discovery seemed certain -were he to attempt to rush across the intervening space. He was at a -loss as to what next to do. It seemed foolish to risk all now upon a -bold advance—the time for such a risk would be when he had found the -goddess and learned if she were Nadara, or another; but how might he -cross that strip of moonlight and enter the temple past the two guards, -without risk?</p> - -<p>He moved silently to the far end of the building, in the shadows of -which he watched. For some time he stood looking across at his goal, so -near, and yet seemingly infinitely farther from attainment than the day -he had left the coast in search of it. He noted the long poles stuck -into the ground at irregular intervals about the structure. He wondered -at the significance of the rude carving upon them, of the barbaric -capitals sometimes topped by the head-dress of a savage warrior, again -by a dried and grinning skull, or perhaps the rudely chiseled likeness -of a hideous human face.</p> - -<p>Upon many of the poles were hung shields,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> weapons, clothing and -earthenware vessels. One especially was so weighted down by its -heterogeneous burden that it leaned drunkenly against the eaves of -the temple. Thandar's eye followed it upward to where it touched the -crudely shingled roof. The suggestion was sufficient—where his eye -had climbed he would climb. There was only the moonlight to make the -attempt perilous. If the clouds would but come! But there was no -indication of clouds in the star shot sky.</p> - -<p>He looked toward the guards. They lolled at the opposite end of the -temple, only one of them being visible. The other was hidden by the -angle of the building. The back of the fellow whom Thandar could see -was turned toward the cave man. If they remained thus for a moment -he could reach the roof unnoticed. But then there was the danger of -discovery from one of the other buildings. An occasional whiff of -tobacco smoke told him that some of the men were still awake upon the -verandahs where most of the youths and bachelors slept.</p> - -<p>Thandar crawled to where he could see the only verandah which directly -faced the portion of the temple he had chosen for his attempted -entrance. For an hour he watched the rising and falling glow of the -cigarettes of two of the native men, and listened to the low hum of -their conversation. The hour seemed to drag into an eternity, but at -last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> the glowing butt of first one cigarette and then another was -flicked over into the grass and silence reigned upon the verandah.</p> - -<p>For half an hour longer Thandar waited. The guards before the temple -still squatted as before. The one Thandar could see seemed to have -fallen asleep, for his head drooped forward upon his breast.</p> - -<p>The time had come. There was no need of further delay or -reconnaisance—if he was to be discovered that would be the end of it, -and it would not profit him one iota to know a second or so in advance -of the alarm that he had been detected. So he did not waste time in -stealthy advance, or in much looking this way and that. Instead he -moved swiftly, though silently, directly across the open, moonlit space -to the foot of the leaning pole. He did not cast a glance behind nor to -the right nor left. His whole attention was riveted upon the thing in -hand.</p> - -<p>Thandar had scaled the rickety, toppling saplings of the cliff dwellers -for so long that this pole offered no greater difficulties to him than -would an ordinary staircase to you or me. First he tested it with eyes -and hands to know that it rested securely at the top and that beneath -his weight it would not move noisily out of its present position.</p> - -<p>Assured that it seemed secure, Thandar ran up it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> with the noiseless -celerity of a cat. Gingerly he stepped upon the roof, not knowing the -manner of its construction, which might be weak thatching that would -give beneath him and precipitate him into the interior beneath.</p> - -<p>To his surprise and consternation he found that the roof was of wood, -and quite as solid as one could imagine. It had been his plan to enter -the temple from above, but now it seemed that he was to be thwarted, -for he could not hope to cut silently through a wooden roof with his -parang in the few hours that intervened before dawn.</p> - -<p>He stooped to examine the roof minutely with eyes and fingers. The -moonlight was brilliant. In it he could see quite well. He pulled -away the thin palm frond thatch. Beneath were shingles hand hewn from -billian. In each was a small square hole through which was passed a -strip of rattan that bound the shingle to the frame of the roof.</p> - -<p>Thandar lifted away the thatching over a little space some two feet -square. Then he inserted the point of his keen parang beneath a rattan -tie string, and an instant later had lifted aside a shingle. Another -and another followed the first until an opening in the roof had been -made large enough to easily admit his body.</p> - -<p>Thandar leaned over and peered into the darkness beneath. He could see -nothing. His own body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> was between the moon and the hole in the roof, -shutting out the rays of the satellite from the interior.</p> - -<p>The man lowered his legs cautiously over the edge of the hole. Feeling -about, his feet came in contact with a rafter. A moment later his whole -body had disappeared within the temple. Clinging to the edge of the -hole with one hand, Thandar squatted upon the rafter above the temple -floor.</p> - -<p>Now that his body no longer clogged the aperture in the roof the -moonlight poured through it throwing a brilliant flood upon a portion -of the floor at the opposite side of the interior. The balance was -feebly lighted by the diffused moonlight.</p> - -<p>The temple seemed to consist of a single large room. In the center was -a raised platform, and also about the walls. From the rafters hung -baskets containing human skulls—one swung directly in the moonlight -beneath Thandar. He could see its grisly contents plainly.</p> - -<p>His eyes followed the moonlight toward the area which it touched upon -the far side of the room. It reminded Waldo Emerson of a spot light -thrown from the gallery of a theater upon the stage.</p> - -<p>Directly in the center of the light a woman lay asleep upon the -platform. Thandar's heart stood still. About her figure was wrapped the -glossy hide of Nagoola. Over one bare, brown arm billowed a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> wealth -of thick, black hair, fine as silk, upon the third finger of the left -hand blazed a large solitaire. The woman's face was turned toward the -wall—but Thandar knew that he could not be mistaken—it was Nadara.</p> - -<p>From the rafter upon which he squatted to the floor below was not over -twelve or fifteen feet. Thandar swung downward, clinging to the rafter -with his hands, and dropped, cat-like, upon his naked feet to the floor -below.</p> - -<p>The almost noiseless descent was sufficient, however, to awaken the -sleeper. With the quickness of a panther she swung around and was -upon her feet facing the man almost at the instant he alighted. The -moonlight was now full upon her face. Thandar rushed forward to take -her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Nadara!" he whispered. "Thank God!"</p> - -<p>The girl shrank back. She recognized the voice and the figure; but—her -Thandar was dead! How could it be that he had returned from death? She -was frightened.</p> - -<p>The man saw the evident terror of her action, and paused.</p> - -<p>"What is the matter, Nadara?" he asked. "Don't you know me? Don't you -know Thandar?"</p> - -<p>"Thandar is dead," she whispered.</p> - -<p>The man laughed. In a few words he explained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> that he had been stunned, -but not killed, by the earthquake. Then he came to her side and took -her in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Do I feel like a dead man?" he asked.</p> - -<p>She put her arms about his neck and drew his face down to hers. She was -sobbing. Thandar's back was toward the doorway of the temple. Nadara -was facing it. As she raised her eyes to his again her face went deadly -white, and she dragged and pushed him suddenly cut of the brilliant -patch of moonlight.</p> - -<p>"The guard!" she whispered. "I just saw something move beyond the door."</p> - -<p>Thandar stepped behind one of the tree trunks that supported the roof, -looking toward the entrance. Yes, there was a man even now coming into -the temple. His eyes were wide with surprise as he glanced upward -toward the hole in the roof. Then he looked in the direction of the -platform upon which Nadara had been sleeping. When he saw that it was -empty he ran back to the doorway and called his companion.</p> - -<p>As he did so Thandar grasped Nadara's hand and drew her around the -opposite side of the temple where the shadows were blackest, toward the -doorway. They had reached the end of the room when the two warriors -came running in, jabbering excitedly. One of them had passed half-way -across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> the temple, and Thandar and Nadara had almost reached the door -when the second savage caught sight of them. With a cry of warning to -his companion he turned upon them with drawn parang.</p> - -<p>As the fellow rushed forward Thandar drew the pistol the pirates had -given him and fired point blank at the fellow's breast. With a howl the -man staggered back and collapsed upon the floor. Then his fellow rushed -to the attack.</p> - -<p>Thandar had no time to reload. He handed the weapon to Nadara.</p> - -<p>"In the pouch at my right side are cartridges," he said. "Get out -several of them, and when I can I will reload."</p> - -<p>As he spoke they had been edging toward the doorway. From the street -beyond they could already hear excited voices raised in questioning. -The shot had aroused the village.</p> - -<p>Now the fellow with the parang was upon them. Thandar was clumsy with -the unaccustomed weapon with which he tried to meet the attack of the -skilled savage. There could have been but one outcome to the unequal -struggle had not Nadara, always quick-witted and resourceful, snatched -a long spear from the temple wall.</p> - -<p>As she dragged it down there fell with it a clattering skull that broke -upon the floor between the fighters. A howl of dismay and rage broke -from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> lips of the head-hunter. This was sacrilege. The holy of the -holies had been profaned. With renewed ferocity he leaped to close -quarters with Thandar, but at the same instant Nadara lunged the sharp -pointed spear into his side, his guard dropped and Thandar's parang -fell full upon his skull.</p> - -<p>"Come!" cried Nadara. "Make your escape the way you came. There is -no hope for you if you remain. I will tell them that the two guards -fought between themselves for me—that one killed the other, and that I -shot the victor to save myself. They will believe me—I will tell them -that I have always had the pistol hidden beneath my robe. Good-bye, my -Thandar. We cannot both escape. If you remain we may both die—you, -certainly."</p> - -<p>Thandar shook his head vehemently.</p> - -<p>"We shall both go—or both die," he replied.</p> - -<p>Nadara pressed his hand.</p> - -<p>"I am glad," was all that she said.</p> - -<p>The savages were pouring from their long houses. The street before the -temple was filling with them. To attempt to escape in that direction -would have been but suicidal.</p> - -<p>"Is there no other exit?" asked Thandar.</p> - -<p>"There is a small window in the back of the temple," replied Nadara, -"in a little room that is sometimes used as a prison for those who are -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> die, but it lets out into another street which by this time is -probably filled with natives."</p> - -<p>"There is the floor," cried Thandar. "We will try the floor there."</p> - -<p>He ran to the main entrance to the temple, and closed the doors. Then -he dragged the two corpses before them, and a long wooden bench. There -was no other movable thing in the temple that had any considerable -weight.</p> - -<p>This done he took Nadara's hand and together the two ran for the little -room. Here again they barricaded the door, and Thandar turned toward -the floor. With his parang he pried up a board—it was laid but roughly -upon the light logs that were the beams. Another was removed with equal -ease, and then he lowered Nadara to the ground beneath the temple.</p> - -<p>Clinging to the piling, Thandar replaced the boards above his head -before he, too, dropped to the ground at Nadara's side. The streets -upon either side of the temple were filled with savages. They could -hear them congregating before the entrance to the temple where all was -now quiet and still within. They were bolstering their courage by much -shouting to the point that would permit them to enter and investigate. -They called the names of the guards, but there was no response.</p> - -<p>"Give me the pistol," said Thandar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> - -<p>He loaded it, keeping several cartridges ready in his hand. Then, with -Nadara at his side, he crept to the back of the temple. Pigs, routed -from their slumbers, grunted and complained. A dog growled at them. -Thandar silenced it with a cut from his parang. When they reached the -edge of the shadow beneath the temple they saw that there were only a -few natives upon this side of the structure, and they were hurrying -rapidly toward the front of the building. A hundred yards away was the -jungle.</p> - -<p>Now a sudden quiet fell upon the horde before the temple doors. There -was the sound of hammering, then a pushing, scraping noise, and -presently shouts of savage rage—the dead bodies of the guardsmen -had been discovered. Now, from above, came the padding of naked feet -running through the temple. The street behind was momentarily deserted.</p> - -<p>"Now!" whispered Thandar.</p> - -<p>He seized Nadara's hand, and together the two raced from beneath the -temple out into the moonlight and across the intervening space between -the long houses toward the jungle. Half-way across, a belated native, -emerging from the verandah of a nearby house, saw them. He set up a -terrific yell and dashed toward them.</p> - -<p>Thandar's pistol roared, and the savage dropped; but the signal had -been given and before the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> reached the jungle a screaming horde of -warriors was upon their heels.</p> - -<p>Thandar was confused. He had lost his bearings since entering the -village and the temple. He turned toward Nadara.</p> - -<p>"I do not know the way to the coast," he cried.</p> - -<p>The girl took his hand.</p> - -<p>"Follow me," she said, and to the memories of each leaped the -recollection of the night she had led him through the forest from the -cliffs of the bad men. Once again was Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, the -learned, indebted to the greater wisdom of the unlettered cave girl for -his salvation.</p> - -<p>Unerringly Nadara ran through the tangled jungle in the direction of -the coast. Though she had been but once over the way she followed the -direct line as unerringly as though each tree was blazed and sign posts -marked each turn.</p> - -<p>Behind them came the noise of the pursuit, but always Nadara and -Thandar fled ahead of it, not once did it gain upon them during the -long hours of flight.</p> - -<p>It was noon before they reached the coast. They came out at the camp -of the pirates, but to Thandar's dismay it was deserted. Tsao Ming had -waited the allotted time and gone. If Thandar had but known it, the -picturesque cut-throat had overstayed the promised period, and had but -scarce left when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> the fugitives emerged from the jungle beside the -beach. In fact his rude craft was but out of sight beyond the northern -promontory. A pistol shot would have recalled him; but Thandar did not -know it, and so he turned dejectedly to search for the hidden canoe.</p> - -<p>It lay behind the little clump of bushes that had hidden Thandar the -morning that he had saved Tsao Ming's life, several hundred yards to -the south.</p> - -<p>All signs of pursuit had now ceased, and so the two walked slowly in -the direction of the craft. They found it just where Tsao Ming had -promised that it would be. It was well and staunchly repaired, and in -addition contained a goodly supply of food and water. Thandar blessed -Tsao Ming, the unhung murderer.</p> - -<p>Together they dragged the frail thing to the water's edge, and were -about to shove it out when, with a chorus of savage yells, a score or -more of the head-hunters leaped from the jungle and bore down upon -them. Thandar turned to meet them with drawn pistol.</p> - -<p>"Get the canoe into the water, Nadara," he called to the girl. "I will -hold them off until it is launched, then we may be able to reach deep -water before they can overtake us."</p> - -<p>Nadara struggled with the unwieldy boat which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> the rollers picked up -and hurled back upon her each time she essayed to launch it. From -the corner of his eye Thandar saw the difficulties that the girl was -having. Already the horde was half-way across the beach, running -rapidly toward them. The man feared to fire except at close range since -his unfamiliarity with firearms rendered him an extremely poor shot. -However, it was evident that Nadara could not launch the thing alone, -and so Thandar turned his pistol upon the approaching savages, pulled -the trigger, and wheeled to assist the girl.</p> - -<p>More by chance than skill the bullet lodged in the body of the foremost -head-hunter. The fellow rolled screaming to the sand, and as one his -companions came to a sudden halt. But seeing that Thandar was busy -with the boat and not appearing to intend to follow up his shot they -presently resumed the charge.</p> - -<p>Thandar and Nadara were having all that they could attend to with the -canoe and so the savages came to the water's edge before they realized -their proximity. When he saw them, Thandar wheeled and fired again, -then picking the canoe up bodily above his head he struggled out -through the surf, Nadara walking by his side, steadying him.</p> - -<p>After them came the savages—perhaps half a dozen of the bolder, -when suddenly a great roller<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> caught them all, pursuers and pursued, -sweeping them out into deep water. Thandar and Nadara clung to the -canoe, but the head-hunters were dragged down by the undertow.</p> - -<p>Upon the beach, yelling, threatening and gesticulating, danced thirty -or forty baffled savages; but now Thandar and Nadara had crawled into -the craft, which the outgoing tide was carrying rapidly from shore, and -with the aid of the paddle were soon safely out upon the bosom of the -Pacific.</p> - -<p>Safely?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIIb" id="CHAPTER_XIIb">CHAPTER XII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">PIRATES</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">s the</span> tide and wind carried the light craft out to sea, and the shore -line sank beneath the horizon behind them, Waldo Emerson looked out -upon the future as he did upon the tumbling waste of desolate water -encircling them, with utter hopelessness.</p> - -<p>Once before he had passed by a miracle through the many-sided menaces -of the sea; but that he should be so fortunate again he could not hope. -And now Nadara was with him. Before, only his own suffering and death -had been possible; now he must face the greater agony of witnessing -Nadara's.</p> - -<p>The wind, blowing a steady gale, was raising a considerable sea. The -vast billows rolled, one upon the heels of another, with the regularity -of infantry units doubling at review. The wind and the sea seemed to -have been made to order for the frail vessel that bore Thandar and -Nadara. It rode the long, ponderous waves like a cork; its crude sail -caught the wind and bellied bravely to it, driving the boat swiftly -over the water.</p> - -<p>And scarce had the shore behind them sunk for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>ever from their sight -than dead ahead another shore line showed. Thandar could scarce believe -his eyes. He rubbed them and looked again. Then he asked Nadara to look.</p> - -<p>"What is that ahead?" he asked.</p> - -<p>The girl half rose with an exclamation of joy.</p> - -<p>"Land!" she cried.</p> - -<p>And land it was. The wind, driving them madly, carried them toward -the north end of what appeared to be a large island. Angry breakers -pounded a rocky coast line. To strike there would mean instant death -to them both. But would they strike? As they neared the point of the -island it became evident to Thandar that they would be borne past it. -Could he hope to stem the speed of the little craft and turn it back -into the sheltered water in the lee of the land? The chances were more -than even that the canoe would capsize the instant he cut away the sail -and attempted to paddle across the wind, as would be necessary to come -about the end of the island.</p> - -<p>But there seemed no other way. He handed his parang to Nadara, telling -her to be ready to cut the rawhide strips that supported the sail the -instant that he gave the word. With his paddle clutched tightly in his -hands he knelt in the stern, watching the progress of the canoe past -the rocky point.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> - -<p>At this extremity of the island a narrow tongue of land ran far out -into the sea. It was past the outer point of this tongue that the canoe -was racing. When they had passed Thandar realized the rashness of -attempting to turn the canoe into the trough of the sea even for the -little distance that would have been necessary to make the shelter of -the point, where, almost within reach, he could see the peaceful bosom -of unruffled water lying safely behind the island.</p> - -<p>And yet as he looked ahead upon the limitless waste of ocean before -them he knew that one risk was no greater than the other, and then an -alternative plan occurred to him. He would run a short distance past -the point and then turn almost directly back and attempt to paddle the -canoe in the calm water, running nearly into the face of the wind, thus -avoiding the dangers of the trough.</p> - -<p>There was but a single drawback to this plan—the question of his -ability to drive the canoe against the gale. At least it was worth -trying. He gave Nadara the word to cut down the sail, and at the same -instant, the canoe being upon the crest of a wave, he bent to the -paddle. As the panther skin tumbled at the foot of the rough mast the -nose of the craft swung around in reply to Thandar's vigorous strokes.</p> - -<p>So intent were both upon the life and death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> struggle that they were -waging with the elements that neither saw the long, low-lying craft -that shot from the mouth of a small harbor behind them as they came -into view upon the lee side of the island.</p> - -<p>For a moment the canoe hung broadside to the wind. Thandar struggled -frantically to carry it about. Down they dropped into the trough of a -great sea. Above them hung the overleaning tower of the wave's crest -ready to topple upon them its tons of water. The canoe rose, still -broadside, almost to the crest of the wave—then the thing broke upon -them.</p> - -<p>When Thandar came to the surface his first thought was for Nadara. He -looked about as he shook the water from his eyes. Almost at his side -Nadara's head rose from the sea. As her eyes met his a smile touched -her lips.</p> - -<p>"This is better," she shouted. "Now we can reach shore," and turning -she struck out for land.</p> - -<p>Just behind her swam Thandar. He knew that Nadara was like a fish in -water, but he doubted her ability as he doubted his own to reach the -shore in the face of both wind and tide. A wave carried them high in -air, and from its crest both saw simultaneously a long craft in the -hollow beneath them, and noted the fierce aspect of her crew.</p> - -<p>Nadara, fearing all men but Thandar, would have attempted to elude the -craft, but the glimpse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> that the man had had of those aboard her had -convinced him that he had fallen by good fortune into the company of -Tsao Ming and his crew.</p> - -<p>"They are friends," he screamed to Nadara, and so they let the boat -come alongside and pick them up; but no sooner had Thandar obtained a -good look at the occupants than he discovered that never a face among -them had he seen before.</p> - -<p>They were of the same type as Tsao Ming's motley horde, nor did Waldo -Emerson need inquire their vocation—thief and murderer were writ upon -every countenance. They jabbered questions at Nadara and Thandar in an -assortment of dialects which neither could understand, and it was only -after the craft had been anchored in the little bay and the party had -waded to shore that Thandar tried speaking with them in pidgin English. -Several among them understood him, and he was not long in making it -plain to them that they would be paid well if they carried him and -Nadara to a civilized port.</p> - -<p>The leader, who seemed to be a full blooded negro, laughed at him, -ridiculing the idea that an almost naked man could pay for his liberty. -At the same time the fellow cast such greedy glances at Nadara that -Thandar became convinced that the fellow, for reasons of his own, -preferred not to believe that they could pay in money for their -liberty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> - -<p>It seemed that the party had been about to embark for another portion -of the western coast of the island where the main body of the horde -lay. They had but been waiting for three of their crew who had gone -inland hunting, when they had seen the canoe and put out to capture -its occupants. Now they returned to the little harbor to pick up their -fellows, and continue toward the main camp.</p> - -<p>The black was for dispatching Thandar at once as their boat was already -overcrowded, but there were others who counselled him against it, -reminding him of the probable anger of their chief, who saw only in a -dead prisoner the loss of a possible ransom.</p> - -<p>At last the hunters returned and all embarked. Soon the boat had passed -out of the bay and was making its way south along the west coast of the -island. It was almost dark when her nose was turned toward shore and -the long sweeps brought into play as the sail sagged to the foot of the -mast.</p> - -<p>Between two small, overlapping points that hid what lay behind, -they passed into a landlocked harbor. As the boat breasted the end -of the inner point, Thandar sprang to his feet with a cry of joy -and amazement. Not a hundred yards away, riding quietly upon the -mirror-like surface of the water, lay the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>The pirates looked at their prisoner in astonish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>ment. The black rose -with clenched fists as though prepared to strike him.</p> - -<p>"<i>Priscilla ahoy!</i>" shrieked Waldo Emerson. "Help! Help!"</p> - -<p>The negro grinned. There was no response from the white yacht. Then -the men told Thandar that they had captured the vessel several weeks -before, and were holding her crew prisoners upon land awaiting the -return of the chief who had been unaccountably absent for a long time. -When Waldo Emerson told them that the yacht belonged to his father the -black was glad that he had not killed him, for he should bring a fat -ransom.</p> - -<p>It was dark when they landed, and Thandar and Nadara were forced into -squalid huts that lay side by side with several others just above the -beach. For a long time the man could not sleep. His mind was occupied -with doubts as to the fate of his father and mother. Nadara had told -him that both had been aboard the <i>Priscilla</i>. She had said nothing of -the treatment accorded her by Mrs. Smith-Jones, but Waldo had guessed -near the truth, and he had seen that the sight of the <i>Priscilla</i> had -awakened no enthusiasm or happiness in the girl.</p> - -<p>After a while he dozed only to be awakened by the sound of movement -outside his hut. There was something sinister in the stealthiness of -the sound. Silently Thandar rose and crept to the door. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> pirates -had made no attempt to secure their prisoners—there was no possibility -of their escaping from the island.</p> - -<p>Thandar put his head out into the lesser darkness of the night. He -muttered a little growl of rage and fear, for what he saw was the huge, -dark bulk of a man crawling into Nadara's hut. Instantly the American -followed. At the door of the girl's shelter he paused to listen. Within -he heard a sudden exclamation of fright and the sound of a scuffle. -Then he was within the darkness, and a moment later stumbled against a -man. Thandar's fingers sought the throat. He made no sound. The other -wheeled upon him with a knife. Thandar had expected it. His forearm -warded the first blow, and running down the forearm of the other his -hand found the knife wrist. Then commenced the struggle within the -Stygian blackness of the interior of the hut. Back and forth across the -mud floor the two staggered and reeled—the one attempting to wrench -free the hand that held the knife—the other seeking a hold upon the -throat of his antagonist while he strove to maintain his grip upon the -other's wrist. The heavy breathing of the two rose and fell upon the -silence of the night—that and the scuffling of their feet were the -only sounds of combat. Nadara could not assist Thandar—she knew that -it was he who had come to her rescue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> though she could not see him.</p> - -<p>At last, with a superhuman effort, the night prowler broke away from -Thandar. For a moment silence reigned in the hut. None of the three -could see the other. From beneath his panther skin Thandar drew the -long pistol that Tsao Ming had given him, but he dared not fire for -fear of hitting Nadara, nor dared he ask her to speak that he might -know her position, for then would he have divulged his own to his -antagonist.</p> - -<p>For minutes that seemed hours the three stood in utter silence, -endeavoring to stifle their breathing. Then Thandar heard a cautious -movement upon the opposite side of the room. Was it his foe, or -Nadara. He raised his pistol level with a man's breast, and then -very cautiously he too moved to one side. At the slight sound of his -movement there came a sudden flash and deafening roar from across the -hut—the enemy had fired, and in the flash of his gun all within the -interior was lighted for an instant, and Thandar saw the giant black -not two paces from him, and to the man's left stood Nadara, safe from a -shot from Thandar's pistol.</p> - -<p>The black, not knowing that Thandar was armed, had not guessed that -his chance shot was to prove his own death messenger. The instant that -the flash of the other's gun revealed his whereabouts Thandar's pistol -gave an answering roar, and simul<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>taneously Thandar leaped to one side, -running swiftly to grapple with the black from the side; but when he -came to him, instead of meeting with ferocious resistance as he had -expected, he stumbled over his dead body.</p> - -<p>But now the whole camp was awake. The pirates were running hither and -thither shouting questions and orders in their many tongues. Confusion -reigned supreme, and in the midst of it Thandar grasped Nadara's hand -and ran from the hut. Back of the other huts he ran until he had passed -the end of the camp. Then he turned down toward the water. It was his -intention to reach a boat and make his way to the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>Behind them the confusion of the camp grew as the pirates searched the -huts for an explanation of the two shots—there could have been no -better opportunity for escape. Drawn up on the beach was one of the -<i>Priscilla's</i> own boats. Together Thandar and Nadara pushed it off, and -a moment later were rowing rapidly toward the yacht.</p> - -<p>It was with a feeling of unbounded security and elation that Waldo -Emerson clambered over the side and drew Nadara after him; but his -elation was short lived for scarcely had he set foot upon the deck than -he was seized from behind by half a dozen brawny villains who had been -upon guard on board the <i>Priscilla</i> and had seen the two put off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> from -shore, watched their flight toward the yacht and lain in wait for them -as they clambered over the side.</p> - -<p>The balance of the night they were kept prisoners upon the <i>Priscilla</i>; -but early the next morning they were taken ashore. There they found -all the pirates congregated outside one of the huts. Within were -the passengers and crew of the <i>Priscilla</i>. As Thandar and Nadara -approached they were seized and hustled toward the doorway—with an -accompaniment of oriental oaths they were pushed into the interior.</p> - -<p>Standing about in disconsolate and unhappy groups were the crew of the -<i>Priscilla</i>, Captain Burlinghame and Mr. and Mrs. Smith-Jones. As his -eyes fell upon the last, Waldo Emerson ran toward her with outstretched -arms.</p> - -<p>With a horrified shriek Mrs. Smith-Jones dodged behind her husband -and the captain. Waldo came to a sudden halt. The two men eyed him -threateningly. He looked straight into his father's face.</p> - -<p>"Don't you know me, Father," he asked.</p> - -<p>John Alden Smith-Jones' jaw dropped.</p> - -<p>"Waldo Emerson," he cried. "It cannot be possible!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smith-Jones emerged from retreat.</p> - -<p>"Waldo Emerson!" she echoed. "It cannot be!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But it is, Mother," cried the young man.</p> - -<p>"What awful apparel!" said Mrs. Smith-Jones after she had embraced her -son. Then her eyes wandered to Nadara, who had been standing in demure -silence just within the doorway.</p> - -<p>"You?" she gasped. "You are not dead?"</p> - -<p>Nadara shook her head, and Waldo Emerson hastened to recount -her adventures since Stark's attack upon her on the deck of the -<i>Priscilla</i>. Mrs. Smith-Jones approached the girl. She placed a hand -upon her shoulder.</p> - -<p>"I have been doing a great deal of thinking since last I saw you," she -said, "and the result of it is that I am going to do something that I -have never before done in my life—I am going to ask your pardon; I -treated you shamefully. I do not need to ask if my son loves you—you -have already told me that you love him—and his eyes have told me where -his heart lies.</p> - -<p>"For long nights I lay awake thinking of the horror of it, and almost -praying that he might be dead rather than come back to find you waiting -for him in Boston—that was before you went overboard. You had no birth -or family, and that to me meant everything; but since I thought that -you were both dead I discovered that I recalled many things about you -that were infinitely to be preferred over birth and breeding.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I cannot tell you just what they are—only I cannot blame my son for -loving you. Only you must discard that horrible garment for something -presentable."</p> - -<p>"Mother!" shouted Waldo Emerson, as he threw his arms about her. "I -knew that you would love her, too, if you ever knew her."</p> - -<p>Just then the door opened and one of the pirates entered.</p> - -<p>"Come," he said.</p> - -<p>They filed out past him. From those outside they learned that it had -been decided to kill them all and after looting the <i>Priscilla</i>, sink -her, as a man-of-war had been sighted cruising off the coast early in -the morning. In their terror they had decided to wait no longer for -the absent chief, and all thoughts of ransom were forgotten in the mad -desire to erase every vestige of their piracy.</p> - -<p>The victims looked at one another in horror. They were entirely -surrounded by the pirates, and one by one were securely bound that -there might be no chance of any escaping. The plan was to lead them -inland to the densest part of the jungle and there to cut their throats -and leave their corpses to the vultures. The pirates appeared to derive -much pleasure in recounting their plan to the prisoners.</p> - -<p>At last all were bound and the death march com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>menced. The last of the -long line of hope forsaken prisoners and brutal, gibing cut-throats -had disappeared in the jungle when a rude craft made its way into the -harbor. At sight of the <i>Priscilla</i> it hesitated and prepared to fly, -but seeing no sign of life aboard it, approached, and finding the decks -deserted, mounted. In the cabins the newcomers discovered two Malays -asleep. These they awoke with much laughter and rude jests.</p> - -<p>The two guards leaped to their feet, feeling for their pistols; but -when they saw who had surprised them they grinned broadly and jabbered -volubly. They addressed all their remarks to a huge and villainous -fellow whom they called chief. He it was whom the pirates had awaited, -and whose prolonged absence had resulted in the determination to -execute the prisoners of the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>When the chief learned of what was going on in the jungle he cursed -and bellowed in rage. He saw many thousand liangs of sycee evaporating -before his eyes. Shouting orders to his fellows to follow him he leaped -into the craft that had brought them to the <i>Priscilla</i>, and a moment -later was pushing rapidly toward the shore. Without waiting to draw the -boat upon the beach the chief plunged into the jungle, his men at his -heels.</p> - -<p>Far ahead of him trudged the weary and fear-sickened prisoners, lashed -onward with sticks and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> the flats of murderous parangs. At last the -pirates halted in a tangled mass of vegetation.</p> - -<p>"Here," said one; but another thought they should proceed a little -further. For a few minutes the two men argued, then the first drew his -parang and advanced upon Thandar.</p> - -<p>"Here!" he insisted and swung the blade about his head.</p> - -<p>A sudden crashing of the underbrush and loud and angry shouts -caused him to turn his eyes in the direction of the interruption. -The prisoners, too, looked. What they saw was not particularly -reassuring—only another very ferocious appearing and exceeding -wrathful pirate followed by a half dozen other villains.</p> - -<p>He rushed into the midst of the group, knocking men to right and left. -The wicked looking fellows who had bullied and cowed the frightened -prisoners but a few moments before now looked the picture of abject -terror.</p> - -<p>The chief came to a halt before the man with the bared parang. His face -was livid, and working spasmodically with rage and excitement. He tried -to speak, and then he turned his eyes upon Thandar, standing there -bound ready for decapitation. As his gaze fell upon this prisoner his -eyes went wide, and then he turned upon the would-be executioner, and -with a mighty blow felled him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> - -<p>That seemed to loose his tongue, and from his mouth flowed a torrent -of the most awful abuse the prisoners had ever heard. It was directed -toward the men who had dared contemplate this thing without his -sanction, and principally against the cowering unfortunate who had not -dared rise from where his chief's heavy fist had sprawled him.</p> - -<p>"And you would have killed Thandar," he shrieked. "Thandar, who saved -my life!"</p> - -<p>And then he fell to kicking the prostrate man until Thandar himself was -forced to intercede in the wretch's behalf.</p> - -<p>With the coming of Tsao Ming the troubles of the prisoners evaporated -in thin air, for when he found that the owner of the <i>Priscilla</i> was -Thandar's father he restored the yacht and all the loot that his men -had taken from it to their rightful owners. Nor would he have stopped -there had they permitted him to have his way, which was no less than -to behead half a dozen of his unfortunate lieutenants who had been -over-zealous in the performance of their piratical duties.</p> - -<p>Tsao Ming's picturesque villains replenished the water casks of the -<i>Priscilla</i> and carried aboard her a sufficient stock of provisions to -insure her company a plentiful table to Honolulu, the port they had -chosen as their first stop.</p> - -<p>And when the preparations were completed a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> dozen piratical prahus -escorted the white yacht a hundred miles upon her northward journey, -firing a farewell salute with volley after volley from the little, -brass six-pounders in their bows.</p> - -<p>As the tiny fleet diminished to mere specks astern, disappearing -beneath the southern horizon, a white flanneled man with close cropped -blonde hair, and a slender, black haired girl in simple shirt waist and -duck skirt watched them from the deck of the <i>Priscilla</i>.</p> - -<p>An involuntary sigh escaped the lips of each, and they turned and -looked into one another's eyes.</p> - -<p>"We are leaving a cruel world that has been kind to us," said the man, -"for with all its cruelties it gave us each other and reunited us when -we were separated."</p> - -<p>"Will civilization be more kind?" asked the girl.</p> - -<p>Thandar shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I do not know," he replied.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIIIb" id="CHAPTER_XIIIb">CHAPTER XIII</a></h2> - -<p class="center">HOMEWARD BOUND</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">t Honolulu</span> Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones and Nadara were married. Before -the ceremony there had been some discussion as to what name should be -used in describing Nadara in the formal contract.</p> - -<p>"Nadara" alone seemed too brief and meaningless to the precise Mrs. -Smith-Jones; but Waldo Emerson and the girl insisted that it was her -name and all-sufficient. So, in lieu of another name, it was finally -decided by all that "Nadara" could not be legally improved upon.</p> - -<p>Prior to the ceremony, which took place on board the <i>Priscilla</i>, Mr. -and Mrs. John Alden Smith-Jones, Captain Cecil Burlinghame, several -invited guests from amongst officials and friends in Honolulu, and the -crew of the <i>Priscilla</i> presented gifts to the bride.</p> - -<p>Captain Burlinghame in presenting his proffered a few words in -explanation of it.</p> - -<p>"To you, Nadara," he said, "these trinkets will hold a deeper meaning -and a greater value than to another, for they come from your own -forgotten island, where they lay for twenty years until, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> chance, -I picked them up close by the sea. The poor lady to whom they once -belonged you never knew—it is quite possible that she never was upon -your savage coast—and how her jewels came there must always remain a -mystery. But two things you hold in common with her, for she was a lady -and she was very beautiful."</p> - -<p>He held toward Nadara in his open palm a little worn bag of the skins -of small rodents, sewn together with bits of gut. At sight of it both -the girl and Waldo Emerson exclaimed in astonishment.</p> - -<p>Nadara took the bag wonderingly in her hands and dumped the contents -into her palm. Waldo pressed forward.</p> - -<p>"Did you know to whom those belonged?" he asked Burlinghame.</p> - -<p>"To Eugenie Marie Celeste de la Valois, Countess of Crecy," replied the -captain.</p> - -<p>"They belonged to Nadara's mother," returned Waldo. "Her foster parents -were present at her birth and took these jewels from the poor woman's -body after she had passed away. She was washed ashore in a boat in -which there was only a dead man beside herself—Nadara was born that -night."</p> - -<p>And so, when the clergyman had performed the marriage ceremony he -entered upon the certificate in the space provided there for the name -of the woman: Nadara de la Valois.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> - -<p>And they are living in Boston now in a wonderful home that you have -seen if you ever have been to Boston and been driven about in one of -those great sight-seeing motor busses, for the place is pointed out to -all visitors because of the beauty of its architecture and the fame -that attaches to the historic and aristocratic name of its owner, -which, as it happens, is not Smith-Jones at all.</p> - - - - - - - - -<p class="ph3" style="margin-top: 15em;"><i>There's More to Follow!</i></p> - - -<blockquote> - -<p>More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author of -this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of world-wide -reputation, in the Authors Alphabetical List which you will find on -the <i>reverse side</i> of the wrapper of this book. Look it over before -you lay it aside. There are books here you are sure to want—some, -possibly, that you have <i>always</i> wanted.</p> - -<p>It is a <i>selected</i> list; every book in it has achieved a certain -measure of <i>success</i>.</p> - -<p>The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good -Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted -Standard of Value. It will pay you to</p></blockquote> - - -<p><i>Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!</i></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><i>In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a complete -catalog</i></p></blockquote> - - - - - - -<p class="ph3">THE NOVELS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN OF THE APES</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN THE TERRIBLE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TARZAN THE UNTAMED</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BEASTS OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RETURN OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE SON OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MASTER MIND OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE PRINCESS OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE WARLORD OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GODS OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THUVIA, MAID OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CHESSMAN OF MARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MONSTER MEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE WAR CHIEF</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE OUTLAW OF TORN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MAD KING</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MOON MAID</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE ETERNAL LOVER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CAVE GIRL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BANDIT OF HELL'S BEND</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">AT THE EARTH'S CORE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">PELLUCIDAR</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MUCKER</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph3">STIRRING TALES OF THE GREAT WAR</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Erich Maria Remarque</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The greatest of all the War novels. The G. & D. Edition is the -unexpurgated edition—printed from the English text.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">GOD HAVE MERCY ON US! William T. Scanlon</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>These were the words that instinctively came to the lips of hundreds -of American soldiers who survived the experiences told in this book.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WAR BUGS Charles MacArthur</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Leonard Nason says "If WAR BUGS is not a splendid picture of a -'milishy' outfit I'll bite my initials in a green bough."</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISCHA Arnold Zwieg</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Based on an actual case during the European War—it is an impassioned -and powerful drama of man's inhumanity to man.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE TOP KICK Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Infantry, cavalry, artillery, intelligence—Private fights and public -fights—Wine, no women, and cuss words—France in 1918.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">SQUAD James B. Wharton</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The war chronicle of eight men out of whose flesh and blood the -smallest of military units—a squad—is made.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WAR BIRDS The Diary of an Unknown Aviator</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Soaring, looping, sooming, spitting hails of leaden death, planes -everywhere in a war darkened sky. WAR BIRDS is a tale of youth, -loving, fighting, dying.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">SERGEANT EADIE Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>This is the private history of the hard luck sergeant whose exploits -in CHEVRONS made that story one of the most dramatic and thrilling of -war books.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WINGS John Monk Saunders</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Based on the great Paramount picture, WINGS is the Big Parade of the -air, the gallant, fascinating story of an American air pilot.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">LEAVE ME WITH A SMILE Elliott White Springs</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Henry Winton, a famous ace, thrice decorated, twice wounded and many -times disillusioned returns after the war to meet Phyllis, one of the -new order of hard-drinking, unmoral girls.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">NOCTURNE MILITAIRE Elliott White Springs</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>War, with wine and women, tales of love, madness, heroism; flyers -reckless in their gestures toward life and death.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">CHEVRONS Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>One of the sensations of the post-war period, CHEVRONS discloses -the whole pageantry of war with grim truth flavored with the breezy -vulgarity of soldier dialogue.</p></blockquote> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THREE LIGHTS FROM A MATCH Leonard Nason</span><br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Three long short stories, each told with a racy vividness, the real -terror in war with the sputter of machine guns.</p></blockquote> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph3">JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD'S</p> - -<p>STORIES OF ADVENTURE</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LADY OF PERIBONKA</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">SWIFT LIGHTNING</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BLACK HUNTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE ANCIENT HIGHWAY</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">A GENTLEMAN OF COURAGE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE ALASKAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE COUNTRY BEYOND</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE FLAMING FOREST</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RIVER'S END</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GOLDEN SNARE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE WOLF HUNTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GOLD HUNTERS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">NOMADS OF THE NORTH</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">KAZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">BAREE, SON OF KAZAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE DANGER TRAIL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE COURAGE OF MARGE O'DOONE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE HUNTED WOMAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE FLOWER OF THE NORTH</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE GRIZZLY KING</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">ISOBEL</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph3">ZANE GREY'S NOVELS</p> - -<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WILD HORSE MESA</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">NEVADA</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">FORLORN RIVER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">UNDER THE TONTO RIM</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE VANISHING AMERICAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TAPPAN'S BURRO</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE THUNDERING HERD</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE CALL OF THE CANYON</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WANDERER OF THE WASTELAND</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE DAY OF THE BEAST</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">TO THE LAST MAN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MYSTERIOUS RIDER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE MAN OF THE FOREST</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE DESERT OF WHEAT</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE U.P. TRAIL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">WILDFIRE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE BORDER LEGION</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RAINBOW TRAIL</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE LONE STAR RANGER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">DESERT GOLD</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">BETTY ZANE</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>ZANE GREY'S BOOKS FOR BOYS</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">ROPING LIONS IN THE GRAND CANYON</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE RED-HEADED OUTFIELD</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">KEN WARD IN THE JUNGLE</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE YOUNG LION HUNTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE YOUNG FORESTER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE YOUNG PITCHER</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">THE SHORT STOP</span><br /> -</p> - - -<p>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publisher</i>, NEW YORK</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAVE GIRL ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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