The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-07-24
BIRDS OF PREY
OR
FOR LOVE AND GOLD.
BY WELDON J. COBB, JR.
CHAPTER XIV.
WAS HE A SAVAGE


WAS HE SAVAGE
Ia the silence and gloom of the mid
night, III the hot glare Of the tropical sun,
mid peril and in comparative safety,
whenever Cecil Esmond had thought Of
his lost love, Eveline Berton, he had
thought Of her only as he believed her
unmindful Of him and believing him guilty
Of the crime imputed to him by the world
He loved her still, more fondly if possible
than ever. but his belief was that he
should never meet her again, and that he
had best desparlngly and sorrOwfully en-
deavor to forget her.
II he but knew what she was undergo
ing for his sake now if he could only see
the condition in which her devotedness to
nm had placed her. he would have braved
all to again reach England and seek her
out and rescue her from the trouble she
was now in Yet, all unmindful Of this,
he believed her like all tickle women
entirely forgetful Of him, false and uu-
true, perhaps betrothed to another, and
iii her luxury and elegance all forgetful of
his forlorn and destitute condition. So
he attempted to forget her, to banish her
forever from his mind, and to take the
workings Of the fate as they came, phllo-
sophically and quietly. Yet he could not
entirely forAet her, and as he sat watching
by his two companions, upon the night
Of the day upon winch the robbery Of the
boat and goods had been discovered, he
thought bitterly of the past, and reck-
less despair settled down over his mind.
In resolute frame Of spirit he determ-
ined to attempt to eradicate all memory of
the woman whom he believed to be tickle
minded and false, and think only of the
plans for the future pertaining to fortune
and the retrieval Of his good name. He
sighed heavily as his thoughts again re-
turned to the events of that day, and the
commingled theories as to who the thiev-
lsh intruder might have been, were specu-
lated upon.
Werner and Percy were both sleeping
/, s0ir4ly, raymond las We shall call Cecil
Esmond), having prevailed upon them to
seek rest $ hile he watched The yOnne
men had had no fire, and the moouiig ii
radiated over everything except the deeI
cavernous gloom of the cave in which the
trio Of Adventures had concealed them
selves. Quickly on the alert and suspiei
Gus Of every sound, Raymond found nj
tangible evidence of the presence of other
upon the island until about an hour aftel
midnight, when he was awaken from
deep reverie into which he had fallen, anC
during which his gaze had been txt d upoI
the ground, by sound as of some Ont
pushing boat upon the beach. The harsl
aud grating sound betokened something
and looking toward the shore he saw tn,
figure Of man leaving the boat and eau
tlously advancing to where the old CAM
Of the voyagers had been, ever and anUl
stopping to listen.
| The figure was grotesque in the extreme
A huge woolly cap made of the skin 0
some animal, covered the head and a por
tion Of the face, while the form becam
scarcely dlstinguishable, envelOped as 1
was in long flowing piece of light canvas
To Raymonds mind there was but on,
theory as 10 the national individuality o
the man, and that was that he was a sav
age.
Taking up one Of the guns belonging t.
his compalons, he fixed it ready for i'm
mediate use, and then without arousinI
his companions, curiously watched th'
every movement of the new conner
The savage-If such he was-was evi
IDENTIFY not littls surprised at finding NJ
traces Of the men whose camp he hat
visited that day. He examined every spo
thoroughly, and theh with the discover,
that the camp had been removed to tn,
recesses of some of the rocks or crevices
he cautiously approached the spot wher
Raymond was secreted.
Although the nearness of the savage ad
mitted of his being shot at by Raymond
the latter reserved his efforts in this lin
until he had more closely observed tn
adversary He saw the form glide in AM
out Of each By way dexteriously, and a
he reached the mouth of the cave in whicl
Raymond and lis companions had mad
their present place of abode, he started q
one of the men, Werner, moving uneasil,
in his sleep, gave utterance to low groan
The savage, if such he was, was on tn
alert instantly, he sprang behind hug
boulder and sat in an attitude of intens
attention as he listened.
But no further sound reaching his earl
he again, still more cautiously, crept alon
and into the very mouth Of the cave wher
that moment Raymond pulled the trigge
of his gun.
Snap and that was all
The cap had exploded but the gun hs
not discharged its contents. The snappin
OF the cap had been Just sufficient to alarl
and place on the alert the savage, but
did not awake RaymOnd's companions.
Quick a. fash of light the savage di
cerned his foe, and a. speedily sprang fC
him. He caught him by the throat, dral