Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-05-27
WI

!
beasts OF prey, the beauty of the firma
ment above land still unsubdued by
man after thousands of years of civil
cation, the ruthless fecundity, savage,
vast as the ether, invincible as the
ocean, took possession of, dominated
and amazed the mind of James Mac
Carthy, and filled his heart with full.
ness Of poetic grandeur. Behind him
followed humble son of India, BAY adj.
zee, the runner, slender, with high.
shrinking shoulders, formed from a
minimum of matter, but with a good
head, and intelligent and gentle mouth.
Before him went Diounn, the guide
provided by the village of Nardonsres
to pilot him to the lair of the tigress.
the man-eatert who had that day carried
off laborer. As they advanced, stem
by step, the murmurs of the night be-
came louder and more terrible. the
growing of the animals re-echoed over
the plain, the huge bats foated ath Sart
the orange light.
Bavadiee drew closer to MacCartny
| his fright was balanced by feeling of
pride in serving the thick-set Irishman
with the belligerent eyes, with the
rough. kind face Mt once irascible and
good-natured:
Are we near?" asked James.
eyes, Sahib."
AT the entrance TO a rocky defile
Dlouna halted tremblingly. He signed
with outstretched hand: at is there. -
Before them lay sinuous surface,
one OF those secluded corners of the
jungle where the full sway of natural
forces, the struggle of the instincts of
animals and plants create splendor
and putrefaction. The moonlight
embroidered the fig trees, the somber
trunks, the masses of the foliage 1t
wove delicate lace work over the
great bindweed, the lichens, the castor
OH plants, over pool that was choked
with old bark, with withered
rushes, with bright green water plants.
The sky seemed made of scintillating
consultations wild creatures OF wood
and water roamed stealthily through
the underground, lay in waiting for
their prey, or fled at the approach of
danger. In the intervals of silence
were heard the sighings of mysterious
rivulet which seemed to be subterra-
mean, and the distant plant of iackals.
1T is there?" repeated MacCarthy.
'Do You know the exact position?"
''One day in winter" answered
DIouna, i'll a low voice, when went
in search after strayed heifer-I saw
the man-eater at the mouth of her
cavern" In an almost inaudible voice,
and trembling in all his limbs, he
added; "'She was devouring the re-
mains of young woman! Since then
Chandranahour, he who was carried
off this evening, witnessed at the same
place a similar scene"
''Ah CALCULATED MacCarthy Then,
can you lead me to the very spot?"
II can, answered the Hindu, with
gentle resignation.
They rounded the dense thicket and
came to a natural pathway cut by the
winter torrent. The moon, midway
from the zenith, sent penetrating
Hhoito VI ilSui illlOuSu tHt BTHncneS.
The three men advanced lightly and
cautiously, with eyes fixed on the dark
ness, The fret of their clothes against
tine plants, the tread of their feet on
the ground were indistinguishable
from the sound of grazing animals and
the slight rustic of the fig leaves. A
soft, bodeful GOODNESS emanated from
the underlined denseness of their
surroundings. Peril, like an evil
spirit, roamed around them, transfigur-
ing the aspect of every tree they passed,
mserlbing fantastic. gruesome symbols
everywhere.
Bavadjee and Djouna, at the newt
able approach of danger, fell into a sort
o. hypnosis, the source of the passive
bravery of so many Orientals, of their
gentle, obstinate resistance before
which the Occidental has ut times re-
cooled.
With distended pupils, with thought
lulled to passivity, they walked like
somnambulists, whereas with Mac
Carthy, his will, nerves and reason
Were fighting sharp battle. In spite
OF his keen realization of possibilities,
his purpose never wsvered. He be-
heyed in the strength of his arm, in
the clearness and precision of his sight !;
AMI he felt all the electric citation of
the brave man face to face with danger,
which permits of no regrets.
While his mind vaguely dvelt on
these things in the non-analytic man
ner of man of action, he saw Diouna
suddenly had stopped and turned ner-
y0usiy to him: 1--WE are there-that