The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-26

some hidden Least while another man
could n. rot h Eg more than the rustic
of Il leaf. He stole across the encamp-
ment and made for the line which gaped
like an ppal wound in the forest before
him. ii clait the jungl" asunder TO
leave n pathway, and when his feet
were upon il lIsdaile knew himself Saie
for miles straight walk. After that
another line biSeCted it, large, empty
huC marking the junction: beyond
again, another line. and at the end of
that a village. The geography of the
once outside the camp, the life lurk-
ing behind the trees was plain to rs
dailes ear. There was the scuiile OF
frightened hare. the droWSy wing shake
Of "A chitor overhead, and every now
and then long sweep of the air from
an owl in ilight. Far away Il brother
hood of jackals shrieked, and, nearer
thor re- was The tread of chital stealing
from one glade to another. 1t
grew backer and biackcr as he strobe
further from the clearing, and the air
became less raw and more charged
with the smell of foliage and rank
Jungle grass. once he stopped ana
snuifcd the wind like n horse. y pan
thcr had passed across the track only
few minutes before. Its whereabouts
were soon made known by the cry OF
tIgI1ttItu uttI. anu lIIf tIl'uSit
ingly of the shiEar Second thoughts
made him smile at the possible revers-
ing of the notion, and he walked on
again. After all. the odds being in the
beasts favor, ii was well that they had
not met.
The rangers hut loomed suddenly out
of the blackness. and Esdaile hesitated
as to which path to take. The right
hand one he knew-it led to SanaO.
..,tl, t..;,, tl. rnn
and mahsecr fishing was the best to be
had. The left-hand one pierced deeper
into the forest: il ended. he thought
in a village. Well. he would take it and
see whence his footsteps might lead
him.
Blacker and blacker, and the beast
pOises palmer than ever Esdalle
walked very cautiously for he was out
of mans province and in the territory
of King Jungle now. He thought Of
the strange creatures with which ma
tive tradition had peopled this terra
incOgnita; the forest demons, the vam-
pires. the werewolves. There was a
tale of men who had died in the forest
and whose spirits used to gather to-
gether in the night and nod Shostly
heads over an illusionary fire. Small
comfort that: and what motley COM
pany. His wandering thoughts came
Ddck WIFI IL Siltth anu lit SipppS"
dead. No. it was not fancy. There
was n point of freight through the
trees.
For the moment Esdaile thought he
had happened upon the spirit company,
and knew an impulse to turn tail. For
| the moment only, and then common
sense came to the rescue. There was
not only the shaft of freight sliding
| past trunks and branches, but mis- keen
| ear caught the sound of human voices.
! The policeman's instinct made him
| turn of the path and edge toward the
| light. which was embowered in the for
est some fifty yards from him. The
| men who would camp in that dense
| jungle. so far from any clearing, must
| he madman or criminals: and in either
case he had a right TO be a witness to
| their proceedings. He crept up noise
| lessly from tree to tree. and stopped
/ finally when three more strides would
/ have taken him up to the very iire.
| He stood behind massive trunk
| leaned his shoulder comfortably
| against it. watched and listened.
| ITO BE Continued)