Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-11-02
ground. where rested bunch of drift
wood

ground. where rested a bunch of drift
wood.
I'm the wet season, she explained
"this valley must all be flooded. The
gorge, being so narrow, can't carry off
all the water that pours into it, and so
the blacks have to take to the cliffs for
safety Pleasant, isn't itH
l saw many signs of the truth of
what she said. She read the face of ma
ture as if it were an open books For
instance, in one cave there were some
rude drawings in colored clays or chalks
upon the smooth walls, and | heard her
remark to some one how they represent
ed the elementary efforts of the savage
to express himself by means of symbols
primitive man writing before he had
attained to the dignity of pothooks and
hangers. 1t was a strange instinct that
made men anxious to perpetuate them
selves, even in this fashion, and to
dread being utterly forgotten On that
rough surface there was a most lmpor-
tant event recorded in the history of
those savages-the coming of the
whites
And then to our surprise she inter
preted the hieroglyphics, the black boys
nodding their heads with approval as If
indorsing what she said.
looked wonderingly at the girl. She
had interpreted the rude sketches of
those savages as easily as If she had
been reading out of book Though at
first sight the figures to us were dis
jointed and entirely without meaning,
under her they assumed a natural order
and transparency. With ludlcrous
representation of the manner of show
man she pointed to figure after figure
with her riding whip, at the same time
garniShing her remarks with running
commentary regarding the artistic
qualities of the pictures, which indeed
violated every canon of art
At length we came to where there
We're some fresh tracks of blacks. At
| first we paid little attention TO the fact,
but soon they became 50 numerous that
| Gordon became anxious. Even the black
boys showed surprise.
"My word, " declared SNOWFALL, "big
fellow mob black fellow bin yam this
way yestiday."
Neither of the black boys seemed to
like the aspect of affairs
Notwithstanding, we sought out a
! large cool cavern, into which we ascend
! ed from one of the terraces, some 10
feet from the ground, and began to pre-
| pare dinner. We left the pack saddles
! with what provisions we did not re-
| auire Just then at the foot of the cliff
! Our horses we turned loose without
| even hobbling. as the grass there was
| good and we knew they would not
stray far. \ spring bubbled out from
! the face Of the cliff in narrow gully
| to our right, which was connected with
! the cave by a narrow passage.
After dinner | converted my saddle
into pillow aud lolled lazily back with
my pipe between my lips l must have
been fast relapsing into that condition
when sleep overtakes a man, for i was
but vaguely conscious of Savile talking
to Samson, as that intelligent quad
ruped stood upon its hind legs and
| gravely regarded its master. | could
hear the voice of Norah Mackenzie as
she talked to Gordon, telling him some
thing about the horses being uneasy.
say there was only a vague conscious
ness of this in my brain at the time,
for l must have been half asleep. These
things passed before me much as a
dream might have done and without
any awakening of my reasoning facul-
ties or volition in regard TO action OF
my part Then suddenly there came q
hollow drumming sound, as of horses
galloping, and it seemed to me that
could distinguish Gordon among the
powders and trees some hundred yard: