Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-07-25
CHAPTER XIV.

| the like of which none OF Us had ever
seen before On some OF the terraces
were long rows Of extinct fires, indicat-
| ing that large mobs Of savages had fire.
quently camped there. When / express
ed surprise that the blacks should fol-
low the example Of the cliff dwellers Of
the North American continent, II was
the squatter's daughter who showed it
was matter Of necessity, not OF
choice. aud she pointed to the forked
limbs Of tree several feet from the
ground, where rested bunch Of drift
wood.
..In the wet season, she explained,
''this valley must all be flooded. The
gorge. being 80 narrow, cant carry on
all the water that pours into it. and 80
the blacks have 10 take 10 the cliffs for
safety. Pleasant, isn't itf'
I saw many signs Of the truth of
what she said. She read the face OF ma
tur, .s If il were an open book. For
instance. in one cave there were some
rude drawings in colored clays or challs
upon the smooth walls, and | heard her
remark 10 some one how they represent
ed the elementary efforts OF the savage
10 express himself by means of symbols
-primiiiyc man writing before he had
attained 10 the dignity of potbooks and
| hangers 1t was 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 most impor-
tant event recorded In the history Of
those savages-the coming Of the
| whites
And then 10 our surprise she inter
preted the hieroglyphics, the black boys
nodding their heads with approval as II
| indorsing what she said.
looked wonderingly at the girl. She
had interpreted the rude sketches OF
those savages as easily as II she had
been reading out Of book Though at
| first sight the figures 70 us were dis
jointed and entirely without meaning.
under her they assumed natural order
and transparency. With ludicrous
representation Of the manner OF q 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
were some fresh tracks Of blacks. At
first we paid little attention 10 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 ont a
large cool cavern. into which we ascend
| ed from one Of the terraces. some ID
feet from the ground. and began 10 pre-
pare dinner We left the pack saddles
with what provisions we did not re-
quire just then at the foot of the cliff.
| Our horses we turned loose without
even hobbling, "a the grass there was
good, and We knew they would not
stray far. A spring dubbed ont from
the face of the cliff in narrow gully
TO our right, which was connected with
the cave by narrow passage.
| After dinner | converted my saddle
into pillow and lolled lazily back with
my pipe between my lips. must have
been fast relapsing into that condition
when sleep overtakes man, for | was
but vaguely conscious of Savile talking
to Samson, as that intelligent quad
ruped stood upon its hind legs and
<ravely regarded its master. l could
lear the voice of Norah Mackenzie as
,he 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 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 on
my part. Then suddenly there came a
hollow drumming sound, as Of horses
galloping, and it seemed to me that l
could distinguish Gordon among the
powders and trees some hundred yards
away peering all about
And then coo-ee was shrilled ont,
making me jump to my feet and bring
ing me to my senses in second. 1t was
Norah Mackenzie, who had called as she
stood by my side She was evidently
not a little excited and beckoned TO
Gordon to come back In second all
the camp was astir. The girl watched
apprehensively the figure of Gordon.
who came slowly back to camp, hnger-
ing and looking around as If he won
dered why he was being 80 energetical.
ly recalled.
Look cried the quick eyed Austria.
liam girl. Don't you sect There they
e-blacks-dozens Of them If Gordon
doesn't look sharp, some Of them will
sneak ON him and have him yeti Oh
, why doesn't he hurry up7'
l looked. but for the life Of me could
. see nothing to alarm any one. Only
SNOWFALL and Vary uttered exclama
tions of surprise and CONSERVATION.
"My wordl" they chorused. BIS
/ mob black fellowl"/
And now, as if it were the stage OF g
puppet show and a string had beer
pulled. semicircle Of dusky fgure'
/ sprang from the grass from behind
, trees and from behind rocks. How sucl
Z large number Of human beings could
t have sneaked upon us without beint
seen, and how they managed to concea
themselves, only those who have hat
: some experience Of savage life can un
D derstand. In another. second shower o
{ spears was sent after the astonishet
+ Gordon, making him face about Pick
! ing up my which. luckily
( never kept far from me-and withou
r thought, sprang from the ledge.
thick golden waffle bush broke my rasl
r leap otherwise it might have gone bad
. | " with me- In another minute / wa
? alongside Gordon. The blacks made al
0 ugly rush upon us, but stopped shor
3 the onward career Of two Of them, an
Gordon stopped another. We had fev
. minutes respite. in which we bacie'
, slowly toward the cave.
a never saw n man take ANYTHING q