Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1902-03-26
Turning to the man again. he signed

TIC AeAAoN noooIeo painfully away from
the nullah in the direction whence he
had appeared. On and on he went un-
til he at length came 10 n standstir at
the foot of hill, where a little stream
came splashing down in a miniature
cascade from the rocks above. Then
Grantham realized the meaning of the
little mans action. Stretched out be-
side rock was the tall figure OF man.
Like his companion, he presented
miserable appearance. His clothes, If
clothes they could be called. were in
rags, his hair was long and snowy
white, matching his beard, which de-
scended to within few inches of his
waist. His eyes were closed, and for a
moment Grantham thought he was
dead. This was not the case. however,
for upon his companion approaching
him he held out his hand and inquired
whether he had discovered the man
who had fired the shot?
To Grantham's surprise the other
made no reply in words. but. taking
his friends hand he made some mys-
FERROUS movements upon it with his
fingers. whCrcupon the latter raised
himself 10 sitting position.
MY friend tells me that YOU are
an Englishman," he said, in voice
that shook with emotion. I'm glad
we have found YOU. l heard your
rifIeshot and hailed you. We are in
sore distress. and have been through
such adventures and such misery as
no man would believe. | have poi
soned my foot. and am unable to
walk any further. AS you can see
for yourself l am blind, while my
companion is dumb
This statement accounted for the
smaller mans curious behavior and
the others closed eyes.
You have suffered indeed" said
Grantham, pityingly. But how did
ii all come about?"
1--WE were traders, and we fell into
the hands of the Chinese" the taller
man answered with their usual
amiability they set to work to tor
ture us. My companions tongue they
cut out at the roots, while. as | have
said, they deprived me of my sight
After that they turned us loose to
! go where we would. We have wan
dered here, there and everywhere,
living on what we could pick up, and
| dying a thousand deaths every day.
1t would have been better if we had
died outright-but somehow we've
come through. Can you take us to
I a place where we can procure food?
We've been living on jungle fruit for
an eternity. My foot wants looking
to pretty badly, too"
Wen do all we can for YOU" said
Grantham. That's if we can get Won
down 10 the ford, which is about five
miles away"
You'll have to carry me, then,
for I'm too far gone TO walk"
Il think il can be managed" said
Grantham. AT any rate wen try"
Turning TO the little Shan he dis
patched him with a message to
Handiman, and when the other had
disappeared, knelt down beside the
tall man and set to work to examine
his injured foot. There could be no
doubt that it was in a very serious
condition. Tramping through the
jungle he had managed to poison il.
and had been unable to apply the
necessary remedies. Obtaining some
water from the stream Grantham
bathed it tenderly, and then bound il
up as well as he could with his hand
kerchief
That's the best / can do for Won
for the present" he said. eve must
leave it as it is, and, when we get
you to the station, we will see what
else can be managed"
He looked up and saw the little
mans eyes watched him intentIv.
There was look of almost dog-liI<e
affection in them for his companion,
that went to the young soldiers
heart
by Jove," he said, "T'm sorry for
you fellows. You must have suffered
agonies. The Chinese are devils. But
yours is not the first case we have
heard OF. We only come up here for
| a month at a time, but the man we
relieved told us a strange tale about
another poor beggar who came into
the station some two months ago.
He had been wandering i'm the Jungle.
and was nearly at deaths door"
The blind man gave a start. while
the little man seized his hand and
made a number OF rapid movements
upon it with his fingers
MY friend wants to know If youare
aware OF that mans nance" he said.
owe lost companion. and he thinks
that he may be the man For hcav-
ems sake tell Us what you know.
You have no idea what il means
to us
Since you are 50 interested I'm him
] am sorry TO have TO say that ] do
| not know very much. You see he had
/ very little 20 do with MS. As ] have
said, be turned mp while our prcdc-
/ ccssors were here. From what J
heard about him from Gregory. he
| gathered that he was tall, thin
man. who had come through from
/ Picking by way Of Yunnan."
Are you sure it was from Yum
nan?"
That's what they told me-" said