Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-06-13

last The reached til top Of the hi1l
and approached t e open spot where
their camp ras dtuate IS.
= That did ~ tell yoal q said Kitwa-
ter, as. he looked bout the camp and
could discover no traces OF their two c,5
ma tive servants. 81 was one Of our B
5proW1ing srascals you saw, and when, q. ~
{ he comes back I'll teach him to come
spying on MS. II I know any thing Of !:
the titan, he won't do It again"
+ Hayle shrugged his shoulders. While
the fact that their servantslwere not u
at the camp to anticipat e their return
was certainly Suspicious, he wassstil! !:
! as convinced as ever that the man he
had seen slipping through the ruins
was no Burman, but true son Of the s.
celestial empire. lss .:3& &, 81 =.
Worn out by the excitement OF the )
day, KitSvater mathematical the scrv
ants for not having been there to pre-
pare the evening mea,,, but while he
and Hayle wrangied, Rir. Codd had as /,
usual taken the matter into his own
7 hands, and, picking up a cooking pot,
had set OF in the direction of the
stream, whence they drew their supply
Y of water. He had not proceed very
far, however, before he uttered cry
and came running back to the camp.
There was a scared expression upon
his face as he rejoined his compan- 6
ions. f@ s3:S
They've not run away" he cried,
pointing in the direction whence he
had come. They're dead!" s
'Dead?'' cried Kitwater and Hayle 1.
together. Then the latter addedr"'.
What do you mean by that?"
What I say" Good replied They're
both lying in the jungle back there
with their throats cut"
H. Then was right after ALL" Hayle
found time to put in. Come, Kit, let
us go and see There's more than we
bargained for at the back of al this
They hurried with Codd to the spot
where he had discovered the bodies,
to find that his tale was too true.
Their two unfortunate servants were
to be seen lying one on either side of |,
the track, both dead and shockinglyV
mutilated. Kitwater knelt beside
them and examined them more closely.
''Chinese," he said, laconicallys Then
after pause ne continues: Its ~
good thing for US we had the foresight :.
to take our rifles with US to-day, other :
wise we should have lost them for a
certainty. Now we shall have to keep
our eyes open for trouble. It won't be
long in coming, mark my words"
You don't think they watched us at
work in that courtyard, dc you?" asked
Hayle, anxiously, as they returned to
the camp. eff that's so, they'll have
every atom of the remaining treasure,
and we shall be done for"
He spoke as if until that moment
they had received nothing.
! "1t's just possible they may have y
done so, of course" said Kitwater,
"but how are we to know? We could
MT prevent them, for we don't know
how many of them there may be. That
fellow you saw this evening may only =
have been placed there to spy upon
our movements Confound it all, I
wish we we're bigger party
cts NO use wishing that" Hayle re-
turned, and then after a pause he
added: fortunately we hold good
many lives in our hands, and what's
more, we know the value of our own.
The only thing we can do is to watch,
watch, and watch, and, if we are taken -,
by surprise, we shall have nobody to
thank for it but ourselves. Now if
you'll stand sentry, Coddy and will
get tea: " IS. - II g.: i
They set to work, and the meal was ~
in due course served and eaten. Aft
erwards Codd went on guard, beingl
relieved by Hayle at midnight. Ever
since they had made the CHASTITY dist
covery in the Jungle, the latter had
been more silent even than the gravity
of the situation demanded. Now he
sat, nursing his rifle, listening to the
mysterious voices Of the jungle, and .
thinking as if for dear life. Meanwhil
his companions slept soundly on, Sc
eure.i in the fact that he was watching
over them. 49,, y. " :. !. Is l.;
4. At last Hayle rose to his feet. \
"1t's my only chance" he said to
himself, as he went softly across to
where Kitwater was lying. 1T must
be now or never!' r.. =#
Kneeling beside the sleeping man,
he felt for the PACKET Of precious
stones they had that day obtained.
Having found it he transferred it to
his own pocket, and then returned to
his former position as quietly as he
had come. Then, having secured as
much Of their store of ammunition as
he could conveniently carry, together
with 9 supply, OF food sufficient to last
him for several days he deserted his
post, Abandoned his friends and dis
appeared into the jungleiz q
s.zs [CeItinaed next week. 81
We have just two hundred albums