The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-10-29
HIS BEAUTY MARK.

| t1l6 bIAUI1 MAffh,
 How did I come by this beauty
 mark?" said Job Patterson, as he
 stroked back the snowy hair from his
 brow and earessingly followed with a finger the livid scar which ran across
 his forehead. Well, it's queer story,
 and maybe you won't credit it, but, al- though at the time it nearly cost me my life, in the end it proved a blessing in
 disguise, as it brought me the most
 charming wife it was ever the fortune
 of man to mate with"
 Our acquaintance began in the Seven Dial, his visiting card being a revolver
 and. mine a pair of darbies. But al-
 though our first meeting was trifie
 rough and lacking in courtesy, was
 not ungrateful to him, for his capture
 gained me my first promotion at Scot land yard.
 Beside which, we had both set our
 marks upon the other, he having given
 me an ounce of lead in the shoulder, whilst the aforementioned scar spoke of
 my dexterity with the fire shovel; so that when we afterwards met we cried quits and an intimacy gradually sprang up between us.
 But this was all ancient history, as I we had both long since retired from
 business. I, upon small pension, had left the force and sought out quiet
 cottage at Stokes Bay, in Hampshire.
 To my great surprise I found Patterson
 leading a. highly respectable life and
 much esteemed by the small communi- ty. -. ! He was supposed at the club to be a retired fishing master, and his greatest
 relaxation seemed to be in romancing.
 "It is not necessary" said Job, ito seek adventure in foreign parts. Many i a terrible blizzard have I witnessed
 from the old cottage at Totland bay T during the sixty odd years of my so-
 journ there; but never shall forget the I time when the old Eliza Jane was blown
 ashore. g l $"It was in the autumn of 1850; the
 storm had been raging all day long, and
 towards evening it had nearly spent it.
 self. I was standing with a group in a.
 sheltered nook anxiously watching the
 maneuvers of small brig howing sig nals of distress, which was rapidly be-
 ing driven upon shore. | those days, and we could do nothing to
 assist the i'll fated vessel except prepare the rocket-ine in anticipation of her
 striking, which she eventually did, ram- ming her nose almost ashore just in-
 side the Needles. I was not backward in assisting those who were endeavor- l ing to shoot line over the wreck. Not
 to make my story wearisome, this was accomplished, and stout hawser soon
 stretched between the doomed vessel and the shore.
 Owing to the surf and blinding , spray, we could see only at intervals
 what was being done on board the , wreck, but there appeared to be three
 men and female clustering around the mainmast, and we soon had the satis- faction of seeing the woman lifted into the cradle and one of the men raise his hand as signal for us to haul her , ashore.
 : Ere we had seized the ropes, cry of horror and superstitious fear rang sim ultaneously from each of us. Suddenly ; a frightful hairy creature, and nearly seven feet in height, was seen through the spray to rush from the cabin stair way brandishing heavy bar of iron. 50 sudden was the apparition that more than one ran up the cliffs shout ing, It's the devil;' whilst those of us ] who remained were frozen into silent , horror by seeing the creature advance, and, with an unearthly yell, strike down the nearest man, and seizing the other !, two, who appeared to be dazed, in. it's powerful arms, held them aloft for a } minute and then dashed them with a , sickening crash upon the deck, from which they were swept inanimate by , the next pillow.
 q was the first to perceive that the author of the terrible tragedy was in reality an immense ape, which, as I af- terward discovered, had been consigned to the geological gardens from mer- : chant in Borneo.
 "We were so dazed that we momen- tarily forgot the women until recalled to our senses by seeing the baboon make a vigorous spring upon her. Happily. the creature was too late, and before it could recover itself the basket cradle was clear of the vessel. : Seeing his prey disappearing, and
 also perceiving the rope which had been } attached to the basket for the purpose 7 of hauling it 10 board the wreck, the } willy animal made a dart for it, and, } bracing himself against the mast. began to pull the ill-fated woman toward him. , And then began tug-of- war, the ] like of which have never seen before } pr since. How our muscles cracked, and the thick beads of sweat rolled town our faces, as we pulled against the , monster.
 Minutes seemed hours, as in silence , we hauled at the line Suddenly the rope gave and we were enabled to take 3 in good three feet. Another eternity of silent straining, and then another
 gain, and still another Clearly the an- imal was tiring; in our eagerness we must have jerked at the rope, for the next moment we were lying upon our backs. The line had parted upon our , side.