The San Francisco call., 1907-02-03

their houses and rushed to the road.
Then, at the sight OF white unknown
monster, the women and children ran
into the houses, crying that It was
the devil Certainly the motorists
black goggles did not reassure them.
The men were astonished also but
preserving their calm they watched
the unusual apparition draw up in
their village.
The wild boar had so damaged the
tire and the spokes that 1t was nec-
essary to stop for repairs The faces
of the natives were not at all reas
suring. and especially the chief looked
a true cutthroat: therefore. when the
motor was just in working order the
travellers heard several guns fired,
hearing which the natives snatched up
their weapons and ran about shouting
keleobar. Keleobari' They (the
travelers) sprang into their car and
were just starting when they found
that the guns that alarmed them were
those of some huntsmen who had gone
on a long journey aud on returning
had fired a feu de joie; therefore they
dismounted again. glad not to be
forced to continue their journey.
Soon after they received a visit from
the priest of the village, q hadii wh3
had been to Mecca. and was therefore
considered to be the wsest man in the
village He came to look at the strange
aspiration (the motor. and after hay
ing examined it carefully he asked
them:
How Is it that your wagon goes
without a horse?"
To which Mr.. Kapferer answered,
smiling: My dear old chap, | have
three big horses and one small horse
In that iron box there
The astonishment of the natives was
redoubled and they crowded round the
car. The travellers were Just filling
their cooling pipes with cocoanut milk.
because the water brought to them was
80 full of sand and mud that they
could not use II, when shrek caused
them to look round. and they saw the
hadji running hither and thither howl
ing out curses and holding on to his
hand In his thirst for knowledge he
had begun to examine the levers and
had jammed his hand somewhere. The
sight of this venerable man, his beard
flying about and his turban awry, sent
the two friends into shrieks OF laugh
ter Their mirth only made the matter
sworse and this time the 'Keleobar!
Keleobarl" of the Malays was really
against them. There was no time to
be lost, and they hurried into the car
and started. A hundred hands seized
different parts of it to stop them, but
three and a half horsepower pulled
the natives over.
They spun along, followed by host
OF running savages. The speed lever
5ammed and they could only go on the
first belt, which was nothing against
the swift-footed natives. who bran
dishing their knives, came on like a
pack of hounds. Some of them cut the
motor of at the bend of the road by a
shorter path through the wood. Here
was danger! Mr.. Knoops fired over the
back of the seat and Mr.. Kapferer
crouched, tugging at the speed lever.
This was running the gauntlet with a
vengeance. Suddenly the car stopped
short and was only started again by a
superhuman effort. But the first OF the
hold of the tailboard. To the travel
ers' delight, however, they let go with
screams of pain. The cooling pipes. be-
ing too scantily filed with cocoanut
milk, were as hot as fire. and so was
the tailboard. The lever worked "Teuf,
teuf." and the motor passed over the
stomachs of the men in front. Javelins
whistled around. One pierced Mr.. Kap-
ferer's sun helmet and half a dozen
stuck in the back of the seat and In the
footboard. For two hours they did not
stop until they reached the second
petrol pumping station, at Moeara
Enim.
The sun. combined with the excite
ment, gave Mr.. Kapferer bad head
ache. therefore he rested in a little
house belonging to the engineer. and
in which the greatest luxury of the
Jungle. electrte lighting. was to be