La Junta tribune., 1907-06-01
the Niger. to say iothin' of the birds
md 80, tinnSV

AS 10 neSltatel, UuIeclNcl us 10 tue
hest course 10 pursue. the dull patter
OF pony's rnshed hoofs reached his
ears. \ moment later the little brown
man bounced into sight. his ri :ht hand
beating 4 tattoo on the aninars lean
ribs AMI his voice raised in shrill eN-
rostulations over the pony's uusatisfac.
tory progress.
A short breathing spell ana they
were again in the saddles. Not till
darkness set In did they reach the foot
hills. which marked the first forty
miles of their journey.
Dewey hobbled the horses In II grassy
ravine aad turned his attention to the
preparation OF the evening meal. As
tue provender consisted entirely Of
hard tack and bacon, his reputation Us
an excellent cook was not put 10 the
test. Despite the hard days work
Reilly's appetite was missing. While
dewey ravenously devoured the scOrch
ed bacon Reilly sat Idly tossing crumbs
to the white carrier pigeons.
Reilly finally lay down to sleep. leav-
Ing Dewey to stand guard. At ii
o'clock the bearer OF dispatches, who
had never closed his eyes for ii mo-
ment, arose to his feet and enacted n
pantomime which was supposed to rep
resent tired trooper shaking OF sound
siumber. Taking this as the sign OF his
relief. Dewey was soon sleeping hard
enough and loud enough for two men.
When Reilly twisted him to his feet at
the first suggestion OF dawn he was
chatterlng In broken English about
head hunters and poisoned arrows and
such like bnrbarties.
what about the head hunters. Dew
ey:" said Reilly when they were once
more on the way after hasty assault
on the hard tack and bacon.
"HIm much there" Dewey affirmed.
pointing IN n direction which would
seem to indicate TINT they were trav,
cling straight for the region of these
picturesque savages.
"No more eat native" persisted Dew
ey. glad of nn opportunity to exercise
his American vocabulary. Him now
eat only white heads And he cast II
meaning glance at Reilly's roseate top
piece.
The semblance of trail wound In
and out. but steadily upward over rock
strewn ground and through dense un
dergrowth. Suddenly Dewey pointed
brown finger toward giant tree that
stood outlined against the sky. Nes-
tling In two of its limbs was what ap-
pcared to be Il mammoth birds nest.
Head hunter live much high" he ex.
plained. NO can get"
"Oh. it wouldn't be any trouble get
ting that" said Reilly. and. snatching
his revolver from the holster. he took
a snapshot nt the lofty dwelling. The
report was followed by "A faint cry, and
n contorted body dropped to the ground
Ike stone.
Reilly paused aghnst at the outcome
OF his rash act. THAT" he said half
aloud. lis the poorest shot | ever made
in my life. II get out OF this mess
with head on my shoulders 1t Will be
because l have more luck than
At that instant moose dropped noise
lcssly over his shoulders. and he was
unhorsed by n sudden tightening of the
rope.
The first thought which came to Reil-
iy's minnl when he was set upon his
feet. after being securely bound, was
one of wonder over where this myriad
of little brown men had MI sprung
from. ChatterIng like so many mon
keys. they pressed about him, gesticu-
lating wildly and no doubt threatening
the most horrible forms Of vengeance.
Gazing over their heads. he caught
sight of Dewey. also captive. and
their horses being driven Off In the
distance The little wicker cage had
evidently been broken open. and the
frightened pigeons nuttercd about high
In the air
As the natives dragged their cap
tIvcs toward n distant clearing the
birds followed in clrcling flight. This
fact evidently afforded the savnges
much pleasure. for they broke into
sort OF droning chant. accompanying
it with skyward gestures.
The advance guard finally came to n
halt before collection of grass huts
which marked the center of the clear
Ing. The prisoners were tightly bound
to n highly decorated post which had
evidently served In the same capacity
on former occasions. AS soon as they
had satisfied themselves that there was
no possibility of the victims escaping
the whole company turned their atten-
tlon once more to the two carriers
which were now skimming back and
forth scarcely twenty feet above the
ground. At n sign from the chief they
NIL prostratcd themselves as II In wor-
ship.
"whnt In thunder are they up to
uow?" growled Reilly. why don't
they chop heads and get 1t over With!
Dewey was trembling with excite
ment. "Him gods" he explained. Head
hunter much 'fraid Of white bird. Him
spirit"
At the direction OF the chief huge
wooden bowls heaped with rice were
l..anua,t out and dianla ynd In ylfi In UlY