The Falls City tribune., 1908-12-25
to swing the girl up beside him

~ TO scare you, but | eouldn [ nave
made it without. Now. if you'll just
hold down my legs We'll soon hoist
his l%udship,"
He had seated her In the broadcast
part of the shallow hollow. where the
branch Joined the main trunk of the
fig. Heaped with the reeds which he
had gathered during the afternoon it
made such a coy shelter that she
At once forgot her dizziness and fright.
Nesting among the reeds. she leaned
over and pressed down OF his ankles
with all her strength.
The loose end of the ereeper had
fallen to the ground when Blake lifted
her upon the branch and Ninthrope
was already slipping into the loop.
Blake ordered him to take It off AID
send up the club. As the ereeper was
again flung down a black shadow
swept over the Jungle.
Hello Sunset called Blake.
Look sharp, there"
All ready" responded Winthrope.
blake drew in a full breath, and be.
gan to hoist. The position was an
awkward one. and Winthrope weighed
50 or 40 pounds more than Miss Les
lie. But as the Englishman came
within reach of the descending loop
he erasped it and did what he could
10 ease Blake's efforts. \ few mo-
ments found him as high above the
ground as Blake could raise him.
Without waiting for orders. he swung
himself upon the upper part of the
cfeeper and climbed the last few feet
unaided. Blake grunted with satisfac-
ten as he pulled him in upon the
branch.
You may do, after all" he said.
At any rate, we're all aboard for the
nieht, and none too soon. Hear that"
Y What"
Lion. | guess Not that yelping.
Listen"
The brief twilight was already fading
into tie darkness of a moonless night.
and as the three crouched together in
their shallow nest they were soon
made audib!y aware of the savage ma
tnre of their surroundings. With the
gathering night the jungle Weakened
INTO full life, From all sides came the
harsh squawking of birds, the weird
cries OF monkeys and other small erea-
lures, the crash of heavy animals
moving through the jungle, and above
all the yelp and howl and oar OF
beasts of prey.
After some contention with Win
thrope, Blake conceded that the roars
of his lion might be nothing worse
than the snorting of the hippopotami
as they came out to browse for the
night. In this, however, there was
small comfort, since Winthrope pres
emily reasserted his belief in the
climbing ability Of %leopards. and ex-
pressed his opinion that, whether or
not there were lions In the neighbor-
hood, certain of the barking roars they
could hear came from the Threats OF
the spotted climbers. Even Blake's
hair bristled as his Imagination pic
tured n Of the great cats creeping
upon them in the darkness from the
far end of their nest limb, or leaping
down out Of the upper branches.
The nerves of all three were at their
highest tension when a dark form
swept past through the air within a
yard of their faces. Miss Leslie ut
tered a stified scream and Blake
brandished his club. But Winthrope,
who had caught a glimpse of the crea-
lures shape, broke into a nervous
laugh.
It's only a fruit bat" he explained.
They feed on the banyan figs, you
know"
both men relaxed and began to yield
to the effects of the tramp across the
mud-1ats. Arranging the reeds as
best they could they stretched out on
either side of Miss Leslie and fell
asleep in the middle of an argument
on how the prospective leopard was
mostly likely to attack.
Miss Leslie remained awake for
two or three hours longer. Naturally
she was more nervous than her COM
panions, and she had been refreshed
by her afternoons nap. Her nervous
ness was not entirely due TO the wild
beasts. Though Blake had taken pains
to secure himself and his companions
in loops of the creeper. fastened to
the branch above, Winthrope moved
about so restlessly in his sleep that
the girl feared he would roll from the
hollow.
At last her limbs became so
cramped hat she was compelled to
change her position. She leaned
back upon her elbow, determined to
rise again and maintain her watch
the moment she was rested. But
sleep was close upon her. There was
a lull in the louder noises of the jun
gle. Her eyes closed, and her head
sank lower. In a little time it was ~
ing upon Winthrope's shoulder and she
was fast asleep.
As Blake had asserted, the mos
q~uitoes had either been blown away
by the cyclone or did not fly to such
a height. None came to trouble the
exhausted sleepers.