The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-01-14

aIler Blake, around the mOEStTOUS
bole of the baobab. A little beyond it
stood a group of slender trees, whose
trunks averaged eight inches at the
base Blake stopped at the second
one, which grew nearest to the sea
ward side of the cleft.
Here's our ladder" ne said. Get
some firewood. Pound the bushes.
though, before you go poking into
them. May be snakes here"
'Snakes?-oh! cried Miss Leslie
and she stood shuddering at the dan
ger she had already incurred.
The fire had burnt itself out on a
bare ledge of rock between them and
the baobab, and the clumps of Cry
brush left standing in this end of the
cleft were very Suggestive of snakes.
now that Blake had called attention
to the possibility of their presence.
He laughed at his hesitating com
panions. Go on. go on! Don't squeal
till you're bit. Most snakes hike out,
if you give them half chance Take
a stick each of you, and pound the
bushes
Thus urged, both started to work.
But neither ventured into the thicker
rl'inpS' men lneE returned WIN
i"'se al 'iiIuls Vi s'ichS ana t"lSa.
they found that Blake had used his
glass to light a handful of dry bark
out in the sun, and was nursing it in
~ 90 ~ 80 VI INC u &C.
wv MOS Jenny h7 o'iecteu.
Gu 70 W Hoep 'liiS GUNS nv. 'oo Ois
u'iu0' >. anu 0"ine 'iile YOU
o"ii N9op oii ie'oi''is olUSh 10 Iu"Li.
S00l O''' i"'e' II neeuS H. an
i'enS
W III not ,haL De raIhPr 100 much
'oI MISS hesile' ASKED "iAlhTope'
wen Il sHe u idlher come ana foD
pI7llS On lLe shllS'-lhdlan lah' you
Nlio"
HOW can you mention such things
Deiore lady! protested Nlnthrope,
Beg your pardon, Miss Leslie, you
see, m not much used to ladies' com
pany. Anyway you've got to see and
hear about these things. And now I'll
nave to get the strings for Wins
bamboo bows. Come on, Win. We've
got that old tabby to peel, and Ia lot
more besides.
Miss Leslie's first impulse was to
protest AGAINST being left alone, when
at any moment some awful venom
Gus serpent might come darling at her
out OF the brush or the Creyices in
the rocks. But her haifparted lips
drew firmly together, and after mo
ments hesitancy, she forced herself
to the task which had been assigned
her. The fire, once started, required
little attention. She could give most
OF her time to gathering brush for the
IumlSallon OF the leopard den.
She Lad collected quite a heap of
fuel at the entrance of the hollow
when she remembered that the place
would first have to be cleared of its
accumulation of bones A glance at
her companions showed that they
were in the midst Of tasks even more
revolving. 1t was certainly disagree
able to do such things; yet, as Mr..
Blake had said, others had to do them
1t was now her time to learn. She
could see him smile at her hesitation,
Stung by the thought of his half
contemptuous pity. she caught up a
forked stick, and forced herself to en-
ter the tree-cave. The stencil met her
hike blow. 1t nauseated and all but
overpOwered her. She stood for sew
eFal moments in the center OF the cav
ny sick and faint. Had it been even
the previous day, she would have run
out into the open air.
Presently she grew little more &C
! customed to the stencil, and began
to rake over the soft, dry mold Of
! the den floor with her fOrked stick.
! Bones!-who mad ever dreamed Of
/ such mess OF bones?- big bones
/ ana niue bones ana skulls; old bones,
/ dry and almost buried; moldy bones:
! bones sun halfcoVered with bits OF
! nesh and grlstle-the remnants OF the
leopard famllys last meal.
AT last all were scraped out and
hung In a heap, three or four yards
away from the entrance. Miss Les