The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-02-18


vas feverishly eager for anything that
might occupy her mind; for she felt
that to brood over the future might
mean madness. The mere thought of
the possibilities was far too terrifying
70 be calmly dwelt upon. Though
slight. there had been some little com
fort in the belief that she could RELY
on Winthrope. But now she was left
alone with her doubt and dread. Even
If she Lad nothing to fear from Blake,
there were all the savage dangers of
the coast, and behind those, far worse,
the fever
Meantime Blake went about his
share of the camp work, gruff and 81.
lent, but with the usual concrete re-
suits. He brought load after load of
fresh cocoanuts, and took great pains
TO hunt out the deliciously favored
eggs of the frigate birds to tempt Win
thrope's failing appetite When Miss
Leslie suggested that beef juice would
be much better for the invalid than
broth he went out Immediately in
search of gum-bearing tree, and that
night, after heating a small quantity
of gum in the cigarette case with the
adder poison, he spent hours replacing
his arrOw-heads with small bsrbed tips
that could be loOsened from their sock
cts by a slight pull.
A little before dawn he dipped two
of his new arrOw-heads in the sticky
contents of the cigarette case. fitted
them carefully to their shafts and stole
away down the cleft. Dawn found him
crouched low in the grass where the
overflow from the pool ran out into
the plain along its little channel. He
could see large forms moving away
from him; then came the flood of Grim
son light. and he made out that the
figures were drove Of huge Gland
His eyes flashed with eagerness. 1t
was long shot; but he knew that no
more was required than to pierce the
skin on any part OF his quarry's body.
He put his fingers between his teeth
and sent out a piercing whistle. II
was trick he had tried more than
once on deer and pronghorn antelope.
AS he expected. the Gland halted and
swung half around. Their ox-like sides
presented mark hard to miss.
He rose and shot as they were
wheeling to fly. Before he could fit his
second arrow to the string the whole
herd were running off at a numbering
gallop. He lowered his bow aud walked
after the animals, smiling with grim
anticipation. He had seen his arrow
strike against the side of the young
bull at which he had aimed
A little beyond where the bull stood
he came upon the headless shaft of his
arrow. AS he stopped and caught it
up he saw one of the fleeing animals
fall. When he came up with the dead
bull his first act was to recover his
arrow-tip and cut out the flesh around
the wound. Provided only with his
weak-bladed knife. he found it no easy
task to butcher so large a beast.
Though he had now acquired consid-
cradle deyterity in the art, noon had
passed before he brought the first load
of meat up the cleft
So great was the abundance of meat
that Blake worked all the remainder
Of the day and all night stringine the
flesh on the curing racks, and Miss
Leslie tried out pot after pot of fat
and tsllow, until every spare vessel
was filled and she had to resort to a
hollow In the rock beside the spring.
Blake promised to make more pots
as soon as he could fetch the clay. but
he had first to dress the Gland hide
and prepare new stock of thread and
cord from parts OF the animal which
he was careful not to let her see.
Whatever their concern for the fu-
ture-and even Blakes was keen and
bltter-the party, as a party, for the
time being might have been considered
extremely fortunate. They had shell
ter secure alike from the weather
and from wild beasts; an abundance
of nutritious food, and, as material for
clothing, the bushbuck, hyena and
Gland hides. To obtain more skins and
more meat Blake now knew would be
a simple matter so long as he had
enough poison left in the cigarette
case to moisten the tips of his ar
rows.
Even Winthropes relapse proved far
less serious than might reasonably
have been expected. The fever soon
left him and within few days he re-
gained strength enough to care for
himself Here, however, much to
Blake's perplexity and concern, his
progress seemed to stop, and all
Blake's urging could do no more than
cause him to move languidly from one
shady spot to another He would re-
ceive Blake's orders with a smile and
a drawing "Ya-as, to be sure."-and
then absolutely ignore the matter.
Only in two ways did the invalid ex.
hibit any signs Of energy. He could
and did eat with heartinees little short
Of that shown by Blake, and he would
insist upon seeking opportunities to
nress his attention., upon Miss Leslie.
lie vas careful to avoid all offensive
remarks; yet the veriest commonplace
from his lips was now an offense to
the girl While he needed her as
Nurse she had endured his talk as part
If her duty But now she felt that she
M Ioopor 40 ,a