The newspaper., 1909-08-06

baobab, she gathered the pieces of
skin together, and walked along the
cleft to the ladder-tree. There had
thrope to set up the signal, and she
was curious to see how it looked.
She paused at the foot of the tree.
and gazed up to where the withered
crown lay crushed against the edge
of the cliff. The height of the rocky
wall made her hesitate; yet the men,
in passing up and down, had so
cleared away the twigs and leaves and
broken the branches on the upper side
of the trunk, that it offered a means
of ascent far from difficult even for
young lady.
The one difficulty was to reach the
lower branches She could hardly
touch them with her fnger-tip But
her barbaric costume must have in
spired her She listened for a mo-
ment. and hearing no sound to indicate
the return of the men, ciayped the
upper side of the trunk with her
hands and knees. and made an en-
ergetic attempt to climb. The posture
was far from dignified, but the girls
eyes sparkled with satisfaction as she
found herself slowly mounting.
When. flushed and breathless, she
gained a foothold among the branches,
she looked down at the ground, and
permitted herself merry little giggle
such as she had not indulged in since
leaving boarding-school. She had
actually climbed tree, She would
show Mr.. Blake that she was not SO
helpless as he fancied.
At the thought. she clambered on
up. finding that the branches made
convenient. steps. She did not look
back. and the screen OF treetops be-
meath saved her from any sense OF
giddiness. AS her head came above
the level of the cliff, she peered
through the foliage, and saw the sig
nal-fiag far over near the end of the
headland. The big piece OF white
duck stood out bravely against the
blue sky. all the more conspicuous for
the fiocks of frightened seafowl which
wheeled above and around it.
Surprised that she did not see the
men. Miss Leslie started to draw her
self up over the cliff edge. She
heard Winthrope's voice a few yards
away to her left. A sudden realization
that the Englishman might consider
her exploit ill-bred caused her to sink
back out of sight.
She was hesitating whether to de-
scend or TO climb on up. when Win
thrope's peevish whine was cut short
by loud and angry retort from Blake.
Every word came to the girls ears
with the force OF blow.
You do. do you. Well. I'd like to
know where in hell you come in. She's
not your sister. nor your mother. nor
your aunt. and IL she's your sweet
heart. you've both been damned close
mouthed over IT,"
There was an irritable. rasping
murmur from Winthrope, and again
came Blake's loud retort- Look here,
young man. don't you forget you called
me a cad once before. ! can stand
good deal from a sick man: but I'll
give It TO you straight. you'd better cut
that out Call me a brute or a savage.
If thatll let of your steam; but un-
derstand. I'm none of your English
kinds"
Again Winthrope spoke. this time
in fretful whine.
Blake replied with less anger:
That's so; and I'm going TO show you
that I'm the real thing when it comes
to being a sport Give You my word.
I'll make no move till you're through
the fever and on your legs again
What I'll do then depends on my own
sweet will. and don't you forget ii. I'm
not after her fortune. It's the lady
herself that takes my fancy. Remem-
ber what said to you when you called
me cad the other time. You had
your turn aboard ship. Now | can do
as | please: and that's what I'm going
to do. IL have to kick you over the
cliff end first. to shut of your pesky
interference"
The girl crouched back into the
withered foliage. dazed with terror.
Again she heard Blake speak. He had
dropped into a bitter sneer.
NO chance? It's no nerve. you
mean. You could brain me. easy
enough. any night-just walk up with
a club when I'm asleep. Trouble is.
you're like most other under dogs
fraid that II you licked your boss.
there'd be no soup bones. So l guess
I'm slated to stay boss of this colony
grand Poo Bah and Mikado. all in
opa rpderStaDdS Nou mind yOur