The Mena weekly star., 1909-01-21
CHAPTER xvIIl.

H VEN had 1t not been Tor her
 M doubts of Blake, the girls
 O modesty would have caused her to think twice before repeating to him the Englishman's insulting pro posal. While she yet hestated and delayed. Winthrope came down with a second attack of fever. Blake. who until then had held himself sullenly apart from him as well as from Miss Leslie, at once softened to a gentler, or, at least, to more considerate mood. Though his speech and bearing continued morose, he took upon him. self all the duties of night nurse be- sides working and foraging several hours each day.
 Much to Miss Leslie's surprise, she found herself tending the invalid through the daytime almost as though nothing had happened. But everything about this wild and perilous life was so strange and unnatural to her that she found herself accepting the most unconventional relations as a regular consequence of the situation. She was 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 to 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 -t. faa 1ai- 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 si- lent, but with the usual concrete re- suits. He brought load after load Of fresh cocoanuts. and took great pains to hunt out the dellciously 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 small quantity of gum in the cigarette case with the adder poison, he spent hours replacing his arrow.heads with small harbed tips that could be loosened from their sock cts by 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 it's little channel. He could see large forms moving away from him: then came the flood of crim- son light, and he made out that the figures were drove of huge eland.
 His eyes flashed with eagerness. It 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 piercing whistle. It was trick he had tried more than once on deer and pronghorn antelope. As he expected the el@nd hailed 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 At his second arrow to the string the whole herd were running of at numbering gallop. He lowered his bow and 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 ue 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 10 butcher so large beast Though he had now acquired consid erable dexterity 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 stringing the flesh on the curing racks, and Miss t<ehie tficU out pOt dittE pOt VT ldt and tallow. until every spare vessel was filled and she had to resort to d hollow in the rock beside the spring Blake promised 10 make more pots as soon as he could fetch the clay. but he had first to dress the eland hide and prepare new stock of thread and <era from parts of the animal which he s careful not to let her see
 ' hateyer their concern for the fu- lure and even Blake's was keen and hitter--the party. as a party for the lime being might have been considered Extremely fortunate. They had shel- ter secure alike from the weather and from wild beasts; an abundance of nutritious food. and, as material for clothing. the bushbnck. hyena and eland hides. To obtain more skins and more meat Blake now knew would be simple matter so long as he had enough poison left in the cigarette ease to moisten the tips of his ar