Putnam patriot., 1910-08-12

lhelr naked bodies to The rinlsy c0rton ' pantaloons corded about their waists
 and View'd our departure out of their
 narrow eyes with features as impas-
 sive as these of stone Buddha
 What did they Know about the two
 rusty hniks, the gray thing, that
 haunted them. and what had they told ny crew. ! wondered. Worn ont with
 a trying week. l turned In.
 shock hurled me from mv berth
 and as l sr0ped about in the darkness
 for the key CT tht. door the sound of
 crashing timber and of branches trail
 Ing aerass tie cabin window made me guess my surroundings. Springing en
 deck, l turned instinctively 10 the wheel. and there. bowed over it ike
 an old msa aud clutching the spokes
 with hairy hands. was q huge gray ape-the very monster Shaekiefori and
 had failed to bring down the night of the raid upon the cocoanut grove! Al sight of me It reliHduished it's hold upon the wheel and sprang at me. barring its teeth h sudden rage Whipping out my Colt. l began to fire and back away and brought it down with shot in its gaping mouth just as il was reaching out its horrible corded arms 10 seize me As 1t col lapsed with a gasping shudder at my very feet l sprang backward from sheer repuision and tn doing so fell Into the lagoon through hole in the railing that the thick branch of a tree had carried away.
 Not till then did the full significance of what had transpired dawn upon me. Crew there was none. but apes from the surrounding trees and tie two rusty hulks that had so puzzled me and that now lay on either side came swarming upon the steamer till they covered everything winches. forecas- tie head. the empty davtts. the spare anchors. the very rigging-with a gray. wrtthing mass that struggled and fought and screamed in wild rush for the eocoanuts. which could easily be reached through the main hatch. left open to prevent oyerheating. Swimming round to the rndder. now completely out of water above the madly racing screw. l climbed up be- yend the reach of sharks and listened to the appalling pandemenium till the last eocoanut must have beeu removed from the hold. when the brutes grad ually dispersed through the forest
 Afraid to venture back en deck. at daylight l mounted Il piece of the round house that had been swept over. board and made my way on the incom- ing tide up the channel which led to the plantation. On the edge of the grove 1 paused iii incredulous wonder. and then the truth came home to me, Under fierce attack of the apes the wire fence had at last given way. and the cocoanut grove was in ruins. Shaekleford's bungalow l found in state of pillage so complete that only the four upright posts remained. and the fimsy nuts occupied by the Chi nese aborers were scattered about as if struck by n typhoou.
 Not far from the ruins found Shackleford's beautifully stained meer- schaum pipe tranpled into the earth by q host of passing feet. and protrud- Ing from under Il tattered cocoauut leaf was Chinaman's cue. streaked with gray. but no Celestial al the sev- cred end Prepared for the worst. was hastening down the newly beaten path toward the jungle. when groan to my left attracted my attention. and, rushing over. l found Shackleford and his Chinamen neatly trapped under the barbed wire fence.
 You see" Shackleford explained when I bad pried up the edge of the deadly netting which they were unable 10 raise with their bare hands because of the inch long barbs we were pok- ing ihe bally brutes off the fence with sharpened bamhoos and having no end of fun when their weight doubled the whole thing over and shut Us into as fine a little fort as fellow could wish for. Ha. ha..
 Shackleford followed by a score of bedraggled Ghinamen. crawled out stiff1y from his involuntary but lucky imprisonment and locked ruefully at his blood spattered clothes. They rip ped and tore at The netting like lot of mad devils" he continued. and the blood from their iacerated feet came through on ns like shower of warm rain. but none of us was hurt except Ah Cong over there. He was bit careless and let his pigtail stick out through the netting Lucky thing had a knife. you sour old heathen. turning to Il grizzled Chinaman whose rue had been severed close Co his head ..or that big ape that got hold of the end of il would have pulled il out by the roots'' And Shackleferd laughed uproarionsly as he reached for his pipe. examined the colorine with the eye Of a connoisseur and then began to dig the dirt out of the bowl. But l don't understand what made the brufes all quit and go tearing away toward the bay" he added thoughtfully as he opened his tobacco pouch.
 For answer I led him down to the third derelict and showed him the emp ty hold.