The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-03

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES VuovOovvvowUSe0oe -
| lose a lot Of cattle here" the giant
replied "Old Van Luren, whose
farm this is, declares that the place
has no bottom"
"Ah! Characteristic of the country.
It's full Of pitfalls. One never
| knows
Sam Goodall had drawn up level
with them. He was nearer the Wa
terhole than the others. Suddenly he
pointed at an object floating on the
cleaning surface.
Whats that?" he cried; and his
tone was unpleasantfy sharp.
The others followed the direction
of his pointing finger. Mike Donovan
was the first to break the silence that
followed.
Looks like a sheep" he said.
Jerry Boyle was more practical,
Lets ride round and see. It's not
a sheep"
The three horsemen passed in
through the gateway, and made their
way round to the far side of the
water hole to point nearest the OBJ
ject in the water.
AS they drew near the traders sur
mise proved itself The object was
not a sheep. 1t was a human body
1t was lying right on the surface CT
the water. face uppermost. The body
was distended with the gases of de
composition. It was a hideous sight,
but perfectly recognizable. The fea-
lures of the face were discolored, and
looked as though they had been par
TALLY eaten away by carnivorous wa
ter-scavengers. The men, looking ON
in silent wonder, knew that the body
was that Of their late comrade, Guy
Chalmer.
Again it was Jerry Boyle who broke
up the long silence.
'.How-how come it there?" he
asked slowly. He displayed no emo
ton.
Sam Goodall gave a harsh laugh,
which died out as suddenly as 1t be-
gan. Mike Donovan was the only one
affected.
"Come away. Let's leave the beast
ly thing. Our coffee was made from
that water
In single file they made their way
out of the enclosure AS they turned
on to the road again the Wagons
were leaving the ourspan. They came
on behind. rumbling and creaking
after the laboring oxen, amid the
shrieks of the drivers and perfect
bombardment of cracking whips.
The three men proceeded abreast
now. with the trader in the middle.
| After they had gone some distance
Mike ieant forward and spoke across
to Sam.
'TIe was seen near the Wonder
gat." he said, with a backward jerk
of the head.
Yes"
Maybe that accounts for it,
what do you lmean?" inquired the
trader.
Mike laughed and shrugged. He
had quite recovered himself
This place." he said, sis supposed
to be linked with the wondergat. In
| fact, there is more or less a chain OF
these, so-called, bottomless holes GO
ing right away north as far as the
Nyanzas. They are supposed to be
linked by an underground river, the
| current flowing southwark. The
theory is-and 1 believe 1t has been
| proved-that if a body falls into one
| of these places it first of all sinks.
At certain depth it encounters this
subterranean current, and is washed
away on an underground journey
Maybe its progress is slow; anyway,
in the course of the journey, decom-
position generates all sorts of foul
| gases which gives the body tend
ency to rise. Very we'll; it eventually
reaches one of these holes. Immedi-
ately 1t rises, and hobs up to the sur
face like cork. Now, if nc had
fallen into the Wondergat--'
Come on" broke in the trader,
lets get on. Ahead of US lies the
future Eldorado of the world. Wen
be three of the earliest on the scene.
The early bird, You know. Come on.Y
| THE END.
/