The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1914-11-05
The Girl in the caoe,

The Girl in the Cage.
I sprang to the cage wherein wal
confined the loveliest woman I hal
ever seen. And sought. madly. Will
my bare hands, to tear away the
thick wooden bars.
who are you?" l asked, while thus
engaged. What are you doing here?'
They have held me here for two
years." she cried. And then, in pitt
ful supplfcation, she entreated me to
release her.
But the two madmen now leaped on
me to drag me away. l fought like a
demon. But the negro's spear drew
blood in two places in my back and
i was obliged to yield to this "supe-
Fior'' force.
! The girls arms-beautifully round
ed, bare arms-were outflung through
the bars and she ceased not to implore
me to save her. But they dragged me
roughly away.
The vision of that imprisoned young
woman remained before my eyes even
after they forced me into the scien-
tist'shut
wondered, of course, how she came
to be there. And l questioned the
mad scientist about her.
She's my very finest specimen"
was all he would Say concerning her.
'You shall see more of her presently.
For you shall have the cage next to
hers-if you live"
II l lived? What did this mailman
mean? l recalled that the cage next
to that occupied by the girl contained
q mountain lion. Did the mailman
mean that l was to occupy the cage
with the lion? If I lived? Perhaps
IN his mind was the same thought,
namely. that man and a mountain
lion cannot occupy the same cage and
both still live. II l lived? / felt
that either the lion or John Gaunt was
doomed.
The scientist, Ell Toro. and the black
man, Chacha. now produced food.
They gave me some hunks of meat.
evidently the meat of some wild bird.
ate ravenously. The black man
brought water and drank. And then
strengthened by full stomach, l be-
gan to think of means of escape. Sup
pose were to leigh Inconsistencies?
What, l wondered, would they do
while l lay In a make-believe faint?
Accordingly. murmuring words to the
effect that the eating Of food after so
long q fast was having a bad effect.
l pretended to swoon
lay perfectly still but alert. And
presently I saw the black man. out
OF the corner Of my eye, lay fiat on
his back. and very soon he snored.
GOOD! The black man was disposed
OF. Now what would the white man
do?
The other specimen tainted in the
same way" l heard the scientist muir
muir. Soon he will recover-and we
shall have to feed him well-oh, very
.well-provided he lives"
watched him, still playing NOS.
sum. He arose. took a good look at
mo so as to make sure that | was
really unconscious Then he crept
away-away through an aperture in
the grass wall that served as doorway
to the adjoining room. He crept
into that adjoining apartment with
such stealthiness as to arouse NV GU
rioslty. What was he doing there? l
determined to see what that old in
sane rascal was up to.
Cautiously I crept to the aperture,
and peered in. l saw the old man lift
Q heavy, fiat stone, which served.
could see. as a covering for a hole
IN the ground. From this hole in the
ground he took an old-fashioned earth
en- pot. He dipped his hand into the
vessel. but before drawing the hand
out again with whatever contents the
pot contained he looked all round. as
II in terrible fear Of being spied upon
at his stealthy task. quickly with
drew from the aperture and waited.
PRESENTLY I again peered into the ad-
Joining room and saw that the Dot
contained gold. Yes. nuggets galore
we're pouring through the hands of the
scientist. He viewed the golden Jumps
gloatingly. And 1t dawned upon me
that here was not only a mad scientist,
but also very insane miser.
The nuggets convinced me, however,
that, surely enough. as I and nv
friends had guessed, the mountain
roundabout contained gold-and free
gold at that. For surely the mailman
did not mine" for this treasure in
the exact sense Of mining. He prob
ably found the gold "free" in the rock.
In the form Of the nuggets he now dis
played. 1t was further evident that
he alone possessed the secret of the
gold. The black man was in Ignorance
OF the source Of the wealth and of this
boarded wealth itself. Otherwise. whv
should the mailman seize upon the mo-
mont when the negro slept to examine
his secret treasure and gloat over it?
! But now another thought came to
me. Why did l waste this precious
time spying on the old man, when Ger.
ta1nly an avenue of escape was OPEN
escape not only for me, but for the |
oeautlful young woman in the cage |
With extreme caution now l turned |
from the aperture and crossed the
room. passing around the sleeping me-
gro, and out into the clearing: Like |
the wind sped to the cages and to |
the girl.
Quick" cried. Help me. Now
is our chance for freedom" And I !
strained like very Hercules at the |