Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1914-11-03

Inc male-mate, observing II In the
dim light, grasped his fiint-club,
CRASHED his teeth, and growled Into
the open space, however. driven by
desire, the intruder sprang.
His limbs were thick and knotted,
his neck and shoulders heavy and
strong. He had come to fight for the
others mate! Long had he noted
her active body, her white teeth and
fangs showing behind deep purple
colored lips. He had come to get her
and he was known among his tribe
as the Killer" who always got what
he wanted.
And fight for her he did,
Backward and forward the rightful
occupant and the intruder struck and
reeled. The female. notwithstanding
her love for her mate, realized her
subserviency to the stronger-and she
needed the stronger to help her pro-
tect her offspring; therefore. she sat
silent as the battle waged.
Her mate, however, whose strength
was fast failing as he parried the
more heavy blows of his opponents
club with his own, realized that the
weight OF the Killer" was telling on
him. Once he glanced appealingly-
almost sadly, 1t seemed, at the mother
of his child.
Perhaps she noted the mute ap-
peal, for suddenly she sprang. landing
on the back of "the Killer" who tried
TO shake her from him. Tightly she
chung, and bit his neck at the back
Love for her mate had conquered,
by her aid he was enabled to strike a
fatal blow at the intruder. He then
dragged the body through the en-
trance of the cave and to the edge of
he cliff, down the PERCEPTIONS
heights of which he threw It.
He returned to the cave and petted
her.
The family circle was stin com
plete!
Night approached-the time to
sleep-and, in accordance with his
usual custom, he went to the en-
trance of the cave and peered out into
the darkness. Seeing naught that
should disturb their rest, he returned.
But what was that rasping sound?
Surely. not his mate, or child! An
other intruder?
He grasped his fiint-club, rose, and
looked forth. A pair of green eyes
pierced him! A forest-beast!
Only by the subtlest stratagem had
an enemy of this character ever been
conquered, yet he was now face to
face with 1t. But had not his mate
saved him from the Killer He
would save her-and the child.
He motioned her to retreat to an
inner recess of the cave, and pressed
his body against the rock-side just
within the entrance. There he await
ed, and huge dark body with nose
to the ground soon crawled to the
natural archway.
Suddenly a crack was heard, then
a low growl, ending in brute-moan,
and the great beast sank down with
a broken skull He then summoned
his mate and proudly displayed the
carcass OF the beast
She crooned softly over her babe,
thus expressing her contentment at
having as her mate the mighty con-
queror
The family circle was still com
pletel
The mate of "the Killer" waited
until dawn for his appearance. When
the sun broke through the morning
mist, she realized, not without fear
flor though he had been brutal to her,
he had at times been most kind, that
he would never return.
She therefore set forth, her face
close to the ground, following his
footprints through the forest and the
swamp-and-and on the bark of
trees.
She read the signs. and they led to
the cave of her rival-she of the
thick, black hair and white teeth and
active body With maddening rage,
the mate of the Killer" remembered
how his eyes had followed the form
of her rival-how she had beat her
breast when he had pointed to the
babe.
She peered into the cave.
"He" was absent, but she" sat In
the corner grooming over her child.
The intruder walked stealthily, q
round stone held in her hand.
Suddenly she hurled it, but 1t
missed it's intended victim, who, in
instructive self-defense, threw her In.
FAINT at the attacker, who, staggered
by the blow. fell backward.
In a moment the mother was upon
her, grasping her throat and pounding
her head upon the stone floor, until
the skull cracked and consciousness
had gone.
The victim soon lay still in death
At nightfall the mother threw the
body over the precipice whence. on
the previous night, the corpse of the
Killer" had been thrown.
Thus the triangle" was destroyed
-mayhap the first,
HE" returned and an expression OF
satisfaction was in his eyes, for, al
ways a reader Of signs. he had OBJ
served the evidences Of the combat.
They sat upon the stiffened hides,
and his arm rested on her shoulder.
At her breast the infant nursed.
The family circle was still COM
plete,