Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1915-11-19

tim, since the end would be the same
no matter what the reason for it?
But now they added the last touch
of cruelty in their torture of her, that
of delay. They did not carry her, re
signed to the worst, at once to meet
her fate; but on the contrary led her
away and left her alone for time, a
prey to her own reflections, the vic
tim of her own imaginations.
| Only at times her strong will, her
strong body, rebelled at the thought
| of death. Then she would cry out
| 'Roleau! koleau!" she would exclaim,
raising her hands; Help, help! Come
to mel" But more often than his
name, she invoked that of another.
She heard her own voice, almost with
out her own will, calling aloud for
Count Frederick, the man so late her
enemy, vet so ready and so powerful
in any time of stress or danger!
Frederick" she moaned, again and
again. Where are you? Why do you
not Gomez"
But to all this, only the bowling
derision of her captors made answer.
She must, then. die!
In the last moment of their caprice,
or in the full time of their decision,
they hailed her once more forth from
the hut, up to the brink of the sacri-
fetal pit itself, where now she saw
the awakening flames.
Facing this elimination of their
heather rites, whatever were their
purposes, their innocent victim again
made such battle as she could against
her captors. Shrieking she called
again and again upon those names
with which once she could conjure--
called also upon the last name
spoken by human hearts in despair.
Who shall tell whether or not there
be higher powers controlling circum-
stances such as these? At least, at
this crucial moment there came
rescue, il rescue it might be called.
There burst from the corner of the
nearby forest strange, ill-shapen,
half-clad figure, whether or not human
Kitty scarce could tell 1t was man,
white man, clad in tattered frag-
ments of what once had been white
mans garment. Brawny, hairy, re-
pulsive indeed, of cultural and inco-
herent speech, he seemed like no
white man Kitty Gray ever had seen.
A swift conviction came to her that
he was uemented, that he was luna
tic-perhaps preserved from death by
the very reason Of his lunacy.
Whoever or whatever he was, his
design now seemed not unfriendly to
the victim Of these savage ceremonies
already in progress. Sweeping aside
with blows of his great arms the saw
ages who clustered about her, he
caught Kitty up in gorillalike en-
brace, and with hoarse cries OF de-
fiance made his way with her to the
cover of the woods.
The natives did not pursue them
Kitty could not tell why. Indeed, she
scarce had time to reason, in this
new terror at the formidable appari-
ton which now had her in charge.
Then slowly, finding him not un-
friendly, she found time to ponder and
to plan. Certainly this being was, or
had been, white man. Certainly he
could or once could have employed in
telligible speech-might again be able
to do so.
But speech of ineligible sort she
did not hear. Only he bore her away
to some distance, until at length safe
in tho cover of the forest, he set her
down.
Kitty looked about her. She found
herself in a situation which she could
liken to nothing else in all her expe-
rience.
A steep trail led down the declivity
of a craterlike opening, evidently the
mouth of a great cavern reaching |
back under the hill. The opening
would not easily have been guessed |
by a stranger in those parts, even
though passing close by in tho forest. |
1t was, in short, the mouth of one OF
the vaultlike series of caverns formed |
in the lava rock of what had once |
been volcanic hill.
Below, within, all seemed dark, cold, |
silent. 1t was refuge-though what |
refuge. She was rescued-but by |
what rescueri
He beckoned to her now, and she |
followed him down the steep slope. |
Came then long stretches OF under
ground passages, how many, how long,
Kitty could not tell.
At least she lived. In spite of all |
her terrors, in spite of all these addi- |
tional doubts, she still lived. She |
might have been more disposed to |
make some effort in her own behalf, |
had she not felt full upon her that |
strange oppression always expert |
enced by any human being finding |
himself deep beneath the surface of |
that earth upon which, and not under
which, he was born to walk.
So far as she could see, her captor |
had no plan save that Of safety from |
pursuit. And she still lived-she could |
say so much as that, If no more!
CHAPTER LXvli.