The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1915-07-21
CHAPTER X.
The Death Dance.

OneF among the others WHO nau nelu
him prisoner, only to learn that one OF
them claimed her as sister?
1t all seemed very strange to M. Ii
was quite beyond him. Nat-u could
not be the sister of Custer, and vet he
had seen her apparently happy and
contentcd in the society of these
strangers, and Custer unquestionably
appeared to feel for her the solicitude
of a brother
Curtiss. it was evident, loved Nat-ul
that much he had CLEANED from con
versations he had overheard between
him and Custer How the man could
have become so well acquainted with
Natul between the two days that had
elapsed since Nh had sot forth from
the caves beside the restless sea to
hunt down 90 and the morning that
he had awakened following the mighty
shaking of the world was quite as
much a mystery as was the remarkable
changes that had taken place in the
aspect of the world during the same
brief period
M had given much thought to these
miraculous happenings. with the result
that he had about convinced himself
that he must have slept much longer
than he had believed, but that a hun
dred thousand years had rolled their
slow and weary progress above his I'M
conscious head could not. of course,
have occurred to him, even as the re-
motpst af I,sgiI,ititfas
He had also weighed the sneering
words of Curtiss, and with them the
attitude of the strangers with whom
he had been thrown. He had quickly
appreciated the fact that their man
ners and customs were as far removed
from his as they were from those of
the beasts of the jungle.
He had seen that his own ways were
more I'm accordance with the ways of
the black and half naked natives whom
the whites looked upon as so much
their interiors that they would not
even eat at the same table with them
He had noted the fact that the
blacks treated the other whites with a
marked respect which they did not ex-
tend to M, and, being no fool, M had
come to the conclusion that the whites
themselves looked upon him as an in
vinced him CT the truth Of his slspi-
cions.
Evidently, though his skin was
white, he was now in some subtle way
different from the other whites. Pos
sibly 1t was in the matter Of raiment
He had tried to wear the strange
body coverings they had given him,
but they We're cumbersome and I'M
comfortable, and, though he was sell
dom warm enough now, he had never.
theless been glad when the OppOrtuni-
ty came TO discard the hampering and
unaccustomed clothing.
These thoughts suggested the posi-
bility that if Nat.ul had found recog-
milton among the strangers upon an
equal footing with them that she. too,
might have those attributes Of superi
GRITTY which the strangers claimed, and
If such was the fact it became evident
that she would consider M from the
viewpoint Of her new friends as an
inferior
Such reyeries made Nh very sad, for
he loved Nat-ul just as you or | would
love-juSt rs normal white men have
always loved-with devotion that
placed the object Of his affection upon
q pedestal. before which he was hap
py to bow down and worship. His
passion was not of the brute type of
the inferior races, which oftentimeS
solemniZcs the marriage ceremony with
cudgel and ever places the woman
In the position of an inferior and a
chattel.
Even as M pondered the puzzling
questions which confronted him his
eyes and ears were alert as he sped
along the now fresh trail of the cara,
van.
Every Indication pointed the recent
passing of many men. and the troglo
dyte was positive that he could be but
a few hours behind his quarry.
A few miles east Of him the rescue
party from the Greystoke ranch were
pushing fapluly ahead upon inherent
trail, with view TO heading off the
Arabs.
Ibn Aswad had taken circuitous
eoute In order that he might pass
round the country of the Wazlri, and
with his slow moving slave caravan
he had now reached Il point but a
few days journey In a direct line from
the ranch The lightly equipped pur-
suers, having knowledge of the route
taken by the Arabs from the messen-
ger who had come TO seek their assist
ance, had not been compelled to follow
the spoor of their quarry, but instead
had marched straight across country
In a direct line for point which they
believed would bring them ahead OF
the caravan.