Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1915-12-18

ing red robes darted forward and he'll
out quivering hands toward Annette
Give her to them" cried the priest
Give her to Them commanded
Hernandez.
But The brute, his feet planted wide
apart, stood his ground.
Hernandez sprang toward him, an
giily seized the eve ready whip from
| Ponto's hand and dashed the brute
fiercely. lie nodded to the four Grim
son-clad men and they tore Annette
roughly away and dragged her to the
temple. Neal hurled himself at the
four acoiytes, but Hernandez dragged
HIM back.
Neal was then thrust into dungeon
and its door was locked
Meantime within the temple things
were happening. Annette found her
self in an apartment gorgeously fur
nished with Aztec tapestries. Two
old women-toothless ugly-Women
with boards, attended Annette, chuck
ling and mumbling to themselves In
glee. They produced from the re-
cesses of the temple dress, gorgeous,
bizarre. They draped it upon Annette s
slender form They hung her head,
neck and arms with glittering orna-
ments, and then they beckoned to her
and led her to a window, and pointed,
chuckling, through it,
Annette knew not what they said,
but Ponto without distinguished easily
the meaning of the high shrill tones.
THE sun god waists waiting for
his bride"
Annette's glance travelled past the
sun god. She started back in horror.
Into that seething pit beyond the
acolytes were casting huge quantities
of fuel-pouring the contents of huge
jars of oil upon the flames. Her glance
travelled still beyond, and across an
intervening space she saw a dungeon
window and the white face of Neal
He waved his hand. And then strong
hands were placed upon her shoulders
and she was lifted from her feet and
half dragged, half carried out of the
temple into the center of the clear
space before the sun god. The cere-
mony had begun.
Neal tore his glance for a moment
from this scene and examined his cell.
There was window at his back
a heavily barred window. He seized
the bars in desperation and found to
his surprise that they were loose.
With a superhumsn effort, he thrust
The bars outward, leaped through the
aperture and darted swiftly into the
Jungle; then he looked about him for
4 tree and found the one he wanted.
1t was a high tree, very high. He
climbed 1t swiftly-climbed it to it's
.opmost branches. Cruising slowly
)ff the shore-and the shore was not
'ery far away-was his cruiser AL
,any.
He braced himself among the
branches with his feet, ripped off
lis shirt, tied it by the arms about
broken branch and signaled to the
hip
Within the walls Ponto, still terror
tricken with the sun gods anger,
urne1 his back for a moment upon
hat deity and upon that deity's high
riest. Then suddenly he saw some
hing. In the top of high tree without
he walls there was a white rag flut-
ering to and fro-and something
lore. A man.
Ponto gripped Hernandez's arm and
ointed upward. The face of Herman
ez froze. He darted toward the
saw that it was empty, then
eckoning Ponto and the brute he
arted to the stone wall and with their
i'd clambered over it.
Ponto, with considerably less agil-
y and with the assistance Of the brute,
)llowed his companion over, and
ne brute in turn, his head and Shout
ers dashed with Ponto's whip WELD
d over the top of the wall, swung
imself over ard followed them.
Annette noticed the confusion-was
lie first to see it. Suddenly striking
n attitude she raised her hand and
IN and pointed toward the white flag
lttering from the tree top. The high
REST stopped his droning and fol-
wed the direction of her hand with
IS glance. His acolytes stopped and
ared-so did everybody else.
Annette saw her opportunity. Upon
standard by her side lay heavy
'pper scepter She seized it. 1.-the
her body was she had inherited
eat strength-wonderful agility
ithout a moments hesitation she
Vung the scepter viciously about her
lad, dashing the high priest and his
olytes to the ground, knocking the
stec warriors to right and left. Like I
whirlwind she fought her way to- r
ard the gate, slammed it behind her E
ID sped away. ,