Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-07-01

tne Front,
men, who watched them closely and
made all escape impossible. Then,
right out from all the others and close
10 the edge of the cliff, We're two fig
ures, so strange, and under other cir
cumstances so ludicrOus, thar they
absorbed my attention. The one was
our cOmrade, Professor Challenger.
The remains of his coat still hung in
strips from his shoulders, but his
shirt had been all torn out, and his
great beard merged Itself in the black
tangle which covered his mighty chest.
He had lost his hat, and his hair,
which had grown long in our wander
ings, was flying in wild disorder. A sin
gle day seemed to have changed him
from the highest product of modern
civilization to the most desperate saw
age in South America. Beside him
stood his master, the king Of the ape
men. In all things he was as Lord
John had said, the very image of our
professor, save that his colOring was
red instead of black. The same short,
broad figure, the same heavy shOul-
ders, the same forward hang Of the
arms, the same bristling beard merg-
ing itself in the hairy chest. Only
above the eyebrows, where the sloping
forehead and low, curved skull Of the
ape man were in sharp contrast to the
broad brow and magnificent Uranium
Of the European, could one see any
marked difference. At every other
point the king was an absurd parody
of the professor.
All this, which takes me so long to
describe, impressed itself upon me in
II few seconds. Then we had very diff
ferent things to think of, for an active
| drama was in progress. Two of the
ape men had seized one Of the Indians
out Of the group and dragged him for
ward to the edge of the cliff. The king
raised his hand as a signal. They
caught the man by his leg and arm and
swung him three times backward and
forward with tremendous violence.
Then with frightful heaye they shot
the poor wretch over the precipice.
With such force did they throw him
that he curved high in the air before
beginning to drop. AS he vanished
from sight the whole assembly, except
the guards, rushed forward to the edge
OF the precipice, and there was long
pause Of absolute silence, broken by a
mad yell Of delight. They sprang
about, tossing their long, hairy arms in
the air and bowling with exultation.
Then they fell back from the edge
formed themselves again into line and
waited for the next victim.
This time it was Summerlee. Two of
his guards caught him by the wrists
and pulled him brutally to the front
His thin figure and long limbs strug-
gled and futtered like a chicken being
dragged from a coop. Challenger had
turned to the king and waved his hands
frantically before him. He was beg
glng, pleading imploring for his com
UueS lire. lhe ape man pushed MN
roughly aside aud shook his head. II
was the last conscious movement he
was to make upon earth. Lord John,
rifle cracked, and the king sank down
tangled red sprawllng thing, upon
the ground.
"Shoot into the thick Of them! Shoot
sonny, shootr cried my companion.
There are strange red depths in the
soul Of the most commonplace man.
am tender hearted by nature and have
found my eyes moist many time ovel
the scream Of a wounded hare. Yet
the blood lust was on me now
found myself on my feet emptying one
magazine, then the other clicking open
the breech to reload, swapping lr {.
o., rrsfN