Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-05-20

amlable but degraded race, with men
tai powers hardly superior to the aver.
age LOndoner. | had effected some
cures among them upon my way up
the river and had impressed them con-
slderably with my personality, so that
was not surprised to find myself ca
gerly awaited upon my return. gath
cred from their signs that some one
had urgent need Of my medical serV-
| ices, and | followed the chief to one
Of his huts. When l entered l found
that the sufferer to whose aid l had
been summoned had that instant ex-
plred He was, to my surprise, no In
dian, but white man. Indeed, / may
say very white man, for he was fax
en- haired and had some characteristics
Of an albino. He was clad in rags, was
very emaclated and bore every trace OF
prolonged hardship. So far as | could
understand the account of the natives
he was a complete stranger to them
and had come upon their village
through the woods alone and in the
last stage Of exhaustion.
"The mans knapsack lay beside the
couch, and | examined the contents.
His name was written upon tab with
in it-'Maple White, Lake avenue, De
troit, Mich
"FSom the contents of the knapsack
It was evident that this man had been
an artist and poet in search of effects
There were scraps Of verse. do not
profess to be a judge Of such things
but they appeared to me to be singu-
larly wanting In merit.
81 was turning away from him
when 1 observed that something pro-
jected from the front of his ragged
jacket. 1t was this sketchbook, which
was as dilapldated then as you see 1t
now. Indeed, can assure you that
irst folio Of Shakespeare could not be
treated with greater reverence than
this relic has been since it came into
my possession. / hand It to you now,
and | ask you TO take it page by page
and TO examine the contents"
He helped himself to cigar and
leaned back with a fiercely critical
pair of eyes, taking note of the effect
which this document would produce.
| had opened the volume with some
expectation Of revelation, though Of
what nature could not imagine The
first page was disappointing, however,
as 1t contained nothing but the picture
Of very fat man in pea Jacket, with
the legend, Jimmy Colver ON the Mail
Boat written beneath it. There fol-
lowed several pages which were filed
with small sketches Of Indians and
their ways. Then came a picture OF
a cheerful and corpulent eccleslastIc
In shovel hat, sitting opposite very
thin European, and the inscription,
Lunch With Fra Crlstofero at Ro-
sariO." Studies of women and babies
accounted for several more pages, and
then there was an unbroken series Of
Enlmal drawings with such explana-
tons as 'Manatee Upon Sandbank,"
"Turtes and Their Eggs "Black
Ajoutl Under a Miritl Palm" the mat
ter disclosing some sort Of pglike AMI
NAL, and finally came a double page
Of studies of long shouted and very
unpleasant saurians. / could make
nothing OF It and said so to the pro-
fessor.
"Surely these are only crocodiles%
"Alllgators Alllgators There is
hardly such thing as a true crocodile
In South America. The distinction be-
tween them
II meant that I could see nothing
unusual-nothlng to justify what you
have said"
He smiled serenely.
"Try the next page said he.
l was still unable to sympathlze. 1t
was a full page sketch of landscape
roughly tinted in color, the kind of
painting which an open air artist takes
as a guide to future more elaborate
effort There was a pale green fore
bluullu VI AchAutAg NtbtAuAlohf NhAIu
slOped upward and ended in line of
cliffs dark red I'm color and curlously
ribbed like some basaltlc formations
which have seen.
"Weli?" he asked
ut is no doubt curious formation"
said l, "but am not geologist enough
to say that 1t Is wonderful"
"Wonderfulw he repeated. ut Is
unique. 1t Is incredible. No one on
earth has ever dreamed Of such pos
sibility. Now the next"
| turned 1t over and gave an ex.
clamation Of surprise. There was a
full page picture Of the most extraor
dlnary creature that had ever seen
1t was the wild dream Of an opium
smoker, vision Of delrium. The
head was like that OF fowl, the body
that OF bloated lizard, the trailing
tail was furnished with upward turn
ed spikes, and the curved back was
edged with high serrated fringe,
which looked like dozen cocks wat
ties placed behind each other. In front
OF this creature was an absurd manni.
kin or dwarf in human form, who
stood staring at 1t.
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