Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-06-17
CHAPTER XIV.
For Once / Was the Hero.

there was another side to the sub
ject, for all that morning we wan
dered among lovely flowers, mesty, as
| observed, white or yellow in color,
these being, as our professors explain
ed, the primitive flower shades In,
many places the ground was absolute
ly covered with them, and as we walk
ed ankle deep on that wonderful yield
ing carpet the scent was almost intoX-
icatlng in its sweetness and intensity.
The homely English bee buzzed every
where around us. Many of the trees
under which we passed had their
branches bowed down with fruit some
Of which were of familiar sorts, while
other varieties were new. By observ-
ing which Of them were pecked Ivy the
birds we avoided all danger Of poison
and added a delicious variety to our
food reserve. In the jungle which we
trayersed were numerous hard trOdden
paths made by the wild beasts, and In
the more marshy places we saw a pro-
fusion of strange foOtmarks, including
many Of the iguanOdOn. Once in a
grove we observed several of these
great creatures grazing, and Lord John
with his glass was able to report that
they also were spotted with asphalt,
though in a different place from the one
which we had examined in the morn
ing. What this phenomenon meant we
could not imagine.
We saw many small animals. such as
porcuplnes. a scaly anteater and a
wild pig, piebald in color and with
long, curved tusks. Once, through a
break in the trees we saw a clear
shoulder of green hill some distance
away, and across this large dun col
Ored animal was travelling at a cOnsld-
cradle pace 1t passed so swiftly that
we were unable to say what it was,
but if it were a deer, as was claimed
by Lord John, it must have been as
large as those monstrOus Irish elk
which are still dug up from time to
time in the bogs of my native land.
Ever since the mysterious visit
which had been paid to our camp we
always returned to it with some mis-
glvlngs. However, on this occasion
we found everything in order.
1t was about this time that had an
inspiration. My eyes CHANGED to light
upon the enormous gnarled trunk of
the gngko tree which cast its huge
branches over us. Surely If its bole
exceeded that of all others its height
must do the same. If the rim Of the
plateau was indeed the highest point,
then why should this mighty tree not
prove to be a watChtower which COM
manded the whole country? Now,
ever since l ran wild as a lad in Ire
land | have been a bold and skilled
tree climber. My comrades might be
my masters on the rocks, but l knew
that l would be supreme among those
branches. Could only get my legs on
to the lowest of the giant offshoots
then 1t would be strange indeed II
/ could not make my way to the top.
My comrades were delighted at my
idea.
"Our young friend" said Challenger
punching up the red apples Of his
cheeks, "is capable of acrobatic exer.
tions which would be impossible to a
man Of more solid though possibly
Of more commanding appearance.
applaud his resolution"
"By George, young fellah, you've put
your hand on it" said Lord John clap,
ping me on the back "How we never
came to think of 1t before can't i'm.
agine. There's not more than an hour
of daylight left. but IL you take youl
notebook you may be able to get some
rough sketch Of the place. If we put
these three ammunition cases under
the branch l will soon hoist you on
to it,"
lie stood on the boxes while faced
the trunk and was gently raising me
when Challenger sprang forward and
gave me such a thrust with his huge
hand that he fairly shot me into the
tree. With both arms clasplng the
branch, l scrambled hard with my feet
until | had worked, frst my body and
then my knees, on to it, There were
three excellent ofshoots, like huge
rungs Of a ladder, above my head and
a tangle OF convenient branches be
yond, so that clambered onward with
such speed that | soon lost sight OF
the ground and had nothing but foil
age beneath me- Now ana then / en-
countered check, and once ! had tC
shin up a creeper for eight or ten
feet but l made excellent progress
aud the booming Of Challenger's voice
seemed to be a great distance beneatl
me. The tree was, however enor
nous, aud. looking upward | could Sc,
no thinning Of the leaves above my
head. There was some thick, buShlikl
clump which seemed to be a parasite
upon a branch up which I was swarm
ing. / leaned my head round It in or
der to see what was beyond, and
nearly fell out Of the tree In my sur
prise and horror at what l saw.
A face was gazing into mine at thu
distance Of only a foot or two. Th
creature that owned it had beef
crouchlng behind the parasite and ha,
looked round 1t at the same instan