The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1916-01-18
CHAPTER lSll.
Onslaught.

oNtlasHNt.
On the chiofa part II was "A hort
Bile mistake. IT. ais momen,ary excite
mcni he had thought To cstermlnats
Hernandez "ut the cutthroats who
bounded iDl.'yiow never even saw Her.
nandor. Hernandez was there. agile.
alert. ready 90 defend himself. hut they
didn't know II.
The only thing they saw was An.
nottc ilington. clutched In the mighty
grasp OF their chief lAko a mob OF
rayenous wolves they pounced upon
her The chief beat them on.
There arc two" he exclaimed.
two The other runs free upon the
beach. This one 10 mine. Tho other
on the beach. Scatter and ind her"
Some half dozen OF tho crew. aecus.
toned TO obedience. scampered on.
Hut not so tho rest shoulder 20 shoul.
dor. thigh to thigh. they struggled on
after their chief holding out their
hands toward the trembling girl upon
his shoulder. Stop by step he fought
his way. ciu,ching her nrmiy TO him.
until he reached tho cntranc. TO =
cav.-his cave. lie stopped to enter.
Then broke the storm.
Down on shore Neal and llington.
alarmed at the prolonged absence OF
Annette. had scatt.rcd--Neal secured
tho beach In one direction-l'ington In
another.
Al last Neal found her-ineE. crouch
ing behind rock. lneK, painting with
fear. leapcd into his arms, lie cast
her off-for he did not understand.
Annette" she cried. they've got
her-thcre way-that way"
Annette, numb with fear. lay quiy'
orlng just within the mouth OF the
cave. behind hor was the dark-the
unknown. She was too terrorstrick'
on To move Hut she was quick'wit'
ted aud she saw-and Understood
that this terrific night was helping her.
She collected herself-sho began To
plan. Inch by inch she crept farther
into tho darkness.
when the light was ri It's hottest the
chief lunged far out In the midst of II
aud left the caves mouth temporarily
uncovered. Like Hash Annette wrig'
gled out of the cave and skunk swiftly
toward the underground. She reached
Il. when "A figure blocked her path.
Il Was Noal With n Wild cry she
hung herself into his arms ilut Neal
repulsod her for the instant. and with
forothought. Almost hruially no
flung her behind him. and unshipped
his navy gun. For action was at hand.
One man aud only one had seen An
notte crawl from the caves mouth and
that man was the pirate chief As
soon as he could discntauglc himself.
no VAS away and after her Aud here
he came. tearing through the under
growth with savage bouuda.
Neal fred thrico-hit nce-mlssed
twice and then the eulthroat was up
On him.
Illngton from the shore, heard the
shots. Ile looked upward and saw
peering down ut him from AZ eminence'
tho face OF his arch enemy, Her
nandey,
lle shook q massive hst ~ tno i"So'
and the face disappeared.
Ilington hastened back to the tenn
porary camp and found that the lieu
tenant and his men were making ready
for run.
Come on, loot" cried llington, leap
ing into the underground. I'm ready
for a nght. ! saw n head Just now
and I'm going 10 hit 1t hard
Neal fought with fury. but his night
was futile. so. be II said. was the
fight of the pirate chief. For Neals
shots had brought the other beasts
swarmlng like human hornets about
their heads. Annette's temporary Oh
cape had been discovered-they had
been cheated was theii
due. They pounced upon Neal and
their chief like harpies-once more
pandemonium reigned, Annette
crouched unseen--horror'stricken.
Suddenly she shrieked aloud--fo'
Neal had disappeared beneath u mas'
OF men---.
sho shrieked and ran like wild fo'
IA. "A a m