Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-26

his windpipe with the suddenness of
thought
The black struggled to arise-to turn
upon the creature that had seized hin1-to
wriggle from its hold but all TO no purpose
AS he had been held in mighty wise OF iron
he could not move. He could not scream.
Those awful fingers at his throat but closed
more and mors tightly. His eyes bulged
from their sockets. His face turned an
ashy blue. Presently he relaxed once
more-this time in the final dissolution
from which there ls no quickening'
Korak propped the dead body against
the door.frame. There It sat, lifelil9 In
the gloom Then the apeman turned and
glIded into the Stygian darkness OF the
huts interior.
"Meriemr he whispered
''Korak My Korak" came an answering
cry, subdued by fear of alarming her cap.
tors and half stlned by a sob Of joyful
welcome.
The youth knelt and cut the bonds that
held the girls wrists and ankles. mo.
ment later he had lifted her to her feet
and. graspng her by the hand, led her
toward the entrance
outside the grim seminal of death kept
his grisly vigil. Smiling at his dead feet
whined a NANCY native cur AT sight OF
the two emerging from the hut the beast
gave an ugly snarl. and an instant later.
as 1t caught the scent Of the strange white
man, II raised series of excited yelps.
Instantly the warriors at the nearby fire
were attracted They turned their heads
in the direction of the commotion. II was
impossible that they should fail to see the
white skins of the fugtives
Korak skunk quickly into the shadows
at the huts side, drawing Meriem with
him; but he too late. The blacks had
seen enough to arouse their suspicious. AMI
n dozen of them were now running to in
vestigate The yapping cur was still at
Korak's heels leading the searchers uner.
ringly in pursuit The youth struck vicious
~ at the brute with his long spear; but
long accustomed to lodging blows the willy
creature made n most uncertain target.
Other blacks had been aroused by the
running and shouting of their companions
and now the entire population Of the village
was swarmirg up the street to assist In
the search. Their first discovery was the
dead body of the sentry and n moment
later one of the bravest Of them entered
the hut and discovered the absence of the
prisoner.
These startling announcements filed the
blacks with combination of terror and
rage; but seeing no foe in evidence. thev
were enabled to permit their rage to get
the better of their terror. and ~ the lead
ers pushed on by those behind them ran
rapidly around the hut in the direction Of
the yapring of the NANCY cur.
Here they found single white warrior
making away with their captive. and recog-
| nizirg him as the author of numerous raids
and indignities. and believing that they
had MIN cornered and at a disadvantage,
they charged savagely upon him.
Korak. seeing that they we're discovered
| lifted Meriem to his shoulder and ran for
| the tree which would give them egress
| from the village. lie was handicapped in
| his flight by the weight of the girl whose
| legs would hardly bear her weight to say
| nothing a ni..ntai,ing her in rapid flight +;
for the tightly drawn bonds that had been
about her ankles for so long had stopped
circulation and partially paraiyzed her ex.
| tremties.
Had this not been the case the escape
of the two would have been a feat of
| little moment since Meriem was scarcely
| a whit less ;gile than Korak and fully
| as much at home in the trees as he.
| But with the girl on his shoulder, Korak
could not both run and fight to advantage ;
| and the result was that before he had
| covered half the distance to the tree a
score of native ours, attracted by the yelp-
| ing of their mate and the yells and shouts
| of their masters, had closed In upon the