Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-24

1 afternoon. anu SUI ihC NAN1'N
A went on. Red Eye was oent
~ upon exhausting the swift
One. he deliberately ran her down.
After a long time she began TO tire ana
could no longer maintain her headlong
fight. Then it was that she began
going far out on the thinnest branches
where he could not follow. Thus sue
might have got a breathing spell, out
Red Eve was fiendish. Unable to fol
low her, he dislodged her by SHAKING
her of With all his strength and
weight he would shake the branch back
and forth until he snapped her of as
one would snap q fly from whiplash'
The first time she saved herself by fall-
ING into branches lower down. An
other time, though they did not save
her from the ground, they broke her
fall. Still another time. so f1ercely old
he snap her from the branch, she was
flung clear across a gap into another
tree. 1t was remarkable the way she
gripped and saved herself. Only when
driven TO it did she seek the temporary
safety Of the thin branches. But she
was so tired that she could not other
wise avoid him. and time after time
she was compelled to take to the thin
branches.
Still the chase went on, and still the
folk screeched, beat their chests and
CRASHED their teeth. Then came the
end. 1t was almost twilight. Trem-
bling. painting, struggling FOR breath,
the Swift One chung pitiably to high,
thin branch. 1t was thirty feet to the
ground and nothing interviewed. Red
Eye swung back and forth on the
branch farther down. 1t became pen
dulum. swinging wider and wider with
every lunge of his weight. Then he
reversed suddenly, just before the
r downward swing was completed. Her
grips were torn loose and, screaming,
she was hurled toward the ground.
But she righted herself in midair and
descended feet first Ordinarily from
such height the spring in her legs
would have eased the shock of impact
with the ground. But she was ex-
hausted She could not exercise this
spring. Her legs gave under her, hav.
ing only partly met the shock, and she
crashed on over on her side This, as
it turned out. did not injure her, but il
did knock the breath from her lungs
She lay helpless and struggling for air
Red Eye rushed upon her and seizeG
her. With his gnarly fingers twisted
into the hair of her head, he stood VI
and roared in triumph and defiance a
the awed folk that watched from the
trees Then it was that I went mad
Caution was thrown to the winds; for
gotten was the will to live of my flesh
Even as Red Eye roared from behind
l dashed upon him. So unexpected
was my charge that l knocked him of
his feet. l twined my arms and legs
: around him and strove to hold hin
down This would have been impossi
Bile to accomplish had he not held
tightly with one hand to the Swift
Ones hair.
Encouraged by my conduct, Big
Face became a sudden ally. He charg
ed in, Sank his teeth in Red Eyes arm
and ripped and tore at his face This
was the time for the rest Of the folk
to have joined In. 1t was the chance
to do for Red Eye for all time But
they remained. afraid, in the trees.
1t was inevitable that Red Eve
should win In the struggle against the
two Of us. The reason he did not fin
ish us of Immediately was that the
Swift One clogged his movements
She had regained her breath and was
beginning to resist He would not re
lease bis clutch on her hair, and this
handicapped him. He got a grip or
my arm 1t was the beginning Of the
end for me He began to draw me to
ward him into a position where be
could sink his teeth into my throat
BIS mouth was open, and he was grin
ming. And yet though he had just be
gun to exert his strength, in that mo
ment heewrenched sly shoulder so thai
suffered from it fer theremainder OF
my lie.
And In that moment something hap
pened. There was no warning.
great body smashed down upon the
four of US locked together. We vert
driven violently apart and rolled ove1
and over, and In the suddenness o!
surprise We released our holds on one
another. At the moment Of the shock
Big Face screamed terribly. I did moi
lnnrr Irkn+ In hnrrnr,nd thn1,Nh