Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1917-01-11

!! ing red robes darted forward and held
out Quivering handA toward Annette.
Give her to Them" cried the priest.
"Glve her to them" commanded
Hernandez.
But the brute. his feet planted wide
apart, stood his ground.
Hernandez sprang toward him, an
grily seized the ever-ready whip from
Ponto's hand and dashed the brute
tiercely. He nodded to the four Grim
son.clad men and they tore Annette
roughly away and dragged her to the
temple. Neal hurled himself at the
four acolytes, but Hernandez dragged
him back.
Neal wal then thrust into a dungeon
and its door was locked.
Meantime within the temple things
were happening. Annette found her.
self in az apartment gorgeously fur.
nished with Aztec tapestries. Two
old women-toothless, ugly-women
with boards. attended Annette, chuck.
ling and mumbling to themselves in
glee. They produced from the re-
'cesses of the temple a dress, gorgeous,
bizarre. They draped 1t upon Annette's
slender form. They hung her head.
neck and arms with glittering orna-
ments, and then they beckoned to her
and led her to a window, and pointed,
chuckling. through it.
Annette knew not what they said,
but Ponto without distinguished easily
the meaning Of the high shrill tones.
"The sun god Waists waiting for
his BRIDE"
Annette's glance travelled past the
sun god. She started back in horror.
Into that seething pit beyond the
acolytes were casting huge quantities
Of fuel-pouring the contents OF huge
jars of oil upon the flames. Her glance
travelled still beyond. and across an
intervening space she saw q dungeon
window and the white face Of Neal.
He'waved his hand. And then strong
hands were placed upon her shoulders
and she wal lifted from her feet and
half dragged, half carried out of the
temple into the center of the clear
space before the u god. The cere-
mony had begun
Neal tore his glance for a moment
from this cen and examined his cell.
There was q window at his back
a heavily barred window. He seized
the bars in desperation and found to
his surprise that they were loose.
With q superhuman effort, he thrust
the bars outward. leaped through the
aperture and darted swiftly into the
Jungle; then he looked about him for
a tree and found the M he wanted.
1t was a high tree. very high. He
climbed It swiftly-climbed it to its
topmost branches. Cruising slowly
of the shore-and the shore was not
very far away-was his cruiser Al
bany.
He braced himself among the
branches with his feet, ripped of
his shirt, tied it by the arms about
a broken branch and signaled to the
ship.
Within the walls Ponto, still terror
stricken with the sun gods anger,
turned his back for a moment upon
that deity and upon that deity's high
priest. Then suddenly he saw some
thing. In the top of a high tree without
the walls there was q white rag fiut-
tering to and fro-and something
more. A man.
Ponto gripped Hernandez's arm and
pointed upward. The face of Herman.
DEE froze. He Garted toward the
dungeon, saw that it was empty, then
reckoning Ponto and the brute he
darted to the stone wall and with their
aid clambered over 1t.
.Ponto, with considerably less agil. |
ity and with the assistance Of the brute,
followed his companion over, and
the brute in turn, his head and shout
ders dashed with Pontc's whip WELD
ed yer the top of the wall, swung
himself over and followed them.
Annette noticed the confusion-was
the first to see it. Suddenly striking |
an attitude she raised her hand and
arm and pointed toward the white flag
%fluttering from the tree top. The high
priest stopped his droning and fol-
lowed the direction of her hand with
his glance. His acolytes stopped and
.stared-so did everybody else.
Annette saw her opportunity. Upon
a standard by her side lay a heavy
copper scepter. She seized it. 1.-the
as her body was she had inherited
great strength-wonderful agility.
Without a moments hesitation she
swung the scepter viciously about her
head, dashing the high priest and his
acolytes to the ground, knocking the
Aztec warriors to right and left. Like
a whirlwind she fought her way to.
ward the gate, slammed 1t behind her
and sped away.