The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1918-01-04
CHAPTER ~.
Herr Skopf's Mystery.

Hefr SkOprB MyStStys
The killing of the friendless old Rus
sian by his great trained ape was
matter for newspaper comment for q
few days. Lord Greystoke read OF It
and, while taking special precautions
not to permit his name to become con-
Dected with the affair, kept himseir
well posted as to the police search Tor
the anthr0pOid.
As was true of the general pubic
his chief interest In the matter CEN
tered about the mysterious disappear
ance of the slayer, or at least this was
true until he learned several DAYS SUI
seouent to the tragedy that his son
Lack had not reported at the boarding
school. en- route for which they nao
seen him safely ensconced in a railway
carriage.
Even then the father did not connect
the disappearance Of his son WIN Tue
mystery surrounding the whereabouts
Of the ape, nor was 1t until month
later that careful investigation re-
vealed the fact that the boy had let
the train before it pulled out OF tne
station at London and the cab driver
had been found who had driven MN "
the address Of the old Russian tnat
Tarzan of the Apes realized that Akut
s.ad In some way Deen ConnrStSS v'lssA
the disappearance Of the boy.
Beyond the moment that the CAP
driver had deposited his fare Desioe
the curb In front of the house In whlcn
the Russian had been Quartered tnere
was no clew. No one had seen either
the bow or the ape from that instant
at least no one who still lived. Inc
proprietor Of the house identified the
picture of the lad as that of one VINO
had been frequent visitor In the room
of the old man. Aside from TINS ne
knew nothing.
And there at the door Of grimy oio
building In the slums Of London the
searchers came to blank wall
bafled.
The day following the death OF Al
exis Paulvitch youth accompanying
his invalid grandmother boarded q
steamer at Dover. The old lady was
heavily yelled and so weakened by age
and sickness that she had to De
wheeled aboard the vessel In an IN
valid chair.
The boy would permit no one out
himself to wheel her and with his own
hands-assisted her from the chair TO
the interior of their stateroom-and
that was the last that was seen OF the
old lady by the ships company until
the pair dIsembarked. The boy even
insisted upon doing the work OF their
cabin steward, since, as he explained,
(. his grandmother was suffering from
nervous indIsposition that made the
presence Of strangers extremely as
tasteful to her.
Among the passengers there was an
American named Conlon, blackleg
and a crook, who was wanted" In half
a dozen Of the larger cities OF the
United States. He had paid little at
tention to the boy until on one occa-
sion he had seen him accidentally dis
Dlay a roll of banknotes. From then
On Conlon cultivated the youthful
Brit0n.
He learned easily enough that the
boy was travelling alone with his In
valid grandmother and that their des-
tination was a small port on the west
coast OF Africa, a little below the
equator; that their name was Billings
and that they had no friends In the
little settlement for which they were
hound. Upon the point Of their pur-
pose in visiting the place, Conlon found
the boy reticent. and so he did not
nush the matter-he had learned all
that he cared to know as 1t was.
AT last came the day that the steam
ar dropped anchor In the lee Of
wooded promontory, where a score or
more of sheet iron shacks, making an
unsiehtIy blot upon the fair face Of
nature. proclaimed the fact that CIV
IIixatiou had set Its heel Struggling
upop the outskirts were the matched
huts of natives. picturesque In their
primevaI savagery. harmonizing with