Washington telegraph., 1920-01-23


the jungle of stunted saping no man
could pass save where an elephant
had plOwed way-but that now every
indication Of the games progress had
to be read, studied and accurately val
ued. Here began the exercise Of that
finished science which Msungo had
placed so high, giving due credit to
those fOrerunners who had marked its
stages with their life's blood.
The state Of a parted vine, or half
masticated leaf, bore some message
upon the true reading of which hung
the delicate balance Of success or fail
| ure. Slower and slower fell the pace
and in measured proportion silence
was born and seemed to grow and
| spread and thrOb till It hung In the
/ air like some sitting all-permeating
mist. Beneath 1t the heart beat with
an irregular rat-tat-tat and breath
came in hurried gasps. In spite of the
men before her, Andrea felt alone,
/ adrift on sea of unseen but lowering
/ perils. She looked over her shoulder.
| Only Bathtub was in sight behind her,
| tense, one foot in air, waiting for her
TO take her next step before he placed
his foot. His naked Oody, exposed to
the merciless sun, streamed with
sweat.
Andrea's shoulders ached from
holding her arms before her face to
ward off the interminably encroaching
vines and branches that seemed to op-
pose the way, but invariably parted at
her touch. Her tongue was parched,
! all her clothing laid hands on her every
motion with clammy grip and her
| body quivered on the fine edge of ex-
haustiOn, but she hung on, her eyes
above dark shadows casting agonized
| glances at Msungo. If only he would
reach for the big gun! If only he
would really stop for even a fleeting
rest.
The next moment she found herself
crowded into the halting group in
front. They stood in the sparse shade
| of big tree, their eyes sweeping the
ground beneath their feet and rising
to meet each others gaze with swift
intelligence and swifter understand
| ing. Here was a great reading, the
anti-climax of suspense, the pregnant
moment of final premonition. The
three elephants had come together,
they had milled beneath this tree, they
were even now indubitably beneath the
next they had encOuntered-for when
] n fanlfnu, a1nrnhont in afrpln
for no apparent reason it is because
his thoughts are entirely fixed on TAX
ing his monday nap promptly.
The tracker stood unbelievably
erect, heels off the ground. It was as
though by an effort of will he had sus-
pended himself in air. so still was he,
so wholly was his body consecrated to
the act of listening. Suddenly his
wide nOstrils duivered with n visible
fluttering and distended till their out
er rims showed white. A look of
sensual and ineffable content spread
over his face as he drew down into
his lungs that breath of tainted breeze.
He smelled the prey; the wind was
right.
Presently Andrea caught the odor
and her whole body trembled as from
an overmastering physical contact.
This smell was unlike all others; the
mind gave 1t color and substance. 1t
crept through the forest like a dark
cloud, an Ominous warning o all frail
creatures to get out of the way. She
felt suddenly cold and glanced over
her shoulder with half-formed notion
of retreat; then her eyes fell on
Msungo and she forgot all else in an
absorption that was above fear.
He had become filled with an es-
sence of youth, as though years of life
had rushed from past ana future to fill
to overlooking the cup Of this one
transcendent moment. His face was
tense but alight and his ordinarily
gray eyes had attained to an unfathOm'
able blue that seemed to deny meas
ure to the depth of his emotion. His
thin lips were drawn in the crooked
line Of a fixed smile-a smile that
struggled on the verge of an infinite
solemnity. When he moved he gave
an indefinite impression Of disem-
bodied action as if spirit alone passed
on, leaving flesh behind. Like a black
monitor the tracker went before him.
Andrea was suddenly aware that
Msungo carried the big gun. Its dead
weight Of eleven pounds lay in his
hands lightly as though it also were
sustained by a spiritual force. She had
not seen him take it and there was
something ghostly in the mere fact of
his possession Of it. Her mind was in
a turmoil she knew that upon the
taking over of the big gun had hung
some vital instruction to herself but in
that primal moment Of suspense, mem
ory was an agonizing blank and moth.
ing more. She followed blindly in the
cautiously pausing footsteps Of the
single gunbearer that crept before her
close on the heels of his master.
Infnity seemed to come and 60 be-
fore they had advanced twenty PAGES
She came to the bare trunk Of a big
. tree whose top had been felled by
lightning and at that moment MsungO
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