Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1920-02-27
CHAPTER vII.-contInued.

She dropped her head against him
and sobbed. He put his arm around
her and patted her awkwardly on the
back. "There! There!'' he said.
Don't. Please don't" Seemingly with
out his volition his arms drew closer
and closer until he suddenly awoke to
the fact that he was just plainly hug
ging Andrea Pellor.
He pushed her roughly from him.
"Here," he said in quite different
voice, ''this isn't my funeral Come
and cry on the elephant"
"All right" said Andrea, docilely.
''How many were there? heard a
troupe-an army Of them"
'You heard just one," said M'sungo.
Dabbing at her eyes with soiled fists,
she followed him to the side of the
fallen monarch around which were
gathered the natives a sort of glazed
awe OH their faces, for the dead bull
was mighty tusker, carrying ivory to
the value of eighty women. At M'sun-
go's approach their arms went up in
single gesture and from one throat
they yelled, "Bai-ye-tei"
Scarcely had the cry Of homage died
away when a sound came to them
through the bush that froze them into
listening silence. Their faces expressed
unbelief but their knowledge was in
sistent 1t told them that they were
hearing a death struggle, the whisper
ing gush of blood from mighty lungs,
aRnh+ mir vol
broke toward that music and suddenly
stopped, remembering that it is al
ways wise with elephant to let the gun
go first.
Andrea. frightened, stopped SWIVEL
ing what is it?" she asked.
Il got two" said M'sungo apollo
getically. THAT'S the one that kept
me waiting between heaven and hell"
81 remember. 1t was awful. But
why did you wait? What did he have
to do with it, poor dear?"
Msungo smiled in spite of himself.
HE had great deal to do with it." he
answered. "Until he started tearing
the tree to pieces and took half turn
70 dodge the damage, ne was headed
right down our trail, wasn't he?"
Andrea nodded.
well" continued Msungo, kicking
the mountain of flesh at his side. "just
as long as he was facing us, couldn't
take the fair mark of this old boy.
That's one of the bits of knowledge
that has been paid for with the lives
of many men. A startled elephant
doesn't charge; he bolts whichever
way he's headed"
He looked up and added with par
donable pride; Sand that, too, is how
/ knew where to get him rurning-the
other way. made up my ntind where
to shoot before he was there"
They went to survey the second
beast. He was quite dead; one long
tusk cleaning white, an ivory island
in a lake of bright blood "Come
away said Msungo quickly. He led
her to the shade of one of the big
trees where Marguerite, newly arrived,
was already browsing and dreaming
happily of all the evil in the world.
Around the nearby elephant, the ma
tives swarmed like maggots
''Bathtub !" shouted M'sungo. "Cho-
cula!"
Bathtub turned lingeringly from the
carcass, rushed over dropped the
lunch box at Msungo's feet and
plunged back again. "We'll have to
forgive him." said M'sungo, sitting
down and proceeding to open the tin
and lay out Andrea's lunch for her.
1.-THE elephant-especially dead one
holds a place in the native cosmos
that no white man has ever quite sue
ceetled in grasping. All those boys
are quite mad. I've seen one sever
his thumb from his body when he was
like that and never notice it till he
reeIed from loss of blood"
Andrea shivered but M'sungo did
not notice it. "They believe" he con-
tinued, 'that the meat Of elephant is a
compound of the flesh of all animals
and that by eating it they acquire all
the leading attributes-the courage of
the lion, the slyness of the jackal, the
gorging capacity of the snake, the eye
sight of the hawk by day and Of the
felines by night, the industry of the
ant and the homing instinct of the bee.-
You see the line2 It's endless; and
Just because they have more than a
smattering of the qualities they seek,
the superstition will never die"
He stopped to give Andrea a drink
of water and to feed her first sand
witch. "And that isn't the only thing
that never dies" he went on, his eyes
narrowing to peculiar look she had
never seen in them before, such a look
as one is apt to connect only with
mystics, fanatics, ardent believers, and
thoroughly out of keeping with the
conception of the White Man she had
builded for herself.
''Why, White Man! !" she cried,
"what do you mean? What's come
over your"
He looked away and then back at
her "Well," he said, quizzical CLEAN
creeping into his eyes, who's afraid?
Why shouldn't | tell once more a thing
that's been written a hundred times
b. greater adopts than and never be-