The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1920-04-09

OF MS IrelBnt DOdt. LIE negroes WeIe
squatting In circle on guard. waiting
to make delivery to their master Of
various cases. Some of them evident.
ly contained cloth, cutlery and knick.
knacks dear to the native heart, but
one, at least, brazenly proclaimed In
be gin. 1t was on this small square
box that MacCloster's eyes were riv-
eted. He turned and spoke to Andrea
in an oily tone that for some inexplica-
BILE reason froze her blood. 1t was as
though he had suddenly assumed
new. and strange personality upon
which her twelve hours of brave inter
course with him had had no occasion
to establish its grip. He became
stranger within stranger and hope
lessly inaccessible.
'Come with me, my DEAR" was all
he said.
She followed him slowly, an unac-
| custOmed weakness In her knees. He
| entered the monster Gaia and waited
| for her. For some moments the gloom
| was impenetrable to her eyes but as
their pupils dilated she began to dis
cover shadows within the shaCow until
| she was able to make out the entire
scheme of interior arrangement. The
ground floor, with the exception Of an
| open space around the trunk Of the
| tree, was devoted to series of vast
sleeping rooms into which. she gath
cred from a muttered phrase Of Mac
| Closter's, were herded nightly all the
girls Of manageable age, accompa-
MED By few of those old harridans
esses with the qualification that 1t is
their duty to instill all the knowledge
which the mentors of the young Of
civilized peoples are supposed to with
hold.
Around the trunk of the tree, which
was twelve feet or more in diameter,
rough spiral stairway had been con-
structed to give access TO a platform
which was built on and around the
| main intersection of wide-spreading
limbs. This platform was inclosed
and lighted by oil lamps. A glance
| within told her that 1t was the abode
| Of Manchester himself, the well-nigh
impregnable center of the spiders web.
From every side Of it extended the
sturdy limbs Of the tree and up each
of them climbed series of projecting
| cleats which servedas ladders to reach
q vast system Of smaller platforms,
| built wherever the natural disposition
Of the branches afforded adequate sup
| port. These lesser rooms were used
as storehouses for merchandise, pro.
visions and ivory; and few Of them,
near the very top Of the tree, were
| fitted out as guest chambers especially
| adapted to the safe-keeping of doubt
full strangers as also for the effective
| hiding of chattel, human and other
wise, which for one reason or another
Manchester desired to keep out of
| sight.
Into one of the latter Andrea was
finally ushered, breathless from her
climb. On it's floor was q fresh grass
mat, clean blanket, clay pot Of
drinking water with dipper made out
Of coconut shell and a square box
| filled with sand, evidently intended for
the bed of cooking-fre. The only
an open vessel filed with oil from the
| castor bean.
There you are, Sissie,' said Mac
Closter, In his new oily voice, "every.
thing you can possibly need and when
ever you want to go out, all you have
to do Is to climb down and 60 through
my room. You won't have to do your
own cooking for day or two; I'll send
your scoff up"
Andrea's heart sank to depths that
II had never reached before; her lower
lip trembled and drew down at the
corners.
"Now, don't look so glum," said Mac
Closter, leering at her. "Just remem-
Der that you couldn't be safer In hi
than you are here"
He turned and left her with laugh
at his own joke. The measured "Ha
Hal Ha Hal Ha Ha - reverberat-
ed through the interminable mazes Of
the entombed tree. More than ever II
seemed the hooking laugh Of thirty
voices, chanting In unison. She threw
herself full length, face-down, on the
grass mat and covered her ears with
her hands. Presently bodily exhaus-
ton came to her aid and she merci.
fully slept. o
Hours later she awoke to feeling
that she had been definitely summoned
by her suoconscious self to face an I'm
minent danger. Night had fallen and
its peace had settled on the craal in
general, but there was no peace in the
great GAIA. Out of Mace loster's room
arose through the whispering stiffness
series of monstrous sounds. mon
strously magnifed- CUR Cling, rumbling
curses, mutterings, the occasional
crash Of shattered empty bottle,
Then came a silence more ominous
than the noises, for It was alive. a
creeping thing with tentacles that
seemed to be writhing up the limbs Of
the tree. n D
CTo BE CONTINUED, ~