The Mena weekly star., 1920-04-15
11TEIITE lA4 A N
By George AgpesO ChGrnberI0in
IIlIiiIiifIIlliIlIiIIIIIIIIIiIIIIlIIlIlIIlIlF yrisht, isIo. The Bobbs-herritl Company
Author of ~x1om@.' "Throueh Stained Gleas, John Bogardus." etc.

|friznt, IsIR, The boobs-herriu Company Rntiaued From Previous Issue.l bound the trunk of the tree, which twelve feet or more in diameter, |nFh spiral Stairway had been con- cted 10 give access to a platform |h was built on and around the
 intersekslon of wide-spreading s. This platform was inclosed lighted by oil lamps. A glance | in told her that it was the abode IacCIoster himself. the well-nigh |egnable center of the spiders web. |n every side of 1t extended the |1y limbs of the tree and up each hem climbed a series of projecting Is which served as ladders to reach |Rst system of smaller platforms, wherever the natural disposition le branches afforded adequate sup
 These lesser rooms were used |aofehouses for merchandise, pro bns and ivory; and a few of them, i the very top of the tree, were h out as guest chambers especially hted 10 the safe-keeping of doubt |Efrangers as also for the effective be of ehattel, human and other i. which for one reason or another {'losief desired to keep out of To one of the latter Andrea was |Iy nshered, breathless from her |b. On its floor was a fresh grass ! a clean blanket, a clay pot of king water with a dipper made out
 coconut shell and a square box D with sand. evidently intended for bel of q cooking-fire. The only
 came from a cotton wick laid in bpen vessel filled with oil from the or bean.
 There you are, Slssie." said Mac ter. In his new oily voice, "every- g you can possibly need and when | you want to go out, all you have 0 Is to climb down and go through room. You won't have to do your cooking for day or two; I'll send
 soon up.n
 |barea's heart sank to depths that ad never reached before her lower |treinbled and drew down at the bers
 Now. don't look so glum.' said Mac |ter. Ieering at her. "Just reIlem- tupT vpH c0utun't he safer III h---i
 you are here"
 e turned and left her with a laugh Is oS7n joke. The measured "Ha
 Ha tl:l ii;i iEii;;i Hia r reyerbefai- through fhe intcrminable mazes of eniombed tree. More than ever 1t |ned the mocking laugh of thirty es, chanting in unison. She threw elf if fs:!l .l length, length face down, on the s mat .ss. =ssa. eoTered her ears with hands. Presently bodily exhaus-
 came to her aid and she merci- slept.
 ours later she awoke to a feeling
 she had been definitely summoned ter subconscious self 10 face an i'm ant danger. Night had fallen aud peace had settled on the craal in sral. but there was no peace in the t caia. Out of MacCloster's room through the whispering stiffness sries of monstrous sounds, mon- asly magniiied gurgling, rumblIng es. mutferings. the occasional h of q shattered empty bottle. came a silence more ominous
 the noises. for 1t was alive. ping thing with tentacles that red to be writhlng up the limbs of tree.
 filled Andrea with a premonitIon brought her desperate courage
 took off her high-heeled slippers climbed down several rungs of the CT that led to her platform; then Ing herself and getting good ~grip on the limb. she leaned down
 Er6dHaiiy worked loose the cleat Y her. After that she took the next
 e and then the next, depositing cleat as she removed 1t In her !.
 sooner had she finished. leaving elf cuf off from easy access to the ide world but in Compensation ng established a substantial ob- Ie to sudden assault from below.
 she was aware of the whispering, ezy sound of heavy breathing. I'm iafel4 afterward came to her dis ed n0etfi1s an overpowerlng odor h, nnu9eatingly sweet and sour at same fIrne. She looked down into lshadoWy doom and saw MacClos-
 bulk moving slowly upward. rung uuG, each movement as deliberate reprlsive as that of giant sloth.
 fppine one of the loosened eleats fer right hGnd, she knelt on the
 of the platform and watched thlese1y his progress. When he se to the break in the ladder his Z paws groped helplessly for a mo |k only: then they embraced the trunk and he began to swarm up easy slant. "waiting up for me. ter he whispered.
 Idrea suppressed an instinctive llse 10 fly before his advance, all more terrifying because it was so
 ernfe Her face went white, her
 narrowed, but her lips set in sht line as she waited, trying her
 to quiet her excited breathing lest stray her pitiful agitation. She iufed the distance between the
 of the platform and those slowly lk h61ds Only when they got so
 tint Sbe could see the mist of @x1 T s.&.. tf<.