The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1920-01-15
The story Of a man and a womsn-utter stransers-forced together
by circumstances, living In the heart OF the African jungle, completely
cut off from the civilized world.

slbie port up the coast and whose in
habitants had seized upon the occasion
to give "A grand ball In the mode Of the
English. who have ever danced, courted
and loved best when on the eve of
battle.
Andrea drew a long and guiyering
sigh. Tomorrow the boys would
be gone. Tomorrow Aunty Gwen and
she would depart In state In the prl-
waite car her ~afiianced. too busy to the
last for the soft preliminaries OF love.
had sent down from the high veldt.
Tomorrow - tomorrow would indeed
mark the beginning of the end. "The
end OF what2" cried something within
her-that same something that had
SO often spurred her to momentary
escape.
She felt a great dependency, a ter
ror OF the morrow that would bring
the end or nothing but that neverthe-
less would mark the death Of part of
Andrea Pelior. Then a more startling
emotion seized her. she realized, al
most with the sharpness OF a recoil,
that she was on the verge OF becom-
ing forever a woman without a his
tory. She looked back and saw that
she had never done one outre thing (;
she looked forward and saw that she
probably never would: she looked
down and
At her very feet was the coping that
edged the almost precipitous cliff.
Upon the pale stretch of sand was a
far-away blur, a dark. wide-winged
blot. She concentrated her unbeliev-
Ing gaze upon 1t until she made Il out
beyond a doubt. It was an airplane.
Two midget figures moved around il
busiiy.
Andrea watched the midgets dream
lily and thought OF all the stories she
had read about flying machine elope-
ments. As she stood there her diaph-
anous second-best party dress and her
ioosened hair stirred by the spice
laden breexes OF an Indian ocean dawn
and her eyes full of the still. fairy
light OF a tropic moon. the thing dry
Ing Its vast wings on the distant
sands seemed like o giant moth,
strayed from some Arabian Night and
sent In answer to the cry OF child
hoods valiant fancy.
Who were those midget dots. Were
they men or genii? Whence had they
come and whittier would they go? Did
they talk with tongues or like Brown
les, with their toes and eyes7 Andrea
wondered all these things, suddenly
stopped wondering. skipped up the lad
der-like stair from the garden to her
room. snatched up a warm cloak affair
which buttoned In a high collar at
her neck and that fell sheer In ever
widening folds from her shoulders to
her ankles. and In less time than II
would take TO say Jack Robinson a
hundred and fifty times she was slip
ping and sliding down the path of
many slants.
She came upon the airpiane so sud-
denly that she forgot to be disappoint-
ed ut Its gross materialism. 1t was
very real indeed so were the men who
attended It. One was the %tallest,
BLACKLIST, nakedest native she had yet
seen. a mighty statue In ~unimagined
bronze, paeanly clothed only at the
loins with a spotted peit. The other
was q white man gone brown in the
sun. he was neither very young nor
old. he carried himself erect with the
bearing OF Il man who Is full-growu
and knows II. and when he moved he
gave an exhibition of long. thin mus
cles under a perfect central control
His mouth seemed 60 be possessed OF
a smile that never wavered In spite
OF the fact that ne held a piece OF
wire between his teeth and was other
wise Intent on q number OF things.
Ii was the black man who first
sensed Andren's presence and gave
warning to his master In a low. gut
lturai. rolling string of flowing novels
The white man did not look round
he merely shrugged his shoulders ant
went ON with his job. Andrea watched
him In silence until she was convinced
that everything that could be done e
the machine was about to be accom-
plished and Its proprietor on the verge
OF flying away and then. embroidered
by that unwavering smile. she said II
such q voice as children use wher
pleading Tor cake, sPiease. Mr.. Man
take me with you"
She knew q good deal about fyinS
machines; she knew they couldn'
stay up very long and that II they
were worth anything at all they inva
riably came back to where they
started from like vtelltrained pigeons
She had left her door locked and she
figured that she would be back Ions
before Aunty Gwen could work her
self up to the point Of having 4
broken In. When her voice raug across
the silence Of the false dawn. cleel
and Iigh: as q silver bell giving tongue
across snow. the white man startet
and dropped the wrench he was ma
nipuiatins. He caught Il Ia fnidair
then let q fall 70 the ground deiib
Gf0tc5y ufu surueU ~ fUUk nSr utcr
Eha WAS ~ccrkainiv something ~ sec