Evening star., 1921-04-20
Bulldog Drumm0nd
BY CYRIL McNEIE (Sapper)
A Novel of Mystery, Love and Adventure.
b. H Doranoa
Copyright. 1871. b. George H Doran oo.)

would repair-inshisted on repairing
any and every gate posht he posshessed
And then he reached the garden
| Everything had fallen out exactly as
he had hoped. but had hardly dared to
| expect He heard Peterson'S voice, calm
! and suavc as usual. answering Jerry.
| From the garden in front came the
dreadful sound of a duet by Algy and
| Peter. Not n soul was in sight: the
! back of the house was clear. All that
| he had to do was 10 walk quietly
! through the wicket-gate 10 the Larches
with his semi conscious burden, get to
hs car and drive off. 1t all seemed
| so easy that he laughed
But there We're one or two factors
! that he had forgotten. and the first and
most important one was the man up
stairs The window was thrown up sud-
Denly. and the man leaned out waving
| his arms. He was still gasping with
! the strength of the ammonia. but Hugh
i saw him clearly in the light from the
room behind And as he cursed him
self for fool in not having tied him
! up. from the trees close by there came
the sharp clang OF metal
With a quick catch in his breath he
began to run, The two men who had
rushed past him before ne had entered
| the house, and whom, save for pass
ing thought. he had disregarded. had
become the principal danger. For he
had heard that clang before; he re-
J
struck face, and then his sigh of re-
lief as III" thing-whatever it was-was
shut in its cage. And now il was out.
| lodging through the trees let loose by
the two men.
Turning his head from side to side.
poering into the gloom, he ran on. What
an ihterminable distance it seemed to
he gate and even then .
He heard something crash into Il bush
on his right and give a snarl of anger.
Like fla SI E1 inf n bo IiI,6er-
growth on the left.
Then began dreadful game. He was
still some way from the fence. and he
was lIampered at every step by the man
siung over his back. He could hear the
thing blundering about searching for
hin, and suddenly, with a. cold feeling
of fear he realized that the animal was
in front Of him-that his way to the
gate was barred. The next moment he
Shadowy, indistinct, in the darkness.
he saw something glide between two
bushes. Then it came out into the
open, and he knew it had seen him.
though as yet he could not make out
what it was. Grotesque and horrible
1t crouched on the ground. and he
could hear its heavy breathing as it
waited for him to move.
Cautiously he lowered the millionaire
to the ground and took step forward.
1t was enough; with snarI of fury
the crouching form rose and shambIed
toward him. Two hairy arms shot
out toward his throat. he smelt the
brute's foetid breath. hot and loath-
some. and he realized what he was up
against. 1t was partially grown
gorilla.
For a full minute they fought in si-
lence, save for the hoarse grunts of
the animal as it tried to tear away the
encircle him with its powerful arms
And with his brain cold as ice Hugh
saw his danger and kept his head. 1t
couldn't go on; no human being could
last the pace. whatever his strength.
And there was only one chance of fin
ishing it quickly. the possibility that
the grip taught him by Oiaki would
serve with monkey as it did with a
man.
He shifted his left thumb an inch or
two on the brute's throat. and the
baboon. thinking he was weakening.
1edoubed its efforts. But still those
powerful hands clutched its throat; try
as it would, it failed to make them
fingers moved, and the grip which had
been tight before grew tighter still.
Back went its head; something was
swapping in its neck. With a scream
of fear and rage it wrapped its legs
round Drummond. squeezing and writh-
ing. And then suddenly there was a
tearing snap, and the great limbs re-
Taxed and grew limp.
For A moment the man stood watch
ing the stillquivering brute lying at
his feet; then, with a gasp of utter ex-
haustion. he dropped on the ground
himself. He was done-utterly cooked:
even Peterson's voice close behind
scarcely reused him.
quite one of the most amusing en-
tertainments I've seen for a long time"
The calm. eXpressionless voice made
him look up wearily, and he saw that
he was surrounded by men. The in
evitable cigar glowed red in the dark
ness, and after moment or two he
scrambled unsteadily to his feet.
I'D forgotten your damned menage-
rie. 1 must frankly confess" he re-
marked. whats the party for?" He
glanced at the men who had closed in
round him.
"a guard of honor. my young friend"
said Peterson suavely, ''to lead you to
the house. I wouldn't hesitate :.
it's very foolish. Your friends have gone.
and. strong as you are, l don't think
You can manage ten"
Hugh commenced to stroll toward
the house.
well, don't leave the wretched Potts
lying about. I dropped him over there"
For a moment the idea of making a
dash for it occurred to him. but he
dismissed it at once. The odds were
too great to make the risk worth while
and in the center of the group he and
Peterson walked side by side
ITO ha continued tornnrror