The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1921-12-29

THE soldierl" He snarled. you
YoUnu PUBL"
Larches with his ssmi-conseious bur
den. get TO his car. and drive on. II
all seemed so easy that he laughed.
But there were one or two factors
that he had forgotten, and the first
and most important one was the man
upstairs The window was thrown up
suddenly. and the man leaned out wav-
ing his arms He was still gasping
with the strength Of the ammonia, bur
Hugh saw him clearly In the light from
the room behind And as he cursed
himself for u fool In not having tied
him up, from the trees close by there
came the sharp clang of metal.
With quick catch in his breath he
began 10 run. The two men who had
rushed past him before he 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-
membered Jem Smiths white horror
struck face and then his sigh of re-
lief as the thing whatever II was
was shut In It's cage. And now IL was
out. lodging through the trees, let
loose by the two men. He heard some
thing crash into bush on his right.
and give snarl of anger. Like fash
he sweryed into the underground on
the left.
Then began dreadful game. He
was still some way from the fence
and he was hampered at every step
by the man slung over his back. He
could hear the thing laundering
about searching for him, and sudden
ly, with cold feeling Of fear, he
realized that the animal was In front
Of hlm-that his way to the gate was
barred The next moment he saw
II.
Shadowy, lndstinct, In the darkness,
he saw something glide between two
bushes. Then IL came out into the
open. and he knew II had seen him,
though as yet he could not make out
what II was
Cautiously he lowered the million
aire TO the ground. and took a step
forward. II was enough: with a snarl
Of fury the crouchin
shambled 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 II was partially grown
gorilla.
For a full minute they fought In
silence, save for the hoarse grunts Of
the animal as II tried to tear away
the mans hand from its throat, and
then encircle him with its powerful
arms. And with his brain cold as Ice
Hugh saw his danger and kept his
head. II couldn't go on; no human
being could last the pace, whatever his
strength. And there was only one
chance OF finishing II quickly, the pos
sibility that the grip taught him by
Olaki would serve with monkey as II
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.
redoubled it's efforts. And then, little
by little, the 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 II
wrapped It's legs round Drummond.
and writing. And then sud
denly there was tearing snap, ana
the great limbs relaxed and grew
limp.
For a moment the man stood watch
ing the still qulvering brute lying at
his feet; then. with a gasp Of utter
exhaustion. he dropped on fhe ground |
himself He was done-utterly |
cooked; even Peters0n's voice close
behind scarcely reused him.
quite one Of the most amusing en-.
I've seen for a long time
The calm. expresslonless voice made
him look up YEARLY, aud he saw that l
be was surrounded by men The in- /
evitable cigar glowed red IN the dark 1
ness. ana after "a moment or two be 1
scrambled uus'emiiiy 70 his feet.
I'D forgotten your DID menagerie. +
I must frankly confess he remarked +
"Whats the party f9r he glanced
sf TIE men who had closed Ia round /
him.
a guard ~ honor mg young j
friend said Petersn teig, 10 lead /
you to the h0use ! voaifr't estate 4
RS very foolish Your friends
have gone. and strong as sou are. 4
don't think you can manage Ten
Hugh commenced 10 stroll toward /
the house
well dcut leave the wretehed 4
Ports lying about dropped him over
here
Ito be Continuedl