Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-07-28
CHAPTER XIX
Diana of the jungle

Diana OF tne JuHRlo
-ANE had made her first kill and
., abe was very proud of It. 1t
,s not very formidable animal
wu, wonly a hare; but It marked an
.,och in her existence. Just as
The dim past the first hunter had
.h.ned the dcstines of mankind, so 1t
sssn,ed that this event might shape hers
IN some new mold. No longer was she
Sependent upon the wild fruits and veg.
stsbles for sustenance. Now she might
commnnd meat, the giver. OF the strength
snJ endurance she would require sue :
cessfully to cope with the hecessie'es oi
her primitive existence, ,-,,
Tho next step was fire. She might
,.o.n 70 eat raw flesh as had her lord
Snd master. but she shrank from that.
The thought even was repulsive. she
lns t.s howeyer, a plan for fire. She had
n,rs, The matter thought, but had been
h,sv 70 nut It into execution so long
Wv sra could be of no immediate use to
a. -, Now It was different-she had
nnemstbing ne to cook and her mouth
s~ntsred Tor the flesh of her kill. She
would grill it above glowing embers.
lane hnstened to her tree.
Among the treasures she had gathered
IN The bed of the stream were several
nieces Of volcanic glass. clear as crystal
she sought until she had found the one
In mind. which was convex. Ihen she
h,rr;ed TO the ground and gathered Il
i,,,e nile Of powdercd bark that was
rsry dry. and some dead leaves and
,rasses that bad lain long in the hot
ann Near at hand she arranged sup
NV of dead twigs and branches-small
and large. ,..
.be held the bit of glass above the
finder, moving 1t slowly until she had
focused the suns rays upon tiny spot.
She waited brenthessly. How slow it
wasl Were her high hopes to be dashed
In spite of all her clever planning? No !.
A thin thread of smoke rose gracefully
into the ouiet mir. Presently the tinder
rlowed and broke suddenly into flame.
lane clasped her hands beneath her
chin with little gurgling exclamation
Of delight. She had achieved FIRE
She piled on twigs and then larger
branches and at last dragged a small
og to the flames and pushed an end Of
Il into the fire. which was cracking
merrily. IT was the sweetest sound that
she had heard for many month. But
she could not wait for the mass of
cmbers that would be required to cook
her hare. AS quickly as might be she
skinned and cleaned her kill, buryinr
the hide and entrails. That she had
learned from Tnrzan. 1t served two
purposes. One was the necessity for
keeping sanitary camp and the other
the obliteration Of the scent that most
quickly attracts the man eaters. ..-
Then she ran stick through the
carcass and held it above the flames.
By turning it often she prevented burn
ing and at the same time permitted the
meat TO cook thoroughly all the way
through. When it was done she
scampered high into the safety of her
tree to enjoy her meal in quiet and
peace. Never, thought Lady Greystokc,
had aught more delicious passed her
lips. She patted her spear affection
ately. It had brought her this tooth :
some dainty and with it q feeling OF
greater confidence and safety than she
had enjoyed since that frightful day
when she and Obergatz had spent their
last cartridge. She would never forget
that day--it had seemed one hidcouS
succession of frightful beast after
frightful beast. They had not been long
in this strange country, yet they thought
that they were hardencd to dangers,
for daily they had had encounters with
ferocious creatures; but this day-shc
Shuddered when she thought of it. And
with her last cartridge she had killed u
black and yellow striped lion thing with
great saber teeth just as it was about
to spring upon Obergatz, who had
mtilely emptied his rifle into 1.-THE
last shot-his final cartridge. For an
other day they had carried the now
useless rifles; but at last they had dis
carded them and thrown away the
cumbersome bandolecrs, as well.
How they had managed to survive
during the ensuing week she could
never quite understand, and then the
Ho-don had come upon them and cap
tured her. Obergatz had escapCd--she
was living it all over again. Doubt
less he was dead unless he had been
able to reach this side of the valley,
which was quite evidently less overrun
with savage beasts.
James days were very full ones now,
and the daylight hours seemed all too
short In which to accomplish the many
things she had determined upon, since
she had concluded that this spot pre-
sented as ideal place as she could find
10 live until she could fashion the
weapons she considered necessary for the
She felt that she must have, in ad-
eltion to a good spear, a knife, and
DOW and arrows. Possibly when these
mad been achieved she might seriously
pslder an attempt to fight her way to
OF civilizations nearest outposts.
Re meantime 1t was necessary to
\uct some sort of protective shell
YET III which she might feel greater
.snse OF security by night, for she knew
.aat there was a possibility that any
nyht she might receive visit from a
pIowling panther, although she had as
seen none upon this side of the val
w Aside from this danger she felt
comparatively safe in her aerial re-
Ihe cutting Of the long poles for her
,ps sSme occupied all of the daylight hours
as! We're not engaged In the search for
.oa. These poles she carried high into
a. Tree and with them constructed n
Ivorng across two stout branches, bind
%s the poles together and also to the
'SSnehes with fibers from the tough
myi1raccous m.iaNa grasses that grew in pro-
buIis SIien near the stream. Similarly she
I.t It walls and roof, the latter
s;ns, s, The fashioning Of the barred
s,s w.naoWs and the door were matters Of
~, ,at Importance and consuming inter-
Ns, the windows-thcrc were two Of
man masnm-were large and the bars per.
anehtly fixed but the door was small,
opening just large enough to permlt
@ !" pass through easily on hands and
sSsS' which made II easier to barri-
He sAe lost count OF the days that
nouse cost her; but time wac
bsap Sommodity-she had more OF il
~, "' anything else II meant so lit
NM. W. her that she had not even any