Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-08-24

bushes which must be growing at
the bottom. / let myself down on
the soft face of the slope to the edge;
and then, without further hesitation,
1 dropped down. For all / knew it
might have been fifty to a hundred
feet to the bottom. but it was only
ten feet at most. 1 collapsed on the
l lay for some time completely ex-
hausted.
Realizing, suddenly, that the dawn
would soon be upon me, l clambered
out Of the narrow ditch. l found that
there was yet another hill in front
of me. almost similar to the first
and equally steep. il not sleeper, with
the same almost impenetrable jungle
Of rhododendrons. I also found great
boulders, round whose perpendicular
faces IL was necessary to work my
way very slowly and carefully.
At that moment l would have given
a great deal to have been quietly
transported back to the brigands
camp, could it have been effected
without effort and without discovery
In fact, 1 did actually consider. for q
time. the possibility of returning
there. Fortunately I realized that
this was utterly impossible. or else
might have made the attempt
strange as this admission may seem
In my weak condition. at that mo-
not seem humanity possible to go
on with my effort to escape.
After brief rest, and taking some
more cocaine and milk tablets, l
started of to climb this second OBJ
stacle. The height of that hill could
not have been more than seven or
eight hundred feet; and. finally. I
found myself at the top-almost be-
fore I realized the fact.
GRAY light appeared through the
~ bushes. and then I saw that
was standing on a narrow. fiat ledge.
A few steps along this showed me, in
the growing light Of day, that l was
really on a goat track leading round
the face and the point Of the hill. and
keeping practically level all the way.
The relief was so great that l broke
into kind of staggering trot- The
path led round through thinning
land: and below me lay the little open
valley that had seen from camp.
I went down that smooth and steep
hillside at great speed. often being on
my back for fifty yards or more at a
stretch. How I escaped serious in
jury. l cannot tell; but l reached the
bottom bruised and sore. I saw a
yellowish- pink band in the sky across
the head of the valley. and realized
that sunrise was due in an hour.
The moment 1 tackled the opposite
upward slope, however, in order to
reach the cover which lay only a
hundred yards or so ahead of me, my
legs gave way completely-and I col
lapsed. A little later, I was able to
struggle on and reached some low
bushes or scrub trees: and. chiefly by
aid of my arms, 1 pulled myself up
into a thick patch of bracken, where
I lay for half an hour.
This rest, with the assistance of
more tabloids, combined with an ex-
traordinary vivid sense of suppressed
relief that I had obtained my i'm
mediate objective. gave me a certain
amount of strength and a mild ella
ton; and I strained sight and hear
ing to discover II there were any
signs of pursuit. I heard nothing
whatsoever except an occasional
birds note: SO. clambering to my
feet, I made my way, as quickly as
I could, toward a crest a mile or
more further on. The cover was ex-
cellent and the walking not too diff
ficult.
Later on I came on several open
glades where, in the distance, could
see some huts and cleared ground.
In all Of this region, which was a
special retreat for this band of
brigands, for the people enjoy a GER
tain immunity from pilage and abuse,
SO / dared not show myself near a
hut or my presence would immedi-
ately have been proclaimed by the
wretched native dogs; and then 1
should have been betrayed to the
brigands. Thus, I had to work
round these open spaces.
I had evidently become a bit care
less; for. on looking backwards
across a native path which had just
crossed. my weak nerves received a
rude shock. Bobbing along the path
was a line of enormous villagers
hats such as were used by many Of
the brigands in lieu of umbrellas.
cover and lay still, scarcely daring to
breathe. I must have lain there, in
the same cramped position, for nearly
an hour. Being soaked to the skin,
had become cramped and stiff, al
though the sun was very hot.
was continually hearing, in
imagination, some one creeping to-
wards me and breaking the UNDER
brush as he came; but, as nothing
happened, after time I sat up and
peered cautiously through the bushes
After another half-hour of hiding,
made my way, by crawling, to a
point about a mile from my first
position.
selected a place for hiding where
could stretch my horribly cramped
legs, and waited. Once or twice
heard very distant shouts: but as
they did not come any nearer, I made
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