Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-05-07

what are YOU Win your CySo ~
chat houant7 have seen them snlnS
in the dark. Listen, it is /. Black Jack
who tells you that you have the Evll
4 Eye. Myself, / am not afraid OF the
I Evil Eye or the Evil One, and let me
tell you my handsome fellow that al
the first bad luck that attends this
voyage am going to take my cutlass
! and slice you IN two halves, Ike
melon"
Chariot did not answer. He had hated
the man on learning that IL was he
who had manned FL Saltimbanco, cost
i ing him the use Of an arm He hated
him now for having called attention
to an oddly that was bound TO make
him thenceforth a pariah, and for his
bullying threat.
There was apt to be, he opined, a
before this voyage was ended.
] It came In a way that Chariot could
never have foretold, because about
woman.
Curiously, he had held mainly aloof
/ from women, like some wild animal
| liberated in country where there Is
no female OF its species. Chariot was
/ shy with white women even OF his own
! penny gaff show sort, practically public
I girls. It was not a sense OF inferi0rity
but one OF rhythmic inharmony. For
! all shades of African females he had
! that disdain which is the stronger
when the caste difference Is slight. But
| 1t was no affectation. At last he came
to the conclusion that there must be
some lacking quantity in himself,
that he could find no mate attuned to
him, and gave over queSting for her.
They had made the run to Campeche
in seven days, and slipped into a mar
row river mouth 70 escape notice by
any prowling predatory craft. On the
starboard side were thick mangroVes,
and on the larboard a fringe of jungle
with savanna land behind It. A mestizo
trader had his station here in q clear
ing, and he had in his waffle ware
house enough sizal hemp to load the
barge.
He had also half dozen captive
Indians from the interior, taken In a
raid by a party of his own sent to look
for gold In the ruins of an ancient city.
There were five men, all ages, and
young woman. The men were hardly
worth the taking, the trader said frank
~, and the girl, while some might find
her desirable, was in his opinion un-
tameable. She was tndigene, a savage, /
a jungle cat He himself had tried to /.
caress her little and she had flown !
at him tooth and claw and might have /
torn his face off if his servants had not |
beat her with heavy bamboo until she |
fell down
Black Jack said that these jungle IN
dams were no good, even when young,
but that he would look at them. He
took with him on going ashore two Of
his more active sailors and Chariot.
They were all armed with seamans
hangers and the captain had also a
brace of pistols.
The prisoners were confined in a
pen on the rivers edge, the Stockade
partly in the water. The girl was lying
under thatched shelter, only partly
visible. The men were squatted outside
Black Jack looked at them with a snort
Of contempt. They we're Of fair size for
jungle Indians and not long enough
IN captivity to become emaciated, but
to be more aged than the
trader had described
Such old knka iouS are not worth
The feeding. Besides, one could do moth
Ing with them. I know the species"
He pointed at Chariot and laughed.
They look like this one"
The statement was strangely true. /
These aborigines and Chariot had :
heads of similar shape, and the same
vide shoulders and narrow hips. Their
,acial features were not like the kink-
sjou monkey to which Black Jack had
them, but yet there was !
something not human TO them, as most /.
If us know human faces. They had a
as If folk Of some other
world.
II viii see the girl" said Black Jack. !
The trader gave an order TO a guard Z
Who was armed with q machete. The
nan went to the shelter, leaned under :
t and dragged the girl out by her :
shoulder. She shook herself free and
prang up, facing them in q proud, de- ,
liant pose. She was nearly naked and :
Ter flesh showed the bruises from the :
'amboos with which she had been {
'eaten. :
It was evident to the most stupid Of /
hem that she was OF higher type than Z
he men captured with her, who prob .
bly, owed their capture to her defense.
hey also had risen and moved as If Z
o group themselves round her, but :
hrank back at the threatening sweep :
the guards machete. :
But whatever the others may have 3
ound In her, it seemed to Chariot that r
ne was the lovelieSt creature he had h
yer seen, and even in her wretched I,
tate of captivity to whom his heart 4
nd soul had ever extended itself.
Black Jack sucked in his breath and Il
aid: Pas NAL. Myself, win buy this q
tile animal and risk the hazard Of .
aiming her. But don't need telling Il
on that these Indians have no value I,
hey don't live long"
Chariot was staring at the girl in a
)rt Of terror. He had noticed two
mazing things about her. She seemed
} have understood the purport of
lack Jacks speech and his intention
! her regard. The sum was low and
] a slanting beam of it struck through
le rift in the tropic foliage against
n face Chariot caught from his angle
lie same flat glare Of red that he knew
lone from his own under similar con-
lions OF lighting, and of emotion
But this revelation was not all Be-
Veen her young breasts there hung
Ispended by fiber or coarse hair of
me sort, that OF tamanoir perhaps,
charm or fetish almost identical to
lie amulet that he had taken from
e broken neck Of his gypsy mother
ne bright light of her fine-skinned
som that was the rich hue of rose
bod mahogany showed clearly the
ort, thick serpent with the skull in
e gaping mouth.
Chariot felt as IL about to smother
2 made an inarticulate sound in his