The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-10-26
NEW YORK JUNGLE
BY WRAY WADE SEVERN

in the day. Can she be protecting
someone?"
God knows" Sidney replied.
ITO guess is to accuse, and I am
not prepared to do that. Neither,
believe, is Plowman."
aren't there drugs that may
be used to free her?"
eyes, but they are not always
successful and cannot be employed
without the consent of relatives.
I imagine Hugh, as the nearest
relatives, might not wish them
tried"
Abruptly Sidney switched the
subject. "Barkes said he saw a
shadow against your curtain at
o'clock last night, Marta. Have
you an idea who made it?"
A quick flush burned Marta'S face.
She turned from him, and stared
out the window at the dripping trees
green now from their long drench-
ing.
"If we are 10 play square with
Adam, Marta, you had better tell
me all you know" he said gently.
Marta faced him, eyes despair
ing. ut was Adams own shadow
the chauffeur saw" she said sim
ply. after you left me, he came
to my room. He wanted to ex-
plain before I met the others. I
had gone down the hall for a
shower and when I returned he
was standing by my window. The
curtain had been drawn"
A quick frown darkened Sid
neys face. Langdon's conduct re-
manned inexplicable to him.
Don't judge him too harshly,
Sidney" Marta said in low tone.
You were in California when he
came back from his hunt in India
last year, after he'd had that ter
rible brush with a tiger. The beast
would have done for him but for
Hugh" She swallowed. now
wish Hugh had not been there.
We would have been spared all
this horror"
Helpless to offer comfort, Sidney
waited for her to go on.
The tiger had ripped the sheath
off a nerve" she said. "The pain
was dreadful and impossible to
bear without the aid of morphine.
I'm Capetown they operated and
he recovered, but soon his nerves
began to trick him. He would
wake up at night covered with
cold sweat and imagine the tiger
was tearing at him. He had never
before known the meaning of fear.
He knew it then, and it became
unbearable."
so he continued to use the
drug?" Sidney guessed.
yes" Marta admitted when
he got back we decided to fight
the fear as we'll as the drug = to-
gether. He and Hugh and I came
down here and we saw him
through"
"You dear grill" sidney's eyes
were moist.
"He thought himself safe, Sidney.
We believed it, too. He decided he
must prove himself by going on an
other hunt and though we tried to
dissuade him, he felt that he had to
CO."
That took courage" Sidney
commented.
Adam was fine, when he was
himself" Marta went on. ''He
contracted fever in the jungle and
lay for weeks at Patricia Bridges
cousins farm. The doctor gave him
morphine"
$50 the fight had to be fought
all over again." Sidney unused.
"It did," Marta admitted. "He
wrote me in despair. I decided
that if showed my faith it would
help, so I"-she hesitated a long
moment and continued = IT wrote
him that when he came back we
would be married, and that I'd
take long vacation until he was
himself again"
Greater faith hath no man."
Sidney breathed.
Il should have been justified,
but for one of those slips of fate.
An inconsequential bit of I'M
founded gossip, based on someone
oCCA1S AAAC WAO1l oO1Ao oCfCAd4
times"
"You mean when a report of
your engagement to Lesencoff got
into the newspapers? I saw that,
Marta
How Adam got the paper in
Capetown, I don't know, but no
doubt all papers are available
there. Unfortunately he saw the
announcement and did not receive
my letter"
Then he took tina for your
answer to his call for help?" Sid
ney said.
He did. He simply gave up and
when he believed that Pat cared
for him, he married her. She at
tracted him, he admitted, but he
did not love her."
Adam had a bad nervous in
heritance. Such people should
keep away from drugs"
Marta continued the story: 1T
wasn't long before he realized Pat
did not really care for him. OF
course, he had money and the