HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1930-09-25, Page 4iiJi
,a
• 971
•
y
THIS HAS HAPPENED
Attempts have beenmade on the life
of Elise Marberry; owner of lar; e
plantations near Porto Verde, Brazil.
Her cousin and protector, Vilak, 'be-
lieves' Gaylord .Piiehtiss to be respon-
sible. Elise's two-year-old orphaned
.nephew, Tinky, is kidnapped, Prentiss
has been seen in the jungle with a
white Child. An expedition is . formed
- and they follow Prentiss., Through de=
sertion and;,: ill fortune, only' Elise,
• Vilak and Lincoln Nunnaily, en,: elder=
therm.,t,f sur''ive the trek through
the, jungle, and these three arecap-,
tried b•r sun -worshippers who intend
to offer up.. the_nen-.as_a _sacrificee at
the feast. of Rayed. . The king intends
to marry Eli e:.
NOW BEGIN ;THE STORY
CHAPTER XLIII.
Got that_
" ceremony from the Incas,
too, pr bably,"., Vilak muttered' as'he
turned his head to look at the old'
man lying on the stone two feet away..
(hief,_headnian,_.ormking,-whatever he
happens to be, �
ha ns' es off' to' receive the
• ;�II
firstrays of the sun alone. Ypti'd bet-
ter try to sleep a little. Good t a
drug in times like ;this.
These were the last words he' spoke
for hours. All day he lay rigid, mo-
tionless, as though he were another
of the gloomy stone figures .carved in
the ruined temple walls.
As when he had lain in 'his room
in Porto Verde, the pupils of his Mon-
' goliaii-like eyes dulled until they 'ap
Peered the eyes of• a rnur.•imy rather.
than •a man, while the thin film, like a
bird's 'inner eyelid crept out from the
corners: His . swarthy skin became
, bloodless his breath came stertorousiy
through his 'open' mouth. •
• In the afternoon his breathing and
his face :became normalagain; he
spoke cheerfully to the oldman, •sweat-
inr profusely in the bot sun, :and be-
gan watching a group of Ind, fans erect
a rude'pav•{{l�ion facing the idol and
perhaps a' hundred feet away.
Just before: sunset this pavilion was
the centre •of another procession. Elise
garbed in a robe of brilliantly -woven
wool, was borne into it on a litter and'
set upon a stone chair. Before her
-came the fat half-breed women with
the " painted aprons and -zinged ears
who had 4 een her escorts . a few days
before;. then a long 'line of native wo-
men of all varieties • of dress, stature
and racial mixture. Eachdeposited a
flower or fruit at :ier feet. At sun-
agwn Batalagos appeared. Giggling,
he threw a great veil or mantle 'of
beautiful, ancient design over Elise
and she was liftedonto the litter'
again and carried away.
For half an hour the court was once
More deserted: The prisoners had been
,given, o food during the day; now one
of the -hideously 'painted'' priests
•, brought them wine in two elay cere-
monial vessels, held the bowls to their
lips -so tfiey could drink, then put the'
vessels at 'their sides in depressions'
cut especially for the purpose in the
stone. Throughout the • ceremonies.
which began soon after, they returned
at intervals of approximately'an' hour
to tout-. the bowils to the captives' lips.
as though the drinking of the wine
was an act of :purification which made
therm fit to be a gift to the gilds.
The court now filled anew with a
swarming, buzzing multitude. Elise
was brought out, again and placed in
the pavilion. Batalagns took a seat be-
•
side her. D'Albentara stood. at the
altar. A dance was ,begun. ' . ,
Thirty or forty black, • brown, and
;reddish -skinned women, their : bodies
bright :w,ith paint and feathers' and
their limbs jingling with •metal orna-
ments, leaped,' bowed, quivered, gyrat-
ed,:
yrated,. while rows of men, with faces
painted like death masks stamped
their feet and'beat time with.thuddir♦g
tomtoms.
At a command from Batalagos the.
dance ceased.` A fowl, a wild' pig and
two oxen were laid upon the, altar -like
stone, killed with a knife, and their
hearts -thrown' into -'the crackling fire.
More dancing. • ,.
A file, of native soldiers came for-
ward, eachholding aloft ,a • spear. On
each spear -tip•. was a 'dried, shriveled
human head. ,The 'soldiers fisted theeir,
burdens like standards in two rows
on each side of the:open-mouthed-idoh
Nunnally noticed that each grim tro-
phy. bore; the same; -tattooed triangles
which had marred Prentiss "forehead,
i:" ei °. tf ' cY'"" it
shrunken`neck just above the `point'
whereit had.been.severed.
Now a native with a •particularly
ferocious face was flung down n€ar
Vilak and niade fast•to another one of
the seven stones, where' he lay altern-
ately screaming w{th .teeter and plead-
ing piteously with his'captars. , A sec-
ond young deer was slain 'ro' consult
the omens;' they decreed immediate
sacrifice.' Three of the soldiersdanced
a short pantomime in which there was
much clashing of spears and 'stalking.
'through imaginary bushes.
"This poor, devil near us is a mur
darer," Vilek whispered to the old
Man. "I 'got that from what he said
when' he was begging for merger. This
pantomime is a favorite custom of
savages: They're showing tow how he
committed the murder.: Stabbed his
friend in the back while they were out
hunting."
The pantomime continued for a few
moments longer. Then a bowl ef wine
was put to the criminal's lips. Rough-
ly he. was lifted' from the stone to
'which he had been tied and .d agged to
the larger one serving as•the altar.
One of the priests .swiftly tattooed'
t:-ree, teeth -like triangles upon his
forehead, then a thin, black 'line
around his neck The Indian with .the
enormous nose Came forward ,harrying
a great knife, looked at,,the tattooing
on the forehea'd,passed the back of his
knife experimentally about: the neck-
line, then nodded approvingly: The
tattooer put away his instruments.
The struggling' victim, while mouth
had been stuffed, with Wool to stop his
cries, and who was regarding his cap-
tors With bulging, agonized eyes, was
now strapped down so that his ' fore -
head was 011 :01$ y beaaatb . they three
'great thorns'.wel#0. formed,* fiz gees
of the idols' arm.
'Albentara 'gave a command.. The
savages swaerseing•on'alf sides drgpped
te the ground and began a dismal
chant. Their eyes were fixed. es though
1:ynotized upon the grotesque idol:
Suddenly ;a puffof smoke, followed'
Eby a tongue of ' flame; issued .from its
mouth.; it's upraised. arm liege') to des
geed. Nearer and nearer cane its
thorny hand to the captive's sorehead.
At last thorn met' tattooed triangle.
The. criminal's eonvulsivestruggles
ceased; he lay rigid., Yet he was not
dead; bis "drawn eyes gleamed with the
same bitter anguish which had narked
me eyes of the prostrate Tony Bar- }
betta and • Detto •.Oicerone' and 'they
.creeping Limey. Potts. • .k
While in this ,.Helpless condition, hiss
bonds, were united. Thepriests ate
"'came ,four fiends. For half :i hour
they , tortured him. •Then. another
:heart; like those of the beasts, went to
:the fire ;.•• another.,head-'.and another,
spear 'joined the rows at the feet of
the idol. •
Four lnatives, carrying' 'hollowed
reeds' and ' gourds of different sizes;
began a shrill whistling and noisy rat-
tling • intended' to be rnpsie -' They
ceased their discordant labors.:.D'Al-
ben-tare- approached Vilak. "All goes'
well; amigos?" he murmured:
Vilak did not answer: •
The Portuguese shrugged his Shed-
ders. "You Will •notspeak with nie,
cavalhiero? Ah, if •so it must be,, so
then it must be. You think that Carlos
D'Albentara • is gruel,. do you not, •cave
elhiero? That he loves blood l'ikeethe
vampire bats who flyr in the :night., -Yet-
is. this not. so Not so Rather does •he
late blood, hate death. .They are like,
mud, like wounds upon the face of a
beautiful woman.' They make life'no't'
pretty. ,Though he must cause you to
die in the same. way and do other
things_ which may be yet 'more evil, it
is••not because he se. wishes. No. It
it always because'. of this miser-
able ...", He smiled apologetically.
1"HRILLiNG" ... 25 YEARS
When the unsophisticated "buggy -ride was providing trans.
portation thrills a quarter of a century ago, hien were. getting
their first real smoke thrill from Wilson's Bachelor -100%Q
Havana feller—cigar. Buggy -rides are now a thing of the
past but,, today, foil wrapped to preserve freshness, Wilson's
Bachelor is smoked more extensively and betted' liked than
any other ten cent cigar. '
-4
.1,,••}* •
T' �xHgs..•.tt
often."- -
He strode off. A few Moments :later
Batalagos rose pine, ously from '' his
stone seat, waited 'until the seething
worshipper before him had' become
silent; then grunted a short oration.
He clapped 'hishands. A litter was•
brought in, again ,and put down near
the altar. A great:shout went up from
the spectators. A man was lifted from
the. litter and put down, on one of the.
stones. "There's Prentiss;" grunted
V31ak. A' momen is later as the priest,
took another figure from the' litter, he
added. quietly: "and there's Tinky."
Suddenly+a 'figure' dashed from the
p vilion. It was 'Elise. ' But she rcas
pitted'to run only, a few feet. Two
guards snatched her. She, was carried
back to the pavilion; then off into the
darkness. •
Again the omens were consulted.
Thsey, decreed that Prentiss ' and the
child should be sacrificed 'it noen.when
the sun was at its -.highest. Another
lance'was.begun, another pantomime.
In it D'A1bentara took pert. He, shook
hands in un -Indian -like fashion with a
gaunt native who was wearing Pren-
tiss grimy linen coat. Much running
and stalking through imaginary bush-
es -followed.•
"I• think we've seen something of
Prentiss' recent history,". Vila mut-
tered to' the old man.
The ceremonies ceased for the night..
Batalagos and D'Albentara isappear-
'ed.' The crowd began to •melt away.
Salon the court was deserted except
for the four captives on the stones and
the solitary soldier standing guard.
A' figure came creeping toward
Vilak; then scuttledback into the sha-
dows. The baby began to cry; ceased
indvidvally
foil wrapped
and in poIdcet-
packs of five
Stil'i. most
f' •o
money
*quickly.. Vilak craned his head to see
it. .He could not.' He could, however,
distinguish the form of 'Prentiss on
the other side of the. altar. . Even by
the firelight he could see that the five
erish, halfmad gleam which had hith-
erto marked the ether's eyes had van-
ished; his skin .'no longer•had its pallid;,
death -like. appearance; , •hisface,
though still wasted and gaunt and still
bearing the strange tattooed triangles,
was the face, of a normal man:'
The shadowy figu ra crept forivard
once more,, once morel vanishcd. Dalai:
lay motionless, silent: Again his 'eyes
became slanted eyes'llike a Chinese
philosopher. Again the thin filar' like a
bird's inner eyelid crept opt from the
corners to half cover ,the 3.111 pupils.
Se'uddenly the clay wine -bowl at his
side cracked and,fell noisily to the
ground. The soldier came running;
muttered a curse. A priest swiftly
brought another bowl, and returned to
the temple from which he had come.
Vilak drew a quick breath. With a
jagged fragment of the vessel he had
just broken he began sawing at the
thongs which bound.hiswristsi The
edge was no. keener than a dull knife.
But even a dull knife cuts vigorously
with .pressure behind it; soon. a thin
`gap appeared halfway through the
1tough leather.
, He was preparing to begin anew,
Homesickness --And a Cure!
legate ."e4e
when the figure.which had twice before
..erept for'vrard only 'to •disappear. new.
.crawled to the shadows of the stone
on Which he lad+. ,He turned his heed;
saw below him the face of the Indian,
with the • filed teeth' ,whom" be had
saved from the fiery:tortures of.Hetto
Cicerone in..the'.jungle behind •hi
house ie .Porto Verde.
(To be "continuer.) .
Minard's Liniment•for Foot -Ailments.
•• A' father asked his',little daughter•,.
to go and get his slippers, and Was sur-
prised when she said, "I'm not going
to do it.'' 'He lectured her upon the
impropriety of -saying "Fm nut .going.
to do • it" to her (p'arents. When .his
talk was over she looked' uli; archly,
exclaiming. -Well., daddy. 'when 'I'm
not come~ 10 do it r>;hcit pier=t I say?"
EADACNES
Needless paint like headaches
. are quickly relieved by, AspiFin
tablets as, millions of people know.
And no matter how suddenly a
headache may come' upon you,
you can always' be prepared. Carry •
the pocket tin. of 'Aspirin tiblets
with yon. 'Keep• the larger site at
home.. Read the, proven • directions
for pain, headaches, neuralgia, etc.
A Purpose ,
:The person *he. goes about with •a
'double-barreled purpose—to' take a
living and to'd'o good—is bound to finds
sooner or later that other pe'ople•willl.,,
be glad to help,him .do it, -
If the'single man plant himself •in-'.
domitably on, his''instincts, and there. • •
'Abide, the huge world.will censeround -
'to .him: -Ralph; W. bdo Emerson..
inhale Minard's Liniment tor Asthma.
•
The longest. non-stop .rin made by a
locomotive in Britain was from Lon-,
don .to Edinburgp, 39212 miles. 'But'
in the Argentine a British•bdilt.eiiginie'
was tried' last•year and,ran• 300 miles.
withnu.t a -stop. ' . ,
Perfect dyeing
So easily. done!
sir
DIAMOND DYES contain the
'highest quality anilines money can •
buy! That's why they give such
rue, bright, new -colors to dresses,
rapes; lingerie.
• The anilines in Diamond Dyes.
.make them se easy to use. No
spotting or• streaking. Just clear, ,
even colors, .that hold through wear
and washing-
Diamond
ashingDiamond Dyes never give things
that re -dyed look. They are just
• 15c at all drug stores. Where per-
feet dyeing costs no more—is so
easy—why experifeent with make.
shifts?
Diarn�ndDyes'
Illighit t Quality for SQ Years -
1.
would
t their
Fuel of long
tasting delici'oiis diver and
made of faire chicle and c►ther
ingredients of the Highest quality. .
conies to you in perfect condiition.
"Alt of i:s goodness is sealed tight -
in the clean wax wrapped packages.
the days work goes Much easier •
with.''WupLF -to- .susta`ti
refresh,'
HANDY fo,
PACKS 5?
t
RtGlEll�
'ty risgiNYt•
a# f l
• a WI' FOR
A NICKEL;
ISSUE No. 3 " 0'
It's ' our mother, Meryl'''. excl'aimed Hazel ,etvright, M,i'. s room -mato in the college dirtnitory,
'Mother!" Cried 'Mary Strong who had thrown bel'ie'f on the bed in a -fit' et homesickness:. •
As she poured out her heart to her mother and from the very sonntl. of her parent's roi•ce ..athere+l s'rrngt!r
to overcome m
ercoe that hoesickness wiiich oitl`_v thdse who have eeperieneed it c�van appreciate. Bate, rii;lit wnntl^rel t
i hod+• anyone could do without a telephone evert as she herself expressed it ''it it took the last cent," ' ' •
Distauee makes no difference and the teat nowadays for oet of tocsn''calls is surprisingly ,low. •
thisi9dq?
Vont. pride prompts y,oti'
to keep your hair well
grootued s , , then for the
same ' reason snitarten
)neer •dull, Unpolished,'
alms regular- -- wit -h- __n
glossy "Nugget" 'shine
wraterproofs the
Shots as it polishes.
.r '