ry or
en her husband rowed to the verdure-clad shore of Jungle
the Kincaid's taciturn and repellent cook. She asked him
ard," replied the Swede, and that w
ased to importune him for information; but never did she forget to greet him
d the Kincaid came to anchor in the mouth of a great r
ome to offer you safety, liberty, and ease. My heart has been softene
ngle, roaming wild with the savage beasts that were his fellows. Now I am a gentl
sorely missed in your relations with the poor ape that through your girlish infatuation you married so thoughtlessly. I love yo
gy neck his little head was cocked to one side, his close-set eyes were half closed, his ears, so expressive was his whole attitude
, the look of surprise upon Jane Clayton's face turned to
that you should be so fatuous as to believe that I, wife of John Clayton, would come to you willingly, even to save my life
ication flushed out the pallor of his face. H
ss has cost you all that you hold dear-even the life of your baby-for, by the bones of St. Peter, I'll forego all that I
n turned we
annot judge yet for himself, but I, his mother, can foresee that should it have been given him to survive to man's estate he would willingly sacrifice his li
e to his diseased mind that if he could force her to accede to his demands as the price of her life and her child's, the cup of
rage and desire. Like a wild beast he sprang upon her, and with h
n opened noisily. Rokoff leaped to his f
dity. His lower jaw drooped in vacuous harmony. He busied himself in arra
ian glar
ied, "by entering here wi
ery blue eyes upon Roko
" he said, and then he began rearrangin
you miserable blockhead!" roared Rokoff,
ham-like paw slid stealthily to the handle of the long, slim knif
ed short in his advance. Then
will be sent ashore upon one pretext or another except you and the child, Paulvitch a
rtent of his words. When he had done he banged out of the cabin witho
ke-the idiotic expression that had masked his thoughts had
," he said. "Hay ben th
looked at him
od all that h
sen gr
at," h
as going on in here a
reat me like darty dog. Ay help you, lady. You yus
en," she asked, "when all th
t blow purty soon purty hard," and
ul to him for what he already had done. The feeling that among these enemies she had one friend brought the first ray o
into conversation relative to his plans to aid her, but all that she could get from him was his stereotyped prophe
e empty dishes he whispered very low, "Leave on your clothes
he room at once, but Jane la
sked. "I cannot
erssen, scowling. "Ay ban halpin'
s she to do? Suspicions as to the intentions of the Swede swarmed her brain. Might sh
evil himself than with Nikolas Rokoff, for the devi
ed clothed long past her usual hour for retiring, and her blankets were neatly rolled and bound w
muffled figure of the Swede. On one arm he carried a bundle, evidently his blankets. His
uite clos
not make some noise when yo
folded the sleeping infant to her breast, while hot tears of joy ran d
erssen. "We got
nt of the monkey-ladder, holding the child for her as she climbed to the waiting boat below. A moment later he had cut the rope that held
on broke through the clouds there was revealed upon their left the mouth of a tributary r
een rowed up this very stream to a little village where he had bartered with the natives for such provisions as they had
in a great arch above the centre of the river. Spanish moss dropped from the gracefully bending limbs, and enormous creepers cl
crocodile, startled by the splashing of the oars, or, snorting and blowing, a fa
hyena, the coughing grunt of the panther, the deep and awful roar of the lion. And with them strange, uncann
e to her bosom, and because of that little tender, helpless thing sh
py and thankful for the moment, however brief, that she might press her baby tightly in her arms. She could scar
but a tiny peep at those beloved features, but only the dim outline of the baby face rewarded h
ght the boat's nose to the shore before a clearing where could be dimly see
paid to assist him. She took them to the chief's hut, but Anderssen said that they would sleep wi
ess filthy and vermin-ridden, spread Jane's blankets on the ground for
the hard ground, but at last, the baby in the hollow of her arm, she dro
who owns this characteristic in its most exaggerated form. Instinctively Jane Clayton drew the baby mo
k caked in layers within its neck; but the spirit of the giver touched her deeply, and her face lightened for a moment wit
to her lips, though for the life of her she could scarce restrain the qualm of
the gourd from her, drank a portion himself, and the
er impatient desire to have at least a brief glance at the beloved face. The natives had withdr
lifting the blanket that now protected its face from the sun, she not
t a short day before, and now, within the past twenty-four hours, she had learned that h
mself in every way the contrary since the day before. It scarce seemed credible that he could be serving her from
yes and repulsive features, she shuddered, for she was convinced th
uncovering the baby's face, there came a little grunt from the wee bun
Now she might feas
om before the infant's face; Anders
at arm's length from her, her eyes glued in horro
her knees gave beneath her, and s