Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 2, 1922 — page 66: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

556 the young chief; they did not see that his hands were knotted in the wooden stocks, that his savage face was twisted with rage. With the first blow of the whip he cried out as though the leather had cut his own bronze skin, though the woman made no sound. “ Dog, hold thy tongue!” cried he with the whip, preparing for another blow. “Stop!” cried the young chief. “ Beat the devil out of her!” cried Pedro. “Flog the fiend until she whimpers for mercy at my feet.” “ Hold!” commanded the savage. “I, though a chief by birth, will work in your rubber if you will let the maid go.” It came to Pedro in a flash, and he waved aside the caboclo and his whip. Much as he panted for revenge for his hurt, he remem- bered that I had sent him to collect rubber and he had more need for laborers than for stubborn women. “And your men?” cried Pedro greedily. “My men will also work in your rub- ber,” answered the young chief, “if you will not beat the maid and will let her go her way.” Here, thought Pedro, was a way to man- age those wild Mangeromas who had no fear of the lash and laughed at starvation. Here was a way to get this fortune in rubber. He would hold the young woman as a hostage and through her he would harvest this great forest of rubber, after that—ah! “And I will show you where there are many more rubber trees,” promised the savage. “They are too far away,” answered Pedro. ‘““ Rubber is never too faraway for a good seringueiro.” “Very well,” agreed Pedro, much elated, “if you and your men will work in the rub- ber the maid will not be beaten, but I shall guard her faithfully until the work is done.” ** And when the work is done she shall go with us to our village?” bargained the chief. ‘* And when the work is done she shall go with you,” answered Pedro, winking sly- ly at his men. And with this agreement the young wo- man was taken back to Pedro’s tambo and placed under guard. Those wild men ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. were released from the stocks and fed and soon thereafter, chained two and two, they were sent into the rubber forest to harvest the precious caoutchouc. ‘There was no time to tap so many trees. Instead the caboclos cut them down with their machetes and the Indians were taught to gash the trunks so that the trees would bleed upon the ground where the milk coagulated into cakes. These cakes were collected each day and stored at the defumadore, where the rubber is smoked and cured. Had Pedro lived up to his bargain with the Mangeromas in all probability I would not be tiring you with this story, sexhor. Those savages worked well and faithful, chained as they were, two and two, so they could not run away into the jungle. But Pedro could not leave alone his fair hostage —this little naked bronze woman of the jungle. One night there came from Pedro’s tambo a plaintive, half smothered scream, followed by gruff curses and the sobbing of a woman. The wild men sprang up in their chains in answer to the call, beat down the guard and rushed to the rescue. Unarmed and heavily chained as they were, they were powerless. The cries of the guard brought the rubber workers streaming from their barracaos, rifles in hand, and they poured a volley of bullets into the rioters. But for the darkness they would have killed them all, and as it was, two were killed and three others wounded. One of those killed was an old man who had been fastened to the leg of the young chief by a length of chain. It was necessary to cut away this dead body so that it might be thrown to the vultures, and when this was done the young chief, with bowed head, gathered up the length of chain and stepped back to his place in the barracao. He was very cunning, was this chief, and the men being more or less excited over the riot ne- glected for one little minute to fasten him to the mahogany tree, and when they re- membered, it was too late. This savage had disappeared into the darkness—chain and all. Instantly there was a great hue and cry. Pedro ran about cursing them one and all, forgetting that he was the cause of the Gomichbooksrecom