Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

THE CAPTIVES OF THE TEMPLE. The young lady screamed a bit, but Desklit shot the beast, thereby win- ning the protessor’s gratitude and sweet smiles’from his ward. Another time a great serpent blocked our way, and Desklit again showed his prowress and killed it with an axe. Thus it happened that before we had gone many miles Miss Wisdom and Desklit were on a more friendly foot- ing than ever. Toward night we came upon a spring from which a clear stream wound around through the forest toward the Tapajos. Here we decided to camp. The men of the party slept without shelter, but for Miss Wisdom a canvas was carried: which was each night set up in the shape of a small rude tent. Of course, some one stood guard for a few hours, and was then relieved by another, and he by another, thus mak- . ing the task easy. From midnight-to three o’clock it was my watch. Around the spring there was a clear space of about a hundred feet in diam- eter. Rich grasses made a soft carpet, and the men of the party found no diffi- culty in sleeping on so soft a bed. Miss Wisdom’s canvas was stretched between two trees near the edge of the clear patch, and Desklit, who had pre- ceded me on guard duty told me to keep near the tent, as Miss Wisdom needed protection more than any other of the party. I was rather drowsy that night, and did not dare sit down. I kept walking about, wondering at the absolute still- ness of the wood, it being so unlike Other Brazilian forests in which the birds and animals, kept in cover by the heat all day, come forth at night to sing or howl, and seek their food. I had been on duty perhaps an hour, and had neither seen nor heard any- thing to cause any alarm. This, how- ever, did not cause me to relax my vig- ilance, for I knew that in a Brazilian forest surprises come very suddenly. 7S While making a detour near the tent of Miss Wisdom, I fancied I heard a rustling in the trees just beyond her canvas. I strode into the thicket, hold- ing my rifle ready. The nearest man to me was Pedro Gapo, who was sprawling on the ground snoring, about fifty feet away. I went cautiously in, listening in- tently, but not hearing any more of the alarming sound, I began to. think I had been mistaken. I turned, and was about to make my way back to the clearing, when suddenly something leaped upon me, a hand was placed over my mouth, and I found myself silent and powerless in a grip of steel. CHAPTER IV. THE REALITY OF A SEEMING ENCHANT- MENT. I KNEW from the absence of noise and the touch of the palm on my face that my assailant was a man, but I could not see him. A fait odor came to my nostrils, and I felt myself grow- ing drowsy and stupid. I no longer had the desire to cry out and warn the camp. My senses were lulled into a delicious repose, and sweet dreams came to me even while I knew I was awake. I thought I heard a scream, but it carried no sense of alarm with it. I[- had no knowledge of time, and do not know how long IJ remained in that state of semi wakefulness. At last I lost all consciousness. There are surprises in every life which stand out in the memory as long as life lasts. I have had some of these, and the attack in the forest was one. But no other surprise of my life was equal to that which I felt when I awoke from that calm sleep. I was lying on a comfortable bed in a room of barbaric splendor. It was a large room, the structure seeming to be of stone, but the effect of this was softened by rude paintings and oddly ECORRIC OO© Ss eco