3ao



The Return Game



hmieif and for the liomaa he carried tii^^
pppoeing tangle of vegoUitinni

Braadiee dapped him m the face as he neotg
dtftdied at him, ton him, but could not at^^ hb
p rq gTCT ffr Many *?wMMi lie atnmbledv mantjr tinier
he reoorvered himself, dasUog irildbr on midatiH

on luce a tmut OOflMBIBd. Ml wMt^ wMMMMi . MJapwmyili

naa hif ; Titan-Jike^ he aooooqplished tiiat iriiicli
to any ofdinary man would have been an utter im*
possibility. Save that he nas in perfect condition^
even he must have failed. But that fsct was his sal*
vation, that and the fie»» passkm that nrg^ him,
endowing^him with an endurance more than hmnan.
Headlong as was his fiis^t, the working of his
brain was even swifter, and very soon, without
slackening his' speed, he was swe r vin g round again
towards the open. He could see the moonlight
gleaming through the trees, and he made a dash for
it, utterly reckless, since caution was of no avail,
bvit alert for every danger, cunning for every
advantage, keen as the bom fighter for every
chance that offered.
And so at last, torn, bleeding, but undismayed,
he struggled free from the tmdergrowth, and
sprang away from that place of horrors, staggering
slightly but nmning strongly still, till the dark line
of jtmgle fell away behind him and he reaohed
the river bank once more.
Here he stopped and loosened his grip upon the
slight form he carried. Her arms dropped from his
nepk. She had fainted.
The Return Game 321

For a few seconds he stared down into her white
face, seeing nothing else, while the fiery heart of
him leapt and qtiivered like a wild thing in leash.
