Adventure Magazine Cover, August 18, 1921 — page 155: what you’re looking at

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

The Throwback surged forward. The backing, shivering horse now squealed in helpless terror. The figure on its back remained motionless. Hurriedly Charlie made a count in his pocket. Seven cartridges his flickering brain registered. Nervously he pushed them in one by one and carefully fired. One, two, : The hand It came out three, four, five, six, seven shots. went again to the pocket. empty. The squealing horse backed to the side of the hill, the mouthing, jibing baboons ten feet away all round him. Forced by those _ behind they were pushed bodily closer in. A baboon leaped forward and ripped at the horse’s head, then jumped back. The horse screamed. The edge of the flat rock crumbled behind it and the horse felt eagerly round for a firmer footing. It crumbled again. Ex- citedly the horse endeavored to change feet. The other hind-foot gave way. The horse screamed louder and struggled pitifully for safety. Gradually its hindquarters sank lower. The rock scraped its chest, its hind feet uselessly scraped the rock for a foot- hold. Then it collapsed. With one shrill, heartrending shriek it fell bodily. And falling threw the brown girl clear and side- wise from it. Charlie was on his feet again, his, dull eyes suddenly blazing. Impulsively he threw the useless rifle from him and, leaping recklessly from rock to rock, plunged wildly down the hill. Loudly he howled in furious animal rage and, howling, waved a huge black knobkerrie. Howling he crossed the little valley and howling charged the opposite hill. The girl’s body had caught on a rock a dozen feet down and hung there limply. The horse, a shattered wreck, was fifty feet below. Baboons in droves were dropping from the level summit. Some already clus- tered round the unconscious girl, looking at her inquisitively. And Charlie, charging blindly up, was shrieking like a drunken fury. Next moment he was in among the angry mob slashing fiercely in every direction with hunting-knife and knobkerrie. The space was small, and few baboons could reach him at one time, but as they fell killed or maimed others took their places. And the fight, animal with animal, con- tinued madly. A baboon caught him by the neck from behind. He slashed over his 149 shoulder at the wrists and the muscles were cleanly severed. Falling it bit wildly at his legs, then rolled away. The carcases around him cluttered at his feet until he hadn’t room to keep his bal- ance. And still he sent them screaming and tumbling down the steep rocks below. By luck the healthy life of late had made those arms like steel. A frantic animal had gripped his shirt from behind. It tore and he slashed up- ward behind at it. As the knife came swiftly back a baboon fell on him from above. Next instant another had him firmly by the throat, its hideous face grimac- ing into his a scant six inches off. And he went down. The limp bodies at his feet slowly slipped. Struggling he slipped slowly with them. Then they fell straight. And with dead bodies under him and a heavy body above him, with hands stiil tearing at his neck, he went down helpless as a bag of sand. A line of hunting Kafirs a mile long beat- ing across the veld noticed a horse and rider moving sidewise silhouetted against the sky on top of a kopje. For a moment nothing more than wonder at a horse being on top of a rocky hill entered their minds. A crouching animal came into the silhou- ette, then another, then an ever-thickening crowd of them. Some of the animals were on four feet, some on two, some squat- ted aside apparently waiting for something. Silently each Kafir looked at the man next him. The line of Kafirs turned the corner of the kopje in a howling mass, their dogs rushing mouthing excitedly ahead of them. The baboons heard them, some farther up the hill saw them, and as they came within striking distance those animals not dead or hurt too badly hopped away from rock to rock, yammering and jabbering and showing their long teeth. Assegais and knobkerries thrown wildly fell away harmlessly as the baboons leaped easily aside. The leader of the Kafirs reached the side of the unconscious white man. One quick, all-absorbing look at him. “Manzi. Water,” he said to the nearest Kafir. Quickly he turned to another man close “Run to the Mission Station for the doc- tor. Hurry for your life.” Kafirs had scrambled up the hill to the cComicloooks ©