Adventure Magazine Cover — page 104: what you’re looking at

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

98 A thong was tied to its horns. - The ac- cused gira was brought out, and Kos took on himself the pleasure of tying the gira’s right wrist. He then gave an order for the pebbles to be dropped in the beast’s right ear. Twelve abafan held it while a _ thirteenth one dropped four small stones into the bull’s ears. No sooner were the stones in than the thirteenth man yelled— “Vekal” (Let him go!) The twelve abafan let go and sprang wide of the bull. The bull merely shook his head in a puzzled manner. Kos slyly picked up a handful of sand and poured it into the other ear. Whilst he was doing that the gira shortened the distance between himself and the bull. The brute jogged his head from side to side quickly. The sand poured out every time he leaned his head over on the left side. Then suddenly the torture took effect. With a sudden bound and an agonized moan the pain-crazed beast crashed through the thorn fence, knocking down scores of spec- tators and killing several. The gira was jerked off his feet, swung through the air and landed on top of a fat spectator. He scrambled to his feet just as the bull set off at a dead gallop for an ant-hill five hundred yards away. The hundreds of people in his direct path opened a way even as the furrow opens to the plow. Vainly the gira tugged and pulled as he raced behind the maddened beast, trying to get it to stop just an in- stant so that he might leap on its back and untie the thong around his horns and there- by save his life. But the beast kept on full tilt, bent for the ant-hill. He smashed into the hill at a terrific speed, knocking the breath completely out of himself and throw- ing the gira half-way around the ant-hill. The result of this impact was a gaping hole whence the enraged ants swarmed and ran hither and thither. They discovered the beast’s forelegs with blood running from the flesh-wounds that he had received in crash- ing through the thorn fence. They fastened themselves there, maddening the beast with tortures beyond description. The pain- maddened brute screamed and tore away instinctively for the forest. It was impossible for the gira to keep pace with this maddened thing; besides the breath was absolutely knocked out of him. Seeking to brush off the tormentors from Adventure his legs, the maddened bull plunged into a small clump of trees. When he emerged on the other side the bull was going strong; but no weight hampered him, just merely a muscular bronze arm tied to the wrist that bounded and bounded as the bull went tearing along the bush. Once he stopped and dashed his head repeatedly against the trunk of a tree. He was seeking to rid him- self of the pain—the pain caused by the peb- bles and sand. When he went on again he had knocked off his right horn. But the pain was still there. : Friends of the gira who had followed the crazy trail of the tortured bull found him beside the trees in the small bush with a large hole where his arm had been wrenched off by the mighty force of the pain-crazed bull. The g7ra was still alive and conscious, but blood gushed out of the gaping hole every time he breathed. Kos came on the scene. He looked at the gira and sneered— “The king is dead, and Kos is dead, too, eh?” There was a sound, of a great wind just then. To Kos’ old ear it meant just one thing, especially as there was no air stirring. It was even as he thought. For thou- sands upon thousands of snakes were on a stampede. The voice like a wind was made by their bodies as they slid over the grass and twigs and stones. On top of that and above it there was the thudding and throbbing of many hoofs, some light and others heavy; and on the far horizon, as wide as the eye could see, com- ing like mad with a cloud of dust as highas the heavens behind, were the birds, beasts and reptiles of the jungle, the air and the veld. As the stampede drew near and swept by, @ moving-picture camera-man would have gone delirious over the sight; for there - were thousands of heads of springbok, wa- terbok, kuder, reed bok, zebras, nigmy, hun- dreds of elephants, baboons, monkeys with baby monks on their backs, the king of beasts carrying his tail between his legs and ears flattened back, every now and then look- ing behind to see whether the dreaded thing was still pursuing him. The spectators who had been sitting or standing around simply melted at the first sight of the stampede. Kos lost his head completely by trying to outrun the head of the stampede. He was overtaken and trampled underfoot by many hoofs; and Gomichbooks (C@