The Argosy, March 1907 — page 171: what you’re looking at

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

_ o ie Fe a hs gau wings beat the air ant the Bee saw, and icone felt, soon after. 33 = ee noise was like a swift-running dynamo. ward. 7 ae It trumpeted fiercely, and its struggles The beast made a dash at him, its = as shook the ground.’ trunk-bill raised to strike and, ere the ~~ . ~S “That’s what the trouble is,” re- scienti&t could make a move, the Ele- = - marked the professor with Scientific cool- sketer had bit him viciously on the back ee ak eee ness. ‘‘Elephants, as you may have of the neck. eS heard, friend Adams, are mortally afraid ‘“Oh,-my!”’ cried the professor. st es =e 6s mice, dreading lest the little animals “What's the matter?”’ asked Adams ey _ should run up the openings in their trunk. from the safety of an overturned barrel é _ Now, while this Elesketer is not, strictly into which he had crawled. ee e* Ba = ~ speaking, an elephant, yet I have not al- “He bit me!” cried Professor Jon- : - ___ together eliminated the elephant’s in-~ kin. “ Right on the neck! It’s swelling eS —_ stincts from it. Consequently, when it up fearfully!” es Se gees a mouse, it is afraid.” ‘“What bit you?” asked Adams, with SE ee ~. Once more the beast gave forth its perhaps malice aforetheught. ‘ The a peculiar cry and reared on its hind feet elephant part of the beast or the mos- . so suddenly that it burst the chains hold- quito part?” | ot _-- __ing the fore-legs to the earth. ‘The mosquito!’ cried the professor, — ~~ “Come on, I tell you!’ shouted and he rubbed the back of his neck where ae Adams. “In another minute we'll be. a big swelling was observed, nearly as - trampled on!” large as a turnip. “And if you can _ The instincts of a mosquito, which imagine a thousand mosquito bites rolled : Seas should be to attack and bite the mouse, into one you'll get some idea of what may prevail in a few minutes, if we have it means to be nipped by an Elesketer.” _ patience to wait and watch, ” said the “Look out! He’s coming for you = professor in a calm tone, as he ‘drew still again!’ yelled Adams. ex -—. . nearer to the now frantically plunging The professor ;ducked, but there was ~~ Elesketer: “It will be a pretty scien- no need for alarm. The Elesketer was tific observation to make.” circling about the big barn, high in the = pe “YT think I had rather make an or- air. All at once it made for the partly = Sea ‘dinary observation, of the garden out- opened door. = a8 side,” remarked Adams, preparing to Butting the portal with the large head Re Fun. common to elephants, the Elesketer = age - At that instant the mouse made a dash > ear straight for the Elesketer’s trunk, either by accident or design. The big brute did not await its small enemy’s coming, but with a trampet-call shriller than -any that had preceded snapped the re- maining chains, and was free. It flapped its wings vigorously and - rose slowly and ponderously in the air, for a flying Elesketer is not the lightest thing in the world. z Then, just as the professor had pre- dicted, the instincts of the mosquito pre- vailed over those of the elephant. Only not in just the way the professor antici- pated. is eee “Look out!’ cried Adams as he ob- served the thing suddenly make a dash toward him and the professor. _ Adams side-stepped quickly, but Pro- fessor Jonkin was not agile enough. Be- sides, he wanted to see what. the Elesketer ages would do next. ~ ; smashed the boards as if they were paper, and the next instant was sailing out into the air, free as a bird. “By the gréat green dragon!” cried the professor: ~‘‘He’s loose! If he goes . to biting people there'll be-an awful ey time. My lump is getting bigger and a bigger every minute. Stop him! Catch se The professor spoke the truth about his swelling. It was the size of a pump- kin now, and still growing. ‘Catch me _ stopping sketer!” muttered Adams. tackle a locomotive! ” ‘“Something’s got to be done!” de- clared the professor desperately. Adams didn’t know what move to Sr make, and as for Professor Jonkin, the 2 scientist was really unable to do any- thing, as the lump on his neck was now | so much larger than his head that -he could walk only with the greatest diffi- EOmic 5>.com — that Ele- : “Td rather — F<.