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CHAO CHAHNG AND THE MAN-EATER
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'Any boy or fix! who thinks the elephant is a slow,
clumsy beast, ha net heard of Qiao Chahng, the
biggest and strongest and most docile of all the
Prahadali elephants. Prahada ia a chief elephant
ma iter, who lives by the aid of the Menam River
In Slam. There la at leatt one Incident In thla
elephant's life that is worth the telling.
One morning the Prahada aighted a great man
eating tiger on a rock in the middle of the river.
He had a warn there In the night and been caught by
the rising tide. In tern minutes, lour elephants with
their drircrs were deep la the pool, Chao Chahng
leading. There had bees a rainfall somewhere op
the river, and the muddy water was still slowly
rising round the man-eater1! rock of refuge. Every
tropical beaat stands In supreme dread of an inunda
tion, and the tiger turned from his besiegers, minnte
by minute, to sniff and growl Very soon, toe,
three of the elephants shifted about in their tracks
and made for the shore. Only Chao Chahng was
left
; Something drifted past towards the rock a great
teak log that the rising water had brought down
from somewhere upstream. As it scraned along
the rock the tiger glided epon it The heavy log,
Boating deep in the water, sank lower beneath his
weight as, crawling to the middle of ft, he was
borne from the rock. Chao Chahng pushed swiftly
forward trpon the tiger, who, balancing himself apon
his unsteady support, coold move only forward or
backward. At sight of the tusks and upraised trunk
above him, the man-eater, with' a whins of fear,
crept slowly back on tit log. But Chao Chahng,
following his movements' with stolid Interest, sud
denly struck him a sweeping side blow with his
trunk that sent him Hying mto tha water. It waa
battle that, began and ended in. an instant In that
Instant the man-eater was dead amid the rising
flow of waters, Chao Chahng stalked shoreward
through tha flood, with the air of having just dis
covered that tha river waa rising. The earth had
been relieved of a terror to man. The elephant
had shown Its courage, and fa its heavy plodding
way seemed happy.
A SXRTANGE CRAFT
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ROM a boy's standpoint, Seattle is one of
thfe moat lntereating ports on the Pacific
coast Robert Cole, whose father had
lost all his fortune after the boom had
ended, lived very near the waterfront, and
Vsed to spend many hours, when he was not in
school, dangling his feet over the edge of a dock,
tad watching the interesting shipping b the buay
Sttget Sound port
Bobby had a little craft himself. It was an old
tow-boat with a leg-o'-mutton sail, but it did very
well for a day's cruise. Charley Haggles, who was
file son of one of the harbor pilots, and who had
taught Bobby all ha knew about sailing and the
'jwinds and Hit and currents, nearly always went
jarfth him on the daylight sail of exploration.
( .Ona day la August the boys had arranged to sail
Over to the western shore of the Sound to a fishing
settlement of Siwash Indiana. Bobby had coma
j&own to the float where the Ready, as he called hia
all-boat, was tied up; It waa early morning, with
heavy mist over tha bay. Bobby peered over the
wharf-edge and saw Charley balling oat the boat
E Beyond, there was tha queerest-looking craft he had
L i ..i . M
Bjver seen, irerung against ui puw on vac vuier
tide of the dock j in the mfst and against tha dark
arface of the water he could hardly see her,.aP
fbongh she was only a few yards away. AH aong
bar thirty feet of thin, narrow length, she waa
painted a dull, neutral gray, the color of battleships
lo wer-time. At bar bow was a little black machlne
no peeping out from a cover of gray canvas; she
looked for all the world as if she were built for the
of pirates.
"Hello! Charley," cried Boh, "what boat Is thatr
"Don't vott know?" answered the other, "that's
Che Smuggler's Nightman, or at least that Is what
fcbey call her."
"The smuggler's what?" exclaimed Bobby,
v 'Why you know how much smuggling of Chinamen
-tod opium there is In the Sound. Well, that's the boat
the government has bout to catch the smugglers.
fcheV gray and can't be seen any distance, and she
tats electric power and so is very fast and doesn't
fjaake any noise.
- . ... - f V I
a. -she looks like a ferret, commented hodvj.
I ' '' M. . 1 J .1. ..! I - V..V 11 fViA mArfL.
v ws nave nau toe wmu i uui vav. ."v.
fctg," said Bobby, about noon; "and unless it shifts
fjre will have to beat our way every inch homeward."
Suddenly the breeae dropped altogether, as if it
fead been shut off by a curtain.
Charley scowled. "We're going to be becalmed,
la said finally. "I thought so."
fWhat mean luck!" said Bobby, dipping nis hngers
la tha water. "We ve only got one oar, ana we may
Hot get any wind before to-morrow morning.
Charles nodded. "What time is full tider he
ftated.
I dont know " said Robert "It most be nearly
JaU now. Are you wondering
"Yes," interrupted Charles. "I'm wondering now
fkf the tide will take us before morning.
The gray fog, damp and salty, had rolled up the
fSiav and. orowinsr heavier and thicker, shut off the
feght of the opposite shore.
I ?Why, we are under way!" exclaimed Bob, at he
Kelt the slight resistance of the helm. "And look
jat that seaweed go byT He cast a glance at the
teaH; It waa a till lying limp against the meet
Ifa the tide!" aald Chart. -If a running out!"
Both boys sat dejected and helpless, preparing
themselves for a long fast and a cold night oo the
fawteiv " . " ': " .
Suddenly Bob started. "Did you hear thatr he
tiled. The xauf3ed found of the explosive pound
tsj of a naphth4auach came to them over the
By RICHARD W. CHILD
"Yes." said Charles, straining hia eara. "Listen!
Ia It coming nearer? I think we'd better yell to
them." He threw his head back and ahouted, "Ahoy,
there!" several times. The noiae of the naphtha
engine stopped for a moment Charlea continued
hia hallooing and then a curious thing happened:
behind the curtain of fog and darknesa the chugging
noise of the launch began again; but this time, in
stead of coming nearer, it faded rapidly away. The
boys looked at each other in amaaeraent
t
was followed by two others carrying several small
wooden boxes.
Bob thought only of getting home; he had already
filled hia lungs to shout, when he felt Charles's hand
tighten upon his wrist and heard him whisper: "Keep
still, Bobl Can't you see they're the smugglers!
There's the launch we heard. See ft on the shore?"
It was as Charles said: a black launch loaded
with small wooden boxes had been pulled over the
gravel into shallow water.
"Lookl" whispered Charles in Robert's ear. "You
can see their shadows through the trees. Now is
the time for us to get away."
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Whene'er this stuffy, puffy scribe
Sets out to write a diatribe,
Or aught else that he pleases
A busy, buzzy bumblebee.
Perched on his desk, sagaclousljv
Supplies him cooling breezes.
THE SEARCH-LIGHT SUDDENLY SETTLED ON THE LAUNCH.
pater;
"Well, whoever they are they're mean enough,"
aaid Bob indignantly.
Charles nodded. "1 should say so," said he.
"Now we have the problem of spending the whole
night in this wet mist; and, what Is mora, so one
can tell where ws will be in the morning." . '
Suddenly the boat bumped over a rock and, with
a slight shiver, turned half around. "Shallow
water I" cried Robert
"You're right!" said Charles; "and look therel"
Both the boys could make out black aha do we against
the moonlight
-This is land, anyway," aald Bob. He stopped
wddenly, for not fifty yards awayx through the pmea
be saw the light" of a lantern moving toward the
tacfc. It waa carried hx ft fbort atocky mas, arha
Robert set his mouth in a determined manner.
"See here, Charles," he said; "these men are . law
breakers. They're cheating the government It
would be cowardly to run."
"Well, what are you going to dor inquired
Charles.
"Yon out rat a naphtha-launch."
"Yes."
"Then we haven't a second io lose. The men will
be back in a minute. I'm going to take that launch
and her cargo back to the revenue officers, and
leave these smugglers prisoners on this island."
"Whew!" exclaimed Charles. "Think of the
danger I And, besides, the' men could escape in the
Rtoiy."
"No," said Bob, firmly. Til posh the Ready oat
Into the current
GtfyrtgMei (he Onimry Cb.
Charles was enthused by the Idea. TQ do ft!"
aald he. He ran beck and pushed the little sail
boat into deep water; when he had waded beyond
bis waist he gave her a final push that sent her out
into the channel.
As he came back to the beach he heard once
more the voices of the men approaching. "Ifa too
latel he whispered. "They're coming!"
"It's our only chance to get off this Island now
the Ready has gone," said Bob, his voice trembling
with excitement. "Come on!"
The two boys started down the beach hi a race
for the launch. As they tugged away to get her
into deep water, the lantern was coming nearer and
nearer through th'e trees.
"Quick!" cried Bob. Both boys sprang over the
side of the launch, which now floated in the deeper
water. . The three men were running down the
beach, shouting hoarsely, and had nearly got to thev
water's edge when the propeller of the launch began
to buzz and foam boiled up in the broadening wake.
"Come back here!" shouted one of the men,
frantically running into the water. v
"Stop or I'll shoot!" cried another.
"Don't shoot 1" cried the stocky man, knocking
tho other's hand into the air. "We're caught here
like rats and we don't want to be taken for murder."
,Tho launch pounded along over the black waters,
and finally turned Into the open Sound. Suddenly
Charles stopped the engine. "Listen!" said he.
Behind them they could hear the pounding of a
propeller in another boat They're chasing us!"
cried Bob. "Start the engine again."
Once more they were off. "We've got to race for
ft now," cried Charlesj "they're after ns. Yen see,
they carry no lights.
The launch now plowed along at her 'topmost
speed, but it soon became evident that the ether
sras gaining, v .
fioms
Suddenly with a eufck flash the beam of a
light stretched oat over the water like a long flngeft,
It turned this way and that, and then suddenly sef
tied on the launch with Its two boye and its cargo.
of boxes.
"Oh, weNre got em this timer shouted a yvtosJ
and the bQnding light began to come nearest
"It's the Smuggler Nightmarer cried Bob.
"Why, they're nothing but boys!" exclaimed
bearded man in a trig blue uniform, more astonished
than any one.
"Give us a hand, please," said Bob, "and IT1
aboard and explain."
To the revenue officer the boys told the wfiola
story. He listened Intently to all that they sal
"This is splendid!" I'll put a man Into the launc
with you so that you can go right home. Of course.
we will have to go to the island for the men."
Uf you should happen, to see our boat, I
you'd pick It up, said Bob."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about your boat," said the
officer. There Is enough reward for the capture
of these smugglers to buy you a very respectabli
little cruising-yacht cabin and alt
Both the boys and one of the 'sailors got Into the
launch. "Good night!" shouted the revenue officer J
Once more the naphtha-launch started on her Jc
ney toward tne harbor, but tms time instead of
sneaking along she bore a light at her bow ant
carried two very tired and very happy passengers
"It isn't so bad being becalmed, after all." sa
Charlea, when they had climbed up on to the wl
and were saying good night
"No, bdeedr Robert said heartily; "and we won't
really lose the ikaJy, either, for I took the bearwgfl
of a little cave aha drifted mto as we were comingj
aatt with the buoch,"
'ti:.