Richmond High School - Shield Yearbook (Richmond, CA)

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toward whose capture all their energies were directed. By its trembling, the fact was quite evident that the terrific noise of the earthquake had frightened it from its hiding place. “Banks! Look!’ Edwards cried quickly. Banks turned and uttering a cry, sprang toward the being, with a vague no- tion of capturing it single-handed. It uttered a low growl that somehow seemed half-human and in a second was gone. Banks, almost overcome by this second failure, was walking around raving and cursing like a maniac. Suddenly his eyes fell upon a track in the dirt. Forgetting everything he dropped to his knees and gazed earnestly at it. It was unmistakably the track of an animal, save for the big toe which had all the characteristics of that of a human being. Greene took four snapshots of the imprint, and then the party set out in the direction in which the being had disappeared. It appeared to be always somewhere near them, never showing itself, but for- ever watching them. It dogged ‘their footsteps at might; yet in the daylight they could find no trace of it, except the same mysterious tracks which showed where “+ had been. These tracks seemed somehow to get closer day by day, as if the creature’s curiosity were slowly overcoming its evident fear. One night Williams awoke suddenly. He was sleeping at a little distance from the rest of the party and all were wrapped in slumber except Sanderson, who was on guard, and was seated near the fire with his back to Williams. Williams had awakened with an uncomfortable sensation of something bend- ing over him. He lay perfectly still; his eyes were closed, and as he waited, a sort of icy horror filled his whole soul. A hand was suddenly laid timidly on his shoulder. Williams saw two yellow eyes gleaming into his. He waited no longer. He grabbed the wrist of the thing which had disturbed him. Again that low growl was heard, and Williams felt a thrill as he realized that he held the being for which they were searching. It was struggling fiercely but Williams merely tightened his grip, and springing up yelled, “I've got him! Hurry, or he'll get away yet!” Banks sprang up and grasped the thing which seemed suddenly to relinquish the idea of escape, for it became limp in a sort of despair. Dawn was breaking and soon they were able to examine their victim carefully. He was a little under six feet in height. His body resembled that of a human being in many respects, except for a considerable growth of black hair covering it. Banks turning to the others said, “Notice his head, fellows. It’s larger than any of ours. In fact, it mostly resembles that of the old Cro-Magnon man.” The forehead was very high and overshadowed large eyes which gleamed with ma- lignity. The jaw protruded as does an ape’s. The teeth, which were bared, were sharp and pointed like an animal’s. His feet, as mentioned before, had only one human characteristic, the big toe. Except for the intensely human light, that at times shown from his large eyes, perhaps the most h uman characteristic about him were his arms and hands. They were well formed, the upper arm being in good proportion to the lower. The hands were shaped like those of man, the thumbs and forefingers well developed and the whole being characterized by an almost total absence of hair growth. Green had been busy building a cage and into it they now thrust the being who seemed to have fallen into a dull apathy. As the door of the cage shut, how- ever, he roused and clutched the bars, ferociously showing his teeth and growling in a horrible manner. Edwards suddenly had an idea. He went to their supply kit and returned Twenty-three |

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The firelight, flickering wierdly against the tall trees and mountains, cast grotesque shadows over the faces of the men. They were too tired, however, to mind the ghostliness of the place, and in another half-hour they were sound asleep. Irving, who had taken night-watch, propped himself against a rock with a gun over his knees. He sat musing over the events which had taken place since he had accepted the invitation to join the trip to South America. He was much in- clined to scoff at Banks’ theory, but, as he reflected, ‘It’s an adventure anyway.” Suddenly he sat up, all of his faculties alert. Something had moved in the darkness across the fire; something which was not one of his party; something which meant no good. Irving’s hand moved slowly out and touched the shoulder of Banks beside him. Banks’ eyes opened and he sat up quickly despite Irving’s whispered, “Sh!” A dark shape, ghostly in the flickering firelight, bounded over the sleeping forms of the men and paused a second with a half-wistful, half-curious, and yet menacing look into Banks’ face. Then before the men could move, it disappeared in the darkness. With a smothered ejaculation, Banks clutched Irving by the shoulders and cried in a smothered tone: “It’s the ONE we are looking for! Don’t let him get away! Catch him! Quick! It’s worth the world to you!” The rest of the party were awake by this time, and soon joined in the search, but no trace of the mysterious being was found. However, there was no more sleep for the members of the party that night. Banks was up early the next morn- ing looking for tracks, but none could be found. About noon the travelers, who had been walking for almost eight hours, came to a spring surrounded by tall trees which cast their cool shadows over the water. They were glad to stop, for it was a warm day. The sun beat mercilessly down upon them, and everything seemed half dried with the terrific heat. Not a living creature was visible. Doubtless they had disappeared in search of cooler regions. After much consultation, it was decided to rest about three hours and then go on. Accordingly, the party made camp. Beside the spring was a grove of trees, dense in their thickness. Behind them loomed a mountain which seemed to gaze scornfully down from its lofty heights at these puny, weak men who could not stand the sun’s fierce days, but must wait for cooler hours. Suddenly, a shadow seemed to half obscure the sun. A terrific rumbling was heard, and the land beneath the feet of the men trembled. Greene rising quickly was followed by the rest, who sprang to their feet and waited, fearing they knew not what. A herd of wild beasts burst from the woods and rushed toward the travelers. They seemed not to see the men, however, but hurried past them and disappeared. Then, with a thunder-like sound the mountain seemed to shudder, lean toward them, and fall! “An earthauake! Run!” shouted Williams. The men darted back out of the path of the falling mountain, and watched the huge avalanche tear on down through the gorge, taking trees, earth, and rocks with it and leaving only devasta- tion and destruction in its wake. Rock after rock fell from its place with a crash like thunder and went hurling down the gorge. Echoes reverberated louder and louder like huge giants laughing at the terror of the explorers. In a few moments it was all over, and the travelers gathered up their scattered belongings. After a while, Edwards was suddenly attracted by a slight noise at his left. 7 He turned his head and there, not two hundred yards from him, stood the being | Twenty-two

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with a piece of meat and a slice of bread. The growls ceased and the being held out its hands. It took the bread in one hand and the meat in the other. Sitting down, it had soon eaten both. It then turned its eyes upon Edward with a pathetic look of thanks. Dr. Sanderson, always chickenhearted, felt a lump in his throat as he saw the expression in the being’s eyes. The creature seemed almost like a human shut in prison who knows his last chance of freedom is gone. “By George! Edwards, you've made a hit!” exclaimed Banks. Edwards did not answer; only went for water which was accepted with the same expression of wistful thanks. Banks rushed then to pack his things and the rest of the party followed his example. In an hour they were on their way back home. During the whole trip the captive was watched carefully. At times, it seemed wholly animal. At other times, human sanity seemed to gleam from its eyes, and it seemed strangely happy, as if it had a vague notion that at last, it was with its own kind. These times were infrequent, however, for it usually was sunk in a pathetic despair. It had conceived a malicious dislike for Williams, and growled fiercely when- ever he approached the cage. On early morning just as dawn was breaking, Banks awoke to the sound of a scuffle. The trip was nearly over. Three more days and nights would get them back to civilization. Their victim had been restless lately, clutching and shaking his bars, growling loudly, and eating next to nothing. As Banks opened his eyes, they rested on the cage. Then he shouted in amaze- ment! It was empty! The ropes had been chewed apart and the being was gone. A choked moan interrupted him. He turned, and then stood rooted to the ground in horror. They had camped that night on the edge of a cliff; below was a gorge of about a thousand feet depth. On the edge of this cliff, Williams was struggling for his life. The thing escaping, had clutched Williams by the throat and with almost superhuman strength, was attempting to push him over the cliff. Its face, malicious in a horrible glee, seemed the very spirit of revenge. Williams’ strength was nearly gone, but he was fighting gamely. Green had grabbed his revolver. He now shouted, “Swing him around!” Williams, with his last ounce of energy, turned his foe so that his back presented a target for Green’s gun, and in that in- stant Green shot! The thing relinquished its grasp on Williams, who fell ex- hausted on the grass. Then it turned toward the men, a face from which all the animal characteristics had disappeared, a face which held a human look of pathetic wistfulness and thanks, as if it was relieved at being released from its animal body. It poised a second on the cliff’s edge, then fell through the air, and was gone ! A faint swish was heard, a small puff of dry, pungent dust arose, and then silence settled over the gorge. —Gracze Parker, ’27. [| Twenty-four