The Eyes of the Moon

African drums are talking. What is there in the beat of the drum that from the beginning of time has stirred man to the very depths of his being? Marco Polo, writing of his travels, said, and they came to the hill of the drum.

And some went mad because of the booming of the drum in the night, and they fled screaming into the wastes. The drum booms on. Even the jungle pauses to listen to its rhythmic message. primitive, treacherous, full of brooding mystery.

This is Africa. Professor Anton Edwards and his little party of explorers journeying through a dark cavern are warned by an old woman to beware the eyes of the moon. Reaching the cave mouth, they emerge onto a mountainside.

The whole country is bathed in the light of a full moon. Drums are beating in a nearby village. The professor identifies them as ceremonial drums, such as are used as in Guru says, to talk with the spirits of the dead.

As they contemplate the scene before them, Jack's gaze is drawn to the moon. A subtle change seems to take place in the lad, and his hand gripping Lorna's arm seems to the girl to be the claw of some wild animal.

She has difficulty in bringing his attention back to earth. The professor thinking Jack has a touch of fever starts the party toward the village for a rest. They draw near the village where the drum is beating.

The part of the country is this father, do you know? I'm afraid I don't, Rauner. When I get a look at those natives and hear the dialect, maybe I can form some opinion. Jack seems to be all right now. What on earth could have come over him? He seems so strange for those two.