The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1890-11-15
THE LOST MOONFLOWER.

| night was warm.
A little black girl crossed he dust,
main street of the village Just in front Of
my hut, carrying in her hand what
seemed to me in the cleaning tn,
largest blossom | had ever observed
since my arrival in Africa That was a
blossom. 1t looked ike an orchid, pale
cream-color in hue. and very fantastic
and bizarre in shape; but what specially
attracted my attention at first sight was
its peculiar shining and glistcning effect.
| like luminous paint, which made it glow
IN the gray dusk with sort of phos-
| phoresceIt light such as one observes in
tropical seas on calm summer evenings.
To naturalist, of course, such a
vision as that was simply irresistible.
''llullo, there, little girl :" | cried out in
Fantee, which l had learned by that
time to speak pretty fuently, ''let me
look at your flower, will youl Where
on earth did you get it,"
But instead of answering me civilly.
the scared little savage, alarmed at nv
white face, set up wild howl of
terror and amazement and bolted off
down the street as fast as her small
Dandy legs would carry her.
Well. science is science. Iwasn't to be
baked OF unique specimen for my great
collection by trick like that So, fling
ing away my cigarette and darling out of
my hut gave chase incontinentlv, and
rushed full pelt down the main street of
Iulamba, belter-skelter in pursuit of my
ten-year- old.
But lreckoned without nv host. Chill
dien on the Gaboon beat the record for
the quarter mile. Twas quite pumped out
and painting for breath before | ran that
girl to earth at last, by her mothers door
at the far end of the village A dozen or
more of the natives lettering about on
their backs in the dust of the street. had
loineo the hue and cry with great rnsto
by That time. They didn't know. to be
sure, what the fuss was about, but given a
white m1n-bestower of moncy-rushinr
IN mad pursuit, and a poor little fright
ened black girl scampering away for dear
lie at the top of her speed, in abject bodi-
" terror, and you may confidently reckon
on the chivalry of the Gaboon to range
itself automatically on the side of the
stronger. and to drive the unhappy small
child hopeiessly into a very bad corner.
When at last got up with the object of
my quest she was so alarmed and blown
with her hcadlong career that / felt thor
oughly ashamed OF myself. Even the pur-
suit of science, | will frankly admit, hard
ly Justified me in so chivying that fright
ened little mortal. the strong, through the
street of Tulamba. However. bright,
English sixpence, red silk pocket hand
kcrchief and the promise of box of Eu-
ropean sweets from the old, half-caste
Portuguese traders shop IN the village,
soon restored her confidence. Cnhappily
it did not restore that broken and drag
gled orchid. In her headlong flight the
child had ,Iumpled it hopelessly up in her
hand and distorted it almost beyond the
possibility of scientific recognition. All
could make out with certainty was that
The orchid belonged to a new and hitherto
undescribed species; that it was large and
luminous and extremely beautiful, and
that if only | could succeed in securing
plant of it my name was made as a scienti-
&c explorer.
The natives crowded around with dis !
interested advice and eyed the torn and !
draggled blossom curiously. Its a
moonllower," they said in their own di-
aect. Very rare. Hard to get Comes
from tie deep shades of the great for I
est"
"IIow did you come by it. my child?r /
| asked coaXingly of my sobbing little .
ten-Near old.
my father brought it in, " the child .
answered with burst. ale gave it me
a week ago. He was out in the country
Of the dwariS doing trade. lie went for
ivory and he brought this back to me-
Boys" | cried to the natives who
had crowded round looking on, do YOU
know where it lives! lwant to Get one.
A good English rifle 20 any man in Tu-
LAMBDA who guides me to the spot where |
can pick wild moOntiower-,'
The men shook their heads and
shrugged their shoulders obviously.
"Oh, no." they all answered, like SUI
pers at the theatre. with one accord.
TOO far. Too dangerous
"Why dangerous cried, laughing.
''Tne moonfiowers won't bite you. Who
says danger in picking flower?'
NY ucau Suiue anu hunter stOOu out
from the crowd, and looked across at me
awe struck. "Oh, excellency," he said,
in hushed and frightened voice, ''the
moon flower is very scarce; it grows
only in the dark forest of the inner land
where the Ngina dwells. No man dare
pick 1t for fear of the Ngina."
"Oho!' said |. as that so, my friend?
Then I'm not astonished." For Ngina.
rs no doubt you're already aware, is the
native West African name for the COY
lila.