The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-05

in his heart for nauLht else? And what was
he like? My father had spoken of him as
fine fellow and Hercules. This merely
meant that he was physically strong and
that my father admired him. We had no
likeness If him. for, as my father informed
me- Dr.. Herbert could never be persuaded
either to sit for his portrait or pose to a
photographer.
In short, | worked myself up into fever
of curiosity and impotence. and long before
the hero arrived | was quite ready to fall in
love with him at first sight. | knew. of
course, the improperly of this, from con-
ventional p int of view. but my education
had not been conducted on conventional
lines. Moreover, having no mother | was
practically my own mistress, and / seemed
tG have lost control both of my feelings aud
my thoughts.
When we next heard from Dr. Herbert he
was on his way to the coast, and not long
afterward we had kilograms from Alden and
Alexandra, the latter of which fixed the
time for his arrival In London.
where will he stay?" | asked my father.
with us, of course. He promised he
would before he went away. We must
meet him at the station. Would you like
to go with me?p
eyes father"
In truth | would have gone a hundred
miles to meet him, and as the time drew
near my suspense and Impotence became
well-nlgh unDearlble. Had some moment
Gus crisis in my life been impending | cOnld
not have been more restless ana excited,
and it was all | could do to hide my feelings
from those about me-
At leng the long-eXpected day came.
Many others besides ourselves were at
Charing Cross. and as the train steamed
into the station and Sunburnt face, sur
mounted by pith helmet, smiled a friendly
recognition at my father, there was great
shout of welcome and the men rushed up to
the carriage to shake hands with The distin-
guishei traveller.
Iremainsd in the background watching.
My fist feeling waS one OF disappointment
In my mind. l had given Herbert the
port and stature of llleguardSman. But
he WAS two or three inches under six feet,
and his great breadth of shoulder and stall
wart limbs made him lock shorter than he
really was. Moreover, his face was not of
the dark, reSoute cast | had imagined, and
should have preferred. Though burnt-brlck
red by exp sure In the sun. he was natur-
ally light-c mP'eNioued, he had flowing
flaXen beard ana large blue eyes. his hair
WAS closely cropped, and when he raised
his hat in acknO Nledgment of the plaudlts
which greetei him, the pallor Of his fore
head coatfasted strangely with the bronze
of his CHEEKS
= good face withaI, yet not exceptionally
powerful or striking, less so, indeed, than
the faces of several officers of the Indian
army, who arrived bv the same train.
But when my father beckOued NE forward
and Introduced US, saw that beneath the
daNen beard were a finn mouth ana square,
resolUte jaws; aud il presently appeared
that those blue eyes could gieam with anger
as We'll as sparkle With pleasure. An I'M
mannerly fellow, unknown to any of Us,
rudely pushed myself and another lady
aside.
"What do you mean? Stand back, Or
exclaimed Herbert, stepping forward with
an mperious gesture and a look that made
the intruder stink away ahaShed
So soon rs we could free ourselves from
the thlong we got TO the carriage, which was
waiting outside, and drove to Harley street.
On cur way thlther my father mentioned to
Dr. Herbert that as he must needs be fatigued
after his long journey, We were going to
dine EN- famile; but for the following even
ing we had invited several old friends to
meet him, to which our guest Eughiugly
answered that he was very glad, not because
he was fatigued, but because 1t would take
him some time To get accustomed to Euro
pean cookery and the ways OF civilized
society.
1t was a pleasant and. for me-. memOra-
bic evening. The party consisted of our
selves, one OF nv brothers and my aunt La
vinia, WHO ever since my mothers death had
kept my fathers house; dear old lady of
few ideas and many cares.
After dinner we adjourned to the study,
and Herbert was invited to smoke, W ich he
did with evident enjoyment. He was good
talker, and had so much to tell that even
though he had been a bad one his talk would
have been interesting. He gave us very
little science, reServlng that, as he said, for
the following evening and other occasions,
ana even nv father was more wlShful TO
hear something of our guests adventures
than listen to lecture on his fayoTite
science.
Besides being a scientific explorer, Herbert
was an ardent sportsman, and he told US
some thrilling stories OF encounters with
wild anmaS and still wilder natives, of
hardshps bravPly borne, and de IDLY perls
narrowly escaped.
My father inquired how it was that he had
been so long away. He set out with the
idea of not staying in Africa more than two
years; lie had stayed more than five.
In part because Africa is SO vast, and
the facilities for travel so limited. Mainly
because they made king of me-" answered
Herbert
"a king?"
Yes, for nearly four years L was King OF
the MouSas-very much against my will"
"The MOusas? Who are they?"
"a man-eating nation, north of the great
lakes"
"Cannibas ?"
Yes, cannibais."
God bless me, Herbert, | hope you did
not exclaimed my father, with look
of mock horror.
'No, DIR. Murton, | did not carry out my
principle of doing in Rome as the Romans
said Herbert gravely, and "a, | Thought,
little resenfully, as if he had taken my
fathers chatting remark seriously. ION
the CONTRARY, | did my best to wean my sub
lects from their hideOuS dietary, and in a
great measure succeeded. These MouSas
present several marked characteristics which
dtferentiate them as we'll from the kaffirS
of the south as from the negroes OF the
coast. Their Gran ial development"
This was too much for my aunt
Excuse me Tor lnterrupting. DR.. Her.
bert, she said, but | an not the least in
terested in craniat DEVELOPMENT and Myra
and are just dying to know how you be-
came king of the cannibalS."
" beg your pardon, Mrs Barton. l was
forgetting that everybody is not so interest
ed in ethnolOgy as your brother and myself
Well, | became King of the Mousas in this
way: During my wanderings | went into
their country with my porters and escort to
the number OF about score We met with
a friendly reception, and after staying some
weeks were on the point of continuing our
journey. when they treacher0uSly fell upon
us by night and killed the greater part of
my followers. | was the first white man
the MOusas had seen. They thought | was
a great warrior and would bring them luck
and as they were going TO make war on a
nrighhorins tribe they wanted my help.
/ was offered my lie on condition of
becoming the Kings blood-brother and
his second in command. l accepted
the offer. The campaign was highly sue
cessful, but the King lost his life, and the
Mousas chose me King in his stead. 1t was
not desirable post for several reasons.
But as refusal would most certainly have
entailed my death-probably my torture-at
the hands of the new King, who would have
-N.