Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-03-09
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| lou pStAT y CnAEmC0 OunD8E
said to him, fretfully, one day. las for
myself, feel as though this cursed cli-
mate was stealing my very manhood
from me. If we do not end our journey
soon there will be nothing left for me
but to lie down and die"
(Which you must not think of do
ing" Campignon observed, with a smile
which showed every one Of his CLEAN
ing teeth, "for If anything happened to
you, what would become of these
brave fellows who are trotting along
with their tongues lolling out Of theii
mouths like dogs?''
You would lead them back again, 1
suppose" was the weary reply.
"Assurcdly would for my own sake
as well as theirs; but you forget that
if we reached Colombo without you, our
chances of remuneration would be dis
agreeably curtailed. You see, we are
not undertaking the adventure for chiv-
airy, but are selling our services for
vulgar currency"
II know it, Campignon," Dunbar said,
but l have provided against such a
contingency. l have left your pay Sc
cured to you in the bank at Colombo
and enough to make these faithful fell
lows happy for the rest of their lives in
case anything happened to me-"
For a few minutes the Frenchman
walked on in silence. Suddenly he
turned to Arthur and said, eagerly:
What made you tell me that? Have
you no fear that I should play you
false? What is to hinder me from
abandoning you in this wilderness?
Why, man, you cannot even speak a
word of the native language, while /
could talk these natives into any plot
before your very eyes, and you be none
! the wiser"
~ know it, Campignon, but"
'But?"
But, trust myself to you without a
thrill of misrepresentation, for know
that though you would stoop to trickery
and deceit in small things, you will be
true as steel to the man who trusts you,
when once you have bound yourself to
follow his fortunes"
Campignon's eyes glistened.
And you have implicit confidence in
mev' he said, with tremulous tone.
"Then, by the Lord, young man, you
shall never have cause to regret it."
There is a prevalent idea that most
tropical forests TEEN with wild fruits,
which nature is supposed to produce
spontaneously. Nothing can be more
erroneous. It is true our adventures
sometimes found the gnava and katum-
billie, which served to slack their burn
ing thirst, the blackberries and the
acid gooseberries, and very rarely the
sweet mora" which grows in grape
like clusters, but none of these were
plentiful. The beautiful "jambo" apple
hung temptingly over their heads, but
though it Is exquisite in appearance,
being snow-white with pink bushes on
its side, they soon discovered that it
was vapid and tasteless-a Dead sea
fruit. But If the wild bushes did not
pander to the sense of taste, they graft
fed those of sight and odor, for on
every side the most exquisite flowers
dropped, ladening the heavy air with
their delicious perfume.
For five days the wearied men fol-
lowed the mysterious path, becoming
hourly more exhausted with their toll,
yet without having met with any adven-
ture worth recording. During the ex-
treme heat of midday and In the dark
ness which overshadowed them like a
curtain before the moon rose, they
slept, stretched on light hammocks
which they hung to the branches OF
trees.
1t was during one Of these resting
spells that the first disaster Of conse-
quence occurred. One among them had
been accustomed to watch over the
sleeper, the vigil being shared in turn
by European and native. On this &C.
casion Campignon had been on duty.
No noise had aroused the tired sleepers,
yet when they woke it was to find the
Frenchman missing - the Frenchmar
and the dog. In vain they cried aloud
till the woods reechoed their voices; In
vain they fred off their rifles and
waited response. The Frenchmau
was gone from their midst, and, what
was worse, he had taken their best rife
and their dog with him.
''Oh, the false-hearted traitor! tC
leave me like this for a few paltry
pieces of gold!" Dunbar groaned. wher
the natives who had secured the woods
: returned after n vain search. He coulC
, not communicate to them his sus
picions. He could only sit upon the
trunk Of a fallen tree and give way L
/ despair. Somehow his memory seemed
) to be failing him; he forgot where hi
= was; the trees assumed fantastic shapes
) the rocks seemed to be perpetually
= wheeling round, and his head wal
: heavy as lead He had an indistinc
, idea that he was falling, blurred
) vision of q tawny coolie twining hi
1 arms around him, and his senses failet
? him utterly.
A