Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-04-21
CoPYRlCHT bod ANkELLOCo NEIlsPAPLkcq.

| ing" Campignou observed, with u smile
which showed every Que Of his CLEAN.
ing teeth, "for II anything happened u
you, what would become Of these
brave fellows who are trotting along
with their tonPucs lolling out Of Their
mouths like dogs?'
"You would lead thcm back again,
suppose" was the weary reply
"Assurrdly would for my own sake
| as well rs theirs; bnt you forget that
| II we reached Colombo without you, our
> chances of remuneration would be dis
| agrccably curtailcd. You see, we arc
not undertaking the adventure for chiv.
airy, but are selling our services for
vulgar currency"
~ know IT, Campignon,' Dunbar said,
but have provided against such a
contingency have left your pay Sc
cu-cd 10 you in the bark at Colombo
AMI enough 10 make thcs, faithful fcl.
lows happy for the rest Of their lives in
case anything happened to me-"
For few minutes the Frenchmau
walked ON in silence. Suddenly lac
turned 10 Arthur and said, eagerly:
what made you tell me that2 Have
you no fear that ! should play you
false? What Is 10 hinder me from
abandoning you In tins wildcrncss2
Why, man, you cannot even speak n
word Of the native language, while
could talk these natives into any plot
before your very eyes and you be none
the wiser"
81 know II, Campignon, but"
Butt"
But trust myself 90 you without
thrill Of misapprchcnsion for know
that though yuu would stoop 10 tricl,cry
aud deceit In small things, you viii be
true as steel 10 the man who trusts you,
when once you have bound yourself to
follow his fortunes"
Canpignon's eyes plistcncd.
And you have implicit confidence In
met he said, with trcmulous tone.
Then, by tie Lord, young man, you
shall never have cause To- regret IT,"
There is a prevalent idea that most
tropical forests tccm with wild fruits,
which nuturc Is supposed to produce
spontaneously. Nothing can be more
erroneous IL Is true uur adventures
sometimes found the gunya and katum-
bile, which served Ia slack their burn
ing thirst, the blacNhcrrics and the
acid gooscbcrrics, aud very rarely the
sweet mora" which grows in grape
like clusters, but none Of these were
plentiful. The beautiful "iambo" apple
hung tcmptingly over their heads, but
though II is exquisite in appearance,
being snow-whito with pink bushes on
its side, they soon discovered that il
was vupid and tustclcs3--a Dead sen
fruit. hut IL the wild bushes did not
pandcr 10 the sense OF taste, they graft
fed those Of sight and odor for on
every side the most exquisite flowers
dropped, ladcning the heavy air with
their delicious perfume.
For five days the wcaried men fol.
lowed the mysterious path, becoming
hourly more exhausted with their toll
yet without having met with any adyen-
turc worth recording. During the cx-
tremc heat Of midday and in the dark.
ness which oycrshadowed them like n
curtain before the moon rose, they
slept stretched on light hammocks
which they hung to the branches of
trees
II was during one of these resting
spells that the first disaster of conse-
qucncc occurred. One among them had
been accustomed TO watch over the
sleeper, the vigil beng shared in turn
by European and native. ON this oc-
cusion Campgnon had been ON duty.
No noise had aroused the tired slccpcrs.
yet when they woke IL was TO Gnd the
Frcnchman missing - the Frcnchman
ana the dog In vain they cried aloud
till the woods recchoed their voices; in
vain they fired of their rifles and
waited a response. The Frcnchman
was gone from their midst, and, what
was worse, he had taken their best rifle
and their dog with him.
"Oh, the false-hcarted traitorl TO
leave me like this for few paltry
pieces OF gold!' Dunbar groancd, when
the natives who had secured the woods
returned after vain search lie could
not communicate to them his sus.
PIGEONS. lie could only sit upon the
trunk OF fallen tree and give way To-
despair, Somehow his memory sccmce
to bc failing him; he forgot where he
wasi the trees assumed fantastic shapes;
the rocks seemed to be pcrpetually
wheeling round, and his head was
heavy rs lead. lie had an indistinct
idea that he was falling, blurred
vision of u tawny coolic twining his
arms around him, and his senses failec
him utterly,