The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1893-05-06
81 il. EI.,.-,-. HAeC.cs,A-rD.
CHATTER L

: : 9( ;;,
my tcord, did feel queer"
The story which is narrated in the fol-
lowing pages came to me from tho lips
Of my old friend, Allan Quatermain, or
Hunter Quater:nain, as we used to call
him in South Africa. He told it to ma
one evening when was stopping with
him ut the place he bought in York
shire. Shortly after that the death OF
his only son 80 unsettled him that he
immediately left England, accompanied
by two companions, who were fellow
voyagers Of his, Sir Henry Curtis and
Captain Good, and has now utterly van
ished into the dark heart Of Africa. He
- persuaded that q white people, Of
whom he has heard rumors all his life.
exists somewhere on the highlands in
the vast, still uncxplored interior, and
his great ambition is to find them before
he dies.
This is the wild quest upon which be
and his companions have departed, and
from which shrewdly suspect they
never will return One letter only have
Ireceived from the old gentleman, dated
from a mission station high up the Tana,
= river on the east coast. about three
hundred miles north Of Zanzibar. In it
he says they have gone through many
hardships and adventures, but are alive
and well, and have found traces which
90 far toward making him hope that the
Tesults Of their wild quest may be q
magnificent and unexampled discov-
ery." ] greatly fear, however, that all
he has discovered is death, for this letter
came . long while ago, and nobody has
heard Q single word Of the party since.
They have totally vanished.
It was on the last evening of my stay
et his house that he told the ensuing
story to me and Captain Good, who was
dining With him. He had eaten his
dinner and drunk two or three glasses
Of old port just to help Good and my
eelf to tho end Of the second bottle. It
was ~ Unusual thing for him to do, for
- was g most abstemious man, having
conceived, as he used to say, great
horror OF drink from observing its ef-
1ects upon the class OF men-hunters,
transport riders and others-among
whom he had passed so many years Of
his life. Consequently the good wine
took moro effect on him than it would
have done on most men, sending little
Aush into his wrinkled cheeks and maxi
Ing him talk more freely than usual.
Dear old man! lean see him now az
he went lirlping up and down the ves-
tibule, with his gray hair sticking up in
ecrubbing brush fashion, his shriyeled,
yellow face and his large dark eyes that
were as keen as any hawks and yet soft
- bucks. The whole room was hunk
with trophies Of his numerous hunting
expeditions, and he had some story
about every one Of them, II only yuu
could get him to tell them. Generally
he would not, for he was not very fond Of
narrating his own adventures, but to-
night the port wine nude him more
communicative.
"Ah, you bruteI" he said. stopping b.
meath an usually large sknll OF y lion,
which was fixed juot over the mantel-
piece beneath long row Of guns, its
jaws distended to their utmost width.
"Ah, you brute, you have given me lot
Of trouble for the last dozen years. aAd
viii. suppose. to my dying day."
"Tell us the yarn, Quatermain," said
Good "You have often promised to tell
me, and you never have"
s'You had better not ask me to-" he an
swered, ''for 1t ID = longish one"
"All right" l said; s'the evening Is
young. and there Is some moro port"
Thus adjurcd, he filled his pipe from
Jar Of ooarse cut Boer tobacco that was
always standing on the mantelpiece, and
still walking up and down the room be-
ran:
ssIt was, think, in the March Of 1869
that I was up in Sikukuni's country. It,
was just after old s6equati's time, and
6ikukuni had got into power-I forget
how. Anyway was there. Ihad heard
fhat the Bapedi people had got down an
enormous quantity Of ivory from the in
ferior, and so started with q wagon
load of goods and came straight away
from Middelburg to try and trade some
u 1t. It was risky thing to go into the
SO early on account of the fever,
but ! knew that there were one or two
others after that lot of ivory, SO / de-
termined to have try for it and take
my chance Of fever. had got SO tough
from continual knocking about that
lid not set it down at much. Well,
got on all right for awhile.
ut is q wonderfully beautiful piece OF
1ush veldt, with great ranges Of noun