The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-01-20


cd on to the heels OF one or other
OF the attacking force. and as often
drew OF unnoticed; and at last he made
Gated tho rilc fro, and was closing
In on it from behind. when of a sud-
den he was confronted with rife muz-
zle which suddenly spurted up from the
middle of a clump OF bush.
It swung UP till It covered the left
side of his chest and hung steadily
there for an appreciable number Of
s voe sa dno W shin Mr. yesy ars4
In spite OF the q climate
"Gce!" said Carter under his breath
That's old Swizzle-Stick Smith"
beg your pardon?'
II said I'm sure that's Mr.. Smith"
"A bald head. garnished with an eye-
beard. came forth. May ask what
you are doing here? Thrown up your
commission by any chance?"
Exactly that"
On your own"
Well, sir, starvation's my master at
present"
ooh. | beg pardon. Go into the mess
here. I've shot my, man. SO I'm free
for the moment, and III come with you.
manS 2 W ae ss out o but
let machine, by the way from the
Frenchman."
They worked cautiously back from
lean-to of bouehs and thatch which
Mr.. Smith referred to as my he'd
quarters" AS the mess sergeant hap
pened to be away. Mr.. Smith kindly
produced from under the caves a damp
slab of translucent cassava bread,
which was obviously all the place con-
tracing a square faced bottle from
green box of trade gin. poured out
half calabash fun, added muddy wa
ter from chattie. and offered It to
his guest
Come to think of 1t. that's more
healthy for you than soda Mr.. Carter.
So you're not Up here on O'Nein and
Cravcn's service. YOU toll ne?'
No; handed in my papers, sir I'm
passing. through here on urgent private
affairs
Mr.. Smith put a lianl inside II, Ills
shabby .pyjama coat and produced
piece of new black watered silk rib
bon. on the end of which was an eye
glass. File screwed this in place. and
stared Mt his guest.
"Ah. then in that case, Mr.. Carter, l
shall have to hear more or your pro-
jects before ore can give you permission
Oh, / remember. You've been buying
up rubber lands. of course, for the
firm"
''As n point of fact, have not been
worrying about the firm yary lately.
When | said my terrltoy," I meant ex-
actly that, neither more nor less La
j
lection. But recently IL was no mans
land and as that Internal blackEunrd.
the. King of okky, was after it, seized
1t for myself"
King OF Okky was once indecently keen
on adding my head to ms private col,
lection. | can never be really FOND
OF that man. somehow.
"Confound your head. sir! That had
nothing to do with it. I didn't quarrel
with the man for following out his or
binary African methods; I'm going for
hG CATER r9s Was e IL 1hs puzzed what
on earth have the French to do with
tt?"
all the British a west Vest African colonies
We hold a seaboard. and when the men
on the spot try to consolidate an in
nuence in the hinterlaid. our Foreign
Office promptly truckles to ne Anti Anti,
to drop it. The AntiBritish party says:
ooh no. we mustn't make sphere or
influence there. The Germans want IL.
It, or why shouldn't poor dear Por-
tugal havo a chance there But what
ever you do. don't give i to ma nasty ~.
hand OF the Foreign Office Is absolutely
forced they always do as the Anti
Britishcrs ask. You see the Anti, Brit,
always aiv ". shrieking that 1t can command
countless votes Mr.. Smith limped
across the hut and sat on a green case
and emphasized his further remarks
with a powder-stained forefinger-
well" he SAID, us IS an ac OLD game game
rye had I ought to have dropped 1t
years ago But somehow couldn't re-
slst the temptation. The King OF Okky
is our man by geography and ngreo-
ment. have made Representations to
the T. o.. till I am sick OF putting pen
to paper. that he ought to be recognized
and pattcd on the back. They don't
even take the trouble to reply, much
less carry out the suggestions. There
fore. tho French. who have taken hold
OF tho hinterland. havo done the OBJ
vious. They sent down sort Of fourth
rate tin-pot sous-o:cer, and told him
that II ho hxed up things all right for
France they'd give him comm!ssion
absolutely no competitors. he naturally
did the trick"
What beastly shame" Carter
blurteI out. and then felt surprised at
himself IT was about The FIRST time
In his life that the IGnglishman tina
1,i ho1 nod M