Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-04-19
Hfe-and the sights reminded him Of
the feyI gray hairs that were Sabove
his, eTaIemnllek ~

dalliance and return to questions or
? m0nef. Z More important-much more
satisfactory. / suppose you have LETT
Durnovo in charge? Has Joseph come
home with you?'
Yes. Joseph has come home with
me DurrovO is dead
Dead
Guy Oscard took his pipe from his
lips.
HE died at Msala of the sleeping
sickness. He was bigger blackguard
than we thought. He was a slave
dealer and a slave owner. Those forty
men we picked up at Msala were
slaves belonging to him."
"Achw 1t was strange exclamation,
as if he had burned his fingers. "Who
knows of this?" he asked Immediately.
The eXpediency of the moment had pre-
scented itself to his mind again.
only ourselves" returned Discard.
"You, Joseph and t.
THAT is all right and tie sooner we
forget that the better 1t would be a
dangerous story to tell"
80 / concluded" said DISCARD in his
slow. thoughtful way. Joseph swears
he won't breathe word of it." -
Jack Meredith nodded. He looked
rather pale beneath the light of the gas.
Joseph is all right" lie said. go
ON
t1,hn
continued DISCARD. cup at the plateau.
I paraded the whole crowd, told them
what had found out, and chucked up
| the whole concern in your name and
mine. Next morning abandoned the
| plateau with such men as cared to
come. Nearly half of them stayed with
Durnovo. | thought it was in order
that they might share in the simiacne.
| told them they could have the whole
confounded lot of the stuff. But it
was not that. They tricked Durnovo
there. They wanted to get him to them
selves. In going down the river we
had an accident with two of the boats,
which necessitated staying at Msala.
While we were waiting there one night
after 10 o'clock the poor devil came
alone in canoe. They had simply cut
him in slices. A most beaStly sight. ]
wake up sometimes even now dream
ing of it, and l am not fanciful sort
of fellow. Joseph went into his room
and was simply sick. didn't know
that you could be made sick by any
thing you saw. The sleeping sickness
was Oh Durnovo then. lie had brought
it with him from the plateau. He died
before morning."
Discard ceased speaking and returned
to his pipe Jack Meredith. looking
haggard and worn, was leaning back in
his chair.
poor devilp' he exclaimed. ''There
was always something tragic about
Durnovo. did hate that man, Oscard!
hated him and all his works"
"Well, he's gone to his account row."
eyes, but that does not make him
any better a man while he was alive.
Don't let us cant about him now. The
man was an unmitigated scoundrel.
Perhaps he deserved all he got"
Perhaps he did. He was Marie's
husband"
1.-THE devil he wasv'
Meredith fell into long reverie. He
was thinking of Jocelyn and her dis
like for Durnovo, Of the scene in the
drawing room, of the bungalow at
LOango; of a thousand incidents all
connected with JOcelyn.
"How l hate that man" he ex-
claimed at length. "Thank God, he is
dead, because 1 should have killed
him."
Guy Oscard looked at him with a
slow. pensive wonder Perhaps he
knew more than Jack Meredith knew
himself of the thoughts that conceived
those words, so out of place in that
quiet room from those suave and
courtly lips.
All the emotions of his life seemed
to be concentrated into this one day
Of Jack Meredith'S existence. Oscards
presence was a comfort to him. The
presence of calm, strong man is bet
ter than many words.
$50 this" he said, sis the end Of the
simiacine. 1t did not look like a
tragedy when we, went into it,"
$50 far as I am concerned" replied
Oscard. with quiet determination, lit
certainly is the end of the simiacine.
have had enough Of it. l, for one,
am not going to look for that plateau
again"
Nor l. 1 suppose it will be started
as a limited liability company by
German in six months. Some Of the
natives will leave landmarks as they
come down so as to find their way
back" Il
: II don't think So"
"Why?"
Oscard took his pipe from his lips.
) when DurnovO came down to |
Msala." he explained. "he had the
sickness on him. Where did
be get it fromT'
by Jove!!" calculated Jack Meredith,
II never thought of that. He got it up
at the plateau He left it behind him.
They have got it up there now"
mot now
what do you mean, OScardT'
'Merely that all those fellows up
there are dead There is 100000 worth
of simiacine packed ready for carry
ing to the coast standing in pile OH
the plateau, and there are thirty -four
dead men keeping watch over it.
SIS it as infectious as that?"
when it first shows itself infectious
is not the word; it is nothing but a