Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-19

tIle SICK man, perhaps l was nateful TO
you after supper, indeed I'll admit that l
was. But you are being far more hateful to
me now, and as that should tickle your
vanity as man. perhaps you'll be generous
enough to call 1t quits. Trouble, will you
kindly take Mr.. Carter back to the factory
and give him large dose of quinne and
all the hot, scalding tea he will. drink. and
then put him to bed. and see to it that there
are no insects, inside his mosquito bar"
Il fit" said the Krooboy An l got bot
tie of white mans medicine dat 1 pinch
from dem Cappe Image. l give dem Carter
a drink Of him.
you will do nothing Of the sort Dem
Cappie Image patent medicine plenty bad
ju-ju for Mr.. Carter. So you will do exact
ly as ordered you. All. and here's Laura.
Now, my dear, If you don't want the man
to whom you're engaged to die before you
marry him, you'd better look after him and
his health very narrowly. There. get
away out of this, the pair of you. and make
up your silly quarrel, whatever it may be.
But, Kate, George and have no quarrel.
Why, 1t was you-''
IF you haven't quarrel, my dear, invent
one, If it's only for the amusement of max
ing it up. I'm told it's one the chief luXu-
ries of an engagement. Now, please go, or
you'll disturb Hossein. Hossein's the man
who wants attention here, and can't have
you bothering about the place till he's bet
ter
Hossein was in fact the lucky man. Miss
ONeill, for reasons best known to herself.
nursed him in person; Carter retained his
| interest DIS DTlSl1ldl ulSCONtitl, " IHtt-
Man s-Trouble fused round him because it
was the popular thing to do. and Laura
was also digent in her attendance on the
sick room for reasons we'll known to her
self.
But Ali ben Hossein had all a Moslem
gentleman's diffidence with women, and he
said little enough to either Laura or Kate;
the Krooboy was his caste inferior, and he
spoke to him only to give curt orders; and
it was to Carter alone that he was COM
municative.
His native tongue was Hausa, of course,
but he had been a trader all his life, and
that in West Africa entails a knowledge of
languages. Carter knew little enough Of
Hausa but he was handy with Okky and
sound kroo, and when one vocabu-
larry failed him, he passed on to another,
and was generally understood. Thus, by
very rapid degrees intimacy grew be-
tween them to as far an extent as the color
barrier would permit.
They talked on weapons and they talked
on war; they talked of sport as each of
them understood it; they talked on horse
breeding it was practiced in kano and
Sokoto, and also of horse-breeding as it
was carried on in the Craven district and
the Yorkshire daleS.
Carter tried without any success what
ever to make Hossein understand the hui
NOR of the battle of the roses as it was
waged between his father and mother in the
Yorkshire vcarage; the Hausa in his turn
gave the light side of a slave-hunting raid,
and made Carriers flesh creep.
They had abundant interests in common,
too, in the romance of commerce. and dis
cussed regretfully the decay of ivory and
the sensational rise of rubber. Carter as
the paid servant of ONeill and Craven tried
to hear of rubber lands which could be
bought and resold to an English company,
but Ali ben HoSSefn was emphatic in his
refusal to help a white immigration onto
the acres of his fatherland.
Let US talk as traders, Effendf. Do
not ask me to be the traitor who will make
10 he invader And for
the present / bid you to consider this short
age in the supply of pink kola nuts. Now.
the white kola nuts, which have not that
drynesS which is demanded by the palateS
of the western Soudan, we can get from
Lagos and the coast factories in larger
quantities than ever But the growers de-
clare the crop of pink nuts to be practically
failure this year, and therein 1 say they
lie''
And so on. with matter which had too
technical a flavor to carry general interest.
Now, the leopard had clawed Ali ben
Hossein's thigh grievously, and the subse
quent neglect of the wound had been abom-
Unable but the man had been a clean liver,
and his toughness was great. In ten days
he could hobble, and in a fortnight an
nounced his departure.
Il am a merchant without merchandise.
Effendi, and must needs be back about my
affairs. If 1 do not gather them into my
hands again another will"
'Td stand you tick to the extent of a
dozen loads of goods If 1 had EN- said
Carter cordially, but, as you've seen for
yourself, the factory's cleaned out and
drive in
May your tribe increase Effendi have
had too much at your hands already. But
though no money may pass over what you
have done, yet / ask you to accept a gift,
that is. a mere token.''
1t was piece of gray stone which sprout-
ed with rich brown crystals. 1t was shaped
like a squat duck some inch and a half
ions a nd hon, cCnir oil rDci1
the little leather parcel which held verse
Of the Koran and hung by thong from his
neck.
80 Effendi. you are young, and that will
bring you pleasure. more than could be
bought with ten quilts of gold. Wear that
and your grief will fade
Poor said Carter. I've no griefs"
Ali ben Hossen waved aside the state
ment with long slim hand. the hand of
the Hausa swordsman for whose narrow
grip Central African armorers make sword
hits that no grown Englishman can use.
20 Enendi, my sickness was of the leg.
Neither my eyes nor my ears We're touched
by the leopard, and since lay here l have
both seen and heard There is woman
that | have watched, woman with brown
hair that has in it the CLINT of copper She
f1aunts you now as is the way of women
with those they love; but she is the one you
desire, and presently (having this charm)
you will take her to wife. Indeed, She will
come to your house without purchase and
of free will
You mistake said Carter with a sigh
1T is the black haired one that l am con-
tracted to marry
Ben Hossein smiled He was not to be
turned from his idea by a small argument
like that. You may take her as the lesser
wife, but know who will rule your harem,
Effend''
You polyga nous old scoundrel! I beg
your pardon ben Hossein. but you're on the
wrong tack, and please let us change
the subject. This charm. this duck is made
Of what we call tin-stone. Does it come
from Hausaland?"
mo. Effend 1t is found nearer to here
than the Hausa country. There is a great
island of red twisted stone that rears itself
up out of the bush and this stone that the
duck is made of lies amongst it. There is
no value in the charm stone, but only
value in its shape which is that of a duck,
as you see, Effend Half the twisted noun
tain is made of that stone, and the river
that runs along its base at times eats
into 1t"
How far is it from here?'
Twelve-no, thirteen marches Look l
will spread this sand upon the floor and
draw you the roads But the conn
try is evil, Effendi, and though you go there
and spend a lifetime in search. yet will YOU
not find another stone formed like duck
To get this my grandfather sent a hundred
slaves who raked amongst the screes for
a year"
This is tin ORE said Carter, land l tell
you frankly. ben Hossein, that there is a
n IN l,f how cola