The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-05-15

...'~SQlLIIM[lINI|F
and I'm not on hand to help you
OUT
O'Ferral shook his gray head de-
cidedly. He, too, had had his fill
In the Land of Ophir.
II needn't bore you with all the
details of my wanderings during
those years. You've heard some OF
them already, and others you can
imagine better than most men. But
after you and had met and parted,
l put northwest, meaning to cross
French Congo and the Cameroons
to British territory. The carriers I
had with me struck and turned tail
when we reached the Baghirmi
country, but, as luck would have
1t, l ran across a Frenchman's con
voy ten days out from Fort Bre-
tonnet, and he carried me in there.
It seemed that l couldn't lose my
self, no matter how hard l tried.
II had arranged some time before
to have my mail sent up to the fort
from the coast, not feeling sure
whether | might not break back
east from that point toward Darfur,
and when l arrived l found a letter
awaiting me. Think Of that-one
THEREAFTER so long. 1t made me
sour to think that l counted for so
little among men-although, of
course, 1t was all my own fault.
But as it turned out. that one
was more than sufficient. 1t was
from my precious uncle. post
mortem message, forwarded by my
own lawyers, and had been follow
ing me about for long time.
wish 1t had never found me-"
He swallowed a sip of wine, look
ed unseeingly round the now almost
empty room, and went on again.
my uncle was dead, and, dying,
he had repented the work of his
lifetime. He wanted to purchase
absolution for that by paying blood
money to me, the son of the man
he had murdered. That shows you
the sort of fellow he was. 1t makes
me hot to think of it, even now.
"And that wasn't all. There was
a condition attached in the shape
of his adopted daughter. the orphan
child of southern soldier he had
befriended. whom l must marry in
order to inherit his millions. Thus.
quoth he, the most unfortunate feud
which had sundered us while he
lived would be healed. And, for
added argument. he informed me
that, il l failed to comply with his
wishes within a twelvemonth. the
money he had amassed would all
go to charity, while the girl, whom
he had brought up in luxury, would
be left penniless.
There was an Internal arrange
ment for you! He was as cunning
as he was cruel. He must hvae
known that nothing would tempt
me to touch penny of his, and how
it would hurt me to harm an inno-
cent girl. ~
That sickened me. of Fort .Bre-
tonnet. The Frenchmen were very
hospitable and begged me to stay,
but | wanted to get back into the
wilds by myself and think. The life
| had been leading had left me half
savage. In my hurry got to-
gether a worse gang of rascals than
those who had just deserted me,
and set off with them for the lake
north Of Palla, from which you can
reach a waterway that will take
you through to Nigeria.
1T was most damnable going, but
| kept them at it until we had
crossed the CAMERON border, and
there they in turn went back ON
me, boiling one night with all my
trade goods, copper wire and calico
| carried with me to pay my way in
presents, leaving me only my canoe
with my personal effects and a few
provisions In the cruellest corner
In Africa.
II sat up and called myself names
then, but it was too late to number
off all the different sorts of a fool
| felt, and thought that l might,
after all, reach Yola, where the
British have garrison.
THE natives round there are can
nibals. as you know. and | didn't
do much travelling by daylight, so
that | made pretty poor progress.
1t took me forty-eight hours to
reach the fork of the Benue, with
the current, and that was forty
eight miles, | reckoned.
However, got across to the
western bank before daybreak, and
drew In under the growth by the
riveredge SOS to escape observa-
ton. 1t was steaming hot. and the
place stank. You know thee rank.
rotten smell Of dead marigold. ]
couldn't sleep, tired out as | was.
so ran through my uncle's letter
again, just to pass the time. al
though had thought II threadbare
already. But couldn't think what