The Detroit times., 1909-05-21
AnlLLION
o. HudeoND ouslAs
CHAPTER VIII.
The story Of the second Discard

after I left your employment. "
naid saeger. and. although Arendsen
ocowIed at this method OF describing
Ne defalcation and flight. the rene
Rade adyenturer was not abashed. !
vsnt farther south to see whether
mere might be anything doing In my
Ilne there. But. what with peace con-
Eerences, everything was dull as ditch
Wntsr. So took boat over TO Cape
Town. and had q look In at the little
WAR Germany was carrying on In Ma
maQualand. But the niggers there
wanted me to take cattle and such
truck for my good guns. and that was
TOO dangerous. I then drifted north by
! Negroes a. far as the French Congo.
F8 ~Business was brisker there. but by
bad luck the Froggies got wind OF me
While I was selling on q consignment
h Of Long Danes I had bought Wholesale
\ from a caravan further north. They
dropped on me In a bunch. got away
BY the skin OF my teeth. and with no
& more than | could carry about me.
B which was chiefly food
i've been hard pushed in my time.
but those fellows broke all records as
hustlers. was so closely hunted
that even my guides gave up and
3 abandoned me.
You don't know Darkest Africa.
y Arendsen. but l do. and tell you
3 felt mighty mean when | found my
self stranded there, In mangrove
h swamp en- the edge Of an impossible
river. with the bloodhounds hard at
my heels. There was. nj the end OF
my tether. with no prospects but q
drumhead courtmartial, firing party.
and shallow trench in the mud
h where the land-crabs burrow."
a He shrugged his shoulders in creep
ing cistaste of the picture he had re-
y called TO memory.
Il had calculated that I had about
an hour more TO live when | saw a
4 (ellCw come calmly sailing down river
mt OF the heat-haze in a,canoe. Think
<0f what that meant to me then. Arend-
oen'
when he was nearly abreast OF me
e saw from his dress that he WAS
4hite man, and hailed him. but he
>1ok no notice. II gave me a sicklish
celing to think that he might pass
1Dy on the other side. like the Levite
~ ecrfpture. when all wanted of him
vos lift ACROSS
+ ( II felt pretty desperate then. | tell
toei. or wouldn't have done what
IA. dived into the moving mud
1nd struck out at top speed after that
deaf man. crying on him for Gods
eAke TO wait for me. He didn't-be-
cause he was dead
Il saw that before clambered on
board. ] picked up the paddle and
made bee-line for the bank. | had
- Ia.
that | had still half an hour to the
food. and what dye think | did,"
,f Arendsen adopted a bored express
4 lion, and shook his head.
Il dropped stone dead there, Arend-
1en. ] became corpse. | said the
long goodbye to poor old Dominic Sea-
X opr. and In a damned hurry. II was
che only way to prevent the French
men from following me to a finish.
1T had to be a quick change, OF
course. and I hadn't leisure to sort out
ny few belongings, SO | slowed them
Goopt the body wholesale as soon as
W ~ em?tied its pockets. left II COM
6etely equipped for Identification and
Z for appearance II had been so mess
about by the niggers that II might
Ave passed for anyone In the wide
world.
Then | tramped about in the mud
= bit. first In my own boots and then
With bare feet. snapped twigs and
trAnches. and left all the marks Of a
Nfe-and-death struggle. l dug out for
ne nearest cover. and chung to a leafy
4ough scarcely daring to breathe.
q In half minute the first OF the
<Xrenchmen's black-boys were yelping
bout the body. and their zap brought
* ~ the rest OF the expedition at dog
There was a great palayer over
heir md. and they seemed disap-
5 Iointed TO think that they hadn't been
here In time TO shoot me themselves.
hey never doubted that II was me,
n the nrst thing they came across
Xoo my papers. However, they were
veil enough pleased TO think they had
9ou the last OF me. and SO had their
ogers dig a neat hole In the mud
"a tuck po,r old Dominic tidily into
%'iD tbs end the Frenchmen turned
tail and made of, in desperate hur
~ry- tn get back beyond the German
border. And | was saved. was saw
"a.
We'll. after I'd quieted down
again. began to wonder who | was
now. and what I'D better do next. This
10 where you begin to come in Arend.
sen. I've brought you up to the mo
ment when | first opened the papers
had inherited from the dead man.
There was a heap OF them in the
canoe. besides what Id found in his
4 pockets.
ina, fellow must have been born
unlucky. He held a royal flush OF the
finest at the identical instant when
DC was put out OF action. It's mine
now
He was speaking excitedly now, as
ne recalled the prospect which had
been tempting enough TO bring him
back within reach Of Black Dirck, and
mat individual also would seem to
have been infected by his obvious
Nth In his errand. At any rate he
Nd tot talse any advantage OF the
net that Seager had once more peck
@ted HE revolver and produced in its
1Iace the package OF papers.
The black-bearded man studied doc
e merit arScr document until he had
1asfsred all the details OF his fellow
1coundrel scheme. And he could
+ Xot but admit to himself that II was
+ q very feasible one. SO strong. in its
f: &eer simplicity. that failure seemed
11most impos sable
0easer hllqd the dead mans shoes