Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-26
CHAPTER V-Continued.

r SAAxAA AASxN V"SOAASA AASAs
The effect on the clerk was phenomenal.
He grew livid and backed away from the
counter.
well. that's the limit" he muttered.
'"If I'd ha' known old hoof an horns was
SO near to me since ! KEN on duty I'd
ave gone sick
Warden laughed, stuffed the gourd into
the portmanteau and hurried to the wait
ing cab. So preoccupied was he with
other matters he had not realized earlier
that under the new conditions he would
be in need of some portion Of the bags
contents.
1t was no easy task to find a Portu-
guese-English dictionary. He tried half
a dozen booksellers in vain. but ultimate
~ unearthed a serviceable volume at a
secondhand shop in Charlng Cross road.
BY the time he reached his fiat. s clock.
he was desperately hungry. having eaten
nothing since breakfast.
His rooms looked dismal. and an apollo
Eetic hall porter explained that If the
gentleman 'ad on'y sent a wire he'd ha'
tidied the place up a bit. Warden went
TO restaurant. dined well and returned
at haf-past six. There was still an hour
or more Of daylight. so he began to de-
cipher the unsolved section of the strange
manuscript. 1t was a longer Job than he
anticipated. Arabic characters. being
largely phonetic. do not give literal
rendering Of European words. Many
pages of the dictionary were searched ere
he hit upon the exact rendering of the
blurred phrases. But the quest fasci-
mated him. Before 1t was ended he found
1t necessary to consult an atlas and an
encyclopedia.
At last. allowing for a margin of error
IN his guesses at lenses and other vari-
ants OF root words. he completed a
translation. and this is what he had
written:
II. Domenico Garcia artist and musi-
clan in the city of Lisbon. am justly pun
ished for my sins. Being desperate and
needy. Joined in an attack on the Santo
Espirito. homeward bound from the In
dies. and helped in the Staying Of all the
ships company. We attacked her when
she left Lisbon on the voyage to Oporto.
but great gale from the northeast
wind veered to the northwest and cast us
miserably ashore on the African desert
We abode there many days. and saw no
means Of succor. so We buried most of
our ill-gotter gains in tNat unknown
place and turned ou- faces to the north.
thinking to find q Portuguese settlement
in the land OF the Moo-s. We died one
by one. some from hunger. some from
fever. some from the ravages of wild
beasts Six out Of fifty-four men reached
the town Of Rabat in the train OF a
Moorish merchant. There were sold
as slaves. Three wee dead within a
month. We who were left. Tommaso
Rodriguez. Maroel of Serpa and myself
were sert presents over the caravan
road to that cruel tyrant the black king
OF Benin. Rodriguez went mad. and was
nayed alive for refusing to worship a
heather god. This message Is written on
his skin Manoel of Serpa was drowned
in the river which these monsters term
Mother of Waters. while l. though my
life Is preserved by reason of my skill in
carving. am utterly bereft of hope In this
world while filed with fear Of Gods Jus
tice in the next. Christian. you who read
these words. for which l have devised
cunning receptacle that may long sur
rive me. II YOU would help an errine
brot"er 10 regain salvation go yourself
o. Serd some truStv person. to the above
named town of Rabat I hid there a
great. ruby which | took from a golden
IVY found on board TIE San'o Esp'rito
II les w TIE Hassar towe~. the tomb OF
AZ intSel buried outside the walls. a
cnrsewav leads to the door which is
tlren "nhits from the ground and my
ruby IS IN a deep crack between ire cen.
ter stone Of the sill Of tie third window
on the left. l placed 1t there for safety
thinking that perchance I might escape
and secure II again. Friend I am many
marches from Rabat. but few from death
Find that gem of great price. and cause
masses TO he said for my soul In the
Cathedral of the Patriarch at Lisbon. In.
scribed by me. the unhappy DomenicC
Garcia. in the year 1894. to pleasure that
loathly barbarian, MWanga, King OF
Benin, who holds that writing on q white
mans skin Is most potent magic against