Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-01-02
CHAPTER XX.
In The Atlaa Eoot-Hllla.

myself in ten minutes"
CHAPTER Xxx.
In the Atlas Foot-Hills.
The shifts and strategies by which
Captain Owen Kettle made his way
from the shore OF the lagoon to the
foot Of the rock on which the castle
OF Sidi Mahommed Bergash is perch
ed would, If they could be got hold Of,
make a book OF themselves.
But, unfortunately. almost the whole
Of that piece of history depends on the
account given to me by Kettle himself.
and he has always more Of an eve for
results than for the details by which
they were built up.
In speaking Of the period he could
not rise much higher than, "Oh. yes,
had pretty tough tramp Of It" or
''Those argan thorns play James with
a uniform" or again, Worst thing was
I had forgotten to take along a cake
Of soap, and couldn't wash my hands" "
But, as limited, It has been possible
to pick UP bits Of the thread OF his
adventures here and there from other
sources. and with these to construct
toerably coherent whole.
When once the boat had set him
down on the beach, he worked his way
resolutely along to the point where
the caravan with the women bad first
debouched from the sand-hills, guided
only by his sailors eye for distance
and direction. The night was stiH
black dark. but the rib-band OF phos-
phorescence which marked the edge
Of the lagoon gave him a clear out
line Of the shore.
BY the time he got down to the
noint opposite the rusted Norman
Towers where the track turned inland.
a sacred moon appeared overhead,
lodging in and out of racing clouds.
Dunes lay beyond the beach, some OF
bald yellow sand. some bristling with
dry coarse grass. From among
them somewhere a wandering iackal
complained (when the moon shone
QUIT Of pains in his inside. and was
answered by tribal symnathizer away
up in the mountains beyond .
At the back Of the dunes came belt
of marsh smelling evilly Of sulphur
and stale sea salt. and f,ickered over
by irehies Captain Kettle mtred
himself badly in this, and being al
ways a spruce man In bis personal
apes rance cursed his luck with point
and fl,ency Not till he was halfway
through did doubts as TO direction as
sail him The marsh had obviously
been padded over by countless foot
men. Would it carry camel? moi
unless they took along g steam-crane
with them in case of breakdowns,' he
told himself E,.-
So, with still more bard language. he
went backward over the trail. and on
the edge Of the marsh found Gas ne
suspected) that the horsehoofs and the
camel-pads had swung of at right
angles to the main trail, and that the
road that interested him bore ava" to
the north and east. 1t was his first
attempt at tracking, and though in
after life he came to he almost as good
at picking up "sign" as an Australian
black, it must be remembered that |
am writing now Of his apprentice days
in the art Of adventure, and can only
depict him as the imperfect practl-
toner that he then was.
It was round at the back of this salt
marsh that he came across those
|argan.trees, about whose sharp tayo-
|net-shaped spikes he spoke SO feel
ingly, and here for while discovery OF
the path was fairly simple. 1t twisted
and 1t wound, often curving back al.
most on itself It seemed to delight
in going as much uphill and downhill
as the contours Of the country would
permit It was narrow, and 1t was
cluttered with boulders; and, as Is the
iunvcarying habit Of the native African
road. it had faults enough to make the
shade OF the late John Macadam
writhe If it ever blew that way, and
saw how the name of road could be dis
graced.
Once a sudden rustic. and rattle as
OF sticks clearing for action, nut me
little sailor on the hasty defense, and
Winchester in hand. he rushed ferceiy
forward. on the old but erroneous
principle that 1t is always safer to at
tack than to defend. A cloud sliding
away from the moon. how"v@r. showed
him that the path was held hv nothing
more formidable than big porcupine
that he had disturbed at its evening
meal. The breast was mass OF angry
bristling quilts, and in another s!en
Captain Kettle would have stumbled
on them and been badly pricked. But
az It was, and the creature showed no
sign Of budging, he gave it right or
way, and passed round it In generous
circuit.
Another time sounder OF wild pig
crossed the path. and the boar IN
charge, a huge bristling tusker OF the
narrow variety, good four feet h'gn
at the withers scented man. and had
three.uuarters Of a mind to charge am
rip. The trifing detail that Kettle had
him covered with steady rifle barrel
did not enter his majesty's calcula-
tions. He had not seen rifle before:
and even IL he had known it intimately
that would not have made the smallest
difference to his piggish mind If he had
felt in the mood for charge. But
some matter of domestic interest fit
ted across his slow-moving brain. and
with a grunt, and whetting OF his
tushes on an argan trunk as he passed
he numbered on into the bush after his
wives and their Diglings.
With the coming OF morn. the birds
hogan to awake. When the sun COM
menced to rise from beyond Africa.
there in the higher fats Of the atmos-
phere which were first to be lighted.
evan, an eagle of the Atlas and cOu-