Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-03

VI ''l'S country was the season Just befOr,
harvest Obviously the Black Kendall
thought SO also, since from our seats nn fI,
| roof whittier we had retreated to be a,
! Iar as possible from the pot. We saw then
! eathcreu IN the market pace. staring al
| the sky and talking to each oiner
The day passed without any furtbe,
event except the arrival of our meals for
which We had no great appetite The nigbt
zane carter than usua1 because of the
| clouds, and We fell asleep, or rather into
II series Of do2es.
! once ] thought heard some one stirring
| III the huts behind us, but as it was fol-
| lowed by silence took no more notice At
| length the light broke very slowly, for now
the clouds We're denser than ever Shivering
| with the cold. Marut and | made n visit tn
the camel drivers, who were not allowed IN
| enter our house. On going into their hut
we saw, to our horror, that only two of
| them remained, seated stonily upon the
fioor. We asked where the third was They
replied they did not know. In the middle
Of the night they said. men had crept i'm
who seized, bound and gagged him. then
dragged him away As there was nothing
TO be said or done we returned to breal{-
fast filed with horrid fears
Nothing happened that day, except that
some priests arrived, lifted the earthenwa re
pot. examined their departed colleague. who
by now had become an unencouraglng spec-
ulSneS
ranged more about him, and went OFF Also
the clouds grew thicker and thicker and tho
air more and more chilly, TILL had we been
IN any northern latitude. | should have
said that snow was pending. From our
perch on the rouftop ! observed the popu-
lation OF Simba Town discussing the
weather with ever-ncreasing earnestness ;
also that the people going out to wor!, in
the helds wore mats over their shoulders
ta L
Notwithstanding the cold. we spent wranped
in rugs on the roof of the house II bad
occurred to us that kidnapping would be
less easy there, as we could make son
sort or a fight at the head of the stairwa-. q.
or, if the worst came to the worst div
IRON the parapet and break our necks We
Kept watch, turn and turn about Durt,o
my wdtch, about midnight. ! heard a noise
going on In the hut behind us scuffliug and
stlned cry which turned my blood cold
About an hour later fire was lighted in
the center OF the market place where tho
sheep had been sacrificed. and by the flare
or II could see people moving But what
as we'll
Next morning only one Of the cameInnan
was left This remaining man was now al
most crazy with fear. and could yiya ~,
clear account of what had happened to his
companion
The poor fellow implored us to take hin,
away to our house, as he feared to be Iert
alone with the black devils" We tried
To do so, but armed guards appeared n,,,o-
teriously and thrust him back into his own
hut,
This day was an exact repetition of tho
others. The same inspection Of the de-
ceased and renewal of his food the same
cold clouded sky; the same agitated con-
ierences in the market place
For the third time darkness fell unon no
In that horrible place. Once more ~. took
refuge on the roof, but this night n.ltb.r
OF us slept We wer. too cold too nb,si
'aiIy miserable, and 900 filled with mental
"pprehehSlohs. All nature appeared To he
sinking down upon the earth The moon
was hidden, yet faint and lurid light sbone
no" III one quarter Of the horizon now in
ano'ner' lhere was no wind. but the air
moaned audibly II was as though the end
or the world We're near as / r.nected
probably might be the case 50 far Az ,ye
were concerned Never perhaps have /
iet SO spiritually terrified as / was during
the dreadful inaction OF that night. Even
II | had known that ! was going to he ex-
ecuted at dawn, | think that by connarison
! should have been lighthearted Blt tho
worst part Of the business was thar
knew nothing
was like man forced To walk through
uehse darkness among precpices, quite un-
aOIe TO guess when my journey would end
III space but enduring all the agonies of
death at every step.
About midnight again We hpard tho,
scufiie and stihed cry in the hut behind ms
Hes gone" | whispered to Marut win
ing the cold sweat from my brow
yes answered Marut, "and very soon
we - al follow him, Macuma2ana"
S'shed that his face were Visible so thar
could see II he stll smiled when he uttered
those words.
An hour or so later the usual fire An
peared III the market-place round which
the usual figures titted dimly. The sIght
or them fascinated me- although | did NOT
want to look, fearing what | might see
Luckily, however, we were too far OFF tn
discern anything at night
While these unholy ceremonies were I'm !
progress the climax came, that is so ia p |
as the weather was concerned OF a sud |
den great gale sprang up. a gale of lev |
wind such as in southern Africa sometimes
precedes thunderstorm, II blew for half |
an hour or more. then lulled. Now lightning |
flashed across the heavens and by the glare |
Of It we perceived that all the population |
or Stmba Town seemed to be gathered I'm |
the market-place At least there were some |
thousands of them, talking. gesticulating,
pointing at the sky.
A few minutes later there came a great
crash OF thunder. of which It was impos-
sibe to locate the sound for II rolled from
Then suddenly something hard
struck the roof by my side and rebounded
to be followed next moment by a blow upon
my shoulder which nearly Knocked me fiat
| was we'll protected by the skin
rugs.
Down the stairy' | called 'oThev ara
Stoning u.s. and suited the action to the
word.
Ten seconds later we were both in the |
room, crouched In its further corner, Tor the
stones or whatever they were seemed To ba
US. struck match. OF which
fortunately l had some. together with my