Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1919-11-21

( M'sungo's gunbearer, water boys, Bath
tub, carrier or two, and an ancient
. donkey half hidden under an enormous
: cowboy saddle.
'What a funny looking old donkey ="
remarked Andrea. whats he for?"
"For you, when you get tired an
swered Msungo.
'Reallyl For meT said Andrea.
"What's his nameg
Mslmgo threw back his head and
laughed softly. "Why." he said. II
never thought I'd have 10 tell any one
when named him. We call him Mar
guerte. named him after friend
Of mine"
"Was she as ugly as all thatT'
"Oh, no. She's about the prettiest
woman / ever knew, but she was just
like him inside. Try to head him off
some time"
"Ihe best way to head off woman"
unused Andrea, "is to marry herr
THAT'S So" agreed Msungo prompt
/ ", "but friendship has limits"
/ They We're necessarily walking in
single file on the narrow path and
Andrea was behind him. She looked
quizzically at his back and wished she
could see his face instead. But her
attention was soon drawn to other
things. They had come to the fringe
OF the forest. Spaced from two to
three hundred yards apart and set well
out from the shadow of the trees were
mysterious piles of something or other
that shOne strawgold under the morn
ing sun.
At the first of the heaps M'sungO
stopped. "This," he said, kicking at
the silky coils sis the greatest sub
stitute for hemp and sisal that the
world has yet produced. The war has
made it worth-well, not quite its
weight in gold, unless you measure it
by sheer profits on the cost of pro-
duction. II is nothing but the bark
OF the temba trees which make up the
bulk of all the forests in this region,
prepared by hand on a process of my
own"
Andrea looked at the endless piles
of fiber, tons and tons of it, stretch
ing away like the posts in a prairie
fence "And you say this is 'secret?" .
she asked incredulously.
He smiled. at is so far" he an l
swered. But If you knew all the facts $
you wouldn't find it so wonderful. In
the first place this spot is cut of on
nearly all sides by waterless wilder
ness. In the only direction that isn't
true, which is straight down the river,
there is a wild zone that in four hun /
dra1 hos r
the European dominance of the prov D
ince. Those unsubdued tribes have |
been my friends in times past and are }
my allies today. No white man but my v
self, has ever crossed their boundaries u
md lived; consequently they can tell II
10 tales to my harm. Do you begin to II
;ee?"
Andrea nodded.
Then at the coast" he continued.
Just within the mouth of the river.
have blind in the way of sisal 4
plantation. That gives the excuse for Il
steamer with machinery, say, to
ONE in without arousing suspicion" 4
$50 you are a profiteer on the way r
o making war fortune" commented
.ndrea
He flushed more deeply than she had
ct seen him. IF you stay here long
noush," he said stoutly, "you may
He turned from her and plunged at
ght angles into the forest She fol- -
wed him into the chill air under the .
reat trees. All too soon Andrea came
ut with him into a wide clearing
hich, simultaneously with their ar
val, began to ring to the blows of
any axes. Through all its length it
warmed with blacks at work some
fling trees. some stripping them Of
lrk. others gathering it, and still
hers stacking the barred wood and In
Gaming up the general litter accord
Z to the most approved rules of mod -,
n forestry.
They walked up the wide swath of ev,
e clearing slowly, with many stops
the part of M'sungo to encourage. 90
rect or criticize. They passed be- III,
md the ringing of the axes into a =,
gion pungent with the smell of burn ctr
g greenwood. Along one side, the ri,
lie away from the fringe of the for
=, VIZ q ,o"s '''e Vi S."oAe spirais' try
He waved at them. 'D' you see what owe
eyre doing? Our axes ran out, so We
re were telling In the old native will
y with n ring of fire at the foot of gyr
rh doomed tree" but
BY eight o'clock the sun was at its min
I strength and Andrea was thankful in
Iced for her pith helmet; by ten she she
S thinking that noontime would fac,
YER come. Msungo was too en- ="
'ssed with his work to notice her. .rNl
e kept on, riding her nerve until she thai
.nat IN announcer moment she must goir
pie over; then she laid a quivering
nd on his arm. He turned quickly,