The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1919-12-24
CHAPTER VII.

They started out, skeleton caval.
cade. The three wizencd ones led tho
way and Andrea measured their I'M
poffancc by the fact that they carried
M'sungo's battery Of rifles, respectful
ly surrendered by the gunbearers as n
fitting tribute from onlOOkcrs to men
who were hunters in their own right.
M'snngO nodded toward them and
spoke to Andrea over his shoulder.
'rhc old boys are my brothers IN
arms and they carry the guns as
sort oc insignia. When it comes down
TO business thcy'll slip them to the
trained bearers"
Behind Andrea came Marguerite,
his attendant before and Bathtub af-
ter iii'l1 tii:i; fuiiUw ii inc gullDCururS,
single trackcr and single water
boy. No hangcr;-On were allowed
even 10 see the cortcsc from the craal.
Over one shoulder Bathtub carried
SlunE Il cracker tin, containcr OF all
the food allotted to the day.
In ten minutes march they came to
the river which, in spite OF It's proX-
unity II the camp, Andrea now saw
for the first time. Often she had Sug.
ges!ed to M'3ungo that ahe wished TO
Visit IT, but on every occasion his lips
had set in a straight line and he had
Invented manifold reasons for keep,
Ing her from its shores. The most Of
hcaciOuS OF these arguments we're
snakes and crocodiles, but while she
conceded the strength Of those two
drtnrrentS she could not escape from
an intuitive belief that there was
something clse-Some other and rank
Ing cause in the back Of M'sungo's
mind.
The river was treacherous-lO0kfng
stream, deep. sluggish, bOrdercd for
the most part by ilnt-topped banks.
Where its shores were broken into
shelving slopes these were covered
with a towering growth of reeds and
matted elephant grass. There was d
sand-spit here and there and on e0ch
were lying what appeared to be logs
cast mp by flood.
as the expedition reached the crest
Of tho bank, thereby coming into full
view Of the river. the logs, one by one,
elevated themselves foot into the
aif through all their length and moved
silently, swiftly. horribly into the wa
ter. Andrea caught her breath. She
hnu seen crocodilcs In captivity, but
meyer like this, never free to scurry
on distorted legs, to sink silently into
murky depths and lurk.
"White Man." she whispered, "are
they as awful as they look2"
''They are" he answered. ut is
pretty generally accepted that more
nnaivcs succumb to cr0cs in Africa an
Bually than to any other one cause,
n6f excepting famine and smallpox. 1t
sounds unbelievable until you know
the native mind. A man will be taken
Mt certain crossing and half an hour
later you may see his companions
leisurely wading the stream the same
place. The explanation is that they
e6hslder that the victim lost his life
solely by reason Of the cheap brand OF
medicine he carried. Each one is
convinced that his own bit Of stone,
rag or twisted wood is the real thing
and nothing can dlssuade him until the
mdment when he too Is snatched un-
dee"
SLOW CHASTITY" said Andrea, "and
hoy pitlful."
ayes, 1t is," said M'sungo, and add.
ed: "Sort of Knockout to faith, isn't
it2 But even crocs have character.
There are certain crossings swarming
with them where they are known, to
be friendly and where no one has ever
been attacked"
by the time he finished speaking the
natives had baled out 4 WIDE clumsy
scbw and M'sungo nodded to Andrea
to- slide down the slippery landing
chute and climb In. She was worried
as to how Marguerite was to be man.