The Mena weekly star., 1919-11-27
By
George
AgrezU
Chamberlain
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
x,covrirht, 1919, The Bobbs-Merriii Company
xcontinued From Previous Issue.)
Apfhor OF
sHome," Through Stained
Glass" John Bogardus." etc.

apon him and a deep flush mounted
from his neck and swept upward,
Knitting the tan of his face with a
<ubdued glow.
aIf that happened to me-" thought
4ndrea. 'Fd be as red as a field of
n0ppies.'
sT-I beg your pardon" stammered
ne man and started walking up and
down with quick strides. Andrea
new instinctively that he was warm
fnq up muscles that had been sud
<3enly frozen, steadying shaking knees
md shaky heart.
She turned her eyes from him and
xazed around to get her first glimpse
81 the real Africa. From the very
tar it left her puzzled. She scoo9
III the far side OF a great circular
court. beaten hard and swept clean
as a floor Within its bounds were
Two acacia trees, thickiS fronded,
Hide-spreading. Around the court,
thirty high-peaked huts stood like sem
= ineis Behind the huts other but far
smaller structures swarmed-chicken
houses, strongly withed. granaries on
Tour stills, pigeon cotes, stockaded
cattle kraal and a smaller goat fold.
Isl But what puzzled her were the AT
ficans themselves. A flying machine
had dropped In their midst and dis
charged two fair IL not exceptional
specimens OF a white and dominant
race, yet the blacks continued their
Various occupations and disoccupa-
lions apparently unperturbed. What
ever their occupation they made no
Sudden move Of variation; even their
tongues kept still.
8 In the shade of one of the vast
acacias there was a veritable con-
course of men. They sat for the most
part on their heels smoking white,
slow-burning cheroots. Two only
could be said to be working. They
were very old and sat with their backs
against the trunk of the tree, their
legs stretched straight out before
them and at their sides neat bundles
xof stripped palm leaves. They were
Nweavlng baskets. The men at least
were not tongue-tied. They seemed to
he going through some oral ceremony.
First one and then another would
take the cheroot from his lips and
make a single remark; then the rest
would all grunt in unison and with
"a deep-chested expelling of all the
breath in their bodies that gave al
most the effect of an explosion.
1t annoyed Andrea that her COM
Epanion seemed to share the stole calm
of the natives in what to her mind
ought to have been an occasion of
much excitement and chatter. 1t never
occurred to her that he was unmoyed
because he could understand what the
men were saying and was merely
bored
AT the moment the wheels of the
flying machine had struck the ground
the apparently interminable and, to
Andrea, meaningless chant had been
started by the native chief. wizened
figure distinguished in dress from his
companions only by the ebony-black
ring of polished wax that he wore like
halo of darkness on his close
cropped and grizzled head.
The white man threw up his head
and clapped his hands once. The
chief grunted; silence fell. He spat
/ to one side and spoke deliberately.
Let us arise to greet the master"
They came forward and stood in a
long file. The chief took one step in
advance. raised his right hand and
fastened his gaze on the white mans
face. His own seemed to be working
in sudden excitement. "Bai-ye-te"
he reared, and there followed so
quickly that IL seemed but another syl-
liable of the salutation. mighty grunt
from the depths of thirty chests,
"Huhf"
In moment the whole scene under
went a startling transformation. The
file broke and became garrulous. Chill
dren stopped their play and ran to
join In the rabble. The men dropped
their work and crowded into COM
pact group from which came suddenly
cry that startled AndBea and jerked
her around to face it as though she
had been yanked by string.
The cry was shrill. high. continuous.
1t was produced by rounding the
open mouth and working the tongue
lateraliy In a vibration as rapid as
that of a serpent's. 1t was CHASTITY to
watch, incredible In the rapiditH of the
ululation, but once heard, unforget-
able. 1t lasted much longer than
Andrea could have held her breath, let
alone used it, and ceased as suddenly
as 1t had begun.
"All very interesting said Andrea
turning to her companion, "but why
didn't they do 1t before?'
He looked at her absently. "There
is ceremonial" he said "a dignity.
about the African that is absurd till
you've known 1t for years."
For years7" repeated Andrea. 1T
is this your homer"
He shook his head. "No, Africa
this sort Of thing--is never home to
white man. It's place where he
goes to forget his sins. I've been
using it--whenever life has given me
chance-as sun bath for the SOUL
Andrea stared at him, puzzled
frown on her brow. She wondered
why his buntness did not offend her,
wondered If n would ever fall to her
n h1n ~ II. ~