The Lamar register., 1919-10-22
SYNOPSIS.

CHAPTER I.-Andrea Pellor. handsome
daughter of Lord Pellor. impecunious
aristocrat. is doomed to marry an illit,
crate but wealthy middle.aged diamond
mine owner She disconsolately wanders
from her hotel in South Africa and dis
covers an aviator about to fly from the
beach. Impuisively; OF course imag gining
that tile trip will be merely pleasant
excursion. and welcome relief from
thoughts of her impending loveless mar
riage she begs to be taken for a flight.
although she does not know him. He
somewhat unwill!ngly agrees. and they
start.
CHAPTER I.-when she realizes her
unknown aviator is not going back An
drea in desperation tries to choke him
her and they sail on into the very heart
OF Africa. Landing in an immense craal.
Andrea finds the natives all bow In wor-
ship 10 her mysterious companion. She
In given a slave boy, 'Bathtub, and the
White Man sets about building hut for
her.
In the shade OF one of the vast
acacias there was 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
of stripped palm leaves. They were
weaving baskets. The men at least
were not tongue-tled. They seemed TO
be going through some oral ceremony.
First one and then another would
take the cheroot from his lips and
make q single remark; then the rest
would all grunt In unison and with
u 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
panion seemed to SHIRE 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 unmoved
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 oLly by the ebony-black
ring of polished wax that he wore like
a 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
long file. The chief took one step In
fastened his gaze on the white mans
face. His own seemed to be working
In q sudden excitement. ''Bai-ye-ter
he roared. and there followed. SO
quickly that IL seemed but another syl-
liable of the salutation. a mighty gruni
from the depths OF thirty chests.
HUH"
In a 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
u cry that startled Andrea and jerked
her around to face It as though she
had been yanked by a string.
The cry was shrill, high, continuous.
II was produced by rounding the
open mouth and working the tongue
laterally In a vibration as rapid as
that of a serpent's. Ii was CHASTITY to
watch, incredible In the rapidity of the
ululation. but once heard. unforget-
able. II lasted much longer than
Andrea could have held her breath. let
alone used 1t. and ceased as suddenly
rs It 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 a ceremonial" he said, "a dignity.
about the African that is absurd till
you've known 1t for years"
"For yearsT' repeated Andrea. "It-
is this your homer
He shook his head. mo, Africa
this sort of thing-is never home to
a white man. It's place where he
goes to forget his sins. I've been
using it-whenever life has given me
q chance-as II sun bath for the soul"
Andrea stared at him, puzzled
frown on her brow. She wondered
why his bluntness did not offend her