The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1919-11-22
THE WEEKLY IBERIAN

she gasped as she faced him.
The man stopped In his tracks and
stared at her. Gradually he took in
her meaning. You think l do it for
for funT' he exclaimed.
Murderer" she repeated tensely.
The man glanced at his hut and
turned his back on it with 4 sigh.
Come with me" he said.
Il shall never go anywhere with
you" replied Andrea.
The man faced her quickly You
will come with me or be carried. Take
your choice"
Their eyes met and held in one of
those struggles that measure not so
much the contending characters as the
strength of the opposing purposes.
The mans purpose won out. Andrea
dropped her eyes and followed him.
He passed swiftly through the l1raal
and along weil-known path that led
TO the fringe o. the forest. Under an
enormous mafuta tree the butchers
were at work, four to each carcass,
=,
ticed hands. The meat was being piled
in heaps. and at each heap was sta
toned II black captain. Under his
direction II host of helpers were cutting
the flesh into minute portions.
Beyond the limits of the trees far
flung branches squatted a black army
linen with assegais in their hands
women and children with queer conicai
baskets in their laps. Physically these
people were, without exception, a joy
to the eye, but beyond them, grouped
together under another tree and hope
lesSly staring, was Il small band that
brought sudden tears to Andrea'S eyes.
Never before had she seen human
bones and skin without flesh, live eyes
staring from the skeleton emblem of
death.
At last the division Of the sangui-
nary spoil was completed. The we'll
fed army lined up, each and every man
accompanied by woman or child as
beast for the small burden. These men
were also provided with individual
brass checks, which they cast into
the baskets at the feet of the captain
upon receipt of their portion of meat.
At the end, to Andrea's amazement,
the tally was exact except that it left
the starving group out of the count.
Through it all the white man had
stood grimly by, uttering not a word
and leaving her to the assistance of
her own intelligence. She began to
understand; the possessors of the brass
checks had worked for them. But her
eyes fingered pitifully on the starving.
She turned to the man with ges-
ture of pleading-pleading for pardon
for herself, mercy for the silent suffer
ing. "What about these?" she asked.
''They will receive ration of mil
let," he answered. Tomorrow the
men will crawl to the forests, twice
week they will get meat checks. In
month they and their families will be
fat and sleek. We refuse no one who
wishes to work"
He turned to lead the way back to
the craal and, once there, promptly
disappeared into his hut Half an hour
later Andrea was nervously moving
about her room, wondering whether to
put on her frock or not, when Bathtub
arrived with a message. Did she wish
to dine alone or with M'sungo?
Tell your master" she answered,
that I will dine with him with pleas
ure"
During the meal, the white man
talked, giving her listlessly certain ex-
planatory information. Eight months
ago he said, 81 struck this country.
1t was desolation. In spite of the big
river. which is quite near by, the whole
district was in famine. l passed
through ruined kraal after ruined
kraal, and in some of them dead bodies
lay about. too dried out in life even
to rot The game swarmed as it does
only in dry seasons. and thrived."
Andrea held both hands out toward
him as though to stop him. Don't"
she cried, don't think l haven't I'M
derstOod!"
Upon my word" remarked the man
dryly, you're getting sincere"
She sank back in her chair with a
look of reproach, but he did not notice
it. I'm telling yOu," he continued. II
came to hunt and recover" He
paused.
Andrea could not keep her eyes from
glancing toward the airplane. 1t was
as though she had followed his hidden
thought He flushed slightly, changed
his sentence and finished, "And for
another purpose. But almost on the
day of arrival l made discovery in
the forest Out of it has grown an
industry that employs hundreds of ma
tives and never refuses new recruit.
/ am working absolutely without title
and should you return to civilization,
my ruin would be quite within your
grasp"
'.And that is why I must stay" said
Andrea.
No" said the man reading her face.
IF | could drop you back tomorrow
there on the beach where | found you,
I would do it,
She felt definite surge of pleasure,
out of. all proportion to the occasion.
THANK YOU" she whispered, and then
flushed at a sudden wonder as to the
exact nature of feeling of gladness
over the fact that she was not called