The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1920-01-07

tns district and Is invited to the hunt by
white Man Tney start down IL Croco.
die Infested stream for the sccrc of tho
hunt
Bathtub turned lingeringly from the
carcass. rushed over. dropped the
lunch box at M'sungo's feet and
plunged back again. EVEN have 70
forgive HIM" said Msungo, sitting
down and proceeding TO open the tin
and lay out Andrca's lunch for ner.
"rhe elephant--espccially q dead QUE
holds place In the native cosmos
that no white man has ever quite sue
cecded In grasping. All those boys
are quite mad. I've seen one sever
his thumb from his body when he was
like that and never notice it till he
recled from loss Of blood"
Andrea shvered but M'sungo did
not notice 1t. "They believe" he con-
tlnued, "that the meat of elephant Is n
compound of the flesh Of all animals
and that by eating it they acquire all
the leading attributcS-thc courage Of
the lion, the slyneSs OF tho jackal, the
g0rging capacity Of the snake, the eye.
sight Of the hawk by day and of the
felines by night. the industry of tho
ant and the homing instinct of the bee.
You SEQ the line? It's endless; and
just because they have moro than
smattering OF the qualities they seek,
the superstition Will never die"
IIe stopped to give Andrea n drink
of water and to feed her 81 first sand
wich. "And that isn't the only thing
that never dies" he went on, his eyes
narrowing to peculiar look she had
never seen in them before such look
as one is apt to connect only with
myStics. fanatics, ardent believers, and
thoroughly out OF Keeping with the
conception OF the White Man she had
buildcd for herself.
"Why, White Man" she cried,
"what DO you mean? What's come
over yOu?"
He looked away and then back at
her. "Wcll,' he said. q quizzical CLEAN
creeping into his eyes, 'who's afraid?
Why shouGn't | tell once more a thing
that's been written Il hundred times
by greater adopts than and never be-
licvcd? It's this, Andrea PellOr. Don't
set yourself too high above the native
and his worship Of the greatest OF
beasts, for he knows what you can't
even believe and that is tnat elephants
are killed, they never die. In all the
centuries that blacks, Arabs and
whites have padded the myriad trails
Of Africa. no man has ever seen or
heard Of an elephant dying from old
age or any other natural cause"
His eyes hardened on her face. "You
see?" he whispered. "You can't be.
lieve it, Elephants never die"
Leading the march home over the
back trail, Msungo set pace that kept
Marguerite at Jogging trot. Andrea
protested but to no avail. M'sungo,
comfortably smoking pipe after pipe,
had withdrawn into one OF those male
havens Of the mind that remains mar
Velously untroubied by the tongues Of
women. Andrea sulked.
When they arrived at the river,
there being but three natives In their
reduced following, M'sungo promptly
took his place as one Of the four pall.
bearers to Marguerite. There was
something about being carried even in
part by white man that seemed to
appeal to the old rogues sense OF hui
NOR. He threw up his barrel-lOng head
and brayed nn accompaniment to his
trlunphal progress into the scow. No
sooner was he deposited than M'sungo
seized his tail and bore down on It
with all his weight. The music sud.
denly ceased.
But Andrca's clear laughter still
rang uul "Oh." she cried when she
could speak, she is clever. didn't
realize how ridiculous you were until
he laughed y She let herself go
again. MsuEGo glarcd at her.
sand you were brutal" she cOntin.
ued. You pulled his tail"
81 pulled his tail to make him shut
up said Msungo. II wish" he
paused.
"Say it," cried Andrea. "You wish
you could make me shut up. Well, you
can't. I'm going to laugh nil like.
listen"
She opened widc her mouth for q
stage "lin! ia! Ila!' but II never got
ollr. Msungo threw his arms around
her and 9natchca her to him. His lips
camc closer and closer to hers. In his
eyes was IN cNaspcratcd twinkle.
"P!cNac don't" lie begged.
Aadrca glanced down her nose at
his llpa, saw that they had halted in
thCjr advance on hers and decided to
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