Evening star., 1924-02-24

face-he was white, he was English,
given. 1t was clearly not Winton
broad -shouldered.
Then stranger thing happened:
We stopped and the expedition be-
hind us also stopped We turned
back on our route for a days march,
and it also turned back for a days
march. That settled it. We were be-
ing followed. Sir Henry said moth
ing and we went on. Winton ahead
had gained a little. He didn't stop.
There seemed to be no relation be-
tween him and this mysterious expe-
dition. 1t wasn't after Winton. 1t
was after us!
Sir Henry went on. And the man
without a face followed. He didn't
have an easy time of it. any more
than we had. He had the sun and he
had to beat off the desert marauders.
There's no law at the head of the
White Nile. We heard the firing. We
could tell the very arm he used, a
high-power magazine rifle made by
Jermyn in Pail Mall-he was an Eng
lishman, all right. That was the one
thing that quieted our concern about
him. His mysterious movements
might be inexplicable, but he was
English and therefore no enemy-we
had something to learn about that"
i: X x
BARCLAY made a vague gesture,
like one who omits a mass of de-
tail.
I'VE overlook Winton on the grass
plateau beyond Lake Victoria Nyanza,
Just where the old elephant trail
comes out of the immense continent
Of forest to the south.
1--WE sighted his camp at dark. and
we stopped He couldn't get away
nav and there was no hurry. We
took our time. The sun had US pretty
well crumpled. l could hardly walk
and Sir Henry was jerky. But we
lost possession Of Winton's camp by
Just the measure of that night. There
was a Gordon of sentinels around it in
the morning and another tent up
Noface had passed around US in the
night. We were beaten to our man!
II cursed under my breath. So the
mysterious Englishman was an ally
of the man we were after. 1t was all
clear now. He had followed us with
the deliberate purpose of joining Win
ton against us. BY why did he not
attack US on the way in? If he were
in fact hostile to us-if he didn't wan,
US to find Winton? OF course, l was
only guessing half right, as one
u -
find Winton.
I'VE were halted by two shots that
f1ecked up the earth on either side of
US when we started for his camp that
morning, and we had to stop. We
sent a native on ahead with some
thing white. And he came back to
say that Sir Henry and I were to come
forward alone to a scrub bush about
hundred yards froms the Gordon
around Winton's camp. 1t was like a
parley in a little hill war!
II lay down at the bush, but Sir
Henry stood. was keen to know
what would happen. We were at last
come up with this mysterious Eng
lishman who had hung on our flank
all the way down the White Nile.
,"It was some moments before we
saw him. And then 1 sat up. He
came out from behind a tent, and at
the distance. true to the persistent
space under the visor of his helmet
was blank. l saw Sir Henry start
slightly and unsling his field glasses,
and 1 got mine out.
Then the mystery disappeared.
The man had extended the apron of
his helmet-which one wears in the
desert to protect the back of the neck
entirely around the head band to
protect the carotid arteries. the sponge
bones of the face and his throat;
this apron was fastened down securely
from the head band of the helmet to
the collar of his tunic.''
Barclay paused.
"I afterward examined it Closely"
he continued. ut was made of as
bestos cloth to keep out the sun, and
it was fitted with big, thick, colored
lenses to protect the eyes from the
heat rays. 1t was stitched into the
head band of the helmet and but
toned down closely to the tunic col
lar. Strange no one of us had ever
thought about the heat rays on the
face, on the carotid arteries and the
throat. OF course, the value of a COL
ored lens for the eye was known, but
not the value of a thick colored lens.
Noface taught the world something
about the sun. and the result was
that he had come out Of the desert fit,
and we were groggy.
HE came out to the Gordon Of his
sentinels, about a hundred yards
away. as I have said, and stopped.
He carried a magazine rifie-we were
right, one Of Jermyn's in Pail Mall
in the hollow Of his arm. There was
a naticve with him. 1t was the ma
tive who addressed us. He spoke a
precise sort OF English like a phono-
graph.
"'The master says the first thing
to arrange. Sir Henry he called, is