Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-09
BIZ ANGUS MACaREaoR.

BY ANGUS MACGREGOR.
NEW YORK, November 8 (N.A.N.A.).
The Lands End hove listlessly into
port after q quiet voyage from Singa-
pore.
1t was the moment for which David
Morton, the skipper, had been waiting
~ years. A tall, spare figure, he
stood quietly on the bridge of his ship
on the crawl through the busy New
York harbor and waited there until she
was warped into her Hoboken dock.
His orders issued languidly from his
pallid lips. Not tremor of excitement
shook him and this after his first
glimpse of New York, his home town,
in almost three decades. With the
ship at rest, he went below
The Lands End was in port four
days. Yesterday she cleared for Liver
pool. From Liverpool it heads for the
South Seas. It may be years before
1t returns to New York, but In his four
ship, rarely left his cabin.
Story Of Jungle Peril.
It was really an incredible perform
ance until Grimes told me the story Of
what had happened to change the man
so profoundly. We were in the fore
peak almost directly under Mortons
cabin. We could hear his footsteps oc-
casionaily and even the creaking of his,
chair. Grimes. ordinary seaman under
Morton for is years, spoke in hushed
tones.
If the captain had overheard the
retelling of the tragedy that had over
taken him in what for years he called
''the accursed South Seas It would
have been turning the sword In an
already terrible wound. Grimes. as
rough as sailors usually are, felt this
and spoke in such low tones could
not catch all his words.
A short time ago, Grimes said, mon
soon, sweeping In from the sea, wrecked
a Malayis forest home near Singapore.
Martin was marooned nearby and saw
the accident. Plying the Malay's des-
titution, he took him and his daughter,
saucy l3-year-old mink, aboard the
Lands End. The girls mother had
been killed In the storm.
Her real name was long and incon-
gruous for such q one as she, so the
men christened her AFRICA (natiye gin)
in token of her stimulating spirits. The
death Of her mother weighed upon her
for few days, but she was child with
such sun IN her soul as no tears could
long dim.
All the Men Loved Her.
Besides" said Grimes, they don't
seem to feel them things the way we
do" She was long, slender, brown
creature, with hair like black smoke
and eyes as bright and brown as new
pennies, and the men loved her. From
the mess boy to Capt. Morton they
AFRICA probably meant much more
to Capt horton than to any one else
on board EHor ~ years he had been
knocking about the South Seas, leading
the lonely, purpoSelesS life Of Q sailor
far from home. In his fiftieth> year
came this girl he could look upon as
his own daughter and he made great
plans for her future.
The Lands End was scheduled TO
leave for New York on September 20.
Morton decided to bring the girl and
her father with him, settle them in
Brooklyn, send her to school and bring
her up as an American. AFRICA greeted
this plan with shrill cries Of Joy and
the father was not far behind In en-
thusiasm. Morton further planned to
get command that would not take
him far from home.
On the morning Of the 28th AFRICA
and Morton went for q farewell visit
to her native jungle. They walked gayly
through luxuriant brush, laughed to-
macaws.
Cobra Appears In Path.
Suddenly a king cobra, deadliest of
snakes, reared up In their path. Not q
sound to warn them. For q single, ter
rible instant 1t hung motionless in mid
air. preparing for the kill. But the
girls quick eyes had seen it before
Morton. with half wall, half sob, she
flung herself on 1t.
The snake slithered on, somewhat
shaken by her weight. AFRICA sat up
smiling. The captain, stunned,
watched her. He saw a tiny, round
blue circle on her shoulder where the
cobra's fangs had cut through. He tore
her dress and slashed at the wound
with his pocket knife. The girl looked
at him uncomplainingly, q fixed smile
on her face. Already the poison was
making her stupid
Then q race against death began. The
captain, AFRICA In his arms, ran wildly
for the ship. Headlong he crashed
through the brush, knocking against
trees. stumbling, falling. Arrica's
shoulder began 70 swell and turn blue.
The agony was more than she could
stand She screamed and writhed, and
IL was all Morton could do to hold on
TO her with his panic-stricken, nerveless
hands.
But all the running In the world
could not stop the poison from coursing
through her veins. She was dead be-
fore they cleared the jungle.
1T made him sick" whispered
Grimes. "It took US all rather hard,
but thought 1t would kill him.
heard him say to her father: I'm so.
| You might say I've had most OF my
I, life lived But she was just beginning.
| And TO think she threw II all away
I, Just like that TO save an old bag Of
1 bones like me. wonder what made her
do that The old man Just looks ri
him and never says q word. The two
are like walking corpses."
SNOW BAIl Fight ON ship.
~ II showed on the Atlantic LAST week
and the Tidenstlandt, after 10 months
IA tropical Waterk crested the cold