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Show atiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim IWHITE II MAN I By I George Agnew Chamberlain, S ." "ThtMtb 9kUa 1 ClMa.""JakaBoadaa."ic. fiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiimiiimiimiiiiiiiwiiuir! Oaryrlfht, 111, Tka Bobba-afarrlll Caataaay llherntrly or wiir It ns one who Mnnds filially fnsflnutcil nnil pnrntyxt.il on tho tbresliold of itlsnstcr? Ilcr benrt wna beatnB with n ilenfcnliiK throb. She was sura the nntlven about her could hear the ciiunl tumult In their own breasts. Thou her eyes, glued to tho three black I'lomls, saw ono of tlu lesser of them move, mlso vast blnnkets of ears nnd flap them, stnrtlnR nn audlhlo gust of wind. A great trunk wound nnd unwound, ron Inxlly to liicredlblo heights, readied a limb nnd toro It vrlili n scream of rending fibers from the parent tree. The benst turned slightly to avoid the avalanche of houghs. Instantly the white man's nrms swept Into motion. He leveled the big gnu at uu upward slant upon the still Immovable central cloud unil fired. . All the silence In the world was rent nsumler by that shot. Willi n rendlnu crash ns of n thousand galling guns, one, two, twenty elephant swept through the sea of saplings and away. It wns as thpngh an nn;ry god hud snatched up tho forest like a sheet and ripped it apart. In the tlirlbl'o whirlwind of sound gone mad, the second bark of the" rlflo wn8 fulte lost to tho ear. M'sungo. turned and automatically seized hl supporting gun. His oyes swept tho hack trail, looking for 'Andrea. 'An-drea. Shi- wasg ono. "Bathtub! "he roared. TJip boy run to him, his fnce-'work-Ing fith every emotion known to tho black breast Joy, triumph, greed, cupidity nnd fear. The last was predominant pre-dominant and with reason, for M'sun-go M'sun-go dropped his gun, shot out both hands to tho black's throat and lifted lift-ed him atrangllng fntoTKoalr. "panin you," he said, "whores your hiIbbub? Where In sheT' The buy's eyeballa protruded farther and farther from Ills contorted fnce. "Here I am," panted Andrea. M'aungo relaxed his grip; Hnthtub dropped to the ground like a nerveless sack but bounced up again, nil his euuitlonx except fear once mom In full cry across his grinning face. Andrea laid both hands on M'aungo's ni. "It wasn't his fuult," she gasped. "I started to do Just what you told uie, White Man. Ton know you sar toe hugtu the tree, h'ut when I heard the Day of Judgment right on tup of we I Jut .hnd to give It a run for Its ;money I" She dropped her bead agnlnst him and sobbed, .Ho put his arm around liol-'aml patted her awkwardly on tho bnek. "There! There!" he said, ''liou't. Please don't." Seemingly with-out with-out his volition his arms drew closer Hnd closer until ho suddenly nwokc to the fact that he was Just plainly hugging hug-ging Andrea l.'elliir. He piislicd her roughly ,from him. "Here," he sa!d,ln quite n different voice, "this Isn't iny funeral. Come nnd cry tut the elephant." "All right," said Andrea, docilely. "How many were there? I beard u I troupean army of them." "You heard Just one," wild M'Miugo. i Dabbing ut her eyes with soiled lists, she followed him ,to the sliltt of the fallen niotiarch around which were gathered the natives, a orl of elnxed awe ou thilr faces, for the dead bull was a mighty tusker, carrying Ivory to the vnluii of eighty women. AtM'sun-go'ti AtM'sun-go'ti approach their nrms went up In a aingle gesture nnd from one throat they .yelled, "Hnt-.Ve.-le!''' t ., .Scarcely had ilia cry lit boiiiuge tll'ilil. nWay' when a .ouini sctluo, to tlient through the hu.li thai froze tlieip Into listening Mlence. i'helr faces expressed unbelief but their knowledge was' Insistent. In-sistent. It told thitui that Ihey were hearing a death struggle, the whisper' lug gush of blood from mighty lungs, mightily pierced. Willi a yell they broke toward Hut music unit rtmldcnly slopped, remembering that It' Is til-ways til-ways wise with elephant to let the gun 'go tW. Andrea, frightened, slopped Milvel-ing; Milvel-ing; "What. Is It" slm asked. ' "I got tvd," tx:ihl M'sungn npolo- .getlcally. "ThalV the one that kept in. waiting between ueiireu mid hell," : "I remember. It was nwfil. 1 tut why did you wait? What" did, ho lmvo -to tin with It. itmir ilmn'V tJ M'sungo smiled In splti) of hliiiclf. P'Ho ImM (i grout deal to do with It." Im .jjinsvvored, "Unlit he started tearing the tree to pieces anil took n lpilf turn ! to ilodgo the ihiiniie. lie was bonded ii right down our trail, wasn't lie"'' ifv Andrea nodded. ,. - 1( "Well." continued Jl'simgo, kl.-lciitfi ; tiio inounlnlii of llesh at his Iil "JtitJ j us longtis he wis fncliig us. I couldn't ' I tube tho fair mark of this old boy. I That's one! of Hit bits of knowIedTo that bus been paid for with' Hie lives j of .many men. . A- startleTI elephunt j doesn't clmrgv; he bolts whichever way he's beaded." He looked' up liutr'uddcil with pardonable par-donable pride: "And that, too. Is how I knew where In get hi m rfilliijiif-tlu; other way. I iniido up my mln'd wliem to fthoot before he was iliere." -' .i They jvimiV o Kilrvey the wc.ottfld'. sbeast. lie was tpiltedead; m) JilflK-HUti JilflK-HUti vleanifiif ?ljltiVn IvmlslJi'iii Ji . a laplittirlf.bfiial. ' "tSultv iwiy.:- jrjjjf MViuiftiaiiilckly. He led Iff'tio: tlje.rfJ4f?rfn.t of tbs big &r,e whelVMatslipiJiJJjienl.v arrUeft, wis already drowsing and dmaiMlnr Mpplly of all lb ?vlt n Hi world, i (mi nd tha 'na'rby eittuiuf tjir n(-' lin HwaViaii (Ike itfY: ' irttatkltiarUt-VHt' ll'4W '": it ' i . ' ..'' llathtub turned slowly from tho carcass, rushed e,, dropped tho lunch box at .V.'simgo's feet and plunged buck ngaln. "We'll have to forgive him," said M'aungo, sitting down and proceeding to opcii the tin and lay out Andrca'H lunch for" her. "The elephant especially a dead ono holds n place In the native cosmos that no white man lias ever unite succeeded suc-ceeded In grtisplhg. All thne 'boys' are tpillo. until, ' seen one seyer his thumb from his body when he was like 1)10,1 nnd .uir,.iifitfleo It l.il he reeled from loss' of lilnod." Andrea1 Shivered but M'suwio d!tl not police It., "They b Ueve," he continued, con-tinued, "that the ni'"t of elephant Is n compound of the Lush' of all animals mid that by e.MIng It they acquire all the lending attributes the courage of fbe lion, the slynessof theJacl.nl, tb gorgtnc; capacity of the slnake, tho eyesight of the hawk by day und of t.iu felines by night, tho Industry' of the ant und the .homing Instinct of tho beo. You. see tho lino? Its endless; end-less; and just because they have more than a smattering of the qualities quali-ties they sek, the superstition will novcr die." Ho stopped to give Andrea a drink of water and to feed her n urst sandwich. sand-wich. "And that Isn't tho only thing that never dies," ho went on, his oyes narrowing to a peculiar look s'h6 had never Been In them beore suclf a look hs ono Is' apt'tb connect onl' with mystics, fanatics, ardent believers,, believ-ers,, and thoroughly out of keeping with tho conception of tho White Man she had bullded for herself, "Why, hWlte Muni" Bhe died, whut do you mean? What's com over you?" ' ' ' He looked uway and then bactt ar her, "Woif,""he.sald.t a qulzzlul gleam creeping Into his eyes, "wha'r afruld. Why iiouldnl I tell on:e more a th'lnt; .hat's been written a hundred times by greater adepts, than I and novcr believed? It's this, Andrea An-drea Pellor. Don't set yourself loo high above the notice and his worship of the greatest of beasts, for ho knowB what you can't even believe, and that Is that elephants are killed, they never die. In all the centurle-j that blacks, Arabs and whites have padded tho myriad trallg of' Africa, no man has ever seen or beard of au olephant dying from old ago or any othor natural cause." ' His eyes hardened on her face You boo," he whispered. "You can't believe be-lieve it. Klephanta never die.' T.rmlliig the ..uirch home mer th back trn, M'.sungo set apace that kept ,M:irgttrr!ti' at. a Jogslns trot. Andrea protested but to no avail. MVimgo, .comfortably smoklug pipe after pipe, bad.,wlthdrawn. Into. one of lho male havens of the mind that remains mar-velously mar-velously untroubled by the tongue of women. Andrea sulked. When they arrived tit the river, there hcliijj hut three natives In their reduced following, M'ttungo promptly took his place us uiie of the four pall bearers, to Margin-rite. There was BOUK'thlng ubotit being carried 'ereir.fn ,'pnrt by a while man that acculed to 'apjieal to the old rogue's 'sense of hu-ninr. hu-ninr. He threw up his hnrrt-Mong liead and hi-uyed aiiuccompitnlment to his trlniuphiil progres Into ihe si:oyt No sooner was he deposited than M'suugo seized his tall 'mid boro down ou it with nil. his w.elglit. Tlie iiiukIc suddenly sud-denly ceased. Hut Andrea's clear laughter still rang out. "Oh." shu cried when she could speak, "he Is clever. 1 didn't real 1 7.o how ridiculous you were until he laughed!" She let herself go ugnlii. .M'simgii glared ut her. "And you were briiltit," she. contln-i tied. "You pulled his tall." "I pulled his tall to make lilm shut ' up." said MVungo. '"I wish" ho paused. j "Suylt," cried Andrcii. "Yon wish you could iiiuko me shut up. Well, you cun't. I'm going to Imigli nil I like, liisicu !" Sln opened wide her mouth for i (BtllKti "Hit! Ha ! Ilul'i but It never not ,olit, . M'Miiigo threw his arms nroimd dijfr nml snatched her to him. Ills Up fctuilo sjIojmt und closer to burs. In his Wi'S miis an exuspeiittcil tulnUIc. "l'li'iiki' don't," he begged. Andrea glnnccd down her unco tit Ids .lips, saw that they hud hulled In tlielr ndvanco ou hers und decided to struvrgle free from his embrace. "Why shouldu'i I;" shu asked ttrttuint'titn- , tlvely. "What Is there about this muggy old river thut hits you has you blurtWr' , ', "A Jot of things," begun MVungo, . Ills Him .shying.,. w - , ' ''AAndfen ' wiltchcd. him Mltfeyriliy. JjVell.me'.Vhlle Mjtli'Vp.lio cunfjudrtl: Sliltt Is (be ono reason" . Mhi saw a doubt, and then a suddoij di-cls'iiu niuia Into tils faie. "All" rlUt," h said. "lil tell you tonight." They reacbed IJae hotae cil at Iht i iitlE ut in UB, la rapid Ucvl6s ( (j-aWl-llaa, a b.t .at'tf. froab clalbtsj - ibUi tjaarr. Ulth ttTa T(rat yoC at arc, .frfrttt AavaauatiVlfrf aet 4aViirj '4WM'HW,'Na.'V ' I '"A- ' .-v .", - , ,. ,! ,V'... ' ' ' , : .' ' -'- "' TflidaMHWI"i'i"i1ifiilulHitiil in n vTjKarrfaaawaawwHy jua aaaatwrww- 1-13S for her meaning. He nodded, lit its rigor, and sat down. 'All right,' he nld, "lil trust you. Here's the cm out of the bug. I'm not the only whie man In this bit of conn-try. conn-try. There's another who came In across (ho wilderness and bus his camp about forty miles up the river. Ills business and mine have one thing and 'one thing only, thank Hod, lu common. They tire both clandestine. As It hnp-pens, hnp-pens, I don't think be knows or care what I'm up to, but I know nil about him, beeitilee on those rare occnsliitls when he. comes dowu the river he Is Invariably roaring drnuk. Ilia tnugne uever stops." "Docs he cver7" aaked Andrea. "You moau does he stop here?" She tiixldcil. "Yes, he does," said M'euugo. "I wish he didn't, but he nlwnya dooa." "And what had you tutended to do with luc on his first visit?" sb6 asked. "Well." said M'nungo, bla brows puckering, "I've bud in mind to tell you all about It Juet as I'm doing, and trust you. But If It hadn't come to that, t was going to gng you nnd lock you up." "Oil, were you?" said Andrea, her eyes narrowing. "Let me tell you at once that I do not consider myself under un-der parole. 1 don't mean by thatttint i I'm going lo sit on the river bank-walt-, Inr for this mill) to come along, but i when he comes I would' be! n fooPtci' .miss the chnnce of telling him Just 'what my situation Is. He, might not he able to get, me out, but ut" least" 1 would no longer be totally ih your power. If my disappfiirauco sUoub' be completed there would be a credible cred-ible witness to tho lncrediblo fact 1 that I had really been here." A dark flush spread over M'BUngo'" face. v'At tho risk of further arousing arous-ing your curiosity," be said, "let me aasurb you that you are a thousand times safer in iny solo power than In that of one or a dozen Macdlostern." 'Is 'that his name MacClosle'r?" I f . ' asked Andrea' coldly. , , , M'aungo nodded. ''And what fi his reprebeiiBlble business?" "I can't cohcclvo -wbyl should tell you. One can't spread' that sort of thing without harming' oheV self." "So you donl trust me ufter ul," said Andrea. ' "It Isn't a question of trusting," replied' M'sungoi "It's a question of whether it ever pays to tell tales out of school." "And you don't think you'are-Jiwti ded 1 telling me this man's business ntt as a'-warning? You mean," said M'sungo, "so that you can .believe nic when I tell you It would be a disaster should be cutcb k gllmpM- of yon In other words, you want in be perMiudcd t'hnt I'm telling-jthe telling-jthe truth." , I ".N'ot ut nil." said Andrea. '"'You're fishing- for trouble. I mean Just u wnrjilng." "Well, If you mean Just that," satl M'sungo, " Is quite unnecehsary, for the man Is his own wiirnlii'.-. Only ee: him before he sees you ami I won't-have won't-have to gag you, I won't have to lock you up. I inn y, however, have to put the Irucker on your trait lutb the buh." "You think there" Is a, (man living I would ruti fromr'sald Andrea. "You: dou't know me." "Perhaps you wouldn't," said M'sungo, "but In the case of MacClos-ter, MacClos-ter, It would he because you couldn't On Hccouut of Jelly In tbe knees." "Oh !" cried Andren. "Noty you have done-It. Now r want to see ldiii." , "Ajidrea Pellor," suld M'sungo' quietly, quiet-ly, "pleaso believe me when 1 tell you" thut y'ou don't. I'm hoping the old devil won't go on n tear while, yqu're here, but If bo docs mid it he comes. Just'reiueinber whut I tell you. ltiither tluin' have MitcL'loster see you and touch you, 1 would gladly cut your throat." "Why mine" asked Andren. "It would IiiiM! linprcsM-d me u lot more If you'd said your own. Perhaps you ii-iiii.i-ii nun i column ipuio ueuevu that." "Now you'ro trying to quarrel." suld tho whltu mini coolly. "Aren't you sleepy" "No." i .lie yawned. . "'liml's' nice of you," said Andren. "And since you're Interested, I might us well ask it few more quetslons. f What wer.vyou doing on thut d bench with your ulrplune, tuiywny? Will thut hu telling tules out of school" ' He looked relieved. "Not at nil. I'd got off my third steamer load nnd' I j Hiinicu'ly hud news that put It U, to me tirolmngc the captain's sailing or-ders'-beforo he' piused beyond ..thd remit, of wireless. There wasn't tinlo for,ui)ih!tig but the old (lying bintt str' 'J-fflrtMber out-and Jotett ddvn lit'' .ciiaftt,.'J'rijirt -pu t im f""ijr --VlA'jfcf JuVgi lliantlHi-Ij; tnlnultili 'tJUlh'-'A .'fffK-.IViWfVo Wutd ua'Ht?4t.intn oua Utile half-hour could ever mat-ler?",, mat-ler?",, ll looked at bar uoalnly. "It deeaa't pay to tall yaa thlaK,' h said. "We jrt alaog better J lllng." v "I weadar kow ru ktyoirl" sad As rai ,"tou.'v..tgW' aaa.aUtfk a. laf, ' w-, -. , j'.i.iiT -y v -' " ''''?MHaVNNflMML Hcr question aefinetl to send n shocK U through him. but be met ' J" 111 squarely and said nothing. Andrea , 1 waited a full minute, then she began: I "Who nre you? What's your name? Where did you cmne from? Do you always al-ways take un airplane along? Aw yon an amateur? If you're not. why Uo you , Bhrlvel every time I say flying machine? ma-chine? Why do you?" She pounded I the table. I Tbe man's fnce paled nnd went g ii biter nt each of her questions, but lie g held his tongue, and hN silence mail- dened her. Without taking her angry eyes off bis face she swept two coffee cups, two saucers mid two llquear j M glasses to Uie ground with a crash. A M Notldug could have sened heifer to (K m break the tension. The man smiled. UmMfi "That was grenl," be said pleasantly. Hp "You're like me when In doubt, w something. Well," he continued In bis lighter .tone. "I ci'.u answer the spirit of all your quest lotm ami I will uuswer them because I don't want you ever to ask them again. Stubborn pride la the root of the whole mystery. During the first year of the war I was a flyer for the allies. I wan on the way to a big name when my nerve went back on me. I couldn't believe It. I came v down here and brought a machine wltli . we, workinir on my old theory of con V- $ j trusts. You saw how I flew bow, I ji ! landed. You took me- for an amateur. W I That's all. Please leave It,- It.'s the Wjf flaw In my philosophy, the Inevitable 91 fly In theclear amber of a reaaonftbly, B1 happy life." n Ue snapped his cigar away, sendliHf U (Te Be Coatlnued) f |