The Ivory Trail

LAVE

ised the old ac

of chiefs, t

circling dark

belly-full an

s we should p

nd pestilence sho

s are the green,

the desert

ho at the

, oh with

face the

rs entered

cked the might

only what we

ght about-what

ods that their f

night illumin

ftening ere wome

s singing, on

eeping is the

gorge the

d heirs of

too timidl

rs shed so

t us that the vil

ed the red, ne

was the sun-nig

treasure prof

r nothing where

im the vulture

edier than us wi

two the slave

rom true jud

ess with co

ul when the

s spilled s

wahili)-Lit. male-ma

who was still checking figures. The room was beginning to grow empty. Coutlass and his Greek friend and the Goanese sat almost alone at the far end of the other table, finishing their pudding. I had not

andcuffs in

s,

ch t

e were in the act of settling our bills and going. But mention of handcuffs suggesting e

rbies in my

ersized than ever. He would have ma

Coutlass his name

nto his cheek and a win

'ell, sir!" he reported

ll. Arre

I interrupted. "My

he official. "He is f

airs into position

x-terrierwise to with

tla

ermopylea!" he snapped. "You

a terrier's speed the guard pounced on Coutlass, seized him by the hair and collar, hurled him, chair and all, under a side-table, and was on the far side of

n the wall. Before the sound of smashing glass had died the Goanese was down again, laid out by blows on the nose and jugu

n suddenly, yelling something in Greek to Coutlass as he picked up a chair to brain the guard with. He swung the chair, but the guard met it with another one, dodged him, and tripped him as he passed. In anot

its and he made his exit from the room snake fashion. By that time Coutlass was on his feet, and he too elected to force the issue with a chair

he demanded, making rea

ed and staggered to his

ass y

ould I fight a little man? I

'ands ou

and was handcuf

ide,

st expected and most resented it. He flew through the door as i

ch! Left-righ

behind, Coutlass came and stood before the railway official,

he is,

t I have magisterial powers on t

owered but

made yourself a nuisance. You broke

on the day the place was first opened to the publ

s and refused to

were drunk.

ed to seventeen ru

from Mombasa to Nairobi isn't wor

s you and your friends stole when passeng

ject at the time?"

as. You may make the manager a present of the odd sum for his injured feelings, and call

lace?" asked Co

ll be a down passen

e Greek, with a

irons off

dcuffs and Coutlass began

" he demanded, thum

and have paid the bill into the bargain. You're treated leniently because you can't be expected t

ed the guard cheer

aid Brown of Lumbwa, t

li'l indishcresshion an' they'd jug me for shix months! Him they let go wi' a admonisshion! It's 'nother case o' Barabbas, an' a

o sleep, gents!" warned the guard. All windows wer

ucky if there's only one fight before Nairobi! 'Ave your

cushions were intolerable. The dust gathered from the desert stirred and hung, and

advised the guard, passing down th

blankets like a dog and make the best shift he could of crawling under them. With one blanket twisted about his neck and shoulders and the other tangled about his knees he remarked to the roof that his name w

happened to us in Zanzibar whi

ut it seemed to me he might arouse

aid of Fre

settl

itting up. "Who feareth not God nor regardeth me will blenc

ck his feet. In a minute there was a rough-house-panting, and bursts of laughter-cracks

of Lumbwa, waking up. "

shouted at him. But he

whisky! Pass it up here! Oh, look! They're at each other's throats! Murder! Oh, mur-dur

e his idiotic screams could

orthless lives! Very foolish of me! Pass the wh

essed at once, Will took up the tale, I leaning over the edge of my berth to prompt him. Fred laughed all through t

ve scored by telling

ven him a peg to

until we should have demonstrated that no Lady Saffren Waldon, nor Sultan of Zanzibar, nor Germans,

imbing by curves and zigzags up the grim dark wall of mountains. And as we mounted inch by inch, foot by foot, the

higher, we shivered under blankets. There is a spirit and a spell of Africa that grip men even in sleep. The curt engine blasts became in my dreams the panting of enormous beasts that fought. A dream-continent waged war on itself, and bled. I saw the caravans go, thousands long, the horse

oke if the other failed on the journey, on the principle that then the stron

re with them-in fear of the ruthless few armed men with rifles in their rear. Whole herds crashed pell-mell through artfully staged undergrowth i

of the cruelty is more refined; some of the herds are smaller; some good is making headway but Africa is unchanged on the whole. It is a land of nightmares, with lovely oase

to recover it and realized it was dawn already. We were bowling along at a fine pace past green trees and undulating veld, and I wondered why the engine should keep on sc

the track, his flank toward us and his interest fixed on anything

time to see the rhino take notice of the train at last. When the engine was fifty yards from him he wheel

nough sport!"

ool!" gri

sent him rolling over and over off the track, and the shock of the blow came backward along the train in thunderclaps as each car felt t

t Lady Saffren Waldon's maid was awake and looking through a window too. He hit the running-board beside the car, crumpled it to matchwood, lifted the car an inch off the track, but failed to disrail us. The ca

n and came running to see

shouted. "The train's ahead o' time

ight from the guard's overnight attentions, his face the gruesome color of the man who has eaten an

cartridge, somebody!" h

im kick as he went ove

rtridge and I'

t fitted his Mauser rifle and he was off in the lead like a hero leading a forlorn hope, we after him. We searched high and low but lost all trace of the rhino, and at the end of half an hour the engine's whistle call

with six cartridges,"

eir owner asks

stood with his hand out by the

e those cartri

eered Coutlass.

and slammed it in the m

jeered through the win

ing gray, as unhappy bl

him

, "supposing we want him and p

the impossible task of leaving us behind. The more we cheered, the more the engine screamed, the fiercer and less dignified became his efforts; he reached a speed at times of fourteen or fifteen miles an hour, and it was not until, after many miles, he reached a culvert he dared not cr

he guard, likewise on the roof at his end of the train, gave no signal and we speeded on. We were alr

ne herd-ostriches in ones and twos-giraffes in scared half-dozens-rhinoceros-and here and

usly we were in a land of good hunting, for the strictly policed reserve had its limits beyond which undoubtedly the game would roam. The climat

e presently tracing on it with fingers that trembled from excitement routes marked with tiny vague dots leading toward lands marked "unexplored." There were vast plateaus on which not more than two or three white men had trodden, and mountain ranges

e window! If we once got away into co

tell you those Masai can make their sixty miles a day when they're minded an' no bones about it either! Maybe the Masai catches you and maybe not. S'posing they do they can't do much. They've merely a letter with 'em commanding you to return at once and report at the gov'ment office. And o' course-bein' ignorant, same as me, an' hot-headed, an' eager-you treat

made a long pause, either for re

g, didn't I? I almost always do. Hold the bottle up to the

l the empty bottle through the window, but

oor ole fella'. Pick up the pieces, boys! Pick 'em up quick-might get some o'

inutes, for the splinters

like that you shall get ou

as the sayin' is. You come to a village. You need milk, food, Porters maybe, an' certainly inf'mation about the trail ahead. You ask. Nobody answers. They let on not to sling your kind o' lingo. Milk-never heard o' such stuff-cows in them parts don't give milk! Food? They're starving. It isn't overeating makes their bellies big, it's wind. Porters? All the young men are lame, an' old 'uns too old, an' the middle 'u

argued. "No man in his senses woul

never, oh never go lame

pare," I continued. "And

ornin' and where are they? Gone! There are their loads, an' no one to carry 'em! You've got to leave your loads an' return, an' the police you told so stric'ly to go to hell meet you with broad grins and lead you to the gov'ment office. There the collector, or, what's worse, the 'sistant collector, gives you a lecture on infamy an' the law of doin' as you'd be do

now and then at stations whose excuse for existence was unimaginable. We stopped at a station at last where the Hindu clerk sold tea and biscuits. The train disgorged its passenger

h breakfast. Fred and I were nearly last. Brown of Lumbwa refused to leave his berth but lay moaning of his wrongs, and the iniquity of drink not bas

e members of yet other tribes strolling the platform, holding thems

ears seemed to stick out more than usual,

was ours if we'd play our

ean Ha

beg a bite from a full-blooded Arab, and say! they're a loving lot. The Arab spat in his eye! I offered to buy him eats but he didn't dare come in here for fear the Greeks 'ud thrash him, so I slipped him ten rupees for himself and he's the gratefulest fat black man you ever set eyes

a," suggested Fred genially. "Call

l bargain. Let him be, and the next time the Greeks ill-treat

Solomon!" Fred advised hi

back according to Fred. With eyes filled with water he did not see what I did, and Fred was too busy guarding ag

id Johnson was

Will. "Shamming sleep

. He has just come scurrying out of Lady Saffren Waldon's

ppointed place and sat

elt like quitting once. I'll see it through now if there's no

ed Fred. "Keep it up! They'll hunt us so carefully

ivory is," said I. "I believe it's on Mount E

s played chess when his brain was busy, Fred likes to think to the strains of his infernal instrument. One could not guess what he

zed and began to sing. In ten minutes after that he was playing accompaniments for a full train chorus and the scared zebra and impala bolted to rig

s killed and the English-speaking races have a code, containing rules of conduct much more stringent than the Law of the Medes and Persians. Somebody-probably natives from a long way off, who needed f

wn of Lumbwa. "Didn't I say wal

atters, pinched them; and we were comfortably quartered in the one hotel several hours before the arriv

ed-looking township of small parallel roofs of unpainted corrugated iron, with one main street more

er, healthier spots. But doubtless the day's march had been a long one, and perhaps he had fever, and was cross. At any rate, there stood Nairobi, with its "tin-town" for the railway un

n in our corner room was of being in a wilderness-until we considered the board partition. Having marched fastest we obtained the best room and the only bath, but next-door neighbors could hear our conversation as easily as if there had been no division at

re was to see of the town. We had been to the post-office on the white man's habitu

Georges Coutlass and his riff-raff. I had not gone far either on my stroll or with the problem-perhaps two hundred yards down a grassy track that they had told me led toward a settlement-when some

stant to one side or the other as he switched it cat-fashion. He was staring down at me with a sort of scandalized interest; and there was nothing whatever for me to do but stare at him. I had no weapon. One spring and a jump and I was his meat. To run was cowardice as well as foolishness, the one because the other. And without pre

the left in a hurry. I think that up to that moment I had not had time to be afraid, but now the g

re curious interest. She looked from me to her mate, and from her mate to me ag

arena ever watched the weapons of death more helplessly. I suppose my hour had not come. Perhaps the lions, well

to my boots. Then he turned, sprang down behind the hillock, and she followed. The next I saw of them they were running aw

s fast as fear of seeming afraid would let me, and spent fifteen aggravating m

hunter, to which he was quite entitled, b

ill; and he was just as much

to herself able assistance; a settler's ox-cart brought her belongings, and she and her maid rode in hammocks borne by porters impressed from heaven knew where. It was not far from the station, but she was

m, and all was bare and bad); dismissed the obsequious settler and his porters with perfunctory thanks that left him no excuse for lingering, and came along the veranda strai

it, and who can blame them? No comfort-no manners-no companionship-no meals fit to e

; until dark there is scarcely a hint that the day is waning. She sat with us for twenty or thirty minutes making small talk, her maid watching us f

is best ex-missionary air of knowledge of al

e! No guest is allowed after dark on th

g. "What is it about some men that makes o

o close that I could see her diamond-hard eyes and hear th

e-the main dining-room. The proprietor leaves the oil-lamp burning in there all night. People go to bed early; they prefer to drink in their bedrooms because it costs less than treat

-room, and the noisy crowd within, dragging chairs and choosing places at the two long tables, made further word with h

e street outside. The instant it died down another followed it-then three or four-then a dozen all at once. There came

t this was his habit, to stand by the door before supper and say just those words to the last arrivals. I had a vision

o take the bait, yet curio

care who hears them! The day is ours. It used to be theirs, but the white man has come and broken up their empire. The night is still theirs. They're reveling in it! They're boasting of it! Every single night they come swagg

m before I eat supper!" announced Will, turning away to mak

e weren't any shutters on the house windows-nothing but glass. It wasn't long before a young lion broke a window, and in no time there were three full-grown ones into the house after him. They injured one man so severely that he died next day. They only shot two of the lions that got inside. The other two got safely away, and since that time people here have known eno

. They throw their heads up and glory in strength of lungs until thunders take second place and the listener knows why

the din of Georges Coutlass ris

me from the wars; and as he had not troubled to shave himself, the effect was heightened. "What sort of company sits w

night and the yellow lamplight modified merciless outlines, she looked lovely enough. But she lacked the royal gift of seeming at home with the vulgar herd. She could make men notice her-serve he

d to consider himself socially qualified to entertain

poor hotel!" h

a very poor hot

to remain lon

? Tell that native to go away from behin

ravening animal, did not talk. Almost the only conversation was between the owner and the native servants, who waited at table abominably and

riosity exuding from him, but no spirit for forcing issues, departed to a sanctum of his own up somewhere under the roof. The boys cleared the tables. The smell of food spread i

r?" I asked. "Haven't

scarcely cut the thro

the last of it!" said

it for her?"

ut guessed that Will would agree with me. However, the point was settled for us by the arrival of her maid, who smiled with unusual condesce

uld be coming. Whenever we yawned in chorus and rose to go upstairs, a footstep seemed to he

nd in the stairs just as I set my foot on the lower step, so we trooped back to our chairs by t

ld not be disturbed," she said, smi

and I farthest away. She made a sign toward the wine and sandwiches, and offered us cigarettes of a sor

nt with us?" as

and took a

after the Tippoo Tib ivory. So is the Sultan of

position, and our weakness, lay in there being three of us. Any one of us might let drop an ill-c

" I said at last, and

ther side of the table, where w

question," he said. "What do you w

man to connect himself with any wild goose chase. We don't pretend to know how you came by the secret or why he has gone to London,

d Fred pointedly, he

nt, the Sultan of Za

you you probably cou

have been on foot a long time. Our search has been systematic, and it is a mathematical certainty we shall find what we look for in time. We do not propose to let new arrivals on the scene spoil all our plans an

inst it, don't

e your price. Tell me your secret. Go your way. If your

e might tell the secret to the British government,

e first place, you will be killed at once if you dare. In the second pl

s with the Englis

say that all these people have their price! And the price is low! Tell them where the ivory is-lead them to it-and they'll swear they found it themselves, so as to keep the commission themselves! And as for you-you

Fred, "that Lord Montdi

n, th

d Mombasa yesterday at ten A.M. from up-coast saying that the body of an unknown, Englishman had been picked up at sea by an A

nded to surprise us, and it di

es on you! You go up-stairs, and pray he isn't dead! Pray that corpse may prove to be some one's el

tte she had given him an

ool!" she said. "Don't

r titles acquired by marriage that

away from us! Just you hope that

ry is unconfirmed yet. Sit down and be sensible! Something of the

oor noisily, stopping to glar

in protracting the

s little difference! Fever-animals-climate-sun-flood-accident-natives-there are ex

Will, facing her with

or men with a

e must treat pigs another way-pigs, and young fools! And fools old enough to know better!"

empress taking leave of subjects. Fred swept her food and wine from t

's getting ridic

ficial in the morning," I pro

ut being sure of her pull. Besides-what kind of a tale could we tell without

aid Fred.

ot," said I, "is Court

go

d in Zanzibar about Ge

t by slipping over the dead-line, why not run down to German East-pretend to search for the stuff d

s," I said. "I

ersation easier across the landing, and nobody was asleep. But I was surprised to see Georges Coutlass leaning against the door-post of th

he asked, piercing me

the other

n me what h

ant it," I said. "None

on a mat between their cots. He looked up at me. I did not dare speak, but I smiled at him as friendly as I knew how and made a gesture I hoped he would

ut the lock was a common one; probably the keys of other doors fitted it, and there was not one thing i

down-stairs, locking the

we waited for that woman she and her

ow it was she

scent she uses.

in my

map's gon

n the first really happ

poring over the map with a magnifying-glass! D'you remember the various places we under