The Keepers of the King's Peace
, called his relations together
preparations which precede all native intrigues, great or small, and partly because the lower river people are so far removed from the turbulent elements of the upper river that they a
had the
th Ko-boru, and they sat in a great circle about the headman's hut, alt
ge all large assemblies, "that a great shame has come to us, every one, because of Yoka-m'furi. For this Yoka is to Sandi as a brother, an
red the counci
alavers. Now, I tell you that Yoka-m'furi is an evil man, for he has left my daughter, and has found
four." He said this with proper significance, and the flat face of the melancholy girl by
wenty-four hours--"from sunrise to moonset" in her village is automatically divorced and freed fro
ld me that I should call you all together, and that I and the chief of m
ke to Sandi and he spoke to me, and because of his cunning memory he will recall
and they took canoe and travelled for
stories of native feuds, when the unexpected dep
iled Sanders, "
ecognized a certain absence of encouragement in the Comm
autiful friends, Militini, who speak a word and set his terrible soldiers moving like leopards towards a kill, and Tibbetti, the young
l of the stoep and looke
a woman with many lovers and an evil tongue; and once there came to me Yoka
red Ko-boru, "such thin
if it is to be, Yoka will return. Also, if it is to be, he will not
ill do no more angry things. Let him
s finished," re
u made a plot. It was the first plot that had been h
s wanted?" asked the girl, as the crestfallen de
d I was being requested to restore a husband to a temperamental lady who
hing eyes were
!" she said, with
is my steersman--the best on the river, and a capital all-round man. Besides that," he went on seriously, "I regard them all as c
he asked, after
do I
. "This is a healthy and a delightful s
an awkwa
ut to a woman there is a note of interrogation behind every bachelor--especiall
s rose
sh," he threatened, with that shy laugh of
ustice was on the side of Lieutenant Tibbetts, if one could
o the stoep, followed by Bones, who, to do him justice, did not adopt the at
dear?" asked the g
aid Hamilton, "I tol
is referrin' to me, dear
w, sir, that the paymaster is coming down from Administration to check 'em, and will you believe me, sir"--he glared at Bones, who immediate
, "the matter in dispute being a trifle of thirty-nine dollars,
as one who exp
n, "he talks of taking Pat for an early
justice, sir and brother-officer. I offered to take the books wit
snarled Hamilton, sta
hty?" said Bon
rl, "I shan't go unless you
himself up
e said proudly, "put
*
days through certain eccentricities of construction. Though she might not in justice be called the _Wiggle_ any longer, yet the _Wiggle_
elf was the first to recognize this right. There were moments when he inferred that the _Wiggle's_ arriva
tiny cabins amidships. Her internal works were open to the light of day, and her engineer lived in the engine-room
ren of unusual power and diabolical tone, she was also fitted with a big motor-horn, both of which appendages were Bones's gift to his flagship. The motor-horn ma
and the current runs at anything from five to seven knots an hour. Bones was going up stream, and met the Bolalo Mission steame
rent all ways, from broadside on to stern first, for in those
and which was warranted to receive messages from two hundred miles distant. There was also a book of instructions. Bones went to his hut with
tain about was that there ought to be a wire somewhere. So they stretched the aerial from the funnel to the fla
a week, and gave
said Hamilton. "It doesn
mind tellin' you that I've a queer feelin'--I can't explain what it is, except
mining each part under a strong magnifying glass, he never succeeded either in transmitting or receiving a message, and the machine w
Wiggle_; it was his very own ship, and
who installed the little dynamo which--when it worked--lit the cabins and even supplied power for a miniature searchlight. It was Bones who had her painted Service grey, and would have added another f
r and the "ha-a-a-a--ha-a-a-a" of breakers, Bones came from his hut, crossed the parade-ground, and, making his way by the light of a lantern
ater part of his life in the service of a professor of bacteriology. This professor was something of a purist, and the association with Ali Abid, plus a grounding in the elementary subject
he employed whenever he felt called upon to de
orning in the
tone to put the
Get up, Ali; the
ake h
tes him," Hamilton once said; "he simply could
ning was very cold, and he had been sleeping under
" said Bones, setting
sposition. Your preliminary instructions presupposed th
ratched
e honourable lady for a trip? Didn't I tell you, you jolly old slacker, to have everyt
d Ali, "yo
thfully, "why the dick
irium, hallucinations, highly imaginative, which dissipate when the subject
his face into
tell me I dreamt
rvation compels complete acq
ildish," s
ole up to the dark Residency. He had solemnly promised Sanders th
ers of the Akasava had many curious implements to show her. Breakfa
d Hamilton had offered to make a chalk mark on the sash,
orry for," he warned Bones. "If you return without straightening
ng the wooden verandah. To make doubly sure, he
"Sh, Bones! Not so much n
room, the left was Sanders's, the right was Patricia's. He went carefully to the right wi
ones?" growled
s ga
e whispered agitatedly-
and rapped smartly. Then he
ak, and turned his
d, in his loudest whisper. "Arise, fo
voice rag
s you, you bl
ones, "awfully sorry! Go to
vil!" said a
e window; here he could make no m
" he said; "time
and again Bones confron
rated Bones, "how the
night, you goop! Pat sleeps at the other end of the buildin
Bones, on his dignity, "for the i
his dressing-tabl
aid Bones, "an' don't fo
ncy, when the girl, who had been up and dressed for a quarter o
you gave me the dickens of a fright! Well, let's get
s of two pyjamaed figures that stood on the stoe
when you're coming b
Bones, betwe
e two men had accepted the unexpected call with the curious readiness which natives show on such occ
y for his lord's attention, and there was every promise of a happy and a profitable
ing or bad-tempered squawk of a bird, a faint fragrance of burning gumwood from the fishing villages
forest, clearly revealing the outlines of the straight-stemmed trees. There is just this interregnum of pearl greyness, a sort of hush-light, which lasts whilst a man counts twenty, before the silver lances of the sun
is hand to the east with the air of on
s the broad river, right ahead of the boat, a flock of parroquets was flying, screeching their rauc
wonderful?"
at the birds,
ty they can't talk till you teach 'em! They're awful bad eat
look,
the river, and two majestic flamingos standing at
informative Bones. "The flesh is fishy
oul, Bones?" she
s asked, in astonishment.
counts, and she was left to enjoy the splendour of the day, to watch the iron-red waters piling up against the _Wiggle's_ bows, to feel the
Abid was a methodical and clerkly man, and unearthed th
eved. "You're a jolly old accounta
application, omit vision of intricate detail.
Bones, "but get the state
ut shy and solemn bachelors who adopted whole nations of mur
inies of the water, and a promenade back and forward from one side of the launch to the other. Bones called this "pacing the bridge," and invariably carried h
" she said. "And is
*
y re-embarked, the _capita_ of the vill
spear-heads, gruesome execution knives, elep
the girl, as the _Wiggle_ turned her nose homew
and the real Bones, kindly, thoughtful, considerate, an'--if I may use the word without y
counts, like a good boy," sh
accurate statement, whilst Ali himself slept contentedly on the top of the cabin. Even the engineer dozed at his post, and only one man was wide awake and watch
all boats, even the _Zaire_, must pass so close beneath the overhanging boughs of a great lime that the boughs brush their very funnels. Fortunately, the current is never strong here, for the passage is a shallow one. Yoka felt the boat slowing as he reached shoal
gh, "between sunrise and moonset is no
*
ith his head on his hands, with his eyes shut, and his mouth o
imes he looked at the steam gauge, sometimes he kicked open the furnace door and chucked in a few billets of wo
imself, and came blinking into the s
---" said Bones.
sea. There was no sign of land of any description. The low-lyi
houlder of the sleeping girl
voice trembled, "we're alone on this
riousness of the si
t at Bones's call, and accepted the disappea
I don't think I'm wrong in sayin' that the east is opposite to the
g a coast boy, elected to speak
ed Bones, t
ne. I look um. I se
own heavily
say?" Pat as
nes. "The horrid old bunkers are empty,
she cried, in
s had re
with a line?" he said. "It c
who prevented
oximity of land presupposes research. The subject should assist rather than retard re
ilton, that you've got to keep
rded, for at that precise moment the s.s.
ggle's_ little boiler, and one l
nt, but again Ali
s upon steamer or launch certain scientific appa
ttered Bones. "Good
e the gangway of the s.s. _Paretta_, anticipat
anchor when Sanders brough
hip, looking for all the world like a humming bird under the w
ton. "O Yoka, take the _Zaire_ t
ring marks which indicated his strenuous experience, for he had fought hi
also a day,"
ound his sister and a debonair and complacent Bones waiting
olly old paymaster"--he saluted the other officer--"an' found corr
pped his han
the girl, "they wouldn't have seen
es nonchalantly. "It was a mere no
s to work?" asked Ha
steam to get up to the ship, so I burnt the dashed t
Romance
Romance
Romance
Werewolf
Romance
Modern