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diff --git a/45451.txt b/45451.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 491f9e4..0000000 --- a/45451.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14315 +0,0 @@ - THE MAN WHO DID THE RIGHT THING - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: The Man Who Did The Right Thing -Author: Sir Harry Johnston -Release Date: April 21, 2014 [EBook #45451] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN WHO DID THE RIGHT -THING *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - - THE MAN WHO DID - THE RIGHT THING - - A ROMANCE - - - BY - - SIR HARRY JOHNSTON - - - - Mew York - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 1921 - - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1921, - BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - - Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1921. - - - - - *NOVELS BY THE SAME AUTHOR* - - THE GAY-DOMBEYS - MRS. WARREN'S DAUGHTER - - - - -The central idea of this book came into my mind a great many years ago, -out in Africa, and was based to some extent on what actually happened at -Unguja and elsewhere. Yet, though there is more realism than might be -supposed in my descriptions and incidents and the imagined personalities -that appear in these pages, I have endeavoured so to disturb and -re-present the facets of my truths that they shall not wound the -feelings of any one living or of the surviving friends and relations of -the good and bad people I have known in East Africa, or of those in my -own land who were entangled in East African affairs. - -But although I have pondered long over telling such a story, this -Romance of East Africa was mainly projected, created and put down on -paper when my wife and I stayed in the summer-autumn of last year at the -Swiss home, in the mountains, of a dear friend. There we amused -ourselves, as we swung in hammocks slung under pine-trees and gazed over -the panorama of the Southern Alps, by arguing and discussing as to what -the creations of my imagination would say to one another, how they would -act under given circumstances within the four corners ruled by Common -Sense and Probability: two guides who will, I hope, always guard my -faltering steps in fiction-writing. - -Therefore, though dedications have lost their novelty and freshness, and -are now incitements to preciosity or payments in verbiage, I, to satisfy -my own sentiments of gratitude for a most delightful holiday of rest and -refreshment, dedicate this Romance to my hostess of the Chalet Soleil, -who founded this new Abbaye de Theleme for the recuperation of tired -minds and bodies, and enforced within its walls and walks and woods but -one precept: - - *FAY CE QUE VOULDRAS.* - -H. H. JOHNSTON. - -POLING, - March, 1921. - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -CHAPTER - -I The Baineses -II John and Lucy -III Sibyl at Silchester -IV Lucy Hesitates -V Roger's Dismissal -VI The Voyage Out -VII Unguja--and Up-country -VIII Letters To and Fro -IX Mission Life -X Roger Arrives -XI The Happy Valley -XII The Attack on the Station -XIII The Return to Unguja -XIV Lucy's Second Marriage -XV In England -XVI Sibyl as Siren -XVII Back to the Happy Valley -XVIII Five Years Later -XIX Trouble with Stolzenberg -XX The Boer War -XXI The Morals of the Happy Valley -XXII Eight Years Have Passed By -XXIII The End of Sibyl -XXIV All Ends in the Happy Valley - - - - - *THE MAN WHO DID - THE RIGHT THING* - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *THE BAINESES* - - -It was in the last week of June, 1886, and there really were warm and -early summers in the nineteenth century. - -The little chapel had been so close and hot during the morning service -that in spite of the interest Lucy Josling felt in the occasion--it was -the first appearance of her betrothed, John Baines, as a preacher in his -native place, and the delivery of his farewell sermon before starting -for Africa--she could not repress a sigh of relief as she detached -herself from the perspiring throng of worshippers and stood for a few -moments in the bright sunlight, inhaling the perfume of distant -hayfields. - -"You look a trifle pale, Lucy," said Mr. Baines, senior, a stumpy -red-faced man with light sandy hair and a long upper lip. "It's -precious warm. I s'pose you'n John'll want to walk back together? -Well, don't keep dinner waiting, 'cos that always puts me out. Now -then, Sarah, come along: it's too hot to stand gossiping about. Let's -get home as quick as we can." - -Mrs. Baines, a gaunt, thin woman with a long parchment-coloured face and -cold grey eyes, looked indignantly at her husband when he talked of -gossiping, but said nothing, took his arm and walked away. - -Lucy put up her parasol and leant against the ugly iron railings which -interposed between the dusty chapel windows and the pavement. The -congregation had not all dispersed. Two or three awkward-looking young -men were standing in a group in the roadway, and, while pretending to -carry on a jesting conversation amongst themselves, were casting -sheepish looks at Lucy, who was deemed a beauty for ten miles round. -They evidently alluded to her in the witticisms they exchanged, so that -she had to restrict her angle of vision in case her eyes met theirs when -she wished to ignore their offensive existence. Mrs. Garrett, the -grocer's wife, who had been inquiring from Miss Simons, the little lame -dressmaker--why were village dressmakers of that period, in life and in -fiction, nearly always lame?--how her married sister progressed after a -confinement, walked up to Lucy and said: - -"Well, Miss Josling, and how d'you like the idea of parting with your -young man? Ain't cher afraid of his goin' off so far, and all among -savages and wild beasts too, same as 'e was tellin' on? It's all right -and proper as how he should carry the news of the Gospel to them pore -naked blacks, but as I says to Garrett, I says, ''E don't ought to go -and engage 'isself before'and to a girl as 'e mayn't never come back to -marry, and as 'll spend the best years of 'er life a-waitin' an' -a-waitin' and cryin' 'er eyes put to no use.' However, 't ain't any -business of mine, an' I s'pose you've set your heart upon 'im now, and -won't thank me for bein' so outspoken....? - -"I'm sure 'e's come back from London _quite_ the gentleman; and lor'! -'Ow proud 'is mother _did_ look while 'e was a-preachin'. An' 'e _can_ -preach, too! 'Alf the words 'e used was Greek to me.... S'pose they -_was_ Greek, if it comes to that"--she laughed fatly--"Though why th' -Almighty should like Greek and Latin better'n plain English, or even -'Ebrew, is what I never could understand.... - -"And to think as I remember 'im, as it on'y seems the other day, comin' -in on the sly to buy a 'aporth of sugar-candy at our shop. 'Is mother -never liked 'is eatin' between meals an' 'e always 'ad to keep 'is bit -o' candy 'idden away in 'is pocket till 'e was out of 'er sight.... I'm -sure for my part I wonder _'ow_ she can bring 'erself to part with 'im, -'e bein' 'er on'y son, and she so fond of 'im too. But then she always -set 'er 'eart on 'is bein' a gentleman, and give 'im a good -eddication.... 'Ow's father and mother?..." - -"Oh quite well, thank you," replied Lucy, wondering why John was -stopping so long and exposing her to this tiresome garrulity and the -hatefulness of having her private affairs discussed in a loud tone for -the benefit of the Sunday strollers of Tilehurst. "They would have come -over from Aldermaston to hear John preach, but father cannot bear to -take his eyes off the hay till it's all carried, and mother's alone now -because my sisters are away.... I just came by myself to the Baineses' -for the day.... - -"And, Mrs. Garrett," continued Lucy, a slight flush rising to her cheek, -"I don't think you quite understand about my engagement to John Baines. -I--I--am not at all to be pitied. You rather ought to congratulate me. -First, because I am very--er--fond of him and proud of his dedicating -his life to such a work, and, secondly, because there is no question of -my waiting years and years before I get married. John goes out this -month and I shall follow six or seven months afterwards--just to give -him time to get our home ready. We shall be married out there, at a -place called Unguja, where there is a Consulate...." - -Lucy stopped short. She was going on to give other good reasons for her -engagement when a slight feeling of pride forbade her further to excuse -herself to Mrs. Garrett--a grocer's wife! And she herself a National -school-teacher! There could be no community between them. She -therefore fell silent and gazed away from Mrs. Garrett's red face and -blue bonnet across the white sandy road blazing with midday sunshine to -the house fronts of the opposite side, with their small shops closed, -the blinds drawn down and everything denoting the respectable -lifelessness of the Sabbath.... At this awkward pause John Baines -issued from the vestry door of the chapel, Mrs. Garrett nodded -good-naturedly, and went her way. - -John was about four-and-twenty--Lucy's age. He was a little over the -average height but ungainly, with rather sloping shoulders, long arms, -large hands and feet; a face with not well-formed features; nose coarse, -fleshy, blunt-tipped; mouth wide, with his father's long upper lip, on -which were the beginnings of a flaxen moustache, with tame ends curling -down to meet the upward growth of the young beard. He had an under lip -that was merely a band of pink skin round the mouth, without an inward -curve to break its union with the broad chin. His teeth were strong and -white but irregular in setting, the canines being thrust out of -position. His eyes were blue-grey, and not without a pleasant twinkle. -The hair was too long for tidiness, not long enough for eccentric -saintliness. It was a yellow brown and was continued down the cheeks in -a silken beard from ear to ear, the tangled, unclipped, uncared-for -beard of a young man who has never shaved. His fresh pink-and-white -complexion was marred here and there with the pimples and blotches of -adolescence. Lucy, however, thought him good to look at; he only wanted -a little smartening up, which she promised herself to impart to him when -they were married. He looked what he was: a good-hearted, -simple-minded, unintellectual Englishman, an Anglo-Saxon, with a hearty -appetite for plain food, a love of cricket, who would with little -difficulty remain in all things chaste and sober; slow to wrath, but, if -really pushed against the wall, able to show berserker rage. - -Having taken up a religious career he had acquired a certain pomposity -of manner which sat ill on his boyishness; he had to remember in -intervals of games or country dances or flirtations that he had been set -apart for the Lord's work. But he would make an excellent husband. His -class has furnished quite the best type of colonist abroad. - -John gave his arm silently to Lucy, who took it with a gesture of -affection, and patted it once or twice with her kid-gloved hand, which -lover-like demonstrations John accepted rather solemnly. As they walked -up the sunny main street there was little conversation between them, but -when they turned down an old shady road running between red brick walls -overgrown with ivy and Oxford weed, behind which rose the spire of St. -Michael's and the tall trees of its churchyard, their good behaviour -relaxed and John looking down, and seeing Lucy's fresh, pretty face -looking up, and observing in a hasty glance around that nobody was in -sight, bent down and kissed her: after which he looked rather silly and -hurried on with great strides. - -"Don't walk so fast, John dear; you quite drag me along. We need not be -in such a hurry. Tell me, how did you spend your last days in London?" - -"Why, Wednesday I went to the outfitters to superintend the packing of -my boxes; Thursday I bid good-bye to all my friends at the Bayswater -College. In the evening there was a valedictory service at the Edgware -Road Chapel, when Thomas, Bayley, Anderson and I were designated for the -East African Mission. The next day, Friday, I went in the morning to see -my boxes put safely on board the _Godavery_ lying in the Albert Docks; -and I also chose my berth--I share a cabin with Anderson. Then in the -afternoon there was a big public meeting at Plymouth Hall. Sir Powell -Buckley was chairman, and Brentham, the African explorer, spoke, as well -as a lot of others, and it ended with prayers and hymns. The Reverend -Paul Barker, a very old African missionary, who was the first to enter -Abeokuta, delivered the Blessing. Every one shook hands with us and -bade us Godspeed. - -"After this the three brethren designated for the Mission, and myself, -of course, together with Brentham the explorer, Mr. Barker and a few -others from the platform, adjourned to Sir Powell Buckley's, where we -had tea. Here we four new missionaries were introduced to old Mrs. -Doland, that lady who, under God, has so liberally contributed to the -support of the East African Mission.... And also to Captain Brentham, -who has just returned from the East coast.... - -"I confess I didn't like _him_ ... altogether.... In fact, I can't -_quite_ make out why he came and spoke at the meeting, for I could see -at once by the way he stared about him during the hymns he was not one -of us ... in heart. In his speech at Plymouth Hall he chiefly laid -stress on the advantages gained by civilization when a country was -opened up by missionaries, how we taught the people trades, and so on. -There was no allusion to the inestimable boon to the natives in making -known the Blessed Gospel and the promises in the Old Testament.... - -"In fact--am I walking too fast? But father will be angry if we are -late for dinner--in fact, I thought Brentham inclined to sneer at us. -They say he wants a Government appointment and is making up to Sir -Powell Buckley---- - -"Then Saturday--yesterday--I came down here and--er--well! here we are! -Are you listening?" - -Lucy gave John's arm an affectionate squeeze by way of assurance, but on -this rare June day there was something in the still, hot air, thick with -hay-scent, which lulled her sensibilities and caused her to forget to be -concerned at her betrothed's departure. She had temporarily forgotten -many little things stored up to be said to him, and was vexed at her own -taciturnity. However, their walk had come to an end, and they stood in -front of John's home. - -Mr. John Parker Baines, the father of the missionary-designate, was a -manufacturer of aerated drinks and cider, whose premises lay on the -western side of Tilehurst and marred the beauty of the countryside and -the straggling village with a patch of uncompromising vulgarity and -garishness. The manufactory itself was in a simple style of -architecture: a rectangular building of red brick, with two tall -smoke-blackened chimneys and a number of smaller ones. "John Baines and -Co., Manufacturers of Aerated Drinks," was painted in large letters -across the brick front. - -A Sabbath stillness prevailed, intensified by the smokeless chimneys and -the closed door. Only a cur lay in the sun, and some dirty ducks -squittered the water in a dirty ditch which carried off the drainage of -the factory to a neighbouring brook. - -A short distance apart from the main building stood the dwelling of the -proprietor, Mr. Baines, who had inherited the business from his wife's -father and transferred it to his own name. This home of the Baines -family, though designed by the same architect, had its aboriginal -ugliness modified by numerous superficial improvements. A rich mantle -of ivy overgrew a portion of its red brick walls and wreathed its ugly -stucco portico. The window-panes were brightly polished and gave a -vivacity to the house by their gleaming reflections of light and shade. -You could see through them the green Venetian blinds of the -sitting-rooms and the unpolished backs of looking-glasses and clean -white muslin curtains of the bedrooms. In the short strip of front -garden there were beds of scarlet geraniums which added a pleasant note -of bright colour. - -At the grained front door a cat was waiting to be let in with an air -about her as if she too had returned a little late from church or -chapel. A strong, rich odour of roast beef filled the air and drowned -the scent of hayfields. This intensified the feeling of vulgar comfort -which permeated the house when the door was opened by Mr. Baines, -senior, and increased the pious satisfaction of the cat, who arched her -black body and rubbed herself coyly against her master's Sunday -trousers. - -"Of course, you're late," snapped Mr. Baines. "I knew you would be. -Here's mother, as cross as two sticks." - -Mrs. Baines, who had stalked into the narrow hall from the dining-room, -gave them no greeting, but merely called to Eliza to serve the dinner, -as Mr. John and Miss Josling had arrived. - -For Lucy this was not a pleasant meal. Mrs. Baines was one of those -unsympathetic persons that took away her appetite. She was a thoroughly -good woman in the estimation of her neighbours, austerely devout, -rigidly honest, an able housewife and a strict mother. But her future -daughter-in-law had long since classed her as thoroughly unlovable. The -one tender feeling she evinced was her passionate though undemonstrative -devotion to her only son. Even this, though it might beautify her dull -being in the eyes of an unconcerned observer, did not always announce -itself pleasantly to her home circle. To John it had often been the -reason for a cruel smacking when a child and guilty of some small -childish sin; to her husband it was the excuse for vexatious economies, -which while they did not materially increase the funds devoted to his -son's education, had frequently interfered with his personal comfort. - -Mrs. Baines's love of John was further manifested to Lucy by a jealous -criticism of her speech and actions; for, like most mothers of an only -son, she was bound to resent the bestowal of his affections on a -sweetheart, and determined to be dissatisfied with whomever he might -select for that honourable position. - -So, although Lucy was pretty, relatively well-educated, earning her -living already as a National school-mistress, the daughter of a -much-respected farmer, and known by the Baines family almost since she -was a baby, Mrs. Baines found fault with her just because she had found -favour with John. Lucy was "Church" and they were "Chapel." She was -vain and worldly and quite unsuited to be the wife of a missionary. The -fascination of worldliness was not denied. The Devil knew how to bait -his traps. Through worldly influence one was led to read novels on the -Sabbath, to dispute the Biblical account of the Creation. - -Lucy, it is true, had neither scoffed at Genesis, nor spoken flippantly -of Noah's Ark, nor been seen reading fiction on a Sunday; but that -didn't matter. With her pretensions to an interest in botany, her talk -about astronomy and the distances of the fixed stars and such like -rubbish, she was quite capable of sliding into infidelity. And as to -her observance of the Sabbath, it was simply disgraceful. Of course, -her father was to blame in setting her a bad example and her mother, -too, poor soul, was much too easy-going with her daughters. But then, -when you came to consider that Lucy had been so much with John, to say -nothing of the example set by John's parents, you would have thought she -might have learnt by this time how the Lord's Day should be passed. - -It was this last point which strained the relations between Mrs. Baines -and Lucy on this particular Sunday. Lucy had asked John to take her for -a walk in the afternoon. It would be their last opportunity for a quiet -talk all to themselves before his departure. Although John Baines had -inherited his mother's Sabbatarian scruples he consented to Lucy's -proposal, partly because he was in love with her, partly because his -residence in London had insensibly broadened his views. For once his -mother's influence was powerless to alter his decision, and so she had -refrained from further argument. But this first check to her domination -over her son had considerably soured her feelings. - -Moreover, Mrs. Baines honestly believed, according to her lights--for -like all the millions of her class and period she knew absolutely -nothing about astronomy, geology, ethnology and history--that the -Creator of the Universe preferred you should spend the Sunday afternoon -in a small, stuffy back parlour with the blinds half down, reading the -Bible or Baxter's sermons (or, if the spiritual appetite were very weak, -an illustrated edition of _Pilgrim's Progress_) and continue this -mortification of flesh and spirit until tea time (unless you taught in -the Sunday-school). You should then wind up the Day of Rest with -evening chapel, supper, more sermon-reading, and bed. - -The only person disposed to be talkative during the meal was John Baines -the younger. His mother, at all times glum, was more than ever inclined -to silence. Lucy was oppressed by her frigid demeanour and vouchsafed -very few remarks, other than those called for by politeness. As to -Baines, senior, he was one of those short-necked, fleshy men who are -born guzzlers, and his attention was too much concentrated on his food -to permit of his joining in conversation during his Sunday dinner. As a -set-off against abstention from alcohol he was inordinately greedy, and -his large appetite was a constant source of suffering to him, for his -wife took a grim delight in mortifying it. Only on Sundays was he -allowed to eat his fill without her interference. Mrs. Baines always -did the carving and helped everything, even the vegetables, which were -placed in front of her, flanking the joint. The maid-of-all-work, -Eliza, waited at table and was evidently the slave of her mistress's -eye. The family dinner on Sundays was almost invariable in its main -features, as far as circumstances permitted. A well-roasted round of -beef, with baked potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, was succeeded by an -apple or a treacle pudding, and a dessert of some fruit or nuts in -season. Of one thing there was no lack and abundant -variety--effervescing, non-alcoholic drinks: Ginger Beer, Ginger Ale, -Gingerade; Lemonade, Citronade, Orangeade; Phosphozone, Hedozone, -Pyrodone, Sparkling Cider and Perry Champagne: all the beverages -compounded of carbonic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, sugar, water, -apple and pear juice, and flavouring essences. - -The Apple champagne that John gallantly poured into Lucy's glass did not -lighten her spirits or loosen her tongue. What could she find to say to -that guzzling father whose face and hands were always close to his -plate, except during the brief intervals between the courses when he -threw himself back in his chair, blew his nose, wiped his greasy lips, -and passed his fat forefinger round the corners of his gums to remove -the wedges of food which had escaped deglutition? Or to the gloomy -mother who ate her victuals with a sullen champing, and, beyond a few -directions to the submissive servant, made no attempts to sustain -conversation, only according to the garrulous descriptions of her son an -occasional snappish "Oh! indeed----," "Pretty doings, I can see----," -"Little good can come of _that_----," and so on? At length, when John's -experiences in London had come to an end and the two dishes of cherries -had replaced the treacle pudding, whilst the servant handed round in -tumblers our own superlative Sparkling Cider, Lucy cleared her throat -and said, "I suppose John will be leaving you very early to-morrow -morning?" - -"Eh?" returned Mrs. Baines, fixing her cold grey eyes on Lucy. She had -heard perfectly well, but she thought it more consistent with dignity -not to lend too ready an ear to the girl's remarks. Lucy repeated more -distinctly her question. - -"You had better ask _him_ all about it," replied John's mother. "I have -other things to think about on the Lord's Day besides railway -time-tables." - -"Why? Are you coming to see me off, Lucy?" asked John. - -"Well, yes; that is, if Mrs. Baines doesn't mind." - -"_I_ mind?" exclaimed the angry woman in a strident voice. "What have -_I_ got to do with it; I suppose railway stations are free to every -one?" - -"Yes," said Lucy, with an ache at the back of her throat and almost -inclined then and there to break off her engagement. "But I thought you -might like to have John all to yourself at the last. However, if you -have no objection, I should much like to see him off, poor old -fellow"--and Lucy gave his big-knuckled hand an affectionate pat--"I -think I can manage it. Father has to come into Theale. He will drop me -at the station and pick me up again, and school doesn't begin till nine. -What time does your train go, John?" - -"Twenty-five past seven. I shall get to London soon after nine. After -going to the head-quarters of the Mission and getting my final -instructions I shall drive straight down to the docks and go on board -the _Godavery_.... The first place we stop at is Algiers, then Malta, -then the Suez Canal and Aden. I expect this is just what _you'll_ have -to do, Lucy, when you come out next spring." - -Lucy smiled brightly. She had gradually grown into her engagement as -she grew from girlhood to womanhood, constrained by John's bland -assumption that the damsel he selected was bound to be his wife. But -perhaps her main inducement was his fixed determination to become a -missionary and her intense longing to see "foreign parts," the wonderful -and the interesting world. She was just rallying her spirits to make -some animated reply about Algiers when Mrs. Baines intervened and said -there were limits to all things, and if they didn't wish to pass the -whole of the Lord's Day eating, drinking, and talking they had better -rise and let Eliza clear away. On hearing these words, Mr. Baines -turned the last cherries into his plate and hastily biting them off and -ejecting the stones, pushed his chair back with a sigh. Then, rising -heavily, he stumbled into the armchair near the fireplace and composed -himself for a nap. The maid began to clear away, longing to get back to -her Sunday dinner and concealed novelette. Lucy went to put on her hat; -John yawned and drummed his fingers on the window-pane; and Mrs. Baines -seated herself stiffly in the armchair opposite her satiated husband, -with a large brown Bible on her lap and two or three leaflets covered -with small-print references to Scripture. - -When John heard Lucy tripping downstairs he went to meet her, feeling -instinctively that her re-appearance in the dining-room would draw some -bitter comment from his mother. He put on his felt wide-awake, took a -stout stick, and soon banged the front door on his sweetheart and -himself in a way which sent a shiver through the frame of Mrs. Baines, -who with an impatient sigh of disgust applied herself to a gloomy -portion of the Old Testament. - -Probably had John remained to keep her company she would have made no -attempt to entertain him; but she would have applied herself with real -interest to Scriptural exegesis. Of her class and of her time what -little romance and intellectuality she had was put into Bible study. -She believed the British--degenerate though they might appear as to -Sabbath observance--were descended from the Ten Lost Tribes, who had -been led by the prophet Jeremiah to Ireland in an unnecessary spurt of -energy and had then returned in coracles to the more favoured Britain, -Jeremiah--age being of no moment where the Divine purpose was -concerned--having taken in marriage a daughter of the Irish king---- - -But ... the ingratitude of her only son, who could not give up to his -mother's society his last Sunday afternoon in England! She choked with -unshed tears and read verse after verse of the early part of Jeremiah -without understanding one word, although she was told in her leaflets -that the diatribes bore special reference to England in the latter part -of the nineteenth century.... No, the thought of John wandering about -the hayfields with Lucy--for, of course, that girl would lead him into -the hayfields, perhaps throw hay at him--constantly rose before her, and -once or twice a few hot tears dimmed her sight.... "The Lord said also -unto me in the days of Josiah the King: Hast thou seen that which -backsliding Israel hath done?..." - -She had devoted all the money she could save, all the time she could -spare to the bringing-up of this boy. She had sent him to college and -made him a gentleman. She had done her duty by him as a mother, and this -was the return he made. He preferred to spend his last Sunday afternoon -frolicking about the country with a feather-headed girl to passing it -quietly by his mother's side, as he formerly used to do.... They might -even have had a word of prayer together. Mrs. Baines was not usually a -woman who encouraged outbursts of vocal piety outside the chapel, but on -such an occasion as this.... She might not see him for another five -years.. - -"And I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. -But she returned not."--Now was it becoming for a grown man, a -missionary who had occupied the pulpit at Salem Chapel in the morning, -to go gallivanting about the meadows with a young woman in the -afternoon? What would any of the congregation say who saw him? A nice -spectacle, to be sure!-- "And the Lord said unto me, The back-sliding -Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah..." "Let me -see," reflected Mrs. Baines, trying to give her attention to her -reading, "Judah represents the Church of England, and Israel is ... -Israel is ... Baines! For goodness _sake_ don't snore like that. You -ought to be ashamed of yourself! _How_ you can reconcile it with your -conscience to guzzle like a pig every Sunday at dinner and then pass the -rest of the afternoon snoring and snoozing instead of reading your -Bible, _I_ don't know." - -Mr. Baines's bloodshot, greenish eyes regarded his wife with dazed -wonderment for a few seconds. Then their red lids dropped and a gentle -breathing announced the resumption of his slumbers. For a few moments -Mrs. Baines really devoted her attention to the third chapter of -Jeremiah; but when once more the respirations of her spouse degenerated -into raucous snores, she lost all patience with him, and put away her -Bible and pamphlets. She could not stop in the house any longer. It -was allowable to visit the sick on the Sabbath day. She would go and -see old Mrs. Gannell in Stebling's Cottages and read some tracts to her. -So she shook off imaginary crumbs from her skirts, went upstairs to put -on her Sunday bonnet, and left her husband--though he was unconscious of -the privilege--to snore and chuckle and drivel and snore unrebuked for a -couple of hours. - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *JOHN AND LUCY* - - -John and Lucy strode rapidly through the outskirts of the village, past -the inspection of curious eyes from over the rim of window blinds, into -the quiet country, which lay sleeping in veiled sunshine; for the warmth -of the June sun had created a slight haze in the river valley and men -and beasts seemed drowsy with the concentrated, undispersed odour of the -newly-cut hay. They crossed a little stream by a wooden bridge, climbed -two stiles--Lucy gaily, John bashfully, as if fearing that his new-born -dignity of preacher might suffer thereby--walked about a quarter of a -mile down a densely shaded lane where the high hedgerows were flecked -with pale pink, yellow-stamened dogroses, and where the honeysuckle -trailed its simple light green foliage and hung out its lank fists of -yellow fingers: and then arrived at an open space and a broad high road. -This they followed until they came to a white gate, marked in black -letters "To Englefield. Private." Without hesitation, from -long-established custom, they raised the latch and entered the dense -shade of a well-timbered wood with a glimpse here and there, through the -tree trunks, of open water. - -Lucy sighed with relief and pleasure when the white gate swung to behind -her and she was walking on a turf-covered track under the shade of great -beech trees. Though the scene was familiar to her she exclaimed at its -beauty. John mopped his face industriously, flapped away the flies, -blew his nose, and wiped the brim of his hat. "Yes, yes," he would -reply, looking to see if his boots were very dusty or whether there were -any grass seeds sticking to the skirts of his frock-coat. "Canterbury -bells, is that what you call them? Yes, there seem to be lots this year. -Here's a nice, clean trunk of a tree. Let's sit down and have our -talk...." - -"Oh, not here, John. It's too midgy. We will go farther on to The -View: there's a seat there." - -So they followed the broad, turfy track which commenced to ascend the -flank of a down. On the right hand the great trees rose higher and -higher into the sky; on the left the ground sloped away to the level of -the little lake with its swans and water-lilies; and the turf near at -hand was dark blue and purple-green with the bugle in flower. In the -ascending woodland there were tall ranks of red-mauve foxgloves. Here -the owner of the park had placed an ample wooden seat for the -delectation of all who loved landscape beauty. - -John threw himself down with heavy abandonment on the grey planks. Had -he been alone he would certainly have taken off his boots to ease his -hot and compressed feet, but some instinct told him his betrothed might -not think the action seemly. Lucy stood for a few moments gazing at the -view over the Kennet valley and then sat down beside him. - -"How dreadfully you perspire, my poor John," she said, looking at the -wet red hand which clasped the rail of the seat. - -"Yes. The least amount of walking makes me hot." - -"Well, but how will you be able to stand Africa?" - -"Oh, it's a different kind of heat there, I believe. Besides, you don't -have to go about in a black coat, a waistcoat and a starched shirt; -except perhaps at service time on Sundays." - -"What a pity black clothes seem to be necessary to holiness!"--(then -seeing a frown settling on his face) "I wonder whether we shall see -anything so beautiful as _this_ out there?" - -"As beautiful as what? Oh! The view. Well, I s'pose so. I believe -there are some high mountains and plenty of forest near the place where -I am to live." - -"What is its name?" - -"Hangodi, I think--something like that. Bayley says it means 'the Place -of Firewood.'" - -"Oh, _that_ doesn't sound pretty at all; just as if there were nothing -but dead sticks lying about. I hoped there would be plenty of palms and -those things you see in the pictures of African travel books--with great -broad leaves--plantains? Is it a village?" - -"Hangodi? I believe so. I think the chief reason it has been chosen is -its standing high up on a mountain and being near water." - -"Oh, John," said Lucy after a minute's silence, "I _do_ look forward to -joining you in Africa. I've always wanted to travel, ever since I won a -geography prize at school. Just think what wonderful things we shall -see. Elephants and lions and tigers. Will there be tigers? Of -_course_ not. I ought to have remembered they're only found in India. -But at any rate there will be beautifully spotted leopards, and lions -roaring at night, and hippopotamuses in the rivers and antelopes on the -plains. And ostriches? Do you think there will be any ostriches, -John?" - -"My dear, how do _I_ know? Besides, we are not going out to Africa to -look for ostriches and lions, Lucy," said John, rather solemnly. "We -have a great work before us, a _great_ work. There is a mighty harvest -to be gathered for the Lord." - -"Of course, John, of course," Lucy hastened to reply, "I know what is -the real object of your mission, and I mean to help you all I can, don't -I?" (pushing back a wisp of his lank brown hair that fell over his -brow--for he had taken off the hot wide-awake). "But that won't prevent -me from liking to see wild beasts and other queer African things; and I -don't see the harm in it, either...." - -"N--no, of course it isn't _wrong_. These things are among the -wonderful works of the Almighty, and it is right that we should admire -them in their proper place. At the same time they are apt to become a -snare in leading us from the contemplation of holy things into vain -disputes about science. I know more about these spiritual dangers than -you do, Lucy," continued John, from the superior standing of his three -years' education in London, "and I warn you against the idolatry of -intellect" (squeezing her little kid-gloved hand to temper his solemnity -with a lover's gesture). "I knew a very nice fellow in London once. He -had studied medicine at the hospitals and he came to Bayswater College -to qualify for the East African Mission; for he intended going out as a -medical missionary. He was the son of a minister, too, and his father -was much respected. But he was always spending his spare time at this -new Natural History Museum, and he used to read Darwin and other infidel -writers. Well, the result was that he took to questioning the accuracy -of Genesis, and _of course_ he had to give up all idea of joining the -Mission. I don't know what became of him, but I expect he afterwards -went to the bad. For my part, I am thankful to say I never was troubled -with doubts. The Bible account of Creation is good enough for me, and -so it ought to be for everybody else." - -"John! _John_!" exclaimed Lucy, shaking his arm, "you are just as bad -as your mother, who accuses me of disbelieving the Bible because I like -to take a walk on a fine Sunday afternoon. How you _do_ run on! I only -said I wanted to see elephants and lions in Africa and you accuse me -straight out of 'worshipping my intellect' or some such rubbish. Don't -you know the chief reason I promised to marry you was because I thought -it was so noble of you to go to Africa to teach the poor natives? Very -well, if you think African wild beasts will be a snare for my soul I -won't run the temptation, and you shall marry some black woman whose -ears will come down to her shoulders, and a ring through her nose as -well, and no doubts at all about anything." - -"Lucy! I think you're very flippant." - -"John! I think you're much too sanctimonious! You're a great deal too -good for me, and you'd better find a more serious person than I am--Miss -Jamblin, for instance." - -"Ann Jamblin? And a very nice girl too. Oh! you may sneer at her. -She's not pretty, I daresay, but she comes to all the prayer meetings, -so mother says; and she's got a nice gift for sacred poetry." - -"Yes, _I_ know her verses--flimsy things! Just hymns-and-water, _I_ -call them. She's got a number of stock rhymes and she rings the changes -on them. Any one could do that. Besides, I've caught her lots of times -borrowing whole lines from Hymns, Ancient and Modern, which I suppose -aren't good enough for chapel people, so they must needs go and make up -hymns of their own. And as to the prayer meetings, it's just the tea -and cake that attract _her_. Bless you! I was at school with Ann -Jamblin, and I know what a pig that girl is.... But if you think she'd -suit you better as a wife, don't hesitate to change your mind. Your -mother would be _delighted_. And I've heard say that Ann's uncle, who -keeps the ham-and-beef shop in Reading, means to leave her all his -money. You won't find Ann Jamblin caring much for wild beasts, _I_ can -promise you! Why, I remember once when the school was out walking near -Reading and we met a dancing bear coming along with its keeper, she -burst out screaming and crying so loud that the youngest Miss Calthrop -had to take her _straight_ back." - -"Now, _Lucy_! _Is_ it kind to quarrel with me just before I am going -away?" (Lucy's unexpected spitfire prettiness and the hint she might be -willing to break off the engagement had roused John's latent manliness -and he felt now he desired intensely to marry her.) - -"My _dear_ John, I wasn't _quarrelling_, I've nothing to quarrel about. -I only suggested to you before it was too late to change your mind that -Ann Jamblin would make you a more suitable wife than I should--there, -there!" (fighting off a kiss and an attempt at a hug) "remember where we -are and that any one might see us and carry the tale to your mother. Of -course, I am partly in fun. I know it is unkind to tease you, but -somehow I _can't_ be as serious as you are.... Dear old John" (the -attempt at a hug and the look of desire in John's eyes have somehow -mollified her) "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.... Did I? ... I'm -very sorry.... Just as you're going away, too.... There, never mind.... -Look bright and happy.... Now _smile_!" - -John's lips parted reluctantly and showed his pale gums and projecting -eye-teeth. - -"What do you think, John? ... Let's get up and walk on to the garden -gates, ... what do you think my Uncle Pardew is going to give us as a -wedding present? A harmonium! Won't that be nice? I shall take it out -with me, and then when you teach the people to sing hymns--only you -mustn't teach them Ann Jamblin's--I can play the accompaniments. And in -the evenings when you are tired I shall try to play something that will -soothe you. I have never tried the harmonium yet, but while you are -away I mean to practise. It's just like playing the piano, only you -have to keep working the pedals with your feet, like a sewing-machine. -Uncle Pardew would just as soon give us a piano, but I told him what you -said about the climate being bad for them. So he settled that a -harmonium would do better. I wonder what other wedding presents we -shall get? I can tell to a certainty what your mother will give us." - -"What?" - -"Why, a very large Bible, bound in shiny brown leather like those in the -waiting-rooms at railway stations, with a blue ribbon marker; and a -dozen silver spoons. Six large and six small. I know she doesn't -consider me worthy of the spoons, but she is bound by custom. When she -was married _her_ mother-in-law gave _her_ spoons.... And your father -will give us a dinner-service and a gross of Sparkling Cider..." - -"I hope to goodness he doesn't. The cost of transporting it up-country -would be quite beyond my means. I shall tell him..." - -"And _my_ father," continued Lucy, "is going to give me a gold watch and -chain. And mother, my own sweet little mother--what do you think she's -been working at, John?" - -"Can't say, I'm sure." - -"Why, _all_ the house linen.... Sheets, pillow-cases, tablecloths, -napkins, and such like. She has been getting them ready ever since I -was first engaged.... John! You must be _very_ kind to me in Africa." - -"_Kind_ to you? Why, of course! Do you suppose I should be anything -else?" - -"You don't know _how_ I feel the idea of parting with mother. I love -her better than any one in the world, better than you, John. She never -says anything, but I know she is dreadfully unhappy at the idea of my -going away so far and for so long. But then, I tell her, we can't _all_ -be old maids. Father isn't rich enough to keep us all at home, and I -don't want to go on working at a National school all my life.... Oh, by -the bye, talking of mother, I had something so pleasant to tell you. -What do you think Lord Silchester has done? You know mother was maid to -old Lady Silchester? Well, when father went the other day to see Mr. -Parkins about a gate he met his lordship walking out of the agent's -office. They got into conversation and father told him I was going out -next year to marry you in Africa. And last Wednesday mother got a -letter written by Lord Silchester himself, saying he had not forgotten -her faithful care of his mother and would she give the enclosed to her -daughter, out of which she might buy a wedding present, something to -remember Lord Silchester by when she got out to Africa. And there were -four five-pound notes in the envelope. Mother was so pleased she -positively _cried_." - -"Yes. That was very kind of his lordship. I must tell my mother when I -get back to-night. It may cheer her up." - -"Oh, every one has been very nice about my engagement. The Miss -Calthrops, where I was at school in Reading, told me they were working -at some aesthetic mantel-borders for our house in Africa...." - -"Mantel-borders! Why, we shan't have any mantel-pieces!" - -"No mantel-pieces? No fireplaces?" - -"Only a fire for cooking, in the kitchen, and that will be outside." - -"Oh well, then, we must put them to some other use; I couldn't wound -their feelings by saying we didn't want them." - -"Lucy, you mustn't imagine you are going to live in a mansion in Africa. -Our home will be only a cottage built of bamboo and mud and tree-stems -roughly trimmed, with a thatched or a corrugated-iron roof. I don't -suppose it will contain more than four rooms--a bedroom, a bathroom, a -sitting-room, a store and an outside kitchen." - -"Well, but even a log-hut might be made pretty inside, with some 'art' -draperies and cushions and a few Japanese fans. I mean to make our home -as pretty as possible. Shall we have a garden?" - -"Oh, I daresay--a kitchen garden, certainly. For the Mission Committee -wants to encourage the planting of vegetables and even some degree of -farming, so that we may live as much as possible on local products. We -are taking out spades and hoes and rakes in plenty, a small plough, an -incubator, and any amount of useful seeds." - -"I'm sure," said Lucy, still musing, "there ought to be lovely wild -flowers in Africa and beautiful ferns, too. I mean to have a little -wild garden of my own, and I shall press the flowers and send them to -mother in my letters." - -"I daresay you will be able to do that, when you have finished your -household work and done your teaching in the school." - -"Teaching in the school?" - -"Why, of course you will help me in that. You'll have to take the -girls' class, whilst I take the boys'." - -"Oh, shall I? That's rather horrid. I didn't think I was going out to -Africa to teach, just the same as at home. The National School children -at Aldermaston are quite tiresome enough. What will little black girls -be like, I wonder?" - -"I'm told they're very quick at learning.... I am sorry," continued -John, rather portentously, "that you don't quite seem to realize the -nature of the duties you are about to undertake. I love you very -dearly, Lucy"--and a tremor in his voice showed sincerity--"but that -isn't the only reason I have asked you to come out to me in Africa and -be my wife. I want a helpmeet, not a playmate; one who will aid me in -bringing these heathen to a knowledge of God's goodness; not an idle -woman who only thinks of picking wild flowers and ornamenting her house. -Don't pout, dear. I only want to save you disappointment. You are not -coming out to a life of luxury, but one of hard work. Besides, it would -be hardly fair to the Mission if you did not take certain duties on -yourself, because when I am married they will increase my pay to two -hundred and fifty pounds a year." - -"What do you get when you are single?" - -"One hundred and eighty. You see a married man gets extra pay because -it is always supposed his wife will add her work to his. A married -missionary, too, has more influence with the natives." - -"All the same, John, we shall sometimes make time to steal away by -ourselves and have a nice little picnic without any of those horrid -black people near us...." - -"Horrid black people, Lucy, have immortal souls...." - -"I daresay, but that doesn't prevent their having black bodies and -looking like monkeys. However, I daresay I shall get used to them. And -if I don't at first ... By the bye, John, I forgot to ask, but I wanted -to, so as to relieve mother's mind--are they cannibals?" - -"What, the people of Hangodi? I don't know, but I scarcely think so. -And if they were, we should have all the more credit in converting -them." - -"Yes; but suppose they wouldn't wait to be converted, but ate you -first?" - -"The little I've read and heard shows me they would never do that. -African cannibals, it seems, are rather careful whom they eat. -Generally only their war captives or their old people. They wouldn't -eat a peaceful stranger, a white man. However, on the east side of -Africa the negroes are _not_ cannibals, any more than we are." - -"Isn't it curious, John, to think what different ideas of right and -wrong prevail amongst the peoples of the world? Here, you say, there -are some tribes in Africa which eat their own relations. Well, I -daresay it is thought quite a right and proper thing to do--out -there--just as we in England think the old folk ought to be cherished -and taken care of, and kept alive as long as possible. Only fancy how -funny it would sound to us to be told that Mr. Jones showed very bad -feeling because he wouldn't join his brother and sister in eating up old -Aunt Brown! And yet I daresay that is what cannibal scandal-mongers -often say to one another. Isn't it wonderful how one lot of human -beings can think and act so differently to another lot; and yet each -party considers that nobody is right but those who believe as they do? -Supposing one day some black missionaries landed in England, dressed in -large earrings, bead necklaces, pocket handkerchiefs and nothing else, -and tried to persuade us to worship some hideous idol and leave off -wearing so many clothes. How astonished we would be ... and yet they -would think they were doing right, just as our missionaries do who go -out to teach savages the Gospel...." - -"Well, I confess I don't see the resemblance. What we preach is the -Truth, the Living Truth. What _they_ believe is a lie of the Devil." - -"Yes, but they don't _know_ it is. They must think it is the truth or -they wouldn't go on believing in it year after year. When I was -teaching geography the other day, I was quite _astonished_ to find in -the Manual that about _four or five hundred millions_ of people were -Buddhists. Isn't it _dreadful_ to think of their all being wrong, all -living in vain. Surely God won't punish them for it hereafter?" - -"It's hard to say. If they had the means of grace offered to them and -rejected the Message I should think He would. But that is the chief -object of our Foreign Missions, to teach the heathen the true principles -of Christianity and bring the Light of the Gospel to them that sit in -darkness. When this has been done throughout the earth, no one will -then be able to say he sinned in ignorance, 'because he knew not the way -of Life.'" - -"And yet, John, see here in England what different views of religion -even good people take. Father goes to Church; you go to Chapel; and -each thinks the other on the wrong road to Heaven." - -"Oh no! Lucy, I wouldn't go so far as that. Of course, I believe that -our Connection has been vouchsafed a special revelation of God's Will -and Purpose among men. But all the same I feel sure that many a Church -person comes into the way of Truth though it may be after much -tribulation. Why, I wouldn't deny that even _Roman Catholics_ may be -saved, if they have led a godly life and acted up to their lights. At -the same time, those who have the Truth among them and are wilfully -blind to its teaching are incurring a heavy responsibility." - -"Then you think father stands less chance of being saved than you do?" - -"Well ... yes ... I do; because in his Church he does not possess the -same means of grace as are given to our Connection." - -"But he is so good, so kind to every one, so fair in his dealings..." - -"Good works without faith are insufficient to save a man." - -"Well, for my part, I can't believe that _any_ one will be lost because -he may not follow the most correct kind of religion. I can't believe -that God will punish any one who isn't very, very wicked indeed. He is -so great; we are so little.... Just think, supposing we saw an ant -doing anything wrong should we feel obliged to hurt it or burn it? -Should we not be rather amused and pitiful? And mustn't we seem the -very tiniest of ants to God?" - -"Ah, Lucy! The belief in the fierce judgments of the Almighty is a -fundamental Truth of our religion, and if your faith in _that_ is -shaken, everything will begin to go.... But the subject is too solemn -to be lightly discussed, so let's talk about something else. Have you -finished my slippers?" - -"Yes, and they're perfectly _lovely_. A dark blue, with J.B. -embroidered in white silk. I shall bring them with me to the station -to-morrow.... Why, here we are at the gates of the garden! _How_ we've -walked and _how_ we've talked! And look, John,"--drawing him back from -standing too near the iron gates, "there's his lordship on the terrace, -and I do believe the young lady with him is the one he's become engaged -to!" - -John looked in the direction whither Lucy discreetly inclined her head, -beyond triumphs of carpet-bedding to the terrace which fronted the south -side of the great house. And there, foremost of several groups of -Sunday callers who were taking tea at small tables, they saw specially -prominent a party of three: a pretty girl rather showily dressed in the -height of 1886 fashion, an old lady, and an elderly man, tall, a little -inclined to stoop, dressed in dark, loose-fitting tweeds. He had a long -face with a massive jaw and rather a big nose. But though they were not -visible at a distance of fifty yards there were kindly wrinkles round -his dark grey eyes as he suddenly lifted them from the seated ladies and -glanced across the flower beds to see who was looking at him from the -outer world. - -This was Lord Silchester; and John, not wishing to prolong his -indiscretion, raised his wide-awake and turned away with his betrothed. -He and Lucy then walked directly to Aldermaston, John leaving her at the -railway station, where he consummated his breach of the Sabbath by -taking an evening train back to Theale, and so returned to his home at -the Aerated Waters factory for the last night he was ever to pass there. - - -The next morning, punctually at seven o'clock, Lucy's father drew up his -gig before the booking-office of Theale station, and, getting a porter -to hold the horse, helped Lucy down and accompanied her on to the -station platform, where they found the Baines family already assembled: -Mrs. Baines gloomily seated on a bench, Mr. Baines reading the old -newspaper placards of the closed bookstall, and John busy seeing his -numerous boxes labelled. - -"Hullo, Baines!--and ma'am--hope you're well ... a bit cast down, I -expect? But there, it's a fine career he's starting on.... Still, it's -always a wrench. John"--extending his hand--"I've just called in to wish -you good luck _and_ a prosperous voyage _and_ a happy return, by and -bye. Mind you make a comfortable home out there for my little girl! I -shall be feeling about as bad as you feel, ma'am" (Mrs. Baines kept a -perfectly impassive face during these attempts at sympathy and did not -even look at the speaker), "next--when is it to be? March?--when I come -to part with Lucy. But life's made up of partings and meetings, which -is why, some'ow, I don't like railway stations. Now I can't stop, and -if I could, I should only be in the way. Must be off to market. Leave -you Lucy. She'll walk back to school. Good-bye, John...." - -And Farmer Josling hurried out of the station and his horse's hoofs -sounded in quick succession on the ascent to the main road. Lucy, left -behind actually found herself regretting that father had brought her in -such good time as to give her five-and-twenty minutes or more of -irresolute attendance on John. When she had presented him with the -slippers, had squeezed his hand two or three times, and adjured him to -write from the first stopping-place, besides sending a postcard from -London to say he was leaving "all right"; had made a few suggestions -about his luggage which, in spite of the urbanity of departure, were too -futile to be answered or adopted; and had insisted on pushing the band -of his blue tie under the shirt button at the back of his neck, so that -it might not rise up over the collar: there seemed to be nothing left to -say or do. The bookstall was not yet opened so there were no papers to -be bought. - -She would have talked with Mrs. Baines, who had retired to the little -waiting-room and was pretending there to read a great roll of texts in -big print hung against one of the walls. But at her first remark she -noticed Mrs. Baines's eyelids were quivering and her under lip twitching -in a way to indicate that she was a prey to almost uncontrollable -emotion. Although she mechanically turned the leaves of the texts, her -eyes were not focussing them, and something seemed to be moving up and -down her lank throat which she could not finally swallow. She only -answered Lucy's remark by an inarticulate gurgle and waved her away. -There was something so pathetic in her dismal ugliness, in her awkwardly -restrained emotion, that Lucy was suddenly moved to pity as she returned -to the platform. Her embarrassment was cut short by the tumult -occasioned by the approaching train, heralded by the clanging of the -station bell. The train was full and John had hurriedly to pass all the -second class compartments in review to find a place not only for himself -but for the amorphous packages deemed too frail for the guard's van. -When at last he had squeezed himself and his parcels past the -obstructing knees of the established passengers; he had just time to -twist round, stretch out over his surly neighbours' laps, and squeeze -Lucy's timorously extended hand. Then the train gave a lurch forward -and a slide backwards which made him nearly bite his tongue off in an -attempt to say good-bye to his parents, and finally rolled slowly out of -the station, while the forms of father, mother, and sweetheart left -standing on the platform grouped themselves for one moment in an -attitude of mute farewell before the advance of the train cut them off -from his sight. - -The retreating chain of carriages shut itself up like a telescope, and -the station began to resume its sleepy calm. Mrs. Baines's emotion now -could no longer be restrained from expression. She tottered towards the -waiting-room and sinking heavily on to a hard wooden seat she choked and -hiccupped and sobbed, and the tears rolled regularly, one after the -other, down her cavernous cheeks. Lucy took her trembling hands and -tried to soothe her; and then, Mrs. Baines, softened by this sympathy, -lost all that remained of her self-control and abandoned herself limply -on Lucy's shoulder. - -"Oh!" she gasped, "I've parted with him in anger--he's gone! ... Perhaps -I shall never see him again.... My boy.... My only son. I never said a -kind word to him before he left. I thought there would be time.... I -thought John would come and make it up. I was cross because he went out -walking with you and came back late by train yesterday. You know I -always taught him to observe the Sabbath. But I'd forgive him -_anything_ if he'd only come back and give me _one_ kiss ... my boy...." - -But John was well on his way to Reading, and the London express, and all -his mother's tardy plaints were fruitless to recall him. Moreover, he -was not perceptive. To him, his mother's demeanour had seemed much as -usual; and he was certainly not conscious that she had parted with him -in anger. He was fond of her in a way, but he had been used from -childhood to her being always in a huff about something or other. - -Lucy restored her future mother-in-law to partial calmness, straightened -her bonnet, re-tied the bonnet strings, and walked a little of the way -back with her towards Tilehurst, while Mr. Baines followed submissively -behind. For the rest of that day he enjoyed unrebuked freedom to do as -he liked. He ate his fill and even smoked a pipe in the parlour. His -wife having regained her composure held aloof from him in silent, stony -grief. - -Lucy fortunately encountered the innkeeper of Aldermaston driving -thither in a chaise and got a lift, nearly as far as her home, a -substantial farmstead on the Mortimer road, close to both church and -school. This enabled her to begin her duties punctually. She taught her -girls and boys from nine to twelve and two to four. She thought of John -with gentle melancholy during the day, and even shed a tear or two at -night when she concentrated her mind on the scenes of her betrothed's -departure, especially his mother's wild display of grief. But the next -morning as she walked from the farmstead to the school she actually -hummed a gay tune as she picked a spray of wild roses from the dewy -hedge and arranged them round her light straw hat. At the same time she -had a twinge of remorse at her forgetfulness--poor John was doubtless -now at sea watching England fade from the exile's view; and she forced -herself to assume before her scholars an aspect of restrained grief. - -Nevertheless, as day after day of summer weather went by in her -surroundings of perfect beauty, she confessed to herself she had seldom -felt so happy, in spite of her sweetheart's absence. - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *SIBYL AT SILCHESTER* - - -They had ridden over from opposite directions--he from Farleigh Wallop -on the downs south of Basingstoke, she from Aldermaston in the Kennet -Valley: to meet on the site of the Roman Calleva Atrebatum, the modern -Silchester. This was in the beginning of July, 1886. The Roman city of -early Christian Britain was then--and now--only marked by two-thirds of -an encircling wall of rough masonry, crowned with ivy and even trees. -There were grassy hummocks concealing a forum, a basilica and a few -houses. An occasional capital of a column or obvious blocks of ancient -hewn stone, scattered here and there among the herbage, made it clear, -apart from tradition, that the place of their rendezvous had a momentous -past. But its present was of purely agricultural interest--waving fields -of green wheat, sheep grazing on the enclosed mounds, an opulent -farmstead--unless you were a landscape painter of the Birket Foster -school: then you raved about the thatched cottages, the old church and -its churchyard. - -On this July morning Captain Roger Brentham and Sibyl Grayburn had the -untilled portion of the site of Calleva Atrebatum quite to themselves. -This, no doubt, was the reason why they had decided to meet there for an -explanation which the man deemed to be due to him from the young woman. -He, of course, arrived first, but Sibyl was not long in making her -appearance from the direction of Silchester common. A groom who rode -behind her at the sight of Captain Brentham touched his hat and trotted -away.... Brentham tied up the two horses in the shade of the Roman wall. - -Sibyl disposed herself gracefully on a mound which covered the site of a -Roman dwelling, arranged the long skirt of her riding habit so that the -riding trousers and other suggestions of her limbs might not be too -obvious to the male eye. - -Roger was a captain in the Indian Army, about twenty-eight or -twenty-nine, strongly built, tanned in complexion, supple in figure, -good-looking, keen-eyed. Sibyl Grayburn was a decidedly pretty young -woman of twenty-five, the daughter of Colonel Grayburn who had recently -moved from Aldershot to Aldermaston and was trying to live the life of a -gentleman farmer on rather slender means. The Brenthams and Grayburns -of the younger generation were distant cousins. - -_Roger_ (seating himself on the mound not too near to Sibyl, and -scanning her attentively): "Well, you're just as pretty as you were five -years ago--a little filled out perhaps.... And _this_ is how we meet. -How _utterly_ different from what I had been looking forward to! I -remember when we said good-bye at Farleigh _how_ you cried, and how for -the first four years you scarcely missed a mail.... And you can't say -_I_ didn't write--when I got a chance.... Or that I didn't work like a -nigger to get a position to afford to marry--and _now_ I hear from Maud -you're going to marry Silchester. To tell you the truth it didn't come -as a complete shock. I saw hints of it in some beastly Society paper -that some one posted to me at Aden--I suppose it was _you_! And this is -what women call _fidelity_!" - -_Sibyl_ (at first keeps her eyes on the turf, but presently looks -Brentham defiantly in the face): "If women of my own age were to discuss -my case--not mere romantic school girls--they would say I had acted with -ordinary common sense, and _very_ unselfishly. I am, as you know, -twenty-five, and I'm sure you won't have enough to marry on for several -years--I should never again get such a chance ... and I really _do_ like -Lord Silchester, you don't know _how_ kind he can be--and you can't -_really_ care so very much. You reached England a fortnight ago, and -never even _wrote_ to me...." - -_Roger_: "I was too much taken aback by that paragraph in the _World_ -... and Maud gave me a hint in the letter she sent to my club. Besides, -I had to stop in London to see the Foreign Office and the India Office -... and ... and to attend a missionary meeting" (Sibyl ejaculates with -scorn: "_Missionary_ meeting!") "and get some clothes.... I had nothing -fit to wear when I landed...." - -_Sibyl_: "Well, I'm not blaming you. I only meant that if you were so -madly in love with me as you pretend you would have dashed down to get a -sight of me before you went hobnobbing with your missionary friends ... -or bothered about clothes. I did not want my engagement to come to you -as a shock, so I _did_ post that _World_ to you and got Gerry to address -it--and I told Maud, so that she might prepare you. But _do_ let's be -calm and sensible and not waste time in needless reproaches. I _must_ -get back to lunch. We've got Aunt Christabel coming--she helped to bring -it about, you know." (Roger interpolates "_Damn_ her!") "She's got -twice mother's determination.... Dear old Roger.... I _am_ sorry ... in -a way ... but you'll find _heaps_ of girls, _much_ nicer than I am, -ready to jump at the prospect of marrying you." (Here Sibyl's eyes -glanced with a little regret at his turned-away face, with the bronzed -cheek, the firm profile and the upward twist of the dark moustache.) -"And you know our 'engagement' was only boy-and-girl fun. Besides, now -I know more about things--I was so young when you went away--I don't -approve of cousins marrying.... Isn't their--I mean aren't their ... -children deaf and dumb or congenital idiots, or something -unpleasant?..." (And here Sibyl, appropriately to the period in which -she was living, blushed a deeper rose than the ride had given her at the -audacity in alluding to children as the result of marriage.) - -_Roger_: "Nonsense. Heaps of cousins marry and everything turns out all -right if they come of healthy stock as we do. Besides, we're only -second cousins. But of course this is nothing but an evasion. You -thought you could do better for yourself by marrying an elderly peer, -and so you threw me over...." - -_Sibyl_: "Well! I _did_ think I might, and _not_ selfishly. There's -papa--more or less in a financial tangle over his farm.... There's -mother, wearing herself ill, trying to make both ends meet ... and Clara -and Juliet to be brought out, and the boys to be educated and got into -professions..." (crying a little or pretending to do so out of -self-pity) "...I know I'm sacrificing myself for my family, but what -would you have me do? I shall soon become an old maid, and you won't be -able to marry for _ever_ so long...." - -(Roger mutters: "I've five hundred a year and...") - -_Sibyl_: "Yes, but what could we do on that? Poor papa could afford to -give me nothing more than my trousseau.... Even on seven hundred a -year, _if_ you get a Consulate, we couldn't manage two households, and -I'm perfectly certain I couldn't stand the African climate long, and I -should have to come home. I _don't_ like roughing it, I should -_dislike_ hot countries; and I _hate_ black people.... No, Roger ... -dear ... be sensible... If you want to carve out a great career in -Africa or India you don't want to be hampered with a wife for several -years to come; and then ... I'll--I'll find some really _nice_ girl to -marry you, somebody with a little money. And Silchester might help you -enormously. They'll probably take him into the new Government--aren't -you glad that _horrid_ old Gladstone's _gone_?--He'll be at the Colonial -Office or somewhere like that and I know he'd do anything I asked him, -once we were married. If you still want to go back to Africa he shall -get you made a Consul or a Governor or whatever it is you want...." But -Roger was not going to listen to anything so cold-blooded, even though -all the time an undercurrent of thought was glancing at the advantages -that might accrue from Sibyl's _mariage de convenance_. He'd be -_hanged_ if he'd take anything from Lord Silchester.... He was entitled -to some such appointment, anyway, after all he had done. But there, he -had lost all interest in life and if he went to the bad, Sibyl would be -to blame. All his interest in an African career had been bound up with -Sibyl's sharing it. With her at his side he felt equal to anything. He -would conquer all Equatorial Africa, strike at the Mahdi from the south, -find Emin Pasha, lay all Equatoria at the feet of Queen Victoria, and in -no time Sibyl would be Lady Brentham---- - -"Yes," interjected Sibyl, "and lose my complexion and be old before my -time, riding after you through the jungle, or living stupidly like a -grass widow at home...." - -Yet as he jerked out his tirade rather theatrically she noted him with -an approving eye. His anger and extravagance brought out a certain -boyishness and, made him, with the freedom of the jungle about him, -still additionally attractive physically.... He certainly was -good-looking and in the prime of manhood ... she sighed ... the -remembrance of Lord Silchester's pale, somewhat flabby face, his -slightly pedantic manner, his carefulness about his health.... He -rode--yes--they had already had decorous rides together, but she -imagined before the ride his cob had had some of the freshness taken out -of him by the groom.... - -Sibyl tried by broken phrases, and half-uttered hints, to convey the -idea that Lord Silchester being nearly sixty--at any rate close on -fifty-six--and not of robust health, might not live for ever; though -really she wouldn't mind if _she_ died first, men were so perfectly -hateful, and so was your family--if you were a woman. You were expected -to do all you could for your family, and abused into the bargain by -others who held you bound by foolish promises made when you were a mere -girl without any knowledge of the world. Still, there was a -possibility--just a possibility--for weren't we all mortal?--that she -might find herself a widow, a lonely widow some day. Roger by then -would have made a great career, become a sort of Sir Samuel Baker; he'd -have discovered and named lakes after royalty; then they might meet -again; and who could say? Certainly, if it came to _love_, she wouldn't -deny she had never felt _quite_ the same towards any one as she had -towards Roger.... - -But Roger checked such philosophizings rudely, saying they were -positively indecent: at which she expressed herself as very angry. Then -leading out the horses in eye-flashing silence, Roger helped her to -mount and swung himself into the saddle. He escorted her silently to -Aldermaston main street, raised his hat, and rode off up the Mortimer -road with a set face and angry eyes on the way back to Basingstoke. - -He paused however at Tadley to give his father's cob--borrowed for the -day--a feed and a rest. His ride lay through one of the loveliest parts -of England in those days, before "Dora" had commandeered timber from the -woods--to find afterwards she did not want it--before farmers had -changed tiles or thatch on barns to corrugated iron, and chars-a-bancs, -motor cycles and side-cars with golden-haired flappers, school treats -and bean feasts had made the country-side noisy, dangerous and -paper-strewn. - -Insensibly his mood softened as he rode. It was more than four years -since he had been home. Though he had spent all of his youth in this -country, save for school and military college, his eyes seemed never -before to have taken in the charm of English landscapes. Here was -England at its best in the early part of July: poppies blazing in the -green corn and whitish green oats, hay still lingering--grey on -green--in the fields, ox-eyed daisies fully out, wild roses still in -bloom in the hedge-rows, blue crane's bill, blue vetch, and purple-blue -campanulas in the copse borders. The plump and placid cows, with -swinging udders, so different from the gaunt African cattle with a -scarcely visible milk-supply, the splendid cart-horses, the sheep--neat -and tidy after shearing--the cock pheasants running across the -sun-and-shadow-flecked roads, the cawing rooks, and the cooing -woodpigeons, the geese and donkeys on the commons. Here and there, off -the main road, park gates of finely wrought iron with a trim -geranium-decked lodge and a vista of some charming avenue towards an -invisible great house; side turnings, half-overgrown with turf, leading -to villages quaintly entitled. Some of the details his eye and ear and -nose took in--such as the braying of barrel organs on the fringe of an -unseen fair, on a rather burnt and blackened gipsy-befouled common; or -the smell of pig-sties in a hamlet, or placards in big print pasted -round an ancient stump or on an old oak paling--it was irrational to -call beautiful. But together they made up England at its best, with old -churches packed with the history of England, the little towns so -prosperous, the straggling villages, beautiful if insanitary, the -signposts with their agreeable Anglo-Saxon and Norman names, so pleasing -to the eye after years of untracked wilderness; the postman trudging his -round in red-and-black, the gamekeeper in velveteen, the hearty -labourers in corduroy, blue-shirted, bare-armed and hairy chested. All -this was England. "Was there a jollier country in the world?" (There -was not, in 1886.) - -And as to Sibyl.... How differently he saw her now, after four years! -As pretty as paint, though rather overheated after a short ride; but -_how_ artificial! What a delusion to suppose such a woman would have -cared for a rough life in Africa. Why she even spoke slightingly of -India, a country of romance far exceeding Africa. Indeed, he had only -turned to Africa and African problems because all the great careers to -be made in India were seemingly over.... There was nothing to be done -in India without powerful backing.... - -Backing? It was perhaps silly to have flouted the suggestion of Lord -Silchester's influence.... It was difficult unless you were related to -permanent officials or members of Parliament to get a Consular -commission in East Africa. Why not gradually--gradually of course--it -wouldn't do to forgive her too quickly--become reconciled to Sibyl's -marriage and pursue instead his second desire, a great African -career?... - -So it was a comparatively happy Roger Brentham who cantered up the road -to the vicarage at Farleigh Wallop in the late afternoon of that day and -sat with his sister Maud in the arbour enjoying a sound English tea. -Maud, a pleasant-faced young woman of thirty, the only sister of three -stalwart brothers, one a soldier, another a sailor and the third -intending to be a barrister; housekeeper to her father, an absent-minded -archaeologist; could not be called pretty, because she was too much like -a young man of twenty-five with almost a young man's flat figure, but -she was in every way satisfactory as a sister. Her father was out on -some archaeological ramble and she was glad of it because she thought -Roger might have come to her with a heart to mend. No doubt he felt -heart-broken over Sibyl's defection. She looked at him inquiringly -while she poured out tea, but would not of course broach the subject. - -"You've been out a long time with the cob. I hope you haven't -over-ridden him? Where did you go?" - -"To Silchester and back; but I baited him at Tadley and gave him an -hour's rest in Basingstoke; and another hour at Silchester. I've jogged -along very quietly, looking up old haunts--and--and I've seen Sibyl -Grayburn. She told me all about her engagement." - -"Sibyl? Then--you don't mind so much? I hardly knew how to break it to -you...." - -"_Mind_? Oh, well, there _was_ a boy-and-girl engagement, a flirtation -between us before I went away, as you knew. But Africa drove all that -out of my mind. Besides, how can I marry on five hundred a year? I dare -say Sibyl has done well for herself, and she's getting on. Girls can't -afford to wait and look about them like a man can. By the bye, old -girl, why doesn't some one come along and marry _you_? I don't know a -better sort of wife than _you'd_ make...." - -_Maud_: "Thank you, Roger, I'm sure you mean it. But I don't suppose I -shall ever marry. My line is to look after father for the rest of his -life, and then become everybody's aunt. I'm really his curate, you -know. And his clerk and his congregation, very often. Oh, I'm quite -happy; don't pity me; I couldn't have nicer brothers ... or perhaps a -nicer life. I love Farleigh----" - -_Roger_ (not noticing, man-like, the tiny, tiny sigh that accompanied -this renunciation of marriage): "Jove! How jolly all this is: you're -right. If I wasn't a man I should think like you. What could one have -better than this?" And he looked away from the arbour and the prettily -furnished tea-table to the well-kept lawn with long shadows from the -herbaceous border. Beyond that the wooded slopes of Farleigh Down and -the distant meadows of the lowland, and then the sun-gilt roofs of -Basingstoke's northern suburb, and the distant trains, three, four, five -miles away with their trails of cotton-wool smoke indicating a busy -world beyond the quietude of the vicarage garden. He could see the -slight trace of a straight Roman road athwart the northern landscape, -Winchester to Silchester; the downs of Hannington and Sydmonton and the -far-off woods of Sherborne. When he was queer with sun-fever in -Somaliland he would sometimes be tantalized by this view, like a mirage, -instead of the brown-grey sun-scorched plains ringed by low ridges of -table-topped mountains and dotted with scrubby acacias, whitened by the -drought ... and would pull himself together, sit upright in the saddle -and wonder if he would ever see home again. And here he was.... Hang -Sibyl!... - - -So when Sibyl Grayburn married Lord Silchester at the end of that -July--because he was fifty-six and impatient to have some summer for his -honeymoon before returning to take up the burden--a well-padded one--of -office in the Conservative Government--Captain Roger Brentham was among -the guests, the relations of the bride. And his best leopard skin, -suitably mounted, was in Sibyl's boudoir at Englefield awaiting Lady -Silchester's return from the Tyrol. - - * * * * * - -And in the winter of 1886, Captain Brentham received from Lord Wiltshire -the offer of a Consulate on the Last Coast of Africa and accepted it. -It was provisionally styled the Consulate for the Mainland of Zangia -where the Germans were already beginning to take up the administration, -but Brentham was instructed to reside at first at Unguja, the island -immediately opposite the temporary German capital. The British -Consul-General for the whole of Zangia had been recalled because of -heated relations with Germany. Pending his return Captain Brentham was -to act as Consul-General without, however, taking too much on himself, -as Mr. Bennet Molyneux of the African Department rather acidly told him. - -Molyneux, at the Foreign Office, was not at all pleased at Brentham's -appointment: one of those things that Lord Wiltshire was wont to do -without consulting the permanent officials. Molyneux had not long been -in the new African Department (hitherto disparagingly connected with the -Slave Trade section); and as Africa had barely entered world-politics, -British Ministers of State showed themselves usually indifferent as to -how the necessary appointments were filled up, adopting generally names -suggested by Molyneux, so that he was accustomed to nominating his poor -relations--he had a reserve of wastrel nephews and cousins--or the -friends of his friends--such as Spencer Bazzard (q.v., as they say in -Encyclopaedias). If they were "rotters," the climate generally killed -them off in a few months; if they made good, they established in time a -claim on the Foreign Office regard and got transferred to Consular posts -in South America, the Mediterranean, and Western Europe. - -But Lord Wiltshire was not always asleep or uninformed, as he sometimes -appeared to be. So his Private Secretary countered Bennet Molyneux's -querulous Memo on Captain Brentham's lack of qualification for such a -responsible East African post by reminding him that the gentleman in -question was well versed in Arabic through having accompanied a -Political Mission to the Persian Gulf, that he had served in Aden and -Somaliland and had conducted an expedition to the Snow Mountains of East -Africa for the Intelligence Division, had contributed papers to the -Royal Geographical Society, was a silver medallist of the Zoological -Society, and was personally vouched for by a colleague of Lord -Wiltshire's: all of which information for the African Department was -summed up by the Private Secretary to Molyneux in a few words: "See -here, Molly; take this and look pleasant. You can't have all the -African appointments in your gift. You must leave a few to the Old Man. -He generally knows what he's about." So Molyneux asked Brentham to dine -with him and apparently made the best of a bad job ... as he said with a -grin to his colleague, Sir Mulberry Hawk. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *LUCY HESITATES* - - -When the school holidays supervened, Lucy spent her vacation quietly at -Aldermaston working at her African outfit--material and mental--in a -desultory way. She supposed she would have to leave in the following -April to join her betrothed. April seemed a long while ahead. She had -not even given notice to the school managers yet of her intention to -give up teaching. It would not be necessary to do so or to brace her -mind for the agony of separation from her home until John had announced -that all was in readiness and she had received the formal intimation of -his Missionary Society that they approved of her going out to join him -and would make the necessary arrangements for a steamer passage. - -Meantime she gave herself up to the delight of reading such books about -African exploration or mission life in Africa as she could obtain from -the Reading libraries. They served to strengthen her determination to -keep faith with John; while other ties and loves were pulling the other -way. She had in her veins that imaginational longing to see strange -lands and travel which is such an English trait; yet this longing -alternated with fits of absolute horror at her foolishness in having -consented to such an engagement. Why could she not have recognized when -she was well off? Could any one in her station of life have a more -delightful home? - -The farmstead stood on a slope about a hundred feet above the Kennet -Valley. The river was a mile away, though little subsidiary brooks and -channels permeated the meadows in between, and in spring, summer and -autumn produced miracles of loveliness in flower shows: purple -loosestrife, magenta-coloured willow herb, mauve-tinted valerian, -cream-coloured meadow-sweet, yellow flags, golden king-cups, yellow and -white water-lilies, water-crowsfoot and flowering rush. Lucy was an -unexpressed, undeveloped artist, with an exceptional appreciation (for a -country girl) of the beauty in colour and form of flowers and herbage of -the velvety, blue-green, black-green cedars which rose above the wall of -the Park and overshadowed the churchyard, of the superb elms, oaks, -horse-chestnuts, ashes and hawthorns studding the grassy slopes between -the house and the water meadows. She loved the rich crimson colour of -the high old brick walls of the Park and the same tint in the farm -buildings, varied with scarlet and orange and the lemon and grey of -lichen and weather-stain. The old farm-house in which she had been born -and had passed all her twenty-four years of placid life, save when she -was at boarding-school, seemed to her just perfect in its picturesque -ancientry and its stored smells of preserved good things to eat and -drink. Their garden was carelessly ordered, but from March to October -had a wealth of flowers, the spicy odours of box borders, the pungent -scent of briar and honeysuckle. - -She did take much interest in the details of farming--a trifle of -self-conceit made her think herself superior in her bookishness and -feeble water-colour painting to her younger sisters, who were already -experts in poultry-tending, butter-making, and bread-baking. But she -accepted as a matter of course the delicious results (as we should think -them now) of living at a well-furnished, well-managed farm: the milk and -cream, the fresh butter and new-laid eggs, the home-cured bacon, the -occasional roast duck and chicken; the smell of the new-mown hay, the -sight of ripe wheat or wheat neatly grouped in its golden sheaves in -chessboard pattern; the September charms of the glinting stubble with -its whirring coveys of partridges, its revived flower shows--scarlet and -blue, bright yellow, dead white, lavender, russet, and mauve; the -walnuts in the autumn from their own trees; the Spanish chestnuts from -the Park; impromptu Christmas dances in the big barn; an occasional -visit to a theatre or a magic-lantern-illustrated lecture in Reading. -On one such occasion she saw for the first time Captain Roger Brentham, -the explorer, who whilst staying with Lord and Lady Silchester gave a -lecture on his recent travels and some wonderful snow mountain he had -visited in East Africa.... Why should she seek to leave such -surroundings? She could read and hear about all that was most -interesting in the world without leaving her parents and her home. Yet, -to disappoint poor John, who counted on her coming out to share his -work--and if she threw him over she might never get another offer of -marriage and grow stout and florid like Bessie Rayner, ten years older -than she was, up at the Grange farm.... - -But _was_ marriage after all, with its children and illnesses and house -drudgery, so _very_ attractive to a dreamer? Might she not be happier -if she passed all the rest of her life at Aldermaston, saving up her -salary as a school-mistress against old age and a possible leaving of -the farm if--ever so far ahead--dear father died? She had often -thought, with a little encouragement she might _write_ ... write -stories! ... and she thrilled at the idea. But then, what experience -had she of the world--the great world beyond southern Berkshire--which -she could set down on paper? - -So far, no one had proposed to her--even John had hardly asked her -definitely to marry him. He had always taken it for granted, since he -was eighteen, that she would, and from that age herself she had tacitly -accepted the position of his fiancee. Why had she acquiesced? There -was a weakness of fibre about her and John's stronger will had impressed -itself on her smiling compliance. Her mother had rather pursed her lips -at the alliance, having her doubts as to John being good enough, and -John's mother being even bearable as a mother-in-law. This faint -opposition had made Lucy determined to persevere with the engagement. -She had a distaste for a farmer type of husband; it seemed too earthy. -And she wanted to travel. A missionary ought to make a refined spouse -and be able to show her the strange places of the earth. - -There were sides of John's character she did not like. She was not -naturally pious. The easy-going Church of England and its decorous -faith were good enough for her; she loved this world--the world of the -Kennet Valley with genial, worldly Reading on one side and -not-too-disreputable, racing Newbury on the other--too well to care -overmuch for the Heavenly Home in which John was staking out claims; if -she had known the word she would have called John priggish; instead, she -said "sanctimonious." Yet withal she was conscious of a certain -manliness, a determined purpose about him.... - -Perhaps, however, in the summer months and the rich contentment of -September the balance of her inclination might have been tilted against -him, she might have nerved herself to writing that cruel letter which -should say she shrank from joining him in Africa; were it not that he -wrote faithfully from each stopping place, each crisis on his journey. -His letters--closely written in a facile running hand on thin foreign -paper--were stuffed with conventionally pious phrases, they contained -diatribes on his ungodly fellow-passengers who broke the Sabbath (with -an added zest from his remonstrances), played cards for money, told -shocking stories in the smoking-room, and conducted themselves on shore -in a manner which he could not describe. But then he gave very good -descriptions of Algiers, of Port Said, Suez and Aden, and made her wish -to see these places with her own eyes, smell their strange smells, and -eat their strange viands. His letter from Unguja announcing his arrival -there in August finally decided Lucy to throw in her lot with John. - -There was also the further incentive that African adventure--missionary -and political--was again becoming fashionable and attracting attention. -Stanley was starting to find Emin Pasha; others had embarked or -threatened to embark on the same quest. More and more missionaries were -going out. It was rumoured that Ann Jamblin had announced her intention -to take up a missionary career. Lucy wrote a little anxiously to -inquire. Ann admitted she had toyed with the idea as she believed -herself capable of teaching and even of preaching to the savage. But if -she did go it would probably be to West Africa where the climate was -even more deadly than in the South and East, and such a sacrifice might -be more acceptable before the Heavenly Throne than the comfortable and -assured position of a missionary's wife, not expected to do more than -make a home for her husband. - - -John's first Unguja letter said that Thomas, Bayley, Anderson and -himself had been very kindly received there by the Commercial Agent to -the East African Mission--commercial because from the first it had been -decided that a reasonable degree of trade should go hand in hand with -fervent propaganda and Brotherhood work. The Mission must strive to -make itself self-supporting in the long run as it had no rich church -behind it. So there were to be lay agents who traded in the products of -the country and whose stores would prove an additional attraction to the -native visitor and inquirer. The Agent at their Unguja depot--Mr. -Callaway--had been a trader on the West Coast of Africa, agent there to -a great distilling firm; who had become so shocked at the effects of -cheap intoxicants on the native mind and morals that he had thrown up -his employ and enlisted under the banner of a Trading Mission, pledged -not to deal in alcohol or gunpowder. Mr. Callaway had "got religion" and -"found Christ" (in Liverpool), but in spite of that--the naive John -wrote thus unthinkingly--was a very pleasant fellow who had soon picked -up the native language and got on good terms with the Arabs of Unguja. -The latter fully approved of his teetotalism--avoidance of alcohol being -one of the few good points in their religion. John described with -unction the prayer meetings and services they held in Mr. Callaway's -sheds and go-downs on the shore of Unguja's port; though he had to admit -that his fervour had been a little modified by the rancid smell of the -copra[#] stored in these quarters and the appalling stench that arose -from the filth on the beach. But there was plenty of good Christian -fellowship at Unguja. The representatives of the great Anglican Mission -established there--with a Cathedral and a Bishop and a thoroughly popish -style of service--had shown themselves unexpectedly good fellows. One -of them, Archdeacon Gravening, had presented the four young recruits for -the East African Mission to the Arab sultan, and they had seen him -review his Baluchi and Persian troops at the head of whom was an English -ex-naval officer. Even the Fathers of the French Roman Catholic -settlement had a certain elemental Christianity he had never thought to -find in the followers of the Scarlet Woman.... - - -[#] Dried coco-nut pulp. - - -The great British Balozi or Consul-General who had been the -unacknowledged ruler of Unguja had just left for home ... rumour said -because he could not get on with the aggressive Germans, who were -obtaining a hold over the country. They had paid their respects instead -to British authority in the person of a very uppish and sneering -Vice-Consul--Mr. Spencer Bazzard ... who had great doubts of the value -of Christianity so far as the negro was concerned. Mr. Bazzard, however, -was dead against the Germans and wanted as many British subjects as -possible to enter the interior behind the German coast so as to "queer -their pitch," if they attempted to put their "rotten protectorate," in -force. - -Unguja, John wrote, was a wonderfully interesting island, despite its -horrible smells, its heat and mosquitoes, which never left you alone, -day or night. Such a mixture of Arabs and Persians, Indian traders, -fierce, long-haired Baluchis, plausible Goanese half-castes, Madagascar -people, Japanese and Chinese, and negroes from all parts of Africa.... -He had already had a touch of fever and Bayley had broken out in boils; -Anderson had suffered from diarrhoea; but all three were overjoyed at -the prospect of leaving, soon after this letter was posted, in an Arab -"dhow" which would convey them and the porters of their expedition to -Lingani on the mainland, whence they would start on a two weeks' journey -up-country. They were taking with them Snider rifles and ammunition to -defend their caravan against wild beasts on the road and also to shoot -game for the caravan's meat supply. At Mr. Callaway's advice they had -been practising with these rifles at the shooting butts of the Sultan's -army for the past week.... Thomas had been told off for Taita.... - -Then ensued a long silence and Lucy, now thoroughly interested, was -getting anxious. But in January came a letter of many pages headed -"Hangodi, Ulunga, November, 1886." John wrote that he and his -companions had encountered many difficulties. On the fortnight's march -inland from Lingani their porters had several times run away in alarm, -hearing that a bloodthirsty tribe called "Wahumba" were on the march, or -that there was famine ahead. The German traders on the coast had not -been friendly, and the attitude of the Arab chiefs in the coast-belt was -surly. However, one of these Arabs, Ali bin Ferhani, was a kindlier man -than the others and had told off some of his slaves (John feared they -were, but what could you do?) to carry their loads to the Ulunga -country. They also had with them a Christian convert, a native of -Ulunga and a released slave (Josiah Briggs) who could speak English to -some extent and was very useful as an interpreter and head man.... -Well, they had reached Hangodi at last and liked its surroundings. There -were mountains--quite high ones--all round. Hangodi, itself, was over -three thousand feet above sea level and quite cool at nights. Indeed -John now regretted he had spurned the idea of mantel-borders, for they -had fireplaces in the dwelling-houses, both those already built and -those they were planning. A fire at night, in fact, was often welcome -and cheerful. The Chief approved of the settlement, wanted them to teach -his people, and keep off the "Wa-dachi," as he called the Germans, whom -he did not seem to like. But the Chief's people, the Wa-lunga, were -suspicious and quarrelsome, and as he could not speak their language and -had to explain the Gospel through an interpreter, they paid him little -attention. The elders of the tribe liked to come and talk with him in -his verandah, that is to say, _they_ did the talking--punctuated by a -good deal of snuff-taking and spitting; and he gleaned what he could of -its sense from the summaries given to him by Josiah Briggs. It seemed -to consist of many questions as to how the white men became so rich and -why he could not teach this method to their young people. If he tried -to expound Sacred things to them they asked in return for a cough -medicine or to be shown how to make gunpowder and caps, and how to cure -a sick cow. Yet he felt sure their minds would be pierced ere long by a -gleam of Gospel light.... - -There were also some Muhammadan traders from the Coast settled for a -time with the Chief, who, he strongly suspected, was selling them -slaves, war-captives. Though the Chief seemed willing to listen to their -story of the Redeemer, he nevertheless sent out his "young men," his -warriors, on raiding expeditions against the tribes to the south, and -they sometimes returned from such forays with cattle, with men cruelly -tied with bush-rope and their necks fastened to heavy forked sticks, and -with weeping young women whom they took as wives.... The Wangwana, as -these black "Arabs" were called, were very hostile to his mission--more -so sometimes than the real Arabs. Occasionally he had met a -white-skinned Arab who reminded him most strongly of the Bible -patriarchs, and who seemed very desirous of being on friendly terms with -the white man. But these black Arabs who spoke Swahili, the language of -Unguja, though they affected outward politeness, were working hard -against the good influence of the East African Mission and trying to -persuade the Chief to reconsider his first grant of land and expel the -white people who were spies in the service of the great Balozi and the -English men-of-war, watching to intercept slave dhows.... - -The children of the Wa-lunga were frightened of him and his two -companions and could not be induced, even by gifts of beads, to sit on -their knees. But their mothers, on the other hand, worried the white -men incessantly for beads and calico, soap and salt, which last they ate -as though it was a sweetmeat. Yet they ran away when he sent for the -interpreter and tried to tell them about God. One woman had shouted -back at him that it was very wicked to talk about God; it would only -draw down the lightning ... much better leave God alone and then He left -you alone--this at least was how Josiah had translated her speech. - -He could not see any idols about the place. He fancied the people -worshipped the spirits of the departed, which they believed to dwell in -large hollow trees. They were also terribly afraid of witch-craft.... - -Hangodi was, however, rather a pretty district, and Lucy would be -pleased with the site the Mission had chosen. Bayley, who had some -knowledge of surveying, made out its altitude above sea-level to be -3,500 feet, more or less. There was a clear stream of water running -through a gorge below the Mission enclosure--for they had constructed a -rough hedge. A few wild date palms might be seen in the stream valley -and there were plenty of pretty ferns and wild flowers. - -As to lions; they could be heard roaring every night in the open -country, but hitherto he had not actually seen one. Then with a few -devout phrases and others expressive of his longing for her to join him -the letter came to a conclusion. - - -During all this time Lucy saw little of the Baines family. But a few -days after she had read this letter from Hangodi, Mr. Baines called on -Lucy at the school--it was at the beginning of February--and put into -her hands a copy of _Light to Them that Sit in Darkness_. "There's a -letter in here of John's which they've printed," said Mr. Baines with -considerable exultation, "and mother thought you might like to read it. -Mind you return the magazine to her when you've done so. Good-bye. -S'pose you are starting in a couple of months?" - -Lucy found a column scored at the side with pencil, where the following -matter appeared: - - - BLESSED NEWS FROM EAST AFRICA - -We have received the following intelligence from Brother John Baines, -who has recently joined the East African Mission: - -HANGODI, NGURU, - _November_ 20, 1886. - -MY DEAR MR. THOMPSON,-- - -We arrived here about a month ago after a pleasant stay with the -brethren at Unguja. We reached Hangodi in about two weeks of travel -from the port of Lingani, accompanied by Broth's Anderson and Bayley, -and were greeted most warmly on arrival by Brothers Boley and -Batworth--the "busy B.'s," as they are called--who feared from the -rumours afloat that we should be stopped by native disturbances on the -road. We brought with us from Unguja Josiah Briggs, a convert who was -originally a freed slave from this very district of Hangodi. He has -lived for five years at our depot in Unguja or at the Presbyterian -Mission station at Dombasi. He will be able to assist me materially as -interpreter among the Wa-lunga as Kagulu is his native tongue. - -The journey from Lingani to Hangodi was rather a fatiguing one as the -donkeys we took with us to ride either fell sick poisoned by some herb, -or strayed and were eaten by lions. So we ended by having to walk. Our -Unguja porters ran away before we had got far inland, scared by rumours -of Wahumba raids or stories of the famine raging in the interior; but a -kindly Arab, who is supposed to have known Dr. Livingstone, came to our -assistance and sent a large number of his people to convey us and our -loads to Ulunga, as this district is called (the root--_lunga_--means -the "good" or the "beautiful" country, as indeed it will be, when it has -received the Blessed Gospel). - -Mr. Goulburn, who is pioneering and is "spying out the land" to the -north, travelled with us as far as Gonja and then quitted us, after we -had prayed together in my tent. We turned south and continued our -journey to the Ulunga mountains with the Arab's porters and guided by -Josiah Briggs. - -The country became very hilly, and as it was the beginning of the rainy -season we had occasional violent thunder-storms and the streams were -difficult to cross. Fortunately, however, the early arrival of the -rains kept us from attacks on the part of the terrible roving tribes of -Masai or "Wahumba," who only seem to exist to raid and ravage their -agricultural neighbours, but who don't like doing so in wet weather. -Moreover, they appreciate the springing up of the new green grass after -the drought and prefer taking their cattle--whom they worship--out to -graze. This new grass attracts to the district incredible herds of -antelopes and zebras and gives the lions and leopards such abundance of -food and occupation that they never deemed it worth their while to -attack our caravan, though during the dry season--the Arabs told us--you -could hardly get through the plains without losing a proportion of your -carriers from lions, leopards or hyenas. This early breaking of the -rainy season therefore seemed to us an act of special intervention on -the part of Divine Providence to ensure our safe arrival at our -destination. When we reached Hangodi we were hospitably received by the -Chief Mbogo, to whom Brother Batworth introduced us. Mbogo rules over -the district of Ulunga. He rejoiced greatly that we had come to teach -the Gospel and asked me many questions about the Christian faith. An -earnest spirit of inquiry prevails amongst all his people, who are -flocking to see us and who listen with rapt attention to my simple -exhortations delivered through the medium of Josiah. The Arab traders -at this place are very annoyed that an English missionary should settle -here and expose their wicked traffic in slaves, but I hope to be able to -frustrate their intrigues and induce the Chief to expel them. For that -reason I am working hard at the language with Josiah and with the -vocabularies I have obtained from Mr. Goulburn and Mr. Boley. - -Many of the women in this place are eager to hear the blessed tidings -and bring their little ones with them while they listen spell-bound to -our teaching. I trust soon to have beside me one whose sweet duty it -will be to lead these poor sinful creatures into the way of Truth and -Life.... - -The building of the houses, school and chapel was commenced, as you -know, two years ago by Brothers Boley and Batworth, whom we relieved, -and who are going to Taita to perform similar work for Mr. Goulburn. In -completing the station we shall be our own architects, but Mr. Callaway -has sent us up two Swahili masons and a Goanese carpenter from Unguja. -Anderson is already doing a brisk business at our improvised store. - -And now, dear Mr. Thompson, I remain in all Christian love, - -Yours sincerely, - JOHN BAINES. - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *ROGER'S DISMISSAL* - - -"So it is really settled, Roger, that you are to go out to that African -place with the violent name--something about 'gouging' I know," said -Lady Silchester, one evening in the winter-spring of 1887. - -She believed she was _enceinte_ and treated herself--and was being -treated--with the utmost consideration. Lord Silchester was transfused -with delight at the possibility of having a direct heir and promised -himself the delicious revenge of taunting those officious friends and -advisers who had taxed him with folly in marrying a woman thirty years -younger than himself. So she was lying on a couch in the magnificent -drawing-room of 6a Carlton House Terrace, clad in some anticipation of -the tea-gown. It was nine o'clock in the evening, and Roger Brentham -had been summoned to dine alone with her and her husband and talk over -his personal affairs. Lord Silchester would presently leave for the -House of Lords; meantime he was half listening to their conversation, -half absorbed in a volume of Cascionovo's _Neapolitan Society in the -Eighteenth Century_ in its French edition. - -Roger, with one eye and one ear on Lord Silchester, replied "Yes. Lord -Wiltshire has definitely offered me the appointment--through Tarrington, -of course--his Private Secretary; and equally definitely I've accepted -it. But technically it's not Unguja, nothing so big. Unguja is an -Agency and Consulate-General and is still held by Sir James Eccles, who -is only at home on leave of absence. My post is a Consulate for the -mainland, for the part the German company is taking over. It is styled -'for the mainland of Zangia with residence at the port of Medina.' It -is supposed the Germans are going to style their new protectorate -'Zangia,' the old classical name of the Persians for that part of East -Africa." - -Sibyl Silchester yawned slightly and concealed the yawn with her fan of -Somali ostrich plumes which Roger had given her. Lord Silchester put -down his book and turned suddenly towards Roger. - -"How do you get on at the F.O.?" - -"Oh, pretty well, sir," replied Roger, who still kept up his military -manners with older men in higher positions than his own. "Pretty well. -I've been working in the African Department all the autumn and I think -I've got the hang of things; I mean, how to conduct a Consulate and the -sort of policy we are to observe in East Africa. I've been down in -Kent, also, staying with Sir James Eccles and being indoctrinated by him -with the aims and ambitions he has been pursuing ever since 1866. He's -a grand man! I hope they send him back. I should be proud to serve -under him. Of course, I saw something of him at Unguja in '85-'86..." - -"H'm, well, I've no business to express an opinion, but I much doubt -whether Wiltshire _will_ send him back--Wiltshire sets much value on -good terms with Germany, and Eccles is hated by the Germans...." - -_Roger_: "I know.... They've told me I must try to maintain friendly -relations with our Teutonic friends, especially as I am to be, when the -Consul-General returns, 'on my own,' so to speak, in the German sphere -of influence. Meantime I am to live at Unguja and 'act' for the -Consul-General till he or some one else comes out. Awfully good of you, -sir, to get this chance for me ... it's rare good luck to be going out -to act straight away for a man like Eccles.... I'll try my utmost to do -you credit." - -_Silchester_: "I don't doubt you will. But don't rely too much on my -personal influence. I'm only Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ... a -minister without portfolio, so to speak. Cultivate the friendship of -the permanent officials. Once you're in--I mean once a Secretary of -State has given you the appointment, _they_ are the people who count. I -remember when I was in diplomacy there was rather an uppish young fellow -from the 11th Hussars who'd been somebody's A.D.C. in the Abyssinian -War. Dizzy, to oblige 'somebody,' shoved him into the Slave Trade -Commission. He took himself and his duties seriously and really did go -for the American slave-traders. An Under Secretary hauled him over the -coals for _trop de zele_. Lord Knowsley supported him. The Under -Secretary sent for him afterwards and said, 'Remember this, Bellamy; -Lord Knowsley is not _always here_. WE ARE.' And sure enough after -Knowsley left they found out something against him and 'outed' him from -the service. Moral: always keep in with the permanent officials and -you'll never fall out with the Secretary of State. Do you get on all -right with 'Lamps'?" - -_Roger_: "Sir Mulberry? I scarcely ever see him. He's much too big a -pot to take an interest in me. Besides, he's keenest about the Niger -just now. No, I have mostly to do with Bennet Molyneux, who is head of -the Department; and I'm afraid I don't care overmuch for him. I like -awfully the clerks in the Department except that they don't take Africa -very seriously, think it all a joke, a joke bordering rather on boredom. -Still, they're some of the jolliest fellows I know. It's Molyneux I -can't hit it off with, and they say in the Department it's because I've -come in between some poor relation, some cousin of his he wants to push -on out there. He got him appointed a Vice-Consul a year or two back and -thought he was going to be asked to act for Eccles whilst he was on -leave. And now that Lord Wiltshire has said _I_ am to--I don't doubt at -your suggestion, sir--Molyneux has turned quite acid. Especially when -he had to draft my instructions! I think also he didn't like my setting -him right when I first came to work in the office. He wrote some -minutes about the Slave Trade and about the Germans which were the -uttermost rubbish you ever read, and he never forgave me for not backing -him up at a departmental committee they held--Sir Mulberry presided. -And the mere fact that Thrumball and Landsdell have been awfully kind to -me and had me to dine with them seems to have soured him. And when one -day Lord Wiltshire sent for me to answer some questions--Well, I thought -afterwards Molyneux would have burst with spleen. He threw official -reserve to the winds and walked up and down in his big room -raving--'_I've_ been in this office since 1869,' he said, 'and I don't -believe Lord Wiltshire knows me by sight. Yet he's ready to send for -the veriest outsider if he thinks he can get any information out of him. -The Office is going to the dogs--and so on....'" - -_Lord Silchester_: "Molyneux, Bennet Molyneux. I know him. Not a bad -fellow in some respects, but a bad enemy to make. He is a kind of -cousin of Feenix's--Colonial Office, you know. Well, your fate is in -your own hands ... you must walk warily..." (at this a servant enters -and informs his lordship that the carriage is waiting) "I must be off. -Sibyl! you _won't_ stay up late? Roger, don't talk to her for more than -an hour. Good-bye. Of course, you'll come and see us before you -actually sail?..." (goes out). - -A pause. - -_Sibyl_: "You may smoke now; but only a cigarette, not a cigar." (Roger -lights a cigarette.) - -_Sibyl_: "What dear old Francis said was very good advice. Mind you -follow it. Get on the right side of these old permanencies. Whenever -Francis begins his instances and illustrations I feel what a perfect -book of reminiscences he will some day write. But, of course, it -wouldn't do till he's reached an age when he can no longer serve in the -Government.... I want him some day to be at the Foreign Office or at -least the India Office. I do so love the pomp of those positions, the -great parties in the season, the entertaining of delightful creatures -from the East with jewelled turbans...." - -_Roger_ (a little abruptly): "Are you happy....?" - -_Sibyl_ (turning her head and looking at him intently): "_Happy_? Why, -_of course_. _Perfectly_ happy. Everything has gone splendidly. And -now that I'm going to have a child.... I do hope it'll be a boy. -Francis would be so happy. You quite realize if he has no heir the -peerage and all the entailed estates go away to some perfectly horrid -second cousin out in Australia...." - -_Roger_: "In view of that possibility I wonder he did not marry years -ago, when he was a young man...." - -_Sibyl_: "My dear! How _could_ he? He was a younger son and in the -diplomatic service with barely enough to live on, respectably. And then -he got tangled up with another man's wife. He thinks I know nothing -about that side of him, but as a matter of fact I know everything. His -elder brother, the fifth Lord Silchester, was an awfully bad -lot--treated his wife very badly--they were separated and their only son -was brought up by his mother to be dreadfully goody-goody. Francis's -elder brother died in Paris--I daresay you have heard or read where and -how. It was one of the closing scandals of the Second Empire. But then -the goody-goody son married after he succeeded--married a sister of Lord -Towcester. She was killed in the hunting field and her rather limp -husband died of grief afterwards, or of consumption, and Francis came -into the title rather unexpectedly five years ago. Then he was -embarrassed by his Darby and Joan attachment to Mrs. Bolsover.--However, -then _she_ died--and so--at last he felt free to marry.... - -"I met him first at a croquet party at Aldermaston Park. I saw _at -once_ he was struck with me.... However, we won't go over the old -argument again which we talked out that day at Silchester.... D'you -remember? My ankles were so bitten by harvest-bugs after sitting on -those mounds, _I_ shan't forget!..." (meditates).... "I'm much happier -than if I had married you.... My dear, that would _never_ have done.... -But that need not prevent our being the _best_ of friends, the most -attached of cousins.... It's a bore having a confinement in the Jubilee -year.... I'd meant to rival Suzanne Feenix in my entertainments.... But -if I give Silchester a boy, he will refuse me _nothing_.... And I mean, -as soon as I'm up and about again, to push him on. He's rich--those -Staffordshire mines and potteries. He's got _lots_ of ability, but he's -too fond of leisure and isn't quite ambitious enough. Complains of -being tired.... He's only 57 ... but he much prefers spending the -evening at home and reading history and memoirs. Still, if Lord -Wiltshire gets overworked at the Foreign Office, Francis simply _must_ -succeed him. He knows everything about foreign policy from A to Z, -after serving so many years in Vienna and Rome.... Well, dear old boy, -this is _really_ good-bye. Make good out there, and don't make a fool -of yourself with some grass widow going out, or some fair -missionaryess.... I suppose some of them _are_ fit to look at? ... Play -up to the permanencies, and try to write some dispatch that'll interest -Lord Wiltshire. Then Silchester may get a chance of putting his oar in -and have you shifted to a better post and a more healthy one. After -that _I'll_ take a hand and marry you to some nice girl with a little -money.... I wonder whether you'll feel lonely out there? But men never -are, so long as they can move about and get some shooting ... which -reminds me I want a _lot_ more leopard skins. Don't mount them: I like -to choose my own colours----" - -(Enter Lady Silchester's maid.) - -_Maid_: "My lady, before his lordship went out he said I was to remind -your ladyship about going to bed early, so I ventured..." - -"Quite right, Sophie.... I'll come up in one minute." (Exit maid.) -"By the bye, Roger, I ought to ask after the other cousins. How's -Maud?" (Roger intimates that good old Maud's all right.) "Maud is an -excellent creature; I've always said so, though in a sort of -tight-lipped way she's never approved of me. Because she's lost her own -complexion in field sports and parish work Maud suspects all other young -women of powdering and painting. And Geoffrey?" - -"Geoffrey's ship is coming back in May and then he ought to get some -leave; and to save your time, I might mention that Maurice will probably -be called to the bar in the autumn if he satisfies the Benchers; and as -to father, he's more gone over to Rome than ever...." - -"You mean Silchester?" - -"Yes. The vicar there is as frantic a 'Romanist' as he is, and together -they've had a rare old quarrel with the farmer who grows corn where you -got the harvest-bug bites, and objects to excavations. I think father -forgets at times he's a nineteenth century Christian.... He is awfully -annoyed at the general opinion that Silchester only dates from Christian -times in Britain and that the Temple to Venus is really a Christian -church. That's what comes from a Classical education.... Now I shall -get into a row with your spouse for keeping you up. Besides. You don't -_really_ care for the others...." - -_Sibyl_: "To be frank, I don't. You were the only one that interested -me.... I ... well, then, Roger, this is the last good-bye but one..." -(extends her hand on which he imprints a kiss). "That's quite enough -show of affection; Sophie might come back at any moment and forget we -are cousins. By the bye, it might be wise if you got some one--I dare -say Francis would--to introduce you to the Feenixes before you go. They -might serve to mitigate the hostility of Bennet Molyneux. Only don't -fall in love with Suzanne and desert _me_! She's got the Colonies, it's -true, but I'm going to have the Foreign Office before you're back.... -You mark my words! Ta-ta! Coming, Sophie." - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *THE VOYAGE OUT* - - -Lucy said to herself she had never felt so miserable in her life as she -did during the first night on board the _Jeddah_, the British India -Co.'s steamer that was taking her to East Africa. She occupied one of -the upper berths in the cabins off the Ladies' Saloon, in which there -were, as far as she could reckon, five or six other occupants, including -the stewardess, who passed her time alternately snoring on a mattress in -a coign off the main entrance and waiting on such of the ladies as were -sea-sick. - -The _Jeddah_ was rolling about in a choppy sea oft the Downs. Lucy felt -a horrible sensation of nausea creep over her at times, and she clenched -her teeth to repress her inclination to vomit; for she was too shy to -call upon the much-occupied stewardess for assistance. The back of her -head throbbed with pain, her eyes were burning hot with unshed tears, -and her poor throat ached with suppressed sobs. Far worse than the -physical discomfort of sea-sickness was the intensity of her mental -agony, the bitterness of her unavailing regrets. She lay motionless in -her narrow bunk, gazing up at the ceiling which seemed almost to rest on -her face, and turned over in her memory ceaselessly and with minute -detail the events of the last three days: her farewell to home and -"darling" Aldermaston; her parting with mother on the platform at -Reading ... and father ... the flying journey to London, when she had -almost forgotten her grief in the excitement of seeing the metropolis; -her two days stay with Aunt Pardew, who with her husband kept Pardew's -Family Hotel in Great Ormond Street. Then: the sight-seeing, the -shopping, the visit to the offices of the East African Mission. Here -she had received her saloon passage ticket in the _Jeddah_, and twenty -pounds in bright sovereigns for her out-of-pocket expenses by the way. -The Secretary had spoken to her so kindly and earnestly that she had -felt ashamed of her indifference to the real work of converting black -people. - -The Secretary, however, had said one thing that somehow perturbed her. -He had mentioned that a sweet-natured young woman from her -neighbourhood--Sister Jamblin--might also be going to their Mission in -East Africa--by the next boat. He thought this would cheer Lucy up; -instead of which it annoyed her greatly.... Then came the early rising -on what seemed like her execution morning; the hasty breakfast, -interrupted with trickling tears and nose-blowing on Aunt Pardew's--Aunt -Ellen's--part, as well as hers.... Aunt Ellen was so like darling -mother--and yet--it wasn't mother--... - -And the long rattle through dirty and dirtier streets in a four-wheel -cab with the rest of her luggage on top. The arrival on board the -steamer in the docks, where everything was noisy, hurried, and confused -with preparations for departure.... Only this morning! Only some twelve -hours since she had taken leave with despairing hugs of Aunt Ellen! -Why, it seemed at least a month ago. And only three days since she had -seen her mother!... - -When she mentally uttered the word "mother," she lost control over -herself and gave vent to a convulsive choking sob.. - -"Would you oblige me," exclaimed a peevish voice from the berth below, -"by calling for the stewardess to bring you a basin if you have any -inclination to be sick? It would be much better than trying to keep it -back and making those disagreeable clicking noises in your throat. -Excuse me for remarking it, but it is really most distressing, and it -fidgets me so I can hardly get to sleep. You really suffer _much_ more -by endeavouring to repress sea-sickness than by giving way _at once_ and -having it over...." This the speaker added because she had just given -way herself--eruptively--and was now resting from her labours. Lucy was -so startled and overawed by this unexpected interruption to her thoughts -that she made no answer; but lay quite silent with flushing cheeks and -beating heart. "It must be the tall, thin lady," she thought to -herself, "I didn't remember she was so close." - -Then her thoughts turned to her fellow-passengers. As far as she had -ascertained, there were only nine besides herself: five ladies, two -Roman Catholic priests or missionaries, and two men, one of whom was a -Captain Brentham going out to Unguja, where he was to be Consul. - -So, at least, she had heard the pink-cheeked lady say, rather tossing -her head when she said it. Her aunt had timidly accosted two of the -ladies before leaving the steamer. She had asked them with a redundancy -of polite phrases to take Lucy under their protection as far as they -might be travelling together. One of them was tall and thin, with a -large bony face and cold grey eyes--a little suggestive of Mrs. Baines -(Lucy thought); the other was pretty, though the expression of her face, -even when she smiled and showed all her white teeth, was somehow rather -insincere. But she had the most lovely complexion Lucy had ever seen. -It was perfect: very pink in the middle of the cheeks and the palest -blush tint over the rest of the face and neck. Her eyes were a dark -blueish grey, with very black rims; and her hair a rich golden brown. -Lucy was so much fascinated by her appearance and stared at her with -such unconscious persistence while her aunt was talking, that at last -the pink-cheeked lady encountered her steady gaze with a look of haughty -surprise which caused Lucy to lower her eyes. - -Neither lady responded very cordially to Mrs. Pardew's deferential -request. The tall thin one had said she was only going as far as -Algiers, but asked if Lucy was "a Church person" because the East -African Mission, she had heard, was run by Methodists. The pretty lady, -whose attire Lucy was again scanning with attention, because it was in -the latest fashion, had looked at her with rather more interest and -said: "Going out to marry a missionary? Well, I can't say I envy your -experiences. It must be a wretched life up-country, from all I hear. -We shall travel together as far as Unguja, but I can't offer to act as -your chaperon. It is very likely my husband may marry you when you get -there. I mean--" (seeing Lucy's look of dismay)--"he is the 'marriage' -officer there at present, unless Captain Brentham is to deprive him of -_that_ privilege, also"--(here she had given a bitter laugh).... "If -you feel lonely at any time on the voyage you may come and chat with me -... occasionally; though I can't tell you very much about Africa as I -have never been there before." - - -Slowly the night wore away. Lucy as she lay awake stifled her regrets -by vowing that when the steamer called at Plymouth she would instantly -leave it and return home to her parents, and write to John telling him -she was not fitted to be a missionary's wife. He would soon get over -his disappointment as Ann Jamblin was going out by the next steamer. -_She_ would marry him like a shot.... - -In the small hours of the morning the sea calmed down and the ship -rolled less. The passenger who had suffered most from sea-sickness--a -poor tired-looking woman, mother of too many children--ceased to retch -and groan and sank into exhausted repose. Even Lucy at last wove her -troubled thoughts into dreams, but just as she had dreamt that _this_ -was only a dream and that in reality she was embracing her mother in a -transport of happiness, she awoke with tears wet on her face and saw the -cabin lit up with garish daylight streaming through the now open -skylight. A fresh, exhilarating breeze was sweeping through the stuffy -saloon and chasing the nasty odour of sea-sickness. She sat up in her -bunk and gazed blankly round, trying to realize the difference between -dreamland and reality. - -"Would ye like a bath, Miss?" said the stewardess, a coarse-looking but -kind-hearted Irishwoman, never quite free from a suspicion of spirit -drinking: "Would ye like a bath? Becase if so, ye'd betther follow Mrs. -Bazzard." - -"I--I--don't know ... well, yes, I think I will," replied Lucy, -wondering who Mrs. Bazzard was ... didn't the name come into John's -letters? Just then the door leading out of the saloon towards the -bathroom opened and presumably Mrs. Bazzard entered the Ladies' -quarters, carrying towels and robed in a white lace-trimmed _peignoir_, -and with her hair roughly piled on the top of her head and a lank fringe -parted to either side. "Why, it must be the lady with the beautiful -complexion," Lucy was saying to herself, when she saw on nearer approach -that the rosy cheeks and blush tints had disappeared, and that the -incomer, though otherwise resembling her acquaintance of yesterday, yet -had a pale face, colourless and sad. "Poor thing!" thought Lucy, "_how_ -she must have suffered last night." And so great was her compassion -that it overcame her shyness, and she was about to condole with the -lady, when Mrs. Bazzard swept by her abruptly without recognition. - -When her toilet was finished, she felt ill-at-ease among the uncongenial -inmates of the Ladies' Saloon, and they directed towards her at times a -look of hatred as at one who was prying into the mysteries of their -clothing and bedizenment; so acting on the advice of the stewardess "to -get up a bit of appetite," she staggered along the corridor and climbed -the slippery brass-bound stairway till she reached the upper-deck. Here -she sank on to the nearest seat and derived her first pleasurable -sensation on board the steamer from inhaling the sea-scented breeze in -the sunshine of April. It was indeed a fine morning, one of the first -emphatic days of spring. The sky was a pale azure in the zenith and -along the northern horizon a thin film of pinkish mist veiled the -distant line of coast. A man cleaning the brasswork told Lucy they were -passing the Isle of Wight; yonder was Bournemouth and presently she -would see Portland Bill looming up. - -A tall man, smoking a cheroot, was gazing in the direction of Portland -Bill. Presently he turned round in Lucy's direction, looked at her -rather hard then began pacing the deck. "That," she reflected, "must be -Captain Brentham, who lectured at Reading on that snow mountain.... -_How_ extraordinary! And he must be the man Mrs. ... Mrs. ... Bazzard -said was to marry me to John when I arrived." She raised her eyes and -they met his. On his next turn in walking the deck he paused -irresolute, then raising his cap said: "Are you the young lady from my -part of the country who is going out to Unguja to be married? The -Captain told me about you--unless I have made some mistake and ought to -be addressing another lady." - -"I think it must be me," said Lucy. "I ... I've heard you lecture once -at Reading. You're a friend of Lord Silchester's, aren't you? My -father is one of his tenants. We live at Aldermaston." Her voice -trembled a little in pronouncing the name of the place she now -loved--too late--beyond any other. - -"Aldermaston--_of course_ I know it, known it from boyhood. I rode over -there several times last year to see my cousins, the Grayburns. One of -them married Lord Silchester last July, and that's why I stayed at -Englefield and gave the Reading lecture.... So you came and heard it?" - -"I did; because, as I was going out to marry a missionary, I thought I -ought to learn something about East Africa. Your ... your lecture made -me want to go--awfully.... That wonderful mountain, those clumps of -palms, the river and the hippopotami--or was it a lake?" - -"Well, you'll see lots of such things if you are going up-country. Whom -are you going to marry and where is he stationed?" - -"Mr. John Baines, the East African Mission, Ulunga...." - -"Oh" (rather depreciatively), "Nonconformist, Plymouth Brethren, or -something of the kind. Now I think of it I went to a big meeting of -theirs last year soon as I came back. Yes, _I_ remember. They're a -trading and industrial mission some distance inland, in the British as -well as the German sphere ... good sort of folk, though their mouths are -full of texts ... but they took me in once when I was half dead with -fever and nursed me back to health. And I liked the way they set to -work to make the best of the country and the people.... But it will be -awfully rough for you; you don't look cut out for what they have to go -through. I should have thought the Anglican Mission more your style, -if, indeed, you went out as a Missionary at all." - -He wished to add, "You're much too pretty," but restrained himself. -Just then the breakfast gong sounded and they went down to the Dining -Saloon. Brentham rather masterfully strode to near the top of the long -table as though knowing he was the most important person on board, and -placed himself next but one to the Captain's seat and Lucy on his right, -with a wink at the same time to the Chief Steward as though to say "Fix -this arrangement." - -A moment after another lady with gold hair and a dazzling complexion -glided up and nimbly took the seat on Brentham's left hand. The Captain -was absent and intimated that they needn't expect him till the _Jeddah_ -was away from Plymouth and out of the Channel. The other lady -passengers were breakfasting in the Ladies' Saloon. As soon as they -were seated and porridge was being offered, the lady on Brentham's left -introduced herself as the wife of a colleague: "My husband is Spencer -Bazzard, the Vice-Consul at Unguja--I dare say you've heard about him at -the F.O.? He's a friend of that dear Bennet Molyneux's, to whom we're -both _devoted_.... _Such_ a grasp of African affairs, don't you think -so? My husband already knows Unguja through and through. I'm sure -he'll be glad to put you up to the ropes. I've never been there before. -Spencer thought he ought to go out first and make a home for me, so I've -been a forlorn grass widow for over a year. However, we shall soon be -reunited. And I understand we're to look on you as our chief till the -Consul-General returns. Spencer's been Sir James's right-hand man. -Thank you. Toast, please. No, I won't take butter: it looks so odd. -Like honey! Ugh!" - -After breakfast, Brentham escorted Lucy to the upper-deck, got her a -folding chair and secured it in a sheltered corner, made her -comfortable, lent her a novel and a rug, and then resumed his pacing of -the deck or occasional study of a language book--he was trying, he told -Lucy, to master Swahili by doing Steere's exercises in that harmonious -tongue. Mrs. Bazzard commandeered a steward and a deck-chair and -established herself close to Lucy with a piece of showy embroidery, -bought at Liberty's with half the embroidery done. In a condescending -manner she set herself to pump Lucy about Brentham.... Did she know him -well? Didn't she think him good-looking? Mrs. Bazzard thought of the -two her husband was the finer-looking man. He had longer moustaches and -they were a golden brown, like Mrs. Bazzard's hair; he wasn't perhaps -_quite_ so tall; but _how_ she was looking forward to reunion with him. -He was a paragon of husbands, one of the Norfolk Bazzards. His elder -brother, a person of great legal acumen, had from time to time tendered -advice of signal value to Mr. Bennet Molyneux.... It was thus they had -got "in" with the Foreign Office, and if Mrs. Bazzard were not pledged -to inviolable secrecy (because of Spencer's career) there were things -she knew and things she could tell about Lord Wiltshire's intentions -regarding Africa--and Spencer.... However.... Did Miss--she begged -pardon--she had not caught Lucy's name.... Josselin? any connexion of -Sir Martin Josselin? Oh, _Josling_.... Did Miss Josling come from -Captain Brentham's part of the country? Not a relation? No, of course -not.... Well, did she think him clever? Some--in the Foreign -Office--regarded him as _superficial_. It was his good looks that had -got him on, and the friendship of a great lady ... but then _what_ -scandal-mongers _men_ were! And _how_ jealous of one another! Mrs. -Bazzard's husband had got _his_ commission through sheer, outstanding -ability, yet at the time people said the most _horrid_ things, both of -him and her.... But Lord Wiltshire had remained unshaken, knowing -Spencer's value; and undoubtedly held him in view for a very important -post in Africa as soon as he should have inducted Captain Brentham into -his duties. - -Lunch came in due course and was eaten in better appetite by most of the -passengers. It was served with coarse plenty, on a lower-middle-class -standard of selection and cuisine. - -It was a sunny afternoon when the _Jeddah_ anchored in Plymouth harbour. -The passengers were informed they might spend four hours on shore, so -Captain Brentham proposed to Lucy and to Mrs. Bazzard that he should -take them under his escort and give them their last chance of eating a -decent dinner at an English hotel. Mrs. Bazzard accepted with a gush of -thanks and a determination to commence a discreet flirtation with the -acting Consul-General, who was undoubtedly a handsome man. Lucy -assented simply to the proposition. She was still a little dazed in the -dawn of her new life. But as she went off with the others in the tug -she put aside as an unreasonable absurdity any idea of flight to the -railway station and a return home. It was a great stay to her -home-sickness that there should be on board some one she knew who almost -shared her home country, who had actually met people she had met, and -who would carry this home knowledge out with him to the same region in -Africa as that she was going to. This removed the sting of her regret -and remedied her sense of utter friendlessness in the wilds. Was he not -actually to be _her_ Consul? - -These reflections caused her to sit down in the Hotel Writing Room, -whilst dinner was being got ready, and Mrs. Bazzard was titivating, and -dash off a hasty letter to "dearest mother" informing her of the -brighter outlook. Her mother, overjoyed at this silver lining to the -cloud of bereavement, spread the news; and so it reached Englefield, -where Lord Silchester was spending the Easter recess. He retailed it to -Sibyl ... who stamped her foot on the library carpet and said: "_There_! -_Didn't_ I predict it? I _said_ he'd fall in love with a -missionaryess!" - -"And why not, my love?" replied Lord Silchester. "What if he does?" - -A little tossing on the Bay of Biscay sent Mrs. Bazzard to her cabin, -and made more scanty the public attendance at meals. But Lucy proved as -good a sailor as Brentham, and a great solace to him. For he had his -unacknowledged home-sickness too. You could not spend nine months in -the best of English country life and the most interesting aspects of -London without a revulsion of feeling when you found yourself cut off -from all communication with those scenes of beauty, splendour and -absolute comfort, and before high ambition had been once more aroused, -and the unexplored wilderness had again beckoned her future ravisher. -Lucy might be merely a farmer's daughter, a little better educated than -such usually were at that period, still an unsophisticated country chit -(as Mrs. Bazzard had already summed her up to the tall thin lady); yet -she could talk with some slight knowledge about the Silchesters--her -mother had been maid to Lord Silchester's mother, and her father was -Lord Silchester's tenant. Colonel Grayburn was--or tried to be--a -gentleman farmer within a mile of Lucy's home; she had seen Sibyl -occasionally during the three years in which the Grayburns had lived in -Aldermaston parish. Lucy had never been so far afield as Farleigh -Wallop, but she knew Reading, Mortimer, Silchester, Tadley, and even -Basingstoke. Merely to mention names like these consoled them both as -the steamer ploughed her twelve knots an hour through the "roaring -forties." - -And when the _Jeddah_ turned into the Mediterranean, with a passing view -of the Rock of Gibraltar, and entered upon calm seas, blue and dazzling, -their _camaraderie_ increased under Mrs. Bazzard's baleful gaze and -interchange of eyebrow-raisings with the thin bony-nosed lady of Lucy's -cabin. - -The _Jeddah_ anchored off Algiers. The thin lady, who here passes out -of the story---I think she was the wife of a British Chaplain--had -invited Mrs. Bazzard to lunch with her on shore. Mrs. Bazzard had -hastened to accept the invitation, the more willingly since Captain -Brentham seemed to have forgotten her existence; except at meal times, -when he was obliged to pass the mustard and the sugar. Brentham and -Lucy went off together into the picturesque white city, rising high into -the half-circle of the hills. They lunched at the Cafe des Anglais and -dined at an hotel near the quay. They climbed the ladder-like streets -of the Arab quarter, bought useless trifles, and had a drive out into -the country which was gay with genista in full bloom, with red-purple -irises and roses, and dignified by its hoary olives, sombre cypresses -and rigid palms. - -If Lucy had never been so miserable as she was nine days previously, she -had probably never felt so happy as now. Certainly she had never looked -so pretty. Her violet eyes had a depth of colour new to them; her brown -hair a lustre and a tendency to curl in the little strands and wisps -that escaped control about her forehead. Her cheeks, ordinarily pale, -and her milk-white complexion generally were suffused with a wild rose -flush and a warmth of tint caused by the quickened circulation. The sea -air and the sunshine chased away the languor that had accompanied a -sedentary life. She had not been unobservant, and had taken several -hints in costume from Mrs. Bazzard's dress. She had tightened this, -expanded that, cut short skirts that might have flopped, diminished a -bustle, inserted a frill, and adapted herself to the warmth of the -tropics without losing grace of outline or donning headgear of repellent -aspect. - -At Port Said he already called her "Lucy," and she saw nothing in it -that she mightn't accept, a permissible brotherliness due to country -associations and the position of guardian, protector that he had -assumed. He showed her those sights of Port Said that need not shock a -modest girl. They sat side by side to enjoy the thrill with which the -unsophisticated then passed through the Suez Canal. One woman passenger -had left the ship at Port Said; another at Suez. There only remained -the third one--the mother of many babies--changing at Aden into a Bombay -boat--besides Mrs. Bazzard and herself in the Ladies' Saloon. The two -missionary priests told their breviaries, gave at times a pleasant smile -to her pretty face, and concerned themselves no more with her affairs -than if she had been an uncriticizable member of the crew. They were -Belgians going out for a life's work to Tanganyika, and to them the -Protestant English and their ways were unaccountable by ordinary human -standards. The captain of the ship had known Captain Brentham in the -Persian Gulf and had the utmost confidence in his uprightness. What -more reasonable to suppose than that this girl had been placed under his -charge, inasmuch as it was he who would be the official to register her -marriage when she met her missionary betrothed at Unguja? - -Nor had Brentham any but the most honourable intentions. He felt -tenderly and pitifully towards Lucy, carrying her country prettiness and -innocency into savage Africa, embarking on a life of unexpected -frightfulness, unspeakable weariness, of monotony, varied by shocks of -terror, by sights of bloodshed and obscenity that might thrill or -titillate a strong man, but must inevitably take the bloom off a woman's -mind. He even thought, once or twice, of dissuading her from completing -the contract, yet shrank from the upset this would entail. Perhaps she -really liked this missionary chap? From the description she gave he -didn't seem so bad--he was tall and strong and seemingly a man of his -hands, with a turn for carpentry, and was the Agent of a very practical -Mission. If she recoiled from this marriage, what was she going to do? -It was impossible to think of her remaining at Unguja "on her own," and -if he sent her back to England at his own expense her parents might -resent very strongly his interference. There was his own career to be -thought of ... and Sibyl.... To a woman like Lucy a marriage with most -men of her class, or below it, or immediately above it, would come with -rather a shock. She was so marriageable, so marked out as a man's prey -that she was bound to go through it some day. Then, when she was -married, she would live more or less in his Consular district, and he -could keep an eye on her without being unduly attentive. Perhaps Mrs. -Ewart Stott was still settled in the Zigula country of the German sphere -... _she_ might help her. Very likely she would be able to stick her -three years of residence which the Mission generally stipulated for and -then return to England.--What a lark if they both went home together and -compared experiences? - -He might have revolutionized East African affairs in that space of -time... - -He was quite unconscious that in the two-to-three weeks of their close -association on board he had won Lucy's love to such an extent that she -was growing slowly to look upon the end of the voyage and the meeting -with John as a point of blackness, the entrance to a dark tunnel.... - -Meantime, without assuming a forwardness of demeanour which her -upbringing discountenanced and the watchfulness of Mrs. Bazzard forbade, -she accepted all he gave her voluntarily of his society. The Red Sea -was kind to them at the end of April: clear cobalt skies, purple waves, -a cool breeze against them, no steamy mist in the atmosphere, and -occasional views of gaunt mountains or bird-whitened rocks and islands. -They sat in their chairs and talked: talked of everything that came into -Lucy's mind. She put to his superior wisdom a hundred enigmas to -answer, which her mind was now able to formulate with an aroused -imagination. - -"You say you approve of missionaries, yet you seem to dislike religion; -you tried to get out of attending the Sunday service in the Saloon, and -you looked very angry when the Captain asked you to read the Lessons. -Don't you believe in _anything_ then?" - -"You'll find, Lucy"--Brentham would reply--"that the word 'believe' is -very much abused. You may 'think' of such and such a thing as probable, -as possible, as desirable--often, indeed, the wish is father to the -thought. But to imagine it, is not to believe in it; in the same way in -which we are compelled by irresistible conviction to believe in some -fact or consequence or event, whether we like it or not. We can only -'believe' what can be tested by the evidence of our senses, by some -incontestable piling up of evidence or record of historical facts.... -Beyond that there are probabilities and possibilities and suppositions. -I can believe the fire would burn my finger if I put it in the flame; or -that the earth goes round the sun and that the moon is more or less -240,000 miles away from the earth: because my senses or my reason -convince me of the truth of these facts. I can believe that you're a -very dear little girl seated next me in a deck-chair on a steamer going -out to East Africa: because I can put such a belief to some conclusive -test of the senses. But I can't in the same way 'believe' in most of -what are called 'religious truths,' because they are only suppositions, -guesses, tentative explanations which have lost their value ... indeed, -have lost their interest. I can't therefore waste my time on such----" - -"But," Lucy stammered, "the Bible?" - -"Just so: the Bible. How many of you stop to think what the Bible is? -A collection of comparatively ancient writings in Hebrew and in Greek, -very beautifully translated into Shakespeare's English, with lots of -gaps filled up by suggested words and even--as we now think--lots of -words and phrases wrongly translated. The Hebrew books may have first -been written down at any time between six hundred and one hundred years -B.C.; and the New Testament between fifty and a hundred-and-fifty years -after Christ--at any rate in the form in which we know them. The -original texts were uttered or written by men who only knew a small part -of the Mediterranean world, who thought the earth was flat and the rest -of the Universe only an arched dome over the earth. Job may have had -grander conceptions, but the early Christian writers were ignorance -embodied. They were ready to believe anything and everything to be a -miracle, and to invent the most preposterous fairy stories to account -for commonplace facts. At the same time they often overlooked the -beauty and simplicity and practical value of Christ's teaching and also -the fact that a good many of his..." - -"_What_ an abstruse conversation," said Mrs. Bazzard, breaking in out of -the star-lit darkness on Roger's disquisitions. She hung about them in -the Red Sea, especially after dark, and had a tiresome way of suddenly -making her presence known. Perhaps, however, it was just as well, and, -indeed, though Roger was annoyed at the moment at having his eloquent -thinking aloud interrupted--because in such monologues we are generally -trying to convince ourselves as well as our auditory--he also felt some -relief at the excuse for dropping the argument. _Why on earth_ should -he undermine Lucy's stereotyped beliefs? What could he give her--in the -life she was going to lead, too--in place of them? - -But the discussion was revived ever and again by Lucy's persistent -questions. She elicited from him in general that although he approved -of the material results of missionary work and the ethics generally of -Christianity, he mocked at creeds, thought prayer futile--especially the -fossilized prayers of Judaism, Protestant and Catholic Christianity, -because they were inapposite to our present age, bore little relation to -our complicated sorrows and needs, our new crimes, difficulties, -agonies, and temptations. He found the Psalms, all but two or three, -utterly wearisome in their tedious woes and waitings, aches and pains -probably due to too carnivorous a dietary; untempting in their -ideals--"more bullocks for the altar ... and the fat of rams...." Then -our hymns--all but three or four--were gross or childish in their -imagery, abject in their attitude to a Caesar or a Sultan of a God, who -all the time watched inflexibly the Martyrdom of Man and the ruthless -processes of Nature without lifting a finger to stay the cyclone or the -epidemic ... and so on.... His views were very much modelled on those -of Winwood Reade and on Burton's gibes at "Provvy" (Lucy shuddered at -the irreverence and expected a meteor to cleave the ship in two), and he -had brought out with him from England Cotter Morrison's "_Service of -Man_." - -Lucy sometimes felt so shocked at his negations that she resolved to -speak with him no more, but to apply herself to the study of the Swahili -Grammar he had lent her. Then at the sight of him and at his morning -greeting and the kindly companionship at meals, she could not remain -aloof. At any rate, he had said that you ought to act as a Christian -even if you could not swallow Christian theology. That was a great -admission. And he seemed to have numerous friends among the -missionaries at Unguja and in the interior, which would hardly be the -case if he were a bad man.... Besides, his father was a clergyman. - -Aden came as a welcome surcease to these discussions. It was concrete -and indisputable, and of remarkable interest when interpreted by a -Brentham.... Steamer Point with its crowds of Indian and British -soldiers, Jews with ringlets and tall caps selling ostrich plumes, -Somalis like Greek gods in ebony offering strange skins, skulls, and -horns for sale, and ostrich eggs; the drive--in a jingling carriage over -sandy roads, past red-black crags on one side, with an intensely -ultramarine sea on the other--to the Arab town; the vast cisterns, the -rich vegetation at the cisterns; and then, after an interval of -absolutely sterile rock-gorges (vaguely suggestive of the approach to -Aladdin's cave in the _Arabian Nights_), a sea-side ravine with an -unexpected flora of aloes, euphorbias, mesembryanths, and acacias.... -Even Mrs. Bazzard, with her Bayswater mind, was momentarily impressed by -Brentham's pleasantly imparted knowledge of all these things. You never -noticed how extraordinary they were until he pointed it out. She was -for the time being conciliated by his having invited her to accompany -Lucy on the day's excursion and by the generous way in which he stood -treat and presented her, as well as Lucy, with ostrich feather fans and -amusing gewgaws made from sea-shells. - -After Aden the sky clouded; metaphorically, with the coming end of this -wonderful episode in Lucy's life, materially with some tiresome -manifestations of the monsoon. I forget whether it blew behind and left -the _Jeddah_ wallowing in the trough of great indigo waves and rolling -drearily; or blew against her progress, causing her to progress like a -rocking-horse. But it imparted a storminess, a sense of exasperated -emotion to this pair of lovers--as they were, unadmittedly. Fortunately, -it also made the footing of Mrs. Bazzard's high-heeled Bayswater shoes -uncertain on the unstable deck, so she relaxed her watchful spying on -their conversations. Lucy was alternately silent and wistful and almost -noisily vivacious, with hands that shook as they passed a tea-cup. She -had begun to realize that in five or six more days the voyage would end -in her meeting John as an ardent bridegroom; that she would never belong -to Roger, she would pass out of his life as swiftly as she had entered -it, be at most a pleasant and amusing memory of a half-ignorant little -person with whom he had spent good-naturedly much of his time on a long -sea voyage. - -Roger on his part, in smoking-room reflections would feel he had gone -much too far--compromised her, perhaps played a rather foolish part -himself, for a man with high ambitions. There was that bitch of a -woman, that quintessence of a Bayswater boarding-house, Mrs. Bazzard, -wife of a--rotter, probably--whose nose he had put out of joint. She -was capable--and and to conciliate her and win her over would be -degrading--of putting any construction on his flirtation. How, at such -times, before turning in, or even while playing whist in the Captain's -cabin and thinking of anything but the game, he would _curse_ these long -steamer voyages and these episodes of love! There was that voyage out -in 1880--he had narrowly missed a breach of promise action then, and he -would be hanged if he'd set out to be more than sociable. And the last -time he had returned to England ... Mrs. Traquhair, the wife of the -chief electrician at Unguja.... Only the fact that in the Mediterranean -she had developed one of those Rose Boils which were a legacy of -Unguja's mosquitoes, and which confined her to her cabin till the Bay of -Biscay (when they were all sea-sick), had prevented the irrevocable. -And all the time he believed himself engaged to Sibyl! And afterwards, -when he had met Mrs. Traquhair and her sister--_and_ the sister! Oh my -God,--in London and had dined them at the "Cri." and taken them to see -Arthur Roberts from a box, and had scanned Mrs. T.'s profile as he had -never done before and watched her laugh at the comedian, showing all the -gold in her teeth ... he asked himself _how on earth_ he could have -kissed her so passionately as they were passing through the Suez Canal. -Yet she couldn't have been a bad sort because she had never attempted to -bother him or follow it up.... But he couldn't class Lucy with Mrs. -Traquhair or the siren of the 1880 voyage. She was utterly good and -innocent of schemes to entrap him. A sweet little thing... - -As they passed into the Indian Ocean between Guardafui and Sokotra, -there was a temporary lull in the wind. It was a moonlight night; they -were sitting side by side under the open sky, for the deck-awning had -been removed on account of the monsoon. A sudden fierce longing--there -was no one on deck that he could see--seized him to take her in his arms -and kiss her. And there came a telepathic message that she was aching -to be so taken and kissed. But he resisted the impetus, with clenched -hands on the arms of his chair. Silence had set in between them. A -catch of Lucy's breath was faintly audible, and--dare I say it? A -snivel, a tiny snivel. - -"_Lucy_? _Crying_? My _dear_ child! Why ... cheer up. We shall soon -be there.. You're not cold?" - -"You don't understand.... I ... I ... don't _want_ to get there.... I -don't want to marry him; I _hate_ the very idea...." - -"Oh, but this will never do.... This is foolishness, believe me. Lucy! -Pull yourself together." - -Lucy now sobbed frantically. - -Mrs. Bazzard was heard saying from quite close by, "Which is Gyuardifwee -and which is what-you-may-call-'em--Ras Hafoon? I mean, the cape where -some of the steamers run ashore in the mist, and then you have to walk -through Somaliland and get sunstroke?" - -Brentham exclaimed under his breath: "_Damn_ that woman!" and audibly, -even a little insolently replied: "I'm _blessed_ if I know. You'd -better ask the Captain. He's on the bridge and dying for a gossip, and -he'll probably give you a cup of cocoa." - -Mrs. Bazzard walked away--or pretended to do so. - -"Lucy dear. I want to speak to you while that cat has gone out of -ear-shot. Calm yourself and listen, because I must speak in a low tone. -If you feel you would sooner die than go through with this marriage, you -shan't be forced into it. I will speak to Archdeacon Gravening ... or -the Bishop ... and they will know of some nice women of the Anglican -Mission who would take you in for a few weeks ... till there is a return -steamer.... Then on the plea of 'health' you can go back to England. I -could easily advance the money for the steamer passage ... some day your -parents could repay me. But even if they didn't, it doesn't matter. I -do so want you to be _happy_.... I blame myself awfully for the silly -things I've said to you ... about religion ... it may have made you -dislike mission work...." - -But Lucy sobbed out "It hadn't ... that she was a little fool and he -mustn't take any notice ... she'd never, _never_ behave like this again -... after his extraordinary kindness too, which she would always be -grateful for. He mustn't think any more about it or ever refer to it -again...." - -And before he could say anything more, or that cat, Mrs. Bazzard, -return, she slipped down to her cabin, where fortunately she was alone -and could cry her fill without attracting attention. But as she lay on -the bunk, she set her teeth and resolved, come what may, she would _not_ -put thousands of miles between her and ... "Roger" ... she mentally -uttered the name. Better to live within a few hundred miles of where he -was and sometimes see and hear him. Why ... _Why_ ... did he not ask -her to marry him? Yes, and ruin his career. What would they all say at -Unguja ... and _John_? ... Poor John! what a shock it would be to him. -There was the note he had sent to greet her at Aden, to the address of -the steamer agent. She had opened it, but not read it through, so -infatuated was she with Brentham just then.... The next morning Lucy -breakfasted in the Ladies' Saloon, pleading sea-sickness. Later on, she -went to the upper-deck, but armed herself with the Swahili Grammar, a -defence against a Brentham who purposely stayed away, talking with the -Captain, and none against Mrs. Bazzard, who pestered her with inquiries -as to her "headache," expressing the quotation marks in her tone. - -Relations however became more normal all round the day after that. In -two more days they had anchored off Lamu. Lucy saw two low islands, -with hazy forest country on the distant mainland. Lamu island had low -sandhills projecting into the sea, and on one of them was an obelisk or -pillar which Captain Brentham said was an important historical monument -erected by the Portuguese nearly four hundred years before. The two -women were eager to land and see East Africa for the first time. They -went ashore with him in the Vice-Consul's boat; for there was a -Vice-Consul here who had been expecting Brentham's visit and was -delighted to find two English ladies invading his solitude. They saw, -when they landed, masses of vague masonry, the remains of Portuguese or -Arab forts, and a litter of human skulls and bones on the beach at which -they both shrieked in simulated horror. These might have been the -results of the last Somali raid, or of slaves who had died on the shore -unshipped, owing to the vigilance of British cruisers, or even have -dated back to the expulsion of the Portuguese by the Arabs two hundred -years before. The town of Lamu was a two miles' walk along the sandy -shore from the point, where they had landed, but the sight of the -extraordinary coloured, blue, red, and green crabs that scuttled and yet -threatened with uplifted claws, and of the natives who accompanied them -in a laughing rabble, some clothed to the heels, others practically -naked, relieved the tedium of the journey. The smells from the -precincts and the heart of Lamu town were so awful as to be interesting. -The strongest--from rancid shark's liver oil--was said to be quite -wholesome, but that from the sewage and the refuse on the shore-mud -caused them to hold handkerchiefs to noses. However, the town was very -picturesque with its Arab and Persian houses of white stone, its -Saracenic doorways, in the angles of which Persian pottery was embedded, -and its heavy doors of carved wood. The Consulate stood a little beyond -the town, in a walled garden of palms, fig trees, and trees of gorgeous -scarlet blossoms. Here they had a cup of tea, and the Consular boat, -which had been following them along the shore, took them back to the -_Jeddah_, thankful in the blazing sunshine for their pith helmets and -white umbrellas. - -This excursion somehow, with its introduction to the realities and -romance of tropical Africa, braced up Lucy for the next day but one, -when in the very early morning the _Jeddah_ anchored in the roadstead of -Unguja. She was dressed by eight o'clock and sat awaiting in the stuffy -Ladies' Saloon the arrival of John, or whoever was coming to meet her. -Sat with trembling, perspiring hands in open-work cotton gloves, wishing -the suspense over. There were sounds of loud voices on deck.... Mrs. -Bazzard, exploding in connubial raptures over her husband; Bazzard, in -between her embraces, striving to assume a partly respectful, partly -comrade-like attitude with Captain Brentham, to combine a recognition -that he was greeting his official superior for the moment with the -assured standing of one who had had longer experience of official cares. -She heard him saying: "Your boat is waiting for you, Sir. I will -arrange to send a lighter for your baggage as soon as it is up out of -the hold...." - -Then blundering steps down some stairway and along the passage, and John -stood before her, sun-helmet in hand, eyes blazing with hungry love, -saying, stammering rather--"My _Lucy_! C--Come at last! _Oh_, how I've -looked forward.... How..." But he crushed her to him in a rough -embrace, unmindful of her delicate cotton dress and of the fact that his -red face was covered with perspiration.... But there was something so -appealing and yet so masterful in his love, and also something so -reminiscent of the park seat at Englefield and that Sunday walk, that -Lucy in yielding to his embrace said within herself, "How _could_ I have -thought of throwing him over?" - -Together they went on shore. Brentham had not even stayed to say -good-bye. Somebody saw after her luggage. She had so lost interest in -it that she did not care if anything was missing.... Then John said: "I -hope you've brought out the Harmonium that your uncle gave us," and she -replied a little listlessly: "Oh yes! it was _such_ a bother getting it -across London, but I think it's on board." - -"I am taking you," said John, inconsequently, in the boat, devouring her -with his eyes all the time, "to stay with Mrs. Ewart Stott until we're -married." - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *UNGUJA--AND UP-COUNTRY* - - -Every two or three years in those days you met either Mr. _or_ Mrs. -Ewart Stott at Unguja, usually at the ramshackle residence and place of -business of Mr. Callaway, the Commercial Agent of the East African -Mission. And when Mrs. Ewart Stott was there she took command, so that -you instinctively greeted her as hostess. Mr. Callaway was quite -willing it should be so, because she accomplished wonders in setting his -untidy house in order; she gingered up his servants and routed the -cockroaches, chased away some of the smells, and generally cured a -feverish attack by quinine, chicken broth, and motherly care. - -The Ewart Stotts as missionaries were independent because Mrs. Ewart -Stott had begun as Church of England and Mr. E. S. as a Presbyterian, -yet they could not quite agree with the discipline or the ideals of the -different churches or sects and preferred evangelizing East Africa on a -plan of their own. They had private means--at any rate at first; until -they had run through them in founding mission stations, whereafter they -were supported by anonymous benefactors. And as their tenets and _modus -operandi_ were nearest to those of the Methodists' East African Mission, -they worked alongside them and made use of their Agent and depot at -Unguja. - -Both were of Ulster parentage, with some admixture of a more genial -stock; yet both were born in Australia. She as a Miss Ewart and he -originally a Mr. Stott. At the same moment, so to speak, they had "found -Christ," and it really seemed a logical sequel that Providence should -bring them together at some Australian religious merry-making. They -instantly fell in love, quickly married and fused their surnames. She -was twenty, he twenty-two. She was distinctly personable and he quite -good-looking. They had probably been born, both of them, perfectly -good, unconsciously sinless, so that the getting of religion did not -make them better or more likeable but only afflicted them with a mania -for quoting hymns, psalms, and Bible texts _a tout propos_ and seeing -the Lord's hand, His Divine interference in every incident, every -accident, any change for better or worse which affected themselves. -They were constantly in receipt of Divine intimations generally after -communing in prayer. And these they obeyed as promptly as possible. - -For instance, only six months after they were married, and when their -eldest child was already on its way, they were inspired to evangelize -East Africa. Forthwith they sold up their home in South Australia, took -ship with an immense outfit to Aden, and thence transferred themselves -to Unguja and the Zangian mainland. - -They wished to preach nothing but "Christ crucified" and the new life -which black men and white men should lead after "accepting of" this -sacrifice, this atonement for the presumed sinfulness of poor, martyred -humanity. But despite this broad, if illogical, basis of their -propaganda, they were afflicted with a bitter dislike of Science, which -they concentrated on the theory of Evolution, or on any Biblical -criticism which would weaken their faith in a very manlike God who -apparently turned his back on his own universe to concern himself solely -and very fussily, very ineffectively with one of its grains of dust, a -tiny planet circling round a fifth-rate star among a billion other -stars. For the rest, they had infinite courage, infinite love and -charity, immense powers of work, but no sense of humour. - -Consul after Consul warned them as to the risks they ran in -plunging--Father, Mother and Babies--into unexplored Africa of the worst -reputation. They smilingly ignored warnings and protests, ... wild -beasts, wild peoples, wild climates, wild scenery--all seemed against -them. Mr. Stott was once tossed by a rhinoceros into a river; but the -water broke his fall and he emerged before the crocodiles woke up, and -staggered back to camp, only slightly wounded. Shortly afterwards, -hundreds of Masai warriors charged their camp, and their coast porters -fled into the bush. The naked, fat-and-ochre-anointed warriors with -their six-foot spears found Mrs. Stott sipping tea at her camp-table and -sewing clothes for her baby, while Mr. Stott with bound-up wounds was -lying on a camp-bed. Mrs. Stott, convinced that the Almighty was -somewhere in the offing, smiled on the warriors and shared her plum cake -among the foremost. They returned the smile, enlarging it into a roar -of laughter. After executing a war dance they withdrew, and later on -sent her a large gourd of fresh milk. - -After some floundering, owing to the uncertain indications of the Divine -will and purpose, they had settled on the old explorer and missionary -route to the Victoria Nyanza, due west of Unguja in what was called the -Ugogo country, partly because the Wa-gogo were thought to be quite -recalcitrant to Christianity. - -Lucy Josling, who had had much of this summary poured into her -half-attentive hearing by her betrothed, as they walked through the -narrow lanes between the tall stone houses of Unguja--she much more -interested by the handsomely dressed Arabs, the veiled women, the -wandering bulls and their owners, salaaming Indians--entered at last the -Arab house rented by Mr. Callaway for his Agency. - -Passing through a dark entry and corridor they emerged into a courtyard -with an immense fig-tree in the middle. Round this square space there -was a broad and shady verandah. Mrs. Stott rose from her sewing-machine -and greeted Lucy with that simple cordiality which made her so many -friends among the converted and the unconvertible. - -"You must feel quite dazed being on shore after so many weeks at sea. -You'd like to go to your room, I know, and perhaps be quiet there till -our midday meal. We've done the best we could for you--at short -notice--for your young man and I have only been at Unguja since -Saturday. We travelled down together, he to get married, of course, and -I to see to a large consignment of goods that has arrived for us here. -I also expected a recruit for our Mission, but he does not seem to have -caught this steamer." - -Mrs. Stott then led the way to Lucy's room, and John departed to the -Customs House to clear her baggage and get it stored: a matter which -would occupy him for the rest of the daylight. - -Although the upstairs bedroom that Lucy was to occupy smelt, like all -the rest of the premises, of copra, aniseed, cockroaches, dried fish, -shark's liver oil, curry-powder, rats' and bats' manure, in one badly -mingled essence, with this and that ingredient sometimes prevailing, it -seemed clean and airy, and there was some grace and refinement in the -clean bed linen, white mosquito curtain, and bunch of Frangipani flowers -in a Persian pottery vase. Instinctively she turned to Mrs. Stott with -tears in her eyes. "This is _your_ doing, I am sure! Somehow you -remind me of mother." - -"Well," said Mrs. Stott, "that's just what I should like to do; though I -suppose I'm not older than an elder sister; only this African life ages -one very quickly." - -The heat during the rest of the day seemed to Lucy in this low-ceilinged -room, in a low-lying part of the town, almost unbearable. She spent -much of the afternoon lying on her bed in _deshabille_, a constant prey -to home-sickness. She tried at one time playing with the little Stott -child on the landing, but it was much more interested in the large -red-black cockroaches which it caught with surprising swiftness of aim -and without any of Lucy's shuddering horror. It would hold these insects -with their little flat heads, twirling antennae, scratchy legs and fat -yellow bellies quite firmly (yet not unkindly) in its plump fingers for -grave consideration; then let them go to run over the planks. Mrs. -Stott was away to the Customs House; a pale, perspiring, half-clothed -Indian clerk was passing in and out of the house on Mr. Callaway's -business, too fever-stricken and listless to care one grain of damaged -rice about this young woman fresh from England. The fleas on the -ground-floor verandah and business premises were too numerous for any -novice to endure. Lucy's only resource was to return to her room, rid -herself of these persecutors by undressing and await with patience the -after-sunset cooler air. A visit from Mrs. Stott at half-past six -notified that the evening meal would be served at seven and that John -Baines had seen to all Lucy's luggage. Such as she wanted for the next -few days was ready to be brought up for her use; the rest would be put -in the go-down to await the departure in the "dau"[#] that would convey -them to the mainland. Lucy therefore had to rise and dress, come down -and force herself to show some affection for her betrothed and some -interest in her mass of luggage--all the while preoccupied by the -mosquitoes which bit her ankles, the fleas that attacked her with -renewed voracity, the cockroaches which scurried about her feet, and the -smells which made her sick. She enjoyed the chicken broth flavoured -with hot red chillies and the coco-nut milk served round for drinks at -the evening meal; and picked a bit of fish, fresh and flaky. Also she -appreciated the dessert of pineapples, mangoes and oranges. Instead of -coffee afterwards they had tea, with goat's milk. This was -thirst-quenching and helped to diminish the racking headache which had -been steadily reaching a climax during the evening. - - -[#] Decked Arab sailing-ship. - - -At nine o'clock all vestiges of a meal were cleared away and John, Mr. -Callaway and even Mrs. Stott assumed an air of portentousness as about -twenty-four able-bodied Negroes filed in and the two or three Negro -servants of the Stotts set out a number of hymn-books and a large Bible. -John then read prayers and a portion of scripture in Swahili while the -Christianized negroes dutifully knelt, sat, and stood to sing hymns in -unison with their white employers. The hymns being likewise in the -Swahili language, the whole ceremony--occupying about half an hour--was -without meaning to Lucy, who was driven nearly frantic by the fleas and -mosquitoes. At last, bed-time came; John unwillingly took his leave, -promising to call round for Lucy at eight in the morning to take her on -a round of visits. Lucy, in very low spirits, retired to her bedroom, -but Mrs. Stott followed. Without being asked for any explanation she -was allowed to cry for five minutes on Mrs. Stott's neck. Then the -latter undressed her, rubbed the bites with some cooling lotion, -administered five grains of quinine and put her to bed. - -What with the squeaking and chattering of the fruit-bats eating the figs -outside, the rats running over the floor of her room, and a tornado of -thunder, lightning and drumming rain, the night was not a pleasant one. -But when Mrs. Stott woke her with a cup of tea and she ventured outside -her mosquito-curtain, things took a brighter aspect. She had from her -window a glimpse of the sparkling blue bay in the level rays of the -just-risen sun, a fringe of coco-nut palms, their fronds still wet with -the rain, a tangle of brown shipping--Arab "daus" and Indian -"baghalas"--hauled up for repairs; and the atmosphere was cleared and -fresh after the tornado. She was almost cheerful by the time she had -dressed and come downstairs. Mrs. Stott had advised her to put on high -boots to save her ankles from mosquito bites, and to dust herself freely -with Insecticide powder to discourage the fleas. As a special -indulgence to a tired visitor she was let off morning prayers and only -heard the nasal singing whilst completing her toilet in her room after a -pleasant little breakfast in bed, over a book. John duly came with a -carriage borrowed from the Sultan's stables, and Lucy--almost gay once -more--set out with him to be introduced to Archdeacon Gravening--who in -the absence of the Bishop (on tour) was to perform the religious -marriage ceremony at the Cathedral. - -Gravening was an austere-looking man but of kindly disposition. He made -her feel at home, and as he knew the Reading district in old Oxford days -of walking tours and reading-parties he could talk about that -home-country which, as it receded in time from her contemplation, seemed -a Paradise she had recklessly quitted. - -The ladies of the Anglican Mission--a celibate Mission when at work in -Africa, its members being supposed to leave its ranks when they -married--received Lucy with some detachment of manner. They were good -creatures, indeed, but they came from a social stratum one or even two -degrees higher than hers, and inwardly they were less tolerant of -Nonconformists, than were their men fellow-workers. Lucy, they had -ascertained, was a "Church person," but she was about to marry into a -Methodist Mission. However, her rather plaintive prettiness and the -home-sick melancholy in her eyes enlisted their womanly sympathy. Two of -them offered themselves in a bride's maid capacity, and the Sisterhood -in general proposed that the honeymoon should be spent at their little -country retreat of Mbweni. But John explained as to this, that he could -not prolong his absence from the up-country station more than was just -necessary for the prescribed residence at Unguja; and that their -honeymoon must be spent on the return journey. He dilated, for Lucy's -encouragement, on the picnic charms of the "Safari."[#] - - -[#] The accepted meaning of "Safari" is a journey with tents, and -porters to carry the baggage. - - - * * * * * - -During the ten days of her pre-nuptial stay at Unguja Lucy had no talk -with Brentham. Presumably he was too busy over political and Consular -matters. Once indeed when walking with John through the winding streets -of the African-Oriental city she had seen him out riding with Bazzard, -the Vice-Consul. John had accomplished all the preliminary formalities, -and on her marriage morning--early on account of the heat--Lucy went in -one of the Sultan's carriages, attended by Mrs. Stott and the two ladies -of the Anglican Mission, to the British Agency. John met them at the -entrance; they walked slowly up the stone steps to the office for the -transaction of Consular business. Bazzard, with Mrs. Bazzard--the -latter assuming the airs of a Vice-reine--met them there and ranged the -wedding party in order. Brentham then entered, bowed to them both, but -avoided meeting Lucy's eyes. He put to them in a level business-like -voice the necessary interrogatory and declared them duly married. The -party then passed into one of the Agency's drawing-rooms. -Champagne--and lemonade for the teetotalers--was served, together with -mixed biscuits and sweetmeats. The Acting Consul-General proposed the -health of the Bride, and for the first time looked Lucy full in the -face. He next withdrew on to a verandah and talked for some time with -the bridegroom about his mission station and the journey thither and -spoke earnestly on the subject of Lucy and her welfare, instancing his -interest in her home-country as well as his position as "their" Consul -to explain his anxiety as to her future. Then returning to the general -company he handed Lucy a small case which he said contained a trifling -wedding present and wished her all possible happiness, promising "some -day or other" to visit her in her new home. He grasped her hand with a -brief pressure and--pleading urgent business as an excuse for not -following the party to the Cathedral--withdrew to his office. Mrs. -Bazzard introduced her husband and bestowed a condescending patronage on -Lucy and on the Mission ladies, who, never having met her before, found -themselves almost audibly wondering who on earth she was, and -where--with that slightly cockney accent--she had come from. - -The religious ceremony at the Cathedral was one of considerable -ecclesiastical pomp, secretly enjoyed by John Baines; who, however, -thought on what mother would say when he told her he had nearly been -married by a Bishop and quite so by an Archdeacon, and still more how -she would have appreciated the black acolytes in their scarlet cassocks -and white dalmatics, the incense-smell in the building, and the -vestments of the clergy. - -After they left the Cathedral they repaired to the Arab house of stone -and rich Persian and Kurdish carpets in which Archdeacon Gravening -lived. Here an unpretentious luncheon was given as a wedding breakfast. -Gravening hardly ever spoke about religion, which was why Mrs. Stott -despaired of his being saved, though she admitted he was compact of -quiet kindness. His one enthusiasm was language study. He was deeply -versed in the Bantu languages and translated for the Anglican Mission -most of the works they required to use in their schools and churches. -He had corresponded with John Baines, and the latter had written down -for him samples of vocabularies of the different languages heard in his -district. - - -Some insight into the conflict going on in the dazed mind of Lucy--who -throughout these ceremonies looked as though she were a wound-up -automaton--inspired Mrs. Stott to suggest to John that as they were due -to start in the Arab dau early the next morning in order to reach the -mainland port of Lingani before nightfall, Lucy should spend the rest of -her marriage-day and night with Mrs. Stott, and their honeymoon should -not commence till they reached the Mission house at Lingani. This they -would have to themselves for three or four days whilst their caravan for -up-country was being got ready. Accordingly poor John, when the wedding -luncheon was over and the guests had dispersed, surrendered Lucy to Mrs. -Stott and spent the rest of the day rather disconsolately making his -preparations for departure. Lucy got through much of that hot afternoon -in her nightdress--for coolness--inside the mosquito curtains of her -bed, weeping at times hysterically; tortured with homesickness one -minute and at another seized with a mad longing to call on Brentham at -the Agency and see him once more. Sometimes she felt an actual dislike -for John; at others a great pity for him, yet a shuddering at the idea -of his embraces, of any physical contact with him. - -Mrs. Stott prayed for her, apart in her own bedroom but the Divine -direction of her thoughts seemed to take the line that the least said -was the soonest mended, and that the young couple had better be left to -their own society at Lingani to come to an understanding. - -The next morning, however, it was a composed though rather silent Lucy -who was punctually ready to go away with John when he came to fetch her -to embark in the dau. Mrs. Stott had risen early to make coffee for -them and give them a send-off of embraces, and provisions for a nice -cold lunch on board. "My dear," she said to Lucy, "you'll have a -_delightful_ water picnic. There's going to be just wind enough to blow -you across. I wish I were coming with you, but I shan't get away for -another fortnight. However, we shall meet in the interior, I dare say, -before very long." - -John had made for his bride a little nest among cushions and clean -brightly-coloured grass mats in the deck cabin of the dau (a mere -palm-thatch shelter), and for an hour or so a smile came back to Lucy's -sad face as she appreciated the pleasant freshness of the morning -breeze, the picturesqueness of the boat and the vivid blue or emerald -green of the water according as it was deep or shallow. She had quite -an appetite for the early lunch which Mrs. Stott had thoughtfully -provided. But presently an anxious look came into her face and a -restlessness of manner. "John! Can I be coming out in a rash? I feel -an intolerable itching round my neck and wrists--Oh! Horror! What is -this?" And she pointed to some flat, dark brown disks which were -scurrying out of sight up her arms and into the folds of her linen -bodice.... - -"_Bugs!_" said John, shocked and apologetic, "they are sometimes found -in these Arab vessels.... I am so sorry.... Yet there was no other way -of crossing to Lingani...." - -Lucy went white with disgust. From the palm mid-ribs which arched over -the cabin roof of thatch there came dropping hundreds of bugs on to the -unhappy young woman, ignoring or avoiding him who would have willingly -offered himself as sacrifice and substitute. Lucy in her dismay, -knowing she could not undress before the boatmen and porters and yet not -knowing how she could endure hours of this maddening irritation from -half-venomous bites, broke out into weeping. "What _was_ to be done?" -questioned the poor distraught bridegroom. The gentle breeze had died -away ... an intense heat prevailed; the dau scarcely moved across a -glassy sea ... the Nakhodha or bwahih captain of the dau was standing up -over the rudder and signalling with his sinewy hand, crying out in a -melodious cadence: "Njoo! Kusi-Kusi, Njoo, Kusi-Kusi!"[#] afraid his -vessel might be becalmed and prevented from reaching port in daylight. -The boat-men and porters were looking at one another with round eyes as -they heard the Bibi[#] crying convulsively in the deck cabin. John in -his desperation had a bright idea. He knew that the ordinary, vaunted -insecticides had no terror for, no deterrent effect on, either bugs or -their unrelated mimics, the poisonous ticks of Central Africa; but that -both alike fled before the smell of petroleum. There were tins of that -mineral oil on board provision for his lamps up-country. Opening one of -these cautiously, for petroleum was very precious, he filled an -enamelled iron cup and then stoppered the tin. From his medicine chest -he obtained cotton-wool. Then with wads of this, and with his -handkerchief, he dabbed the swollen wrists and the weals on Lucy's neck -and advised her to thrust the saturated wads and linen inside her -clothing. - - -[#] "Come south wind, come!" - -[#] Lady. - - -The strong odour of the oil in a few minutes caused the blood-sucking -insects to withdraw and return to their lairs in the thatch and boards. -The south wind came at last in puffs, which lessened the heat, but there -set in a swell which caused the dau to roll. This movement disturbed -the bilge water below the decks, and from this was disengaged a -sulphuretted-hydrogen stench almost bad enough to drive the bugs from -Lucy's mind. But the wind grew steadier and at last blew the rotten dau -to the landing-place at the mouth of a river where they were to -disembark. - -Lingani was a smaller edition of Unguja Town: flat-roofed Arab houses of -white-washed coral rock, thatched wattle-and-daub huts, groves of -coco-nut palms, a few Casuarina trees and Frangipani shrubs, pariah -dogs, wandering zebu cattle, and dwarf goats. The Mission Rest-house was -a substantial stone building in the Arab style of East Africa. It was -maintained jointly by four missionary societies for use by their members -in transit. There was a Swahili couple in charge of it, husband and -wife. The bed linen, table-cloths, napkins and cutlery were kept in -cupboards fastened with cunning padlocks, which only opened when you set -the letters of the lock to correspond with the word "open." This to -thwart inquisitive natives, with a smattering of education, was written -up for reminder in Greek letters. With this ruse John was fully -acquainted, so that he lost no time in opening the cupboards and -releasing the wherewithal for making up two beds and laying the table -for an evening meal. The black housekeepers, proffering greetings and -assurance of welcome while they worked, busied themselves in heating -water for baths, in making the beds, laying the table, and killing -chickens for soup and roast. John's activities were multifold. He had -to see the dau unloaded and its precious cargo safely stowed away in the -store below the Rest-house. - -Lucy at first sat limply in the divan or main reception-room, sore all -over, eyes blistered by the glare of sun on water, and with a headache -which for crippling agony exceeded anything she had known. But she -conquered her sullenness and made feeble attempts to help. John, -however, seeing that bath and bath water were ready and that sheets, -pillows and blankets had been placed on her Arab bedstead (a wooden -frame with a lattice-work across it of ox-hide strips), advised her to -undress, soothe her bites with spongings and ointment, and rest between -the sheets. Her back ached unbearably; her head seemed half-severed at -the neck, and she was seized with violent shiverings. The mosquitoes -had given her a sharp attack of malarial fever. - -Once in bed, she felt less acutely ill, but of all the nice meal that -John and the Swahili man-cook had prepared she could only swallow a cup -of tea. Her temperature was found to be up to 102 deg., so the first -and the six succeeding nights of the honeymoon were spent in dire -illness and dreary convalescence. But at the end of that time she -seemed well enough to start on their up-country journey. John had -obtained two Masai donkeys and had bought at Unguja a second-hand -side-saddle. Lucy cheered up at the prospect of donkey-riding and above -all at leaving this terribly hot coast town for the cooler nights of the -interior. Though still deeply depressed and disheartened, she was -sufficiently reasonable and well-disposed to be deeply touched by her -husband's care of her, his forethought for her comfort and distress at -the inconveniences of semi-savage Africa. Some measure of health came -back to her, and even cheerfulness, during the first easy days of camp -life, before they left the semi-civilized coast-belt, with its shady -mango-trees for the midday halt, its unfailing water supply for the -thirsty porters and the white man's meals; its comparative safety at -night from wild beasts and wild natives. - -But between the mountain ranges of the interior--whither they were -bound--and this settled country of cultivation and villages more or less -governed by the Sultan of Unguja, there lay a desert tract almost devoid -of water and ravaged in recent times by a clan of the raiding Masai -known to the Bantu natives as "Wahumba." They had recently carried out -a ruthless foray across the plains. The native wells had fallen in or -their location had been forgotten since the destruction of the villages. -Lucy then knew for the first time what it was to suffer from thirst, and -to have no water for washing in the morning or evening; and when a -little water was obtained from nearly dried up rock-pools or the bed of -a run-dry stream, to be hardly able to endure the sight of it, much less -taste it when it looked like strong tea, or coffee-and-milk, when it -smelt of stable manure or was alive with grubs or wriggling worms. It -could only be drunk in the form of tea after it had been strained, -boiled, and skimmed. - -John had prepared for some such contingency in crossing this desert -strip by bringing several dozen coco-nuts and a case of his father's -cider--at the mention of which Lucy's mouth watered. But his porters in -their own mad thirst had disposed of the coco-nuts and their milk, and -the carrier who bore the case of champagne cider on his head had, of -course, slipped on a slimy boulder, crossing a dry stream down had come -his precious load, and at least half the bottles had cracked and poured -forth their sparkling contents over the sand or into the porter's -protruded mouth. Still, the other six bottles were retrieved by an -indignant John who, in his rage, doffed the gentle long-suffering -missionary--which, strange to say, he had become in these few -months--witness his unselfish and patient care of his rather peevish -wife--and kicked the careless, sticky, half-drunk porter with all the -vehemence of an unregenerate Englishman. The porter took his -chastisement philosophically. He had tasted nectar. John and Lucy drank -the remainder of the cider during the second half of that day, without -care for the morrow's drought, for fear lest they be robbed of it by -some other accident.... - -At last they reached a running stream at the base of the foothills which -marked the beginning of a slow ascent of three thousand feet. The -verdure, and the shade this created, seemed by contrast a Paradise. They -pitched their camp under fine umbrageous trees, near the site of a -ruined village which a few months previously had been a populous centre. -Around the mounds of clay and sticks and burnt thatch were luxuriant -banana plantations with occasional bunches of ripening bananas--though -the monkeys of the adjacent thicket had not left many fit for eating. -When Lucy had quenched her thirst exuberantly from the rivulet, drinking -from cups of folded banana fronds made for her by the repentant porter -of the broken cider bottles, her sense of relief and contentment at -their surroundings was a little marred by the consciousness of an -unpleasant odour which came to them fitfully in puffs of the afternoon -breeze. She started out to explore on her own account--she wore high -boots and had a tucked-in, constricted skirt. Presently she came to an -extensive clearing where banana trunks, brown and rotten, had been -felled and lay prone in all directions, half covered with the clay -tunnels and galleries of white ants. Amongst these crumbling cylinders -lay twenty or thirty skeletons, some of them still retaining strips of -leathery flesh and patches of Negro wool on the whitened skulls. The -ground at the rustle of her approach began to swarm with a myriad of -black, biting ants, disturbed in their daily meal off this immense -supply of carrion. Lucy paid little heed to them for the moment as she -stood horror-struck at the sight of hissing snakes, gliding into the -rank weeds, probably more concerned over the swarming of the ants than -at the approach of a solitary human being. She also noted a group of -large, grey-brown vultures with lean whitish necks, which hopped heavily -before her until they obtained enough impetus to rise above the ground -and settle on the branches of a baobab-tree. Lucy, horrified by this -unsavoury Golgotha and the slithering snakes, was uttering several -squeaks of dismay, when as the terrible "siafu" ants began to nip the -skin of her limbs and body, her cries changed to shrieks of terror. -Half-blindly she floundered over disgusting obstacles back towards the -camp. - -John, looking very tired and very dirty, came rushing to meet her and -upbraid her for imprudence in wandering off alone where there was danger -at every turn; but, realizing she was being mercilessly bitten by the -"siafu," he hurried her into the tent, let down the flaps of the -entrance and assisted her to undress. She had to be reduced to absolute -nudity before the ants could be removed. They had fixed their mandibles -so firmly in the skin that in pulling them off the head and jaws -remained behind, and for weeks afterwards this unhappy young woman went -about with a sore and inflamed body. - -But this seeming outrage on her modesty greatly eased their intercourse. -They had been for several days husband and wife, but there was still a -certain stiffness and reserve in their relations. This disappeared -after Lucy was obliged in broad daylight to submit her tortured body to -his ministrations. In this new camaraderie she was soon laughing over -her misadventure; whilst John acted clumsily as lady's maid. - -Two days afterwards they were further drawn together by a thrill of -terror. The region having been temporarily depopulated by Masai raids, -wild beasts--lions, leopards, hyenas--had been emboldened in their -attacks. John's camping places were encircled each evening by a hedge -of thorns, and the porters kept up--or were supposed to keep up--blazing -fires. But one night in the small hours the tired sentries fell asleep, -the fire in front of the tent died down, a lion sprang the hedge, -crunched the sentry's skull, and tore at their tent doorway with his -claws--attracted by the smell of the donkeys tethered behind. His -horrible snarls and growls and the outcry of the awakened men roused -John and Lucy. In their movements they knocked over camp washstand and -table and could not find the matches or the lantern. John was uncertain -where to fire even when he had found his loaded rifle. He dared not -shoot into the midst of the growls, lest the bullet should kill the -plunging donkeys or strike one of his men. They in their -desperation--and, to do them justice, in their desire to save the white -man and his wife--were tackling the lion with firebrands, yet feared to -shoot his huge body--tangled up with tent ropes and tent flaps--lest -they should shoot master or mistress. Lucy swooned across the bed with -terror when she felt the lion's body pressed against the thin canvas of -the tent wall.... The tent, even, seemed in danger of collapsing under -the lion's pressure, as he backed on to it to face the men. At last, -fear of the fire dislodged him. He stood or rather crouched against a -pile of boxes for a few minutes; then realizing that the way to the exit -was clear, he bounded towards it over the dead body of the slain porter. -But before he quitted the premises he seized adroitly one of Lucy's two -milch goats and, breaking its neck, trailed it over his shoulders and -plunged down a ravine. The men followed him with a fusillade of shots -from their Snider rifles, but probably in the darkness all went wide. -The lion remained in the ravine alternately crunching and growling--but -_such_ growling!--the English verb is feeble to express the -blood-curdling sound. - -Day broke at last. John roused himself, detached gently the -hysterically-clutching hands of his wife, who alternately implored him -not to expose himself to any more danger and not to leave her to die by -herself in the wilderness, but to turn back with her that very day and -seek for some safer Mission post at the Coast or in Unguja itself. He -put his clothes into better order, knelt and prayed for a few minutes: -then tidied the tent space a little and overhauled his rifle. Next, -rummaging for ammunition and putting it handy in his side pockets, he -issued from the tent, carefully fastening the door flaps after him. He -questioned the men in broken Swahili as to the lion's whereabouts. -"Chini, Bwana, hapa karibu, ndani ya bondee ... Below, master, near -here, within the ravine," they answered; and the lion, hearing the -raised voices, gave a confirmatory growl which reached to the ears of -the shaking Lucy in the tent. She arose, her teeth chattering with -terror, and looked out through a slit in the tent door. She saw and -heard John call for the headman and guessed that he was marshalling -eight of his most courageous porters, the "gunmen" of the expedition, to -sally out with him and attack the lion. This beast, having nearly -finished the goat, had no intention of leaving the neighbourhood of the -camp. He intended to have next, one by one, the two donkeys; and after -he had eaten them, the humans. The ravine seemed a convenient place in -which to repose till he was hungry again.... - -The porters read the lion's mind correctly: "He will wait there, master, -till we are breaking camp and then attack the donkeys, and perhaps the -one with Bibi on his back. We shall never get him in such a favourable -position again. See! He is down there below, looking up at us. He can -scarcely rush up this side of the ravine...." John Baines grasped the -situation; he quickly placed himself in the middle of the eight braves, -who knelt on one knee in between the tree stems on the edge of the steep -descent. All at the word "Fire!" sent a converging volley (which -deafened Lucy in the tent) at the great head with its wide-open yellow -eyes ... and as the smoke cleared away the head was a shapeless mass of -blood and brains and the lion was utterly dead. - -A shout of triumph arose from the elated men, and the whole force of the -caravan--thirty-two men without the poor wretch who had been killed in -the night--went tumbling down the ravine to disembowel the lion and cut -off its skin for "Bwana" who had shown himself such a man of spirit. - -John betook himself to Lucy's tent, exultant. He had killed a lion! He -almost forgot to kneel down and send up a thanksgiving for the Divine -protection accorded to them. Lucy dried her eyes and at last made an -effort to dress and swallow a little breakfast. As her nerves were -shattered by the "close call" they had had in the night, and as a burial -service must be held over the dead porter and the loads be readjusted, -John announced there would be no march that day. - -But the next morning Lucy could hardly sit her donkey. And by ill-luck -the caravan had only just started and was passing through more ruined -banana plantations--another charnel house of the last Masai raid--when -it was abruptly halted by a shout of "Nyoka!" Owing to the obstacles of -the felled banana stems it was difficult to diverge from the narrow -track; and, barring the men's way, in the middle of that track an -unusually large "spitting" cobra had erected itself on the stiffened -tail-third of its length and was balancing its flattened, expanded body -to and fro, threatening the advance of the caravan. It should have been -a comparatively easy matter to fell it with a well-flung banana stem, -but meanwhile the file of porters halted, and John, impatient to find -out the cause of the halt, urged on his donkey to flounder through the -vegetation along the track and reach the head of the caravan. Lucy's -donkey was so devoted to her sister ass that she could never bear to be -separated from her; so, unchecked by Lucy's limp clutch on the reins, -she hurried forward. But when she saw the swaying cobra she bolted off -to the left into the banana tangle, and the abrupt action flung her -rider off amongst skulls and bones and rotting vegetation. - -The headman, with a tent-pole, hurled adroitly at the aggressive snake, -broke its back, the exasperated porters rushed forward and whacked it to -pulp and then threw the remains far from the path, took up their loads -and marched forward, hastening to leave so ill-omened a place. The cook -and the personal attendant hurried to raise the unconscious, slightly -stunned Lucy from her horrible surroundings and caught the donkey. The -caravan, however, had to be halted afresh. Lucy was far too ill to -ride. Yet a further stay could hardly be made in these surroundings. -After a conference with the headman it was decided to rig up a "machila" -or travelling hammock out of blankets, and a long pole, and to march on -a mile or so to a better site for a camping place, and there await the -lady's recovery.... - -Poor John! It required, indeed, patience and resignation to the fitful -ways of Providence to keep up heart against this succession of -disasters. The loads were readjusted so as to release four men to carry -the invalid; and the caravan moved on silently, in low spirits and -without the accustomed song, till they reached a spot which satisfied -their requirements of defensibility against lions, access to good water; -shade; and no likelihood of biting ants or snakes. Such a place was -found in an hour or two, and the overburdened porters gladly heard the -decision to remain till the Bibi was well enough to travel. - -Lucy when put to bed was alternately hysterical and delirious. She was -suffering more from nervous shocks than from bodily injuries, though -several of the ant-bites were inclined to fester, and her left cheek, -arm, and side were badly bruised from the fall amongst the bones. John, -as he sat and watched her on the camp bed, thought what cursed luck had -followed him since his marriage. He had twice made this journey between -Hangodi and the coast, and although neither traversing of the -hundred-and-fifty miles had been precisely an agreeable picnic, there -had not occurred any really tragical incidents that he remembered. -Going first to Hangodi, nine months ago, the Masai raids had not taken -place; and on his coastward journey a month previously his guide must -have taken him along a different path. Thus they had avoided these -ruined villages with their rotting remains of massacres. He had often -heard lions roar and seen snakes gliding from the path, and had crossed -with a hop and a jump swarms of the dreaded "siafu." It was common -knowledge that some Arab daus were infested with bugs. But none of -these terrors had been obvious on his previous journeys, nor had there -been such a scarcity of drinking water. It really seemed as though -Divine Providence for some mysterious ends was to crowd all the dangers -and disagreeables of an African _safari_ into Lucy's wedding tour. - -A talk with the headman helped to clear things up and settle plans. -They were, at this new camp--by contrast with the others a very pleasant -and salubrious place--about sixty miles from Hangodi and about fifty -from the Evangelical Missionary Society's station or Mpwapwa. Here -there lived a famous medical missionary. If a message were sent to him -by fast runners he might reach them in four or five days with advice and -medicines. - -Two of the swiftest porters of the _safari_ were chosen to run through -the tolerably safe Usagara country with a letter, with calico bound -round them for food purchase and a bag of rice tied to each man's -girdle. John's revolver was lent to the more experienced of the two as -some protection against wild beasts or lawless men. They were promised -a present if they did the journey in two days. - - * * * * * - -There was nothing for it then but to keep Lucy well-nourished with broth -made from tinned foods and beef-extract. The porter who had let drop -the case of cider and had conceived an attachment for his mistress out -of pity and remorse, set a snare one day and caught a guinea-fowl. This -made an excellent nourishing soup. Another porter found a clutch of -guinea-fowl's eggs. There was one remaining milch goat which yielded -about a pint of milk daily. - -With such resources as these John strove to prepare an invalid diet -which could be administered by spoonfuls to a patient with no appetite -and poor vitality. He had a small medicine-case of drugs, but knew not -what to prescribe for nervous exhaustion. He scarcely left the vicinity -of the tent during the day-time, and slept fully-dressed at night in a -deck-chair close to Lucy's camp bedstead. - -At the end of the fifth day the medical missionary arrived on a riding -donkey with John's messengers, and six porters of his own carrying a -comfortable travelling hammock. He diagnosed the case and took a -cheerful view of it, but advised their setting out next day with him and -attempting by forced marches to reach his station--fifty miles away--in -two days. At Mpwapwa Lucy would be nursed back to health by his wife, -and when she was fit for more African travel she should be sent on to -Hangodi. - - * * * * * - -Six weeks afterwards she reached her husband's station in Ulunga, -completely restored to health. The cool dry season had set in; the -country she traversed was elevated, much wooded, picturesque -hill-and-dale threaded with numerous small streams, and her travelling -escort, the medical missionary, was an interesting man with a -well-stored mind who could explain much that she wanted to know. - -On her arrival at Hangodi she found Ann Jamblin installed as a potent -force in several departments of the station economy, the real mistress -of the community. She had come up from the coast in the _safari_ of -Mrs. Ewart Stott. The marches had been well regulated the camping -places well chosen, the wild beasts had not annoyed them, and they had -avoided the waterless tract. Ann was prompt to infer that Lucy had made -far too much fuss over the petty discomforts of African travel, and Lucy -began to take refuge in a proud silence--which one's persecutors call -"sulks"--under Ann's gibes and obliquely slighting remarks. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *LETTERS TO AND FRO* - - - _From Lady Silchester to Captain Brentham._ - - -Englefield House, - _July_ 12, 1887. - -DEAR ROGER,-- - -The great event took place three weeks ago and I am just allowed to -leave my bed and lie on a couch for a few hours every day--in my -boudoir. Here I can wile away the time by writing letters. - -It is a boy, so Francis ought to be in the seventh heaven of happiness -as he now has a direct heir for the succession. Ought to be, but -somehow isn't. Since I began to get better and take notice he does not -seem as exuberant as I expected. He isn't _well_. I have a sort of -idea he had a fainting fit in the House of Lords just when my crisis was -coming on and that they kept it back from me. But I saw an allusion to -it in an old _Times_ which had somehow found its way into my -sitting-room. - -The infant is to be named James Francis Addington for ancestral reasons. -I do not feel energetic enough to contest. I should have preferred -_one_ Christian name _only_--a multitude of names is so demode and must -be so confusing to the recording angels who don't recognize surnames. I -wanted something a little baffling and out of the common such as -Clitheroe or Passavant. Clitheroe is not the name of any relation, but -I liked its sound--like the wind in the reeds, don't you think?--and it -would have been a new departure. - -Little Clithy looks rather wizen as he lies asleep in his bassinette, -but at his age most infants seem incredibly old and cynical, as though -they were just finishing some life cycle and were peevish at beginning -another. - -Of course, Clitheroe's coming has _quite_ ruled me out of the Jubilee -festivities. Suzanne Feenix has been doing all the running, and quietly -pushing her husband whilst I have been unable to secure any advancement -for mine, who now seems quite lacking in ambition. Suzanne, by the bye, -_l'on dit tres toquee_ of another good-looking African explorer, a rival -of yours from West Africa. A pity you did not make her acquaintance--as -I advised you to do--before you left. She has any amount of influence -with Lord W. - -How is the missionaryess? I am glad she was safely married to her -missionary and withdrew herself into the interior. I feared otherwise -there was going to be _another_ entanglement: for I don't believe _in -the least_ you were a Galahad and faithful only to my memory in the days -when we played at being engaged. I don't see why I should be specially -interested in this young woman because she came from Aldermaston and her -father is one of our tenants.... However, when I can once more ride I'll -go over and look her people up and report on them. But I only hope you -won't turn her head by taking all this interest in her affairs. So like -you! And to think you once reproached me for inconstancy! - -All the same, dear Roger, I do miss you--_dreadfully_. Francis _will_ -keep up the grand manner and won't tell me any cabinet secrets. My -brothers and sisters don't interest me, mother is too anxious about -father's affairs to leave him for long, and when she is here I am -nervous about discussing them for fear they may want to borrow money -from Francis. - -I have sent Maud an invitation because she reminds me faintly of you.... - -SIBYL. - - - - _From Mrs. Josling to Mrs. John Baines._ - - -Church Farm - Aldermaston - July 30 (1887) - -My darling girl - -Father and me were so releaved at getting your letter ten days ago -saying you had reached Unguja safe and sound and had just been married -to John Baines by the Consul and at the Cathedral. It sounded quite -grand being married twice, and I only hope youll be happy. - -I went over to see Mrs. Baines at Tilehurst taking your letter with me -but was receaved [underscored: none too graciously]. It seems John had -not written to his parents to say he was married [strikeout: or even -that he] but I suppose he hadent time before being so busy over his -preperations for starting up country. - -Well my darling we both wishes you every happiness. Your letter dident -tell us much but I suppose you were too busy having to start away on a -ship the next morning. We both send our humble thanks to Captain -Brentham for looking after you on the voyage. Lady Silchester has had -her baby--in the middle of last June. Father and me drove over last -week to pay our respecs and make inquiries. His lordship himself came -out to see and was nice as he always is. He's very like his poor mother -and she was always the lady and spoke as nice to her servants as to her -titled friends. Well Lord Silchester rang for the nurse and baby so as -we might see it. It looked to me a poor little antique thing but of -course I dident say so. It's been christened James after his Lordship's -father but they say as her Ladyship wanted some other name more romantic -like. She came in from the garden as we were leaving and gave herself -such airs I thought but Father says she's a rare piece for good looks -and we all ought to be grateful to her for giving an heir to the estate -to keep out the Australian cousin who might have [strikeout: revvle] -revolutionary ideas about farming. She ast after you a bit sarcastic -like I thought. She says I hear your daughter flirted dredfully with my -cousin Captain Brentham on the way out. I couldent help saying I dident -believe it. My daughter I said would never be a flirt it wasnt in your -nature. I felt so put out but his Lordship tried to make it come right -by saying Her Ladyship musnt judge others by herself and that he quite -believed me. Weve had a good hay crop and the wheat and root crops -promises well. So Father's in rare good humour and says after harvest -he's going to take us all to the sea-side Bournemouth or Southsea. -Clara and Mary's both well. They never ail as you kno. Young Marden of -Overeaston is paying Clara some attention. Leastways he drops in to -Sunday supper pretty often. - -We all send our love and I hope with all my hart you will be happy and -continu well. I shall go on being anxious about you till you come back. -Praps the Primitives will give John a call after he's done his bit of -missionary work and youll be able to live in England close to us. I -shant be happy till this comes to pass. - -Your loving mother - Clara Josling - - - - _From Mrs. Baines to her son John._ - -Tilehurst, - _October_ 14, 1887. - -MY DEAR SON,-- - -I suppose a mother must expect to come off _second_ best when her son -marries and I ought to think myself lucky to hear from you once a year. -But I confess I was put out in the summer only to get news of you -through Lucy's mother. However, your letter written August 3, after -Lucy had joined you at Hangodi, came to hand a few days ago. You must -have had a terrible time getting her up-country. She seems so feckless -and born to trouble. As though wild beasts and accidents sought her -out. - -I've just had a line from Ann Jamblin. _She's_ got her head screwed on -the right way. She left a month after Lucy and yet reached your station -nearly as soon as you did. She didn't need to hang about that place--I -can't spell its name--where you got married, and, she travelled -up-country, she says, in record time with a missionary lady, a Mrs. -Stott. She didn't fall off her donkey or have a lion in her tent or get -ant all over her or turn sick every few weeks. Nor yet have herself -looked after by free-thinking captains on the voyage out. But there. -You've made your bed as the saying is and you must lie on it. It's far -from my wish to come between husband and wife, and I'm glad Ann's gone -to your station. She'll have a steadying influence on Lucy and be a -great comfort to you and your companions. I suppose by now she's -married to your friend Anderson. If so he'll have got a good wife and -her bit of money will be a help. - -Father's as well as he's ever likely to be. He suffers from brash, a -sure sign of overeating. - -Sister Simpson is going to marry Brother Wilkins the sidesman of our -Reading Chapel. At present she's suffering from boils, but hopes to be -well enough for the marriage next month. The Bellinghams at Cross -Corner, Reading, Bakers and Fancy Confectioners, are in a bad way--going -bankrupt they say. There's been a sad scandal about Pastor Brown at -Bewdly wanting to marry his deceased wife's sister. It's forbidden I -know in Holy Writ, though at time of writing I can't remember where, but -see Leviticus xviii. and xx. Emily Langhorn has gone to London to learn -dressmaking. Time she did and good behaviour likewise. I never listen -to scandal, otherwise I should say it was all on account of her goings -on with young Gilchrist. She took it very hard when he suddenly married -Priscilla Lamb of Lamb's Boot Emporium, Abbey Road, Reading. I'm very -glad I wouldn't have her here to the Dorcas meetings. She'd got her eye -on you, I'm pretty sure. Sam Gildersleeves and Polly Scatcherd's got -married, just in time it seems, to save her good name. People was -beginning to cut her. Clara Josling, your wife's sister, is engaged to -young Harden, a good-for-nothing cricketer. Plays with his brother and -friends on Sunday afternoons. But I suppose you won't think the worse -of him for that, now you've come under Lucy's influence. But oh what -wickedness is coming on the world. Well, it can't last much longer. -The vials of the Almighty's wrath are about to be opened and the Last -Day is at hand--I feel and hope. I've advised your father to spend no -more money on repairs at the Manufactory--It will last our time. - -Meanwhile may God have you in his holy keeping. Father sends love. He's -taken up with this new drink Zoedone and expects to make a lot of money -out of it. Money, money, money and eat, eat, eat is all he thinks about. -Still, that's better than breaking the Sabbath and running after strange -women, which is what most of his neighbours is doing. And as to the -women, it's dress, dress, dress and play acting. Mrs. Garrett's bustle -was right down shocking last Sunday. I couldn't keep my eyes off it -during Chapel. They've been making so much money lately out of sanding -the sugar and selling dried tea-leaves for Best Family Blend Afternoon -tea that they don't know how to spend it, so Mrs. G. has begun to dress -fashionable--at _her_ age too--and Mr. G. goes to St. Michael's instead -of coming to Salem chapel where his parents worshipped before him. And -as to this play acting, its one of the signs of the times. They've -opened a theatre at Reading and have afternoon performances.--Several of -our Tilehurst folk have been seen there and Pastor Mullins spoke about -it in last Sunday's sermon. - -Your loving mother, - SARAH BAINES. - - - - _From Mrs. Spencer Bazzard to Mr. Bennet Molyneux, - Foreign Office._ - -H.B.M. Vice-Consulate, - Unguja, - _Novr._ 1, 1887. - -DEAR MR. MOLYNEUX,-- - -When am I to address you as "Sir Bennet"?--as it ought to be, if I dare -express my thoughts. We look in each Honours' list expecting it. -Spencer is quite bitter on the subject, but I tell him "comparisons are -odious." At any rate I won't repeat his indiscretions. - -We are all wondering here when Sir James Eccles is returning. I have -not yet had the privilege of seeing him and can only take Spencer's -opinions for guide. In Spencer's mind he is well-nigh irreplaceable. -Spencer feels it would be little less than disastrous to place the -control of Ungujan affairs in the hands of any younger or less -experienced man. With Sir James Eccles the Germans will try no -nonsense. They might even renounce their protectorate in despair if he -were to return and had the influence of his Government behind him. -Whereas with a weaker man, or even with one of no authority, merely an -"acting" Consul-General, they may go to _any_ lengths. I am foolish -enough about my Husband to think--if there _must_ be a stop-gap--that he -would be better than--well, than the present Acting Consul-General. -Spencer thoroughly distrusts the Germans and refuses even to learn their -ugly language; whereas C-p-n B. is much too friendly with them and has -gone to the length of saying we must not play the dog in the manger over -Africa. It seems there have been great German African explorers as well -as English, and Spencer's colleague thinks it rather hard they should -not have colonies as well as we. Not knowing your own views I hesitate -to express mine. And I should not be so presumptuous as to ask for any -guidance or any answer even to this letter. I dare say if you think -Spencer is to have more responsibility and initiative in the future you -will privately instruct him as to the policy of your department. - -That will not help _me_ much, for Spencer, where official correspondence -is concerned, is as close as--I can't think of a parallel! I mean, he -won't tell me _anything_. Not that I am inquisitive. But I _do_ want -to be a help to him, and I also believe in the education of women. I -should like to know _all_ about Africa! But I also know your -views--though they shock me. If I may judge from our conversations on -that never-to-be-forgotten Saturday till Monday--last Easter--when Mrs. -Molyneux was good enough to ask me down to Spilsbury---- You think -Woman should confine herself to superintending the household and her -husband's comfort, to dressing well, and should not concern herself with -politics. You may be right. And yet there are moments in which I rebel -against these prescriptions. It may have been my bringing-up. My dear -father, an officer in the Navy, died when I was very young, and darling -mother brought me up with perhaps too much modern liberality. She -entertained considerably--in a modest way, of course--at our house in -North Kensington, and I was accustomed therefore from girlhood to meet -with many different types of men and women--some of them widely -travelled--and to hear a great variety of opinions. - -Here, however, when I have attended to the affairs of our household--a -small one, since we no longer live in the big Consulate--and have paid -an occasional visit to some other Consul's wife or the nicer among the -missionary women, I give myself up to the study of Swahili, the local -language. Spencer, who is strong in fifty things where I am weak or -totally wanting, is not absolutely of the first quality as a linguist, -while I seem to have rather a gift that way. I am much complimented on -my French, and although I dislike German I force myself to speak it. I -can now make myself understood in what Spence calls the "dam" lingo of -the natives. And if I told you I was also grappling with Hindustani I -am afraid you would class me unfavourably with your pet aversion, a -"blue stocking"! - -But I will defy your bad opinion. I am _determined_ to fit myself for -Spencer's promotion which must surely come in time, especially as we can -both stand the climate fairly well. I have only been down once with -fever since I came out, and Spence sets malaria at defiance with -cocktails and an occasional stiff whisky peg. Between us before long we -ought to know all that is worth knowing at Unguja. And Spence is _so_ -popular with the natives. They instinctively look up to a strong man. - -As to the missionaries they simply swarm on the island and the mainland. -Some of the Church of England ones are quite nice and are really -gentlemen and ladies. And there are one or two adorable old priests in -the French Mission who pay me pretty compliments on my French and -declare I must have learnt it in Paris. But there are also some awful -cranks. There is a Mrs. Stott who puts in an appearance once in a way -from some very wild part of the interior and asks me with great -cheerfulness if I am saved, or if I love the Lord. It is wonderful how -she keeps her appearance, as she goes about without a sunshade and has -been tossed several times by rhinoceroses. Her voracity for hymn -singing is _extraordinary_. Perhaps it acts on her constitution like -these new Swedish gymnastics. - -Quite another type of recruit for the Nonconformist Missions came out -with me from England last spring. A National School mistress, I -believe, originally. She was the daughter of a farmer in Lord -Silchester's country. Some thought her pretty, but it was that -prettiness which soon evaporates under a tropical sun. She seemed to me -thoroughly insipid and had not even that faith in mission work which at -least excuses the strange proceedings of her companions. As soon as the -ship started she put herself under the wing of our Acting Consul-General -who was not slow to reciprocate. They carried on a flirtation during -the voyage which--but I am afraid I am not very modern--was _not_ the -best preparation for marrying a Methodist missionary--a dreadful -_gauche_-looking creature who came to claim her at Unguja. However a -woman should always stand by women, so I did the best I could for her -when they were married by the Acting Consul-General. - -That important personage--Is he a friend of yours? If so, I will promise -to see nothing but good in him--prefers to live all alone in Sir James -Eccles' house, where Spencer had transferred himself after Sir James's -departure. We had proposed joining households with him, and I was -_quite_ ready to have made a home for him during his brief tenure of the -post. But apparently he preferred my room to my company, so of course I -did not press my offer. He entertains very little on the plea that he -is too much occupied with work and study. - -Well! If I write much more you will dismiss me as a bore. So I must -sign myself, - -Yours gratefully, - EMILIA BAZZARD. - -P.S. I expect no answer. But if you do not order me to the contrary I -shall post you from time to time a budget of gossip from Unguja in the -hope that it may prove amusing. - -There is no news at all of Stanley. Emin, they say, is still holding -out. Each steamer brings more and more Germans, to Spencer's great -disgust. E.B. - - - - _From Captain Brentham to his sister Maud._ - - -H.B.M. Agency, - Unguja, - _Decr._ 1, 1887. - -DEAR OLD MAUD,-- - -You _are_ a good sort, and I am awfully grateful to you. Your letters -never fail me each month as the mail comes in, and you send me just the -papers and books I like to see in my isolation. - -I have been here over six months and am getting rather weary of the -office work. I don't suppose there is much chance of my being promoted -to the principal post if Sir James Eccles does not come back. It would -be too rapid a promotion and excite frightful jealousy--though I really -think I should do as well as any one else, and better than some. My -Arabic and Persian are both useful to me here, and I have worked up -Hindustani and mastered Swahili and get along very well with the Arabs -and the big colony of British Indians. But I don't feel confident about -F.O. approval. All these affairs pass through Bennet Molyneux's hands, -and he does not like me for some reason, probably because he's an -obstinate ass and hates being set right. I hoped Lord Silchester would -have pushed me more, but according to Sibyl's letters he seems really -ailing and to care about little besides his own health. Your account of -your visit to Englefield last summer amused me very much. Sibyl has a -good deal of the cat about her, but I quite understand from the very -oppositeness of your dispositions you might get on very well--your -straightforwardness and her guile. At any rate though I am a little sore -still about her throwing me over for Silchester, I am ready to forgive -her if she is nice to my one dear sister. - -As to _you_, I never properly appreciated you till I came to live out -here. If I could only get a settled position I think I should ask you -to come and keep house for me. I daresay I shall never marry--the women -I have felt drawn to have always married somebody else. It would do -father good if he had to engage a housekeeper and a curate. He throws -away far too much of the money he ought to leave some day to you on -excavations at Silchester. - -Well, as I say, I am getting rather tired of the office work I have to -plough through day after day. There is endless litigation between the -Hindu merchants and the Arabs. There are Slave cases every week and -frequent squabbles with the French Consulate over slaving ships flying -the French flag. And although I have a "legal" vice-consul to help me, -his decisions are sometimes awfully rotten and have to be revised. - -I wasn't cut out for office work. If I were really Agent and -Consul-General it would be different; I might take more interest in the -storms of this Unguja tea-cup. And I should of course be properly in -control of the mainland Vice-Consuls who at present seem to me to waste -all their time big game shooting or ill in bed with fever due to too -much whisky. But as I am only a warming pan for Eccles or some new man -it is a very boring life. I have not been away from this little island -once since I came out in May. I am therefore impatient to go over to my -proper consular district on the mainland, and thoroughly explore it. It -reaches to the three great lakes of the interior! - -This Vice-Consul at Unguja is a queer sort of person. He was called to -the bar a few years ago--unless he is personating another man! But his -knowledge of Indian law is nil and he seems to have no intuition or -perception of where the truth lies between scores of perjured witnesses. -He is unable to learn languages, so he is quite at the mercy of the -court interpreters. He drinks too much whisky, has an unpleasant -mottled complexion, a shaking hand, and an uneasy manner with me, -varying from deferential to what the French call "rogue." His wife who -travelled out with me is _by no means_ stupid. She is somewhat the -golden-haired adventuress--her hair, at least, is an impossible gold -except near the roots--her complexion is obviously, though very -skilfully, made up, and generally she has a sort of false good looks -just as she exhibits a false good nature. Every now and then one -catches a glimpse of the tigress fighting for her own hand (which means -in her case, her husband). She has probably been a governess at one -time, and rumour makes her the daughter of a navy paymaster's widow who -kept a boarding house in Bayswater, which at one time sheltered Spencer -Bazzard when he was down on his luck. He married her--I should -guess--to pay his bill for board and lodging. She then took up his -affairs with vigour and actually got him appointed Legal Vice-Consul -here. She writes letters to Bennet Molyneux--sealed with lavender wax -and a dove and serpent seal--I see them in the Mail bag--flatters him up -I expect, and I dare say deals me every now and then a stab in the back. -Her first idea when we came out was to fascinate me and take up the -position of lady of the house at the Agency. I dare say she would have -run it far better than I do and have made a very competent hostess. But -the inevitable corollary of having her detestable, blotchy-faced husband -as my commensal and letting her boss the show generally was too much for -me, and I had to ask them to live in the Vice-Consulate hard by and let -me dwell in solitude and peace in the many-roomed Agency. My -maitre-d'hotel is Sir James's admirable Swahili butler, my cook is a -Goanese--and first rate--and I have one or two excellent Arab servants. -Of course I make a point of having the Bazzards frequently to dine or -lunch, and I ask her to receive the ladies of the European colony at any -party or entertainment. Nevertheless I have made an enemy. Yet she -would be intolerable as a friend.... - -The poor little missionary lady you ask about has, I guess, been having -a pretty rough time of it up country. She has not written to say so: I -only gather the impression from the "on dits" which circulate here. I do -not like to show too much interest in her concerns because such interest -in this land of feverish scandal might be so easily and malevolently -misconstrued. Before she departed from Unguja for the interior I -gathered that her chief anxiety was lest her mother should think her -unhappy, and mistaken in her career as a missionary. Farleigh is not so -very far from Aldermaston (the address is "Mrs. Josling, Church Farm"). -Perhaps one day you might find your way there and have a friendly talk -with Lucy Baines's mother and father, and intimate that I am--as a -Consul--keeping an eye on the welfare and safety of their daughter and -son-in-law. He--Baines--seems a good-hearted fellow, but quite -incapable of appreciating her real charm, even if he does not think it -wrong for a missionary's wife to _have_ charm. She is really a -half-educated country girl, with a fragile prettiness which will soon -disappear under the heat and malarial fever, with the mind of an -unconscious poetess, the pathetic naivete of a wild flower which wilts -under transplantation.... - -I mostly like the missionaries I meet out here; so you need not mind an -occasional collection of Farleigh coppers and sixpennies being taken up -on their account to the tune of From Greenland's Icy Mountains, etc. Our -religious beliefs do not tally; but I do admire their self-sacrifice, -their energy, and devotion. They are generally specialists in some one -direction--native languages, folk-lore, botany, entomology, photography, -or even, as in Mrs. Stott's case, the making of plum cakes. A very -admirable solace to the soul, or--where the natives are concerned--means -of conversion! - - * * * * * - -Your loving brother, - ROGER. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *MISSION LIFE* - - -Lucy had reached her husband's station in the Ulunga country in July, -1887, at the height of the winter season, south of the Equator. The -climate then of the Ulunga Hills was delightful; dry, sparkling, -sunshiny and crisply cold at nights. Her health mended fast, nor did -she begin to flag again till the hot weather returned in October and the -height of the wet season, of the southern summer, made itself felt in -December and January by torrential rains, frightful thunderstorms, -blazing sunshine and the atmosphere of a Turkish bath. For several -months after her arrival she made renewed and spasmodic efforts to play -the part of a missionary's wife, to share her husband's enthusiasm, and -to earn her living--so to speak--by her contribution of effort. If she -had _only_ never met Brentham and if _only_ Ann Jamblin had stopped at -home! She could not but admit the change in John was remarkable. He -was less and less like either of his parents, less and less inclined to -dogmatize; he had become as unselfish as such a self-absorbed, -unobservant man could be. Intensely fond of work, especially manual -work--carpentering, building, gardening, cutting timber, and contriving -ingenious devices to secure comfort and orderliness--this backwoods life -suited him to perfection. He was the head of the station, the principal -teacher of the boys and men, the leader of the services in the chapel. -He was responsible for the finances and general policy of the Mission. - -Each of the stations of this Society in East Africa was a little -self-governing republic. Once a year delegates from each East African -station met at Mvita or Lingani, or some other convenient place, and -conferred, agreed perhaps on some common policy, some general line of -conduct. But there was much individual freedom of action. John, for -example, was taking up a strong line against the Slave Trade. Since the -dissolution of the Sultan's vague rule which followed the German -invasion, the Arab slave traders had revived their slave and ivory -caravans between Tanganyika and the Zangian coast owing to the great -demand for labour in Madagascar and in the Persian Gulf. John had -obtained such influence over the head chief of Ulunga that he had -forbidden the Arabs transit through his lands, and instead of selling -his superfluous young people or his criminals to the slave traders he -sent them to the Mission to be trained in rough carpentry, reading and -writing, husbandry and so forth. The very flourishing trade that -Anderson carried on at the store made the Mission prosperous enough -occasionally to subsidize the chiefs and reward them for sending their -boys and girls to school and to be ostensibly converted to Christianity. -Some black Muslims who had started teaching boys the Koran and elements -of Muhammadanism in two of the villages were expelled, and a resolute -war was made by John on the witch doctors of the tribe, who for a time -were routed before the competition of Cockles' Pills and the other -invaluable patent medicines which were just beginning to appear in -tabloid form. - -Brother Bayley's department was more especially the study of the native -language. He translated simple prayers and hymns and passages of -Scripture into the Kagulu dialect of Ulunga and rendered more -educational literature into the wider-spread Swahili. He had a small -printing-press with which he was labouring to put his translations into -permanent form; and besides this took a prominent part in the boys' -education. - -His personal hobby was butterfly and beetle catching. He devoted his -small amount of leisure to collecting these insects and transmitting -them to an agent in London to sell on his behalf. In this way he made a -fluctuating fifty pounds a year, which was a pleasant addition to his -meagre salary. It provided him with a few small luxuries and enabled -him to send a present every now and then to his mother. - -Then there was Ann Jamblin, of Tilehurst, a school-fellow of Lucy, a -sturdy, plump young woman of about twenty-seven, with a dead-white -complexion, a thick skin, black hair, black eyebrows and hard eyes of -pebble brown. She had actually arrived at Hangodi before Lucy herself, -though she started out from home a month later, being of that -exasperating type to whom nothing happens in the same _ratio_ as to -other people. She could never be run over, never be drowned at sea--Lucy -thought--never slip on a piece of orange peel, never be assaulted in a -railway carriage. Ann had been sent out by the Mission Board to be a -bride for Brother Anderson (on a discreet suggestion of John's, who -thought Anderson a little inclined to look amorously on comely -negresses). But she had declined to fulfil the bargain when she -arrived, denied indeed all knowledge of such an engagement, said she -didn't want to marry any one: only to do the Lord's work and help all -round. Her refusal had been taken philosophically by the person most -concerned, on account of her unattractive appearance; and was further -softened by her practical usefulness as an independent member of the -Mission. She house-kept for the little community, attended to the -poultry, goats and sheep, did much of the cooking, made the bread, the -cakes, the puddings; darned the socks, mended the linen, and taught the -native girls the simple arts of British domestic life. She dressed with -little regard to embellishment of the person, but with much attention to -neatness and mosquito bites. Her humour was rough and her tongue lashed -every one in turn. She had that unassailable independence of manner -which is imparted by the possession of a private income of one hundred -pounds a year and the knowledge that her martyrdom was voluntary and -self-sought. Hardly ever ill herself, she nursed every one that was -with almost professional ability. - -Lucy secretly detested her, for she was always gibing at John's wife for -being moony and unpractical, for her "aesthetic tastes," such as liking -flowers on the table at meals; for succumbing quickly to headaches and -megrims generally, and especially for the ease with which she was -humbugged by the big girls of her school classes. Ann would also gird -at her for lack of religious zeal. Ann herself took an aggressively -hearty part in prayers and hymn-singing, and mastered the harmonium -which had proved unplayable by Lucy. Ann even tried making her own -translations of her favourite canticles into the native language and was -not deterred or discouraged because in her first attempts and through -the malice of her girl interpreters she had been misled into rendering -the most sacred phrases and symbolism by gross obscenities. The delight -of shouting out these improprieties in chapel before the blandly -unconscious missionaries, when Brother Bayley was laid aside by fever, -attracted large congregations. - -If John Baines were seriously ill with a malarial attack, Ann would -brush Lucy aside as unceremoniously as she ejected her from the -harmonium stool. She would take complete charge of the sick man, reduce -the fever, and make the broths and potions which were to sustain -convalescence. When Lucy herself was ill, Ann would either diagnose the -attack as "fancy" or "hysteria," or a touch of biliousness, and cure it -so drastically that Lucy made haste to get well in order to withdraw -from her treatment. - -This was an average day in Lucy's life at Hangodi in the first year of -her stay there---- - -6 a.m. Lucy is already awake; John still sleeping heavily. Lucy had -been dreaming she was back at Aldermaston or else voyaging down the Red -Sea with Brentham, and is still under the shock of disappointment as she -lies gazing up at the dingy cone of mosquito net suspended over their -bed from the rat-haunted roof. The bedstead is a broad structure--the -Arab "angareb"--an oblong wooden frame with interlaced strips of -ox-hide. On this foundation has been laid a lumpy cork mattress with -well-marked undulations. On that again a couple of musty blankets and a -sheet. For covering there is another sheet and a coverlet. - -Lucy, hearing the awakening bell being tolled, nudges John, who is still -snoring. - -_Lucy_: "_John_! The first bell has gone!" - -_John_: "Wha'?" (Gurgle, gurgle, snore cut short, lips smacked, heavy -sighs.)----"Wha'? Time to ger-up? Or-right." - -He tumbles out of bed in his disarranged night-gown--pajamas were not -introduced into the East Africa Mission till 1890. In doing so he tears -the mosquito curtain with his toe-nails. - -A native servant is heard filling two tin baths in the adjoining -roomlet. They then proceed to take their baths in what--to Lucy--is -disgusting promiscuity. The rest of the toilet is summarily proceeded -with. (As John is fully hirsute there is no shaving to be done.) Then -to avoid remonstrance from her husband Lucy kneels with him in prayers -on a dusty mat, in fear all the time some scorpion may sting her ankles. -One did, once. - -At half-past six another bell goes--how the converts love -bell-ringing!--and they hurry out to the Chapel where the other members -of the Mission staff and a posse of native boys and girls meet them. -More prayers, a psalm, and a hymn sung lustily but disharmoniously. - -Then the whites adjourn to the house or large hut where the meals of the -community are served. The dining-table is of rough-hewn planks of -native timber, and on either side of it there are similarly rough forms -to sit on, with a native stool at either end of the table. The breakfast -consists of porridge and milk, the porridge being made of native cereals -and often a little bitter. There is coarse brown bread with a sour -taste as it is made with fermented palm wine. There are butter from a -tin--rather rancid--potted salmon, and bantams' eggs from the native -poultry, so under-boiled that they run out over the plate when opened. - -John asks a blessing on the meal. They then proceed to eat it, while -the males drink with some noisiness the tea that Ann pours out. "You -don't seem to have much appetite this morning, Lucy," says Ann of malice -prepense: "Porridge burnt again? What is it?" - -"Thank you. There is nothing wrong with the porridge, so far as I know. -I am simply not hungry." - -"Ah! Been at those bananas again. They're very sustaining. But you'll -never be well if you eat between meals." - -"_I_ eat _at_ meals and _between_ 'em," says Brother Anderson, "and I'm -glad to say loss of appetite don't never trouble _me_. This is a rare -climate to make and keep you hungry." - -Anderson is voracious and somewhat lacking in table manners, defects -atoned for by his being an unremitting worker and well contented with -his lot--Eupeptic, as we learnt to say at a later date. But he keeps -his spoon in his cup and holds it steady with a black-rimmed thumb when -he drinks. He also helps himself to butter with his own knife, talks -with his mouth full, and never masticates behind closed lips but -displays the process without self-consciousness. Lucy, who is squeamish -about such things, glances at him occasionally with scarcely concealed -disgust. Brother Bayley eats more sparingly and divides his attention -between his food and a printed vocabulary of Kisagara. He has a strong -predilection for reading at meals, which ever and again comes under the -lash of Ann's tongue. She does not consider it good manners. - -John himself makes a hearty breakfast, but glances occasionally at -Lucy's silent abstemiousness. At last Ann, the housekeeper, rises after -Brothers Bayley and Anderson have left the table for their work, and -says to Lucy: "Don't sit too long over your food because I want -Priscilla and Florence to clear away, wash up and then come to me...." - -She goes out. - -"Not well, Lucy, this morning?" says John, who is beginning to despair -about her fitting in to mission life. The conviction which he often -repels takes him now with an ache. He loves the work himself, not only -the converting these savages to a better mode of life, but the -unrealized colonization about the whole business, the planting of fruit -trees, the increase of flocks and herds, the freedom from civilization's -shackles and class distinctions.... - -"Oh yes! I'm quite well ... I suppose. Simply not hungry. I daresay I -shall make up for it at dinner ... provided Ann leaves me alone and -doesn't nag about eating. I think it's _such_ bad manners, observing -what people do at meal times. I don't comment on her big appetite or on -Anderson's disgusting way of eating...." - -"She means very well," replies John, wishing to be fair.... - -"I daresay she does. She'd have made you a much better wife than I. If -I die in my next attack of fever, you ought to marry her ... _I_ -shouldn't mind...." - -"Now, Lucy, don't say such dreadful things. You can't think _how_ they -hurt me...." - -At this moment Priscilla and Florence--pronouncing their imposed -baptismal names as "Pilisilla," and "Filorency" in a loud stage -conversation they are holding together to conceal the fact that they -have rapidly escheated a half-basin-full of sugar--come in to clear -away, and John leads Lucy with an arm round her waist back to their own -quarters. - -"Cheer up, old girl! You haven't had fever now for three months and -you're getting your good looks back. And making splendid progress with -your teaching.... You're beginning to master the language...." - -It is eleven o'clock in the morning and the Girls School at Hangodi, -with its mud walls of wattle and daub and its thatch of grass and palm -mid-ribs, is hot to the extent of eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Despite -the open door (for the small glass-paned windows are not made to open) -the atmosphere is close and redolent of perspiring Negroes. Lucy raises -her eyes from her desk and looks about her as though realizing the scene -from a new point of view, without illusion or kindly allowance. At the -end of the School-house, opposite to the teacher's platform and desk, is -the entrance-door of heavy planks adzed from native timber. Through the -wide-open doorway can be seen a square of sun-baked red clay which -refracts a dazzling flame-white effulgence. - -When the eye got used to this brilliancy of sunlight on a surface -polished by the pattering of naked feet, it could distinguish rows of -Eucalyptus saplings, and here and there the rich green of a native -shade-tree, together with part of a red brick chapel roofed with -corrugated iron and several thatched houses of white-washed clay. - -On the walls of the School were hung a map of the World on Mercator's -projection and a map of Africa; a large scroll with elementary -illustrations of Natural History--typical beasts, birds, reptiles, fish -and insects, of sizes as disproportionate as the inhabitants of a Noah's -Ark. There were also placards with arithmetical figures, letters of the -alphabet and single syllable combinations: _M a, ma; b a, ba; l e, le_, -etc. Over the wall, behind the teacher's desk and above the black-board, -was a long strip of white paper, printed in big black capitals: MWAACHE -WATOTO WANIKARIBU ("Suffer little children to come unto Me"). The words -were in the widely understood Swahili language, the medium through which -Lucy endeavoured with many difficulties and misunderstandings to impart -her knowledge to her semi-savage pupils. - -A lull after her two hours' teaching had begun. A Negro woman of some -intelligence, a freed slave from Unguja and the wife of "Josaia -Birigizi" (Josiah Briggs) the interpreter, was talking in a low -sing-song voice with the little girls, practising them in the alphabet -and the syllables formed by consonant and vowel. The class, ranged upon -rows of rough forms in front of the teacher's desk, consisted of black -girls of all sizes, from little children to young, nubile women; but -they were separated by an aisle down the middle of the room and were -assorted according to height into two categories, "A-_big_-geru" and -"A-_lig_-geru," these phrases being Bantu corruptions of "Big girls," -and "Little girls." - -Although nearly if not quite naked when at home, here on the Mission -premises they were dressed in short-sleeved smocks of white calico, -loose from the neck downwards, most of them soiled and in need of -washing. The girls consequently had a frowsy look, somewhat belied by -their glossy faces and arms, their brilliant eyes, and dazzling white -teeth. The smaller children were pretty little things that any teacher -might have petted, but most of the bigger girls had an impudent look and -an ill-concealed expression of over-fed idleness tending towards -imaginings of sensuality. A critic of missionary policy in those days -would have felt inclined to put these bigger girls to good, hard, manual -labour in the mornings which should by the afternoon have taken the -sauciness out of them; and have reserved their mental education for the -afternoon, when they had returned from brick-making or field hoeing. - -No sooner did Lucy relapse into silence and show signs of reverie than -they set to work to whisper of their love affairs, to push and pull one -another about with giggles and peevish complaints; or else to let slates -fall with a clatter whilst they watched with interest the flitting of -rats about the rafters. - -Lucy raised her eyes likewise to the roof. Its framework was -constructed of the smooth, shiny mid-ribs of palm-fronds, descending -from a central ridge-pole below the mud walls and supporting outside a -shade over the verandah. Across the palm rafters were laid transverse -rows of more or less straight branches or sticks, and to these were -attached the round bunches of coarse grass which formed the thatch. From -rafters and beams there fell every now and again little wafts of -yellowish powder, due to the industrious drilling of the wood by -burrowing beetles. But the thatch was alive with larger things than -insects, especially where it came in contact with the top of the clay -walls. Here an occasional lizard darted in and out the rafters like a -whip, and rats poked out their long faces with quizzical, beady eyes, -watching the proceedings below with rat-like impudence. - -Teaching had begun at nine, and would go on till lunch-time--twelve. -But already by eleven the teacher was weary and could not concentrate -her thoughts on the drudgery of getting elementary ideas about reading, -spelling and counting into these Palaeolithic brains. She fell silent. -Her eyes first ranged over the School-house, taking in all its details -in a mood of scornful hostility. She had never so completely realized -the hatefulness of her present existence and its bitter contrast with -her home life in England. She was sick of John's simple piety, of -Brother Anderson's sanctimoniousness and disagreeably affectionate -manner to herself ... and his way of eating, his behaviour at table, his -unctuous prayers. Mr. Bayley, whose quiet manners and politeness -appealed to her, was, nevertheless, fanatical about the letter of -Scripture--a bigot, Captain Brentham would have called him. It would -not be loyal to her husband--John, at least, was sincere and worked very -hard; otherwise what _satirical_ letters she could write about it -all!... - -But the one she most disliked among her associates was Ann Jamblin. Ann -came between her and John, just as they might have hit it off, have come -to some agreement about religion or her own share in Mission work. If -Ann had never come out, things might have been more bearable.... Ann -had come here on a false pretence. She was in love with John, _that_ -was certain, though John was too much of a goose to see it. - -Certainly she had made herself useful, _odiously_ useful.... The men -liked her because she made them so comfortable.... That talent, of -course, was inherited from the ham and beef shop at home! She shared -Lucy's teaching work and taught the women and girls in the -afternoon--taught them sensible things--cooking, plain sewing, washing, -ironing, leaving to Lucy--as she pretended--the "fine lady" part of the -work, the instruction of their minds. - -Lucy's eyes flashed in her day-dream when she realized how she had grown -to loathe the morning and evening prayers.... Brother Anderson's -contribution to the uplifting of the spirit, especially. _How_ weary -was the Sunday with its two "native" services, both conducted by John in -English, broken Swahili, and Kagulu, with the long-drawn-out -interpretation of Josiah Briggs. - -She had had good health since she reached Hangodi, after that ghastly -nightmare journey from the coast. That was fortunate, because the -nearest medical help was fifty miles away. But _oh!_ the monotony of -the life! How much longer could she stand it? It was not so bad for -the men. Every Saturday they took a whole holiday and went down to the -lower country and shot game and guinea-fowl for the food of the station. -Sometimes they "itinerated" and she and Ann were left alone. John -always asserted it was not safe for white women to travel, except to and -from the coast. With much camp life he believed they became -unwomanly.... - -There had only been three mails since she had arrived last July. -Captain Brentham sent her books and newspapers, but Ann tossed her head -over these attentions and John once or twice confiscated the books as -being of dangerous tendencies; subversive of a simple faith. The -station itself was provided with little else to read except the Bible, a -few goody-goody books and magazines, grammars and dictionaries of native -languages. - -In England she had imagined she was going to sketch and botanize, -collect butterflies, and keep all sorts of wonderful pets, besides -beholding superb scenery and meeting every now and then celebrated -explorers. That dream had soon passed away. She had no time for -sketching in the week, and it was considered wrong to do it on a Sunday. -And even if she outraged the sentiment of the community and sat down -with her sketch-block and water colours before a flowering tree or a -striking view, ants came up and bit her, midges attacked her face till -it was puffed out, or the sun was too hot or the wind too boisterous. -As to botanizing, there was certainly splendid forest--with tree-ferns -and orchids--higher up the Ulunga mountains, but it was pronounced -unsafe to botanize there except in a party. There were snakes, or -leopards, or lurking warriors of unfriendly tribes.... - -Her thoughts then turned to the homeland.... Presently she was back in -the scenes she had left nearly a year ago.... She saw herself walking -slowly from Aldermaston village up the road to Mortimer, her father's -farmhouse just left behind. She stopped to greet old Miss Fanning, who -inhabited the rather monastic-looking school-teacher's house by a -special concession, as Lucy--her successor--lived with her parents hard -by. The children of the village were playing games with the pupil -teacher in the large grassy yard. She could see quite distinctly the -rustic shed which surrounded two sides of the playground--like the -verandah of an African house. In her day-dream the children, blue-eyed, -flaxen-haired, seemed to greet her. They were so fond of her--How -_could_ she have left them? ... Then in imagination she was farther -along the Mortimer road, past the high brick wall of Aldermaston Park. -Lordly blue-green cedars topped the wall of mellow brick. Then when the -wall turned off to the right it was succeeded by a high bank and hedge -as the road mounted and rose above the river valley. She could see, oh! -with such detail, the soft green fern-fronds of the bank. Above the -male ferns grew a row of hart's-tongue. Above that, here and there a -foxglove, tufts of bell heather and where the hedge lowered and you -could see into spaces of the oak wood, there were brakes of French -willow herb in pink blossom.... - -What a series of pictures now passed before her mental vision as -instinctively she closed her eyes to Africa, to her silent, observant -class, who thought that she was dozing! White ducks on a wayside pond, -set in a crescent of duckweed; clipped and shaven yews in front of an -old brick-and-timber cottage with a steep thatched roof; an upland -hayfield, sturdy, wholesome men with frank blue eyes and brawny arms of -beefy red; long-horned cattle with a make-believe fierceness which had -never imposed on her, standing in the shade of elms and whisking flies -from off their red flanks and cream bellies; her mother's garden, gay -with phlox, sweet peas and pansies, and scented with dark red roses.... -Oh, _why_ had she ever left her mother, left her pleasant tranquil work -at the National school to join John out in East Africa? It was vanity, -partly; wishing to get married; wishing to travel.... For the -evangelizing of Africa she had ceased to care since her talks with -Captain Brentham--"Roger," she called him to herself--and still more -since she had come to know Africa.... But "Roger"--Well, if she hadn't -come out to Africa she would certainly never have had the opportunity to -know _him_ ... on that steamer voyage! - -Lucy's thoughts were abruptly brought back to Eastern Africa and -discipline in her school class; for a too venturesome rat, darting up a -rafter, had lost his footing and fallen plop amongst the girls--the -"Big-geru," and they, upsetting forms and throwing away slates, had -flung themselves in a struggling heap on the spot where the rat had -landed. From out of the melee one triumphant young woman rose up, with -her smock torn from top to bottom, but holding up a damaged, dying rat -by its broken tail. A loud clamour of voices disputing the fairness of -the capture and the answering shrieks of the capturer, secure in the -possession of her prize (which she would shortly eat broiled over the -ashes as a relish to her sorghum porridge), roused Lucy to a show of -anger which stilled the tumult and turned the girls' attention to their -teacher. She, standing up and trying to stammer out in Swahili words of -adequate reproof, realized still more vividly the dreariness of her -present lot, and bursting into an agony of tears, buried her head in her -arms over the desk. - -The little children gazed at her grief, awe-struck. Could rich, god-like -white people have any sorrow, when they might wear cloth to any extent -and had white salt in bottles and delicious foods in tins? Propelled by -Josiah's wife they stole away wondering; and the "Big-geru" left the -school gracelessly, with loud laughs and free comments in Kagulu on the -white woman's show of emotion. The schoolroom clock ticked on, the -rats, emboldened, rushed about the thatch and dropped without mishap on -the floor, whence they scuttled out on to the verandah, then up the -posts and so into the roof again. The flame-white sunlight grew fiercer -in the square, the shadows of the trees shorter and more purple. At -last a loud bell clanged, and presently Ann Jamblin looked in and said -with a shade of insolence as she passed on: "The luncheon bell, Lucy." - -Lucy affected not to hear her, but hurriedly dabbed her tear-stained -face with a handkerchief, shook her white dress tidy, smoothed her hair -with a hand-touch here and there, and took down a book from a shelf as -if to study.... - -Her husband stood at the doorway. - -"Luncheon's ready, dear.... Have the girls been unruly this morning?" - -"Thank you, I'm not hungry. Don't wait lunch for me. I dare say I -shan't want anything till tea-time.... The girls? Oh! Not worse than -usual. I have no influence with them.... It's my fault, of course. I -was never cut out for this work. Please, _please_ don't wait.... I -suppose it isn't part of one's Christian duty to eat when you aren't -hungry?..." - -John Baines looked downcast ... and went out to the lunch of roast kid -or roast guinea-fowl, sweet potatoes, boiled plantains, and banana -fritters in syrup of sugar-cane, with less appetite than usual. - -Lucy meantime tries to pretend she is interested in a book. It is far -too hot to walk out and botanize. And then, what is the use of pressing -these plants? The colour of the gorgeous petals soon fades to brown, -fungi and minute insects attack them and they crumble into dust; and the -Mission objects to all the blotting-paper being used up in this way.... - -Presently John returns; with a native servant carrying a tray on which -are tea things, slices of guinea-fowl breast, some boiled sweet -potatoes, and banana fritters. To obtain this rather tempting little -meal he has had to face the scornful opposition of Ann Jamblin, but for -once he has turned on her (to the silent dismay of Bros. Bayley and -Anderson). "Ann," he has said, "you must learn to keep your tongue and -temper under control. It is you who drive Lucy away from our meals by -your constant fault-finding. We are not all made alike; some of us are -more sensitive than others." Ann, strange to say, is silenced by his -sharp tone and makes no retort. - -"Come, Lucy," he said, after the little meal has been placed on the -table by her desk; "you will only make yourself ill by this refusal to -eat. I am sorry Ann has been so teasing. I have spoken to her. Now -try to eat this little lunch whilst we are quiet in here." - -Lucy looks at it and at him. In the middle of the tray is an enamelled -iron tumbler containing a small bunch of mallow flowers with large -lemon-tinted petals and a vivid mauve centre. This, from John, means so -much, as a concession to her tastes. She bursts into tears--at this -period she was very soppy! - -"Oh, John! You _are_ good to me. I really _don't_ deserve such -kindness. I have been a _dreadful_ disappointment to you." - -"Well; eat up the lunch and you'll make me happy," says poor John. "Why -shouldn't we _all_ be happy here, Lucy?" he goes on. "The Lord has -singularly blessed our work; the climate--for Africa--is not at all bad; -you can't say the scenery is ugly, there are beautiful flowers all -around--and--and ferns. We're getting on well with the people, much -better than I ever expected. Why, your schoolroom is already too small -for the numbers and Bayley has to teach his classes out of doors in the -'baraza.' Look at our plantations--how the lemon trees and oranges are -growing--and the coffee. It's true we get our mails rather seldom. -There seems to be something queer going on at the coast. The carriers -can't get through.... The Germans, I suspect. But we're safe and snug -enough here. As for me, I don't want to hear from home. Mother's -letters are not precisely cheering. I only ask to go on with the Lord's -work without interruption. _Do_ try to be cheerful, darling ... do you -think you--Do you think there is--er--any hope of--your----?" - -"I _will_ try once more, John. But couldn't we live more by ourselves? -Ann gets on my nerves, do what I will. Couldn't we do our own -housekeeping?" continues Lucy, clasping her hands and looking at him -pleadingly. - -"Well," said John, a little ruefully, "you know you _did_ try for a -month after you first came, but it was such a failure that you gave it -up. You couldn't stand the heat of the cookhouse, or manage the cook, -or do the accounts in calico for the things you bought. And--you don't -know much about cooking. Why should you? You're a first-class teacher. -And then, you know, you were so set at first on studying--studying -botany--and painting pictures. I thought, even, you might write for the -Mission Magazine, like Mrs. Lennox and Mrs. Baxter...." - -_Lucy_: "But they always want you to write goody goody and bring in the -Lord at every turn and make out the black people to be quite different -from what they are--Somehow I couldn't fall in with their style, it's so -humbugging----" - -_John_: "Well, then, write for other magazines, worldly ones if you -like. I'm sure you could write well--you used to make up beautiful -poetry before we were married, and you've had thrilling enough -experiences on the way up. It isn't every missionary's wife who's had a -lion trying to get into her tent----" - -_Lucy_: "The thought of _that_ journey _still_ makes me sick. And yet I -used to think I should adore African travel--" (An ungrateful thought -flashed through her mind: "so I should, with--with--some people"). -"Besides, if I told the true story--bugs, ants, snakes, rotting corpses, -and all--it might stop other missionary women from coming out. No. I -can't write anything. I _do_ make collections of flowers, but you won't -let me go far from the Station to botanize and you're always too busy to -come with me. As to painting, it's either too wet, or too hot, or too -something. And then you hinted once I shouldn't take a half-holiday -every day but help some one else in their work, so I give up some of my -time to Mr. Bayley.... No, I won't call him 'Brother Bayley,' it's so -silly, all this brother and sister business"--(a short pause and a -sudden impulse). "John! Couldn't you take me home next dry season--and -get them to give you work at home--? Or" (noting his look of dismay) -"send me home to Mother and join me there later on, when your leave is -due?..." - -_John_: "It would just _break my heart_ either to part with you or to -throw up my missionary career...." - -_Lucy_: "Well, then, could I go on an itinerary--as you call it--with -you? Not be cooped up here with that intolerable Ann when you three men -go off on a round of preaching. I'd promise not to mind -anything--snakes, ants, lions, or even the Masai. Perhaps I might get to -enjoy Africa that way without all this intolerable religion...." - -_John_: "_Lucy!_..." - -_Lucy_: "I didn't mean to shock you again, but I couldn't help it. I -don't know what's come over me, but I've grown to _hate_ religion, and -still more pretending to be religious. I'm sick of the Bible ... at -least I mean of the Old Testament. It always makes me think of some -wearisome old grandmother who says the same thing over and over -again.... Who wrote it? That's what _I_ want to know. How do we know -the old Jews didn't make it up and pretend it was inspired?" (John -ejaculates a "_Lucy!_" of protest at intervals, but she is so carried -away by a desire to express her revolt that she pays no heed.) "You -know I've been trying to help Mr. Bayley in his translations by reading -slowly bits of the Bible--just now we're in Exodus. He _would_ begin at -Genesis, even though I said all the people wanted was the Gospels--I -don't think I ever studied the Bible much at home and it all comes fresh -to me as though I had never thought about it before.... Well, -Exodus.... Have you ever read those chapters where Moses fasted--or said -he fasted--for forty days and nights _without food or even water_ whilst -he was writing down God's sayings? ... How silly some of them sound.... -How particular the Almighty seemed about the colours of the tabernacle -curtains--blue, purple, and scarlet--and about the snuffers and the -snuff-dishes being made of pure gold. And about the 'knops.' ... What -is a 'knop'? Poor Mr. Bayley can't find the word in any dictionary. -What can be the good of translating all this into Kagulu? It only -puzzles the natives, Josiah told me. Mr. Bayley's always losing his -temper with Josiah because he can't find the right Gulu or even Swahili -word for some of these things in Exodus. Surely all you want to teach -them is simple Christianity and how to live less like pigs and more like -decent human beings...." - -_John_ (interposing at last, after he has cast his counter argument into -words): "How can you teach them about Christ without first explaining -what led up to Christ, the Fall and the Redemption? We want to give -them the whole Bible, even if we don't understand every passage -ourselves. Every word of the Bible is inspired." (Lucy makes a mute -protest.) "But oh! my Lucy ... what I feared and foretold has come to -pass. This coquetting with Science has cost you your faith. Kneel -down." (She knelt with him unwillingly on the little platform.) - -"Oh Lord," prayed John, most earnestly, "visit Thine handmaid in her -sore need for Thy help! Dispel her doubts with the sunshine of--of--thy -grace. Convince her of Thine Almighty Power and Wisdom and consecrate -her to Thy service in this Heathen Land." - -They rose to their feet constrainedly. John covertly flicked the dust -from his trousers, blew his nose, and wiped eyes suffused with emotion. -Lucy impatiently shook her white skirt. How she hated these impromptu -genuflections which always shortened the wearing life of the skirt and -sent it prematurely to the wash. And much washing made it shrink so. - -Still, her passion was spent and she felt very, very sorry for her -husband, and a little guilty in her discontent. If she had come out -straight to him from England under no other influence, would she not -have been a fairer critic, have taken more kindly to mission work? And -was not John really cut out for a missionary, with every reason to be -proud of his station's success? - -These silent musings, while John awkwardly hummed a hymn tune, were -broken in upon by the strident voice and bustling presence of Ann -Jamblin. "Well, then, young people" (being three years older than they -were she sometimes assumed a maternal air), "if you've finished -honeymooning, I'll take the tray away and get the school ready for my -sewing class." (To one without: "Pilisilla! Ring the bell three -times.") - -They left the School-house without answering her, hand in hand. Lucy -felt so sorry for John that she resolved once more to try to be a -missionary's wife and helpmeet. The intense heat of the forenoon was -breeding a thunderstorm, and already the sky was overcast, and a few -puffs of cool air were blowing up from the plains. Presently these grew -into an alarming dust-storm, a hurricane which blew Bayley's proofs and -manuscript to right and left; and when Lucy rushed in to pick them up -she was blinded for a minute by the glare of lightning. Then the wind -dropped before a deluge--a grey, sweeping deluge of rain. In trying to -save this and that, Lucy and Ann were drenched to the skin and had to -change their soaking garments. The change to dry clothes, the rub down -somehow cheered them, and made them more friendly. Lucy then returned to -Bayley's study and once more helped him in the returning daylight with -his translations. But he was now well into Leviticus, and some passages -proved so embarrassing to both Lucy and Josiah that the former broke off -with the exclamation, "It's teatime." - -And sure enough there sounded the one pleasant summons in the -twenty-four hours: the tea bell. - -The rain had ceased, the darkness had lifted for a while and left the -western sky a sweet lemon yellow, out of which a tempered sunlight -twinkled. The air had become fresh and uplifting in a dying breeze. -The little party met round the tea-table in a mood to jest and to be -friendly. Ann, more good-humoured than usual, described her sousing. -She also told Lucy she had had two of Lucy's skirts mended at her sewing -lesson, to save her the trouble. Oh, it was all right; they had served -as a pattern. - -A couple of armed porters arrived during teatime, their calico clothing -still adhering to their brown bodies from the rain storm through which -they had stolidly walked. They had not brought the regular "Europe" -mail from Unguja, but some parcels from Mr. Callaway and local letters. -These read aloud over the tea table spoke of the restlessness of the -coast population caused by the administration of the German Company, of -Arab gossip at Unguja, of the sombre news from Nyasaland where a -Scottish trading Company was at open war with the Arabs, in trying to -defend the population from Arab slave raids. Tiputipu was away on the -Congo looking for Stanley and had withdrawn his restraining influence -from the Tanganyika Arabs. Was a concerted Arab attack on the -interfering white man about to begin? The missionaries looked from one -to the other a little anxiously. A growing feeling of _camaraderie_ -linked them. They felt themselves to be an outpost of Christianity in a -world threatened by the Moslem. They congratulated John in that he had -so completely won over the Ulunga chief, Mbogo, that the latter had -expelled the Arab traders from his hill country and made common cause -with the White man.... - -At dinner--or as they better styled it, supper--they were quite -cheerful. There was even a special zest in the evening service, point -and _vim_ in the shortened prayers. Ann was congratulated by Lucy on -her ground-nut soup and "pepperpot"; and the treacle pudding which -followed was declared a masterpiece. - -John that night kissed his wife tenderly in mute recognition of her more -sympathetic attitude.... She did not shrink as usual from his caresses. - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *ROGER ARRIVES* - - -Sir James Eccles, it was decided, was not to return to Unguja to guide -once more the destinies of East Africa. Prince Bismarck would not hear -of it. After considerable hesitation Sir Godfrey Dewburn, K.C.I.E., was -appointed to succeed him in the spring of 1888 and arrived at Unguja to -take up his position as Agent and Consul-General when Roger Brentham had -about completed a year's tenure of the post in an "acting" capacity. - -Sir Godfrey Dewburn was a fortunate Irish soldier, who--because he had a -capacity for getting on well with everybody--had held a high -administrative position in India, though outside the ranks of the Indian -Civil Service. He did well over the Prince of Wales's visit in -organizing successful durbars, nautch dances and perfect shooting -picnics, in which record tigers were bagged. He did better still in an -aftermath of the Imperial visit, when the Duke of Ulster and the -Hereditary Prince of Baden came out to shoot in Dewburn's new province. -He had also married, with very wise prevision, a daughter of the -Choselwhit who was legal adviser to the Circumlocution Office. When it -was felt that Sir James Eccles must be thrown over to avoid a breach -with Germany, which threatened a Franco-Germano-Russian alliance against -us, somebody--perhaps the Duke of Ulster, who still remembered Dewburn's -champagne cup, cooled with the snows of the Himalaya and tendered just -at the psychological moment when the most splendid of the tigers had -fallen to the Royal rifle--suggested Dewburn for the post. And as he was -backed up by the India Office, who wanted to weed their Civil Service of -outsiders, and by Molyneux who thought Dewburn's dinners at the "Rag" -quite the best in London, Lord Wiltshire, tired and preoccupied over the -Parnell letters, gave way and appointed Dewburn. Lord Silchester's -suggestion of Brentham was deemed "indelicate," emphasized as it was by -Sibyl, to whom Lord Wiltshire had taken a whimsical dislike. - -Dewburn, when he came out, posed as a jolly good fellow who praised -every one all round and enchanted Mrs. Bazzard by his manners and easy -cordiality. But after a bit, Brentham's efficiency got on his nerves. -It was irritating to hear his subordinate--so much better fitted than he -for the post, some might have said--prattling and swearing in Swahili -and Unguja Arabic, and rather markedly doing without an interpreter. -Dewburn spoke French well and a little bad Hindustani, but there his -linguistics ended; and his brain sutures being closed would admit no -knowledge of an African tongue. - -Then there was Spencer Bazzard always at hand, serviceable unto -servility, ready to jot inspirations and judgments down on a writing-pad -with some prehistoric form of the fountain-pen or indelible pencil, and -reproduce these utterances afterwards, conveniently elaborated. -Brentham, on the other hand, preferred putting in a draft of his own, -which took quite an independent line and might have led H.M. Government -to do something, make up their minds to some definite course.... - -Then again, Brentham's real destination was the German mainland.... The -situation there was strained. - -Mrs. Bazzard somehow amused and intrigued Sir Godfrey (Lady Dewburn had -not yet arrived). He guessed her as somewhat of a demi-rep, but to him, -as to me, such a person is more interesting to study than the simple -village maiden, or the clergyman's daughter with her smooth hair parted -in the middle.... - - -Who precisely were the Bazzards? May I, with a novelist's omniscience, -clear up the mystery? - -There was a celebrated firm of solicitors in Staple Inn known as -Grewgious and Bazzard. It had originated in a Mr. Hiram Grewgious, who -had a valuable Norfolk connexion and had figured with some distinction -and celebrity in a famous Kentish murder trial in the early 'sixties. -The junior partner, Mr. Bazzard, took over the business from Mr. -Grewgious, and when the latter died in 1878 still preserved the honoured -style of the firm. This Mr. Bazzard led a double life, in that he was -not only a particularly astute solicitor, but also a playwright of -ability who produced at least two stirring melodramas under a _nom de -plume_. - -As solicitor he had lifted Mr. Bennet Molyneux once out of a -considerable difficulty and delicate dilemma ... he had ascertained that -the lady was travelling under an assumed name and ... in short, he had -settled the affair without any fuss, and Molyneux was thoroughly -grateful and asked him to dine at the Travellers, giving, of course, due -notice, so that the guest-room, in those distant days with its settees -thick with dust, might be got ready, and a fire be lit to take off the -chill. - -Over walnuts and port, Mr. Bazzard had mentioned the existence of a -much-younger brother--fifteen years younger, in point of fact--rather at -a loose end since he was called to the Bar--clever chap withal, steady, -married now to a deuced pretty woman, but in his youth the very devil -with the sex. ("Just so," would nod Mr. Molyneux comprehendingly, who, -except for the most pardonable slip with Mrs. ---- at Lucerne, was a -blameless husband and father.) Well, then, there he was--had tried -ranching in the States and buying horses in the Argentine, got done in -the eye by that scoundrel, Bax Strangeways--knew a lot about the -tropics--stand any climate--take on any job. In short, did Mr. Molyneux -know of an opening anywhere in Africa, C.O. or F.O., for a sporting chap -with a knowledge of Law? - -And Bennet had put down his name for a vacancy in the East African -Consular service. And having thus taken him under his wing, was -prepared to stand by him through thick and thin ... even deluded himself -into thinking he was a damned good sort, and his golden-haired -wife--"bit of the devil in her, no doubt"--a fit person for Mrs. -Molyneux to know--in the country, at any rate. - -Perhaps she was. Why should one sneer at a woman for trying to improve -her position and looks and wriggle into a less sordid sphere than that -in which she was brought up? Emilia Standish--christened Emily, of -course, but wrote her name "Emilia" from the time she was -seventeen--was, as Captain Brentham ill-naturedly guessed, the daughter -of a Bayswater widow who kept a Bayswater boarding-house (few districts -of London have such a power for moulding human beings to its guise). -Emilia Standish--or was it Stapleton?--I really forget--had tried life -as a governess with ill success. She confided to her mother, and her -mother only, that she might have succeeded here or there had not her -pupil's father made improper advances from which she had to flee. She -had studied for the stage, but like her predestined fate, Spencer -Bazzard, she, at thirty-two, was somewhat at a loose end and living at -home when Spencer came to lodge at her mother's boarding-house. He was -down on his luck, almost in hiding, nearly cast off by his highly -respectable, much older brother. He fell ill. Emilia took pity on him, -nursed him, and defied her mother over the financial question. Out of -gratitude he proposed. She accepted him and took stock of the -situation, called on the elder brother in Staple Inn, secured his -advocacy for a "colonial" appointment--and--you know the rest. - -Spencer can't have been wholly bad, because though they had many a -private tiff and unheard wrangle, this woman stuck by him and made a -career for him. Brentham, in writing to his sister, gave too unfair a -description of Spencer. He omitted to notice that though his knowledge -of law was so imperfect as to throw doubt on the efficacy of the -examinations which then admitted to the Bar, he had at any rate acquired -some knowledge of shorthand, and certain of the qualities necessary to -playing private secretary to an important personage. So that Sir -Godfrey preferred greatly the retention of Bazzard as his lieutenant at -Unguja, rather than the slightly gloomy and excessively well-informed -Brentham. - -There came at this time rumour after rumour that the Arabs of the -Zangian coast were preparing to rise in force not only against the -Germans but against all white men. They were concerting measures in -common with the Arabs of Mombasa, of Tanganyika, Nyasa and the Upper -Congo to expel all white men from East Africa and found a great -Slave-holding empire which might link up with the victoriously -anti-European Mahdi of the Sudan. Sir Godfrey Dewburn did not clothe -his Memorandum of instructions to Brentham in exactly these -comprehensive and grandiloquent terms, derived from a contemporaneous -essay of my own, but he said: - -"Look here, dear old chap. You know you are a bit of the fifth wheel to -the coach here, on this potty little island. You've put me up to all -the ropes, I'm well in the saddle. Now suppose you cut along to your -own show? The mainland, hey? Go and round up those blasted Germans, -don't you know? Of course, steer clear of quarrels--that'd never do. -Be coldly polite, but see what they're up to and report to me--fully. -Strikes me it's blowing up for a storm...." - -So Brentham shipped himself and his indispensable retinue of Goanese -cook, Swahili butler, and a nucleus of fifteen always dependable -gunmen-porters of the stalwart Unyamwezi breed over to -Medinat-al-barkah--the "Town of Blessings," on the Zangian coast: -formerly the chief shipping port of slaves and now the head-quarters of -the German Chartered Company which had succeeded to the authority of the -Sultan of Unguja. - -A few months afterwards, when he had organized a Consulate and an Indian -clerical staff in an adapted, cleansed, and tidied Arab house, he -received an urgent and confidential communication from Sir Godfrey: - -"The F.O. is much perturbed by the reports of Arab risings against the -German Company. Mvita seems to be quiet under Mackenzie. The various -missionary societies are clamouring for information and some indication -that H.M.G. realizes the seriousness of the situation. I have been -instructed semi-officially by H. and M. that you should at once proceed -inland with a sufficiently strong caravan and visit the missionary -stations within a radius of--say--three hundred miles of Medina, -assisting the white people to repair to safe positions on the coast, -especial care being taken to bring away their women and children. You -know far better what to do than I, who am a new comer to East Africa. -So, _carte blanche_. Do your best. Good luck and chin-chin. - -"Lady Dewburn, who has just come out, is dying to put her feet on a -maned lion skin when she gets out of bed. So if you've any luck -shooting, 'Then you'll remember me!' - -"Yours, - "GODFREY DEWBURN." - - -In consequence of these instructions you can picture such events as -these occurring at the end of September, 1888. - -Lucy Baines, attended by Josiah Briggs's wife Halima, was taking the air -on the outskirts of Hangodi. She had had a baby in the previous July, -and was still weak and anaemic. The confinement had been a difficult -one, as it was a little premature, owing to Lucy having been frightened -by a hyena. A medical missionary had been in hurried attendance, and -kind Mrs. Stott had come fifty miles to act as an amateur midwife. But -the child died soon after its birth, and Lucy, for the first fortnight, -had been delirious. If her child had lived her whole outlook might have -changed and brightened. As it was---- - -John had rigged up a kind of machila--I can't explain a second time what -a machila is--a compromise between a palanquin and a hammock--and this -could be taken out on short journeys by two strong porters. With this -and her pupil-teacher, Halima, in attendance, Lucy was wont to make -little afternoon pilgrimages along the red paths on the outskirts of the -Hangodi plateau. - -At this and that shady spot she would leave her machila languidly, sit -on a camp stool and pick flowers and examine them: or she would practise -her Swahili and Kagulu with Halima and question this woman--greatly -devoted to her--on native manners and customs, or native legends. The -two porters would squat at a respectful distance, or if told they would -not be wanted for half an hour, would stroll off to the nearest native -village. - -On this particular day in September they came running back in great -excitement to say a white man's _safari_ was approaching. It could be -seen in the plain below ... quite a small army of black men headed by -one white man, coming in single file over the burnt grass. - -Rumour had flown ahead of it ... as it did in Africa, in pre-telegraph -days. The white man was a great English consul coming to make a treaty -with Ulunga, or coming to fight the Arabs, or to turn the Wa-dachi out -of the country and to place Nguru under the Woman chief of the English. -Mbogo the chief had already run up his English flag.... - -Lucy's heart stood still and she sat on her camp stool too much overcome -to remain standing. Could it ... be ... Roger? - -Halima fumbled in her basket and produced a restorative. Presently Lucy -rose to her feet and said in a decisive tone: - -"Take me to meet the white man...." - -They met about three miles from the Mission Station. Seeing the machila -approaching, heralded by the boastful singing of its carriers, anxious -to do their mistress honour, Brentham had got off his riding donkey and -handed it to a follower carrying his sporting rifle.. He walked to meet -the unknown person swaying in the jaunty advance of the delighted -porters. The machila stopped. Lucy emerged from it, then overcome with -dizziness sank down by the wayside. Quickly he had raised her, -unthinkingly and instinctively their arms were round each other.... "My -dearest girl! You are safe then? Your station has not been attacked?" - -"My darling _Roger_! you have come for me ... take, oh, _take_ me away!" - -Thus they spoke instinctively in continuation of thoughts long -sanctioned by their inner consciousness, but never outwardly expressed. -There were no listeners who could understand what the avowals meant. -Nevertheless they hastened to resume a correct parlance as between old -acquaintances and nothing more. - -"I think," said Lucy, "you had better send one or two spare men on ahead -with a brief note to my husband saying you will be arriving at our -station in about an hour, that you met me on the road and will bring me -on with you. This will give our people time to--to--plan where to put -you all. There won't be room for everybody inside the stockade. Then -when you've sent off the note we can rest for half an hour or so in that -piece of shade, where there are the euphorbias and the fig trees, and I -shan't feel quite so shaky. I've been rather ill--I'll tell you all -about it when you've sent off the note." - -Roger scribbled the message on a leaf out of his road-book. - -"There is our station," said Lucy, "about two miles off, on that great -spur that comes out from the mountain. You can see the white houses and -the red brick chapel and the glint of the corrugated iron. And away to -the--well, I s'pose it's the south--is the chief Mbogo's principal -village--all those little brown huts...." - -The two impatient messengers scarcely waited for this information but -bounded off to deliver their message and find some resting-place for the -caravan, extenuated as it was with the long, hot march. - -Lucy took Roger's arm--how it thrilled her, how like an impossible dream -come true!--and followed by Halima and the machila reached the patch of -blue shade made by a group of candelabra euphorbias and fig trees with -thick glossy leaves and pendent branches. The ground underneath was -absolutely clear of any cover for snakes and was whitish with the ashes -of many a cooking fire, lit here by caravans arriving at evening and -preferring to postpone their interviews with Chief Mbogo--sometimes a -rapacious gentleman over his dues--till the morning light. - -Whilst Brentham's cook was preparing a cup of tea, Lucy poured forth -tumultuously her story of the chief happenings of the past six months. -Brentham said in reply that she must have gone through a beastly time; -but she might now take heart. He had come with definite instructions to -take her away to the coast and her husband too, if the men-folk agreed. -"Any other English woman at the station?" he inquired. - -Lucy told him there was Ann Jamblin, but did not think the present -moment the right one in which to expatiate on the irritating side of -Ann's disposition. Moreover now that she was going back to England, why -run down Ann? If Ann stayed behind, as she was convinced she would do, -she might be a great comfort to John. "Don't think it odd of me," -finished Lucy, "if when we reach the station I go straight to my house -and to bed. I feel really too much shaken to take part in any -discussion. I would much sooner you settled everything with John. I'm -sure he won't oppose my going." - -When Brentham reached Hangodi he was introduced to Ann, who listened to -his polite phrases rather impatiently and seemed a little incredulous -about any danger from Arab attacks. What exercised her mind, she said -frankly, was how to keep the hundred men of his caravan from too close -contact with her twenty or thirty maidens who lived in--what it was -hoped was--"maiden meditation, fancy free," within the stockaded -boundaries of the Mission Station. The local young manhood of the -near-by Ulunga villages was supposed to stand too much in awe of Ann and -to obey too strictly their chief's prohibition of interference with the -young women of the Mission to annoy them with any amorous advances; but -already Ann thought she had seen bold glances cast at her pupils--whom -she was training to be Christian wives of Christian husbands--by the -love-famished stalwarts of the caravan; and a coy recognition of this -admiration on the part of the plump "Big-geru." To ease her -apprehensions the men were soon all drafted off to billets in the native -villages a mile away. To Brentham and his personal servants were -alotted the Boys' School and the Chapel for their accommodation, the -Consul being told that under all the circumstances of his visit there -could be no thought of sacrilege in his using the House of God as a -dwelling-place. - -Brentham had told them as soon as he arrived that he was charged with -instructions to escort all the white _personnel_ of Hangodi to some safe -place on the coast whilst this war between Arabs and Germans was going -on. He had started from Medinat-al-barkah and had with great difficulty -and by making the utmost use of the British flag and of the presence of -British war vessels off the coast, pushed his way past the insurgent -Arabs and Waswahili that were attacking the German strongholds. - -By forced marches he had reached the mission stations of Uluguru and -Usagara, and had advised the retreat of the older men and all the white -women towards the Kilwa coast, not at present in revolt. He left them -still undecided whether or not to take his advice, but he had furnished -them with a reinforcement of porters and arms. - -There was no time to lose, so he was now hurrying on to Ulunga and Ugogo -to put the same proposition before the members of the East African -Mission, except that the safest route to the coast must now be a great -detour towards Kilimanjaro. - -Whatever the men decided to do, the women should at any rate come away -with him. He would proceed westward and try to pick up the Stotts; then -with his stout-hearted Wanyamwezi soldier-porters they would all find a -way round the routes and villages dominated by the Arabs and Wangwana[#] -and reach the coast at Mvita, where there was a British Consulate and -where British gunboats were lying off the Arab town. But time was -precious. Already he had heard that bands of plundering Wangwana and -Ruga-ruga[#] were approaching Ugogo from the west. - - -[#] Wangwana was the general term in the East African interior by which -the "Black Arabs," the Muhammadan Arabized negroes, were known. - -[#] Ruga-ruga was the name given to war-like negroes--not necessarily -Muhammadans, armed by the Arabs with flint-lock guns and sent to raid -and ravish those tribes which rebelled against the slave-traders. - - -"How long can you give us?" said the anguished John, torn between his -sense of duty regarding his wife and his extreme reluctance to abandon -his Mission Station to certain destruction. - -"Well, not more than forty-eight hours." - -"Brethren," said John, "we must meet in conference and decide this. -Sister Lucy has retired to bed--I advised her to do so. She has left it -to me to settle what she had better do. But for the rest of us, let us -meet after supper in the mess house and talk it over. You, sir," he -said, to the worn and weary-looking Brentham--who, whatever he might -appear in Lucy's eyes as paladin and parfit gentill knight, was streaked -with black and brown after having ridden and walked through the charred -herbage of the burnt plains still smoking with their dry-season bush -fires--"You, sir, would like a rest and a wash and a meal. Shall I show -you your quarters?..." - -When the little party met in conclave, how unreal the threat of war and -violence seemed! The open square of the station was bathed in silver -moonlight from a moon three-quarters full; there was the distant -twanging of a native guitar played by some musical porter; a village dog -sent up a complacent howl or two; a goat-sucker churred; a laugh came -from the Big-geru's quarters. - -John, not without a hope the Consul might be exaggerating their danger, -said: "Brethren and Sister Jamblin, each of you shall speak in turn, but -as I am regarded as your leader I will give my opinion first. I have -decided that my wife shall leave with the Consul for the coast, perhaps -even for England, unless she recovers her health and things quiet down. -Cruelly hard as it is for me to part with her, I feel it is the right -thing to do. As for me, it is also the right thing that I should stop -here till all danger is over and my place can be taken by some one else. -Sister Jamblin must go with Lucy." (Ann murmured she would do nothing of -the kind.) "Yes, Ann; I must insist. Lucy could not possibly travel -alone--it is not to be thought of...." - -_Ann_: "Why, she can take Halima----" - -"I say," continued John, wiping the perspiration from his heated face, -"it is not to be thought of. As an unmarried woman, Ann, you could not -remain here with us men----" (Ann: "Pooh, nonsense!") "Supposing we were -really attacked by the Arabs and we men were killed, I dare not think -what might be your fate! Brother Bayley, what do you say?" - -_Bayley_: "Why, that I'll stay with you." - -_Anderson_: "And I say the same. You've both spoken like jolly good -Englishmen. And--er--let's trust in the Lord, brethren. _He'll_ see us -through, He won't leave His servants in the lurch. To think of all the -work we've put into this place and all the money what's been spent on -it! What are we going to do with our trade goods if we cut and run? -The Consul can't load himself up with them--and our ivory and gum -copal..." - -_Brentham_: "I might mention here I can only spare about twenty-five -porters for the whole five of you. We must travel as lightly as -possible, especially if the Stotts want help. They have young children, -I believe." - -_Anderson_: "Then I vote we stop. Let the women go. It wouldn't be -right to expose them to the risk.... Ann, what do you say?" - -_Ann_: "I say this. Let Sister Baines go to the coast. She's always -ailing and would only be a drag on us if we were hard-pressed. But for -my part I stay with the men, at any rate till things have calmed down. -_I'm_ not afraid. I'll soon learn to handle a rifle, and I'm pretty -good at dressing wounds. And there's my class of girls. It'd pretty -nigh break my heart if I went away and they came to grief after all that -training I've given them--to make them good wives some day." - -_John_ (shortly and decidedly): "You can't remain. I've already told you -why. In this matter you must bow to my authority. Lucy in any case is -too ill to stay here--under these circumstances--and it is common -humanity that you should not let her travel alone to the coast. When -our anxiety is over, you and she can come back...." (Ann: "Thank you for -nothing!") "Well, sir, you shall know our definite decision in the -morning. Meantime you must be tired, very tired indeed. We thank you -heartily for coming to our assistance. I'm sure you'd like now to -retire." (Brentham withdraws.) "Brethren, before we separate let us put -our case before God, that He may guide us aright...." - -The next morning the decisive answer tendered to the Consul was that the -men would remain and defend their station. Sisters Baines and Jamblin -should return to the coast with Consul Brentham. - -Lucy forgot all about her anaemia and weak back and tendency to -dizziness in an excited packing up of necessaries for the journey. She -would not have to take with her more than her clothes and a few -invalid's provisions and appliances. She felt terribly elated, wildly -happy at times. No thought of danger entered her head--how could it, -with Roger as escort? At the same time, the sight of poor John's silent -grief--too deep for words--smote her with reproachfulness; and Ann's -scornful observation of her moments of sparkling gaiety seemed sinister. - -The situation was eased by Brentham taking John away for three hours to -confer with Chief Mbogo and his counsellors. Mbogo was sure he could -drive off any number of Arabs or Wangwana if they came to attack his -villages or the Mission Station. He would send out word to the Masai. -The Masai were now his friends through the peace-making of the -missionaries: they hated the Arabs and the "coast people," and said they -would side with the Whites. At the same time he accepted gratefully -Brentham's present of ten Snider rifles and two loads of ammunition. -Another ten rifles and a thousand rounds of ammunition were added to the -armoury of the Mission Station, as well as two revolvers, one of which -Ann took over, for her own defence on the road or that of her -"Big-geru." - -Brentham also tendered some expert advice to the Chief on the subject of -entrenchments round his stronghold. The Mission Station already -possessed a pretty strong stockade and a moat outside it. A few years -previously attacks from any quarter might be expected--Muhammadan -slave-traders, impulsive Masai, thievish Wagogo. If the first rush -could be checked the attack was seldom persisted in. - - -The Consul's _safari_ as it passed down the western slopes of the Ulunga -Hills[#] must have looked quite imposing to the natives who watched its -departure behind their dracaena and euphorbia hedges. First marched -Brentham himself with a stout staff and with his gun-carrier at his -heels. Then came the caravan headman and guide, the Mwinyi-mpara or -Kiongozi, as he was styled. He carried a small British ensign and was -followed by twenty-five armed porters with Brentham's personal loads, -each, however, with a Snider rifle and a neat uniform of cotton vest and -breeches. Next followed Ann Jamblin, riding astride the Consul's Maskat -donkey, every now and then glancing back on her fifteen Amazon porters, -the pick of her Big-geru class who carried their mistress's effects in -bundles on their woolly heads. Behind them was Lucy in her machila, its -long pole borne on the shoulders of two strapping Walunga, with a relief -crew behind of four other men of fine musculature. After that followed -about fifty porters poising on their heads the heavier baggage--bundles -of tents, bedding, water-tight tin boxes, bags of rice, bales of cloth, -boxes of beads, cases of ammunition, cooking implements. Trotting by the -side of this long file of men were two milch goats, bleating and baaing, -but thoroughly enjoying the journey; they were intended to provide milk -for the ladies' tea. One of the two was a special pet of Lucy's. To -look after the goats was a little naked Mgogo boy--a released slave--who -ran and frolicked with them, and kept the porters amused by his impudent -mimicry of the white people. Lastly in the rear of the caravan was a -guard of ten gunmen without loads to embarrass their quick movements. - - -[#] Ulunga was the southern portion of a country called "Ngulu" or -"Nguru." - - -Brentham and his charges were bound for the Stotts' station of Burungi, -three or four days' journey--say, fifty miles--to the west. Lucy felt -already many degrees better in health, though she thought it only decent -to conceal her returning vigour and new-found animation. The picnic -meals by the road side stimulated her appetite; her eye took pleasure in -the changes of scenery, the new panoramas of plain and wilderness that -unfolded themselves as she was swayingly borne along. Ann seemed sombre -and preoccupied, as though noting land-marks for after recognition. -Occasionally she pointed to this and that feature in the landscape and -asked her Big-geru for its native name. - -The very hot weather which closes the dry season made itself felt, so -that the start from Hangodi had been begun in the early morning -twilight, and each succeeding morning they took to the road at 5.30. -They jogged along, with an occasional five minutes', rest, till -half-past ten or until about that time they had found a stream valley or -a water hole which contained water not too bad for cooking purposes. -Then the caravan halted for the day in such shade as might be found, and -the march was not resumed till 5 p.m. - -Owing to the brilliancy of the moonlight it might be continued well into -the night. During the long mid-day halt, the Goanese cook, aided by -Halima and several porters and Brentham's Swahili butler, would prepare -really very creditable little meals, and after eating the travellers -would lie on unfolded deck chairs in some piece of shade where the hard -ground had been swept clear of snakes, insects or scorpions. Brentham, -if the heat were not too scorching, might wander with a shot-gun near by -to try for the chance of a guinea-fowl or francolin or tiny antelope. - -At four o'clock they had tea with goat's milk; and at five resumed their -journey. The tents were pitched by moonlight and the beds made by the -light of a candle lantern. Toilet processes were very summary; there -was all too little water to wash in and the travellers must just sleep -in their clothes and put any ideas of effective ablutions out of their -heads till they reached the water supply at the Stotts' station. The -night camp was hastily surrounded by a thorn hedge cut from the acacia -trees, and big fires were lighted to keep off lions and hyenas. Blacks -and whites had to sleep in close proximity and the treasured goats and -donkey in the middle of the circle of loads. - -The country they marched over--a northward extension of the "Mkunda -mkali" or "Bitter waste"--was at first steppe-like, then rocky and -rising in a series of escarpments. Almost its only trees seemed to be -flat-topped acacias, without leafage at this season, glistening in the -blazing sun and studded with long white thorns. The thin grass was -mostly burnt; nevertheless it was frequented by much game, and the land -was apparently devoid of human inhabitants. Brentham, always obsessed -by the fear of food scarcity, but hardly liking to absent himself from -the line of march and his following caravan, started each morning a few -minutes ahead of the rest and walked in advance as a pioneer, with his -gun-carrier at his elbow. In this way he sometimes brought down, close -to the path, an inquisitive Grant's gazelle or hartebeest; or a zebra -out of the many herds which closed up to espy the distant concourse of -men and then dissolved into a cloud of dust at the report of the gun. -Even at this lean season of the year the male zebras were in good -condition. Their yellow fat and juicy, sickly-sweet flesh delighted the -hungry porters. - -On the early morning of the fourth day, the expedition passed a few -parched native plantations and one or two burnt huts and, as the sun -rose, marched into the irregular circle of the Stott station, across a -half-dry water-course, and found no human being to greet it. Silence -and partially burnt buildings of clay and thatch, torn paper, vultures -on the scorched trees, broken crockery, scraps of cloth, one or two -pools of dried blood, empty cartridge-cases, and the torn sacking and -splintered boards of packing-cases. - - -"This is pretty ghastly, Miss Jamblin," said Brentham, returning to the -hastily-cleaned camp amid the ruins of the Mission Station. - -Lucy, feeling she could do nothing to help and had better not look at -the caked patches of dried blood which the porters were removing, had -withdrawn herself to a folding chair placed by Halima under the thin -shade of a fire-scorched tree. Ann was examining the vestiges of the -Stott property which the looters had left behind: school books and -primers in the Swahili language, empty ink-pots, broken slates, -enamelled iron plates and some substantial tables of native timber, too -heavy for either the fugitives or their enemies to carry away. Ann's -white solar "topi" and white dress were already smudged and sooted from -the burnt wood and thatch. - -"Ghastly, isn't it!" he went on. "I've just returned from a -reconnaissance in which we rounded up three Masai youths--not warriors -but the hulking boys that attend on the spearmen. Two men in my -_safari_ understand Masai and they are now trying to make out the story -these boys tell. They evidently deny emphatically that the Stotts were -killed. They keep pointing to the north-west as the direction in which -they have gone, and say every now and then 'Irangi.' My interpreters -infer that this place was attacked about a week ago by a party of -Ruga-ruga coming from the Nyaturu country and travelling towards the -coast. They besieged the station, and killed some of the Mission boys, -but the Stotts apparently were not hurt. They defended themselves for -some time, till a party of Masai came to their relief, and then the -Ruga-ruga and 'black' Arabs were beaten off. Nevertheless the Stotts -left the station afterwards and went away to the north-west with the -Masai escorting them.... I want to see if I get on their tracks or if I -can find any real natives who saw the attack.... You seem to have a head -on your shoulders ... and an influence over the natives. I'll leave all -but five of the men here under your orders. Already they're at work -reconstructing the 'boma.' I propose skirmishing around and finding out -also if the Arabs and Ruga-ruga are still in the neighbourhood. I'll be -back before dark...." - -_Ann_: "You'd much better give up such a wild-goose chase as looking for -the Stotts. Make for Kilimanjaro and the Mvita coast with Lucy. We've -got mission stations in Taita and at Jomvu, near Mvita, where you could -place her in comparative safety. I'd much rather return to Hangodi -instead of floundering about in the wilderness, mad with thirst and -unable to wash. I'm only a drag on you with my women porters whom your -men can't leave alone--I daren't take my eyes off them. Lucy'll soon be -well enough to ride your donkey--which I'm at present using. If the -Arabs haven't plundered the Wagogo or if there are Masai bands in the -neighbourhood you could easily buy a few donkeys--Masai breed, you know. -They're quickly broken in to riding, especially with your Maskat donkey -to show 'em how. And then you could travel much quicker. I don't think -you'll have trouble with the Arabs farther north. It's a Masai country, -and the Masai and the Muhammadans are at daggers drawn...." - -_Brentham_ (hesitating): "No. I don't think I ought to let you go ... I -..." (His thoughts were saying: "_Let_ her go. She's a tiresome -termagant, she, with her fifteen women porters who'll cause the -deuce-and-all of a lot of trouble before we've gone far. It would be -lovely to have a long journey back to the coast with Lucy. _Of course_ -I'd respect her. I should simply treat her as a sister" ... and his -pulses quickened).... - -_Ann_: "_Let_ me go? I'm my own mistress and not going to be ordered -about by anybody. If I choose to go back, I'll go, even if I have to -walk all the way. But there! I don't want to be tiresome. You go off -on your prospecting and leave Lucy in my charge. I'll promise not to do -a bolt till you return--and whenever I promise, I keep my promise." - -(Lucy came up at this juncture and was told rather impatiently by Ann -the dilemma in which the three of them were placed.) Captain Brentham -turned away, called up his headman, gave him instructions, and finally -went off with five gunmen and the three Masai youths. These were put in -a good humour by being crammed with broiled meat and rice, the latter a -food they had never tasted before, but accepted without demur at the -hands of the godlike white man. - -Ann, thus placed in authority, set to work to carry out her plans. She -had the interior of the station circle cleaned as much as possible of -half-burnt house material, and gathered together what remained in the -ruins of books, clothes, trade goods. The looting had evidently been -very hurried, and no doubt the Stotts had conveyed some things with them -on their retreat. Lucy, sharply ordered by Ann not to over-exert -herself, sat in the shade in a deck chair, very apprehensive as to the -future and worried that Roger should have gone away. - -The news that white people were back at Burungi--as this station was -called--penetrated quickly through this seemingly deserted region. So -often in Africa there occurs this wireless telegraphy, really due -perhaps to the lurking here and there in the brush and herbage of -invisible natives, observing what goes on and bounding away noiselessly -to carry the news to other prowlers. In the afternoon when Ann within -the thorn enclosure had made things a little more tidy and presentable -there appeared in the middle distance numbers of Wagogo warriors gazing -at the new arrivals with kindly neutrality, occasionally calling out -friendly, deprecatory greetings. Encouraged by Ann's answering shouts -in Kagulu they approached the "boma," and even ventured within the camp -enclosure, squatting then on their heels to exchange information. Their -confidence was sealed by little gifts of tobacco. The attack on the -Mission Station was described. The white people had been taken by -surprise, but had held their own till the Wagogo and Masai came to their -assistance. The Ruga-ruga shot fire-arrows in among the thatched roofs -and set fire to some of the houses. They even broke in through one part -of the "boma," but three of them were killed by the white man's people. - -The fight had lasted half-a-day and one day. Then the Wangwana had -drawn off--to the south. Two days more and the white people had -gone--there were the white man--"Sitoto," they called him--and the white -woman chief--she was a great "doctor"--and three white children ... they -had all gone off with a party of the Masai--to the north somewhere. The -Masai had sold them donkeys to ride. Some Wagogo had gone with them. -It was perhaps four days since they went away. No! the Wagogo had _not_ -plundered the white man's place. They were frightened to come there -because of the white man's "medicine." ... - -"Then how did you get that?" said Ann, pointing to a soiled white -petticoat which an elderly man wore over one shoulder and across his -chest. - -"That? That had been given him by the white woman herself for running -to summon the Masai." ... - -"See here," said Ann, in fragmentary Kagulu. "You've got donkeys--Masai -donkeys--among you. The Ruga-ruga have not raided _you_. You bring me -here _three good strong donkeys_ and I will buy them for a good price: -white cloth, brass rings, iron wire, red cloth and gunpowder." - -They conferred among themselves and thought they might produce three -donkeys--for a price. - -"Well, then fetch them--_at once_. Otherwise the big white man, the -great chief of all the white men on the coast, the Balozi, will believe -you helped to plunder this station and make you give up the property -you've stolen." ... - -Roger returned late that evening in brilliant moonlight to find that Ann -had purchased with his trade goods three good stout grey asses with -broad shoulder stripes. One she reserved for herself, the other two she -transferred to Brentham. They would serve for him to ride and also -provide his Goanese cook with a mount. [This Portuguese-Indian was a -very poor marcher and much inclined to fever; yet in some ways the -second most important person of the caravan, decent cooking being such -an enormous help to good health in Africa.] Lucy, who had grown much -stronger for this change and excitement, could ride the Maskat donkey -and her hammock men could return to Hangodi with some of Ann's loads. - -Ann would further borrow five of Brentham's gun-men to escort her and -her fifteen women-porters--her Big-geru--back to Hangodi. She had also -engaged at extravagant pay a dozen of the Wagogo, fleet of foot and -brave hunters. These, armed with their long-bladed spears, would guide -and precede her little party, scaring away the wild beasts by their -cries. Lions and rhinoceroses were distinctly a danger to be reckoned -with.... By forced marching, especially at night, Ann would be back at -Hangodi in two days. It was therefore unwise to miss a single moonlight -night as the moon would soon be on the wane. The Ruga-ruga and Wangwana -never attacked at night, and if they were anywhere in the -neighbourhood--which the Wagogo scouts would soon find out--the party -would hide in the daylight hours. - -Meantime Brentham and Lucy could remain encamped at Burungi awaiting the -return of Ann's escort. If the message was "All's well," they could -start off for the coast by the roundabout northern route.... - -"You seem to be a very capable woman," said Brentham, "as well as being -an obstinate one. I agree to your plan, though I have a presentiment I -may regret it. If you change your mind and come back I shan't reproach -you for being fickle. And besides, you may bring us later news. I must -in any case stay here for a few days to prepare for the big march. I -must shoot game and have a lot of 'biltong'[#] made for the men...." - - -[#] Strips of lean meat dried in the sun and thus preserved for a -considerable time in dry weather. - - -"I'm glad you agree," said Ann. "I know I shall be in the right place -at Hangodi--for many reasons. As it is, I've already had an idea. The -Stotts seem to have been saved by the Masai. The Masai that our Walunga -people call 'Wahumba' are on good terms with us. We brought about peace -between them and Mbogo. They come to our station to trade and we have -cured several of their wounded men from bad lion bites. We will send -messengers to the Humba Masai asking for a large war party of spearmen -to await down below in the plains any attack by the Arabs. I think the -mere knowledge the Masai are there will keep the Arabs from coming near -Ulunga." - -So the next morning Ann rode off at five o'clock astride her Masai -donkey, on which some makeshift arrangement of padded cloths had been -tied by way of saddle. Her buxom Big-geru hoisted their light loads and -struck up a Moody and Sankey hymn translated by Ann into Kagulu. The -grinning Wanyamwezi gunmen brought up the rear, and the wild, unclothed -Wagogo with fantastic ostrich feather or zebra-mane head-dresses dashed -on ahead, whooping and leaping and shouting their determination to scare -away the beasts of the field from the white woman-chief who talked like -a man. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *THE HAPPY VALLEY* - - -Roger, left alone with Lucy, resolved he would "do the right thing," -clenched his teeth so to speak on the vow. He was the more fiercely -determined to act honourably because he felt himself to be fighting -against her own weakness of fibre, against her overpowering inclination -as well as his own. Her attractiveness for him had greatly increased -since the renewal of their comradeship. In the early days of the -acquaintance, though her prettiness and virginal charm were appealing, -she had the naivete and insipidity of an inexperienced girl which soon -weary a man of the world who tires of the relation between master and -pupil. Now she was a married woman; tempered, rendered more subtle by -suffering and experience of mankind, who was readier to express her -feelings through her eyes and her reticence than by direct speech. She -talked less unreflectingly, and the things she said were more due to her -own observation and reasoning than second-hand opinions picked up from -other people. - -Ann, in the week in which he had seen the two women together, had been -just the right foil to throw up Lucy's charming femininity, her -refinement in dress and appearance and in the tones of her voice. Ann -by contrast was an impudent self-assertive virago with the worth at best -of a good drudge. After a year and a half's absence from Europe he made -this rediscovery of Lucy, set against a background of Savage -Africa--coarse landscapes, jagged rocks, unwieldy trees, bush -conflagrations, naked men, wild beasts just kept at bay. (On moonlight -nights they could actually descry the grey-white forms of lions and -hyenas padding noiselessly round the precincts of their boma.) These -violent incongruities made her seem to him a being of exquisite -refinement and yet of physical charm. Returning health, intense -happiness, the dawning hope of a bright future were dispelling the -anaemia and giving back to her face and neck the tinted white of a -healthy skin, warmed in tone by a good circulation. There was a sparkle -of animation in her violet eyes and a new lustre in her brown gold hair. - -It would be a good thing for both, he felt, if he found the Stotts as -soon as possible and induced them to join company in a march to the -coast. His career--Yes, he must remember that. His career above all -things. He must not be turned aside from his great ambitions by any -woman. Yet he had missed fire over the Unguja appointment and wanted -consolation elsewhere. It was rather weary _always_ to be at work, in -an office, or in the field: never to settle down to a honeymoon and the -joys of domesticity. Perhaps he should have taken another line--the -Colonial Office and administrative work, not the Foreign Office and -adventurous diplomacy in Savage Africa.... He wanted to explore, -create, and then administer a great African Empire, tasks infinitely -above the mean capacity of a Godfrey Dewburn or a Spencer Bazzard. Why -could he not now--straight away--plunge into the vast unknown which lay -before him to the north, to the north-west? Where had Stanley -disappeared to? What had become of Emin? What was happening in Uganda -since the death of Mutesa? What unsolved mysteries lay west of the -Victoria Nyanza, north of Tanganyika, south of the Bahr-al-ghazal? -Should he take Lucy to his heart, throw conventions and commissions to -the winds, and start away with her on a wonderful journey of discovery, -leaving the world and the Rev. John Baines to say what they liked, and -covering his private treachery by his amazing discoveries? - -Nonsense! Why, Queen Victoria would never overlook this act of -adultery. He might discover twenty lakes and name them all after -princes of her family or annex gold mines and pipes of diamonds and she -would refuse the accolade, and Society at her bidding would close its -ranks against the dishonoured missionary's wife. Besides, he had barely -enough trade goods with which to pay his way back to the coast, -especially by a round-about route. The African soon looks coldly on the -god-like white man if he has no more beads, cloth, copper wire, knives, -and gun-caps with which to pay road dues, "customs" or good-will -presents. - -And his armed porters? They were only engaged for a six-months' -_safari_. They must be fed and paid or they would desert.... He must -put all this nonsense out of his head--take a few pills, a little -bromide--tire himself out every day big game shooting or scouting till -the men sent with Ann Jamblin returned with their news. - -If he took all this exercise, he would not lie awake at night in his hot -tent, under his mosquito curtain longing, aching to go to Lucy's -quarters and say, "I love you: let us fight against it no longer. We -may all be dead a month hence." - -To guard against such impulses he had insisted on Halima's sleeping on -an Unguja mat in her mistress's tent, and had surrounded the tent with a -square of reed fence which gave her a greater degree of privacy than the -wretched tent afforded. Within this there was space for a bathroom and -a "sitting-room," a shaded retreat to which she could retire for a -siesta or a confabulation with Halima who was still giving instruction -in Swahili. Outside this "harim"--as his men who constructed it -certainly took it to be--there was a "baraza" common to them both: a -thatched shelter open all round. Here the camp table was placed for -meals. - -Roger determined to shut Lucy out of his thoughts as much as possible, -to think only for the day, for the dangers by which they were -surrounded, the hundred risks which attended their ever getting back to -civilization.... As soon as they could reach the coast he would send -Lucy to England and return to his Consulate at Medinat-al-barkah.... Of -course, should John Baines die of fever--missionaries often -did--or--if--he were killed? ... Suppose his station really was -attacked...? But then, again, such thoughts as these were of the order -of David's when he hankered after Bathsheba.... - -And then Lucy, again, Lucy might die of fever--she scarcely seemed cut -out for an African life, which is why he had begun pitying her..... - - -"I've had perfectly splendid sport to-day," said Roger, standing before -Lucy's "baraza" where the camp table was laid for tea. "I've shot a -rhino--they're cutting it up now--two hartebeests, and two impala. -That'll give us all the 'biltong' we can carry. I'm filthily dirty, as -you can see--ash and charcoal from the burnt bush, and sweat--God! It -_has_ been sweltering!--and the run after that--and _from_ that--rhino! -No. I'm not wounded--there's no need for emotion--but the rhino as he -charged--and _I_ doubled--squirted blood over me from his nostrils--I -must look like a fighting chimney sweep--I'll go and have a bath and -then you shall give me tea." - -"Don't be long," said Lucy. "There's _such_ lots to talk about. Your -men have come back from Hangodi with a note to me from John! He says so -far 'all's well.' And two Masai, Halima says, are waiting to see you. -They keep saying 'Sitoto,' which means, I suppose, some news about the -Stotts' whereabouts. _How_ exciting it's all getting. I _am_ enjoying -it!" - -"Halima" (to her maid): "Waambia watu wa mpishi tunataka chai, _marra_ -moja!" - - -Four days afterwards, everything being ready for the fresh venture into -the unknown, loads lightened and tightened, and the biltong sufficiently -dry to be tied on top of the loads (imparting a disagreeable smell of a -butcher's shop to the caravan as it passed in single file), they set out -with Masai guides to find the Stotts. They travelled over the -water-parting from the rivers flowing to the Indian Ocean to those that -ended in vague marshes and bitter lakes. They climbed great escarpments -and descended into broad valleys between high cliffs and found -themselves amongst strange peoples, chiefly pastoral, keepers of great -herds of sleek, humped cattle, of dwarf African goats and fat-tailed -sheep. - -The first of these, the Warangi, were fortunately allied in speech to -the Wagogo--so could be communicated with. They were a truculent lot, -inclined to make trouble with strangers. They seemed on this occasion, -however, too much excited over affairs of their own to be much -interested in the arrival of white folk, whom they had probably never -seen before except in the form of pale-faced Arabs. They replied -briefly that a white man and woman and their children had preceded -Brentham's party by a few days--when the moon was still at the full. -They were accompanied by a band of Masai with whom the Warangi were -friends.... - -"Are there any Arabs here?" asked Brentham through his interpreter. -"Waalabu?" No! They came sometimes to buy ivory, but on their last -visit they had tried to carry off some Rangi people as slaves, and if -they showed their faces again in Burangi, they would be driven away. - -"Then what are you all so excited about?" - -They replied it was an affair of their clan, of the people who lived in -these villages. Their young married men had gone out this dry season to -kill elephants as was their custom, but had returned after three months -with no luck at all: hardly a tusk worth looking at, very little meat, -and two men killed by the elephants. There could be but one explanation -for this. Their wives had been unfaithful to them as soon as their -backs were turned. It was well known that if a wife and husband were -separated and the wife was unfaithful, a misfortune at once fell on the -husband. Consequently the custom of their tribe in such cases was to -burn the guilty women on large pyres of brushwood. These pyres were now -finished--the white man could see them there along the bank of the -river.... Presently the adulterous ladies whose husbands had returned -from the luckless elephant-shoot would be led out, tied to the brushwood -bundles, and set on fire. He might stay and witness the imposing -spectacle if he chose. They learnt that he too was accompanied by a -wife--a white woman. It might be a moral lesson to her--if white women -were ever unfaithful.... - - -Roger begged the Warangi to spare the women this time. By and bye he -would come back to them and explain the whole mystery of luck in sport -and the ensuring of an accurate aim, perhaps give them a "medicine," to -produce the result they wanted. But meantime he assured them that if -they burnt so much as one woman's little finger a terrible curse would -fall on the land. - -Lucy asked what all this talk was about, and he replied: "Oh, nothing -very important--big game shooting." She was preoccupied with pleasanter -subjects, the greater coolness of the air now that they had ascended to -a higher level, the new green grass of the coming spring, and her own -greatly improved health.... - -"If all goes well," said Roger, "we ought to reach the place where the -Stotts are in two long days' march." - -"Shall we? I'm rather sorry, as though something was going to break our -delicious dream. I should like to go on and on like this for a -year...." - -"And what about my official duties? I, too, am enjoying this to the -full, but I am worried about whether I have done the right thing.... -With a desire to please every one all round I sometimes fancy I have -embarked on a perilous adventure.... However we must hope for the best. -Of course all this is absolutely new ground. I ought to be earning a -Geographical medal; instead of which I shall only get an official -rebuke.... Did you notice that we seem to have entered a new -watershed?" - -_Lucy_: "Although I taught Geography at school, I never really -understood what a 'watershed' was. What is it?" - -_Roger_: "I suppose it means the area in which all the waters flow to -the same receptacle--a sea, a lake, a marsh. We've just left a river -which was flowing steadily to the south, to some unknown end. We rode -up a small rise, and now, see, the gathering streams are all flowing -northwards. The Masai say these brooks unite farther on to form a river -which ends in a lake. Think of _that_, Lucy! We shall discover a new -lake! It ought to be called 'Lake Lucy.'..." - -_Lucy_ (blushing): "Oh no, indeed, I should feel quite uncomfortable if -I were made so prominent.... But the country seems to get lovelier and -lovelier...." - -The new streams to which Roger referred irrigated a broad and even -expanse of fertile plain sloping gently to the north, and seeming to -terminate at the base of gigantic cliffs or lofty mountains which -surrounded this valley on three sides. They could only make out dimly -the forms of the highest mountains because of the dry-season haze, but -they seemed like the craters of volcanoes. Riding to the top of an -isolated hillock Roger obtained confirmation of the guides' story. The -valley ended in a lake of respectable size. - -The grassy flats between the converging rivulets swarmed with big game -which showed comparatively little fear of man and might be seen grazing -with herds of the natives' cattle. A succession of exclamations, half -wonderment, half fear, came from Lucy. - -"Oh! ... I ... _say_! ... I thought those were great tree trunks till -they moved, but ... they're..." - -"They're _giraffes_, by Jove! I wonder whether I ought to bring one -down? Better not ... might delay us ... and I don't know how the -natives 'ud take it...." - -A herd of six or seven stately giraffes suspended their browsing on the -upper branches of an acacia tree, and gazed at them with their liquid -eyes, flicking their satiny bodies with tails that terminated in large -black tassels. - -"O-oh!'" came from Lucy, as she reined in her donkey. "_Look_ at those -things over there! Like houses or great rocks, but they're moving too!" - -She pointed with her riding whip to some grey bulks in the middle -distance which, as they swished through the herbage, showed here and -there a gleam of polished tusks. - -"Shoot! Master, shoot!" exclaimed the Wanyamwezi.... "Elephants, -Master!" But Roger called for silence and held his hand. Supposing the -elephants charged down on Lucy? And then he did not know how the sounds -of guns would be received in this new country, what the unknown natives -might think, and lastly, perhaps there was beginning to dawn on him an -appreciation of what this spectacle meant: a piece of absolutely -unspoiled Africa, not yet ravaged by the white man or the native hunter, -armed with the white man's weapons. His caravan had plenty of dried -meat. They should not break the charm of the Happy Valley--the phrase -came suddenly into his mind, some dim remembrance of Dr. Samuel -Johnson's ponderous romance. - -As they advanced northwards the scenes grew more idyllic. Herds of -gnus, hartebeests, elands, and zebras, intermingled with reed buck and -impala, alternately stared in immobility, then dashed off in clouds of -yellow dust, and once more stood at gaze. Gazelles with glossy black, -annulated horns and bodies brilliant in colour--golden-red, -black-banded, and snowy-white below--cropped the turf a few yards from -the faintly marked track which the caravan was following; and though the -bucks lifted their heads to observe this advancing file of human beings -they scarcely moved away more than a few yards. - -The Valley was not entirely given up to wild life, though it seemed -likely that it was only used by man as a pasture ground, and that he -preferred the higher country, the hillocks on either side of the plain, -for his habitations, out of the way of floods and swamps. But large -herds of cattle browsed among antelopes and zebra and were watched over -by herdsmen who displayed singularly little curiosity over this first -invasion of the Happy Valley by the white man. The Stotts who had -preceded Roger and Lucy seemed to have satisfied their curiosity, once -and for all. These cattle-tenders were different in physical type to -the ordinary Bantu Negro. They were tall; gracefully, slenderly built; -and reminded Brentham of Somalis, though their head-hair was -close-cropped. Such women as were met showed no sign of fear. They -were clad in ample garments of dressed leather. But the men had all the -gallant nakedness of the Masai--a skin cape over the shoulders, -otherwise only ivory arm-rings and metal-chain necklaces. - -The Masai guides occasionally plucked handfuls of grass and exhibited -them to the groups of herdsmen as a testimony to the peaceful intentions -of the white man's caravan. This voucher was further confirmed by the -returning band of Masai who had escorted the Stotts to this Arcadia and -were now returning to northern Nguru. They exchanged musical -salutations with Roger's guides and told them the "Sitoto" were camped -in a village one day's further journey to the north, near the shores of -the lake. - -"That's all right," said Roger, his mind greatly relieved. "Then let's -give our _safari_ a half-holiday and take things easy. We'll pitch our -camp on that knoll. How delightful is this short green turf after the -miles and miles of burnt grass we've passed through. The spring has -begun here a month earlier than in the lower-lying country. I expect -the high mountains to the north have attracted the rains, though it's -only October. Have you noticed, also, since we entered this valley -we've had no mosquitoes? I wonder why? Something p'raps they don't -like in the water, or not enough long grass?..." - -As soon as the camp was finished, the pastoral people brought them rich, -sweet milk for sale, in tightly-woven grass receptacles, in calabashes, -or clay pots. Sometimes this milk had a smoky taste from the rough -methods by which the milk pots were cleansed. But it was as sweet as a -nut and seemed to Lucy, who had long been deprived of milk, except doled -out in small quantities for tea, incomparably delicious as a -thirst-quencher. And these Egyptian-like people--so often showing a -Pharaonic profile and speaking a language which Roger afterwards -declared not very far removed from Gala--also traded in honey, honey -flavoured with the scent of the acacia blossoms, appearing now as golden -fluff on the awakening trees. - -The next day, the seventh since they left Burungi, Brentham's caravan -came into full view of the lake, its shores lined with dense ranks of -pinkish-white flamingoes. To the south-east was a native village of -long, continuous "tembe" houses, arranged more or less in -parallelograms, or hollow squares, enclosing for each family or group a -turfy space where the cattle passed the night and family life was -carried on in the open air and in security. - -One of these enclosures had evidently been given over to the Stotts for -a temporary home. And from out of it Mr. and Mrs. Stott might be -descried, hurrying to meet the caravan. Before they could arrive, Roger -halted his men and surveyed the whole scene before him from a grassy -mound where he thought to pitch his camp. Projecting mountain -buttresses shut in the valley and the lake, west, north and east. West -and north these mountains almost overhung the flat lake shores in an -abrupt escarpment, blue, without details, in the afternoon shadow. To -the east of the lake, though there were great heights and in the -north-east a hint of giant summits capped with snow, the rise was not so -abrupt, more broken, and the rocks more arid, but vivid and variegated -in colour---red, yellow, greenish grey, purple black and creamy white. -The mountains on the west were diversified with combes and glens, were -carved, moulded, seamed with watercourses; embroidered and mantled with -dark green forests. Where the lake was deep its waters were a pure -cobalt, but its shallows were whitish-green with salt or soda, and the -level shores from which the waters had retreated were greyish white, -probably with the guano of the countless flamingoes, who had their -nesting-stools some distance back from the water's edge. Herds of cattle -browsed peacefully on the green water-meadows of the river-delta; nearer -at hand flocks of black and white sheep mingled with half-shy gazelles -of golden brown. Great Secretary birds--grey, black, and white--stalked -through the herbage looking for snakes and lizards, knowing no fear of -man in their honourable calling. Blue whorls of smoke arose from the -fishermen's fires on the lake shore, where fish was being smoked on -wooden frames. All this was irradiated by the yellow light of the -westering sun. Before, the Stotts could reach them and break their -silence of contentment, Roger turned to Lucy and said: "This _is_ the -Happy Valley!" - -The Stotts were of course full of questions and wonderment. Mr. Stott -was a middle-aged man of strong build, honest hazel eyes, clipped beard, -tanned face and generally pleasing appearance. He had never before met -either Lucy or Brentham, so Mrs. Stott had to make the introductions. - -After these surprised and joyous greetings, an adjournment took place to -the Stotts' quarters. Although they had only been about a week -established here, in a portion of the village of Mwada lent them by the -native chief, the practical and never defeated Stotts---the born -colonists, the realized Swiss Family Robinson--had already made -themselves a new home in the wilderness. They had swept out and cleaned -the "tembes," the continuous huts of wattle and daub, divided into many -compartments, which enclosed the turfy square; and in the centre of -their "compound" had erected a circular building of stout palm poles and -grass that covered a swept space of ground. In the middle of this they -had fashioned a table of reed-bundles fastened to upright posts and had -manufactured rough forms and stools of hyphaene palm trunks. This was -their "baraza" or reception-room, their eating-house, and shaded -playground for their hardy children. Within the enclosed ground they -kept their milch goats, sheep, and riding donkeys. Of these they had -quite a troop, purchased from the Masai. These asses had proved most -useful as beasts of burden for the transport of their loads, so that -they almost managed without human porterage. Mr. Stott had constructed -very practical pack saddles. - -"Come along to our baraza," said genial Mrs. Stott. "Let us try and make -you up some kind of a meal before we begin talking." - -Roger gave a few directions about his own camping, a quarter of a mile -distant, and then joined Lucy and the Stotts, who were walking to "our -new mission station," as Mrs. Stott called it. - -"You know we are _never_ down-hearted; we _know_ God orders everything -for the best! I am sure He thought we were settling down too -comfortably among the Wagogo, and so gave us a hint to press farther -into the interior. _Of course_, when things quiet down: for either the -Germans or the English _must_ conquer East Africa: it would be sickening -to leave the Arabs and Ruga-ruga in control--we shall build up again our -Burungi station and put capable people in charge of it, people who'll -get on well with the Wagogo.... They want a bit of managing. You see -how well it would suit as a halt on the way to this wonderful -country--What do you call it? 'The Happy Valley'? Yes, _that_ shall be -its name. _How_ the Lord's ways are _past_ finding out! I felt _so_ -sick at heart when we were leaving Burungi.... I'll tell you how it all -happened. Our Masai friends had beaten off the Ruga-ruga, but the Wagogo -thought they intended to return, probably with real Arabs in command. -My husband is obliged to shoot game; otherwise we couldn't live, much -less feed our people. They raided us chiefly for arms and -ammunition.... We beat them off, but the Wagogo thought they would be -sure to return--much stronger next time. So after thinking it over and -putting our case before God in prayer we decided that night after the -attack ceased, to spend the hours of darkness packing. The next morning -we bought ten more donkeys from the Masai, besides the ten we had -already, loaded them up and then said to our Masai friends--my husband -speaks Masai pretty well: 'Now, can you guide us to some country where -we can be safe from the Lajomba--their name for the Arabs--for a time?' -And they led us here ... let us say, rather, they were God's agents in -leading us here. Isn't this a _wonderful_ country? We have never seen -the like. Somehow we feel so _safe_ here. You can't think of any enemy -coming over those high mountains--one of them has snow on the summit--or -over the cliffs. They can only come up the river valley. And to do that -they must fight their way through the Rangi and Fiome peoples. The -Rangi people speak a language like Chi-gogo, and so--oddly enough--do -the fisher folk round this extraordinary lake. But the others don't -look like ordinary Negroes. They are more like Somalis. And I can't -make anything out of their language. But although they're different to -the Masai they seem to have some kind of alliance with them, and they -received us here as friends, because the Masai brought us. _What_ a -field for the Lord's work! And to think I almost _doubted_ God when He -let the Ruga-ruga attack Burungi!... - -"But here we are, at our temporary home, and I must go to the cook-house -and see about your meal. You won't mind native stuff, will you? You see -we've lost most of our tinned provisions, and indeed we had been living -on the country long before the Ruga-ruga attacked us. Like all the -other missionaries of late we've had very few caravans from the coast." - -Mr. Stott led the way to the "baraza" with its rough table of -reed-bundles on a framework of sticks and its palm trunks to sit on. - -The Stott children were playing on the dusty turf of the cleared ground -in front of the baraza. - -"I'm afraid you'll think our little 'uns rather uncared for," said Mr. -Stott apologetically; "but my poor wife's had too much to do in our -hurried flight and after we got here to spend much time on their -clothing or even getting them clean!" The eldest of the three was a -pretty boy with light flaxen hair and blue eyes, very tanned of skin, -very grubby of face and hands. He wore a tattered smock and short -breeches, vestiges of a "sailor suit." On his feet were cleverly made -native sandals, as on those of his younger brother and little sister, -whose legs and feet were otherwise naked, and the two smaller children -had little on but a yard or two of calico wound round the waist. Lucy -recognized in the youngest the solemn baby she had seen at Unguja -playing with the large cockroaches; and said so. - -"Yes," replied Mr. Stott. "Afraid of nothing, poor little mite. When -the Ruga-ruga came I hurriedly built up a sort of zariba of boxes and -stones, and put a tarpaulin over it and told the little 'uns to keep -quiet; and there they were, all through the fighting. Mother and I -would go and give 'em food every now and again, and Edgar -here"--pointing to the boy--"'ud say, 'How's the fight going, Daddy?' -And Edgar's bin a rare good boy since we came here, helping to tie these -bundles of reeds and making himself useful. Our eldest's at home in -Ireland with her grandmother--for her education. The next one we buried -years ago in the Nguru country, and the very youngest--bless her--died -of infantile diarrhoea last March at Burungi. That accounts for the six -of 'em; and I'll lay there aren't many British children have had such an -adventurous bringing-up, 'cept the young Livingstones and Moffats." - -Mrs. Stott was now spreading a wrinkled, grey-white cloth over the reed -table-top. And the children were up on their feet helping her and a -native servant bring the meal from the cook-house to the baraza. - -"We're giving you just the native _ugali_--porridge, you know," said -Mrs. Stott, "but there's a lovely pot of fresh milk from the natives' -cattle. Here's some honey in a calabash. Here are the rest of the -scones we had for breakfast. I've made you some tea--rather weak, but -it is so precious. And whilst you're tackling _that_ I'm going to fry -some fish we got from the lake this morning--bony, but very sweet." - -During their meal Roger and Lucy tried to give in instalments a -description of the extraordinary circumstances which had brought them -here in company. Mrs. Stott, who had fetched her sewing so that she -might not be wasting time (Mr. Stott had excused himself, having urgent -work to do till the evening), looked a little puzzled and not quite -acquiescent over Brentham's explanations. - -"Here, children! You go now and help Brahimu and Kagavezi. Don't get -into mischief. Keep out of the sun, don't pick up scorpions, and don't -go outside the boma.... I'm an outspoken woman, you know, Lucy. I -can't help saying I think you ought to have stuck by your husband." - -"But I was so _ill_, Mrs. Stott, and John _insisted_ on my going. -Didn't he ... Captain Brentham?" - -"He did really, Mrs. Stott. I had instructions to advise all the -missionaries to leave their stations and return to the coast--indeed, I -come here to you with that message, but I suppose you won't obey it?" - -"Indeed I won't, Captain Brentham, though I thank you for your efforts -to find us and help us. I do indeed. But wherever my husband is, there -will I be too, unless he absolutely ordered me to go away.... And I saw -it was the will of God that I should go." - -"Well: that was what John did to me--absolutely _ordered_ me to go," -said Lucy, beginning to cry. "He ordered Ann to go with me. It isn't -my fault--our fault--that Ann has gone back, in spite of John's -_positive commands_. Ann never obeys any one. Oh dear, oh dear! _what_ -should I do ... I feel if I go back to that place I shall simply die ... -and yet I shall lose your good opinion ... if I go to the coast with -Captain Brentham...." - -"Oh, I don't say that. I'm not one for passing judgments on my fellow -creatures. It's between them and God. But look here, Captain Brentham: -I don't want to keep you idle. I'll be bound there's a hundred things -you want to see to in your camp. I'll keep Lucy with me. She and I are -old friends, as you know. If you'd send over her loads and her native -woman--let's see, what was her name? I remember how she nursed you when -your poor baby came--and went--Halima? Yes. Well, send over everything -that belongs to Lucy and her tent shall be pitched inside our boma -whilst she stays here. She and I will talk things over a bit and then, -maybe, we'll call you into consultation. I'm sure you want to do what's -best for us all. What a _strange_ place to meet in! The last time we -spoke together was in your grand Arab house at Unguja and I was more -than a bit afraid of you." - -Mrs. Stott rose up from her sewing, walked with Brentham to the exit -from the compound, and gazed across the outer greensward to the very -blue lake, with its whitish rim of scum or salt. In the distance the -blush-tint flamingoes flew with wings of black and scarlet in V -formations, against an azure background of colossal mountains rising -tier above tier; or, their glistening plumage showed up more effectively -against the violet shadows of the western cliffs and wooded gorges -bordering the lake, and still more strikingly when contrasted with the -cobalt surface of the lake itself. Other flamingoes waded into the -lake, filtering through their laminated beaks the minute organisms -evidently abundant in its water. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of -these birds stood in serried ranks along the curving, diverging shores. -The rear ranks were composed of immature birds of dirty-white plumage -streaked with brown; but these were masked by the front rows of adults, -affectedly conscious of their beauty of plumage and outline. They -exhibited a hundred mannerisms in their poses: lowered their kinky necks -to dabble in the ooze, or raised them perpendicularly and "honked" to -let the humans know they were on their guard (though never a man in -these parts thought of harming them). Or they cleaned their backs with -rosy coils of neck, stood on one vermilion leg and bent the other limb -beneath the belly feathers. Or they fenced at each other with decurved -bills of purple and red in make-believe petulance, and because -life-conditions were so perfect that they had nothing whatever to -grumble at.... Some Wambugwe canoes were approaching the lake shore -with fish to sell to the white men. A considerable section of the -flamingoes rose into the sky with a display of roseate tints against the -blue ... then landed and folded their wings in assurance of safety. - -"Yes," continued Mrs. Stott, "I little thought we should meet under -circumstances like these. Aren't those flamingoes _wonderful_? Like a -revelation of God--almost. I shall stay here if only to look after -them. _They_ shall be the roses in my garden. I shan't want any others. -You see they're not afraid of man and they don't get in man's way. They -aren't good to eat--much too fishy. And, as far as I can see, they -don't eat fish; only mud, seemingly--shrimps, p'raps...." - -"Well, Consul: come again at supper-time; and if I'm too stingy over my -precious tea, at any rate I'll give you hot milk and pancakes and -honey." - -Left with Lucy, Mrs. Stott first took her to the washing hut and -provided the means for a good bath and next lent her some garment of the -dressing-gown order with which to clothe herself till her luggage and -her attendant arrived. - -"I'll tell you what I am going to advise Captain Brentham to do, Lucy," -said Mrs. Stott. "Come what may, you'll be none the worse for a good -rest here. This place is evidently far healthier than the lower country. -The Consul shall bargain with your Masai guides to go as fast as they -can back to Ulunga and find out what has happened at Hangodi. If things -are still quiet there, the probability is they are going to remain -quiet. In that case--if your husband does not absolutely forbid it, -Captain Brentham ought to take you back to Hangodi and leave you there. -He can then find his own way _somehow_ to the place he lives at--Medina. -If the messengers come back with _bad_ news about the Arabs, or if John -Baines positively vetoes your returning, _then_ all you can do is to put -yourself under the Consul's care and travel with him to Mvita ... unless -you like to stop with me and live on country produce. I think we -can--whilst you're waiting here--get in touch with the Masai beyond the -mountains and by giving them a present induce them to guide you to the -Kilimanjaro country, to one of the mission stations there--Evangelical -or Methodist, don't matter which. After that all would be plain -sailing, for I don't believe the Arabs of the British sphere are going -to rise." - -When in the evening of that day, by the light of a camp fire--they had -practically no artificial light--Mrs. Stott put this plan before Roger, -he promptly agreed. It would show he had done the right thing. It would -go far to save Lucy's good name, especially among Mission folk. And it -would give him nearly a month to stay and explore the Happy Valley. He -had spent much of the day with James Stott helping him in his work on -the embryo station, and Stott had told him of wonderful things he had -seen or had gleaned from native information. There was the new lake to -survey roughly; there was a paradise of big game to shoot in. Here Mrs. -Stott intervened: "I hope you and my husband will go slow as regards -shooting. I know we must have the meat and we're so nearly bankrupt at -the coast that a few tusks of ivory would come in handy. But somehow I -should like to think of this Happy Valley as a sort of preserved -zoological gardens where all these innocent creatures of God's -handiwork----" - -"I shouldn't call a rhinoceros innocent, Mrs. Stott," said Roger, -smoking his pipe with such contentment as he had not known for -months--"I have rather a tender conscience about antelopes and zebras, -but rhinos attack you absolutely unprovoked...." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Only because men began humbugging them first of all, long -ago, I expect. However, if ever I lived to see our mission stations -self-supporting and growing all the food they needed, I'd never let -James fire another shot at the game." - -The next morning the two Masai guides, well rewarded, started off with a -package. It contained letters home from the Stotts, telling of their -wonderful deliverance; a brief despatch from Captain Brentnam to H.M. -Agent at Unguja, and letters to John Baines and Ann Jamblin. John was -asked how things were going, and whether on second thoughts he would -prefer Lucy to return to Hangodi, and if he could take the next -opportunity of having the accompanying letters sent to the coast; and -Ann was given--curtly--information as to Lucy's reaching the temporary -station of the Stotts. However expansive the Stotts might be, within -the compass of one sheet of paper, they said very little about the -situation of the Happy Valley; and Brentham was still more reticent. -Both no doubt for the same reason, that the Happy Valley was too good a -proposition to be given away lightly to a greedy world. Mrs. Stott -still hoped, despite concluded boundary conventions, it might be brought -within the British sphere; Brentham did not want any other fellow to -have a go at its big game or an examination of its alluring secrets till -he had had a chance to return. - -Whilst these letters were being carried to their destination by two -lithe, naked men of red-brown skin, with hair done up in periwigs of -twine soaped with mutton fat and the same red-ochre as coloured their -sleek bodies, men who carried knobkerries in their waistcords and -long-bladed spears in the right hand, great oval shields on the left -arm, and who ran on sandalled feet a steady six miles an hour when they -were on the road: Lucy and Roger disposed themselves to await patiently -the news which--they felt--was to determine their fate. - -Twenty days went by in the Happy Valley in blissful sameness. Lucy had -her very limited wardrobe washed in the lake waters which had some oddly -cleansing, blanching effect--something chemical which both Roger and Mr. -Stott would discuss in muttered phrases. Lucy and Mrs. Stott together, -with many a laugh at blunder or foiled hopes of success, at length -succeeded in ironing the skirts and bodices and petticoats and linen -with a parody of a flat-iron, made for them by a naked Elkonono -blacksmith in a native forge. - -Brentham and his Wanyamwezi porters helped Mr. Stott complete his new -station. Or they organized great shooting parties which enriched Mr. -Stott with ivory that he might some day sell, as against trade goods and -tea; or they accumulated biltong for Roger's expedition, besides finding -meat for the day-by-day food of these hungry Wanyamwezi. To meet Mrs. -Stott's scruples and objections they had themselves paddled in Wambugwe -canoes farther up the lake and shot elephants, zebras, buffaloes, -antelopes, on the flats twenty miles to the north of the Stotts' -station. Or they rode donkeys and travelled twenty miles southwards, -back along the road they had come (and got faint, far-off rumours of men -fighting, leagues and leagues away, which made them anxious). - -Or they laid out plantations in the rich alluvial soil behind the -station and fenced them in. There Mr. Stott could plant his poor -remnant of English vegetable seeds, or with greater hope the maize, -pumpkins, sweet potatoes, ground-nuts, beans, and manioc of the -agricultural and fishing Bantu population. - -Then, on the twenty-first day of this busy three weeks, the Masai -messengers once more squatted before the Stotts' baraza. Silently one -of them tendered to Mrs. Stott a little package of dried banana leaves, -tied with some native fibre. Inside a fold of old newspaper and a -makeshift envelope made out of a copy-book cover, on one half-sheet of -dirty copy-book paper, Ann sent Lucy this message: - - -Mbogo's Village, - NOVEMBER SOMETHING OR OTHER, 1888. - -DEAR LUCY,-- - -Your messengers arrived yesterday, but I had to keep them waiting for an -answer and now they are impatient to go. The station has been -attacked--I think it began at the end of October, but I am muddled about -dates. John and Mr. Bayley were killed on the second day. Anderson and -I are only wounded; we are recovering, though my headaches are awful. -Josiah is dead, tell Halima. Help has come at last. But don't come back -this way. The Ruga-ruga are all over Ugogo and there is fierce fighting -in Nguru. The Masai fought splendidly on our side. Go on to the coast -quick as you can, northern route. Can't write more now, but will send -through more news to Unguja if I get the chance. Good-bye. John talked -of nothing but you when he was dying. It's about broken my heart. - -ANN JAMBLIN. - - -Lucy and Mrs. Stott looked at one another in horror and consternation as -this note--written by a pencil that had been frequently -moistened--fluttered to the ground from Lucy's nerveless fingers. She -felt it was the only tribute to her husband's memory, to her real horror -and remorse to assume a faintness she did not feel while Mrs. Stott led -her dry-eyed to her tent and couch. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *THE ATTACK ON THE STATION* - - - _From Mrs. Anderson, E.A.M., to Mr. Callaway, - Agent of East African Mission, Unguja._ - -Mbogo's Village, - Ulunga, Nguru, - _Novr._ 30, 1888. - -DEAR MR. CALLAWAY,-- - -You may have heard some rumour of what has happened to us here. You -will find much of it described in the letter I have written to Mr. John -Baines's mother. You can read this letter. Read it and then take -notes. You have several clerks and none of them with a broken head like -mine, I'll be bound, and plenty of good pens, ink and stationery. All -I've got to write on is some old ruled exercise books and no envelopes. -Well, make up some sort of a letter out of what I've written to Mrs. -Baines senior, and then send it to the headquarters of the Mission in -London; and post the letter to her, Mrs. Baines, Tilehurst, Reading. -Tell them I'm recovering and I'm going to stay here till I am relieved -and even perhaps afterwards, supposing I and my husband get quite well. -You may be surprised at my change of surname, having known me as Miss -Jamblin. Just before the attack on our station (Hangodi) occurred I -went through a religious form of marriage with Mr. Ebenezer Anderson. -Mrs. John Baines had gone away--her husband sent her off to the coast in -the charge of Consul Brentham--and I did not think it right to stay at -the Mission with three men and me unmarried; so I accepted Mr. -Anderson's proposal. Mr. Baines married us, but as I supposed it -wouldn't be legal without we were married again before the Consul at -Unguja, we haven't lived together as man and wife, and won't till -everything can be made right and proper. I only mention this in case -either of us died. - -You can also tell the big man at Unguja--Sir Godfrey Something--what has -happened in case he cares to know. I don't suppose he does care. Those -big pots always sneer at Nonconformist Missionaries. But I want him to -know this. We should have all been killed and perhaps tortured and our -station might have been utterly destroyed and our people carried off -into slavery if it hadn't been first for the Masai, and most of all for -an old Arab, Ali bin Ferhan--I think he spells his name. He's written -it in Arabic on the piece of paper I enclose. He lives at Momoro, near -the Lingani River. Well, for reasons too long to give he no sooner -heard we were going to be attacked by the Ruga-ruga and the black Arabs -(they were led by that limb of the Devil, Ayub bin Majidi, whom they -nickname Mnazi-moja) than he came to our assistance. Mbogo and his -people deserve a gold medal--not that any one will give it--they're only -"Wa-shenzi" and we're only Nonconformists; they fought splendidly; but -they were just giving way when this old Arab--just like a picture of -Abraham he is--came up with a lot of his people armed with guns and -carrying flags. And he called off the fighting. After that the -Ruga-ruga and their leaders simply disappeared with all the plunder they -could carry and we have been at peace ever since, with Ali bin Ferhani -camped here and keeping guard over Ulunga. Ali doesn't like the -Germans. He always wanted his beloved "Ekkels"--I suppose he means Sir -James Eccles--to take the country for the English Queen. But he thinks -bad will come if any white people are killed. He is so afraid the -Germans will think he joined with the other Arabs that I now tell you -all this, though every day I have a splitting headache. I really began -this letter a week ago. I write a little every day, and now I think Ali -will be able to get it sent through to the coast, to Mvita, perhaps. - -The other letter--an exercise book tied up--is for Mrs. John Baines. I -don't think any one ought to see it but herself. So please put it into -an envelope and address it to her "To await arrival at Unguja." She -started off for the Mvita coast with Captain Brentham a month ago. -What's happened to her I don't know. I sent messengers to tell her her -husband was dead. - -I saw Mrs. Stott here last July when Mrs. John Baines had her premature -confinement. Since then I only know that their station at Burungi was -destroyed, but they got away safely somewhere else, where the Consul and -Mrs. Baines afterwards found them. - -Yours in the love of Jesus, - ANN ANDERSON. - -P.S. I ought perhaps to be more business-like, in spite of feeling so -ill, in case there is any trouble about wills and say that their names -were _Thomas Aldrich Bayley_ and _John Baines_ and that they died as -near as I can reckon on October 29th, 1888. I haven't found any wills, -but I am trying to get their effects together, though of course there is -great confusion after the looting. I've also written a note for old -Mrs. Bayley. - - - - _From Mrs. Anderson, E.A.M., to Mrs. John Baines, - c/o Mr. Callaway, Agent, East African Mission, - Unguja._ - -Mbogo's Village, - Ulunga, - _November_, 1888. - -DEAR LUCY,-- - -I am beginning to write this as near as I can guess November 15, but -I've got out in my dates and no wonder. I've also got a broken head--I -expect a touch of concussion besides a scalp wound--and it is simple -agony to write for long. My eyes hurt so. I must however try to tell -you--and John's mother--what has happened, so I shall write a little -every day if I am fit to and send these letters to the coast by the -first chance. Ali bin Ferhani thinks he can manage a messenger later on -who would cross into the British "sphere." I expect you got my first -message sent by the Masai? In case you didn't or in case something -happens to me and I can't finish a long letter, I'll tell you the plain -facts first: _John's dead, Bayley's dead, Josiah's dead_. Anderson and -I are wounded. I'm nearly well. The station is only partially -destroyed. Now you know the worst. - - -When I returned here from Burungi it was about the tenth of October, so -far as we could keep count. John was very angry with me at first, for -leaving you and for coming to live with three men and I a single woman. -I well-nigh lost patience with him. But I said, Well if _that's_ all -I'll marry one of you, I'll marry Ebenezer if he'll have me. Ebenezer -Anderson didn't look overjoyed, but John said: That's all right; you -came out to marry him, so the Mission expected, and you're only now -fulfilling the contract. All right, I said, you're a minister of the -Gospel, you could marry us at home, so you can do it here, only it won't -be legal till we're re-married at the Consulate. But it'll be a -marriage in God's eyes, which is the great thing. I felt reckless about -it somehow. Of course I'm not going to live with Eb until all this -trouble's over and everything is legal. Well, after that was done with, -the country round seemed to be getting jumpy and Mbogo sent to say the -Ruga-ruga under that Devil, Ayub, were coming to attack us, coming with -lots of men and guns. So we sent out word to the Masai, and they turned -up well. About three hundred spears. But after a bit they got tired of -waiting, so went off somewhere else to do some raiding on their own -account. - - -Towards the end of October--perhaps it was the 28th--no sooner was our -first bell rung for dressing--half-past five--than we heard the most -unearthly yelling and a tremendous firing of guns. I just got my -clothes and boots on anyhow and the men turned out in shirts and -trousers and with their boots unlaced. The bullets were flying like -hail above the stockade, first of all too high. We dared not go to peep -through for fear of being shot. Well, John didn't lose his head one -bit. He gave out the Sniders to all our Walunga who could use them, and -he and Bayley and Anderson took up the posts they had settled -beforehand. - -Then the Ruga-ruga made a rush almost up to the ditch which they seemed -not to expect, and John and the men let them have it. Five or six were -killed. After that Mbogo's Walunga came up and took them on the flank -with guns and spears, and they didn't like it at all and withdrew for a -spell. But I can't tell you everything--Perhaps some day I will if you -ever care to hear it--I've got to write to John's mother as well as you. - -The fighting in the afternoon was chiefly between the Ruga-ruga and -Mbogo's villages. I suppose they thought they'd better finish _them_ -off before they came again to us. They drove Mbogo's people out of all -their villages except the big one near us, where Mbogo lives. This was -higher up, and Mbogo and John had worked at its fortification on Captain -Brentham's plan--it turned out to be much more easily defended than our -place. Fortunately also the Ruga-ruga and the Arabs don't like fighting -at night--Oh my headache, I must leave off for a bit.... - -Well, during that night we worked like Trojans--Who were the Trojans and -why did they work hard? You ought to know with your superior education. -We dug out a square pit in the middle of the station and lined it with -dry grass. In it we arranged chairs and mattresses so that we could -rest and sleep here out of reach of the bullets. We also turned the -Chapel into a living-house and store, because its brick walls and iron -roof made it secure against fire and fairly safe from bullets. - -On the second day the Ruga-ruga, led on by Ayub, attacked us on the west -side, where our stockade was weakest and where we were overlooked a -little by that mound we used to call the Snakes's Hill. Brother Bayley -was standing talking to me about some dressings he wanted for Josiah -Briggs who had been shot in the foot, when suddenly he uttered a shriek, -whirled round and fell at my feet. He died a few minutes afterwards. -John was so infuriated at his death that in spite of my shouts to be -careful, he climbed up to a look-out post and fired his double-barrelled -sporting rifle at a group of Ruga-ruga on Snakes's Hill. Whilst he was -stooping to reload a poisoned arrow struck him on the chest and -penetrated his lung. A good many of the Ruga-ruga were Manyema savages, -slaves of the Arabs, and they fought with bows and poisoned arrows. -John scrambled down somehow on to the ground. Ebenezer Anderson helped -me to carry him into the pit shelter and there we undressed him. He was -streaming with blood and coughing up blood and fast losing -consciousness. Somehow or other--oh, what a time it was!--we got the -arrow-head out of the wound. I don't know even now how, for we were -both of us bunglers and it had got partly wedged in the ribs. And we -had to cut the poor dear about. Fortunately we had Bayley's instruments -down with us in this pit. But I can't go into all these details. Shall -I ever get this letter finished? - -Whilst we were attending to John we heard a tremendous shouting. It was -the Humba war song--the Masai, you know. They had come at last to our -assistance and taken the Ruga-ruga rather by surprise. But just before -they made their rush up the hill, the Ruga-ruga had contrived to shoot -arrows with flaming cotton soaked in oil on to our thatched roofs. Fire -was spreading from building to building except the Chapel and the store. -My Big-geru had lost their heads. Up to that time they had been so -good. Our Walunga were trying to open the doors of the stockade and -dash out into the open country. Then the Ruga-ruga would have broken in -and all would have been up with us. Fortunately the charge of the Masai -came at that very moment, when I was beginning to doubt if God had not -forgotten us. They killed lots of the Ruga-ruga and would hack off -their heads and throw them back into our stockade. - -Then the Ruga-ruga seemed to get reinforcements from the Ugogo -direction--quite a large body of men, they say, led by two Arabs--the -two Arabs whom John had got expelled a year ago by Mbogo for trading in -slaves. They had got a small cannon and its noise and the landing of a -stone cannon ball in the middle of a party of Masai gave them a fright, -so that all of the Masai drew off from near our station and ran round to -the high ground behind Mbogo's town. Once more it seemed as though -nothing could save us. The Ruga-ruga fired stone balls at our stockade -and seemed making up their minds to a rush. - -Ebenezer was just splendid at this time. I'm not sorry now I agreed to -marry him, though the poor dear is still pretty bad and hardly right in -his mind yet. But just at this critical moment he and Josiah and five of -our men who knew how to handle guns kept up such a fire with the rifles -that they shot down several of the big men among the enemy. Then poor -Josiah was shot in the stomach and died an hour or two afterwards. -Ebenezer got a splinter of wood in his eye--through a cannon ball -striking a post near him, and he was put out of action for a bit. -Meantime nothing more happened. There was a lull. The Ruga-ruga drew -off out of sight. - -I could think of nothing but John all this time, though I had a feeling -of being stunned and hurt myself. He recovered consciousness and talked -of no one but you. I think he thought you were with him all the time, -and I confess _that_ hurt me. It was Lucy my darling, my own true -wife--and I wondered whether you _were_--and Lucy you've come back and -now we'll go home together.... He didn't mention my name _once_, and I -can't remember that he said a word about God. Perhaps he didn't know he -was dying. Towards the last his body swelled dreadfully and he sank -into a stupor. He must have died just about sunset. When he was going -I seemed to be going too. I suppose I fainted, for when one of my -Big-geru came down into the pit with some broth she'd made she set up a -howling and a yelling saying we were both dead, that Bwana Fulata, as -they called John, had taken me with him. - -My girls undressed me and found then that I had been wounded all the -time. A slug or a rusty nail fired out of one of the guns had ripped -across my shoulders and the back of my head and I'd never noticed it. -It must have been when Eb and I were helping John down into the pit--I -thought some one then had given me a push. And while I sat beside John -the blood had soaked all the back of my bodice and caked quite hard. -It's left a kind of blood-poisoning, but I'm getting over it. Only it -causes these awful headaches. And poor Eb before the fighting finished -got hit in the arm, and then from our clumsy attempts to extract the -iron filings which had struck him he got blood-poisoning too, much worse -than me. I can't say what his temperature went up to because I can't -find any of our clinical thermometers, but to judge from his ravings it -must have been pretty high. - -In the night following that second day, Mbogo came with a lot of his -headmen and took us three away and all our Big-geru to inside his own -village and put us in his women's quarters. _He's_ a white man if you -like, under his skin. He was afraid we might all be burnt to death by -the fire spreading inside our station. So we should have done. I lost -my senses that night from weakness or shock or something. When I came -to again I could hardly move my head for pain. But my girls bathed me -and gave me wonderful potions of their own making and I was able to sit -up. Mbogo came in, but spoke behind the door for modesty. What do you -think of that in a black savage? A "Mshenzi"! Because he thought I -might be undressed. But he said in Swahili: "Fear no more. Your friends -are coming." - -The next morning I heard that Ali bin Ferhani, who'd been a friend of -John's--you remember?--had come with a big party of his followers, and -hearing he was on his way the Ruga-ruga had bolted because they all -respect him as a "Sheikh." He says he is going to stop here with his -men till peace comes, or at any rate till white people take command -here. - -Your Masai messengers came two days after Ali bin Ferhani had arrived, -and I wrote with great difficulty the message I sent you and got the -Big-geru to do it up for me. Some of them write quite nicely themselves -now, but only in Kagulu. - -There's lots and lots more I could tell you if we ever meet again or I -ever have time and plenty of paper. After the Ruga-ruga were gone and -the fires were beaten out my Big-geru searched in the Chapel and the -ruins of the school houses and found three copy-books and a stone bottle -of ink and some pens. I've used nearly a copy-book each for you and -John's mother and a bit of a one writing to Mr. Callaway and a short -note to Mr. Bayley's mother. I haven't made a proper search yet, but I -can't find any will left by John. I don't suppose he had much to leave -you. - - -You'd better go now and marry your Captain. It's the least he can do -after compromising you, whether it was his fault or not. You never -loved John as he deserved to be loved and you did wrong to become -engaged to him, as his mother always said. If you hadn't been there -he'd have married me. And we should have been happy as happy because -I'd have slaved for him. I loved him from the time we first met, -because he was kind and polite to me even though I was not well -favoured. He never laughed at my hymns as you used to do. They may -have been rubbish, but I meant well. In those days I was that religious -it had to come out somehow. I said I loved the Lord and I did--I -thought. I ain't so sure about it now. His ways are truly _past -finding out_ and I've given up trying, though I shall stick to Mission -work for John's sake. John would have said the coming of Ali bin -Ferhani was providential, but why couldn't Providence have acted a bit -sooner and saved John and Brother Bayley? I suppose we shall know some -day.... - -Well, good-bye, Lucy. Let me have a line to say you got this packet. -I've no envelope to put it in. - -I was going to finish up with Yours in the love of Jesus, but I really -don't know.... - -ANN ANDERSON. - -P.S. If you ever get to England and back Reading way, give my love to -the Miss Calthorps and go in and see my Uncle at the shop and say I'm -trying to do my duty out here and he isn't to bother. I think perhaps -you'd better not go near Mrs. Baines--John's mother. You never know how -she'll take things. She was that _set_ on John. - - -_December_ 1. - -Ali bin Ferhani's pretty sure to-day he can get these letters through, -so off this goes. I forgot to say that we're going to bury John and Mr. -Bayley side by side in the pit we dug in the middle of the station. Eb -is not in a fit state to be consulted, though his temperature seems -going down. But I've decided for him. As soon as I can get about -without too much aches and pains I shall see it done. If you get home -you might communicate with the East African Mission and arrange for a -Stone to be sent out to be put up over the grave. Somehow it seems to -me John wants to be buried there. It may bring good luck to Hangodi. - -ANN. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *THE RETURN TO UNGUJA* - - -Up the scarcely-discernible path they climbed, leaving the Happy Valley -behind them; over the foothills and under cliff at the base of the -northern escarpment, where the gaily flowering bushes in their early -spring display gave way to tall forest trees, hung with lianas. The -black Colobus monkeys with their white-plumed tails chattered and showed -their teeth and flopped from branch to branch in the leafy canopy, not -used to this tumultuous invasion of their solitudes. Then suddenly the -escarpment rose like the wall of a Babel towering into Heaven. How -could any way for human beings walking on two legs be found up these -precipices? But despite its savagery there is scarcely one of Africa's -fastnesses that has not been trodden by man, and although the practised -route into the Happy Valley was from the south, and though its -encompassing walls of cliff on either side and at the northern end of -its lake seemed impassable, there were ways up and over them known to -the Masai and Hamitic and Nilotic peoples of this sequestered rift -valley. - -Up some such _Via mala_ the Masai guides were now leading Brentham's -caravan, with little concern for the trepidation it caused. The white -man and woman and the silently suffering Goanese cook had been obliged -to descend from their donkeys and trudge with the porters. The donkeys, -in fact, were sent to the rear of the procession, and Brentham walked in -front with the guides and a few disencumbered porters to help Lucy over -an ascent which would have been thought rough climbing in the Alps, and -here had to be made without any paraphernalia of ropes and irons. - -Lucy sometimes had to shut her eyes and hold her body rigidly pressed -against the wall of rock that she might recover from vertigo and -continue with shaking legs her ascent of a twisting path, sometimes only -fifteen inches broad where it overhung an abyss. Roger was beside -himself with anxiety. He cast about in his mind for safeguards--Ropes? -But they had none. Lengths of cotton cloth? But how get at them and -apply them, when any extra movement might turn Lucy giddy and -precipitate her into the tree-tops far below? Their taciturn Masai -guides, pledged only to show them the way to Kilimanjaro, had given them -no warning of what the path was like from the lake shore, between three -and four thousand feet above sea level, to the top of the escarpment at -seven thousand feet. - -Once committed to the ascent the caravan had to continue, as there was -no room in which to turn the donkeys round and descend again to the -valley. All Roger could do was to insist on great deliberation in the -climb and frequent halts, though this policy was not endorsed by the -impatient asses behind. When the white people in front paused to -negotiate some more than usually dangerous section of the path, the rest -of the caravan had to pause too, the porters with their loads poised on -their heads and their sinewy legs trembling with the strain, while the -donkeys pranced with impatience to pass them, and nearly pushed some of -them and their loads over into the gulf below. - -"It's no good," Roger would say to his companion, "you can't get round -this, walking upright; you must go on hands and knees and _crawl_ over -it. Never mind your dress or your knees. If your skirt is torn I'll -make you one out of buck-skin; if your knees are cut it's better than -breaking your neck." - -He had never lived through such a nightmare as this climb, and ran down -in sweat for sheer apprehension of an irretrievable disaster. However -it came to an end at last, and towards that end its difficulties were -tempered by the path's entry into gorges where there were merciful bays -of level ground, places to rest in and stretch oneself, to put down the -loads and regain one's breath and ease one's palsied legs. From the -jagged rocks grew out horizontally fleshy-leaved aloes with zebra -markings of green and white, and long stalks of blood-red or -orange-yellow, tubular flowers, haunted by large yellow-velvet bees with -probing tongues. Huge blue-black ravens with arched bills and white -collars perched on pinnacles of rock above the path, or set out to sail -in circles over the gorge below, hoping no doubt some beast or human -would fall and die and provide sightless eyeballs and protruding -entrails for the ravens' feast. - -Lucy thought of this in these silent halts--all were too exhausted to -speak--and shuddered. Yet for a white woman of that period, unsuitably -costumed as she was, she gave no more trouble to her male companion than -she could help, uttered no futile complaints or queries. They had -exchanged but little conversation during the two days which had elapsed -since they received Ann Jamblin's message. John Baines's ghost, like a -Banquo, came between them. Lucy was--and looked as though she was--in -perfect health. Deep down within her heart she was quietly content, -convinced now that somehow, some day, she would marry Roger. Equally -certain was she that none of the ordinary dangers of African travel -would prevent her from reaching the coast under his escort; so that he -had in her a more cheerful and far less sulky or doleful companion than -had accompanied the unfortunate John on his wedding tour. - -After the ascent of the escarpment they camped two nights in succession -in a strange region suggestive of the Moon's surface as revealed by a -powerful telescope. There were the crumbling sides of craters, the cones -of extinct volcanoes--extinct, perhaps; but sometimes a strange and -ominous-looking white smoke or gassy vapour issued from cracks in the -ground and through veins in the obsidian rocks. Vegetation was very -scanty--a few yellow stalks of bamboo in the hollows; and water was -scarce enough to cause anxiety and limit washing to a minimum. Yet if -they could cross this dry belt of naked rock and barren mountain and the -possibly waterless plain that lay in front of them, to the east there -was a promise of better things. Far away, a blue pyramid seen against -the morning sun, was Mount Meru, one of the great, unmistakable -landmarks of East Africa. It towered fifteen thousand feet into the sky -and when the sun turned to the zenith and the west they could see the -peak of the pyramid was white with snow. And behind Meru in the early -morning or in the early evening there came into view something at first -unbelievable, a floating island in the sky, a Laputa: the great snowy -dome of Kibo.... - -A few days of rough, silent travel--seeing no natives and very few birds -and beasts--and they were in the Kisongo plains. Here it was less arid, -and beneath the burnt stems of the old grass the fresh green grass was -springing. The occasional scrubby trees and bushes were putting forth -fresh leaves, sometimes quite red in colour, or even purplish black. -Big game swarmed round them unafraid of man, inclined even to be -insolent. Rhinoceroses charged the caravan and both Lucy and Roger had -narrow escapes of being tossed on their horns, while Lucy was twice -flung from her donkey when it bolted with terror at a tangent from the -unexpected rush of the squealing monster. A Nyamwezi porter was gored -and trampled, his load smashed and the caravan disorganized. Roger laid -low one rhinoceros; and then, water being near, they spent all the rest -of that day and the next cutting up its flesh, smoking it, drying it in -the sun, and making of it a food provision greatly wanted by the -porters. - -This much-needed rest however brought another danger on them. The sound -of rifle firing, the assemblage of vultures, the noise of the porters' -excited voices attracted the attention of a large war party of Masai, -trailing southward to see what was up in this rumoured war between the -Arabs--or, as they called them, the "coast" people--and the White men -... troubled waters in which they might fish to advantage. Lucy was -sitting in camp in as much placid enjoyment as she could feel, with the -remembrance of John's death in the background. She forgot, at any rate -for the moment, her remorse and her anxieties "as to what people would -say." It was very pleasant to rest here and to know that she would not -have to rise at five the next morning and ride nearly all day, and -perhaps have another close shave from a charging rhinoceros.... - -Gradually there stole on her ear a sound like distant thunder. The sky -was clear ... surely it couldn't be a whole _herd_ of rhinos, or a -distant earthquake--earthquakes not being unknown in this region? -Presently the Wanyamwezi looked up anxiously from their camp employments -or their parcelling out of the rhinoceros meat. Roger was away, -shooting more game.... There went up the fear-inspiring word: "Masai!" - -Then appeared on the north a cloud of red dust and out of this emerged a -small army of red-coloured men trailing their shields by lanyards, with -a rumbling noise, waving long-bladed white-flashing spears, and uttering -a growling chant, a war-song of bloodthirsty purport, though its words -were not understood by the people in the undefended camp. - -The Swahili Kiongozi fortunately was on the spot, and then and at other -times never lost his head. He stood quietly beside Lucy, who was seated -in her deckchair with her white umbrella to shade her from the sun. -"Starehe, Bibi," he said; "usiogope; Muungu anatulinda. Hawa ndio -Masai, kweli; walakini tutawashinda na akili."[#] - - -[#] "Be tranquil, Lady. Do not fear. God is guarding us. These indeed -are Masai truly, but we shall overcome them with intelligence." - - -The porters just stayed where they were. To have started to run -would--they knew--have been fatal. They just stood about, silent, while -the advancing army--perhaps three hundred in number--suddenly halted and -lay down behind their large, gaily-painted shields. The two men of the -expedition who knew the Masai language drew up to the -Kiongozi--unfortunately the Masai guides were away, out hunting with -Roger. A hundred yards distant there stood out one superb Masai -warrior, the leader of the party; a naked figure of perfect manhood, red -in colour, with a naturally brown skin, raddled with ochre and powdered -with the dust of the red ground. The vertical sun seemed to make a red -halo round the outline of his beautiful body. He held a tuft of grass in -his hand and shouted in an authoritative voice: "Totona!" (Sit down!) - -At once the men of Brentham's caravan obeyed him. All sat down and -plucked tufts of fresh green grass. Then the Masai spokesman advanced -slowly ... wonderingly ... peeringly towards the white woman, reclining -on the deck-chair. "What is _this_?" he asked the headman and the two -interpreters. "This," they replied, glad to get a chance of making an -impression, "_this_ is a WHITE WOMAN of the great race of the -Wa-ingrezi. Her husband is the great chief, the Balozi of the -Wa-ingrezi on the coast. We come now from the Manyara country, guided -by your own people, the Masai. There is war to the south, in Nguru and -Ugogo, war between the Lajomba and the White men. Our Balozi is taking -his wife to the coast to put her with his own people; then he will -return and finish the Lajomba." - -"Good," said the Masai war-captain. "We heard of this war and we are -going there to see if we can join in. We hate the Lajomba." - -At this moment there was a stir among the three hundred warriors sitting -apart. It was caused by the approach of Brentham, filled with -apprehension and anxiety as to Lucy. Unfortunately his own Masai guides -belonged to a southern clan of the Masai, not on very good terms with -this more northern, purer breed. So there was a ruffle of angry words as -each realized the other as whilom foes. But the leader who had been -sitting close to Lucy rose to his feet and spoke with a carrying -voice--rather than shouted--a command and once more his warriors sat -down. He then took Lucy's hand, but quite gently. His own hand had -well-trimmed nails and was clean except for the red dust. He turned -back her sleeve a little (she trembled, but tried to smile). Having -satisfied himself that the arm was even whiter than the hand, he threw -back his head and laughed a full-throated laugh, while his eyes sparkled -with the wonderment of it all. Seeing her smile he looked at her with -such a friendly glance that she felt completely reassured. Then he sat -down again, took snuff, and was framing other questions when Roger -strode up. "It is all well, master," said the headman hurriedly in -Swahili. - -"Why, you're holding quite a court, Lucy," said Roger, inwardly -immensely relieved. - -"Ye-es. But I shall be _rather_ glad when they all go." - -The Masai leader rose to his feet and held out his hand to Brentham. -The latter took it and White man and Red man looked for a moment into -each other's eyes. Roger, knowing something of Masai customs--was he -not indeed but three or four marches from scenes of earlier -exploration?--did not shrink away when the Masai captain spat on his -clothing and on Lucy's dress. He knew it was intended for the -friendliest of greetings, a seal on their good relations. - -After that, all was boisterous good-fellowship, though the Wanyamwezi -porters were careful to keep together and half carelessly to reclaim -their rifles. The three hundred Masai agreed to overlook the fact that -Roger's guides had belonged to a once hostile clan. And when they -learnt from these men what a hunter he was and what an unerring shot, -they pressed their friendship and their red presence on him. They -visited his tent--they were throughout strictly honest--they sat on his -bed, and he had afterwards to do without sheet and pillow case, for -besides leaving red dust wherever they sat they distributed a flavour of -tallow from their favourite unguent, mutton fat. They insisted on -blood-brotherhood and declared they would escort the white chieftain and -his lady to the coast. - -As a matter of prosaic fact, they took him no farther than the base of -Meru. There the rainy season began to break with vehemence. So there -they left him and went off to the drier steppe country and the War in -the south with its possibilities of loot. - -Roger longed at this time to ascend Meru and explore its hidden wonders; -and Lucy gazed with awe at the now fully displayed majesty of -Kilimanjaro, rising above the watery plain of Kahe, with its dome of -snow and ice, and its lesser peak of Kimawenzi. - -But being short of stores they made straight for a newly-founded -Evangelical Mission station, at an altitude of four thousand feet, where -it was hoped Lucy might find shelter for a few days from the torrential -rains, and he himself gather news about the happenings on the coast, and -dispatch carriers to Mvita with messages which might be telegraphed to -Unguja. - -After all their adventures this seemed rather a prosaic phase in the -journey, and Lucy found herself actually depressed at being once more -with fellow-countrymen. There were three missionaries--a married couple -and an assistant bachelor propagandist--at the station of the -Evangelical Mission, but they did not seem over surprised at this -arrival of a white man and woman from the unknown interior. They -received Lucy's halting explanations civilly but coldly, and though they -gave her a room to herself and nicely cooked meals, they seemed--to her -fancy--to have purposely adopted an almost penitentiary surfeit of -services and prayers. - -Captain Brentham preferred to camp out at the Chief's village, two miles -away. He had known this genial, old, one-eyed ruffian three years -before, when he was exploring the approaches to the great Snow Mountain, -and making tentative treaties to forestall the Germans. He rather -ground his teeth over the changing scene. Since his first journey, -missionaries, big-game sportsmen, concession hunters, had thronged into -this wonderful country, and had not the slightest respect for its -earliest pioneers. Already there was a large and flourishing mission -station on the site of his first camp; and when on installing Lucy there -he had drawn the missionaries' attention to this fact, and to his having -made the site ready for them, purchased it in fact, the present -occupants merely said with pursed lips, "Indeed?"; and Mrs. Missionary -added primly: "Yes: we _heard_ from the Chief you had stayed here, three -years ago; but we prefer _never_ to listen to _gossip_ about white -people. It is so _often ill-natured_." - -And so onwards to the Taita Hills and the coast. A sense of flatness, a -leaking-out of all romance in their adventure. They were no longer -alone. Lucy went to see Mr. Thomas at the East African Mission station -in Taita. He startled her by asking cheery questions about John, his -old college-mate, and supposing John was with her on this _safari_. He -had heard nothing about the disaster and made rather stupid and -inquisitive inquiries as to the motives of her journey. Farther on, they -had the misery of crossing the red Maungu desert, with its stretch of -forty miles between water and water; but there was no "adventure" about -this; and midway they met the caravan of a very rich Englishman with two -companions, wearing single eye-glasses, who offered them champagne and -soda-water at midday to relieve their thirst, and told Lucy he wasn't -surprised at her travelling about with a stray Consul, as he always -contended that missionaries out in Africa had a jolly good time and did -themselves uncommonly well, and for his part he didn't blame her. -"Gather ye roses, don't you know--while you can--or was it while you're -young? And now I suppose you're on your way back to Hubby?" - -The old Arab port of Mvita was not much altered since Roger had seen it -last; though there was the beginning of a stir, for a British Chartered -Company was preparing to make this their head-quarters. Meantime, the -centre of rank and fashion, so to speak, was the British Consulate. -Roger made his way here, with Lucy and Halima, while he left the bulk of -his caravan encamped across the water. - -His colleague, the Vice-Consul, was an ex-Naval Officer, who had given -up the Navy for a while to serve in the East African Consulates, in the -idea that they entailed little office work, good pay, and any amount of -shooting, varied with agreeable _safaris_ at the expense of the -Government. This particular example of his kind had been rather sharply -called back to more humdrum duties and the preparation of statistics by -Roger himself, when he was acting Consul-General. So now was the time to -get his own back:-- - -"_Hullo_, old chap! _Who'd_ have thought it. Where have you sprung -from? We'd all given you up for lost--thought you'd gone 'Fanti,' -eloped with a missionaryess for the far interior and were founding an -empire on your own...." - -"I've brought here," interrupted Roger, with a set face, "_Mrs. John -Baines_" (Lucy had retreated out of ear-shot with Halima to the verandah -of the Consulate)--"_Mrs. John Baines_, whose husband has been killed, I -fear, in the Ulunga country. I should be much obliged if you could put -her up here till we can get a dau to take us over to Unguja.... As for -me..." - -"_Aw*fully sorry old chap. *Of course_, I can make room for _you_ ... -give you _some_ sort of a shakedown.... You're a fellow _man_ and -you'll understand.... But the fact is I'm--I'm not--quite -prepared--er--to entertain a white lady here. Bachelor establishment you -know.... _You_ twig? ... Dare say you're fixed up just the same -at--where is it? at Medina, What?" - -Roger turned away angrily. - -"Lucy! ... Mrs. Baines!" - -"Yes, Captain Brentham." - -"I'll get a boat and we'll go over to the Mission station across the -Bay. I expect they'll have room--indeed they must _make_ room--for you -there till our dau is ready to sail...." - -Then turning to the Vice-Consul: "Be good enough to send a cablegram -to-day to the Agency at Unguja stating that H.M. Consul for Zangia -arrived here this morning from the interior with Mrs. John Baines from -Ulunga, and add that I shall arrive at Unguja to report as soon as I can -charter a dau; unless a gun-boat comes in first. My Camp is at -Kisolutini. You can send on any letters that come for me there...." - -"Well, but I say..." - -Roger having been joined by the wondering and disappointed Lucy, who had -taken a great fancy to the picturesque Consulate, strode out with an -angry face, flushed under the tan. - -No return message came for him from the Agency at Unguja. And a few -days afterwards he embarked with Lucy and Halima (who had already agreed -to marry the Goanese cook), his Wanyamwezi porters, and a selected -collection of trophies and mineralogical specimens, in an Arab dau, for -the island port of Unguja. This time--December 27, 1888--Lucy was too -anxious about her future to notice or to care whether it had bugs or not -in its rotting timbers or its frowsy thatch. - -Meantime, unfriendly forces were at work to Roger's detriment. Here is -a letter which Mrs. Spencer Bazzard probably wrote to Mr. Bennet -Molyneux, of the Foreign Office. (Like most of the letters appearing in -this book, it is based on my deductions as to the kind of letter that -would have been written under the circumstances, rather than on textual -evidence):-- - - -H.B.M. Consulate for Zangia, - Medinat-al-Barkah, - _December_ 23, 1888. - -DEAR MR. MOLYNEUX,-- - -I hope you don't resent my letters. You don't answer them, but then I -told you not to. I shouldn't like to be a bore to you, or for you to -feel--amid your piles of work--that you had an extra letter to write to -an importunate little person in far-off East Africa. I said once I -should go on writing every now and again, unless you ordered me to stop. -As you haven't--Well! Here is another budget of East African news. - -We have had alarums and excursions, as Shakespeare says. You will see -by this address that I am on the mainland with my husband. When Captain -B. disappeared last September into the _ewigkeit_ the Agency at Unguja -began receiving disquieting stories as to what was taking place in his -absence. He had only left an Indian clerk in charge, and complaints -arose from Indian merchants and English missionaries that no one could -attend to their business. So Sir G. D. thought it best to send Spence -over here to take charge, and, of course, I came with him to help him to -interpret. - -We found everything (a month ago) in a terrible muddle. The consulate -is filthily dirty, the archives are just anyhow, and Spence fears a -considerable sum is missing from the Consular receipts, or else that the -clerk is muddled in his accounts. But all this you will hear -officially. - -Meantime, we are all uneasy about Captain B.'s disappearance. He left -here last August with some idea of letting the missionaries know there -was danger of ah Arab attack on all white people independent of their -nationality, German or English. He seems to have translated Sir G.'s -brief instructions into a permission to make a vast tour of the -interior--a delightful thing to do, no doubt, but not when you have a -Consulate to look after. He greatly alarmed all the missionaries, and, -as it appears, somewhat needlessly. Those who have their stations in -Usagara and farther south are very angry with him. He arrived at their -stations early in September and ordered them to retire on the coast--or -at any rate send their wives and children there, as the Arabs might -attack at once. And after they had obeyed him the attacks never came -off! One of the missionary ladies was in a certain condition, it -appears, and the hurried journey so upset her that--how shall I phrase -it?--her hopes were disappointed. - -He next appeared at a place called Hangodi--according to native -report--and was so anxious about the safety of a fair lady there (the -missionary young woman who travelled out with him and me a year and a -half ago)--that he took her away with him and has seemingly gone -waltzing off to the unknown with this fair charge. Quite romantic, -isn't it? In this case his warning as to an impending attack seems to -have been only too well founded, if what has been reported to the -Germans is true. Soon after he left this place--Hangodi--it was -apparently attacked and destroyed and the missionaries all -killed--except, of course, the lady who left with him. Ill-natured -people will naturally ask why he did not stay and defend the station. - -It is only two days off Christmas, and I can picture to myself the happy -preparations going on at Spilsbury--the carols the village children are -practising for Christmas Day, and the Christmas-tree which I am sure -Mrs. Molyneux and your daughter are preparing for their reward. - -These ridiculous sentimental Germans are, of course, getting up -Christmas-trees, too, and are practising Carols to be sung round them, -though the town is still more or less besieged on the landward side. -_Who_ and _what_ was Good King Wenceslaus, and why should we sing about -him at Christmastide? There is no library here, except the one they -have at the French Mission, and that mentions nothing about Germany. - -We are told here that a certain Captain Wissmann will soon arrive with a -large force of Sudanese soldiers to take command and finish the Arabs. - -Still no news of Stanley, except it be the wildest, most improbable -rumours. If he really emerges from the heart of Africa it will only -be--I fear--to fall into some ambush laid by the Arabs. - -With our united kindest regards and best wishes for 1889, - -Believe me, dear Mr. Molyneux, - Yours sincerely, - EMILIA BAZZARD. - - -Roger and Lucy reached Unguja in their Arab dau at the end of December, -when the Europeans therefore were recovering from the surfeit of -Christmas junketings and preparing for another round of New Year -festivities, but a little bit peevish and liverish in the interval. The -arrival of the British Consul for Zangia was not unexpected, because -telegraphic news of his emergence from the interior had already reached -the British Agency. In the afternoon of December 29th he walked into -the office of the Agency and reported himself to Sir Godfrey Dewburn.... - -"Ah! my _dear_ Brentham, _how_ are you? _What_ a time you must have -had, to be sure! We all gave you up for lost, or thought you had gone -in search of Stanley or Emin, or were off to attack the Mahdi. Well: and -how is the fair companion of your travels, Mrs.--Mrs. ... er ..." - -_Brentham_: "Mrs. John Baines? She is, I believe, at Mr. Callaway's at -the present moment. I advised her to go there as he is Agent here for -their Mission, and would probably have definite news about--about--the -attack on her husband's station ... and the results. Have you heard -anything, Sir?" - -_Sir Godfrey_: "Nothing more than the rumour that after you left it was -attacked, and, I think, all the Whites were killed ..." - -At this moment a clerk comes in and says: "This is a note with an -enclosure, Sir Godfrey, from Mr. Callaway." Sir Godfrey asks Brentham -to be seated and hastily runs his eye over a very long communication. -Five minutes elapse. Then whilst he is still reading, another door -leading to the residential part of the Agency opens and there appears a -handsome woman of middle age, with the stamp of elegance and fashion -upon her, dressed in some agreeable adaptation of an Englishwoman's -dress for the tropics. She says, "Godfrey, my dear, tea's ready and as -you don't like it drawn or cold I thought if I came myself--but I see -you have a visitor...." - -"Oh! Ah! ... Yes.... To be sure.... Er.... Brentham, this is Lady -Dewburn--" (They shake hands. Lady Dewburn looks him over approvingly.) -"You'd better come in and have tea with us and then we can talk over -this extraordinary communication of Callaway's. It couldn't have come -more appropriately. Evidently it must have been brought by your dau. -It's been sent down by some Arab and it is all about the attack on the -station where these missionary friends of yours were living. It seems -they were not all killed, two of 'em at any rate ... though I think the -husband of your lady friend _was_.... But come along and we'll have a -confab all about it. The Bazzards are over at your Consulate on the -mainland, so whilst you're here you'd better take possession of their -quarters. The golden-haired Emily says she left it in apple-pie order -when she departed for Medina.... This way ... would you like to wash -your hands first? You look quite the Wild Man of Borneo, and I don't -wonder.... _Must_ have had a beastly time.... I should suggest a -whisky and soda first and tea afterwards...." - -Lucy meantime was reading Ann Anderson's letter, given in a previous -chapter. She had been placed once more in the bedroom she had occupied -in Mr. Callaway's house before her marriage, and shuddered at the -memories it enshrined. Dear, kind Mrs. Stott was far away in the Happy -Valley ... and she could never again hear John's voice calling to her -from the courtyard under the great fig-trees that the Sultan's carriage -was waiting hard-by to take them for a drive; or making some other -proposition which she probably snubbed in fretfulness. - -She was consumed with remorse. Ann's statement that in his last -agonies, dying with poisoned blood, he had only thought and spoken of -_her_, made her heart ache, almost literally--the aching of unshed tears -over the irrevocable. She had not been unfaithful to him in body; but -in mind, in desire, _yes_: from the day of the marriage onwards, and -never more so than from the day of her departure from Hangodi. She knew -she had hoped then that somehow this departure, this desertion of John -when danger was approaching--might be the beginning of her severance -from him, and lead to her union with Roger. To _him_ at any time during -the long _safari_ she would have surrendered herself.... - -Yet though her upper consciousness--the "speaking to one's self" (which -we almost do sometimes aloud, as if to an audience that may register our -words and resolves)--asserted that the _only_ reparation she _could_ -make was _never_ to see Roger again--(what a mercy he had behaved better -than she had done!)--her innermost intention was to stay on in Unguja on -some pretext or other, in the faint hope he might ... _might_ ... "do -the right thing," as Ann had put it ... might marry her. If he would -_only_ do that her whole remaining life should be _one long atonement_ -to John. She would _never_ forget him and his unselfish love of a -shallow, ungrateful woman. - -Mr. Callaway had hinted she might like to take the next steamer home: -there was one going in a week--back to England. But how could she go -back ... and face Mrs. Baines ... and live on her parents? John had -probably no money to leave her; the Mission, after so short a term of -married life, would certainly give her no pension ... why should it? -The post of National school-teacher at Aldermaston was long ago filled -up. And could she even resume her life there? At no great distance was -Engledene, with Lord and Lady Silchester. Lady Silchester she vaguely -dreaded as a person who might mock at her.--She must have heard -something about her from Captain Brentham. What--what--_what_ was she to -do? Insist on remaining out in Africa and rejoin the Mission? And work -under Ann? The thought of the altered circumstances repelled her. Who -would care _now_ if she were ill? She had had several illnesses and -many fits of malaise--and tears of self-pity now ran down her cheeks. -And how _good_ and _uncomplaining_----here choking sobs, hiccups, almost -a loud wailing intervened--dear John had been. The cups of broth he had -brought to her bedside, the little meals to tempt her appetite.... And -Roger? ... The equal solicitude--the interest _he_ had shown, even in -her whims! - - * * * * * - -The realization of her bereavement kept Callaway from intruding on her -solitude, even by a message through Halima. This was a mercy, she -thought--at first--because however well-meaning, he struck her -fastidiousness as "common," not very attractive in appearance, with a -harsh voice, and effluent piety, and bad table manners.... But need -Halima have been quite so neglectful? Halima latterly was so wrapped up -in the project of marrying the Goanese cook that she unhesitatingly -neglected her mistress and avowed her complete readiness to enter the -Roman Church if that act could remove Antonio da Silva e Andrade's last -scruple of reluctance to wed with a Negress. She spent much of her time -oiling and combing her fuzzy hair into a European coiffure, and did not -hesitate to "borrow" details of Lucy's scanty wardrobe for her own -adornment. When she came with Lucy's meals into the hot ... _hot_ ... -_hot_ bedroom, with its dreadful insect swarms, from which the iron -bedstead, with its lowered mosquito curtain, was almost the only refuge, -she--Halima--bore a sulky face. She would evidently _not_ stay with -Lucy in misfortune.... - -One way and another, Lucy was fretting and worrying herself into a state -of illness; afraid to go out or to show herself; loathing life in this -low-ceilinged, vermin-infested bedroom, hot by day, stifling at night, -as she lay inside the mosquito netting in the blackest darkness, -shuddering at the possibilities beyond the bed. Rats romped and -squeaked and occasionally fell from the rafters into the sagging -mosquito net; scorpions, no doubt, were lurking in the crevices of the -floor-boards to sting her toes if she stepped out of the insufferably -hot bed. Cockroaches alternated their love-flights from the window with -frantic and wily attempts to get under the curtain. Mosquitoes, all the -night through, kept up a sonorous diapason of unbroken humming, -indignant at being denied access to her body. And the loneliness! -Halima was supposed to sleep on the landing outside; a polite -supposition which Lucy was unwilling to test, lest inquiry should lead -to a defiant withdrawal from her service.... Her service! Where were -Halima's wages to come from? - - * * * * * - -It was ten a.m.--more or less. Lucy had risen, washed hurriedly, and -hurriedly put on the only clean cotton dress left to her. (She really -must go out one day and buy some things for the voyage--only where was -the money?) The door was thrown open by an excited, more amiable -Halima, who shouted "_Yupo Bibi Balosi_! Anakuita!" - -A pleasant, high-bred voice explained: - -"I am looking for Mrs. Baines. Is she in here?" - -Lucy scrambled off the bed from under the mosquito curtain and stood -before Lady Dewburn, the Consul-General's wife.... - -Broken apologies ... explanations--"Bed only place where you could be -tolerably free from mosquitoes...." - -Lady Dewburn is a handsome shrewd-looking woman of middle age. She -wears a single eyeglass at times, for greater precision of sight, and -because she is the daughter of a permanent official. But though she -inspires a certain awe, she is in reality a kind creature, irresistibly -impelled to interfere--she hopes for the best--in other people's -affairs, especially out here. Her children are either out in the world -or at school in England, and she is exceedingly bored on this feverishly -tropical, gloriously squalid island. The day before she had heard all -about Lucy from Captain Brentham.... - -_Lady Dewburn_: "My _poor_ child! _Please_ overlook all formalities and -come away with me, _just as you are_. Your woman here--if you can trust -her--shall pack up what you have--you can't have _much_, I should think, -after that _appalling_ journey to the coast.... Come away with me.... -Why, you must have hardly _any_ clothes to wear! I don't _wonder_ you -stop in bed! We've got lots of spare rooms--as a matter of fact, Sir -Godfrey and I are alone just now. Come and stay with us till you can -look round and make your plans. It seems to me as though I ought to put -you to bed for a week to begin with...." - -Lucy's acceptance of this Fairy Godmother proposal dissolved from words -into gulping sobs and convulsive eye-dabbings and nose-blowing. But she -was practical enough to find her sola topi and white umbrella, to make -her cotton dress look a little tidier, and gasp a few directions in -Swahili to the over-awed Halima. Halima was wearing Lucy's evening -"fichu" all the time and was uneasily conscious of having blundered into -felony through ill-timed contempt for her lady. - -Lucy observed none of this, but followed Lady Dewburn's fastidious steps -down the stairs of palm planks out into the yard, where Mr. -Callaway--really a very decent sort, who after all had done his best for -Lucy--was awaiting them. He was personally gratified and relieved in -his mind that the first lady in Unguja should have taken his forlorn -little client under her wing. After picking their way with skirts -lifted high through narrow unsavoury lanes between high blank houses, -they at last reached Unguja's one broad highway. Here was a handsomely -appointed carriage, and in it they rolled away to the Agency. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - *LUCY'S SECOND MARRIAGE* - - - _From Sir Godfrey Dewburn, K.C.I.E., to Mr. Bennet - Molyneux, African Department, Foreign Office._ - - -H.M. Agency and Consulate-General, - Unguja, - _March_ 15, 1889. - -DEAR MOLYNEUX,-- - -In the matter of Brentham, I think a private letter to you might meet -the case better than an exchange of cables or an official dispatch. - -I quite understand your Department is annoyed at the questions put in -Parliament last month after the news about the deaths at the Mission -station at Hangodi. But I cannot help thinking the Department is -disposed to be too hard on Brentham, as though it were prejudiced from -some other quarter than me. I admit when I first came out here I jibbed -a little at his cocksureness, his assumption that no one knew anything -about Ungujan affairs to compare with his own knowledge; and it seemed -to me he made rather a parade about the number of languages he had -acquired, which contrasted unfavourably with my acquaintance--then--with -only three (I have tried since to learn Swahili). And so on and so on. -I moved easier and got my bearings better when I had sent him over to -his proper sphere, the mainland. I also thought his contempt for the -Bazzards a little too marked, though I must admit subsequently my wife -and I have found that a little of Mrs. B. goes a long way. But I hate -writing disagreeable things about anybody--a climate like this excuses -hair-dye, face-powder, irritability and even a moderate degree of -illicit love (don't treat this as official!) ... But about Brentham: if -his mission to the missionaries--telling them to clear out before the -Arab danger--_was_ a failure, in that in most places there was no -danger, _your_ apprehensions and _my_ instructions were to blame for -starting Brentham off on his wild-goose chase. The missionaries in -Usagara seem to cut up rough because they weren't attacked, were -"quittes pour la peur." But that was hardly Brentham's fault. - -The Hangodi business is a different matter. There is little doubt in my -mind that B. was a little spoony on Mrs. Baines--They had travelled out -together, and it seems she comes from near his part of the world in -Berkshire-Hampshire--Jolly district, near the Carnarvons and the -Silchesters.--Ever go there to shoot? But Mrs. Baines had been ill from -one of these confinements that Missionary ladies--married, of -course--have so regularly, and her husband seems really to have wished -his wife to go away with Brentham. To make it all right and proper he -packed off at the same time the other woman at their station, a -strong-minded female named Jamblin. (She figures very much in the -dispatches I sent home last mail.) Well: according to Brentham, this -Jamblin woman, when they had done a few marches and stopped at another -Mission station, insisted, positively _insisted_ on going back to -Hangodi, and equally insisted on _his_ taking Mrs. Baines to the coast. -He oughtn't to have agreed. That's where he was weak. He ought to have -returned to Hangodi and helped to beat off the attack--if it came, as it -did--and then have refused to take the ladies away unless the men came -too. Instead of that, Brentham, having found some missionaries of whom -he was in search, hung about their place until the news of the attack on -Hangodi and the death of Mrs. Baines's husband reached him. After that -he made for the coast by the northern route, the only one open to him at -that time without fighting. Even on this route they had some most -extraordinary adventures and spent a devil of a time before they got -back to civilization--as we call ourselves by contrast. - -The general opinion among the missionaries, I know, is unfavourable to -Mrs. Baines, and in consequence to Brentham. But Brentham swears to me -on his honour--_and I believe him_--there was nothing "wrong" between -them. Jennie--my wife--says he's as straight as a die; though never -having seen a "die," I can't say. At any rate, Jennie, on whose -judgment I always rely, has taken a great liking to Brentham. So she -has also to the young party with whom he has become involved, this Mrs. -John Baines. The poor girl--she doesn't look her age--26--was stranded -here at their Mission Depot, and Jennie, after hearing about her, went -over in her impulsive way and brought her to the Agency. This has put a -stopper on local gossip, which has thus been deprived of a rare morsel -that would otherwise have acted as a real tonic on a fever-stricken -community. Now Jennie says that although there's never been anything -between them but what was right and proper, they ought to marry as soon -as six months is up from the death of the first husband--which we -presume took place on October 29th, from the accounts of that masterful -person who now calls herself Ann Anderson. Jennie had but to make the -suggestion and they both consented, so the civil marriage--the only -legal one here--is fixed for March 31. Whether Archdeacon Gravening -will consent to marry them at the Cathedral in addition, I cannot say. -He is thinking it over. The matter has been speeded up by your -intimation that the F.O. intends to recall Brentham. If he went back -and didn't marry her, things would go hardly with Mrs. Baines. (I -really have taken a liking to her, and I could imagine when she gets to -a good climate she might be quite pretty. She is very quiet, and in a -quiet way is rather entertaining in her accounts of what they went -through in their wild journey to the coast.) - -Well: when the wedding is over, I propose breaking to him the F.O. -instructions to return and give an account of himself. I must give him -just enough time to go over to the mainland and try to settle things at -his Consulate there. The Spencer Bazzards--who have a down on -him--report that an utter muddle followed his departure for the interior -last September, and accuse his Indian clerk of embezzling Consular -funds, and, worse still, of selling the office cipher code to the -Germans. This, if true, is a confounded nuisance, as it will oblige us -to make changes all round. Fortunately it is only Cipher Q. - -I suppose you know Captain Wissmann has arrived at Medina at the head of -a force of over a thousand picked men to fight the Arabs to a finish? -Other German officers have met him there with further contingents--Zulus -and Makua. Wissmann's people are mainly Sudanese. I suppose we have -done right in enabling him to raise this force on what is practically -British territory--British or Portuguese? I like Wissmann personally. -After all--as Brentham says--if we hadn't the pluck to take all East -Africa for ourselves at the time we were first challenged by Bismarck, -it is better that the German share should be properly controlled and not -fall back into a state of anarchy and slave-raiding. But, of course, -what ties our hands in all these matters is the intense desire of France -to raise the Egyptian question to our disadvantage.--Therefore, don't -think I am girding at the Office for irresolution. The French here make -my life a burden to me with their intrigues.... - - * * * * * - -Yours sincerely, - GODFREY DEWBURN. - - - - _From Lucy Brentham to Mrs. Albert Josling, Church - Farm, Aldermaston._ - -Mbweni, - Unguja, - _April_ 2, 1889. - -DARLING MOTHER,-- - -I expect you got my letter written early in January after I had got back -to Unguja. The news must have come to you as an awful shock. And what -it has been to Mrs. Baines I dare not _think_. I expect I shall get -some sort of answer from you in a day or two when the mail comes in. -But as there is a steamer going to-morrow I dash off this letter to give -you other news: _good_ news this time, dearest. - -I was married on March 31st last to Captain Roger Brentham, the Consul -for the Mainland. You know all about him from my letters. It is true -it is only a little more than six months since poor John died, and some -people will think it much too soon afterwards to marry again, but you -and Father will understand. Roger is shortly going home.--_Think_ of it, -darling mother! We are going--or should one say, "we are -coming"?--HOME. I put it in capitals. He has wanted to marry me ever -since we knew of John's death. We both feel sure John would think it -the wisest thing to do, even Ann Jamblin does. Well, Roger being called -back by the Foreign Office, he could hardly leave me behind here and if -he hadn't asked me to marry him I couldn't have stopped here all by -myself, unless I had joined some missionary society. And that I didn't -feel inclined to do. I don't think I'm suited for the work. But don't -think I want _to run down_ the Missionaries. Far from it, after all -I've seen. Mission work quite changed John. It made him so _good_ and -_unselfish_. And although I've many reasons for feeling sore and angry -about Ann Jamblin that was.--She isn't dead, but she's married in a sort -of a way to that Ebenezer Anderson of our Mission.--Well, even Ann is -twice the woman she was in old days at Tilehurst. They call her -here--at least, the local paper does--It's run by an Eurasian--I'll tell -you some day what Eurasian means ... they call her "The Heroine of -Hangodi." I believe somebody is going to write about her in the English -papers; and the German commander on the mainland, Captain Wissmann--has -sent her his compliments, and said he can always admire a brave woman no -matter what her nationality. Isn't it all funny when we think of what -she was like at school and how greedy she used to be at the -prayer-meetings? There is a missionary couple here--I've mentioned them -in my other letters, Mr. and Mrs. Stott. You can't _think_ how good -they've been to me. I've got lots and lots and lots to tell you when we -meet. But I must be quick and finish this letter. - -Well: I was married to my darling Roger last Wednesday, and if it wasn't -every now and then that I think about poor John I should be the happiest -woman alive. Mother, I've _always_ loved him since that first morning -we met on the steamer and he pointed out the Isle of Wight, and then -took such care of me all through the voyage. And he says he fell in -love with me the same time. Isn't that _wonderful_ when you think of -all the great ladies he has seen, many of them I'm sure in love with -him. When I asked him why, he just kissed me and said it was my violet -eyes and my look of utter helplessness. But I feel it is _too sacred_ -to talk or write about. I was always a true wife to poor John. People -may think and say what they like. There is a horrid old cat here on the -Mainland, who also travelled out with me. I'm sure she says and writes -horrid things about me. It's only jealousy. But even now, Mother, I -haven't told you almost the most wonderful thing of all! I did just say -in my last letter how I'd gone to stay with the wife of the -Consul-General. It happened this way. When we first landed here from -one of those dreadful Arab sailing-boats that are full of what you -_will_ call B flats but what I think--and so does Roger--it is much more -sensible to call "bugs" straight out--when we landed Roger said, "You'd -better go to Mr. Callaway and stay there first till I can find out what -it's best to do for you." So there I went, and I was just _miserable_. -I didn't like to tell you how much at the time for fear of its upsetting -you. I really felt almost like committing suicide, only I should never -do anything so wicked. But there I lay, inside my mosquito curtain in a -room like a Turkish bath, crying, _crying_ to myself about poor John and -thinking I should never see Roger again, and what Mrs. Baines would say -when I came back all alone; when in walked Lady Dewburn, the wife of the -Consul-General--"my boss"--as Roger calls him. She would have it that I -was to go away with her then and there. Mother, I'd hardly any clothes -after that dreadful journey; that was one reason I felt ashamed to go -out. Well, she put me in a lovely cool bedroom at the top of her -house.--It has a flat roof and I used so to enjoy walking out of my room -and looking at the sea and the natives down below and the ships and -palms. She had my meals sent up to me and often came up herself to -inquire, and for a week she got Indian tailors to cut out and sew -clothes for me to wear. When they were ready I had got quite well -again, and then she brought me down and introduced me to her husband, -who is the great man of this place. _He_ used rather to make fun of me, -tease me you know, but he was kind under it all. Mother, if I'd been -_their own daughter_ they couldn't have treated me kinder. She wouldn't -let me thank her, said I was a distressed British subject and it was her -duty. And after I'd been staying with them about six weeks and was -beginning to say I ought to earn my living or else go home, she said, -wouldn't you as an alternative like to marry Roger Brentham? And I -said, He'd never ask me and if he did I should only spoil his career. -And she said, _Nonsense_. And the next day, when they had both gone out -driving, Roger came to the room where I was working with Halima (who, -strange to say, has married his cook!) and asked me to be his wife. How -could I say anything but "yes"? I know now I should have died of -consumption or something if he hadn't. But of course I said--"It can't -be till poor John has been dead a year." Then that evening when I told -Lady Dewburn, she said, "Nonsense! I can see no reason why it shouldn't -be at the end of March. Then if Captain Brentham has to go home you can -return with him." So, of course, I gave in. - -I'm afraid it'll make lots of people angry, especially Mrs. Baines. How -can we break it to her? - -There are a _thousand_ other things I can tell you, but if I don't -finish this letter now I shan't be in time to put it in the Agency -mail-bag, which I always think is so much safer than the ordinary post, -and I don't have to stamp it. - -So in a few more weeks darling mother you will meet again - -Your own - LUCY. - -P.S. Love to father and the dear girls. _Do_ see what you can do with -Mrs. Baines. I feel _so_ sorry for her, and I should so like to tell -her about John. Things might have been so different if only my little -baby had lived, John felt it _dreadfully_. - - - -Private and Confidential. - H.M. Agency and Consulate-General, - Unguja, - _April_ 2. - -DEAR BAZZARD,-- - -I take advantage of a British steamer which is crossing to-day to Medina -to send you this hurried note. - -Your colleague, Captain Brentham, was married on March 31 to Mrs. John -Baines, the widow of the poor fellow who was killed at Hangodi. -Brentham will probably be returning to England very shortly on leave of -absence (I understood from you you were willing to postpone your leave -for a few months). Before he goes I have asked him to co-operate with -you in getting affairs at the Medina Consulate settled up -satisfactorily, so that you may formally take over from him and be -Acting Consul there till there are further developments. I am very -grateful to you and Mrs. Bazzard for stepping into the breach caused by -these confounded disturbances which have not only occurred in the German -hinterland but are now beginning in ours--so we mustn't boast too soon! - -Brentham had to leave, as you know, very hurriedly last September, and -if the Arabs had succeeded in taking the town matters would have been -ever so much worse than they are. He says if there turns out really to -be any deficit in the cash due to the embezzlement of the Indian -clerk--if he did embezzle--but _what_ has become of him? Was he -killed?--he is willing to make it good out of his own pocket. (Rather -hard on him as he could not help leaving this man in charge; but I may -come in like a benevolent arbiter if the affair is serious.) The loss -or disappearance of the office cipher is a serious business--very--. I -don't see what good it would be retrieving it from the Germans, as, if -they _have_ had it at all in their possession, they have probably -derived from it all the information they want! - -Whilst Brentham is over at Medina I want him to have an interview with -the German commandant, Captain Wissmann, as he can convey to him a -message from me. - -I hope Mrs. Bazzard continues well? She has certainly shown she can -stand the climate. But we mustn't try her _too_ far. - -Sincerely yours ... - GODFREY DEWBURN. - - -When this letter reached Spencer Bazzard he took it promptly to his -wife, who was seated before her dressing-table rubbing a little of the -"hair-restorer" into the very roots of her hair, which had an -exasperating way of not starting gold from the skin-level. She said, -keeping her eyes fixed on the glass, "Read it aloud." He did so. -"Hooray," she exclaimed, with ordered joy so as not to interfere with -the delicate operation--they were going out to dine that night with a -German functionary--"Hooray! That means he's scuppered. He's going -home, you bet, rather off colour. They've made him marry her to placate -the missionaries. But he'll never bother us again out here. Well, we'll -be civil to him in the clearing up." - - - - _From Captain Roger Brentham to Lady Silchester._ - -Mbweni, Unguja, - _April_ 2, 1889. - -DEAR SIBYL,-- - -I don't think you have any realization of what I've been through lately -or you'd have written to inquire, or condole, or encourage. I've had a -regular "gaffe"--tell you more about it by and bye. And a wonderful -journey in the interior worthy of a Royal Geographical Society's -medal--tell you more about _that_ too some day--and--don't start--I've -got married! - -You always predicted I should marry a "missionaryess." Well: I've done -so. Yes, you were right, true Sibyl that you are. I've married the -dear little girl--for so she seems to me--whom I escorted out to Unguja -three years ago and whom I married myself to her young missionary -husband, who was going to a station in the interior called Hangodi. -There followed a tragic time. I dare say the newspapers will have told -you all about it. She and I got locked up, so to speak, in the far -interior and I never thought she, at any rate, would get to the coast -alive. - -Well: I felt after all we'd gone through together there was only one -thing--the right thing--to do, being also very much in love with her. -Lady Dewburn (you know whom I mean) thought precisely the same; and Lady -Dewburn, let me say, is about the _best_ woman I know. I shall _never_ -forget what she did for my poor Lucy. Dewburn performed the civil -ceremony for us and gave a small and quiet wedding breakfast after the -"small and quiet" wedding at the Cathedral. My old friend Gravening -("the Venble. Archdeacon") was awfully nice about the whole thing ... -fully approved of my marrying Lucy, under all the sad circumstances, and -said he'd fix up the religious part. Because you know what women are. -They never think they've been properly married unless it's in a Church -or if they do, their mothers don't. - -I know I've got some rough places to get over before I can settle down -to work and go full steam ahead, but I look to you and other true -friends, real pals--to pull me through. The F.O. seems to have a down -on me and a proportion of the Mission World likewise. But when they -hear the whole story they will see I was simply dogged with misfortune -and did all I could possibly have done. Unfortunately while I was away -in the interior everything went to pieces at my Consulate, and two awful -bounders--the Bazzards, more about them when we meet--are exploiting it -to the utmost. - -I am going back to the mainland after a week's holiday to get things put -right at the Consulate. Hope I shan't take Bazzard by the throat, or -lose my temper with his Bayswater wife. I simply _mustn't_. Well: when -I have done all that and left the Bazzards properly installed I take the -next steamer back with Lucy. Two years, nearly, have I been out here, -and six months' leave on full pay is due to me. I am going home -nominally to report. Wonder whether they will send me back? In any -case I look to you, dear Cousin and friend, to give me a helping -hand--not so much about Consular matters--I feel there if common justice -is dealt out I can stand on my own--but as regards little Lucy. Her -father's status and that of my father are not very different, when you -come to look at it, except that Josling is probably a much more useful -member of the community. But she may want a helping hand when we come -home, if we are asked out and about. Of course, with her extraordinary -African experience behind her she will be quite as interesting to meet -as a Lady Baker, a Miss Gordon Cumming, or Isabella Bird---- - -I've written a short note to good old Maud and a still shorter one to -the Pater. Rather rough on a man after only two days of honeymoon to -have to sit down and compose all these epistles, even though it is in a -tropical paradise like Mbweni--but with the thermometer at ninety -something in the shade. I am sure Maud will take to Lucy; not so sure -about you. You have become so grand. As to the Pater, he'll hardly pay -much attention to us unless we could consent to be buried at Silchester -and excavated by him! Maud wrote some time ago to say his neglect of -his Church work for excavation of Roman sites was becoming such a -scandal that they'd had to engage a curate for Farleigh. - -And that the curate hadn't been there two months before he had proposed -to her, been refused, and then settled down to a "filial" manner. - -How is Silchester? It's getting on for a year since I had a letter from -you; but I saw in a recent newspaper he'd been down with influenza but -was "making good progress." That always reads ominously. - -Look out for me sometime in May. I hope I shall be as welcome as the -flowers of that same. I'm bringing you home some leopard skins and an -African rattle for Clitheroe. So long! - -ROGER. - - -A week after these letters were put in the Consular mail-bag, Roger had -packed up and was waiting for a gun-boat to convey him across to the -mainland--where he was to have an important interview with Captain -Wissmann, fresh from a great victory over the Arabs. Sir Godfrey, -taking leave of him, said: "Looked at the Reuters this morning?" - -_Roger_: "No! What's up?" - -_Sir Godfrey_: "Your friend Lord Silchester is dead." - -"Phew!" said Roger, or as near as he could get to that conventional -exclamation of surprise and speculation as to what might have been.... - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *IN ENGLAND* - - -Captain and Mrs. Brentham arrived in London from East Africa at the end -of May, 1889. You must picture Brentham with a reserve of savings of -about five hundred pounds lying to his credit at Cocks's, and a salary -at the rate of seven hundred a year which will go on till some time in -October. After much consideration and discussion during the voyage they -have taken a furnished flat on the eighth floor of Hankey's Mansions, -St. James's Park, as having a better address--"being close to the -Government offices and the clubs, don't you know, and of course if you -have the lift going night and day it don't matter whether you're on the -first or the eighth floor, to say nothing of the view." Lucy had -timidly suggested Pardew's Family Hotel in Great Ormond Street as being -very cheap for relations of Aunt Ellen, but Roger with that wistful -snobbishness of his class decided it would be rather a come-down to hail -from the West Central part of London when you were wishing to impress -the Foreign Office favourably; so Hankey's it was, with lots of -sunlight, superb views over the Park and the barrack ground with its -military challenges and cries. - -Mr. Molyneux's room at the Foreign Office. - -"Ah, Brentham! Thought you'd soon be turning up. Dewburn's been -writing to me about you.... Have a cigar? There are the matches. Well. -Horrid thing to say, when a man's only just arrived, but you've stirred -up a reg'lar hornet's nest among the unco' guid. This confounded -Nonconformist Conscience that Stead's invented or created. There's an -obvious reference to you in the last _Review of Reviews_ and Labby's put -a very caustic article in last week's _Truth_, trying to get at the -Government's East African policy through you. All this has mightily -upset the Old Man----" - -Roger endeavours to give a lucid and not too lengthy account of the -whole sequence of events which led up to his marriage at Unguja; -expresses the most justly-felt wrath against the mosquitoes of the -Press; offers to horsewhip them or have them up before a court of -law.... - -_Molyneux_: "My _dear_ fellow, what _are_ you talking about? You'd -simply do for yourself and have to quit the career. First place, -horsewhipping's out of date--dam' low, in any case--in the second, -there's nothing _libellous_ in what they've written--only general -application, don't you know. If you took any action on it you'd just -dot the _i_'s and cross the _t_'s and get laughed at. And as to what -they say in Parliament, can't call them into court over _that_. No. -Best leave it alone. _Most_ unfortunate. Dare say not a _bit_ your -fault. Still I think you might have been a trifle more prudent, not--so -to speak--have run your head into the noose. _Quite_ agree with Dewburn -you've done the _right_ thing in marrying her.... - -"Well: so much for that. Now how about this missing cipher? Not sure -_that_ don't upset us a bit more than your carryings-on with missionary -ladies...." - -Roger: "But I _didn't_ carry on--I--I--really must protest against these -assumptions----" - -_Molyneux_: "_All_ right. Keep your hair on.... Don't get into a -wax.... I'm only talkin' for your own good.... But tell us about this -cipher." - -_Roger_ (still with an angry flush): "What _can I_ tell? I arrive at -Medina and am told all in a hurry to re-organize the Consulate there. -There was no one but an Indian clerk in charge. I simply take him over. -I put my cipher in the safe, but I had to leave the key with the clerk -when at very short notice I started for up-country to warn these -confounded missionaries.... Wish to _God_ I'd paid no heed to your -instructions" ("I _say_, old chap, draw it mild ... and mind what you're -doin' with that cigar-ash." Roger strides to the fireplace and throws -away the cigar into it.) "I wish to God," he continues, "I'd left 'em -alone to stand the racket if the Arabs _did_ come. However, what I mean -to say is, I only set out to do what I was told to do and couldn't -foresee how long it would take. I didn't get back to my Consulate till -last April. _How_ can I tell what happened to the clerk or the cipher -or the money? I paid up the deficit.... How do I know what those -Bazzards were up to? Mrs. Bazzard----" - -_Molyneux_ (his manner has insensibly become stiffer and more -ceremonious): "I think we'll leave the Bazzards out of it. At any rate -they aren't here to defend themselves. We must refer the whole matter -to Dewburn for inquiry. Meantime here you are on leave and I dare say -badly wanting a rest. My advice is: go down to the country.... Your -father lives in the country, doesn't he?" (Roger nods.) "Well, go down -and rusticate a bit and take Mrs. Brentham with you. In a week or two -the newspapers and the Nonconformist Conscience will be in full cry -after something else. As to whether you should go back, we must leave -that to the Old Man. He may think a change of scene advisable. Any use -asking you to a bachelor dinner? My wife's out of town just now." - -Roger (_very_ unwisely, scenting in this a reluctance to ask Lucy too): -"No, thank you. I think I'll take your advice and go off to the -country. Ungrateful sort of country--I mean the nation--mine is! Here -I've made most important discoveries I've had no time to report on, I've -... I've ..." (Feelings too much for him. Takes his hat and stick, -bows to Molyneux and leaves his room.) In all this he has acted most -foolishly. If he'd gone to Molyneux's--to "Good old Spavins's"--as the -clerks called him in the room opposite--bachelor dinner, had told a few -good stories and hunting adventures, Molyneux, who really had his kindly -side like most men, would have forgotten the old grudge about his -intrusive appointment, have taken a much more charitable view about the -lost cipher and the hasty marriage and have written a memo for Lord -Wiltshire's eye which would have suggested a year's employment at home -and a fresh start in East Africa. Mrs. Molyneux would have called on -Mrs. Brentham at Hankey's and Mrs. Brentham would have been pronounced -by Molyneux "a dam' good-lookin' wench--don't wonder she turned his head -a bit--there can't have been much to look at in East Africa"--and -Brentham's difficulties were over; and the whole fate of East Africa -might have been a little different. As it was, he wrote some such memo -as this for the information of the Under-Secretary of State: "Saw -Brentham to-day--from Zangia Consulate, East Africa. Looks rather -fagged. Evidently had a rough time. But very angry when asked to -explain the awkward circumstances of his very protracted journey through -the interior with the lady who is now his wife. He protested with much -heat against the attacks of the Press and the attitude of the Missionary -Societies. I dare say he is a maligned man, but I should also say he is -what we call in diplomacy 'un mauvais coucheur.' Difficult to get on -with, quarrelsome with colleagues. He could throw no light on the loss -of his cipher. Did not seem to realize what trouble and expense it has -caused. He has six months' leave of absence due. Suggest when that is -coming to an end he be offered some Consular post in Norway or Algeria." - -Roger called at 6A, Carlton House Terrace, but was told by the -man-servant opening the door that Lady Silchester and the little Lord -Silchester were still in the country, at Engledene, and that it was -improbable her Ladyship would be in town again until the autumn, being -in deep mourning. Roger scribbled on his card (which would be sent on -with other cards of calling and polite inquiries): - -"So much want to see you. Starting to-morrow for Church Farm, -Aldermaston.--ROGER." - -Roger delivered his blushing wife, rather overdressed (for he had -insisted on a fashionable outfit), to her parents at Aldermaston; he -shook hands heartily with his father-in-law to whom he took an immediate -liking, kissed his mother-in-law (to her confusion) and his -sisters-in-law, and then let his father-in-law drive him over to the -nearest station from which he could get a train to Basingstoke (for -Farleigh), promising to return in four days after he had seen his -father, sister, and brothers, one of them at Portsmouth. When he did -get back to Church Farm, Lucy was in bed, ill, and his father and -mother-in-law were looking grave and preoccupied. They were also--as -country people are--a little tiresomely reticent. _What had happened_? -_This_, as he afterwards pieced it together. - -When Mrs. Baines had received Ann Anderson's letter--written, as you -will remember, about November 30, but not posted from Unguja till early -in January--she had a knock-down blow. It is true the Mission on the -receipt of a telegram from Callaway had warned her to expect serious -news from Hangodi, but she had not paid much attention, so convinced was -she that God must avert all harm from a son of hers. But the -letter--from Ann, too, whom she would have welcomed as a -daughter-in-law--was convincing, and for the first few hours after she -had read it twice through, she locked herself into their joint bedroom -to Mr. Baines's great discomfiture--he might wash and sleep where he -liked. She had shouted at him through the keyhole, in a hoarse, -strangled voice he hardly recognized as hers, that his son John was -dead, killed by the "A-rabs," no doubt with that slut of a Lucy's full -approval; and left to digest this dreadful news as best he might. -Eliza, touched to great pity and a sympathetic sobbing over the fate of -Master John, made him up a sort of a shakedown bedroom arrangement in -the "libery," where he did his accounts.... - -Mrs. Baines did not emerge from her fastness for a day and a half. When -she did come out she was composed, but with such an awful look in her -eyes that no one dared offer sympathy or proffer advice. She gave her -orders in as few words as possible. She set to work to confection the -deepest mourning and pulled the blinds down, and down they had to remain -a full week. During that week by the aid of candle-light she wrote a -good many letters--for her. Eliza, who had to post them, for Mrs. -Baines shrank from encountering friends or acquaintances till the week -was up, noticed that some of them bore quite grand addresses: the member -for Reading, the Marquis of Wiltshire, the Editor of the _Review of -Reviews_.... - -How did Mrs. Baines know so soon that Lucy and Roger had returned to -England and come down to see the Joslings at Church Farm? Why, because -the miller of Aldermaston saw the Brenthams arrive at Aldermaston -station and witnessed the greeting of Farmer Josling--such a fine -upstanding man--and his son-in-law--just such another, only rather -sallow-like and thin; and the miller told old Mrs. Bunsby of the general -shop at Theale; and Mrs. Bunsby, wanting badly a supply of ginger beer, -for the weather was getting warm and Oxford undergraduates sometimes -pushed their walking tours as far as the Kennet Valley--Mrs. Bunsby -walked over to _John Baines & Co._ that very afternoon to give an order -for four dozen and mentioned the fact of "pore Master John's widow" -having come back to her home "with a noo 'usband." - -The assistant who registered the order for delivery in their next round, -after Mrs. Bunsby left slipped into Mr. Baines's "libery," and -half-whispered the news of Lucy's return. When, soon afterwards, Mrs. -Baines came into the dining-room to preside over the tea table, he--(he -looked very aged--my astral body floating over the scene felt a twinge -of pity for him; in his own dull way he had been fond and proud of his -only son and worked to provide him with a competency--some day)--he, -with some preparatory clearing of the throat, said: "Er ... Hrhm.... Er -... Lucy's back, I hear...." - -"Indeed?" replied his wife swiftly. "Where? Bridewell? That's where -she _ought_ to be...." - -"I dare say, my dear, but she's at Church Farm, her parents', you -know.... P'raps she could tell you something about John?..." - -"P'raps she could. But I won't have her name mentioned in _this_ house. -_Do you understand_?" - -Mr. Baines did, and took this intimation as final. - -The next day was Sunday. Mrs. Baines spent much of the day (as she had -decided she could not go to chapel) communing in prayer with her Maker -in the bedroom fastness. Some of the prayers heard by the frightened -Eliza through the keyhole sounded more like objurgations, and the -Scripture readings were the minatory passage directed by the Minor -Prophets against harlots and light women. - -After two days of Aldermaston Lucy had quite recovered her spirits--she -had felt rather depressed at Hankey's Mansions and not at all lightened -at heart by her week of shopping under Aunt Pardew's furtive guidance -and rather checked congratulations. On the Monday morning she was -standing with her parents and Clara in front of the beautiful old farm -house, inhaling the scents of May, revelling with the eye over the -landscape beauty she had so often recalled to herself in Africa. Farmer -Josling had repeatedly given expression to the pleasure he had derived -from the looks, manner, and hand-grip of his son-in-law, and Mrs. -Josling still blushed and laughed at the remembrance of his having -kissed her cheek. They could not help the gratification of feeling that -their daughter's second marriage was into a social stratum worthy of her -looks, her superior education and their hopes for her.... - -Clara, walking away to glance at the bee-hives, called back to the -group, "Here's Mrs. Baines coming up from the road." - -Instinctively the parents withdrew into the porch of the house, leaving -their daughter to meet Mrs. Baines for the first few minutes alone, with -no other listeners to the sad story she had to tell. Lucy, like the -bird fascinated by the snake, remained where she was, her fingers -playing with a pansy she had just picked. Mrs. Baines, all in black, -with black plumes to a large bonnet and black gloves, walked slowly and -consideringly up to the spell-bound Lucy. When she was close to her she -said: "_What ... have ... you done ... with ... my ... son?..._" - -"Oh! I ... I ... haven't you heard?" stammered Lucy. - -"I _have_ heard ... and I've guessed much _more_ than I've heard.... -_You ... you harlot--you adulteress--you--you strumpet!_" roared Mrs. -Baines, who had been cooking her vengeance and rehearsing this scene -with a dictionary, during the last twenty-four hours. And forthwith -before Lucy could reply or any one intervene she had dealt her two -terrific boxes on the ears, first on one side and then on the other. - -Lucy fell on to the pansy bed, temporarily stunned. Mr. Josling, -scarcely able at first to believe ears and eyes, rushed out with a roar -like a bull, picked up Mrs. Baines round her iron stays, as though she -weighed no more than a wisp, ran round to the other side of the house -where there was a great horse trough full of water, and soused in this -the head and huge plumed bonnet of the angry woman. And again, giving -her time to catch her breath, he plunged her head and bonnet beneath the -water. Then, standing her on her feet, he said, "_There! that'll_ cool -your hot blood. That is some return for your half-killing my -daughter--you _blasted she-tiger, you_ ... Be _off_! Or I'll set the -dogs on you.... I'll..." - -"Father, _dear_," said Clara, crying for pity and rage over the hapless -Lucy, yet careful of appearances: "Father _dear, don't_ shout so! For -goodness' sake, let the old witch go, and don't attract everybody's -attention. What ever _will_ the neighbours think! Here!" she said, -thrusting on Mrs. Baines the umbrella she had brought and dropped on the -garden path at the moment of the assault, "be off with you, you wicked -old woman. It's a mercy father ain't killed you, he's that strong. And -if you've done any real harm to my sister, we'll soon let you know and -have you up before the courts, you _wicked old snivelling psalm-singin' -Methody_!" - -Mrs. Baines said nothing to this counter-attack. She drained the water -from her plumes with her fingers, put her flopping bonnet as straight as -was possible, pressed the water from her shoulders, and made some -attempt to wipe her face with a handkerchief; and then, summoning all -her strength and resolution (for in reality she was much shaken and near -collapse), she walked firmly past them, uttering never a word, walked -slowly down the garden path, turned to the right and contrived not to -halt on her way back to the station till she was well out of their -sight. They were a little over-awed by her dignity. - -It was decided--and Lucy when she could speak implored them to adopt -this negative course--not to write to Roger, and as far as possible not -to talk of this painful scene to any neighbour. But to keep it from -country gossip was an impossibility. This, that, or the other farm -servant had seen it, from the rafters of a barn in repair, from the -stables, from the dairy window; and so the treatment old Mrs. Baines had -served out to her former daughter-in-law became noised abroad, -penetrated from the kitchen and still-room of Engledene House to its -mistress's dressing-room. A vague rumour of it even reached the African -Department of the Foreign Office and Molyneux publicly shrugged his -shoulders in Sir Mulberry Hawk's room. The Carnarvons at Highclere heard -a perversion of it--rather a humorous one--from one of their farmer -tenants, and reconsidered their idea of asking Brentham and Mrs. -Brentham over to a week-end party to relate some of their extraordinary -experiences. The Vicar of Farleigh Wallop realized that something of -the kind had occurred to interrupt his musings on the arrangements of -the streets in Calleva Atrebatum, and when he drove over with Maud to -make the acquaintance of his daughter-in-law--now convalescent and -thankful to find the drum of the worst smacked ear had not been -split--he was merely coldly polite and expressed very little interest in -missionary questions. Indeed he took no interest in Christian Missions -after 700 A.D. Up to that time he reckoned--more or less--they had been -spreading the ideas of Imperial Rome, of Roman civilization. - - -Roger, however, though he commented little on the episode of the -assault, and felt in every way the least said, soonest mended, borrowed -his father-in-law's riding-horse and rode early one morning over to -Tilehurst. He entered the factory, of design, just as Mr. Baines was -about to take his seat in the office and run his eyes over the day's -orders. "Oh, don't be alarmed!" he said to Mr. Baines, who was -instinctively about to withdraw, guessing his visitor's identity. "I'm -not a violent heathen like your wife. Sit down and let us talk this -over like sensible men." - -He then put the matter very plainly before Mr. Baines. - -Mrs. Baines, summoned by half-fearful, half-exultant Eliza, had "locked -herself in her bedroom, she 'ave an' ast me to go for the police!" - -"Then you, too," said Roger to the startled Eliza, "remain and hear what -I have to say. Since your termagant of a mistress refuses to come, you -shall repeat my words to her. You are, from what my wife tells me, an -old and trusted servant of the family" (Eliza bridled and pleated the -hem of her apron). "When she returns to sanity, you may get a chance of -saying a word to your mistress in season, even if her husband has not -the courage to do so. Tell her then, if she ever annoys or slanders or -upsets my wife in any way I will leave no stone unturned to punish her. -And if she appears at Church Farm or anywhere else again with the -intention of assaulting my wife I will knock her on the head like the -mad dog she is. Now you can leave us. But I trust also to you as an -honourable woman and one who was sincerely fond of poor John Baines, who -ought never to be connected with these hateful sayings and doings, not -to chatter about this business outside this house." - -And Eliza did not. She was much impressed by Brentham's appeal. The -interview with John's father even ended in a kind of reconciliation. He -heard from Brentham for the first time the whole story, so far as it was -known, of the circumstances which led up to the attack on the station, -John's death, and Lucy's journey to the coast; of how her baby had died -and how ill she had been; of the Stotts, and of Ann Jamblin's obstinacy. -Roger purposely prolonged the interview. It was doing the miserable -father good, and was keeping Mrs. Baines a prisoner in her bedroom just -when she wanted to be busy at house-work. - -Maud on her return from visiting the Joslings tightened her lips and -"went for" her father as he had never been truth-told before; so Mrs. -Baines, if she did harm to Lucy's good name and gave her nervous system -a nasty shock, also provoked good in other directions. A disturbance of -the kind seldom fails to clear the air and create a fresher atmosphere. -Maud reproached her father bitterly with his incivility to his eldest -son's wife; with his general indifference to the well-being of his -children, his selfish absorption in his archaeological work, his -unfairness to them in lavishing on it funds which should have been their -patrimony. She even issued a sort of ultimatum: the subsidies to the -Silchester Excavation fund must cease; the curate at Farleigh must be -given his conge and the Vicar--still able-bodied--carry out his own -Church duties: _or_ she would go away and earn her own living as a -secretary or something or other. And she was at once, and on his -authority, to ask Lucy to stay--with Roger, of course--for at least a -month. He gave in. Maud had deeper plans hidden under this surface -wrath. Roger was in difficulties with the Foreign Office, she guessed. -He had resigned from the Indian Army. He might at any time have to -forge a new career for himself and would want a little capital to start -with. She reckoned that her father having originally been a well-to-do -man and her mother having come to him with a substantial dowry, there -ought to be a least twelve thousand pounds to be divided between the -four of them. If that left her father almost entirely dependent on his -income--about five hundred a year--from the twin benefices of Farleigh -and Cliddesden, that would serve him right. He had no business to -squander his children's money--as it really was--on a work of excavation -which the County or the Nation should finance. - -A little repentant and more than a little rheumatic--(besides, Roman -Silchester was turning out so distressingly Christian and so little -Pompeian and Pagan)--he agreed at any rate to look into the matter. The -letter was sent to Lucy, and she came, now quite restored to health. -She found in Maud the selfless friend and good adviser she had long -needed. All she begged and prayed of Roger was that he might leave her -at Farleigh for a time and not frighten her and upset her nerves by -requiring of her the going out into smart Society, where she was ever on -the twitter for fear of being questioned as to her birth and bringing-up -and the circumstances of her life in Africa. - -Roger rather ruefully consented. Maud would gradually cure her of her -nerves and her rusticity. Meantime he would now tackle Sibyl. Sibyl had -taken no notice of his card and call; but about three weeks afterwards -had written to Maud, picturing herself as having now emerged from a -swoon of grief and being ready to see Roger for a _few_ minutes if he -would _promise_ to move gently and speak in a level voice, as _the least -thing_ upset her. Pressed to be more definite, she consented to see -him--and him only--at Engledene on a certain Wednesday afternoon at -three o'clock. - - -He found her in a little boudoir, which was draped with pleated -lavender-mauve cashmere and shaded to a dim light. She was dressed in -black, not having as yet the hardihood to discard widows' weeds, still -less some diaphanous, filmy _coiffe_, some ghost of a widow's cap. -Queen Victoria was still a great power in Society and kept Peeresses in -order. If you were too daring you might be banned at Court and then -where would your social and political influence be? - -"Wheel up, or better still _lift_ up--I can't bear the _slightest_ jar, -just now--that small armchair, Roger--the purple velvet one--and put it -near enough for me to hear and speak without effort; but not _too_ near, -because I notice you have a very powerful aura. I've only just learnt -about auras, and I realize now _what_ a difference they make!..." - -"All right," said Roger, obeying these instructions, "but what's an -aura? Is it the smell of my Harris tweeds, or do you doubt my having -had a bath this morning?" - -"Don't be so perfectly horrid ... and coarse.... You never _used_ to be -coarse, whatever you were--I suppose it comes from marrying a farmer's -daughter; but for the matter of that, what am _I_? My poor dear dad is -trying hard to be a farmer after spending his best years in the Army. I -didn't mean anything much about your 'aura,' except, I suppose, that as -I'm only recently widowed all my relations with men-visitors should be a -little frigid. But I'm simply talking nonsense to gain time, to -remember what I wanted to say to you." (A pause.) ... "Roger! Your -_dreadful_ letter from that Gouging place, coming just on top of poor -Francis's death, _knocked me over_. The doctors put it all down to -Francis, of course ... I don't deny that his death _did_ upset me.... -But I'd been expecting _that_ any time within the last six months.... -The doctors told me _definitely_ last winter his heart was very unsound -and that he must not over-exert himself in any way or be contraried or -argued with.... _That_ was why I gave up the orange-velvet curtains and -general redecoration of the dining-room at 6A, Carlton House -Terrace--which is dingy beyond belief. I shall do it now.... It's too -early for tea ... won't you smoke?" (Roger: "Thank you.") "Well, there's -everything on that little table.... No. Not those ones; they've got -the wee-est flavour of opium.... Obliged to do _something_ for my -nerves.... Well, now, about your Gouging letter.... I mean about your -marriage.... My _dear_ Roger! _What_ a _gaffe_! I mean, how _could_ -you?" - -"Could I what?" - -"_Ruin_ your hopes and mine?" - -"Well, I did hope to marry Lucy ... for at least six months before the -knot was tied.... Ever since her husband's death. So _my_ hopes were -fulfilled. And as to you, I never prevented you from marrying Lord S. -So where the ruin comes in, I can't see." - -"Oh," wailed Sibyl, "_why_ beat about the bush? You must have known that -I always hoped if anything happened to poor Francis--and anything -_might_ well have done so--after all, you or I might be in a railway -accident or break our necks out hunting. In such case you _must_ have -known I _counted_ on you ... I mean, on our being happy _at last_.... -Don't interrupt! ... And just think! Francis loved me awfully. I -really _was perfectly sweet_ to him and did my duty to him _in every -way_. His gratitude for that boy ... for a direct heir! ... Well, after -Clithy was born he made his will! ... Don't be silly ... and don't joke -about things I regard almost as sacred.... I mean _Francis_ re-made his -will; and left me sole guardian of the boy and sole trustee, sole -_everything_; and mistress for my life of Engledene, and of 6A, till -Clithy came of age ... and a jointure of L10,000 a year to keep them up. -Clithy has also the Silchester house which is let and which I intend to -_keep_ let till he comes of age, the moors in Scotland _and_ the -shooting lodge. Of course he has the reversionary rights of -_everything_ after my death. And equally of course he has fifteen -thousand a year, which I control till he is twenty-one or until he -marries.... - -"Just _think_ what I could have done for you, out of all this--if you'd -_waited_! If _only_ you'd waited!..." (buries her face in the mauve -silk cushions and cries a little or pretends to). (Roger fidgets on his -chair. An exquisite little purple Sevres clock on the white mantelpiece -ticks ... ticks ... ticks.) - -_Roger_: "Look here, Sibyl. You're altogether on the wrong tack, -believe me. You might have married me in '86. I was quite ready then -and fancied myself in love with you. But if you had we mightn't have -got on. My seven hundred a year would have been nowhere to give you -surroundings like this...." (And he looks round the boudoir "done" in -white, lavender, mauve and purple, with its exquisite bits of furniture, -its velvet-covered armchair and Charles II day-bed, and pillow covers of -mauve silk; and looked also at the sinuous figure of the woman coiled on -the day-bed in her filmy black dress, with her face half buried in the -silk cushions, and one disconsolate arm lying listlessly along her side, -and at the magnificent rings of emeralds and diamonds on the pink -fingers.) "You were _quite_ right: you could _never_ have stood the -strain of Africa. I'll tell you by and bye some of the things Lucy and -I went through." (At this hint of comradeship with Lucy, the little -black velvet shoes gave angry thumps on the frame of the day-bed.) "I -know," continues Roger, "you used to throw out mysterious hints after -you were married that I might wait till some far-off date when you were -free; I mean after Lord Silchester was dead. But what decent man would -have taken you at your word? Why, Silchester might well be alive now. -He did not die of old age...." - -_Sibyl_ (in a muffled voice): "N-no; he ... he ... didn't. -He--overrated his strength. He--he--oh, _how_ can I tell you? He was -so anxious to play a great part in public affairs ... but he had lost -all his energy...." (Sitting up with flushed cheeks--damnably -good-looking, Roger feels.) "_Well_! What can I do for you? You've -failed _me_. But I suppose you've come here to ask me to help you in -some way. Men don't generally waste their time on afternoon calls -without a motive. What is it? I've got no influence anywhere since -Francis died" (a sob). "So it's no good asking _me_ to write to Lord -Wiltshire or to Spavins. I hear you are out of favour at the F.O. It's -not _my_ fault, is it? It's all due to your gallivanting after -missionaries' wives...." (Roger looks sullen.) ... "Heigh ho! I expect -with all this crying and tousling among cushions, to hide I _was_ crying -from your cynical eyes, I'd better go into my room and bathe my face -before the butler brings in the tea.... _There!_ you can pull up two of -the blinds--when I am gone--my eyes are so red--and you can look at some -of my new books till I come in to make the tea. You mustn't _dream_ of -going before we've had tea and finished our talk." - - -"I suppose," said Sibyl a quarter of an hour later when they were -discussing tea and tea-cake and pate-de-foie sandwiches and assorted -cakelets, "what you really came to ask was would I present this -Lucy-pucy of yours at Court. But, my _dear_, I shall be in mourning for -a year, and the Queen----" - -"_Lord_ no! Such a thing never entered my head. It would scare Lucy -into fits. I hope before next season comes round I shall be back in -Africa--or somewhere. So far as I connected Lucy with this visit I -might have intended to ask you to let me bring her here one day, and for -you to be kind to her ... not frighten her, as you very well could do, -pretending all the time to be her best friend...." - -_Sibyl_: "Well: I'll tell you what you shall do. You must remember I'm -in mourning, of course.... We always have to think of what the servants -will say.... And--ah! Did I tell you? Aunt Christabel is here. I sent -her out the longest drive I could think of, so that we might have our -afternoon alone; still, she's staying here till I emerge from the -deepest of my mourning.... By the bye she's _horrified_ at your -marriage, just as she used to be horrified at the idea of your marrying -_me_.... Well, bring your Lucy over one day at the end of July and I'll -just have a look at her. And then, in the autumn--say October--you and -she, and of course if you like to have them, Maurice and Geoffrey too, -could come here for the shooting. _Of course_ I shan't have a regular -party; but somebody must come and shoot the pheasants. The Queen -couldn't object to that. I've asked a man--I did before Francis's -death--to come. You might like to meet him: a Sir Willowby Patterne.... -Dare say you've heard of him?" - -_Roger_: "I've heard no _good_ of him...." - -"Oh, what tittle-tattlers and scandal-mongers you men are! I think he's -so amusing, and every one says he's a splendid shot.... However, we -will make up just a _tiny_ party and you and Lucy shall entertain for -me. I shall purposely be very little seen and shall give out my cousins -have come over to help me with my guests.... And, _Roger_! If I am to -help you you must help _me_. The doctor says I positively _must_ take -up my riding again unless I am to drift into being an invalid. Couldn't -you--sometimes--whilst you're down in this part of the world--come over -and ride with me? I can 'mount' you. You could ride poor Francis's cob -... not showy but very steady." - -"I will, when I come back from town," said Roger, and took his -departure, not at all dissatisfied with his afternoon. - -Two days afterwards he thought it might be prudent to see how things -were going at the Foreign Office. So he went up to town, changed into -town togs at Hankey's (where their flat was becoming a white elephant, -owing to Lucy's dislike to London, so he arranged to give it up), and -betook himself to Downing Street, and asked to see Mr. Bennet Molyneux. -"Mr. Bennet Molyneux," he was presently told, "is very sorry, sir, but -he is much engaged this morning; would you go into the Department and -see one of the young gentlemen there?" - -The Department was a large, long room with a cubby-hole at its further -end for the accommodation of the senior clerk, a sort of school prefect -who had to keep order among the high-spirited juniors and therefore -required to work a little apart from them. When Brentham entered the -main room, announced by the office messenger, he recognized two friends -of yore and several new, ingenuous faces. There also emerged from the -cubby hole a man whom he had known as a junior three years previously: -an agreeable gentleman of agricultural and sporting tastes, who, because -of his occasional remonstrances and enforcement of discipline, was known -as "Snarley Yow or the Dog Fiend." Then there were "Rosie" Walrond and -Ted Parsons. (The others do not matter in this narrative: they merely -served as chorus and acclaimers of the witticisms of the elder boys. -They were all nice to look at, all well-mannered and all well-dressed.) -"Rosie" Walrond was a young man--older than he looked--with wavy flaxen -hair and mocking grey eyes, and an extremely cynical manner overlying an -exceedingly kind heart. - -_Walrond_: "Hullo! Here's _Brentham_, the rescuer of beleaguered -Gospellers. We've got a grudge against you. You came here months ago -and were closeted with Spavins and never gave us a look-in. And we were -dying to hear all about the elopement and its sequel. We were prepared -to subscribe to a wedding present for a teller of good stories...." - -Then he added: "D'you admire my grotto?" - -Brentham, after the necessary greetings and introductions, strode up to -"Rosie's" desk. Its ledges and escarpments were piled with rock -specimens on which tattered, brown, and half-decipherable labels had -been pasted. - -"_My mineral specimens_ ... from" (he checked himself) ... "from East -Africa! Then you _never_ sent them on?" - -"My _dear_ chap! Where was I to send them to? The Consular Mail -bags--two of them--arrived here all right, addressed to me, but nary a -letter with them or any directions. Also two skulls which, as you see, -decorate our mantelpiece, and which I am proposing to have mounted in -silver at Snarley's expense for our Departmental Dinner. Meantime, I -have arranged my desk as a grotto, in spite of the office cleaner's -objections...." - -_Brentham_: "I suppose the letter of directions went astray. I asked -you to send the rocks to the School of Mines and the skulls to the -Natural History Museum. However, I'll take them all away presently in a -cab." - -"But _not_ the skulls, I beg, just as we were being initiated into Devil -worship by Snarley, who has learnt the Black Mass...." - -"Yes, the skulls, too. They're most important----" - -"But so are _we_," said Parsons. - -Then followed half an hour of chaff, out of which Roger gleaned no grain -of information as to his own probable fate and was too diffident to ask -outright if any decision as to his return had been arrived at. He -accepted an invitation to dine with the Department at the Cheshire -Cheese and meet Arthur Broadmead; then drove to the School of Mines in -Jermyn Street, handed in his rocks and asked the Curator for a report on -them, at his leisure. After that, Professor Flower and the skulls; -which were those of two men of that Hamitic race colonizing the Happy -Valley. He had found them lying about on the outskirts of a village and -had received the careless permission of the villagers to take them away. -They might serve to determine the relationships of this incongruous -type. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *SIBYL AS SIREN* - - -In August, 1889, Lucy conveyed to Roger her belief that she was going to -have a child. - -"But that is no reason you should not come down with me to Sibyl's place -in Scotland. You can't be going to have a baby till--till well on in -the winter, and meantime a stay in the Highlands will brace you up. Of -course as Sibyl is in mourning she can only have a very small house -party--just two or three men like myself to shoot the grouse, rabbits -and stags. I don't suppose there will be any women there except her -aunt and you." Lucy acquiesced unwillingly. - -She was living once more with her parents, while Roger's plans were so -unsettled. The rooms at Hankey's had been given up, and on his frequent -journeys to London--mainly on Sibyl's business--he slept at Aunt -Pardew's Hotel in Great Ormond Street, where they made him very -comfortable. He had taken Lucy over to Engledene twice in July--once he -had left her there a whole afternoon, _tete-a-tete_ with the still -languid young widow. On that occasion he had purposely ridden over to -Tilehurst to see Mr. Baines with more news--sent on by Callaway from -Unguja--about Ann Anderson and the restoration of Hangodi station, and -what the Mission proposed to do in regard to a memorial grave-stone. It -tickled his sense of humour that he should improve his acquaintance with -John's father and thus allay any local feeling against Lucy: his visits -there not only cheered the Aerated Waters' manufacturer, but they -enraged Mrs. Baines. - -She was obliged all the time to keep locked up in her bedroom, and this -caused Eliza to get out of hand. - -But so far, the hope of a friendship growing up between his wife and his -one-time sweetheart had little encouragement from either. Sibyl, not -wishing to fall out with Roger, declared she _tried_ to like Lucy. Yet -when other people were present she somehow brought out her rusticity and -simplicity, or she adopted towards her a patronizing manner which was -evident even to the not very acute senses of Roger's wife. - -The visit to Glen Sporran Lodge did not improve their relations. Lucy -in matters of dress was by no means without taste or discernment, but -she was quite ignorant of the modernest modes. She had no idea that a -stay in the Highlands--even in 1889--involved a special wardrobe: short, -kilted skirts and high-buttoned leggings, boots, or spats for the day's -adventures--going, to meet the guns, tramping over the moors, picnics -when the wet weather permitted, and all the shifts for facing a good -deal of rain without looking forlorn or ridiculous. Trailing skirts and -wet weather were irreconcilable; so were yachting and a silk dress. -Perpetual sitting indoors in a town dress, over a turf fire, and reading -novels provoked sarcasms not only from Sibyl but from the tart tongue of -Aunt Christabel; who wasn't at all inclined to spare Lucy. - -What had that good-looking Roger with _such_ a career before him had in -his mind that he should throw himself away on this village -schoolmistress? She did not care, either, for Sibyl's new infatuation -for Roger; would have liked to keep them well apart. The distant -cousinship was not through her or her sister, Mrs. Grayburn, but through -Roger's mother and Colonel Grayburn. Sibyl, when her year of mourning -was up, had much better marry again into the peerage; and if she wanted -a smart man as Agent--for land-agents of the middle-class-bailiff type -were "passes de mode" on all _big_ estates ... well, there was Willowby, -Willowby Patterne (a nephew-in-law of Aunt Christabel), who really might -very well do for the post. Willowby had been very wild, had run through -much of his own money and his unsuitable wife's--they were never asked -out together. But he was a first-class shot, had been to Canada with -the Duke of Ulster, knew a lot about blood-stock, had tried farming and -ranching and would be quite all there helping Sibyl entertain her house -parties and giving an eye to the manly education of James--Aunt -Christabel did not countenance Sibyl's silly freak of imposing the name -of "Clitheroe" on the little Lord Silchester. - -Lucy had the greatest regard for economy and always wanted to save Roger -from any unnecessary expenditure. She remembered that she had come to -him without a dowry and that his future financially was very uncertain. -So that she had not taken him at his word, "Spend what you like," at the -Sloane Street shops when they were last up in town together. She had -only brought two evening dresses with her to Glen Sporran, and one of -them a plain black silk. After they had become familiar to the eye, -Sibyl had offered to lend some of _her_ gowns, but had done it in such a -way that Lucy's pride was touched and she declined, with an unwonted -sparkle in her eye and a turning of the rabbit on the stoat. Sibyl -then, half amusedly, dropped this method of annoyance and openly praised -Mrs. Brentham for her simplicity of life and regard for economy. - -All this was rather amusing to the speculative and speculating Sir -Willowby Patterne who arrived at Glen Sporran a fortnight later than -Roger and Lucy. He must then have been about thirty. As you surmise -from his name, he was descended from a famous mid-nineteenth century -baronet. His grandfather (in diplomacy) married a Russian lady of the -Court after the Napoleonic wars when Russians were in the fashion. But I -think it wholly unfair to attribute to this alliance the curious vein of -cruelty which ran through his descendants and which in Willowby's father -was slaked by the contemporary British field sports. This father died -from the envenomed bite of an impaled badger, and in Willowby's case -there was a long minority; so that he started at twenty-one--already a -subaltern in the Guards--with quite a respectable fortune to "blue." He -had been a vicious, tipsy boy at Eton and did not improve as he grew -older. One thing that developed with him into a mania was the love of -killing. He had seen a little service in the Sudan, but disgusted his -brother officers by his exultation over the more gory episodes in -skirmishes (he generally kept out of battles), and by his interest in -executions and floggings. Owing to family influence he was for a very -brief time in the suite of a travelling Royalty; but an episode in the -garden of a Lisbon hotel, when he with a friend was seen worrying a cat -to death with two bull-terriers--and laughing frenziedly the while--put -an end to that appointment. He had had some success on the turf and in -steeplechase riding, and over shooting pigeons at Monte Carlo; had -betrayed quite a number of trusting women--including his wife; but -nevertheless was rather popular still in Society, especially the society -of rich, idle women, seeking after sensation without scandal. What -there was about him, save his faultless tailoring and evil reputation to -attract women, a man like Brentham could not understand. His face was -thin and he had those deep ugly lines around the mouth, that tightness -of skin over the temples and jaw, the thin lips and thin hair, aquiline -nose, and thin capable hands that go with cruelty and pitilessness. But -that women _did_ run after him, there was no denying; though at this -time his wife was shudderingly seeking grounds for divorce, or at any -rate separation, which would satisfy a male judge and jury. - -Roger enjoyed the shooting with rifle and shot-gun, and his dislike of -Willowby was a little tempered by the latter's unwilling admiration of -his marksmanship. I forget whether in August-September you fish for -salmon in Scotland with a rod and line, but if so you may be sure -Captain Brentham, to whom field sports of all kinds came as second -nature, displayed no less prowess in that direction. Moreover Willowby -tried to be civil to his deputy host because he was very much drawn to -big-game shooting in East Africa and thought Roger could put him up to -the right place, right time of year, and right strings to pull. - -But when the day's sport was done and they had bathed and changed and -laid themselves out for a jolly evening, Roger began to be nervous and -sensitive about Lucy: sometimes to wish she would not open her mouth; at -others to yearn for her to show some brilliance in conversation. Her -little naivetes of speech and turns of phrase which seemed so amusing -and even endearing in Africa, or to an admiring, bucolic audience at -Aldermaston, or an indulgent sister-in-law at Farleigh Vicarage, here -withered into imbecilities under the mocking glance or the bored -incomprehension of Sibyl, and the cool, eyeglass stare of Willowby -Patterne. Sibyl, also, was afflicted with deafness when Lucy ventured -her inquiries at breakfast as to health or the state of the weather. - -Out of fear of Queen Victoria, Sibyl thought to make friends at Court -and attest at the same time the "smallness" and "quietness" of her house -party by inviting for a week a lady of the Royal Household who was off -duty and at all times not unwilling to eat well and sleep softly at some -one else's expense. But she, also, was disconcerting (though no doubt a -pyramid of flawless chastity). She wore a single eyeglass through which -everything and everybody was scanned. At first she was disposed to be -very much interested in Roger, until she gathered he might not be -returning to Africa. She had friends who were casting in their lots -with Cecil Rhodes's ventures. To her mental vision, Africa was about -the size of an English county. A man in East Africa ought at any moment -to run up against that perfectly delightful creature, Rhodes, ... "the -dear Queen is getting _so_ interested in him" ... "was there gold by the -bye where Captain Brentham had been employed?" But when she learnt that -Sibyl's cousin was probably not resuming his post there and that this -very dull, oddly dressed woman was not Sibyl's secretary but Roger's -wife, a former missionary in East Africa, she quietly gave them both up -as much too much outside her own track through life ever to be of use or -interest again. - -Another guest for a brief time was the Rev. Stacy Bream. Mr. Bream even -in those distant days was not--and did not behave like--the conventional -clergyman. He was the incumbent of some Chapel Royal or Chaplaincy -somewhere, wholly in the Royal gift and generally bestowed on some one -who had been for a brief period a bear-leader or College tutor to a -princeling going through a make-believe course of study at Oxford or -Cambridge. Mr. Bream, in order to take a line of his own, plunged -boldly into the world, even the half-world, for his congregation and his -confidants. He confessed and absolved the leading ladies of the stage -when they reached that period of ripe middle age in which husbands began -to be unfaithful and lovers shy and the lady herself felt just the -slightest dread of a hereafter. He came forward to marry, when -re-marriage was legal but not savoury--sooner than that the poor dears -should live in sin. He dealt--I dare say very kindly and -considerately--with scabrous cases of moral downfall that no one else -would touch. He was a well-known first-nighter and his evening dress so -nearly unclerical that you might have been pardoned for not spotting him -at once, in the crush room, for a parson, and he would have been the -first to pardon you. He always went where Society did in order to be -able at once to render first aid where morals had met with an accident. -He left town consequently in time for the grouse, occasionally handled a -gun--quite skilfully--and was very fond of games of chance in the -evening if the stakes were not too high. - -Bridge had not then reached Great Britain. Where they would have played -Bridge ten years ago they played Baccarat, or Unlimited Loo, or Nap, or -Poker. Lucy only knew "Pope Joan" and had a horror of losing money over -cards and no capacity for mastering any card game, not even Snip Snap -Snorum. The Rev. Stacy Bream--who as much as any cleric might, stood in -lieu of a Spiritual director to Lady Silchester--called Lucy once or -twice "My dear che-ild" and then found her so uninteresting and -inexplicable that he ceased to study her any more. - -So Lucy at last, in dread of snubs if she entered the battledore and -shuttlecock conversation or of revealing her utter ignorance of the ways -of smart society, fell silent at meal-times and after meals. When the -others played cards or roulette on a miniature green table, she would -read a book in a corner or steal away up to bed before the maids had -done her room for the night. And gradually she developed the red, moist -nose that comes to a woman who cries in secret, and there were wrought -other changes in good looks and figure attend ant on her condition. And -then one day, early in September, Roger, returning to his dressing-room -for a cigarette-case and to ascertain if Lucy was ready to start on an -excursion, found her on her bedroom sofa in a crisis of weeping. Sibyl -had summed up her makeshift costume--for a day's yachting--in one short -phrase.... This on top of having completely overlooked her existence at -yesterday's picnic lunch, and left her cupless and tealess at the late -tea which followed their return. "R--Ro--ger, oh dear Roger, _let_ me -go home! I'm only in _every one's_ way here. I never felt so stupid in -my life before. _I can't_ think what's the matter with me--it's the -feeling they all _despise me_--and--and--pity you for having made a fool -of yourself. Let me go home to mother--and Maud!..." - -Roger consented at once. He felt full of remorse and pity, promised -soon to join her in the south, escorted her as far as Carlisle, and -arranged that kind Maud should meet her at Euston and take her home to -Aldermaston. The others were too utterly uninterested in her to listen -much to his explanation with its discreet allusion. She was a bore and -a wet blanket out of the way, and they could now settle down to enjoy -themselves. Sibyl, to keep up the fiction of being in mourning, wore -black and absented herself from most of the pleasure outings; going -about instead alone with Roger, to show him the ins and outs of the -estate and enable him to formulate plans for its profitable development. - - -Early in October, Captain Brentham saw young Lord Tarrington (heir to -the Earldom of Pitchingham and precis-writer to Lord Wiltshire). He was -told that Lord W. had given careful attention to his case. His Lordship -thoroughly appreciated his painstaking work for a year or more as Acting -Consul-General, but thought that under the circumstances it was better -he should not return to the scene of his former labours on the mainland. -H.L., however, though Captain Brentham had scarcely been more than an -officer selected for special service in Africa, would be pleased to -consider him favourably for the consular posts of Bergen or of -Baranquilla. - -"I suppose you know where Bergen is?" added Lord Tarrington. "A little -bit near the North Pole--or is it North Cape? I always mix the two. -But it's in _Norway, very_ bracing climate, _awfully_ good sea-fishing, -and L350 a year. Or if you prefer heat, there's Baranquilla, northern -South America, _not_ a good climate, but the last man stood it for two -years before he succumbed to yellow fever ... and it's L550 a year and -two years count for three in service. Which is it to be? Make up your -mind soon, 'cos lots of fellows are on the waiting list--snap at -either." - -Tarrington's tone, for all its bluff good nature sounded final. Roger -seeing his dreams of an African empire fade in that dingy room, all its -tones having sombred with twenty years' fog and smoke into shades of -yellow white and yellow brown, felt at first inclined to refuse -haughtily either consolation for the loss of Zangia. But a married man -and prospective father with very slight resources cannot permit himself -the luxury of ill-temper. So he replied civilly that he would think if -over and let Lord Tarrington know. - -As he left the first floor of the building he crossed the path of the -august Secretary of State himself walking probably round the quadrangle -to the India Office. There was no look of recognition in his deep-set -eyes. How different from two and a half years ago when he had been -hailed by this statesman as an authority on East Africa far better worth -listening to than Mr. Bennet Molyneux, now noting down complacently in -his room below the fact that the Consulate at Zangia with its seven -hundred pounds a year was to be offered to the acting man, Mr. Spencer -Bazzard. - -Brentham went down that evening--pretending he didn't care in the least -for this definite set-back--to Reading, and, chartering a fly, drove out -to Engledene. A rather late little dinner with Sibyl and Aunt Christabel -was followed by a long consultation with Sibyl in the Library. - -Lady Silchester's plans had long been ready, though she seemed to -develop them as she spoke. "Become my agent, Rodge-podge, in place of -old Parkins. He's an out-of-date duffer. I'll either pension him off, -or better still send him to live on the Staffordshire property. He's -let that go down very much; it ought to yield twice its present rents. -I'll give you L700 a year, and there'll be all sorts of legitimate -pickings as well. You can have the Lodge at Englefield to live in. I'll -do it up for you. Lucy can live there and go on having babies for the -next ten years. I'm sure _I_ don't want to ask her to dinner or to -anything else, if she doesn't want to come. She needn't curtsy to me if -we meet, if it's _that_ she dislikes.... - -"But you've _great_ abilities, Roger. You've been _shamefully_ treated -by Lord W.... He's always tried to snub _me_ ... _I_ don't know why ... -I'll tell you _what_. I'll _run_ you. After all, I am a rich woman ... -now. You shall get into Parliament ... and be a great Imperialist, as -that seems to be going to become the fashion. What ... _what_ ... WHAT -a pity you married like that, all in a hurry! And you see it's done you -no good with the Nonconformist conscience and those stuffy old things at -the F.O. However, it's no good crying over spilt milk. _I'll_ make a -career for you!" And she looked at him with shining eyes, betraying her -palpable secret.... - -"This is awfully good of you, Syb," said Roger, not meeting her look. -"But do you think it is fair on others? Why not put in your father----? -Or one of your brothers?" - -"_Rubbish_! Dad would make just as great a mess of the Silchester -estates--only on a far bigger scale--as he is doing over his three -hundred acres at Aldermaston. I think we'll send him up to care-take at -Glen Sporran and make him sell up the Aldermaston place. Helping him -with loans is like pouring money into--what do you pour it into when it -runs away? A sieve? And the two boys have both got jobs and are none -too bright, at that. Besides, it's no fun working with brothers, and -I'm going to throw myself heart and soul into the development of the -Estate. It'll be ... it'll be ... what's two and a third from -twenty-one? Well, at any rate, more than eighteen years before Clithy -comes of age. In that time we'll have raised the annual value of the -property to twice what it is now, and incidentally we'll have a glorious -time, influencing people, don't you know, getting up a new opposition in -Parliament, and making ourselves felt...." - -"Well, in any case, it's awfully good of you ... _awfully_ ... somehow I -don't deserve it...." - -"You don't, after the way you threw me over. But stick to me now, -through thick and thin, and"--she was going to have added impulsively, -"Oh, _Roger_, I _do_ love you, I can't help it," and perhaps have flung -herself on to a sofa with a burst of hysterical tears to salve all his -scruples, but quickly thought better of this and added rather tamely, -"And we'll make a great success of our partnership. And now we must go -and play backgammon or bezique or something with Aunt Christabel, or she -will come poking her nose in here to see what we're up to. How tiresome -the old are! It's only on account of what the Queen would say that I -keep her on here. She thinks you're 'dangerous' to my peace of mind, -Roger. But if I had mother here instead she would be equally boring, -and father can't bear to be separated from her, and the two of them -would be _unthinkable_." - -Though some instinct told Roger Sibyl's scheme would never work, without -damage to his peace of mind and his conjugal relations, he felt her -Circe influence already. He accepted her offer--at any rate for one -year. At the end of that time she and he should be free to cancel the -arrangement. He decided for the present to lodge with his wife's -parents and ride backwards and forwards till Lucy had had her baby. At -the utmost he would have a bedroom at the Lodge and the Parkinses--Mrs. -Parkins, at any rate--should not vacate it definitely till Lucy was able -to set up house there. He wrote civilly but briefly to Lord Tarrington -declining to go either to Norway or to Colombia, and resigned "with much -regret" his commission for Zangia. - -About this time he received two letters which gave him much to think -about, but which he put at the back of his mind. I will give the -shortest first:-- - - - _To Captain Brentham, F.R.G.S., - H.B.M. Consul for Zangia._ - -School of Mines, - Jermyn Street, S.W. - _October_ 5, 1889. - -DEAR SIR,-- - -You will remember calling here in last July, just before I took my -holiday. - -You left with me for examination a series of rock specimens and some -sediment of lake water from East Africa. - -Of the rock specimens, at least six give indications of great interest. -Those two labelled "Iraku I" and "Iraku II" are so rich in gold that -their importance must have been apparent to yourself--unless you mistook -the gold for iron pyrites, an inverse of the customary deception, which -is generally the other way about. The specimen labelled "Marasha" is -simply coal--rather shaley coal, probably a surface fragment. There are -two specimens, unfortunately with their labels missing or -indecipherable, which are a hard bluish green serpentine rock, obviously -related to the "blue ground" of South Africa and probably -diamondiferous. A fifth specimen yields evidence of wolframite, and in -three other samples there is much mica. The lake sediment is being -further examined by a colleague of mine. He believes it to be an -indication of the formation of phosphates in the lake bed or shores -which should be of great importance to agriculture as a constituent of -chemical manure. These phosphates might be derived from birds' dung in -great quantities, from guano in fact. - -I assume you have duly registered the exact geographical localities of -these specimens? Otherwise, they are very tantalizing, for they -evidently indicate--if they come from one region and not from a wide -area of travel--one of the wealthiest of African territories. - -Pursuant to your wish, however, I shall treat the matter as -confidential. But if you can at any time supply me with the exact -geographical information I require I shall be pleased to write a report -on the collection for the Petrographical Society or for the confidential -information of the Government: whichever you prefer. - -Yours faithfully, - DANIEL RUTTER. - - - -Unguja, - _August_ 26, 1889. - -DEAR CAPTAIN BRENTHAM,-- - -Mrs. Stott and I, we thank you very heartily for your kind remembrances -of us. The generous present of tea you sent us as soon as you got back -to England reached our good friend Callaway a little while ago and I -found it here waiting for us when I arrived from the interior. - -Captain Wissmann has had a wonderful series of victories over the Arabs -and Wangwana, which in the good providence of God have cleared the way -between Ugogo and the coast. I heard something of this in the Happy -Valley last April; so, as we were running terribly short of supplies and -as we felt "seed time was come" and that the Lord desired us to reopen -our Burungi Station, and establish his tabernacle strongly in this -glorious place--Manyara--"ripe unto harvest"--I felt my way cautiously -up the Valley and through the Irangi country to Burungi. The place was -not any worse treated than when you left it--you made a great impression -on the Wagogo--so, as their elders begged me to rebuild the station I -left some of our trained workers to do so. Besides that, Captain -Wissmann, whom we met near-by, has lent us two German -sergeants--biddable men and clever with their hands. They'd been sick, -and wounded in the legs and he said it would do them good to have a -spell of quiet sedentary life. He also put under their orders a guard -of five Sudanese soldiers to guard the station whilst it is being -rebuilt. So here I am at the coast, chopping yarns with Mr. Callaway, -and laying in great supplies which I have been able to buy out of the -price of that ivory you shot for us. - -Captain Brentham, you don't know what a mine of wealth the Happy Valley -is, and the cliffs and mountains on the western side (Iraku and Ilamba). -I am an Australian, and before I found Christ I had a course of -instruction as a mining engineer. The rocks in and about the Happy -Valley tell me at first sight more than they would an ordinary -Englishman. I suppose some one will have to find out this, sooner or -later. I'd much sooner it were _you_. You may yet get it taken over by -Great Britain. At any rate, if you came out here and prospected you -would see what I mean. What did you do with the specimens you took away -with you for analysis? Did you lose them on your way to the coast? -Maybe if the Happy Valley is to come under the Germans they would give -you a concession. This Captain Wissmann seems to like you, and he said -it was far from his Government's intention to drive away English -missionaries or English capital. He likes the English very much and -speaks English very well. - -I only write this because they say here you are not coming back as -Consul. I am sorry. Why not then come out on your own? I've opened -your letter to Mrs. Stott, which came with the tea, and _right glad_ I -was to hear--and so will she be--that you'd married poor Lucy Baines. -_Right glad_. Bring her out here with you, and Mrs. Stott shall look -after her whilst you go round prospecting and staking out your claims. -We may not see eye to eye over the Lord's work. The Lord hasn't revealed -himself to you yet as He has to us. He will in His own good time. But -you've got the root of the matter in you. I never yet met an unbeliever -who was so reverent and so tender of other people's beliefs.... You're -a good man, if you'll forgive my saying so. You wouldn't ever interfere -with our work here, I know. It's getting on _grand_. We baptized the -Chief of the Wambugwe and fifty of his men in the Lake at Manyara just -before you left, and please God, we've saved the whole valley from -Islam. - -Mrs. Stott had always a first-class opinion of you, though you weren't -of our way of thinking in religion. She is sure you'll always stand up -for the natives and protect their rights. I hope I haven't been taking -a liberty, writing this letter. If you don't like to come out yourself, -any one you sent we should trust to do the right thing and would show -him round. Otherwise, we have been careful to say _nothing_ about the -Happy Valley, and so far no Arabs and no Germans have troubled us. - -May God's blessing rest on you and on your sorely tried wife. I feel -sure there are happier days in store for her. - -Your sincere friend--if you'll allow me to say so. - -JAMES EWART STOTT. - - -In regard to the School of Mines Report, Roger for acquitment of -conscience and because he always liked to do the right thing, sent a -resume of Professor Rutter's analysis to the F.O., stating that the -specimens referred to had been picked up by him on his recent tour -through the interior of German East Africa. - -In reply, the Under Secretary of State Was directed to thank Captain -Brentham for this valuable information. - -In reality it was decided to pigeon-hole the report, certainly to give -it no publicity. Let the Germans find out for themselves the value of -their territories. If they discovered they had bitten off more than they -could chew, why ... then.... - - -In January, 1890, Lucy was delivered of a son. Roger was hugely -delighted. When he asked Lucy a week after the birth if she had any -preference for a name--_her_ father's, _his_ father's, his own--she said -in a faint voice but with some finality in the accent: "Let him be -called 'John'!" Then, as he did not reply, she added, "John loved me -and I wasn't worthy of his love...." - -"Well, and don't _I_ love you?" answered Roger with a tinge of -compunction. - -"She's a bit wandery in her mind, sir," said the nurse. "Don't pay any -attention to what she's a saying. She's mistook your name. Several -times since the baby was born she's seemed to be talking with a John, -but it was you she was a thinkin' about, _I'll_ be bound. She wants -keeping very quiet...." - - -Once Captain Brentham took up the affairs of the Silchester -estates--which he did definitely in October, 1889, he went very -thoroughly into their condition and their possibilities of development. -He was not, of course, a trained, professional land agent, which was why -his shrewd and original ideas of enhancing the value and productivity of -land made the Institute of Land Agents so angry. But he knew something -of surveying, and had been accustomed to value countries by the eye, to -judge of soils, espy defects in farming, by his boyish life at Farleigh -and his experiences in India and Africa. - -Lord Silchester in his fondness for landscape beauty had preferred a -lovely, unkempt, autumn-wistful wilderness to a possible brick-field, -though to a geologist the clay was almost crying out to be turned to the -service of man. He liked great spaces without a sign of man's -habitation to mar the poem. Roger, though he had a strongly developed -sense of the beautiful in Nature, yet combined with it a realization -that much waste land in the England of latter days, and even in -Scotland, is an offence and a temptation to discontent on the part of -the landless. Another charm can be contributed to landscapes by the -handiwork of man, provided the cottage is tastefully and soundly built, -the manufactory--even the brick-kilns and chimneys--are of the right -material for the neighbourhood, of harmonious colour and appropriate -design. - -In the Berkshire and Hampshire estates woodlands required thinning, -cattle wanted new blood and better breeding. The lobster fishery at -Sporran Bay should certainly be developed. A proportion of the deer in -Scotland and at Engledene might with advantage be sold. The farmer -tenants generally wanted shaking up. Some of them could well afford to -pay twice their present rent and let him out of the increased rent-roll -rebuild their houses, barns, granaries, pigsties and cow-sheds. Why, -the dairy business alone might be trebled in value with this proximity -of a milk-hungry London. Farmer Josling, a right-down superior man with -much self-given education, should help him in this. Incidentally, with -Sibyl's consent, he had given his father-in-law a life-lease of his farm -as some acknowledgment of his excellent use of it, and his progressive -influence on the other farmers. - -The bracing outdoor life and constant riding, the hunting and shooting -did his health a world of good. He had never looked so well, so set up -and robust as he did at the age of thirty-two, as Sibyl's factotum. The -worst of this was that he seemed more desirable than ever in Sibyl's -eyes, as she admitted with her disarming frankness. "What a pity it is, -Roger, the silly laws of this sanctimonious country will not permit -polygamy. We are just in the prime of life, you and I. I am much -better looking than I was ten years ago--I shudder at my old -photographs--I wore a fringe then and a bustle, and a lot of hair down -my back, and a terrible simper when I faced the camera. It's a crime -against Nature that we can't marry. We should have the handsomest -children and we could easily arrange matters with Lucy. She's not -exacting." - -Roger laughed at these speeches, but they made him a little -uncomfortable. Had Sibyl been a complete stranger to him he might have -succumbed long before to her wiles; few men of his build, his time, his -complexion were Josephs. But the slight relationship between them acted -as a barrier to concupiscence. It permitted a familiarity in speech and -address which made any closer intimacy repellent to his sense of -decency.... - -Sibyl it must be admitted, was shameless when they were together. She -would study his features attentively; admire the curl of his eyelashes, -the outline of his profile, even the not quite classical prominence of -the cheek bones, the virile twist upwards of his moustache, the firm -chin and strong white teeth, the well-set ear and close-cropped hair at -the back of his head: the while she pretended, pen in hand, to be -considering his propositions. Thought-transference told him what this -scrutiny meant, and he would colour a little in shame and become abrupt -in manner--even say to himself, "This _can't_ go on--I wish she'd think -of something else...." - -He was conscientiously attentive to Lucy at this time and she was really -happy during this phase in Roger's life. In the spring she took up her -residence in the Lodge at Englefield and made a comfortable home for her -devoted husband, who seemed resolved to show her how happy he was in his -marriage. Maud, from Farleigh, was a constant visitor, stayed weeks -together with Lucy and Roger and served as a _trait d'union_ with Sibyl, -who allowed Maud to chaff her and scold her as she would no one else. -Sibyl was quite civil to Lucy, did not bother her, left her alone except -for an occasional greeting and the showing of some curiosity as to -little John. "You may call him _John_ as much as you like, but he's -certainly Roger's child." - -Clithy and his nurse were often sent down to the Lodge to be with Lucy; -Sibyl deigning to say that her influence over children was a good one -and Clithy was never fretful with _her_. In her mocking moods she -called her little son "The Prince with the Nose" and declared he was -under an enchantment. He had for a child of three a preternaturally -large nose, and as she said to Roger, there could be no doubt as to his -paternity. "How pleased Francis would have been! He was always so proud -of the Mallard nose. Said it could be traced back in pictures to -Charles I's reign--Anne of Denmark, who was rather larky after she had -been married ten years, had a side-slip--you know what a _tipsy_ court -they were!--and bore a daughter to the Lord Chamberlain, who was -particularly active in the revels. James overlooked her breach of good -manners and ultimately gave the large-nosed little girl in marriage with -Silchester Manor to a favourite, who founded the House of Mallard. -Francis was going to have put this into his Memoirs, but he died, poor -dear, leaving them three-quarters finished. I think _I_ shall finish -them for a lark. Will you help me?" - - -One reason why Lucy was dreamily happy at Englefield Lodge was that she -seemed there to link up with the life of her girlhood. She had so often -strolled round the precincts of Engledene with John Tilehurst, she dared -not revisit for fear of meeting Mrs. Barnes. But she would sometimes -walk over the same path she had traced with John on that Sunday in June, -1886. She would sit on the seat at _The View_ and go over once more in -memory, and with a sad little smile her naive and petulant questions and -answers on that Sunday walk. How she had told John her desire to -encounter lions, and yet when a lion had visited their camp, what abject -terror she had shown! Hangodi! That name was first uttered to her in -Engledene Park and she remembered John saying it meant "The Place of -Firewood." - -One day Roger brought over to see her in the dog-cart old Mr. Baines--as -he was beginning to be called. They both shed a few tears, but he told -her with more sincerity than he usually put into his husky voice that he -exonerated her from all blame in the catastrophe which had overtaken his -son (Lucy herself was not so sure). "Mother's taken it awfully bad, -Lucy. She's goin' out of her mind, I'm fearin'. First she was writin' -an' writin' to Lord Wiltshire, him as is Prime Minister, don't you know, -to give your husband the sack as bein' the real cause of John's death. -Then next she'd bother our member, wantin' 'im to ask questions in the -'Ouse of Commons, till at last they give up answerin' them. Then she -set to and slanged that Missionary Society that John belonged to, sayin' -they wasn't 'alf careful enough about 'is precious life. Now this -spring, blessed if she ain't cut our Connexion! She won't go to Salem -Chapel; goes to Church instead ... St. Michael's. Shouldn't wonder if -she ended up a papist! ... S'pose you know _Ann's_ in England? They're -makin' a lot of fuss about 'er in Reading and London. Call her a -Heroine. She's bin down with 'er 'usband--rather a half-baked feller--to -see us; but 'er talk with Mother ain't done Mother much good, partly -'cos Ann wouldn't join 'er in abusin' you. She says to Mother: 'I just -told you the plain truth in that letter. I'm not goin' to add nor -subtract one word, an' you've gone and put into it much more than I ever -said. Just leave Lucy alone to God's judgment. At any rate, John loved -her and died believin' her true; and I dessay she was. Africa's a funny -country and you must put down a lot to the climate.' ... Ann's going -back to Africa next autumn, with three more recruits and a lot of money -to spend on the Mission School. Old Mrs. Doland sent for 'er and give -'er five hundred pounds. I tell 'er she ought to come and see you -before she goes. P'raps she will, p'raps she won't. I told 'er you -called your baby 'John,' and the tears reg'lar came into 'er eyes...." - -Roger owned to Maud he felt a bit restless in the spring and early -summer of 1890. He couldn't get Africa out of his mind, somehow. There -was first the fuss about Stanley and the return of the Emin Pasha Relief -Expedition--surely one of the most wasted feats of heroism and brave -endeavour in the history of Africa. Then came the 1890 Agreement with -Germany. This left the Happy Valley pretty much where it had -lain--unmarked as yet--on the map, but by approximate latitude and -longitude entirely German, as Roger knew. But the discussion of -frontiers in Africa caused him to feel fretful and resentful at being -"out of it." Sir Mulberry Hawk, who had negotiated the treaty, might -surely have turned to him for enlightenment on this point and that? -Even though he had left the African Service, there were his reports of -1884-5 and -6, and of 1887-9. He felt impelled to go and see Broadmead, -always accessible to men of worth. Broadmead said it was a beastly -shame--spite perhaps on the part of Molyneux--but every one now was -thinking of the Recess.... London was becoming awfully stale.... He -and Roger should meet in the early autumn. Broadmead would perhaps come -down to Engledene and shoot Sibyl's pheasants, and talk over Africa.... -If Roger was still hankering after East Africa, why didn't he suck up to -"Wully MacNaughten?" He had a show place somewhere up in the Highlands, -not an immeasurable distance from Glen Sporran. - -"Who was Wully? Didn't Brentham know? Why, he had begun life as a small -grocer in some Scotch town, and bankrupted through giving credit to the -crofters. Not to be bested by Fate, he went out to China as a clerk and -in twenty years had made quite a respectable fortune. Friends said out -of tea, enemies out of opium, smuggled into India; probable cause, the -great coolie traffic between China and the rest of the world, which -prompted him to found a navy of tramp steamers to carry the coolies, -many of them over to Africa. Then he nibbled at East Africa; began with -missionary stations, sort of atonement, don't you know, for anything -naughty he'd done--Chaps in China used to call him -'MacNaughty-naughty'--s'posed to have had a half-caste family. Not a -word of truth in it. However, there it was, and he couldn't go on -refreshing Brentham's memory. Brentham had been in East Africa and must -know all about MacNaughten there?..." - -"Why, yes, I know, of course, he's the Chairman of the Chartered Company -of Ibea--Mvita, you know." - -"Well, they are going to extend their operations inland to the Victoria -Nyanza and they want a go-ahead man as Governor. The chap at present -out there is---- However, nothing can be done now. See you later on, -give you a letter to him.... Tata." - -If Roger was restless with unavowed hankerings after his first mistress, -Africa, Sibyl, unconscious that he ever dreamed of release from her -Circe toils, was radiant in the spring and summer of that particularly -radiant year, 1890. Her prescribed mourning was over, so that the -"horrid old Queen" could have no ground of objection to her entertaining -like any other opulent peeress. - -Roger had worked wonders with the estates, and before long the revenues, -over which she would have control till her son's majority, would be -increased by at least one-third. Her choice of him from a business -point of view was amply justified. Her pulse quickened and her eyes -grew brighter than their ordinary at the thought he might some day be -her lover. If only that tiresome Lucy died in one of her confinements, -he might even be her husband. Of course, she would most carefully avoid -any foolishness which might give the least ground for scandal. If she -did that, she could take life as pleasantly as Lady Ramsgate (the -ridiculous one, called "Popsy"), or Lady Ann Vizor. Every one knew that -Popsy Ramsgate had had a child by her farm bailiff and kept it at the -farm, and no one thought the worse of her. Ramsgate was dead. Lady -Ann's stockbroker was obviously her lover, but he was very gentlemanly -and no one would have guessed unless they had been specially told. - -Even if Roger were free, she was not sure she wanted exactly to marry -him. She would then lose her title or, at any rate, her social rights -as a peeress. And Roger as husband might be too masterful. She wanted -to "queen it" as a rich woman with intelligence and taste might do in -those days. Now her mourning was over she would commence at once to -give parties at 6A, Carlton House Terrace, which should put those of -Suzanne Feenix quite in the shade. She would create a salon, to which -should be attracted the younger bloods, the rebels of the Conservative -Party. She would revivify Lord Randolph, join hands with Mary March, -who had a wonderful _flair_ for inveigling millionaires. She and a few -other clever women--the Tennants, perhaps--should create a young and -intellectual Conservative Party--or Unionist Party, if you liked. They -would get hold of Choselwhit--perhaps Rhodes, if he came to England. - -Lord Wiltshire should rue the day that he had snubbed her at a -Chapelmead week-end--the last time poor Francis went out anywhere--and -cut her at two Foreign Office receptions. The Brinsleys should be shown -their reign was over. - -Her initiates--she really founded the half-legendary "Souls"--should -include the smartest writers and the most daring painters, the weirdest -poets of the day. They would have their own press, if it wasn't too -expensive, but Mary March's millionaires might manage that ... hadn't -she been introduced at one of Mary's theatre parties to an enormously -rich and humble person called Tooley? Lady Tarrington had asked him if -he owned Tooley Street and the stupid creature had said: "Beg pardon, me -lady?" Well, Tooley should be ensorcelled--perhaps an invitation up to -Glen Sporran--and buy their newspaper for them. - -And then she had an idea of starting a monthly Review which she would -edit herself and which should tell the naked truth. No -squeamishness.... Praed, the architect, should send them one or two of -his queer storiettes.... - -As to mother and father, they would spoil any circles with their -banalities and old-fashioned ideas ... and father's stories would never -be followed to their finish by the modern young man or woman. They -would devastate her circle. No. They must stop in the country. Mother -seemed to be developing some internal complaint--probably indigestion or -something which could be cured at Aix or Homburg--and she was becoming -very strait-laced and anxious-eyed. Sibyl would take Roger's advice: buy -up father's three hundred acres; it could be made a most profitable milk -farm. Father should stay on as tenant at a nominal rent, with a bailiff -to manage--perhaps that young Harden, the cricketer, who had married -Lucy's sister. - -Sibyl resolved to send mother to Aix at her expense and have Aunt -Christabel to stay with her indefinitely as long as she wanted a -chaperon. - -As to her sisters: thank goodness, _they_ were off her hands. They had -married and gone away with their husbands to those blessed colonies, -Clara to New Zealand and Juliet to British Columbia. Long might they -remain there! Relations--unless very distant--were like reproaches or -bad replicas of one's self. They sapped all one's originality.... - -These were some of the musings of Sibyl when having her hair brushed by -Sophie, or when undergoing Swedish massage under the firm but soothing -hands of a blonde giantess; when breakfasting in bed; or undergoing a -long train journey in a first-class compartment with a defective lamp. - -There was no question in this year of Lucy's accompanying her husband to -Glen Sporran. She was starting another baby and was firm about not -wishing to go. Sibyl took this decision most amiably; said Lucy was -quite wise, and further proposed that she should have Maud with her and -care-take for Sibyl at Engledene House. Clitheroe was likewise to be -left behind. His life in the Highlands was one long succession of -dangerous colds and there wasn't enough accommodation for his retinue of -nurses; especially as every one you asked nowadays must have with them a -maid or a valet. Clithy had grown so absurdly fond of Lucy that Sibyl -suggested jocosely they should change babies. She thought little John a -perfect darling--so like Roger--why hadn't Lucy chosen her as god-mother -instead of Maud? No doubt Clithy would grow up more like a normal boy -when the rest of his features balanced Anne of Denmark's nose.... -Meantime, it was very fortunate things were as they were. And Lucy -would oblige her enormously by looking after her boy while she was -entertaining all those horrid people in the North. - -Not that the house-party was to be a large one. It ran away with so -much money, and people were never grateful. There would just be Stacy -Bream; the Honble. Victoria Masham, the Maid of Honour--old Vicky -Long-i'-the-tooth, Sibyl called her behind her back, and never imagined -the nickname could be repeated and counteract the expense of a month's -hospitality. _Must_ have Vicky to keep in touch, you know, with what -the old Queen was saying and doing--and an acolyte of Stacy's named -Reggie, something in the Colonial Office--he could flirt with Vicky--and -p'raps Arthur Broadmead. Then--for a day or two--that insufferable cad, -Elijah Tooley--"but he's so frightfully, frightfully rich and _might_ be -useful." Aunt Christabel, of course, would come, to keep order, and -Aggie Freebooter and Gertie Wentworth would make up the house-party. -Aggie Freebooter was that tiresome Lady Towcester's daughter--"one of -six girls, my dear"--but when she was away from her mother's eye she was -deliciously larky and awfully plucky, and didn't mind what you played -at; while Gertie Wentworth--or the Honble. Gertrude--thirty-five, lots -of money, dresses like a man, whisky and cigars, takes the bank at -Roulette and loses everything but her temper. - -"Well, at any rate," said Maud, "I'm glad Willowby Patterne is not in -the party, _this_ time...." - -"My dear!..." said Sibyl with a scream. "I've absolutely dropped him, -after that row in the City and that extraordinary case in the courts -which was compromised and hushed up. He's gone out to East Africa. -Haven't you heard?" - -Maud had not heard and cared very little what had happened to the -spendthrift baronet. But Roger had, and was a little uneasy as to his -cherished Happy Valley. Willowby Patterne, mixed up once more with a -very shady Company to take over and boom a new mineral water--some -proposition of Bax Strangeways--and a matter of slander and a club-steps -whipping, settled out of court ... and pending proceedings of his wife's -for a separation; had decided abruptly to make "peau neuve" in East -Africa. He had depicted the thrills of big-game shooting to one of his -dupes just come of age and into possession of a pot of money. This -young man would stand the racket of the expense--L5,000--and Willowby -would put him up to all the dodges. And perhaps they might find -minerals and get a concession.... - - -Whilst he was up in Scotland Roger did manage, with the aid of Arthur -Broadmead, to obtain an interview with Sir William MacNaughten on the -subject of East African developments and the Company's future -administration. But Sir William seemed vague, and much more interested -and definite in regard to another question: King Solomon's Temple. Had -Captain Brentham, as an Orientalist, ever given his mind to that -problem, the shape and structure of the Temple, its adornment, and the -hidden meaning of the Divine ordinances? No, Captain Brentham had not -... but ... er ... no doubt it was very interesting and full of meaning -... only ... East Africa?... - -"Oh, East Africa--our Charter--Oh, yes! Well, come and see me about that -when I'm back in London. You know my address there? Westminster Palace -Hotel?" - -The Glen Sporran party broke up with the rain and chill winds of the -equinox; but Roger stayed on there with Sibyl and Aunt Christabel: -nominally to examine the affairs of the estate and the installation of -the lobster fishery; in reality because his resolves had all dissolved -before her insistence, her tears, her threats to make a scene. Circe -triumphed; preened herself; became once more gay and debonnaire. But -her wretched lover felt indeed a pig. Aunt Christabel, the very -servants seemed to guess what Sibyl thought was kept wholly secret from -the rest of the world. - -A month's absence in Staffordshire and London, and a shamefaced visit to -Engledene Lodge did something to restore his self-respect. He called on -Sir William at his hotel, resolved to broach the subject of the East -Africa Governorship, but found him out. Nevertheless, to his delight -there came a note to Pardew's Hotel from Sir William with these words in -it: "Come to breakfast to-morrow morning at nine. I have something very -interesting to discuss with you, and should value your opinion." - -He arrived punctually. Lady MacNaughten was there--rather vinegary and -with pursed lips. She dispensed the tea and coffee with a very strong -Glasgow accent. The materials of the breakfast were--Roger -thought--rather meagre for such wealthy people, who could afford to -retain by the year this large suite of rooms. As no mention of East -Africa was made during breakfast it was clearly more tactful to wait -till the subject was introduced. Perhaps Sir William preferred not to -discuss business in his wife's presence. At last, however, he finished -his second cup of coffee, wiped his lips, said a grace of thanks for -"our bounteous meal" in which Lady MacNaughten joined; and then asked -Roger to accompany him to his sitting-room. - -The folding doors were opened and shut behind them by an officious -waiter; the window of the sitting-room looking out on incipient Victoria -Street was also closed because the west wind was chilly. And Sir -William then turned and said with great heartiness, pointing to a -cardboard and _papier-mache_ contraption under a glass case: - -"There! _That's_ what I wanted to discuss with you, who know the East -so well: a Model of King Solomon's Temple, made to my own design!" - - * * * * * - -The Governorship of the Mombasa Concession was shortly after conferred -on Lady MacNaughten's nephew. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *BACK TO THE HAPPY VALLEY* - - -Roger, ever since he returned from Scotland, resolved that a break with -Sibyl should come as soon as he could see before him the re-opening of -an African career. Only fortified with such a resolve could he face his -wife's candid eyes and her unquestioning trust in him--or Maud's more -quizzical gaze and occasional sardonic remarks.... "That old fox, -MacNaughten," he said to himself, "had determined all along to evade the -well-meant suggestions of candidates from the Foreign, Colonial, and -India Offices, and as soon as he got his Baronetcy (which came with the -New Year's honours) to take a line of his own." - -However, Fate for once hastened the denouement by causing Roger's father -to catch cold over the excavation of the Basilica at Silchester, to -neglect his cold, and to die of double pneumonia in the week preceding -Christmas, 1890. Roger could not help being profoundly grateful to his -archaeological parent for dying _before_ rather than after Christmas, -because this decease, with the conventions in force, and Queen Victoria -behind the conventions, absolutely freed him from the obligation to -attend the elaborate Christmas and New Year festivities ordained by -Sibyl at Engledene. She had set aside a suite of rooms--bedroom, -sitting-room and office--at 6A, Carlton House Terrace, and would no -longer hear of his staying at Pardew's Hotel when in London to transact -business with her. There were times when he seriously considered -shooting himself--and strange to say, all through this period of -episodical infidelity he had never loved Lucy better, or found her -smiling silence or unimportant, unexacting conversation more soothing. - -Her approaching confinement and his father's death together constituted -a barrier of reserve that even Sibyl was bound to respect. He therefore -utilized this respite to work assiduously at his plans for flight from -the enchantress. He was most anxious after he was gone that no one -should say with justification that he had let Lady Silchester down, had -treated her badly, got things into a muddle, and then bolted. - -As far back as the preceding October he had brought his younger brother, -Maurice, the barrister into the Estate Office to be his assistant. -Sibyl could suggest no one else and told him he could make what -arrangements he liked--if _only_--if--_only_ he would not be _cruel_ to -her, not talk of going at the end of the trial year. As he had not -complete confidence in Maurice becoming efficient for the head post, he -had entered into a provisional arrangement for a first-class man to put -over Maurice, selecting him at the Institute of Land Agents' -recommendation... - -So much therefore had been done to safeguard h employer's interests. - -Then as to his own. The administration of his father's estate would -eventually secure a total sum of L4,300 to each of the four children of -the Rev. Ambrose Brentham, including the amount they had recently -received by deed of gift. This with other odds and ends of savings, -gave Roger a capital of L5,000 to draw on. - -As soon as Lucy was well over her accouchement in January (1891), he had -several long and confidential conversations with Arthur Broadmead, that -friend in need to so many men who had fallen into holes of their own -digging, and who sought rectification by extending the bounds of empire -and making two blades of grass to grow where but one had grown before. -Several great Anglo-German financiers were seen in the City. The -specimens and the School of Mines' report thereon were left in their -hands: with the result that a small and select Anglo-German Syndicate -was formed to prospect in the northern part of German East Africa. Into -this pool Captain Brentham put L2,000 and was constituted for three -years head of the enterprise with a good salary and very large -discretion as to means and methods of developing the Happy Valley. - -To Maud he next imparted his plans, and to his surprise they were -received with cordial approval. - -"You're _quite_ right, Roger, I'm sure you've taken the road that will -most probably lead to happiness and fortune. Lucy is certain to fall in -with your scheme. She can stay on in England till her baby's weaned--it -was sweet of you both to call it after me--I was so certain you were -going to name it 'Sibyl'! Then she can place both the children with -their grandparents at Aldermaston and come out and join you. And what -is more, _I_ will come too! I should _love_ to!" - -There now remained--he could not say "only remained," it was too -portentous a crisis--the final scene with Sibyl. He thought it over -many a night when he could not sleep, many a morning when he was going -through estate business with her and she was leaning unnecessarily over -his shoulder or furtively pinching the lobe of his ear. A written -good-bye, and then immediate departure, would be cruel, and Sibyl might -afterwards revenge herself on Lucy, left behind defenceless; or on -Maurice. There were, besides, points of business he must discuss with -her before leaving; at any rate give her the chance of asking questions -and receiving answers. - -So he summoned up courage one morning and telegraphed he wished to see -her that afternoon in London. She was up for the "little season" which -follows Christmas. - -He was shown into her library at 6A, Carlton House Terrace. She had -come in from skating at Princes, had changed into a wonderful tea-gown -and was lying on a long couch over which a magnificent tiger skin had -been thrown. A small inlaid Moorish table held a tea-tray. - -_Sibyl_: "Have some tea? Tell him before he goes out" (referring to the -retreating footman). - -_Roger_: "Thanks very much, no. I have had tea and I've got a lot to -tell you. So I don't want to lose time." (The door clicks to.) - -_Sibyl_: "Well. You're very solemn. Draw up a chair. Come to give me -a month's warning? But to do that you ought to stand...." - -_Roger_: "That's exactly what I _have_ come for...." - -_Sibyl_: "Roger! _Don't_ make horrid jokes. You wouldn't be so -base--so--ungrateful--as that...." - -_Roger_: "It isn't an act of baseness, that's certain; and as to -ingratitude, I think by going away I am doing the best thing altogether, -so far as _you_ are concerned. No!" (she is rising and pushing the -tea-table out of her way as a preparation for drama). "You must let me -explain myself--and _do_ let us discuss this _quietly_, not as though we -were acting a scene on the stage. Sibyl! Really the least said, -soonest mended. We are in an _impossible_ position.... I blame myself -more than you...." (Sibyl: "Thank you!") "I am a cad ... an _utter_ -cad. I loathe myself sometimes so much I can't look at my face in the -glass or meet my wife's eyes. I am going back to Africa ... going out -of your life.... You must forget all about me ... and marry some decent -man." (His voice sounds strangled and he turns away to recover -himself.) - -_Sibyl_: "It seems to me it is you that are becoming stagey. What does -all this mean? Has Lucy found out we've been lovers and made a fuss? -... Or is it money? Have you got into debt? _Do_ be explicit!" - -_Roger_: "It's none of these things. I only mean I have out-stayed my -year with you, my trial year, and now I claim my liberty. I am going -once more to try for a career in Africa ... and..." - -_Sibyl_ (white with anger): "Well, _go_ to Africa! I never wish to see -you again! _Go_! _Go_! _Go_!" (She half rises as if to expel him -with her hands, but he saves her the trouble, takes up his hat, gloves -and stick, walks out, closes the door of the library gently and lets -himself out of the house.) - -The next day he leaves at the door a tin despatch box and a letter -containing its key. The box has amongst its contents the bunch of keys -he has used on the Estate, a great bundle of accounts, notes, and -suggestions for the immediate future. In the letter which accompanies -this box he tells Sibyl all about the arrangement he has made in her -Estate Office, advises her to keep on his brother Maurice who shows -signs of uncommon ability, but for some time yet to retain as Head Agent -Mr. Flower, provisionally engaged for a year, who is highly recommended -by the Institute of Land Agents. Both alike are now well acquainted -with the affairs of the Silchester Estate.... He asks her to be kind to -Lucy who will remove as soon as she is strong enough to Aldermaston and -meantime remains at the Lodge under Maud's care. Later on, when her -child is old enough to be left in the grand-parents' keeping, Lucy and -Maud will join him in East Africa. His address in London till he leaves -for Marseilles on February 28 will be Pardew's Hotel.... - -He will never forget her kindness ... _never_ ... at a critical time in -his life. And will not say "good-bye," because when he has "made good" -in Africa he will come back on a holiday and hope to find the Estate -flourishing and Silchester grown into a sturdy boy. - - -From what I knew of Sibyl I should say she at first took the breaking -off of their relations very hardly.... "Agony, rage, despair" ... much -pacing up and down the library.... Passionate letters half-written, -then torn up into small fragments and thrown into the fire. Then--for -she was a slave to her large household and magnificent mode of life--her -maid Sophie enters the library and reminds My Lady that she is due that -night to dine at the Italian Embassy. So Sibyl has to submit to be -coiffed, dressed, jewelled, and driven off in a brougham--a little late, -and that intrudes on her mind, because she has heard you should never be -late to an Ambassador's invitation, it is a sort of _lese-majeste_. But -to cope with the demands made on her, she has to force her heart-break -to the back of her mind and sustain her reputation for gay beauty, -daring expression, and alert wit--in French as well as English. There -was a Royalty there to whom she had to curtsey and with whom she had to -sustain a raillery, shot with malice, which required considerable -brain-concentration; for though the retorts must call forth further -bursts of laughter from the chorus that watched the duel, they must be -free from the slightest impertinence. - -Roger's abrupt leave-taking only remained like a dull ache behind her -vivid consciousness of triumph, of celebrated men, bestarred with -orders, swathed with ribbons; of women sparkling with jewels and -rippling in silks; of a Prince who might "make" you with a smile or -"mar" you with a frown; of many enemies concealed as friends; of -wonderful music and exquisite food, for which she had no appetite. It -was not until she had re-entered her dressing-room to be unrobed that -she had once more the mind-space to reconsider Roger's farewell and what -life would mean to her without his constant companionship. Then, -foreseeing otherwise a ghastly night of turning things over and over in -her thoughts, she told Sophie she had bad neuralgia; and opening a tiny -little casquet with a tiny little gold key on her bangle she took from -it the materials for a sleeping draught, compounded them cautiously--she -was the last person in the world to commit suicide, even by -mistake--swallowed the dose and half an hour afterwards slipped into -oblivion. - -The next morning she awoke with the inevitable headache, and the -heartache returned. But there was the breakfast tray to distract her -thoughts, and there were the morning letters. Among these was an -invitation to meet an Oriental Potentate in very select company--an -opportunity for display which she had coveted--and an invitation to dine -with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Benson, which she had sought -for, as she wanted to allure the young Bensons into her circle of -"souls." - -She then reflected, while having her hair brushed, that it might be just -as well that the breach with Roger had come before she had been in any -way tarnished by the breath of scandal. People had already chaffed her -about her handsome Land Agent. She would act so as to throw dust in -their eyes, and certainly not play the part of _la maitresse delaissee_. -Later on in the morning, therefore, she wrote to Lucy saying she had -accepted Roger's resignation with the _deepest_ regret, but would not -stand between him and his beloved Africa. Yet she hoped Lucy would not -_think_ of leaving the Lodge until she was perfectly strong. She also -told Roger's successor, Mr. Flower, she had confirmed the arrangement -Captain Brentham had outlined and requested him to call on her in the -following week. - -In the afternoon of that day she issued the instruction "Not at home," -intending to retire to her bedroom and have a good cry. But the full -indulgence in this luxury was baulked by the announcement of her cousin -Maud Brentham. Maud's name some while ago had been put on the short -list of people to whom "Not at home" did not apply. - -Maud had really been asked to call by the timorous Roger to see how -Sibyl was "taking it." So Sibyl, divining this, received her -affectionately; and only complained of the excessive brilliance of the -ambassadorial party of the night before and the dead set made at her by -the Prince having reduced her this following afternoon to the condition -of a doll with the sawdust escaping from every seam. She talked quite -calmly of Roger's approaching departure and the arrangement of Lucy's -affairs after he had gone. "Why can't you and she transfer yourselves -from the Lodge to the House at Engledene and stay there indefinitely, -till you take ship for Africa and golden joys? Lucy's a god-send with -poor nervous, peevish little Clithy. I _must_ leave the child there a -good deal at present. He looks very peeky if he comes to London. And -at Easter I shall shut up this house and go off to travel for a long -time...." - -"But not to East Africa, I trust...?" said Maud with some anxiety. - -"Maud! You're a _toad_!" - -When two very sad women came to Victoria on an appallingly cold and -foggy morning to take leave of Roger--who was departing for -Paris-Marseille to join his steamer--they were joined by a third, -accompanied by an aloof footman carrying wraps; and books for Roger's -solace on the journey. Sibyl put her arm round Lucy's waist, as they -were saying farewell; and Roger having kissed his wife--most -tenderly--and his sister--hesitated for one second, and then kissed -Sibyl too. - - * * * * * - - - - _From Roger Brentham to his Wife._ - -H.B.M. Agency, - Unguja, - _March_ 29, 1891. - -[Very near the second anniversary of our happy marriage. Barely two -years married and already two children. I wonder how baby Maud is -getting on?] - -DEAREST LUCE,-- - -I sent you a cable from Port Said saying "All right thus far." I hope -you got it? I arrived here by the French steamer yesterday. - -I enjoyed the journey to Paris and Marseilles. But after we had left -that port for a very stormy Mediterranean I went through a beastly time. -I would have given everything I possessed--except you--to find myself -back at Engledene and with all these African plans undone. I have led -such a full life within the last two years, have had the very best of -England; and the flatness of existence on an old-fashioned steamer came -home to me crushingly during the nine days' voyage between Marseilles -and Port Said. Such a hush after the noisy whirlpool of life in London -in Sibyl's circle; or even the gay doings at Engledene when we had got -over the first of our mourning for the poor old Pater. There were no -newspapers and no news--nine days completely out of the world. No one -on board I knew and no one who had ever heard of me. It brought home to -me my utter insignificance! I felt a bit better when we passed through -the Suez Canal. The sound of Arabic always stimulates me to adventure. -The cold weather left us in the Red Sea. I passed most of my time -mugging up Swahili again and trying to revive my Arabic with some -Syrians who were on board. Aden cheered me up considerably. There were -the jolly laughing Somalis once again, and I engaged four bright boys to -go with me as servants and gun-carriers out hunting. You could light up -a dark passage with their flashing teeth! When we reached Unguja I -admit I felt some uncomfortableness. It is so awkward returning as a -person of no status to a place where one has been an official. But as -you know, I had taken the precaution, a month before I started, of -writing confidentially to Sir Godfrey Dewburn about my plans and -intentions. The Dewburns _could not have been kinder_. He sent the -Agency boat to meet me with one of the new Vice-Consuls in it, and here -I am at the Agency, installed as their guest till I can assemble my -_safari_ and get away up-country. Lady Dewburn plies me with questions -about you and our children.... - -The Dewburns are expecting promotion to a diplomatic post--possibly -Persia. They feel their work here is done, now that the Anglo-German -Treaty is ratified and Unguja is a British protectorate. The treaty has -had the best effect on Anglo-German relations here and incidentally on -my prospects of co-operation. I am to see Wissmann as soon as I land at -Medinat-al-Barkah. Eugene Schraeder, who is all-powerful in -Anglo-German finance, has written out to him. I have little doubt we -shall get a Concession over the Happy Valley for our syndicate. - -Landing at Medina will be a little out of the direct route to Irangi, -but I shall travel across the Nguru country, now quite pacified and -safe, and try to take Hangodi on the way to Ugogo. What associations -the sight of it will revive if I do! That halting-place below the great -rise, where we had tea together in the shade when I met you in your -machila with Halima, and you were so taken aback that you called me -"darling"--_I_ haven't forgotten! And talking of Halima, reminds me to -say that she sends you her many salaams. Andrade is cook with the -Dewburns and Halima has some function as housemaid. I have arranged -when the Dewburns go that Andrade is to join me; so when you come out, -my darling, Halima shall be there to wait on you and on Maud. - -It'll be rather horrid meeting the Bazzards again at Medina. They -returned recently from a long holiday in England--an East Coast -watering-place chiefly, where Bazzard, who doesn't know a yacht from a -barge, got elected to the local Yachting Club. I hear that Mrs. B. -looks forward confidently to her husband succeeding Dewburn when the -latter is promoted; but I think there is not the slightest chance of it. - -The Stotts must have got my letter by now telling them I was on my way. -Of course there has been no time for a reply. But Callaway tells me the -last news of them was good. I have already picked up quite a third of -my Wanyamwezi "faithfuls" who were hanging about Unguja since Willowby -Patterne's _safari_ was paid off. That man is a _scoundrel_! He came -out here and made free use of my name, pretending even he had letters -from me which he never produced. He therefore got favours and -concessions and secured my original hundred men--or what was left of -them. His tour through the Mvita hinterland was one long sickening path -of slaughter: he and his companion--a poor youth who was often down with -dysentery and whom Patterne treated brutally--must have killed about -three times the amount of game they could use for food or trophies. His -ravages even shocked his carnivorous porters and annoyed the natives. -Do you know, I think he must have had just a glimmering about the -existence of the Happy Valley--he was always following me about at Glen -Sporran and cocking an eye at my correspondence. Because though -ostensibly only big-game slaughtering they made straight for the _south_ -side of Kilimanjaro (instead of keeping to the British Sphere); and when -the _safari_ reached Arusha ya Juu he tried to get guides for -"Manyara"--the porters swear he used the word. He cross-questioned some -of them as to where they had been with you and me. However, fortunately -he had an odd trick of getting himself hated by all the native tribes he -met, as well as by his own porters, whom he used to flog atrociously. -(They tell disgusting stories about these floggings which I cannot put -down on paper.) When his caravan got past the slopes of Meru it fell in -with "our Masai," as I call them. And then it was like one of the old -fairy stories of the bad girl who tried to follow the good girl down the -well into fairyland, and couldn't remember the countersign. Instead of -hitting it off with the Masai he vexed them in some way and at last they -turned on him and forced his _safari_ to go back to Kilimanjaro. At -least the Wanyamwezi porters refused to continue the journey, which -comes to the same thing. He has left for England--I am glad to say--or -I might have fallen foul of him. The two of them killed enough ivory to -pay the costs of the whole outfit. So he swears he is coming back again -and will then take a large body of armed men with him and wipe out the -Masai. - -Now I must bring this long letter to a close. Much love to dear old -Maud, and my most respectful greetings to my cousin and late employer. -I found her fame for beauty, wit, and dominance over Society had reached -even to Unguja.... In fact I rather winced at turning over -three-months-old illustrated papers here and seeing pictures of her in -wonderful costumes or--in the magazines--as a type of English beauty.... -How far away it all seems!... - -Your loving - RODGE. - - - - _From the same to the same._ - - -German Headquarters, - Medinat-al-Barka, - _April_ 30, 1891. - -DEAREST,-- - -You will be rather surprised that a month has gone by and I have got no -nearer my goal than this! But firstly I went down with a bad go of -fever--all right now--and secondly I could not hustle von Wissmann, who -is Imperial Commissioner here and who has been very kind--and thirdly -the rains are so appalling just now that overland travelling is -well-nigh impossible till the country dries up a little. But I am not -losing my time otherwise. I am getting everything fixed up with the -Germans, and next shall only have to arrive at an understanding with the -natives. The boundaries of our Concession (which will include the -Stotts) cover the Happy Valley from the water-parting between the Bubu -and the Kwou on the south to the escarpment at the north end of the -lake, and on east and west include all the water-shed of Lake Manyara, -Iraku and Fiome. So they have dealt with us generously. - -Wissmann I like immensely. He is a great man and has the interests of -the real natives thoroughly at heart. Our old friends the Stotts have -impressed him favourably and they are to be woven into my schemes of -development. Wissmann from the first asked me to put up at his -headquarters and treated me like a colleague in the opening up of -Africa. So I was saved the disagreeableness of staying at my former -Consulate with the Bazzards. - -Mrs. Bazzard has been sickly in her protestations of friendship, utterly -insincere as you know. I fancy she is turning her pen now on Sir -Godfrey, in the hope she may oust _him_. Considering how kind the -Dewburns were to them it is odious to note how she tries to disparage -him.... - -There is not much news from the interior. I hear that Ali-bin-Ferhani -got rewarded by the Germans for saving Hangodi Station, and that Mbogo -is still chief there in name, the real chief of the district being Ann -Anderson, or Mgozimke--"The man-woman," as the natives call her. - -In haste to catch the mail.... - -Your loving - ROGER. - - - - _From the same to the same._ - - -Mwada, The Happy Valley, - _July_ 28, 1891. - -MY OWN DEAR WIFE,-- - -I reached the shores of the lake--which I now find is called Lawa ya -mweri--and the end of the Happy Valley on--as near as I can reckon--June -20. (The Stotts have no almanacs and are quite indifferent to dates, -times, seasons; they live under some enchantment, they tell me, since -they came here, like the legends of people carried off to Fairyland.) I -met Mr. Stott at Burungi, which now looks a flourishing station. The -Wagogo seem to me quite recalcitrant to Christianity, but the Stotts -have to keep this up as a depot for their traffic with the coast, and -they are helped in this by the German Government.... Stott and I -journeyed together through the Irangi country almost in state. The -Stotts have become enormously popular as "medicine men." They have -stopped epidemics of small-pox by vaccinating the people, have shown -them how to stay the ravages of the burrowing fleas, and they are making -a dead set against infanticide, having found one or two leading chiefs -sufficiently intelligent to appreciate the importance of a large -population. Formerly, as you may remember, there was such a prejudice -against female babies that they were often exposed to the hyenas outside -the tembe, and all children who came into the world by an irregular -presentation, or with a tooth already through the gum, likewise all -twins, were either thrown into the lake or abandoned to the carnivorous -ants or prowling carnivores. (There is a curious legend here--Stott -says--that sometimes these unhappy infants were picked up by female -baboons of the Chakma type and nursed by them with their own offspring.) - -Well: you can imagine, having lived already in these parts, what the -infant death-rate amounted to. But the local chiefs having had the -whole theory exposed to them have sanctioned a crusade against -infanticide for any reason. The Wa-rangi have further been persuaded to -abandon the custom of burning alive women suspected of adultery. I did -not like to tell you at the time, but as we passed through the Irangi -country in November, '88, they were actually killing unfortunate women -in this manner. They believe that if a man goes out hunting and makes a -bad miss in throwing his spear or assegai at an elephant it is because -his wife is untrue to him at home! So when he returns from the chase -his wretched spouse is trussed up and bound to the top of a great pile -of brushwood. - -Consequently, at several of the Irangi villages on our way up the Bubu -valley the women who were the wives of sporting duffers came out in -deputations to dance round the worthy Stott till they quite embarrassed -him; especially as the dances were of an indelicate nature. - -The Stotts have now quite a nice-looking station to the south-east of -the main lake, on a grassy rise with the Mburu river on the south and a -much smaller salt lake on the east. This looks like sparkling ice under -the sun and is nearly solid--? salt--? soda. Its borders seem to be a -kind of salt lick for the game which is once more swarming and -singularly tame. There are no rhinos, fortunately, and the tricky -tempered elephants and buffaloes prefer the wooded regions farther north -and west. The lions, leopards and chitas are so glutted with food that -they leave the domestic cattle and human beings alone; and the myriad -zebras, antelopes, elands, bushbuck, giraffes, wart-hogs and ostriches -are quite willing to live at peace with mankind. Secretary birds and -saddle-billed storks are numerous and keep the snakes down; marabou -storks and vultures devour all the carrion and even the filth round the -native villages--so the country seems healthy. Enormous flocks of -crowned cranes and bustards look after the locusts and grasshoppers. -The flamingoes by the lake shore are as numerous as they were in our -time.... - -The Stotts' station is built after the fashion of the native houses of -the district: long, continuous, one-storied "tembes" forming a hollow -square, inside which the cattle and sheep are kept at night.... - -But what I am longing to describe is the country of Iraku. I went there -with Stott, you may remember, whilst we stayed waiting for news of poor -John Barnes. I was immensely taken with it then. But now I have seen it -more in detail I am enthusiastic. It resembles--I can't help saying--a -little Abyssinia--from all I have heard and read of Abyssinia, though it -is not at such great altitudes. Its natives are actually related in -speech and type to those of Southern Abyssinia. I should estimate the -average height at five thousand feet, with ridges, peaks and craters -touching seven or eight thousand; so that the temperature is almost -perfect--nights always cool, not to say cold. It is a fertile, fruitful -land of ups and downs, richly forested valleys, plenty of streams, -grassy uplands like the Berkshire downs: indeed a very English-looking -country. Somewhere here, not far from the escarpment and the Happy -Valley, we will have our home, dearest, and here you and Maud shall join -me as soon as ever you can come out. How I _long_ for that coming. -There are times when, in spite of the Stotts and their cheeriness, I -feel sick with melancholy and loneliness. The change from that English -life has been too abrupt. As soon as ever little Maud is weaned and -able to be left with your mother you must pack up and come. My Agents -in the City, Messrs. Troubridge, who pay you (I hope) your allowance -quarterly, have all my instructions as to your passage, and Maud's, your -outfit, etc. Once I can get you two out here I shall settle down -contentedly enough and make a fortune--I doubt not--on which, some day, -we can retire and live happily ever afterwards. - -Meantime as I have written very fully, only show this letter to Maud and -say as little as possible about it to Sibyl, lest she repeat my account -of the Happy Valley to that scoundrel, Patterne. She says she never -sees him now, and she certainly ought not to after the reputation he has -left behind in East Africa; but as likely as not she will resume the -acquaintance, and he is the last sort of person I wish to meet in these -parts.... Mrs. Stott of course sends love to you and the kindest -greetings. Her enthusiasm for her Creator is unabated, because they -have so far had wonderful good fortune since they blundered into this -haven of rest and beauty in October, 1888. If one or other of them did -not have once in a way to go down to the coast they would enjoy--she -says--perfect health.... - -Your loving - ROGER. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *FIVE YEARS LATER* - - -Roger Brentham has now lived consecutively for five years in the Happy -Valley; or, to be accurate, at Magara, in a natural fortress looking -down on it from the Iraku escarpment. Much of his work, however, lies -in the plains below, and he has a comfortable rest-house near the -Stotts' station--but not too near, for Kaya la Balalo[#]--as they have -named it--is now the centre of a considerable native village, a little -too noisy, dusty, and smelly for fastidious nerves and noses. - - -[#] "The City of God." - - -In these five years a great transformation has taken place in and around -the Happy Valley. A land settlement has been come to with the natives -and is duly laid down in a rough survey and in signed documents drawn up -in German and Swahili. The native villages, plantations, pasture ground -and reserves are clearly defined so that they may be placed outside the -scope of white encroachment; but in coming to this agreement, some -common-sense regard has been had for highly mineralized land not already -inhabited and suitable for profitable exploitation (with a share of the -profits going to the native community) and for the location of European -settlements, farms, mission stations, laboratories and experimental -plantations. In short, both parties are satisfied. There is sufficient -security for the investment of much white capital in this region of -undeveloped wealth; and the Negroes are reassured regarding their homes -and future prospects of expansion. They have been shrewd bargainers and -have had the Stotts as their advocates. The news of their fair and even -generous treatment has attracted considerable native immigration, -especially from the Nyamwezi countries; Brentham's Wa-nyamwezi porters -have been useful recruiting agents, and the district is well off for -labour. The native chiefs administer rough justice as between native -and native. Brentham and three of his German colleagues, as well as Mr. -Ewart Stott, hold commissions from the German Government as justices of -the peace, and there is a German commandant at a central post in the -Irangi country who presides over a Court of Appeal from their decisions. -But as a rule, these Concessionaires having originally inspired -confidence in von Wissmann's mind during his great pacification of -German East Africa are left pretty free to administer the area of their -large Concession and to keep order within its limits. This, with the -cordial co-operation of the native chiefs they find comparatively easy, -and in this the friendship between Roger and the outlying Masai tribes, -who have not forgotten the blood-brotherhood of 1888 has been very -useful. The Happy Valley has nothing to fear from Masai raids and has -at present no outside enemies. - -Lucy and Maud joined Roger in the spring of 1892 and after four years' -happy life in this curiously secluded region--so cut off as it was from -African troubles, from wars between Arabs and Europeans raids of tribe -upon tribe, risings against the Germans, squabbles with British -pioneers--are now preparing to return to England. Lucy has had two more -children one born in 1893 and the other in 1895. She is anxious to take -them both home and place them in safety there; at the same time she -hungers for a sight of the older two whom she has not seen for over four -years. She is in fact a prey to that divided allegiance which has so -often marred the happiness of the wives of men engaged in Indian or -African work: a desire to be with their husbands, and yet an anxiety -about the health and bringing-up of their children in a barbaric -environment. The Stotts consider they have solved this question by -parting with their oldest child and letting their other children run the -African risks and grow up--if they survive--with only an African -outlook. They are true colonists in intention. But settlers like the -Brenthams always envisage an eventual retreat to the home country and an -English education for their children. - -They are assembled on the open ground beyond the garden of their house -in Iraku, to take leave of their German associates in the Concession: -Herr Treuherz Hildebrandt (whose sentimental fore-name is usually -disguised under the initial T) and Dr. Wolfgang Wiese. Hildebrandt is -the mining engineer who is ascertaining the mineral wealth of the -mountain region bordering on the Happy Valley; Dr. Wiese, besides being -in case of need the physician and surgeon of the little European -community, is a very clever analytical chemist, botanist, zoologist and -horticulturist, one of those all-round men that Germany so often -produced before the war and so often contributed in still earlier days -to the opening up of the British Empire. He has arrived in haste from -his dwelling a mile distant to bid farewell to the gracious Mrs. -Brentham. Wiese is spectacled and bearded, a little shy in manner with -strangers, and inclined to melancholy when his thoughts turn to the -young wife who accompanied him to Africa about the time that Lucy and -Maud came out to join husband and brother. Less fortunate than they, -she had died from an attack of coast fever. Thereafter he had found -some mitigation of his loneliness in the pleasant home created by Lucy -and Maud, so that he regards them with affection and thinks they must be -the very best type of British women. As, however, he has work in -progress at his laboratory of crucial importance, his farewells are -prompt and soon concluded. - -But his colleague, the mining engineer Hildebrandt, stays longer, being -very loath to part with Maud Brentham. He is tall, passably handsome, -soldierly, well-knit, a lint-white blond with violet-grey eyes like -Lucy's. Though he comes from Saxony he is more of the Friesland type, -in the contrast between his straw-yellow hair (mostly shaved to stubble, -it is true) and his dark-grey eyes. He has the further attraction to -which many women would succumb in being very musical (out of business -hours). In those days before gramophones he was a welcome guest for the -music which welled up in his brain and poured from his fingers. Roger -had managed with infinite difficulty to import and carry up on an -ox-cart a cottage piano of German make, and on this instrument -Hildebrandt would waft his listeners to other scenes--of far away and -long ago--with his waltzes, sonatas, minuets, marches, and songs without -words, sometimes playing by ear with that wonderful musician's memory; -sometimes, when he took things seriously, from the enormous supply of -printed music which a sympathetic company had allowed him to carry -up-country. - -A year after their first meeting he had proposed to Maud, and had -renewed this offer of marriage on two other occasions. But she had been -firm in her refusal, though she appreciated his good looks and frank -manliness, and almost loved him for his music. But she declared the -difference in their ages--twelve years--was an insuperable objection; -secondly she did not wish to marry, so that she might always live with -Roger and Lucy and their children. If they failed her she would make a -career of her own--become a New Woman and agitate for women's rights. -"On top of all that, nothing would induce me to live in Germany, though -I've no doubt you are in the right, and it's the finest country in the -world. But I'm so interested in watching English developments. When we -have finished with Africa and made our pile we're going to settle at -home and improve our own country." - -"Well then, if you'll marry me, I'll go and live in England with -you...." - -But Maud has remained obdurate. In spite of this they have settled down -in course of time, and in battling together against the anxieties, -difficulties, and dangers of African colonization, into very good -comrades. Maud and Roger and even Lucy all speak German to some extent, -and the Germans of the Concession have an even greater facility in -English. Conversation is often a medley of both languages and much -laughter at each other's mistakes. Lucy contributes to the common stock -of entertainment very little in the way of talent. She is naturally -fond of music: sweet melodies, deep harmonies bring the tears into her -eyes; gay tunes make her want to dance; but she is no musician and no -dancer. Maud has a pleasant contralto voice and is a good accompanist. -Lucy's water-colour painting has long since been given up as a futility -in this age of universal talent. But she makes botanical collections -now with some deftness and ability under the instruction of Dr. Wiese, -whom in this direction she really helps. Yet considering she has borne -four healthy children in six years of marriage no one can ask much from -her in the way of accomplishment in the arts; and by the time she has -attended to her offspring's needs with the perfunctory help of -Halima--herself saddled with two brown hybrids, bearing extravagant -Portuguese names--mended their clothes and her husband's, and her own, -and generally directed the housekeeping, it is felt she has done her -duty to the little community. Nevertheless though she is not -particularly witty, original, or wise, and has no great physical -attraction for any one but her husband, and is prone at times to be -silent with a gentle melancholy, she has an inherent gift for making -people feel at home. She has a capacity for listening unweariedly to the -longest stories, and is a sympathetic confidant to any one in trouble. - -So Bergwerksingenieur Hildebrandt said good-bye to her with nearly as -much sentiment as infused his voice and his hand-grip when he took leave -of his liebste Kamerad, "Meess Mowd" (Maud always said that his -pronunciation of her name robbed his courtship of all romance). He -looks indeed so sad at parting from these two dear Englishwomen that -Maud is nearly tempted to kiss him; only that he might have misconstrued -her motherliness. - - -The two children in the early morning--it is just after sunrise--are -laughing and crowing with the excitement of the forming _safari_ and the -coming start. The three-year-old boy, Ambrose, is named after his -grandfather; the baby girl has been called Sibyl at her mother's -request. In all probability Lucy had never even so much as suspected -that there was more than cousinly affection between her husband and Lady -Silchester: it would have taken something like ocular evidence to make -her doubt Roger's fidelity. At first Sibyl had frightened and humbled -her, but during the last year of their association, at Engledene, she -had been coolly kind and had shown something like gratitude for Lucy's -care of her ugly fretful little boy. Before Lucy had left to rejoin her -husband in East Africa, Sibyl had said: "I expect you'll have a lot more -children. If you have another girl, call it by my name. I should like -to be associated with a child of Roger's. Promise? Very well then: in -return I'll give an eye to little John and fat Maud whilst you are in -Africa. Indeed I cannot see why they shouldn't move over here from -Aldermaston, when your own people get tired of them; and share Clithy's -nursery.... At any rate come here on visits, and if they quarrel it will -do Clithy a world of good. His nurses give him too much sense of his -own importance." - -So there was at least this pleasant thing for them to look forward to, -even though Lucy's eyes were wet with tears at leaving Iraku. Engledene -Lodge as well as Church Farm would be open to them. Sibyl, more -ambitious than ever of cutting a dash, playing a part in modern history, -rivalling Lady Feenix, revenging herself for snubs by the Brinsley clan, -lived much in London and gave up Engledene to the quiet bringing-up of -her only child. When she went down there it was to rest and repair her -beauty, to transact humdrum estate business with Maurice Brentham. -Except for the autumn shooting parties she entertained very little at -Engledene. It was in Scotland and above all in London that she played -the lavish hostess and sought to undermine Cabinets and bring a new -recruit to the Opposition. - -She was now thirty-four, and when animated only looked twenty-six. -Rumour had assigned her several love affairs, which out of England--on -the Riviera, at Paris, at Rome--were said to have been carried to the -borders of indiscretion. It had even been announced that "a marriage -had been arranged and would shortly take place," etc., between Lady -Silchester and Sir Elijah Tooley--but the announcement had been promptly -contradicted, and a month after occurred the first resounding crack in -the Tooley edifice.... - -It was curious how her personality projected itself across five thousand -miles of land and sea into Equatorial Africa; so that Lucy and perhaps -Roger should both have been thinking about her as they were preparing to -leave their home in this secluded region. Lucy thought of Sibyl -pleasantly as of one she no longer feared because she never desired to -cross her path as a rival, or contest her superiority. Sibyl would -offer her a temporary home in her home country where her children could -be riotously happy, and where Roger--even--might be tempted to join her -for a few months before resuming his strenuous life as a conqueror of -the wilderness. Roger had held out this hope to alleviate the sadness -of their approaching separation. - -He was to accompany his wife and sister as far as Burungi; after which -he must return to the Iraku Hills to take full advantage of the -dry-season months for great projected developments of the planting and -mining industries. From Burungi, now quite an important centre of -traffic, whence well-made roads proceed coastwards, with rest-houses -every twenty miles, Lucy and Maud and the precious children would be -escorted to the coast port of their embarkation by the two German -sergeants, whose service Brentham has taken over from the Stotts. Their -journey might be broken by a few days' rest at Hangodi in the Nguru -country. Maud would like to see the scene of the tragedy and of Lucy's -induction into African life. Lucy would like to pay a visit of -sentiment to John Baines's grave and to live over again in a sense of -contrite reminiscence her brief experiences as a missionary's wife. She -wants to put herself back in time to where the outlook seemed hopeless, -and realize the wide horizon of happiness which now seems open before -her. - -So--an hour late, with all these last thoughts, musing reflections and -leave-takings--Halima is howling with grief because she must remain -behind--the caravan starts on its first day's march. Lucy from delicacy -of constitution is unable to ride much, so she travels in a machila with -her baby. Maud bestrides a Maskat donkey and hopes when she returns -they will by that time have got horses safely through the tsetse belt, -into interior transport ... "you have so little initiative on a donkey, -it will never do anything unconventional." Ambrose being thought too -young to ride a donkey is handed over to his special guardian and chum, -a tall Manyamwezi porter who hoists him on to his broad shoulders. From -this elevation of six feet he surveys the landscape as the _safari_ -swings along. Some German friend had given him the previous Christmas a -tin trumpet, and with blasts of this and shouts of glee he hails the -sight of game standing at gaze in the distance. - -This would have annoyed any sportsman of the caravan had they been bent -on killing for the pot or the trophy; but his father lets him do this -unrebuked. He is not intending to transgress his own by-laws about game -preservation, and the caravan in these bountiful days has its food -supply ensured from station to station. Still Roger reflects musingly -as he rides up hill and down hill through the breadth of the Happy -Valley and up to the low ridge and water-partings which mark its limit -and the commencement of the long descent through Irangi, that in one -respect the glamour of the Happy Valley has already withered under the -practical need for developing its resources. Though there has been no -deliberate big-game slaughter in hecatombs as on the British side of the -frontier, the Grant's gazelles, the hartebeests and tsesebes, the -elands, zebra, and impala are never to be seen now grazing near the -road. They are retreating every year farther into the unprofitable -wastes away from the well-beaten tracks, noisy with the coming and going -of carriers, soldiers, native traders, or ivory hunters. These last, -under some degree of control, are even being encouraged to pursue the -elephants into the recesses of the hills and forests of the north; not -only to bring down as much ivory as possible, to sell, but because the -elephant has met civilization too abruptly. He has contemptuously -knocked down the laboriously erected telegraph posts, and has snapped -and tangled-up the copper wire. This in its derelict condition is too -sore a temptation to the native accustomed to regard copper wire as a -decorative article of the highest value ... so many cubits of copper -wire would buy a wife. So an edict has gone forth which Roger himself -could not protest against, that between Burungi and Kondoa any one, -native or European, may kill as many elephants as he pleases. The -native herdsmen, again, whom they pass on the road lazily minding the -cattle, sheep and goats, are no longer in the state of Paradisiac nudity -that characterized them on that first journey of Roger and Lucy down the -Happy Valley. No one has remonstrated with them on their nakedness: a -hint from Dame Fashion has been enough. The white men and the white -men's black followers have been clothed, so they too must wear old -uniforms, old coats, old trousers, something in the way of frowsy -coverings of their bronze bodies. - -The vulgarization of Africa has begun. Never again will there be seen -in this region a condition of unspoilt Nature as it first showed itself -to the Brenthams. But as a set-off Roger draws Lucy's attention to the -telegraph line in course of re-erection, after the rude elephantine -protests. It is proceeding to a great German military post, but a -branch will presently be carried to Iraku--almost as soon as she is back -in Berkshire--and _then_ he and she will be in close touch. It will be -possible, at a cost of a few pounds, to telegraph to one another and -receive the answer in a day--two days at most. - -It is four years since the Brenthams saw Burungi, for Roger's journeys, -meantime, have ranged farther and farther afield towards the -mysterious--still mysterious--region between the Happy Valley and the -shores of the Victoria Nyanza. Even then, when Roger rode there to meet -his wife and Maud on their journey inland--Maud's first introduction to -Real Africa--the desolate Burungi of 1888 was no longer recognizable, -with its wilderness of thorn bushes and baobabs on which gorged vultures -were perching, its lurking lions and hyenas, as the evening darkened, -its flitting, furtive, thievish Wagogo, the ruined station of the -Stotts, and no other visible sign of habitation. Even four years ago, -though the vultures were still there, it was to feed on the offal of a -well-supplied market-place, the thorn bushes had been burnt for firewood -or cut up for fences, and a corrugated iron hut on the Stotts' site, -though villainously hot in sunshine, provided shelter and security for -stores. Now there were brick houses and a number of grass huts on the -Mission enclosure near the river. There were half-finished Government -buildings in course of erection and many tents for the accommodation of -a staff of military officials and constantly saluting white civilians. A -number of clothed Wagogo, looking singularly mean in their -garments--though without them they were lithe and graceful -savages--were, under the raucous directions of a white -engineer-sergeant, laying down a light Decauville railway. - -All these activities had not for the time being made Burungi less ugly, -and Roger hated the sight of the place. After a long conference with -the two civil-spoken German sergeants, who a year previously had been -truly thankful to exchange the military career for employment under his -Company, he went through the agony of good-bye--an agony he would not -protract by spending the night in this noisy, discomfortable place. He -compressed his embraces of wife and children--the latter mystified and -yowling with the dim realization of bereavement--his wringing of Maud's -hands, his directions to telegraph at every opportunity till they got on -board, and hang the cost--into two hours; after which, though only two -more hours of daylight remained, he rode away, back to their camp of the -previous night: knowing that further lingering might end in his deciding -to accompany these two dear women and prattling babes all the way to the -coast and perhaps all the way to England. - -And it was essential to their future welfare that he should stay where -he was and not claim a holiday till certain results had been achieved -and certain proofs of easily exploited wealth had been obtained. - -But it was a melancholy Roger who, six days afterwards, rode back into -the lovely amphitheatre in the Iraku hills where he had made his home. -His Maskat donkey showed signs of having being hard ridden; his carriers -averred that Master, ordinarily so considerate of their fatigue, so -jolly on the line of march, had spurred them on remorselessly, had -seemed to pass wakeful nights and had eaten his camp meals with poor -appetite. Roger himself felt a few more partings like this would make -his earthly life unbearable. Oh that there _were_ some truth in the -silly hymn chorus that the Stotts delighted in making their pupils sing: -"Here we meet to _part no more_, _part_ no more, _part_ no more!" He -should have been firm with Lucy and bade her stay till he himself was -ready to go. And yet when _would_ he be ready to go, with Phantom -Fortune always beckoning yet never disclosing the final hoard? - -There was something in Lucy's face which restrained him from insisting -that she should stay. Dr. Wiese had hinted at a growing anaemia which -should be checked. Her dominating feeling was a fear that she might -lose the precious children born to her here in the wilderness and be -forgotten by those she had left behind. He must not take the thing too -tragically. If Hildebrandt continued to get these satisfactory assays -and could trace the gold-bearing reef a sufficient distance towards the -western limit of the Concession; or if on the other hand he could find -the matrix of the diamonds, and not merely these minute brilliants in -the gravel of the mountain streams, their main doubts and difficulties -would be relieved and he could depart for a holiday at home. - -The return to his house was some alleviation of his bereavement. It was -so associated with the presence of wife and sister and of his babies. -The afternoon sun was behind him; it would soon drop below the blue -mountain wall which was a rampart of protection to the site he had -chosen for his European settlement. How often he and Lucy had stood here -in blue shadow and looked towards the sun-flooded east beyond the shade -of the escarpment, towards the Happy Valley! This was just such a close -to the day as they had loved to witness three hundred days out of the -three hundred and sixty-five of the year. To the north stretched the -lake of cobalt blue, with its irregular blush-tinted rim of flamingo -hosts. South-east of the lake beyond lush swamps and green plantations, -were the Umbugwe villages and the Stotts' large station--little points, -clusters, and pencils of brown and white. The whitest speck was the -Stotts' new Chapel. He had been present at its opening ceremony a month -ago--to gratify Mrs. Stott. Beyond lake and villages were the gathering -masses of mighty mountains, ending north-eastwards in the snow-tipped -pyramid of Meru--on this clear evening--in the supernatural snowy dome -of Kibo. What a prospect! And yet he would willingly exchange for it -the view over southern Berkshire from the down of Farleigh Wallop. - -He entered his house. The presence of Lucy and Maud seemed as if it -must be material, no: merely spiritual. He looked into their rooms. -They had been considerately tidied before they left, and showed little -sign of packing up and departure. Lucy was a good house-wife, he -reflected, and she probably judged that in her absence he might want to -entertain guests, colleagues come on business, Government officials. So -that her room and his sister's were ready prepared for occupation. The -nursery was a little more desolate. The toys had been given away to -Halima's children. If ever Ambrose and Sibyl came back--and how unlikely -that they would!--they would have grown far beyond the love of toys. -Maud had left most of her songs on the top of the piano. She could get -newer ones in England. The vases were filled with fresh flowers from -bush and garden. Halima had put them there, faithful to her mistress's -directions. - -Halima now called him to his tea, on the verandah. The table was laid -with all the care that Lucy was wont to bestow on it. Andrade the cook -had baked a nice cake and even attempted something resembling a -muffin--a kind of compromise between a muffin and a tea cake, due to a -confounding of Maud's instructions. Roger's eyes filled with tears. -Halima, departing with a brass tray, answered with two loud sobs in her -facile grief. Yet a few years before she had been ready to abandon her -mistress in distress when she was stranded in Mr. Callaway's unsavoury -depot at Unguja. His eyes followed her portly form magnificently -swathed in red Indian cottons, with tolerant good will. There was a -good deal of the humbug about all these black people, but it was kindly -humbug. He was grateful for this comprehension of his sorrow, for this -effort to carry out his wife's instructions that the comforts and little -elegancies of their home should be continued after her absence. - -Then the tame Crowned cranes came below the verandah to be fed with -bread and cake as Maud had encouraged them to do. His black-and-tan -English terrier, confined for safety in the cook's quarters during his -absence, had been released and now came tearing up the steps and rushing -along the verandah till it was in contact with his lowered hand, -volleying forth a long succession of eager barks of joy and whimpers of -hysterical distress and relief at Master's absence and return.... - -In the evening after dinner Wiese, Hildebrandt and Riemer (Plantation -Manager) came up to pay their respects to the Herr Direktor and give him -an informal report of all that had occurred during his absence. They -tactfully said little about his bereavement, though Hildebrandt heaved -some theatrical sighs at the sight of Maud's music on the piano. But -they had much to say in German and English that was interesting and -encouraging. So they sat up late into the night talking and discussing. -Andrade sent them up an impromptu supper, wine and beer were drunk in -the moderation imposed by their then rarity--owing to transport -difficulties--and when they finally departed at one in the morning, -under the firmament of blazing stars, with lemon-yellow lanterns to -light their path back to their respective quarters, the grass-widower -betook himself to his couch in a more resigned frame of mind. There -would be great doings, great strokes to hew out fortunes for all of -them, within the next few months. - -A fortnight afterwards, by swift runner from Kondoa, came a telegraphic -message despatched from Saadani: - - -Arrived here safely. Leave for Unguja to-morrow. God bless you.--LUCY -MAUD. - - -Thereafter followed long day-rides of inspection, an occasional week's -absence from home studying possibilities in remote parts of the -Concession, holding conferences with the Stotts, laying cases and -possibilities of special difficulty before the German officer commanding -at Kondoa. His talks with the Stotts were directed to several ends: -urging the Stotts to get into the confidence of all the native -tribes--Bantu, Hamitic, Nilotic--of the Concession's area and find out -how far their interests might be subserved by the full exploitation of -the animal, vegetable and mineral wealth of this patch of East Africa. -"Unless we carry the natives with us," he would say, "this enterprise -must eventually fail, wither up; because, boast of the climate as we -may, the hard manual labour cannot be performed by white men: we must -fall back on the native. Now half the men-natives in these parts are -picturesque to look at, graceful figure and all that; but they shirk -hard work. They prefer to loll about in the sun or to run after women. -Can't you put some ambition into 'em? Teach them something besides -these rotten hymns and prayers that are meaningless to them?" - -"But we do," said Mrs. Stott. "You haven't looked over our school for -two years, I believe. You seem to have got hymn-singing on the brain. -Our hymns translated by us are not rubbish and the natives enjoy singing -them...." - -"I don't doubt they do, though I don't see what use it is. Neither they -nor the prayers prevent the Almighty from sending the flights of -locusts.... Or rather these appeals and this excessive praise do not -stimulate the Divine power to do _something_ to abate Africa's myriad -plagues. It is always poor Man--and most of all, poor _White_ man--who -has to work his brain and body to exhaustion to set right what Nature -perversely sets wrong. Here am I, trying to abate the grasshopper -plague in our tobacco plantations by encouraging the domestication of -the Crowned crane. Yet the natives won't take any interest in this -idea, though the Crowned cranes feed themselves and have charming -manners. Can't you push this matter in your schools? Couldn't you -preach a sermon on the uses of the Crowned crane?" - -On another occasion he put a further difficulty before the Ewart Stotts. -"Look here! I'm going to take you again into my confidence. I want you -to find me an assistant, some one of your own kin in Australia who would -come out here at short notice on an agreement for three years--I even -want two men, one of them versed in shorthand and typewriting who could -be my secretary. I don't know any one in England who isn't either a -rotter or a potential rotter, or hasn't got a job already. There's my -brother Geoffrey, but he's a Commander now in the Navy, getting on fine, -and simply wouldn't think of chucking the service to come here. My -other brother is well suited as a land-agent. I want something -Australian, some one as like you two as possible. I don't mind a -moderate amount of religion, as long as it doesn't waste their time on -week-days, and they can't be too teetotal for my liking. No -Whisky-drinker need apply." - -"Why, I believe we know of the very two, at any rate of the principal -one," said Mrs. Stott: "My nephew Phil Ewart. I haven't seen him since -he was a baby, but my brother's wife writes to me now and again and says -he's doing very well on a big sheep run in Queensland...." - -"Well then, look here: let's draft a cablegram that I can send off from -the coast. I'll guarantee him a year's salary and, if he turns out -satisfactory, a three years' agreement--L500 a year. He can choose any -likely young fellow ... good character ... abstainer ... serve as clerk -... L200 a year commence ... take steamer Australia-Durban, and German -steamer Durban-Saadani, and so on, up-country. If I get 'em here by -November I can give em three months' trial before I set out for home.... -_Must_ take a holiday next year and bring my wife out afterwards. Don't -like to leave this business without a Britisher in it to watch my -interests, don't you know, and advise me how things are going while I am -away." - -So they arranged the matter between them. Then Mrs. Stott said: "I've a -funny proposition to make. A week ago I received a letter from Ann -Jamblin that was ... at Hangodi.... Ann Anderson she is now. She saw -Lucy there five weeks ago and was much touched at her calling on them. -Says she took a special fancy to your dear, sweet, pretty children. Her -own little girl is very ailing. Well, now she goes on to say old Mrs. -Doland, who was a great supporter of their Mission, has died and only -left the East African Mission L5,000. For this and other reasons the -Mission thinks of giving up Hangodi, as it is quite an isolated station -now, and all their others are in the British Sphere.... Well, to put it -quite plain, as you're impatient to be gone--oh, _I_ know by the way -you're tapping your gaiters--how would it be if your Concession or you -or some one advanced our Mission L150 for out-of-pocket expenses--so as -to move quickly, don't you know? And we sent word to Ann and her -husband to join us as soon as they had definite authority to evacuate -Hangodi. The German Government, I believe, are going to buy the -station. If we got Ann and her husband up here the couple of them would -strengthen our hands mightily and then we could give some of that -worldly instruction you're so anxious about. Or make it up in some way -of help. Strengthen the British element here. For although I don't hold -with your views about Providence one little bit, and believe the World -was made in six days and am surprised every now and again that you -aren't struck down for your audacity, not to say blasphemy, yet -something tells me you and we are really working for the same Divine -ends...." - -Roger said the matter should certainly have his attention. (Before he -left for England the following Spring Ann and Eb were members of the -Stott Mission, and the Stotts were able to open another station and -school in the Iraku country.) - -The months flew by through autumn, winter and spring. Roger established -a stud farm in the Happy Valley where he could locate a captured dozen -of zebra and interbreed with Maska donkeys ... perhaps a manageable, -large-bodied zebra-mule might solve some of their transport difficulties -in the regions of the tse-tse fly. He introduced shorthorn cattle from -South Africa to mingle with the native oxen and improve the milk supply. -He imported from Natal six Basuto ponies, two stallions and four mares. -He ordered three safety bicycles--the great new invention or combination -of inventions. He and his German engineers, reinforced by a clever -Swiss sent out by the German directorate, gave special consideration to -the waterfalls of Iraku, to harness them to turbines and produce -electric light. This power would feed electric dynamos when the -progress of the railway construction enabled such heavy things to reach -the Happy Valley. They laid out great coffee plantations and -experimented in tea and quinine. It was hoped the natives might take up -all these cultures in time, on their own account, as they had done that -of cacao on the Gold Coast and in the German Cameroons. - -The day for his departure in the early spring came ever nearer and -nearer. The two Australians arrived, went down with fever, recovered -and eventually proved the right stuff, especially young Philip Ewart. -Mrs. Stott said she would see he did not get into mischief while the -Director was absent in England. She would also give an eye to the -Brenthams' house and the doings of Andrade and Halima as caretakers. - -There was therefore little cause for anxiety on Roger's part as he made -his preparations for a six-months' absence, save the rumoured doings of -a certain Stolzenberg, a mysterious German hunter who, coming from the -British Sphere, had established himself near the north-west escarpment -of Lake Manyara, apparently on the border of the Happy Valley Concession -(Gluecklichesthals Konzession). - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - *TROUBLE WITH STOLZENBERG* - - -In those days--to parody a line of Holy Writ--it might be said, "To -every man, a crater or two"; if you were referring to the wilderness -which lay between Kilimanjaro and the southern Rift Valleys, and to the -strange adventurers who in the 'nineties ranged up and down the East -African interior between Baringo on the north and the Happy Valley on -the south, over a region of elevated steppe land, isolated mountains of -immense height, and extinct volcanoes. Some of these lawless men were -accumulating considerable wealth in ivory, sheep and cattle. They -wanted fortresses in which to live and store their plunder, or the spoil -of their chase, the elephant tusks, the rhino horns, the lion and -leopard skins, the black and white mantles of the long-haired colobus -monkeys, the ostrich plumes; even the roughly-cured skins of the rosy -flamingoes which were becoming an article of great demand in the plumage -trade. For this purpose the large and small craters of presumably -extinct volcanoes were ready to hand; as though Nature had anticipated -their wants. Most of these were surrounded on the inside by the nearly -continuous, circular wall of the crater, only broken down at one point -where the lava or nowadays a stream of water (the overflow of a little -crater lake) issued from the crater floor. Here with piled stones it -was easy to restrict the gap and hold the entrance against any savage -enemy without artillery. These defences were, of course, prepared -against the Masai and not with any idea of defying a White Government, -whose advent at that time seemed very problematical: at any rate a White -Government that would interfere to protect the natives, to obstruct -elephant killing, or regulate the movements of cattle between a -disease-infected area and one that still possessed uninfected flocks and -herds. - -It was to one of these craters--very red in colour--that Roger Brentham -rode up at the end of March, 1897, after three days' difficult journey -from the south. He halted his little _safari_ of armed porters and his -four Somali gun-men on a level tableland in front of the gap in the -crater walls; a gap cleverly closed by a huge door of yew planks and a -bridge of yew trunks thrown over the issuing brook, with stones piled on -top to a height of twenty feet. There were obvious indications that the -walls and woodwork were loopholed for gun-fire. He called several times -loudly in Swahili and German to arouse an answer and rapped on the -cumbrous door. - -Presently a smaller door within the great one opened and there emerged a -sullen-looking negro giant, probably a Makua from the south. [Such -offer themselves for service in Unguja.] "Unatakaje?" he asked in -Swahili. "I want to see your Bwana--I do not know his 'native' name," -said Brentham, "but just take this 'karata' to him and he will read my -name; and say I wish to see him. Meantime I will make a camp here." - -The Makua doorkeeper or watchman returned within, and possibly an hour -passed before anything further happened, during which Brentham had his -tent erected, and arranged for his men--they were travelling very -light--to make their sleeping-places around it. - -The small door was again reopened and there stepped out a -remarkable-looking man of over six feet, with enormous recurved -moustaches, a sombrero hat, jackboots and a general swashbuckling air -and a visible revolver in the broad belt that held up his breeches. He -walked slowly towards Roger who advanced to meet him. - -"Did you come to see me?" he asked in English. - -"I did," said Roger; "that is, if your name is Stolzenberg?" - -"It is ... for to-day--at any rate. Well: here I am. You come to tell -me 'it is Easter Sunday, and Christ Is Risen,' like the Russians do?" - -"Why, is it Easter Sunday? Dear me! I had no idea. If so, I might -have chosen another time. Still, as I _am_ here and as you _are_ -here--and I fancy you are often absent?--I should be obliged if we could -have a talk, come to an understanding, don't you know?" (There was no -answering friendliness in the fierce face that looked into his, the face -of a perfectly ruthless man, eyes with bloodshot whites, wide mouth with -pale flaccid lips, showing strong tobacco-stained teeth, prominent cheek -bones, lowering brows, a massive jaw, and here and there an old duelling -scar.) - -"An unnerstanding?" he said sneeringly. "What about? _I_ unnerstand -you. I know who you are, now I see your card. You are Captain -Brentham. Once you were Consul ... at ... Unguja. Then you run away -with missionary's wife--and--you are ... no more Consul. You do -somesing shocking, _nicht wahr_? It is so easy to shock your -Gover'ment--and now von Wissmann--that Morphinsaeufer--he gif you a -Concession. An' I suppose you come now to say I trespass on your -Concession? Very well then, I _do_, an' I don' care a damn for you or -for any Gover'ment you like to name. I make this my home six, seven -years ago and no one come to turn me out now, unless they fight me -first. - -"I haven't come to turn you out," said Roger. Stolzenberg laughs noisily -and contemptuously.... "It's not my business to do so. I have come with -a very small following to make your acquaintance, to find out for myself -what you were like and to see whether it was possible to deal with -you..." (As he is talking he sees that through the open doorway of the -stronghold there are issuing a large number of armed black men, dressed -like the coast people--perhaps a hundred), "to deal with you as one -white man might deal with another. But before I can even put our -case--our Concession's case--before you, you commence by insulting me -and making a lying statement about my wife--and you probably now intend -threatening me by an attack with your Askari[#]--who I see are gathering -up behind you." - - -[#] Soldiers. - - -"These men," said Stolzenberg, glancing round at them and shouting an -order to them to be seated, "are only there to make sure. You -Britishers are always up to some trick. I thought just to show you I -stand no nonsense. As to what I say ... a-bout Meeses ... Brentham, I -... only ... say ... what your ... own country-men say on coast. But -let that pass. What is this unnerstanding you propose to me--a -Partnership? Well, I am open to a bargain. What is it to be? What -terms do you offer?" - -"I haven't come here to discuss any such thing. I came to say this. As -you ask the question, this extraordinary place--I suppose it is the -crater of a volcano?--does not lie within our limits. You are not -trespassing on our property. But for the past nine months or so we have -had many complaints about you or about your men. You raid the natives, -you take the Masai cattle and apparently drive them into this -stronghold. You even kidnap the Iraku women...." - -"I do _not_ kidnap.... They come here of their own pleasure ... they -are free to go if they like. But they like my men much better than their -own husbands who cannot gif them closs or beads...." - -"And finally," continued Roger, almost choking with the effort to speak -in a level voice and not send a fist smashing into the large face that -bends over his so threateningly, "finally, you drove away by force two -of our prospecting parties at the north end of the Lake and..." - -"Those men," shouted Stolzenberg ... "they ... they come just to spy out -my defences ... but look here. You and I are big fools--p'raps I am -bigger fool than you.... I lose my temper first, I say things a-bout a -la-dy which perhaps are not true.... I apologize.... Nutting they say -on the coast is true! Look at the lies they tell about me!" (a -boisterous laugh). "They say at Mombasa I am biggest blaggard unhung. -That is--what you say? ex-agger-a-ted? And look at the lies Bri-tish -missionaries tell about my friend, Doctor Peters. It is that make me so -angry just now. German Gover'ment belief these lies and send my good -friend away. And then there is a fine Englishman I know, a nobleman in -your country, a Sir--Sir Wil-low-by Pat-terne. You would hardly belief -the things they say a-bout him--always be-hind his back...." - -"So you know Willowby Patterne," said Roger (greatly interested). - -"I haf seen him once or twice," replied Stolzenberg, becoming -suspicious. "But you do not come here, I sup-pose, to talk about him? -You come to make my acquaintance. Well: you haf made it. Now you leaf -me alone and I will leaf you alone. I ... what you say? I 'will not -return your call'? My quarrel with the Masai is not _your_ business. I -haf--what do we say? I haf 'vendetta' against the Masai. When I first -come out to East Africa on my own business I fit out a _safari_ and -travel to Kenya to buy ivory. I do no harm to Masai, but they attack my -camp, they kill a young German man with me, my _very great_ friend; they -kill most of my men--and see! They try to kill me" (pulls up shirt and -shows long scar over ribs on left side), "and they kill my dogs. Only -when they see Kikuyu coming down in large war party do they leaf off -stabbing and go away with most of my trade goods. The Kikuyu carry me -up to their village and save my life--I haf always been good friend to -Kikuyu since.--You ask them! Well now, I get my own back. Whenever I -see Masai now, I shoot. I put fear of death into them...." - -"This is an interesting bit of biography," said Brentham, "but I thought -those lawless days were gone by. I haven't heard the Masai version of -your story. Perhaps they had some excuse. At any rate, they were not -the same clan as the Masai round here, friends of mine for years; and -you've no right to make war on them. Outside our concession, that's not -_my_ affair. Your Government----" - -"Do not say _my_ Gover'ment," roared Stolzenberg. "It is not mine. I do -not ask for it! I am my own gover'ment. I was in these countries -before ever came any German or any British Gover'ment." - -"Well then, the Government of this region, the Government that has got -the most right to govern ... I say--No! you _must_ hear me out before I -go--what you may do outside our concession is between you and them. But -if after this warning you interfere with our people, the people inside -this Concession I am managing, and in which I'm a magistrate, you'll run -up against _me_, and I shall shoot you at sight like you do the -Masai...." - -"All right! Haf a drink before you go?" - -"No, I won't," said Roger. And wheeling round on his listening men, he -shouted: "Pigeni kambi. Maneno yamekwisha. Twende zetu." Then, so that -his leave-taking might lose none of its abruptness, he strode to where -his Maskat donkey was tethered, released it, jumped into the saddle, and -rode slowly away till he was out of sight, below the space of level -ground. There he waited till his men had rejoined him with their light -loads. The first to arrive were the four Somali gun-men. They had long -since learnt to speak Swahili and they said, laughing, in relief that -the palaver had ended without recourse to firearms: "Ulimshinda na -maneno, Bwana mkubwa, ulimshinda, yule Mdachi. Walakini, ukiondoka, -akasema watu wake. 'Simchuki, yule Mwingrezi. Mwanaume.'"[#] - - -[#] "You conquered him with words, Great Master, you defeated him, that -German. But when you left he said to his people: 'I don't hate him, -that Englishman. He is a man.'" - - -Roger rode away musing from this encounter, or rather rode and walked -over an exceedingly rough country with scarcely a native path or sign of -habitation, a country depopulated doubtless by former wars and raids of -tribe on tribe: for it was well watered. - -The tall clumps of Euphorbias gave the red landscape a sinister look, -for their articulated branches looked like a conjunction of gigantic -scorpions, bodies meeting together and stinging tails erected in the -air; the fleshy-leaved aloes of deep bottle-green sent up blood-red -stalks of blood-red tubular flowers; on the higher ground there were -many rust-red or red-lead-coloured "red-hot pokers"--what the initiated -call Kniphofias. The country somehow suggested blood and iron; for the -old and faded Euphorbias might have been cut out of rusty metal, and -iron ore was so obviously permeating the rocks. - -He mused on the violence to which Africa always seemed a prey. The -reign of law in East Africa in both the British and German spheres -seemed to be preceded by the reign of the outlaws. He knew enough as a -traveller and an ex-official, and as a resident in the lands bordering -on the British sphere, to be aware that just then the British hinterland -was a prey to German and British, Austrian, American, South African and -even Goanese-Indian buccaneers, who obeyed no laws or injunctions of the -feeble Chartered Company or of the weak young Protectorate Government -which followed. - -Some of these outlaws had come to East Africa with a voluble Austrian -crank and two Russian anarchists who tried to found an impossible Utopia -in South Galaland, the Colony of Freiheit--the main principle of which -was that the oppressed white people of Central and Eastern Europe were -to be free to do as they liked here and take all they wanted, while the -natives of East Africa were to be their serfs. The natives of that part -of East Africa--the proud Galas--who did not even know a _good_ white -man when they saw him, or allow him to live--soon settled the hash of -the Freiheiters, many of whom (there were three hundred in all) died of -malarial fever. The remnant that escaped across the Tana became a -scourge of inner East Africa; and a faint flavour of their -unscrupulousness still remains. At the time of Roger's musing ride back -from Stolzenberg's red Crater-fortress to his home at Magara on the -Iraku escarpment there were about a dozen of these pioneers of -civilization still remaining in activity. A few had made moderate -competencies and had returned to Central Europe to abandon Communism in -favour of State and Church, and to make respectable marriages with -high-born damsels. The greater devils, the altogether -branded-with-the-brand-of-Cain that remained would one by one either -enter some company's service, not too scrupulous as to antecedents, or -die bloody and terrible deaths. Meantime, they shot enormous numbers of -elephants, made themselves chiefs of nomad tribes, started harems of -twenty or thirty bought or snatched damsels (who thought the whole -episode rather a lark), accumulated great herds of cattle, sheep, goats -and Masai donkeys. Later, as things became more defined, frontiers more -precise, laws more clearly formulated and regulations--my own for -example--more vexatious, they turned themselves into smugglers and -professional lawbreakers. They conveyed out of British into German -territory forbidden ivory of female elephants; they brought from the -German sphere cattle that might be affected with some germ disease and -were therefore forbidden to enter British territory; they disposed of -rhinoceros horns that were in excess of the miserly allowance granted to -big-game slaughterers; they carried on a brisk slave trade by enrolling -hundreds of labourers in German East Africa and conveying them hundred -of miles into British East Africa and disposing of them at a premium to -the many associations and enterprises requiring the black man's strong -arm and patient labour; and they redressed the balance by raiding -unnoticed districts under the British flag and transporting the -inhabitants to German East Africa to be enrolled as labourers under -military discipline. - -A few of them were unmitigated scoundrels, two or three had a maniac's -blood-lust for killing beautiful creatures of little use when killed; or -delighted in inflicting cruelties on the natives "to show their power." -Many a blameless Government or Company's official proceeding up-country -has been surprised at the hatred which flamed out at his approach, he -guiltless of any unkindness or injustice. One or other of these -masterless men were the cause of the treacherous attack on his caravan, -or the loss of his life in an ambush which had to be expensively avenged -by a military expedition. - -Yet if there was the left wing of his Legion of the Damned which drew up -at the foot of the gallows, there was the right wing, headed by Sir -Willowby Patterne, which remained in touch with good society and even -dined, coming and going, at the Administrator's table or with Sir Bennet -Molyneux at home. Nothing to their actual discredit was proved against -them. And East Africa was five thousand miles from Mayfair. - -Patterne, whose first shooting expedition of 1890-91 had resulted in -quite a nice little profit from the ivory it obtained, took up -definitely an East African career. He had at first tried to get himself -commissioned for the interior of the Chartered Company's territory. But -its directors were well-intentioned, shrewd men and his home reputation -barred the way. Yet he could not very well--being a Baronet of -far-reaching connexions--be denied access to this loosely governed -region, whither he came every two or three years. After his first -journey and the court cases it aroused at Unguja, he was not such a fool -as to continue his savage treatment of his carriers and servants or he -would soon have been unable to recruit a caravan. On the contrary he -paid well and gave a liberal food allowance, and within limits his -enforcement of a rather Prussian discipline exacted the respect of the -Negro, who appreciates arbitrary power if it is not accompanied by -meanness in money matters. His reckless slaughter of game made him even -popular with his expeditions because it gave the men a surfeit of meat, -and trophies to turn into amulets. - -Patterne at last became tolerated as an inevitable concomitant of the -march of civilization, and acquired citizenship in British East Africa -by staking out a vague "concession" near the north-west corner of the -Kilimanjaro slopes on the edge of the German frontier. It was in this -way and in this neighbourhood that he got to know Adolf Stolzenberg, -whom he helped in his raids against the Masai; less by direct -participation than by furnishing him with arms and ammunition and by -disposing of his captured cattle. - -"What do you know about this curious personage, Stolzenberg?" asked -Roger of his two friends, Hildebrandt and Wiese, when he had returned to -Magara from his visit to the Red Crater. - -"Only what we hear people say," replied Hildebrandt. "Some say he is -just a Sous African German who do some bad sing in Sous Africa and com -up here ten, twelf year ago to join the Denhardts. Ozzers say he com -from Germany long before, wiz Dr. Fischer, and zat he was natural son of -our old Emperor Wilhelm One. First, Emperor put him in army, and -several times pay his debts, and zen when he kill anozzer officer in -duel he pack him off to Africa and say, 'Never let me see your face -again.' But p'raps zat is only story invented by ze man himself. -Somtimes I sink our Government use him in som way. I dare say your -Government do ze same by zis ozzer man you hate so, Vill-o-bee Patterne. -What a fonny name! Your English names are somtimes more fonny zan ours!" - - -The German Commandant, consulted by Roger (who in April, 1897, was on -his way to the coast after having made everything safe behind him), was -rather noncommittal about Stolzenberg. The conversation was in German, -punctuated with phrases of Swahili on the part of the Commandant, who -was proud of having acquired a smattering of this African tongue. He -was rather non-committal about the denizen of the Red Crater. He was a -"derben Kerl" ... "Simba yule, kabisa," the terror of the Masai. He -kept the Masai occupied in that quarter while the Germans tackled the -Wa-hehe on the south. He must be given some latitude ... the Commandant -would see he did not impinge on the Concession ... perhaps he might be -persuaded to take command of a large irregular force against the -Wa-hehe.... - -"'_Divide et impera_,' sehen Sie? Em glas Rheinwein, nicht so? Und -Soda? Ein lang-trinken in der Englische phrase...." - - -It seemed incongruous that this scene--the rather stiff German major, in -strict, white, military uniform and an encumbering sword, a black -sentry, not far away, walking with a plap, plap, plap of his bare feet -up and down the prescribed number of paces; a plainly furnished, -white-washed room in a square fort with pretentious crenellations along -its high white walls; the oleograph portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm II; the -camp table, the Rhine wine in long-necked bottles, the enamelled iron -tumblers and the soda siphons; and the click of a typewriter in the next -apartment--should come up before his mental vision as he sat with Lucy -and Maud and the Schraeder partners on a balcony in the Strand, waiting -for Queen Victoria to pass to her Jubilee thanksgiving at St. Paul's! -Why should he think of Adolf Stolzenberg then? - -He was but part of the African nightmare which he would fain roll up and -forget. A few weeks of England had put Africa's nose out of joint. To -work for the redemption of a tiny portion of German Africa when such -gigantic developments of British Africa were dawning in the imagination -of far-seeing men, or when an evolution still more important was taking -place in his own land, in the Far East, in America.... - -What was it that brought back the Red Crater to his mind, the sinister -face and powerful figure of Stolzenberg; or the German Commandant in the -fort at Kondoa? Whose was the thin, aquiline, insolent face with its -riotous smile that held his gaze across the narrow Strand, the face of a -tall man in ultra-fashionable cut of clothes, standing up amid a bower -of Gaiety girls with four or five extra-smart young City -men--stock-brokers, no doubt, Company promoters, or the solicitors of -Company promoters--? It was Willowby Patterne he had been staring at -for several minutes; and Sir Willowby was flicking a greeting to him -with the manicured hand which had drawn the trigger on so many lovely -beasts, or had lifted the Kiboko with such a cunning twist to lay its -lash on the naked skin of some defaulting native porter.... - -He had to concentrate his thoughts before he replied to the greeting -with a grave bow--had to remember that he had once played semi-host to -this man at a Scotch shooting lodge; hated him mostly on hearsay -unproved evidence, and chiefly on apprehension as to future maleficence, -rather than on positive wrongs to himself. - -Then he gave his consideration once more to the passing pageant. - -Thrum ... thrum ... thrum ... thrum ... in between the bursts of -military music went the steady marching of the Imperial troops. There -was the pick of the regiments of the British line; there were samples of -Indian infantry--bearded Sikhs, grinning Gurkhas, handsome -Panjabis--Surely that was young Pearsall-Smith at the head of one of -these detachments? He had heard of his distinguishing himself in the -Nyasaland wars against the Arabs--and he winced to think he had no part -in this ceremonial, he could point of late to no service to the Crown -and Empire--was it his fault? If he had gone to Norway or to South -America, could he have achieved anything that might have brought him -into the procession of to-day? What splendid Indian cavalry. That -Indian prince leading them had once given him some tiger shooting when -he was a young A.D.C. to Sir Griffith Gaunt. Ah! Here was Africa in the -procession--Hausas from Nigeria, Sudanese from Egypt; these bronzed, -well-seated, rather insolent-looking white men were mounted police from -the Cape, from Bechuanaland, from Natal. - -These gaudy zouave uniforms and Christy minstrels' faces were a -contingent from the West Indian regiments that had figured in so many -West African wars. And now came well-set-up Turkish police from Cyprus, -well-drilled Chinese police from Hong Kong; even solemn-looking Dyaks -from Borneo, who were believed to have given up head-hunting in favour -of constabulary work at the Bornean ports. - -And carriages containing permanent officials--he thought he recognized -Sir Bennet Molyneux in one, possibly attached to the person of some -foreign prince, some German or Russian Grand Duke. And Ministers of -State saluted by the happy crowd with good-humoured cheers and a few -serio-comic groans. That one who aroused such an outburst of cheering -was the great Choselwhit, Josiah Choselwhit, Secretary of State for the -Colonies, in Windsor uniform with the customary eyeglass. His hosts, -the Schraeders, joined lustily in the hurrahs, as did the City men -opposite; Choselwhit was supposed to have brought grist to the City -mills and to be the mainstay of the British Empire in which Germans as -well as British made such millions of money.... - -And ... and ... and ... At last, after many preliminary princes and -princesses, Queen Victoria herself; a little figure swathed in much -black clothing but with filmy white around the rosy face and -yellow-white hair.... She progressed very slowly--so it seemed to -Roger--past their windows. The Schraeder brothers positively brayed -their international loyalty, so that their voices were even heard by her -above the deafening clamour. She turned her somewhat haughty profile -and clear blue eyes towards their balcony with its flamboyant draperies -and symbols, as if she searched for some face she knew to whom she might -address a smile of acknowledgment; but finding none, turned her gaze to -the Gaiety girls and the shouting young men who had invited Patterne as -their guest. To these pretty actresses, showing real emotion, she did -address a royal smile, which caused one of them to give way to real -tears. Then Roger found himself gazing at the back of her bonnet with -its white ostrich plume, illogically disappointed that there had been no -smile for him, he who would have served her so gladly had her ministers -let him. - - -The Queen-ant of an unusually large ant-hill on this little ball of rock -and water having gone on her way to thank the Master Spirit of the -Universe for a few additional years of life and power to do good---the -while no doubt that Master Spirit, despite Its Unlimited Intelligence, -was vexed and preoccupied at the way things were going in the -constellation of Orion--a million times larger than the whole solar -system; or at the accelerated currents of star-dust in the Milky Way, or -the slow progress towards forming a cluster of sixty giant worlds made -by the Nebula of Andromeda: the Schraeder partners were dispensing very -elegant hospitality in the room behind the two windows they had taken at -an Illustrated Newspaper Office in the Strand. They were essentially -practical men, being German, with a Jewish quarter-strain and a French -education. They could have entertained Roger and his wife and sister; a -great Singer--who could not "place" Roger and therefore was cold to him; -a great Actress rather past her prime; a great Essayist whose mental -scope was limited by Oxford and the Athenaeum; and various other guests -of intellectuality and distinction: they could have entertained their -friends and acquaintance in the Piccadilly house of one of them and the -Grosvenor Gardens house of another; or they could have thrown open their -splendid City offices for the same purpose; but the view of the whole -procession and especially of the Queen would not have been so near, so -concentrated, as from windows on the first floor of the Strand at its -narrowest. So in fixing up their plans two months beforehand it was -here they were playing the lavish host. - -The collation was of the most exquisite; the wines of the finest quality -imparting the most insidious intoxication, so that you thought you were -only being your natural self, though you put your elbows on the table -and wondered that you had never hitherto been ranked as a great wit. -The celebrated singer began to forget her secret grievance that she was -not being entertained by Royalty and had not ridden in one of those -carriages. She consoled herself by the assurance she would be at the -Naval Review and the Garden Party and probably most of her fellow-guests -would not. And then after all, if you did stoop to City entertainers, -you could not do much better than the Schraeders, unless it were the -Rothschilds. Baron Schraeder was the head of the family, and he had -been made a Baron by Napoleon III, which was much more chic than a -German title given by a petty German court. The Schraeders for several -generations had been dilettanti, outside business; musicians of a -certain talent; shrewd judges of cinque-cento art; abstruse -ornithologists; members of the Zoological Society's Council; of a Jockey -Club here and of a Cercle d'Escrime there. But to sustain this life of -many facets they required unlimited money; and Roger Brentham just now -was promising to become one of their most remarkable money-spinners. -Mr. Eugene Schraeder was therefore, after one or two elegant fillings -and sippings over Royal names, proposing ever so informally his good -health, and that of his charming and devoted wife, and ... and ... he -stammered a little over the characterization of Maud, who was the least -genial member of the party and had shown herself a little blunt with the -actress past her prime, who was now descending to whispered confidences -of marital ill-treatment. "But our friend, Captain Brentham ... may I -without indiscretion say he should, if he had all that was due to him, -have been in the procession to-day as an actor rather than a spectator? -Though our party would have lost one of its most interesting guests...." -(The Essayist, whose nose has gone very red with the champagne and the -Chateau Yquem, here looks at Roger for the first time with focussed -eyes: is it possible that he could have done anything worth notice, -outside Oxford and the Athenaeum?) "Our friend, Captain Brentham, first -led the way of Imperial expansion in East Africa; he is now endeavouring -to show us Germans how the wealth of our East African possessions should -be developed and brought into the world's markets. Germany was not too -proud to enlist the services of any man--or woman" (he bowed to the -Actress and Singer) of ability. To be a German was in some ways to be a -world-citizen. If they searched the glorious records of the British -Empire they would find them studded with German names.... The British -Empire of to-day stood grandly open to German enterprise; they would -find in return that the German Empire overseas was ready to afford every -opportunity to British colonizing and administrative genius. So there -would be in German circles no grudging to Captain Brentham of a full -meed of praise--from his firm, at any rate--for the truly remarkable -discoveries he had made.... - -"You mustn't forget the credit due to Hildebrandt and Wiese and several -other fellows," interpolated Brentham, desirous of doing the right -thing-- - -"Just so--of your German colleagues: that is as it should be. But that -brings me to the climax I was leading up to, rather wordily I fear. -Dear friends (his voice a little tremulous with honest emotion) let us -drink a final toast: _To Anglo-German Co-operation_; to the great -Alliance of our two Nations founded on affinity of race and language, a -common love of truth, a common devotion to Science, and I might add -almost--a common dynasty" ... (rest lost in clapping). - -The toast, however, was drunk somewhat sparingly and absent-mindedly. -The Singer, Madame Violante (her married name was Violet Mackintosh), -felt dangerously near hiccups (it was the plovers' eggs, she told -herself) and she might have to sing to-night! How could she have been so -mad? The Actress felt she had said rather too much about her husband to -a total stranger, a middle-aged woman who now looked a mere parson's -wife. - -The Essayist had grown rather sulky because his hosts in this wholly -unnecessary speechifying had made no reference to his own contribution -to Anglo-German friendship, his _Place of Heine among Modern Poets_ and -his _Synthesis of Lessing's Dramas_. - -Then the party broke up, and the kindly Schraeders suggested, as any -form of conveyance was totally unprocurable, they should have the -hardihood (the gentlemen protecting the ladies) to walk back through the -common People--whom the Police had described as uncommon good-natured -and just a bit merry--to the Green Park and witness the dear Queen's -return to Buckingham Palace. - - -But when the Jubilee fiss-fass-fuss had abated and before they went to -Homburg and Aix, the partners sent for Roger and spoke to him with -business-like generosity. He and his staff had made discoveries of -value that might be almost called astounding. The capital of the -Company would possibly be increased ten-fold--large subscriptions in -Germany--exciting immense interest among the best people on this side. -His original syndicate shares had become equivalent to 50,000 shares in -the enlarged Company, and as they stood at a pound, why he would be -worth, if he realized, L50,000. But, of course, he would not do such a -thing till promises had been turned into performances--Meantime, they -were prepared to raise his salary to L3,000 a year--he would probably -have to entertain German officials considerably--and conclude an -agreement for ten years.... "But if I have to entertain largely?" he -queried, not above making as good a bargain as possible.... "My dear -Captain Brentham! Don't let _that_ stand between us.... There shall be -an entertainment allowance of five hundred a year. And we hope that -that will induce you to take your charming lady back with you, and your -sister, Miss Brentham. I assure you the encomiums passed on those -ladies by our German friends out there have contributed not a little -to...." - -"All this is very kind of you. But I don't want to think I alone am -being rewarded for discoveries which in some cases were entirely due -to...." - -"You will find when you go back your German colleagues have not been -forgotten in the all-round increase of salaries.... And now; go and -take a _good_ holiday and get well braced up before your return in the -autumn...." - - -Roger took them at their word. He and Lucy, after revelling in the joys -of parenthood in Berkshire, went off to spend a month with Sibyl at Glen -Sporran. Lucy had long since grown used to Sibyl, so the prospect of the -visit caused her no perturbation. She followed Maud's advice as to -suitability of outfit and the number of evening frocks and tea-gowns. -She was the only member of the party who did not bicycle or play bridge. -Sibyl boasted of doing sixty miles a day without turning a hair; but the -Rev. Stacy Bream nearly killed himself trying to emulate her feats of -coasting downhill and pedalling uphill. - -The Honble. Vicky Masham was there as of yore--a little longer in the -tooth (she had got used to Sibyl's nickname by this time, and had -forgiven it as Sibyl had helped her to pay her bridge debts)--. She -hurt her ankle badly in a bicycle accident and had to lie up. Lucy, the -only one at home, sat with her, did fancy work and burbled gently about -her African experiences. The Honble. Victoria grew quite interested, -regretted that Mrs. Brentham, born as she had been born, without the -purple, and her husband not having pursued a British career, could not -be brought to the dear Queen's notice.... The Queen took the _greatest -interest_ in Africa.... - -Lucy, of course, after a few lessons abandoned any attempt to play -bridge (people in 1897 debated whether bicycling, bridge, the Bible, or -herbaceous borders had brought the greatest happiness to Britain: we, in -after life, see it was the bicycle). She was scared by the subterranean -forces it aroused and lit up in the angry eyes around her, the fortunes -that were involved in the plunge of No Trumps, the awful penalties -attendant on a revoke, the fate that hung on a finesse. So she wisely -declined to play and talked--or rather listened--to the one who cut out; -or if several tables were made up, she dispensed drinks and sweets and a -sandwich supper. The Rev. Stacy Bream, vaguely nettled by her rival -Christianity, glanced at her once, remembered years ago she had been -Sibyl's butt, and inquired of Sibyl "who her people were, what her -father was?" - -"One of the best farmers in Berkshire," said Sibyl. "Mine is--or -was--for I had to buy him up--one of the worst.... What was _your_ -father, by the bye? It never occurred to me to ask you before...." - -The Rev. Stacy's father had really been a very pushing Agent for a firm -of Decorators and Wall-paper designers: so he replied with a sigh: "A -great, _great_ traveller, dear lady; a man who loved Colour and Design -better than his immortal soul, I fear.... It's to you to cut...." - -But Sibyl had not confined her Highland house-party to these worn-out -fribbles. Bream had his uses. He would be there to assoil a guest who -might get shot in the shooting, and so perhaps save the unpleasantness -of an inquest; and his stories of people on the fringe of Society were -the equivalent and the accompaniment in midnight chat--just before you -took your bedroom candle--of pate-de-foie sandwiches and cherry brandy. -Vicky Masham kept you right with Queen Victoria; Lucy was a reminder to -her not to make a fool of herself with Roger ... perhaps also there was -a little gratitude in her hard nature for the good a year of Lucy's -society had wrought in her little son's health and disposition. But she -wanted--more than ever at thirty-six--to be a political woman, to make a -difference in the world, hand her name down in history, change or shape -history in fact. It had occurred to her, as it did to fifty other -mature, handsome, well-placed women of ambition, to marry Cecil Rhodes; -but the Jacobzoon Raid and still more the eager rivalry of other ladies, -perfectly shameless in their frontal attacks on the Colossus, soon -thwarted any such idea ... reduced it indeed, to such a ridiculous -impossibility that it was only confided to her locked diary. She had -fortunately withdrawn her half-promise from Sir Elijah Tooley at the -very first hint that there was a crack in his reservoir of wealth. -Otherwise--with a couple of millions of his money ... and he could have -had his own suite of apartments, and she would have stopped him waxing -his moustaches ... she might have over-turned her world.... Then there -was Count Balanoff, the Russian Ambassador, a widower.... - -"You know," she said to Roger in one of her many smoking-room -tete-a-tete confidences--"he is 'richissime,' and really rather decent, -though he does dye his hair.... Gold mines in Siberia, turquoise mines -in the Caucasus.... He seemed quite to _want_ to marry me, at one -time.... Vicky Masham thinks it was the Queen who interposed. If he'd -asked me and I'd accepted I should have made myself in no time the most -talked-about woman in Europe. I'd have negotiated an alliance with -Russia--always an idea of mine--and have paid the Kaiser out for his -Kruger telegram--Why is it, Roger, there isn't a _rush_ to marry me? -I've ten thousand a year for life; I'm only thirty-six, which nowadays -is equivalent to twenty-six; I've a splendid constitution, my hair's my -own and so are my teeth, my figure is perfect.... I might be an -artist's model for the 'tout ensemble.' ... And yet ... (a pause for -smoking). - -"And it isn't as though the re-marriage of titled women was 'mal vu' at -Court any longer.... There's Lady Landolphia Birchall. She's going to -be married again in the autumn; this time to a 'booky'--for he really is -nothing more, though he takes bets with the Prince. And she's turned -fifty. But the Queen doesn't seem to mind...." - - -But to return to the theme from which this digression started. Sibyl -had asked four great Imperialists down to Glen Sporran to make Roger's -acquaintance: the Honble. Darcy Freebooter, Percy Bracket--Editor of the -_Sentinel_--the Right Honble. J. Applebody Bland, and Albert Greystock, -grandson of old Lord Bewdly. She would have liked to have captured Mr. -Rudyard Kipling, but he had perversely gone to the United States, a -region which lay outside Sibyl's calculations, since we could neither -annex it nor protect it. She had even tried to include the great -Choselwhit in the company, the mysterious idol before whom and whose -non-committal eyeglass so much imperialistic incense was then burnt. -But he had answered coldly, in an undistinguished handwriting, that he -regretted a previous engagement. - -"I don't mind admitting, it's _rather_ a snub," she said to her quite -indifferent cousin, "and it _vexes_ me because he is the coming man. It -is _he_ we must look to, to lead the Unionist, the Imperial Party; not -those effete Brinsleys with their antiquated love of Free Trade and the -Church of England.... I'm very much 'in' just now with Laura Sawbridge -... you know, that clever woman-writer and traveller. She says she can -turn Chocho _round her little finger_. It was _he_ who sent her out to -... (rest whispered). Well, you see what _that_ means? Chocho is lying -low, but he means to get even with old Kruger and paint the Transvaal -red...." - - -Whether anything much, except distrust and disgust, resulted from -bringing Roger Brentham within the same four walls, into the same -shooting parties, bridge contests and bicycling excursions as these -distinguished Imperialists, it is hardly worth inquiring. Imperialism -is dead, and I, as an old Imperialist, am moribund, and most of the -people mentioned are no longer of this world. Probably Roger thought -Darcy Freebooter what all collateral younger sons of his stock had been -for three centuries: it was described by his surname. Percy Bracket, he -defined mentally as quite ignorant of the Empire he unceasingly boomed -(not without a practical purpose, for he expected most company promoters -to give him a block of paid-up shares or "let him in on the ground floor -"). The Rt. Honble. Applebody Bland reminded Roger of Mr. Quale in -_Bleak House_, whose mission it was to be enthusiastic about everybody -else's mission ... and recalled to Lucy, by the jets of saliva which -accompanied his easily provoked eloquence, her special African horror, -the Spitting Cobra. And Albert Greystock was too good for this world. -He believed any one who advocated enlarging the British Empire was a -pure-souled missionary of civilization, incapable of a base greed for -gain or other interested motive. He also believed that once a backward -or savage country had been painted red on the map there was nothing more -to be done or said. There it was: saved, happy, and gratefully -contented. - -These people all said in turn "it was _monstrous_"--a man who could in -six years accomplish such encouraging results in a part of Africa -unfortunately for the time being under Germany _must_ be brought back to -British Administration. _Choselwhit_ must be seen, _Wiltshire_ -button-holed, the _Rothschilds_ nudged, and _Rhodes_ got round.... - -Roger, however, was not going to risk the substance for the shadow or be -disloyal in the slightest degree to the generous Schraeders. He would -buckle-to, make his pile, bank it; and _then_, perhaps, weigh in, -scatter the chaff and garner the grains of Imperialism. And of one -thing he was jolly well sure--thinking back on his faithful Somalis, his -cheery Wanyamwezi, on the well-mannered, manly Masai, the graceful -Iraku, and the obedient Wambugwe: he would see that the Black men and -Brown men reaped full advantage for the White man's intrusion into their -domain. They should receive compensation for disturbance and be brought -into partnership, not only of labour and effort, but of profit. - - - - - *CHAPTER XX* - - *THE BOER WAR* - - - _From Lady Silchester to her cousin, Captain Roger Brentham._ - - -Stellenbosch, - Cape Colony, - _March_ 25, 1900. - -DEAR ROGER-- - -Your letter from Magara of last December reached me in London just as I -was leaving with Landolphia Birchall (she kept her former name when she -married the Booky ... and _quite right, too_--you _never_ know how a -second or third marriage is going to turn out, and at any moment may -want your old name back). We came out here to see something of the war -at close quarters and to set up a hospital and a convalescent home for -the sick and wounded officers and men. - -I cannot tell you how _proud_ and _pleased_ I was you had _done the -right thing_. People--especially that horror, Willowby Patterne ... my -dear, he is going _bald as an egg_, with a _terribly_ pink neck, all due -to some mistake in a hair-restorer, he says, but I say it is a vicious -life--people were saying odious things about you the last year or two -for developing German East Africa instead of one of our own colonies. -But I knew--and always said--your heart was in the right place and that -_once_ you saw old England was in a tight place you would come to her -assistance. There is nothing like one's own country, after all, is -there?--"_My_ country, right or wrong!"--one of the few ex-cabinet -ministers who is running straight said last December at a meeting I got -up at Reading. Some rude man in the audience called out, "But why don't -you set it _right_? _Then_ we should know where we are." But you must -expect such retorts from people who know nothing of foreign policy. - -I wonder how you got away? Lucy and Maud, I suppose, you have left -behind. The Kaiser seems rather friendly to us, they all say, and is -going to be pacified with Samoa and more pieces of West Africa. So I -suppose your concession will be all right, whilst you are away, and the -Germans won't do anything unkind to poor Lucy and Maud. Or have they -returned to England? It is France who is showing her teeth, not -Germany! Chocho has very rightly told her "to mend her manners." She -is a _pig_ ... she can't forgive our taking Egypt and turning back -Marchand at Fashoda. - -Even Spain has seized the opportunity to get her own back. It seems -Lord Wiltshire called her a decaying nation during the war with the -United States, and she has been saying through her press after each -British defeat: "Who's the decaying nation _now_?" I must say she had -some cause! Never were we more bitterly disappointed in our -Generals--before Lord Roberts came out: They started off--some of the -dear old trots, with Crimean whiskers, if you'll believe me--as pleased -as Punch; and their silly young A.D.C.'s got the porters at Waterloo -station to stick labels on their luggage "To Pretoria," "To -Bloomfontain" (Is that how it's spelt?). And, of course, the only -result of this boastfulness was that as soon as the old footlers got out -there they fell into ambushes and lost their way and their men, and were -deceived by guides, and the soldiers quite lost heart and got taken -prisoners. - -England in December! I shall _never_ forget it! I couldn't sleep for -_nights_ and _nights_, and Vicky Masham told me the Queen's health -received such a shock that she will never be quite the same again.... - -Of course, now we can breathe once more. As you are on the spot and I -dare say in the thick of it all, I need not tell you how things have -gone since Bobs and K. of K. came out. - -Well, of course, with all this going on in South Africa you couldn't -expect any loyal Englishwoman who wasn't positively tied down by home -duties to remain at home. So I sent Clithy to Eton--he's nearly -thirteen now--and kept on his governess to mother him when he comes from -school, and also confided him to the general care of Maurice, whom he -likes. By the bye, I've pensioned off old Flower now, or at least got -rid of him with a premium, and Maurice is full Agent, and I've advised -Maurice to take on as an assistant Harden, the County cricketer, your -wife's brother-in-law! Well. Having done all this and girded up my -loins, so to speak, I made interest with old General de Gobyns at the -War Office--such an old darling--he served with Wellington, I -believe--and came out here with Landolphia Birchall, to supervise -hospitals and give a general eye to the sick and wounded, read to them, -write letters home for them, change their bandages, if it isn't too -complicated--and so on. It was partly the thought that you were out -here that decided me to come. Don't forget if you are wounded or ill to -let me know and I will try to come to you or get you put into one of my -hospitals. That _would_ be jolly! - -Landolphia is a funny old party! She must be quite fifty. She was so -ill crossing the Bay of Biscay. Owing to the disgraceful amount of room -the staff officers took up on the steamer she and I were jammed together -into one cabin. Where our maids were put, _I_ don't know--in the -stoke-hole I think. But we scarcely saw them all the voyage and when we -landed Sophie gave me notice at once, only she can't get a passage home -so she has had to let it stand over till I choose to return. Of course, -under the circumstances, Landolphia could keep nothing back from me--she -was _so_ sea-sick; as she said, that she felt herself naked, face to -face with her Maker. So everything had to be explained--her secrets of -make-up, her sachets of peau d'espagne, her dress improvers and peculiar -stays and adjusted shoes. I suppose (though I laughed inwardly till I -_ached_, she looked so droll when she was taken to pieces) I must have -been good to her in her dire affliction, for she's clung to me ever -since, and says we are sisters without a secret between us. After all, -with all these infirmities and "adjustments" she was a plucky old thing -ever to come out. Now she thinks it an awful lark-- - -By the bye, she protests with tears in her eyes that her third husband -is _not_ a booky, he's a _trainer_, which, it appears, is a vastly -superior calling. She also says she oughtn't to be judged so harshly -over her marriages. The second husband, Captain Birchall, only lived -with her for three months and then broke his neck in a point-to-point -steeplechase. She lived twenty years with Augustus Gellibrand, and she -really only married her present old man--Dawkins--because she got into -such a tangle over her racing debts and he put them straight.... - - * * * * * - -Do let me know if and when this gigantic letter reaches you! - -Your devoted - SIBYL. - - -As will be seen later, this frank outpouring did not come into Roger's -hands for five or six months. Fortunately Sibyl had also sent him -several picture postcards with photos of herself and Lady Landolphia -dressed in nurses' costume, or a kind of hybrid costume between a nurse -and a nun. These reached him at his Agents' in Durban. So he wrote to -her from that place and was rather pleased to think she was in the same -sub-continent as himself. It diminished slightly the acute form of -home-sickness from which he suffered after first landing in Natal. - -Once more he asked himself if he had done the right thing in -volunteering for the South African War. His Agents at Durban, being -German and Dutch, were at most coldly polite and there seemed to be no -rush on the part of the authorities to enlist his services. In order to -have two trusty servants who would take care of his baggage and perhaps -follow him in campaigning--they would make most admirable scouts--he had -brought with him to Durban two of his Somali gun-carriers. After -landing with them at Durban and reporting himself to the military -head-quarters as a former captain in the Indian Army, he had the -deuce-and-all of a bother to get food and lodging for these wretched -Somalis, who were at once classed by we ignorant Natalians as "just -ordinary niggers" ... though why "just ordinary niggers" should be so -ill-treated, he could not understand. No hotel would lodge or feed them -except in a kind of pigsty with hog-wash for food, where the kitchen -Kafirs abode. They might not go into a shop and buy food, or rather they -might go in but no one would serve them. After dark they must have a -"pass." They very narrowly escaped jail and the whip and disappearance -for ever from his ken by defending themselves with all a Muslim's pride -when cuffed and pushed and flouted. - -Roger very nearly--for that reason and for the mosquito-preserves of -Durban then called "hotels"--turned tail and re-embarked for German East -Africa; but fortunately there came along a Colonel who had not served -under Wellington or even seen the Crimea, but was no older than -Roger--42--and had known him in London. - -"You're just the type of man we want, with your knowledge of the bush -and of niggers...." - -"No, don't call them that; it--it--riles me after the years I have -worked with them...." - -"Well, Negroes, the bonny Bantu, the blameless Ethiopians, if you -will.... And you ought to be a master-hand at bush-fighting. We're -going to get up a sort of mounted infantry, don't you know. You're just -the man to be given a small command. You need not tell me you can't -ride, can't get every ounce out of your mount, 'cos I know better; or -that you can't manage horses so that those entrusted to your men don't -die in three weeks. Didn't you once tell me you bred Basuto ponies in -G.E.A.? Well, I'm here, there, and elsewhere, buying Basuto ponies. -Just stay here and get your uniform and equipment--here, give this card -to our Supply department--and then report to General Buller. I'm -writing him fully about you.... Oh yes.... And as to your nigs. I mean -your two high-bred Fuzzie-wuzzies. Of course, we don't employ Negro -soldiers ... 'gainst the rules. But we engage thousands as batmen, -transport-riders, grooms, and everything else. I'll fix it up somehow -that you take your two darkies with you. They seem to know what I'm -sayin'. What jolly teeth. They look hefty men and a dam' sight -handsomer than some of the Johnnies you'll see on the Rand, when we've -got Oom Paul on the run..." - - -So in course of time, Roger, first brevet-Major for gallantry in action, -then a full Major--if there is such a simple rank no longer qualified -with adjectives (but I know after his campaigns in the Transvaal he was -always styled "Major" Brentham, till he was made a Colonel)--found his -way (always attended by Yusuf Ali and Anshuro, his Somali batmen) into -the eastern Transvaal at the period when President Kruger and the other -members of his Government were leaving Pretoria for the Portuguese -frontier. - -In the month of August he took part in a concentration of British forces -against two Boer commandos in the north-east Transvaal. This resulted -in a technical victory for the British, but whilst the tide of battle -rolled away northwards to seize Pietersburg, the Boers were left in -possession of the site of the first skirmish. And in a sudden hush -after great clamour Roger realized that he was lying in the shade of -some bushes near a little _spruit_ of water, shot through the thigh and -quite incapable of sitting up. The bullet or bullets had gone clean -through the fleshy part of the right thigh and grazed the knee of the -left leg. Happily they had not broken the thigh bone or cut the great -artery. The Somalis, who had a magical faculty of turning up when most -wanted, had come in handy as renderers of first aid, had stopped the -haemorrhage. They now squatted on the ground beside their fainting -master, fanned his sweating face, gave him water to drink and -occasionally sprinkled his chest and forehead with water to ward off the -deadly faintness.... - -A Boer Colonel came riding by, scanning closely the scene of the -struggle. He claimed the unconscious Roger as his prisoner--out of -pity--and whistled up carriers and a stretcher to bear him to the -nearest dressing-station. - -Here he was attended to by one of the numerous German doctors who had -volunteered for service with the Boer armies. - - - - _From Major Roger Brentham, D.S.O., to Lady Silchester._ - - -British Hospital, - Unguja, - _Novr._ 27, 1900. - -DEAREST SIBYL,-- - -A steamer coming from the south to-day brought me your letter of last -March! I had got several of your postcards showing yourself and Lady -Landolphia in nurses' uniform and with dreadful smiles of glittering -teeth, and knew of course--heard, I mean--what you were doing for our -men out in South Africa. The letter was sent on by my Agents; I expect -it got hung up in the military censorship, and I must say I don't blame -them! Your unconscious criticisms of our generalship were pretty -pungent. I wonder I got it at all. But better late than never! After -I have read it a third time I shall burn it because there is one -classical tag I never forget: _Littera scripta manet_. - -I see by the London papers of September you are not only back in -England--or rather Scotland--but entertaining as of yore at Glen -Sporran. And playing with the same old toys! How indefatigable you are -in your pursuit of power! How unwearied by the social routine, which -would drive me into exile or into murder. I should end by killing the -poor old _fantoches_--Vicky Long-i'-the-Tooth, Stacy Bream, and the -others--I forget their names--the Right Honble. gentleman who spat like -a cobra--only it was very kindly saliva, not at all venomous--and that -moral enthusiast over the Empire--Albert Something. I see by the same -paper he is now Lord Bewdly and has been uttering some beautiful -sentiments over the results expected from the Boer War.... You were -Stellenbosched, and with reason, because your hospitals and convalescent -homes were there (I see, by the bye, that Willowby Patterne, who came an -awful cropper at Driefontein and generally misconducted himself, was -also Stellenbosched by K. of K. I hope you did not foregather with -him?) ... Well, as I was saying, you were Stellenbosched and saw little -of the horrors of War. But I did, and I used often to wish that Albert -person could have been with me and seen the burning of the homesteads, -the cutting down of the fruit-trees, the fugitive women and little -children, the Boer boys of eleven and twelve dressed up for war like -their fathers and elder brothers and fighting for their homes. I saw one -of these boys--tousled yellow hair, nice grey eyes--in a buckskin suit -much too big for him, laid out to die by the road-side, just after we -had burnt his father's home. I don't suppose one of our chaps really -set out to kill him. But there it was; he had been shot through the -lungs and was gasping out his life, blood pouring out of his mouth at -each gasp. And yet he tried to smile and said something in Dutch about -his father being away.... Upon my word I should have liked to get the -Kaiser, old Kruger, ---- and ----[#] all strung up together on the site -of that farm. For they are the four men who together made this most -unnecessary war. I know what lots of our Tommies said when they heard -Kimberley was relieved! - - -[#] I shrink from perpetuating all Roger's indiscretions and impulsive -statements.--H.H.J. - - -As for me, I was laid out soon after with two bullets through my thigh. -But for Yusuf Ali and Anshuro, my two Somalis; and equally but for a -humane Boer (Colonel van Rensselaer), I should certainly have died. As -it was, the haemorrhage was stopped and a German doctor at the field -hospital nursed me through a bad attack of blood-poisoning. I shall -never, of course, be quite the same man again; but I still feel as -though there were a lot of push in me. Soon after my admission to the -hospital at Lydenburg, the Boers evacuated the place and in course of -time I was transported to Durban and invalided out of the army with the -rank of Major. I had already got a D.S.O., so _I_ can't complain. I -would fight any day for England against England's enemies, but--however, -no more grousing. Let's hope a new order of things is going to set in. -I certainly should like to cut my D.S.O. into three and give two equal -bits to Ali and Anshuro. You've no idea what those Somali boys were in -the matter of devotion, cheerfulness, astuteness! And yet they only -served me for the ordinary coast wages; though of course I'm going to -give them both a handsome donation when their time is up. - -Well: here I am at a hospital once more. I must rest here and get my -leg quite sound before I start for up-country. I have been here for a -month, in telegraphic communication with Lucy and Maud, imploring them -not to come down to the coast to meet me. Lucy, I fear, is far from -strong; and Maud is simply indispensable to the carrying on of the work -up there. She has shown herself as good as a man. The two Australians I -put there have done their best, but they don't get on at all well with -the Germans. Their education has been very poor--I mean in -book-learning--they are rattling good in settlers' lore--and, of course, -they utterly refuse to understand German and openly gibe at it. Their -chief recommendation is that they are absolutely honest.... - -I lie here chafing and intensely anxious for my worst wound to heal. I -am told I ought to be thankful to have made such a wonderful recovery. -But I feel a month of Lucy's care for me and the bracing air of Iraku -would set me up altogether; and my mere presence at Magara put an end to -all these misunderstandings and bitternesses. - -The Schraeders were rather aghast at my bolt for South Africa last year; -but stood it on the whole very well. Of course, I insisted on being -reduced to a third of my pay whilst I was absent. I retained just -enough salary to keep Lucy and Maud going, and maintain the -household.... - -The whole German attitude over this war has been a curious one, and so -have been its refractions on their attitude towards me. I hear that -after my departure for the war a strong move was got up to oust me from -the Managership. Now that I have returned wounded and a Major and a -D.S.O. (that was given me the other day, for capturing Colonel Boshaert -and three hundred men and a thousand cattle near Lydenburg--tell you all -about it one day) they can't say enough in my favour. I am almost -threatened with a triumphal procession home.... Engine from Tanga -wreathed with palm fronds, etc. Fortunately the train will take me half -the way back, and for the rest I can be carried in a Machila. - -But there is little doubt that the mass of the Germans out here thought -we were going to be gravelled by the Boers and that Germania would step -into the shoes of Britannia. Undoubtedly the Kaiser for the past six -years has been fishing in troubled waters, trying to connect up German -South-West Africa with Boer territory, and planning to make Germany the -dominant power in South Africa; or, at any rate, the honest broker -between Boer and Briton.... - -Why the Dutch and the British should be as oil and water in South Africa -and elsewhere, I _can't_ think. But they are. The Dutchman in Africa -and Europe is just a rather finer built, better-looking Englishman or -Scotchman; but in language, mentality and above all in a curiously hard -attitude towards the Negro, he is Teutonic. The whole set of South -Africa is towards Germany.... That is why Rhodes lost his head.... - -Your affectionate - ROGER. - -P.S. See you next year or year after, as soon as ever I have got -everything going here as it was before the war, and it is safe to come -away. I must go on with this until I can retire with a competency. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXI* - - *THE MORALS OF THE HAPPY VALLEY* - - -"I am so glad, so _truly_ glad you are almost your old self again," said -Mrs. Stott, one brilliant morning in the spring of 1901, to Major -Brentham, who had been four months back at his home in Iraku. He did -indeed look as if he had in a measure recovered his good looks and -energy, though the right leg was still stiff and much riding or walking -brought on pain. - -"It emboldens me to embark on a very disagreeable subject which I have -been saving up to discuss with you. We cannot evade it much longer; -so--if you have the patience--?" - -"I am always patient with you, Mrs. Stott. There are few people I -respect more...." - -"Thank you. Then I shall take up an hour or more of your time, if you -are not very busy. But how is Lucy?" - -"Lucy is not well; anaemic, Dr. Wiese says. I should send her home, -only she refuses to go without me and I can't leave till next year. Dr. -Wiese does not insist on her going before then. He is trying a new -tonic which seems to be blood-making; it ought to be, because--though I -do not tell Lucy--it is made of blood--one of these new German -inventions. Wiese says if we would only do like the Masai and the Iraku: -tap the veins of our cattle and drink the hot blood--" - -"Ugh! don't let's talk about it; it makes me sick. I'm almost a -vegetarian, you know. Couldn't we go into your study? It is delicious -here on the verandah, but I don't want to be overheard." - -"Certainly: come this way." - -"What _wonderful_ petunias, yours are! I never saw such glowing -colours. Your whole garden is a joy to the eye and a credit to the -Concession...." - -"You're _right_. But the credit lies with Riemer, the plantation -manager; he gives it an eye. The Germans are wonderful horticulturists. -I don't think we sufficiently appreciate that fact at home. They are as -good as the Dutch. Now then, here we are in my sanctum--rather untidy, -I fear.... Take this chair..." - -"No, it is too reclining. I _do_ like an upright straight-backed chair -when I want to speak out. My daughters say I'm like a character in one -of Dickens's books, who could never loll. They're wonderful readers and -remember everything they've read...." - -"Well now, what's the trouble?" - -"It's--it's--this--horrid--_sexual_ question I've come about. You know -what Ann Anderson is--I prefer to call her Ann Jamblin--I don't like the -two 'An's' together. Ann has a wonderful power for good, an energy in -righteousness, and is as nearly sinless as any woman can be. But she's -also got _such_ an insight into other people's sinfulness that she -spends much of her time denouncing their wrong-doing--too much, I think. -I tell her she's out here to convert the blacks, and for the time being -had better leave the whites alone. But she pays no heed to me--says her -mission is to all men. She simply won't let the Germans alone. We had -terrible rows sometimes when you were away, though your sister did what -she could to smooth things over. I admit some of them are utterly -wicked. There is that monster Stolzenberg--whom the Masai call 'The -Terror'--_Olduria_--. After he came to the Lake with his Ruga-ruga last -October and shot all the flamingoes...." - -"WHAT?" roared Roger, leaping to his feet, and then wincing... "I never -heard this before...!" - -"No? Well: sit down. You ought to rest your leg. Lucy didn't want you -to know. She thought it would upset you so--And indeed, it was a -shocking pity.... But you'd soon have noticed how few there are -left--even from here on a clear day.... I understand Stolzenberg sent a -huge consignment of their plumage to a firm he trades with in -Marseilles. And he has been going about to other lakes doing the same. -But I must stick to the point.... Where was I? Oh, yes! ... Ann, who -lives in our old station at Mwada, was awfully upset because she had -become so fond of these birds, besides being infuriated at Stolzenberg's -Ruga-ruga occasionally carrying off women. So she wrote him a letter -saying that if he showed himself in the Concession again she would take -a gun to him herself. She solemnly cursed him and called down Divine -punishment on his head. Unfortunately--for I think the whole thing was -_most_ unwise--she paid a Masai who came along to trade to deliver the -letter at Stolz's boma. The watchman at the gate made him come in and -give the letter himself, and Stolz having read it had the man's left -hand chopped off, tied it to his right, and said that was the answer to -the English Missionaries and that was how he'd treat any other -messengers sent to him.... The poor wretch arrived at Mwada a week -afterwards nearly dead with loss of blood.... Of course, the Masai have -again sworn vengeance against this monster: but what can they do? But -that is not our worst trouble. Before you went, and whilst you were -away, Ann took up the sex question. You know how set she was on the -elevation of the native women? You used to laugh about her corps of -Amazons, her 'Big-geru.' She hadn't been long with us before she began -to interest herself in the young women of Iraku.... Those of the -Wambugwe are, I must confess, _hopeless_ at present; I mean as regards -chastity. Poor things! They are corrupted and degraded from childhood. -But there is something superior--something of another race in the Iraku -and Fiome. You said once they were partly descended from some Gala -immigration of long ago?... - -"Well, Ann, who is untirable, started a class of these Iraku young women -before she had been six months in the Happy Valley. The chiefs--I dare -say you remember speaking to some of them? ... _quite_ approved and sent -their young daughters. She taught them cooking and laundry work, plain -sewing, reading and writing. And now she finds, after they have been a -year or two at our schools, they go off and live with white men....!" - -_Roger_: "I dare say they do, and have a much better time with them than -with their own men. But what white men? German, I suppose?..." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Ah, _there_ you touch my greatest sorrow. Yes. Every -German I know on this concession keeps a native woman, mostly from our -classes. But I fear--I fear--my nephew Phil and the clerk Stallibrass -as well--my two Australian boys--are not much more moral. Their -relations with the native women won't bear investigation. That is not -all ... and I have no right to be here as an accuser when I can't answer -for my own son, Edgar.... You remember you offered in 1897 to take him -home with you, and have him sent to an English school or college for a -year or two? I wish ... I wish ... we had consented. It was so good of -you. But we thought at the time that if children can grow up into -God-fearing men and women in Australia without leaving the back-blocks -or the bush, why not here, where the climate is good? Then there was -the question of the cost...." - -_Roger_: "I suppose he has got all his education from you and his -father?" - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Yes, indeed. The main thing, besides religion, was to -teach our children to read and write and do simple accounts. All they -wanted besides was to read the books we ordered out.... I'm sure you -can't say we have been indifferent to literature?" - -_Roger_: "No--not of a certain kind ... but all of it, from what I have -seen, is rather old-fashioned and goody-goody...." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "I don't agree. However, I won't stop to argue about it. -It matters little, since Edgar from the age of twelve or thirteen has -cared very little for reading. His passion is _sport_. And to think -how I ran down big-game shooting, when it was not vitally necessary for -our supplies! Of course, James is a good shot and a clever hunter, and -Edgar, after he was twelve, used to go out with him. He killed an -elephant to his own gun when he was only fifteen, and the tusks fetched -as much as L60! He _was_ proud. Now his one idea is to be away -shooting ... and trifling with these Iraku women. Oh!" (crying a -little). "_Can't_ you see how it _silences_ me? Ann talks about cutting -off a member that offends and says I should expel my own son from the -Mission for loose living.... I can't do that, and besides there's -nothing proved.... But I can't very well join her in her crusade against -... she _will_ use such plain words ... against fornication and unclean -living. I suppose we shall have to send Edgar away ... back to -Australia ... And then I fear much for his future. Thank goodness! He's -a total abstainer, so far.... Ought we to invite some young woman to -come out here for the mission, in the hope that he might marry her and -settle down?" - -_Roger_: "Wouldn't be a bad idea, if you could insure her taking his -fancy. I haven't seen Master Edgar for months or taken much notice of -him since he came to man's estate. Struck me, he was growing up a -nice-looking lad...." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Indeed he is! It's his good looks that are his snare.... -The native women run after him so...." - -_Roger_: "Does he work for us or for the Mission?" - -_Mrs. Stott_: "He is his father's assistant in the Carpentering school; -but he's too much given to larking with the boys, who look upon him as a -kind of hero. Of course, he speaks their language almost as if it came -natural to him. His real bent is for Natural History ... that's the -only excuse for his sport. We sell the collections he makes to the -Germans. One of your mining engineers has taught him photography. He -takes wonderful pictures of wild life. We posted some home to the -_Graphic_, and with the money they paid, Edgar sent to Unguja and bought -himself a snap-shot camera.... Am I keeping you from your work?" - -_Roger_: "You are: but we don't often meet nowadays for a talk. Let's -thrash this matter out. Well?" - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Well, I was going on to say, with all this Edgar's mind -is turning away from religion. We have hard work to get him to attend -our services... He even shocked his father the other day by saying he -was sick of the Bible.... I say, 'even,' because ever since my dear -James has been getting up these industrial schools you were so keen on, -he has become less and less spiritually minded, more and more interested -in the material things of this world. He only _pretends_ to care for -the Second Coming of Christ ... just to please me. He is much more -interested in his new turning lathe" ... (dabs her eyes and blows her -nose). "His prayers have become very trite. If it wasn't for my -daughters...." - -_Roger_: "Let me see: you have two daughters out here--Pretty girls.... -They must be growing up...." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Yes. Carrie's nearly nineteen; and Lulu is sixteen. We -called her 'Luisa,' not from the English name, but because 'Luisa' means -'darkness' in Kagulu, and when she was born she had dark hair and dark -eyes ... she's fairer now.... And the way, then, seemed dark before -us.... I was very ill at the time...." - -_Roger_: "And then the eldest of all is at home, I mean in England....?" - -Mrs. Stott: "Yes. Rosamund, named after me. She's a school teacher in -Ireland, and practically a stranger to us. That's one of the sorrows of -our life out here. Not that we haven't many blessings to -counter-balance it--I'm sure the way we've kept our health in the Happy -Valley--But we have either to send our children away to England or -Australia, or bring them up here, with many disadvantages, it would be a -pity to bring Rosamund away from a career where she is doing very -well...." - -_Roger_: "Quite so. Well then, we have only to deal with Carrie as a -possible wife to one of our young men...." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "As a matter of fact, Riemer proposed to her a few months -ago. But Carrie is very particular; and besides, she wouldn't marry a -German...." - -_Roger_: "What nonsense! In what way are they inferior to Englishmen or -Australians? I'm sure Riemer..." - -_Mrs. Stott_ (tightening her lips): "Not to be thought of. Riemer is an -avowed atheist..." - -_Roger_: "Oh, of course, if religion is to come in the way...." - -_Mrs. Stott_: "It isn't only religion, there are other things. No. -Don't let my daughters come under discussion. Why couldn't the Germans -here send home for nice German girls to come out and marry them, or get -married when they next went on leave...?" - -_Roger_: "Why not, indeed? I'll talk to them. Much better they should -do so. But then, what'll happen by and by is what _you_ don't want to -happen. The Germans will marry white women, have large families and -gradually push out the Negroes and turn this into a White Man's -country--unless the climate and the germ diseases forbid.... I'm not -sure myself that I don't favour a mixture of races and that the -Americans for example are not better suited to America because of their -strong underlying element of Indian blood--I suppose you would not like -it if the Germans married their concubines?" - -_Mrs. Stott_: "As an Australian I am prejudiced against the mixture of -the races..." - -_Roger_: "Well, but Dame Nature isn't, in her inconsequent way. First -she prompts the original human ancestors--your Adam and Eve--to -segregate and separate and differentiate into sub-species, almost. Then -she seems sorry for it, and does all she can to bring them together -again, prompts the White man to travel all over the world and mix his -blood freely with that of the other races. She has been redeeming the -Negro from his original blackness and apishness by sending white -immigrants into Africa for thousands of years--Egyptians, Carthaginians, -Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Indians; Portuguese, Dutch, French, English; to -say nothing of all the Mediterranean peoples who pressed into Africa in -prehistoric days. They have all mingled with the Negro in their time -and rehumanized him. You own to a _penchant_ for the Iraku people. -Why? Even for the Masai. Why do you really prefer them to the -out-and-out Negro type, like the Kindiga and Wambugwe? Because they -have a strain of ancient white blood in their veins. Same thing with -the Swahili. We like them because of the Arab intermixture. And yet we -talk and write a lot of rubbish about disliking the half-caste between a -European and a Negro--By the bye, since we are talking on this subject, -did I or did I not see a half-caste child in the compound of Schnitzler, -that mining engineer who is such a friend of Edgar's?" - -_Mrs. Stott_: "You did, at least Schnitzler's native woman has had a -child by him--two years ago. And if you looked all through the -settlement you could find three other half-caste infants.... They make -no secret of it...." - -_Roger_: "Why _should_ they? If they must form these unions, it is -better they should be sanctified by the production of children. I must -say it redeems the whole thing in my eyes; the Germans don't ignore -their half-caste children, but have them properly brought up. It is -better than what you call 'sinning in secret' and blushing at--or -repudiating the consequences.... This _maddening_ question of sexual -irregularities, which now seems to clog the progress of all European -Colonies, and to fill up the press of the United States and of -England--are they always writing about it in Australia?" - -_Mrs. Stott_: "Strange to say, we never get any Australian papers. I -don't know whether Phil does either.... I seem to belong so very much -more to England or to north Ireland, where all my relations live...." - -_Roger_: "... I often wish the Almighty or Nature or Chance--or whatever -it was that developed us out of lifeless matter--had not tried this -clever trick of the two sexes--I suppose it began a hundred million -years ago, in the union of two entirely different microbes. I wish we -had been allowed to go on increasing by fissure, by budding. Certainly -among the world-problems of to-day it is the most difficult to solve. I -sometimes feel irritated against Christianity for the fuss it makes -about Chastity. But I imagine it arose from the tremendous revulsion -that took place in the Eastern Mediterranean two thousand years ago -against an excessive sexual licence: just in those very countries where -the purest doctrines of self-restraint were afterwards preached. The -Christian ideal certainly seems the most likely to promote a good type -of human being, but it is very hard to live up to.... Yet what texts you -could find--in favour of Chastity--you missionaries--_if_ you only -realized the history of the Negro and did not go merely to the Old and -New Testament for your pegs to hang a sermon on. The Negro is in his -present inferior position because he has weakened his mental energy by -extravagant sexual indulgence--and limited his numbers. Do you find the -Happy Valley any less depraved than Nguru or Ugogo?" - -Mrs. Stott: "I should _think not_. A little worse, if possible! I -assure you, Major Brentham, when we first arrived from Australia I had -_no conception_ there could _exist_ such _depravity, such_ vices. They -were referred to here and there in the Bible. But I did not know what -the references meant...." - -_Roger_: "Well: there you are. _That_ is a justification for your being -here, as in other parts of Africa.... If you and we can only give the -Negro _something else to think of_. He is like our labouring class at -home. It is the only pleasure he knows of. Give him education, -ambition, sports, remunerative work, an interest, even, in better food, -in better houses, pictures, music, theatres..." (Mrs. Stott shudders.) -"Well: there you are, making a face at the theatre. You won't distract -the Negro--or the European--from indulging sexual desires by prayers and -hymns and the reading of ancient scriptures: _that's_ certain. I know -we differ there, and you must be already worn out with this lengthy -conversation. As you've stayed so long, stay a little longer and have -lunch with us? Lucy was only saying this morning she never sees you -nowadays. You can go and have a talk to her, while I glance through -these reports. See, by the bye, they give your donkey a feed, and put -it safely in the stable. The other day one of ours disappeared. Of -course, they said it was a leopard----" - - -At luncheon. The dining-room at Magara House is a fair-sized apartment, -with walls of well-smoothed cement surface of pinkish tone, due to red -ochre being mixed with the cement. On the walls are hung a few clever -pastel studies done by a talented German horticulturist who has an eye -for colour and design; there are trophies of shields and spears; there -is a dado of native matting; and a smooth floor surface of red _chunam_ -plaster, made by Indian masons from the coast. In a pleasant bay which -looks on to the front verandah a magnificent lion's skin lies between -the window-seats.... - -A Swahili butler and footman clothed in long white _kansus_, with white -"open-work" skull-caps, and black, gold-embroidered _visibao_,[#] are -serving the luncheon, cooked admirably by the still surviving husband of -Halima, the Goanese Andrade. The meal consists of chicken broth, -flavoured with grated coco-nut and red chillies; curried prawns (out of -tins); kid cutlets and chip potatoes; Mango "fool"; and a _macedoine de -fruits_--fresh pineapple, bananas, sliced papaw, and oranges. [A little -Rhine wine flavoured the fruit-salad and was served at table with -Seltzer water.] Then, in the alcove with the lion skin [the door-window -opens on to the verandah with the petunia beds below in carmine and -purple blaze] the servants place Turkish coffee and cigarettes. Mrs. -Stott only drinks Seltzer water and declines a cigarette; but thoroughly -enjoys her lunch and congratulates Lucy on the flower-decorations of the -table.... - - -[#] Sleeveless waistcoats. - - -"It's Hamisi, our butler, that deserves your praise. I get so easily -tired in these days that I seldom do the flowers as I used. I make up -for it by doing all the mending that Maud will let me have and writing -all the letters home. John and Maudie expect a full account of our -doings every month.... And dear sister Maud that is here, is always -busy over our accounts and Roger's business correspondence and her -poultry farming. You know whilst Roger was in South Africa she almost -took his place!" - -"Oh, as to that," says Maud, who has a strong sense of justice, "you -must all admit Hildebrandt and Dr. Wiese both played up. I shall -_never_ forget how loyal they were to Roger ... they might have been -Englishmen ... and that, too, at a time when other Germans out here were -looking askance at us, and that horrible Stolzenberg was threatening to -raid the Concession and seize the mines..." - -"By the bye," says Roger, "you never told me, either of you, about the -Flamingo outrage. There are many things I could forgive, but not that. -It was one of my great pleasures out here, going to see the Stotts and -watching the flamingoes on the lake shore. If I'd been here at the time -I should certainly have followed up the brute and shot him..." - -"We didn't tell you because we wanted you to get well, and feared you -might do something violent before your leg was healed." - -"Well, now that I know, I shall certainly lodge a strong complaint with -the German Commandant at Kondoa...." - -"Ann Anderson has solemnly cursed him for his cruelty," said Mrs. Stott. -"She said so in the letter she sent him by the poor Masai whose hand he -chopped off. I think that, by the bye, is better worth taking up with -the authorities than the flamingo massacre. I'm afraid you won't find -many of the Germans sympathize with you there, though I must admit they -are a great loss to the scenery. But Ann said in the letter: 'If man -doesn't punish you, God will.'" - -"Of course," said Roger, "it is a scandal the way the Germans tolerate -this monster, just because, like Patterne--I suppose _he_ hasn't turned -up again?..." - -"Don't know." - -"... Just because he lives on the outskirts of civilization in no man's -land. I shall try a ride on one of the Basuto ponies next week, go -first of all and see your old station of Mwada, interview Ann, remind -her of the parable of the Mote and the Beam, ask her to go slow ... with -these denunciations of moral frailty; and get some idea of the damage -done to the flamingoes. I expect my complaints may draw down on me -counter remonstrances from the Germans. I heard a growl the other day -from a Herr Inspektor of Native schools that you taught no German" -(addressing Mrs. Stott), "only Swahili and a little English. What could -you do in that respect? I should not like them to have any excuse for -interference with you...." - -"Oh!" said Mrs. Stott, her face paling at the very thought, "after all -the _time, labour, money_--much of it _your_ money--that we've put into -Mission work in the Happy Valley. Oh, _why_ wasn't it taken over by the -English? ... I think it would _break my heart_ to leave it and begin -our work over again. We've got so fond of the people ..." - -"Don't be down-hearted," said Roger, "I shall always stand up for them -as long as I'm here, and I have no intention of going--except for a -holiday--for ever so long.... _What a strange noise_...?!..." - -A prolonged, distant rumble, like the sound a big avalanche makes in the -Alps: and before they could speculate on its meaning, the ground -trembled under their feet, the two-storied house seemed to sway this way -and that, and then settle itself with a jarring thud. Fine dust fell -from the ceiling; trophies of shields and spears came clattering down, -the glass and china on the table tinkled, the finger-bowls giving forth -a prolonged musical note. Outside, after a moment's hush, cocks crowed, -hens whooped, geese raised grating screams, peacocks honked and yelled, -turkeys gobbled and crowned cranes threw back their golden-crested heads -and uttered their resounding call. - -"An earth tremor," said Roger in an even voice, for Lucy looked like -fainting. "A _very small_ earthquake; _nothing_ to be alarmed at, -though it turns one a bit sick inside. They don't often happen. This -is only the second I've experienced in ten years. You see, we live on -the border of a volcanic region. Here, _Lucy_! Pull yourself together. -Have a nip of brandy?... - -"Better? Let's get out into the air, on the verandah, and see if any -damage has been done.... I hope it won't affect our mining -galleries...." - - -But no reports of damage from the earthquake came to hand. The natives -said that these shocks were sometimes followed by outbursts of gases, -smoke, steam from one or other of the craters in the north. - - -A week after Mrs. Stott's visit, Roger, accompanied by Maud to look -after him and see he did not overstrain himself, rode down into the -Happy Valley to Mwada station. Here they interviewed the redoubtable -Ann, now a square-built grey-haired matron of middle age and practically -no sexual charm. She had black eyes, glowering under black eyebrows, a -sallow complexion, and a thin-lipped mouth, with down-turned corners, -like the mouth of Queen Victoria when she was displeased. Ann listened -in grim silence to Major Brentham's hesitating remonstrances. When he -had finished she replied that it was more than flesh and blood could -stand that she should be spending her time and the Mission money -training up native girls to be Christian wives for Christian natives, -and as soon as they had learnt some civilization they were sought out -and snapped up by Germans, inside and outside the Concession. It wasn't -for that she had come out to Africa.... - -"I _do_ feel for you and will see what can be done," said Brentham; "but -at the same time we must remember we are not on British territory, where -they stand a good deal from the missionaries, but in _German_ Africa. -The Germans have made a handsome acknowledgment of what Mr. Stott has -done in the way of industrial teaching. Don't go and spoil it all by -being too ready to denounce these--these--irregularities! Things may -right themselves in time. It would be such a dreadful blow to the -Stotts if they were told to go, to leave the work of so many years...." - -Ann would promise nothing, however. She would speak as the Spirit bade -her.... For the present her time was taken up with mission work among -the Wambugwe, who were _quite_ the worst heathens she had met with. -"Not only terribly depraved--they eat the corpses of their dead!!!--but -the dirtiest Negroes I have ever seen, and _wholly_ lacking in -spirituality." - -"Well then," said Roger, "_there_ you've got your work cut out, for -several years. Meantime I will talk to our German friends...." - -"_Friends_, indeed?" said Ann. "They're _no friends_ of _mine_!" - - -In spite of her fierceness of denunciation, she made both Roger and Maud -as comfortable as she could at her rather Spartan station, and became so -happy, friendly and even tearful during the evening with Maud, talking -over the little world of Reading and Basingstoke, Aldermaston and -Englefield, that evening prayers for once were intermitted. Her husband -sat mostly silent, listening respectfully. It was evident that he -worked very hard at material things during the day, that he stood much -in awe of his wife, and had completely lost his gift of extempore -prayer. Their one daughter was a thin, sickly, wistful little girl of -ten, very shy, and fonder of her father than of her mother. But -according to Ann she was already a good needlewoman, and helped in the -sewing classes. Kind Maud proposed she should be fetched one day and -taken to Magara for a week's stay. The air was so good there. Ann -consented a little reluctantly. - -They rode their Basuto ponies to see if there were traces of -Stolzenberg's slaughter of the flamingoes. But the bodies had evidently -been carried away from the lake to be skinned and because the bones were -valuable; and the sole visible result of the raid was the absence of -adult birds in pink plumage. There only remained of the former serried -ranks a thin broken line of ugly immature flamingoes, dirty-white in -plumage, streaked with brown. They were dibbling timidly in the thick -waters of the lake; and this had also lost much of its former -beauty--though Stolzenberg was not responsible for the slow desiccation -of East Africa. The lake just now was no longer a uniform sheet of -cobalt, bordered with a grey-white fringe of salt and guano mixed; it -was reduced to two large areas of deep water with grey mud in between. -How different from what Roger had seen in the glamour of 1888! - -Away from the lake shore, in a detour through the foot-hills, they met a -few wandering Masai on their way to trade at the Mission station. They -greeted Roger with acclamations of friendship and much spitting. -Without an interpreter he could not understand them, but they kept -pointing to the north-west and evidently referring to the wicked -Stolzenberg under their name of _Oleduria_ ("The Terror"); and at the -same time to "God"--_Engai_. They talked with the satisfied tone of a -thing now settled, and went on their way to interview the Woman-chief -who was their medical adviser, and would-be converter. - -"They may have heard of Ann's letter," said Roger, "and believe her -curse is coming off. Do you see where they were pointing? ... That -curious cloud that seems to be rising high in the air, rising and -falling, as though one of the craters were showing signs of activity?" - - -As soon as he returned to Magara, Roger drew up a formal complaint -against Stolzenberg, addressed to the officer commanding in Irangi. He -set forth the long tale of misdeeds on the part of "The Terror" during -the past ten years and urged the German authority for the good name of -the Empire to arrest and try this bandit. If this were not done, he -would be compelled to place all the facts before the German directors of -the Concessionaire Company whose employes' people and property suffered -so much from Stolzenberg's raids and violence. The maiming of the Masai -messenger was a concrete case, whatever might be thought of the offence -in slaughtering the flamingoes, birds whose guano was one of the -Concession's assets. - -A fortnight later a military force of one hundred Askari and two -twelve-pounder mountain guns arrived at Wilhelmshoehe--as the entire -scattered settlement of the Concession in the Iraku Hills was called (at -the request of the Schraeders: the Stotts never got nearer the -pronunciation than "Williamshoe"). The force was commanded by two -smart-looking German lieutenants and a white Feldwebel. The -lieutenants, who saluted Brentham as Herr Major, said they were to act -under his orders. He was commissioned as a magistrate to proceed to the -Red Crater and arrest Adolf Stolzenberg, but not supposed to take any -part in the fighting, if force was to be used. That was _their_ -business. The Herr Oberst who had sent them remembered that Major -Brentham had been wounded in the South African War, and hoped he would -take care of himself; if his health was not equal to the journey, then -the nearest German district commissioner would go instead. But Roger, -in spite of his wife's pleadings and Maud's warnings, was keen to see -the thing through. Besides, he could serve as guide. So in course of -time the expedition found itself drawn up on the grassy plateau and -facing the heavy wooden door and stone wall. A summons to open in the -name of the law was shouted by the Feldwebel, who had an immense voice. -There was no response. Then the guns, put into position, came into play -and shattered the door to fragments. One of the lieutenants and half -the force marched in.... Half an hour elapsed.... Then the lieutenant -reappeared with rather a scared face. - -"We can only suppose either that Stolzenberg fled some time ago, or that -his settlement has simply been engulfed by some appalling volcanic -action. Come in and see!" - -Roger and the rest of the force followed. Inside the Red Crater, which -enclosed a space about a mile in diameter, very little could at first be -seen but clouds of sulphurous vapours, which when wafted in their -direction nearly stifled them; and clouds of steam where the little -stream from the hidden pool at the further end of the crater fell into -some gulf of heat---- - -They advanced cautiously; the wind took a different turn, and at last -the rashest pioneers among them discerned the ground falling away -abruptly over a sharp-cut edge into Hell--as a Dante might have deemed -it. The sulphurous fumes drove them back. The inevitable -conclusion--confirmed in time--was that the crater had reopened -immediately beneath Stolzenberg's settlement. Houses, people, cattle -had all been plunged into the bowels of the earth, hundreds of feet -below to a fiery furnace. Those humans and cattle who were nearer the -crater walls at the time had possibly been choked and killed by the -gases. Indeed, on their way out, they saw here and there, at the bases -of the red walls, dead cattle lying stiff, all four legs in the air. -Evidently, inquisitive Masai, after the earthquake, had climbed the -crater-rim from the outside and seen enough to guess that the white -Woman-chief's curse had come home, and the great enemy of the Masai and -his murderous band of raiders had gone suddenly to an awful doom. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII* - - *EIGHT YEARS HAVE PASSED BY* - - -Eight years have passed since Roger Brentham staggered, half stupefied -with sulphur fumes, from the Red Crater; satisfied with a great sense of -relief and no pity, that Stolzenberg and his raiding Ruga-ruga had come -to a deserved end. - -"The Terror" having been wiped out in a way which brought an enormous -accession of prestige to Mrs. Anderson of the Ewart-Stott Industrial -Mission, the Happy Valley Concession was relieved for a time of any -active enemy. Willowby Patterne, who had again taken up his abode on -his Namanga property (after having once more passed through the Divorce -Court--this time at the instance of a deluded but determined American -wife), may have been disposed to fish in waters of his own troubling, -have itched to share in the immense wealth now pouring out from the -region where Roger had forestalled him. But meantime he had been a -little sobered by Stolzenberg's tragic end. So he devoted himself for -these eight years to shooting enormous quantities of big-game on the -scarcely inhabited tracts of northern German East Africa. The Germans -remonstrated with him at times for his breaches of their perfunctory -Game Regulations; but an equal disregard for these attempts to save the -fauna was shown by German hunters. Willowby imported and exported most -of his goods and supplies, all his hides and ivory by German railway -routes, sent them to be sold in German markets, and took care to be on -good terms with German frontier officials. So his baleful activities -were not materially interfered with. On the British side of the frontier -he was also regarded with lenience for reasons not specified. He was -popular among the East African planters because he kept the native in -his proper place and evaded the "silly" restrictions on unlimited -"sport." Apart from his matrimonial affairs, which were a source of -recurrent, rather piquant scandal, he was not without a certain prestige -in England. He had made his ranching property pay considerable profits -out of the chase and cattle-breeding, and had thus pacified his most -pressing creditors. He earned other large sums by acting, for three -months in the dry season, as guide and arranger of big-game "shoots" to -excessively rich Americans who wanted the thrill of firing into the -brown of dense herds of antelope and zebra, getting perchance a maned -lion without too much danger, or similarly bringing down an elephant of -medium size (they would buy tusks "to go with it" from Patterne's -store), or a record rhino (Patterne supplied the "record" horn; the poor -specimen killed by the millionaire was given to the Andorobo trackers to -eat). - -Having accidentally brought to light several new varieties or -sub-species of antelope among the thousands he shot for their hides and -horns, he was deemed a great "naturalist" in the Cromwell Road Museum; -and Roger's anger whenever his name was mentioned--calling up as it did -many a mental picture of lifeless wastes of prairie strewn with -bone-heaps where once rioted a wonderful and harmless Zoological -gardens--was put down to jealousy of Patterne's marksmanship. - -Twice in these eight years Roger had been to England. In 1902 he had -escorted his wife and sister home, and stayed there six months to make -his children's acquaintance. In 1906 he and Maud, who kept house for -him at Magara in Lucy's absence, again returned for a long holiday; and -in the following year brought Lucy back with them for a last stay in the -Happy Valley--a last stay, because Roger calculated on retiring from the -management of the Concession in 1909. He would then sell out his -shares, and on the proceeds would be wealthy enough to leave Africa to -younger men and devote himself to home politics. No more, after 1909, -would Lucy be torn in two in her affections, longing to be by her -husband, pining in fact without him; yet miserable at the idea of her -children growing up outside her care and supervision. - -John, as it was, showed himself devoted to the splendiferous and -dazzling "Aunt Sibyl"; and even Fat Maud (no longer a dumpling, but -still distinguished by this adjective from the other Maud, thirty-five -years older, and spare of build) ... even Fat Maud preferred Englefield -as a home to the humbler Church Farm at Aldermaston; and adopted a -rather patronizing tone towards the quiet, pale-faced, languid, timid -mother who had rusticated so many years in the wilds of Africa that she -was ignorant of free-wheel bicycles, motor-cars, gramophones, two-step -dances, ping-pong, hockey, and diabolo. - - -During these eight years Mrs. Bazzard's persistent letters to Sir Bennet -Molyneux had their reward. Her Spencer was removed from malarial, -out-of-the-world East Africa and made Consul-General at Halicarnassus, -to preside with judicial functions over a Consular Court in Asia Minor, -on L900 a year and allowances. Mrs. Bazzard foresaw for herself a -glorious early autumn to her life, as a leading lady in the Levant, with -an occasional dress from Paris, a prominence in Levantine Society, a -possible visit of the Royal yacht to this old-world Turkish harbour -where Herodotos once lived and wrote; and inevitably a knighthood on -retirement for the re-animated doll, the Spencer into whom she had -really infused new stuffing. "Oh, that _dearest_ Mother might live"--in -Bayswater, it would not do to have her at Halicarnassus--"to refer to -her daughter as 'Lady Bazzard'!" - -She has long ceased to take much interest in the Brenthams, once Roger -Brentham--with whom she believes herself to have had a serious and -compromising flirtation in 1887, and sometimes hints as much to her -Spencer when his interest in her flags--no longer has his name in lists -of officials likely to get between Spencer and a Mediterranean post. -She is, however, a little annoyed from time to time to see he is not -socially dead ... that highly placed officials actually notice him. For -instance, the Bazzards when at home in 1902 could not obtain, try they -ever so hard, a place in the Abbey to see King Edward crowned. But -Roger saw the ceremony from a modest nook inside the nave; saw Sibyl in -ermine and crimson velvet and ostrich plumes, nodding right and left to -acquaintances and wreathed in smiles, pass before him with other peers -and peeresses to her appointed place; and probably owed his seat to the -intervention of the African Department of the Foreign Office, or to a -request from the President of the Royal Geographical Society, as the -recognition due to a distinguished explorer. - -He had forgotten by now any rancour he might have retained for the -Foreign Office, and would drop in at the African Department from time to -time for a chat with "Rosy" Walrond--who was proposing to go to Unguja -to tighten things up, and intended to come and stay with him in the -Happy Valley and see with his own incredulous eyes the Red Crater and -its bottomless pit, and the lovely maidens of Iraku who were the cause -of Mrs. Anderson's heartbreak. Or with Ted Parsons--about to be named -Consul-General at Naples; or kind old Snarley Yow, who said he wished -now he had done like Roger: chucked the F.O. and a possible pension of -L700 a year and gone in for an African Concession like the Happy -Valley--suit him down to the ground. - -The remarkable success of the Happy Valley--the one bright spot in -"German East," where there was never a native rising and whence came a -regular output of minerals, precious metals, precious stones; coffee, -fibre, rubber, cotton, tanning-bark, hides, poultry and potatoes; the -steady standing of its pound shares at forty marks on the German -exchanges, and the purring approval of the Schraeders: caused Roger to -be increasingly consulted in British Colonial circles outside the -Colonial Office. Diplomatists took an interest in him, and adjusted -their monocles at parties to see him better. The Foreign Office -published as a White Paper a Report drawn up at their request on the Big -Game of East Africa and its international importance. Was he to be a -means of solving the nascent Anglo-German rivalry by suggesting a -combination of effort in Colonization? The Schraeders hoped so. - -Mrs. Bazzard was really vexed to see one day in the weekly edition of -the _Times_ that on March 25, 1903, Major Roger Brentham, D.S.O., -together with other guests whose names meant nothing to her, dined with -Lady Silchester to meet the Right Honble. Josiah Choselwhit, etc., etc. - -Sibyl at this time still believed Chocho to be the coming man, the -Premier who would set the British Empire right, bring about an Imperial -Customs Union and a Federation directed from London, and calm defiance -to the rest of the world. She was one of the earliest of the -B.M.G.'s.[#] Roger was of the opposite school, a school which at best -achieves a cool popularity amongst thinkers. He wanted to bring about a -moral union, so to speak, between the British Empire, Germany and the -United States, a pooling of their resources; and Universal peace: to -ensure which France should be retroceded a portion of Alsace-Lorraine, -and Germany allowed to grow into a great African Power. There were many -faults in the German conception of how Negro Africa should be -administered; but the same faults were to be seen in British Africa; the -same reforms would apply to both regimes. - - -[#] _Vide_ the columns of the contemporary _Morning Post_. - - -But Brentham, though he had distinguished himself in the fight with the -Boers for the overlordship of South Africa, had disapproved of the -policy of the Raid and had said so, and written caustically on the -subject. His views in some other directions, especially on Free Trade -with Africa, were diametrically opposed to those of the Idol of the -Midlands; so that Sibyl's attempt to bring them together at her board in -the hope that the Colonial Office might give scope to her cousin's -abilities, was frustrated at the very start. Chocho said very little to -Roger, and Roger, being anything but a self-pusher, said very little to -Chocho. - -During these eight years Lucy's father, approaching and passing the age -of seventy, continued to farm at Aldermaston with vigour and geniality -and less and less conservatism. Lucy's mother was hale and hearty, with -apple-red cheeks, and placidly thankful to the Lord who had arranged all -the affairs of her family so well--never mind what happened to _other_ -families: perhaps it was their fault. Lucy's sister Clara, who had -married Marden the Cricketer, was amassing year by year an enormous -family of alternate boys and girls, and, as Sibyl said, it would be -interesting to encourage her to go on till she had passed the normal, -and then exhibit her with her progeny at a County Show. Her husband -proved an assistant Agent for the Silchester estate of progressively -increasing worth, and let cricket go to the wall--or to Australia. His -boss, the Head Agent, Maurice Brentham, lived much in London and in -Staffordshire, supervising the affairs of the estate in those -directions; and managing them so well that when young Silchester came of -age he would be among the wealthiest of our peers and able to write and -produce mystic operas--if he so willed--or subsidize a whole Russian -ballet--without feeling the cost. Maurice had never married. His -excuse was the prolificness of Mr. and Mrs. Marden, the sufficiency of -Roger's family, and the seven children (already) of his brother Captain -Geoffrey Brentham, R.N. Geoffrey was a great begetter: almost like some -hero of the Greek classics. He apparently only spent one month at home -in every fifteen; yet his wife did little more--especially during these -eight years--than lie-in, nurse, short-coat and wean one child; -conceive, lie-in, nurse and short-coat another. Meantime her husband -took enormous pains over naval marksmanship, and agitated himself over -the quarrels of the Admirals. Mrs. Geoffrey was the daughter of a Naval -Chaplain with very pronounced views on family prayer and the -uncriticizable nature of the Bible; and on quite illusory grounds she -decided that Roger and his missionary wife, Maud, Sibyl--who, she was -sure, was the real cause of Maurice not marrying--were all rather wicked -and not worth knowing: so, fortunately, she absolves me from any concern -in her affairs. - -Similarly I can dispose of Sibyl's father by saying that he died from a -wandering clot in 1905, and that Sibyl only showed perfunctory regret: -he had become a bore of the first water, obsessed by the belief that if -only he had had capital behind him, his ideas about farming would have -revolutionized British agriculture. Sibyl's mother, unwavering in her -attachment to her spouse, whom she only remembered as the handsome young -captain fresh from gallant service in suppressing the Indian Mutiny, who -had won her affections in 1859, died also, soon after her husband, -probably from some form of cancer. Aunt Christabel--the Honble. Mrs. -Jenkyns in private life--also died within this period, somewhere in -lodgings--Bath? Both deaths occurred at awkward junctures when big -political parties had to be put off at a moment's notice; and therefore -wrung from Sibyl not only a few tears of sorrow and remorse--_Had_ she -been quite kind to either? Would she, too, live to be old, boring, -unlovely, and consequently unloved?--but also exclamations of annoyance -at people who chose the supreme moments of the season, when Royalty was -once again showing an interest in you, to take to their beds and die. - -Old Mr. Baines, the proprietor of the Aerated Beverages Manufactory at -Tilehurst, died of diabetes in 1906. He left his money--a few thousand -pounds--on trust to John, the eldest son of Captain and Mrs. Roger -Brentham, subject to a life interest for Mrs. Baines. His spouse had -led him a life, as he expressed it, since her son's death in 1888. She -had passed from the most narrow-minded piety to a raging disbelief in -all churches, sects, and creeds. The "raging" was chiefly inward or -expressed through her pen in "open" letters to clergymen, -philanthropists, or scandalized county journals. Otherwise she -maintained a Trappist silence, neglected the house-keeping, injured the -business by scaring away customers. At length in 1901 she took to -denying in a loud voice at Reading markets and other assemblages of -crowds (as in her letters to the _Berks Observer_ and the _Newbury -Times_), the very existence of a God; and then public opinion obliged -her husband to have her put away into an asylum. - -Curiously enough she offered little opposition to this measure. She -asked for, and was allowed, a large quantity of books, and became with -the aid of new spectacles an omnivorous reader. She gave little -trouble. Her husband made a liberal payment to the asylum, but as this -ceased at his death, and the Trustees showed a mean desire for economy, -it occurred to the medical man in charge--not without a conscience--to -re-examine Mrs. Baines and see if she really was mad. As a result he -pronounced her restored to sanity. She made no comment on her release, -faithful to her vow of silence, but with the help of her trustees she -purchased a small cottage on the Bath Road near Theale. The sight of the -enormous motor traffic and the bicycle accidents seemed to amuse her. -Roger, during his 1906-7 holiday in England, at Lucy's wish went to see -her, to be satisfied she was properly cared for. She received him in -grim silence, offered a Windsor chair, and listened taciturnly to his -stammering, apologetic inquiries. When he stopped speaking she drew -blotter, pen, and ink towards her, and wrote in a bold hand on a sheet -of notepaper: "The British people are _not_ the Ten Lost Tribes of -Israel; more fools they, if they were. I agree with you about Religion. -I forgive Lucy. I am glad little John is to have my money when I die, -but I shall live as long as I can to find out the Truth. Don't come any -more." - -She then conducted him to the door--it was in the shocking summer of -1907--pointed to the grey sky of a cold, dripping July and to the ruined -hay crops in an adjacent field, to the green corn beaten to the earth -and to a collision between a motor cyclist and a push-bike on the Bath -Road. Then her long, furrowed lips curved into an awful smile--a smile -perhaps her dead son had never seen--her angry eyes and her crooked, -uplifted finger expressed a derisive query as to the existence of any -Providential concern for the welfare of Man. - -Therewith she returned to her books and the studies she had taken up so -late in life. Possibly she is living still at eighty-two. - -During these eight years, Lucy's health, after some fluctuations, had -decidedly improved; and when her husband was preparing to return in the -autumn of 1907 for his final round-up of the Happy Valley Concession, -she insisted on accompanying him. It would be for less than two years; -Maud was coming too; and the children would be most of their time at -school. Rather with misgivings Roger agreed. Provided she kept her -health, it would indeed be a delightful conclusion to the great -adventure of their lives. They would revel for the last time in the -beauty of Iraku and the Happy Valley, their Crowned cranes and pea-fowl, -their tame gazelles and duikers, their quaint menagerie of monkeys; -their wonderful flower garden--Iraku grew everything: orchids and -mignonette, roses and lilies, petunias and pelargoniums, _Strelitsia -reginae_ and _Disa uniflora_.... He would wind up his financial -connexion with the Concession and retire from it a rich man, perhaps -retaining a sleeping partnership in its concerns: for it was entangled -with his heart-strings. - -Then, all clear for Europe, after a cycle of Cathay. They would motor -from Iraku to the nearest railway station on one or other of the lines -that now penetrated the interior, secure the best cabins on the -luxurious steamers of the D.O.A. line, and thus retrace the route of -their first voyage, when love was incipient, but when their future -seemed dark and uncertain. They would be lovers again on this voyage, -but this time open and unashamed, and Maud should pretend to play the -part of a green-eyed Mrs. Bazzard. - -The first portion of this pleasant programme was fulfilled. For a year -Roger rode from factory to mine, from coffee plantation to the fields -and sheds where pineapples were grown, cut, and canned. He made good -suggestions about their cattle, about war, unceasing war on the tse-tse -fly, which--it was feared--was entering the Valley. He viewed with -satisfaction his success over the crossing of Maskat donkey and Basuto -pony mares with zebra stallions, and considered it proved that the -resulting mules might become a valuable factor in East African -transport. He inspected the new ostrich farms, the new smelting works -and the primitive ceramics where native women turned out excellent -pottery for home use. He decided that further explorations for gold -should be undertaken in Ilamba, and that a fresh reef should be opened -up in western Iraku. They would waste no more money looking for the -matrix of the diamonds--diamonds might go hang, there were plenty of -them in German South-West Africa. - -But this wolframite with its product tungsten: _that_ was worth -following up with persistence. It was more and more needed for the -application of electricity and for the latest developments of -metallurgy, and would alone make the Concession of great monetary value. - -At the beginning of 1909 a cloud came over their happiness, contentment, -and sense of security in the future. In the first place the Austrian -annexation of Bosnia and its accompanying defiance of Russia by the -shining-armoured Kaiser had inspired British statesmen with -hand-in-the-breast-of-the-frock-coat speeches of the Pecksniffian brand; -the harder to bear since we were engaged about that time in pushing -Turkey out of Arabia and manipulating the partition of Persia. This, -once again, soured the relations between Englishmen and Germans. Then, -the value of the Happy Valley Concession, insisted on by Roger in his -despatches to the Directorate in Leipzig, had reached the comprehension -of the All-Highest and of the Imperial Cabinet. To these august -personages it seemed incongruous and detrimental to German -all-self-sufficiency that such an important portion of Germany's most -important colony should be managed by an Englishman, and that an English -Industrial Mission should contain a female of such measureless audacity -as a certain "Ann Anderson" who had dared to write a letter to the -All-Highest, complaining of sexual licence on the part of Germans in -East Africa. Let there be an end of this! The Englishman must go, the -Industrial Mission must be replaced by some subservient Roman Catholic -teaching fraternity from the Rhineland, which would attend to its -prescribed functions of instructing the Negroes how to use their hands -and in a limited degree their brains, and call nothing German in -question, least of all the policy approved by the Kaiser's -Kolonialminister. As to the Schraeders: they meant well: they had tried -to ride the German and the English horses abreast: a clever circus -trick, but one that no longer consorted with Imperial aims. They were -worthy financiers, but they had become too international, with their -offices in Paris, London, and Johannesburg, as well as in Leipzig and -Berlin.... - -These august decisions had to be conveyed to Roger by the greatly -disappointed Schraeders, who had sought so perseveringly to co-ordinate -the enterprise of the British Empire with that of Germany and -France--internationalists before the proper time. They knew, of course, -that Major Brentham purposed resigning his local Direction of the -Concession in 1909, but they had half hoped he might have continued in -Europe much the same function as a member of the Board. As it was, they -had to ask him to go, instead of acquiescing reluctantly in his -departure. And quite decidedly they had to request that all relations -between the Concession and the Stott Mission be severed. - -From the Imperial authority in East Africa the Ewart Stotts received the -curt order to wind up the affairs of their mission and hand over their -buildings and plantations to the Brotherhood of the Heliger Jesu of -Bingen-am-Rhein. They would be paid compensation for the actual outlay -of their own moneys, and their teachers and subordinates would be -granted the equivalent of a year's salary, at existing rates. - -This not-to-be-appealed-against edict caused the Stotts the acutest -sorrow and dismay; and Ann Anderson the most unbridled anger. Roger, -however, counselled resignation and moderation of utterance. Let them -take the compensation, get all they could out of the Imperial -authorities, and migrate to neighbouring British territories, if they -were still keen on Mission work. - -"After all," he said, "I am going too, and you must feel, even if -Hildebrandt is to succeed me, it would be difficult for you to remain -here without my backing. Hildebrandt--and you all say you like his wife -and that she is in sympathy with you--promises me that if he does -succeed as Manager, he will do all he can for the natives and endeavour -to get your policy continued by the Catholic teachers.... Go home and -have a good rest. Go to England and take stock of what people are -saying and doing. Get Ann to take lodgings for you somewhere in -Berkshire ... see the _best_ of England.... _Then_, if you decide to -come back to East Africa you could start another Industrial Mission on -British territory among the Masai and the Nandi who would seem much the -same as the people you are now leaving...." - -Ann, however, made her departure sensational. After handing over the -keys of Mwada Station to the Catholic Mission she marched out to the -centre of the market-place, on a hillock overlooking the lake; and in -the presence of a large crowd of Masai and Wambugwe she solemnly cursed -the Kaiser in Masai, Kimbugwe and English. It took more than nine years -for the curse in full measure to take effect; but then the Kaiser was a -much more important personage in the history of Africa than the occupant -of the Red Crater, and the Devil no doubt fought far harder to save him. - - -In the spring of 1909 Lucy was again attacked by pernicious anaemia, and -Dr. Wiese's remedies failed this time to arrest its encroachments. -"There is only one thing," he said, melancholy with foreboding at the -departure of his English friends--"only one thing to save Mrs. Brentham -from dying, and that is to send her quickly out of Africa on to a -home-going steamer. The sea air may stimulate the recovery of the blood -and help her to regain strength." - -Roger therefore hurried through his preparations for handing over his -work to Hildebrandt. It was thought better that with them should go the -two Australians, so that the staff might be entirely German. Maud -superintended the packing of their personal effects. Roger decided, -partly out of liking for the Hildebrandts, partly from a horror he had -of stripping the home where he and Lucy and Maud had been so happy, to -present the Hildebrandts with its furniture and garnishings, and to take -away as little luggage as possible. He did this almost with a kind of -foreseeing that he might some day return. Maud felt very much parting -with the Crowned cranes. Together with pea-fowl they are the most -intelligent, inquisitive, well-mannered pets that the bird-world can -produce. - -The journey to the coast port where the steamer would call was -accomplished in a motor ride of three days. Even to the dying and -little-regarding Lucy this was in striking contrast to the three-weeks -to four-weeks' journey up-country in her novitiate; with its crushing -fatigues, discomforts and frequent dangers. No more skulls and skeletons -of recent raids, no more intrusive lions, no need to fall among soldier -ants, no water famines and atrocious smells; no tedious waiting in hot -sun or drenching rain, while an unstable tent was being fumblingly put -up and a camp bed put together. When the motor halted for the night -Lucy was transferred by kind hands, as in a dream to a clean, sweet, -cool couch in a decent bedroom. When it was morning, after a breakfast -she scarcely seemed to taste, she was placed in a flying-bed--as the -motor seemed--and so the dream journey went on till she was aware of -being in a boat and then hoisted up into the air in a bed, and finally -put to rest in a cool cabin. Dream figures would pass through this -half-real environment. John Baines seemed sometimes to stand by her bed -or help her into the motor; Maud became confused with Ann, but surely a -much gentler Ann? There was Brother Bayley, looking for her to read -slowly through the Book of Exodus, so that he might translate it, phrase -after phrase, into Kagulu.... - -Once on the great steamer of the Deutsch Ostafrikansche Linie there -seemed a ray of hope. They had deck cabins allotted to them. Two -German Staff officers pretended they were _just_ as comfortable on the -tier below, and it would be a _pleasure_ to help in Mrs. Brentham's -recovery. She was quite a personage in the history of East Africa.... -The steamer's captain, himself a married man, was kindness embodied. He -broke through any regulations there might be to the contrary and had a -section of the deck screened off opposite their cabins, so that no other -passengers might pass through this open-air, shaded parlour in which the -sick woman lay on a couch in a half-dream, even in a happy dream. Her -day-bed or couch was screwed to the deck so that it would not be jarred -or dislodged by movements of the vessel. Here she could lie all day or -all night; her husband and her sister-in-law--such a formal term should -not have been applied to Maud, she said; "sister in very truth"--could -take their meal alongside where she lay. - -At Unguja there came on board the new British Agent, Sir Edward Walrond, -of the Foreign Office, to take farewell of Brentham since the latter -could not leave his wife. He seemed to pass in and out of Lucy's -dream---a pleasantly cynical person who only expressed sympathy with -Roger by a hand-grip and laughed away the idea of Mrs. Brentham not -being able to land at Naples and see the sights there, "with Ted Parsons -to take you round--he is becoming _very_ Pompeian in manner, I'm told." -... Walrond sends on board all the fruit and delicacies he can think of, -which might tempt Mrs. Brentham's appetite. - -Archdeacon Gravening, who married her to John and then to Roger, comes -off to see her. He is quite the old man now, the veteran of the -Anglican Mission always there whatever Missionary Bishops come and go, -always writing down Bantu languages, always trying to kill some secret -sorrow of his own. He is alone with Lucy, kneels down for a few minutes -by her day-bed, takes her hand, prays silently, says aloud: "My poor, -poor child: I pray with all my heart you may surmount this weakness and -live to be loved by your children. Think sometimes, when you are well -and happy in England, of the lonely old man who married you to your good -husband. I always said Brentham had done the right thing." - -Then he lays some flowers between her hands that the Anglican Sisters -have sent her. Lucy in her dream thinks they are marrying her again to -Roger, and laughs at the absurdity of their not knowing she has been his -faithful wife for--for--it is all so confusing--oh, ever so many -years.... - -Out in the open sea, the fresh boisterous air of he monsoon gives a -flickering stimulation to the enfeebled brain and body, even causes a -certain irritability and impatience, rare to her gentleness. "Roger! -_Can't_ they take me _quickly_ home? Can't they make the ship go -faster?..." - -"My darling, she is going at a splendid rate; we shall be at Aden in -four days. Aden! You remember Aden? Where we took Emilia Bazzard with -us to spend that day, and saw the cisterns? I want you to get _ever_ so -much better in those four days, because I must leave you then...." -Hastens to add, as her hold on his hand tightens: "Oh, only for a couple -of hours whilst Maud takes my place, because I want to pay off our four -Somalis on shore. If I gave them all their money on the ship they might -gamble it away or have it stolen. You remember the Somalis? Our old -faithfuls--been with us for--what is it? Eighteen years. Wonderful! -They travelled down with us from Magara--often carried you out of the -motor or into the boat. Every day they come for your news." - -But she is not listening.... "Roger!" - -"Yes, dear?" - -"I don't want to get off at Naples, and I don't want you or Maud to -leave me at Naples: I want to go _on_ and on in this steamer till we -reach England.... And, Roger! If I die before we get there, _don't_ -throw me into the sea as they generally do with people who die on ... -board ... ship ... take me on with you to England ... take me home, -won't you? Then I shan't mind dying. We've all got to die some day ... -that's what makes it all so sad.... I can't believe there can come an -end to love, not love like mine for you; but it's horrible to think of -lying at the bottom of the sea, and you perhaps in a grave on shore...." - -"You mustn't talk like this or you'll break my heart ... but if it eases -your mind, I promise you that you shall be taken home." - -Then comes Maud--with the ship's doctor--and a hospital nurse, always -carried on board for such cases. There is going to be transfusion of -blood, and Roger bares his arm.... - -A pause afterwards and she sleeps, sleeps and wakes, dreams she is with -her children and they only call her "Aunt Sibyl," dreams she is once -more at Mr. Callaway's, waiting to know if Roger is going to marry -her.... Mr. Callaway? Didn't she overhear Roger asking after him from -some one who came on board, and didn't they reply "Died of blackwater -fever, years ago"? We must all die sooner or later, but oh, why might -it not be later in her case? So much to live for! - -She is awake again, looking at the brilliant sunlight on the dancing -waves and the flying fish that rise in mechanical parabolas of flight -that become monotonous. Some form is presently standing between her and -this effulgence of sun on water.... It is the ship's captain, a big -burly man with a close-clipped, russet beard and kind blue eyes. -"_Zo_," he says, with a mixture of gravity and lightness, "that is -bet-ter, _moch_ bet-ter. A ... leetle ... colour ... now ... in ... the -... cheeks...." But his well-meant encouragement trails away into -pitiful silence before her ethereal beauty and other-worldliness. Tired -middle age has passed from her face with this infusion of Roger's blood. -"What a pretty woman she must have been at one time!" he says to -himself. His blue eyes fill with tears, and he turns away thanking his -German God that his own Frau is not in the least likely to die of -anaemia.... - -The heat and airlessness of the Red Sea bring back a lowering of -vitality.... The poor sick brain, insufficiently supplied with red -blood, even inspires a peevish tone in the dying woman. "Oh, Roger! -I've spoilt your life! You only married me 'to do the right thing'! I -ought to have refused.... I broke your career," she wailed. - -"_Lucy_! How can you say such cruel things. Here, drink this. This'll -put life and sense into you. Haven't I told you, _over and over -again_--Aren't your children a testimony to our love? But there! It's -cruel to argue with an invalid. I shall send Maud to talk sense to -you." - -"No, stay with me. I want to be with you every minute of the life that -remains to me." - -They pass through the Suez Canal, but she is insensible mostly now to -changes of scenery or to noises, or to anything but the absence of Roger -from her side. The fresh breezes of the Mediterranean cause a revival of -mentality. "My poor Roger," she says one day when the snow peaks of -Crete give hope of an approaching Europe, "_how_ grey you have grown! I -never noticed it before. Greyer than you ought to be at your age." And -she caresses his hair with an emaciated hand.... - -"Tell Maud--I never see her now, _you_ are with me always, but tell Maud -I love her better than any one in the world, except you. Better than my -children. _They_ won't miss me. Africa has always come between us. -Still, all the same I send my thanks to Sibyl ... and poor mother.... -And tell Mrs. Baines I thought kindly of her ... I was to blame.... But -something tells me John has long since understood and forgiven.... - -"And, Roger? Are you there?" ... - -"Always here, darling." ... - -"Do something for the Miss Calthorps--you know--where I was at school. -Some one told me they were in poor circumstances. They must be quite -old now." - -"They shall be seen to." - -The ship passed through the Straits of Messina. Etna behind them on the -south-west, with its coronet of snow. Far away to the north-west was -the chain of the Lipari Islands, blue pyramids with spectacular columns -of yellow-purple smoke issuing from their craters against the -approaching sunset. The Tyrrhenian Sea was incarnadine under the level -rays of the sinking sun. To the east rose the green and furrowed -heights of Aspromonte, green-gold and violet in the light of the sunset, -dotted, especially along the sea-base, with pink-white houses and -churches with their campanili-like pink fingers pointing upwards. -Lucy's eyes gazed their last on this splendid spectacle of earthly -beauty. Roger, still holding her hand, lay half across her bed, more -haggard than she, unshaven, hollow-cheeked, emaciated with futile -blood-letting, worn out with want of sleep and no appetite for eating, -and the long vigil over his dying wife. He slept now, soundly. Her -eyes gazed at his closed eyelids for one moment; then motion and life -passed from them. - - * * * * * - -It was always Maud's function in this sad world to attend to the plain -matters of business whilst others gave way to a grief that knew no -solace, or a joy that spurned formalities. So it was she who left the -ship at Naples, called on Roger's old friend, Ted Parsons, the -Consul-General, sent telegrams in all the necessary directions, and -fulfilled all necessary forms and ceremonies. Whether it was an unusual -concession or not, it was at once agreed that the body of Mrs. Brentham, -enclosed in a "shell"--they obtained what was necessary from -Naples--should be carried on with her grief-distraught husband and her -husband's sister to Southampton. There all three of them were landed, -and thence they proceeded in a very humdrum way by South-Western and -Great-Western railways to Reading, where the two live ones put up at an -hotel so commonplace and out of date that it momentarily wiped up -sentiment and froze the tears in their tear-glands; while poor Lucy's -remains were temporarily lodged in a kind of _Chapelle ardente_ used by -the chief undertaker, who did things in style. No sign of life from -Sibyl. Evidently there was no one at home at Engledene. Lucy's parents -and Lucy's children were communicated with, and in due course the -funeral took place at Aldermaston. Roger even sent word of -it--remembering Lucy's message--to Mrs. Baines at Theale; and to the -intense surprise of every one in the neighbourhood Mrs. Baines stalked -into the church and churchyard, attended the burial, and then strode -away to the station, and so back to Theale, refusing hospitality at -Church Farm by a simple shake of the gaunt grey head, down the cheeks of -which, however, a tear or two had trickled. - -Lucy came to rest at last in the churchyard of Aldermaston, under the -boughs of one of those superb blue cedars of the Park which lean out -over the walls of mellow brick. She had so admired these cedars in her -dawning sense of beauty when she taught in the neighbouring school; and -when she was wont to pace up and down the Mortimer Road considering -whether or not she should go out to Africa to marry John Baines. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIII* - - *THE END OF SIBYL* - - -For three weeks after Lucy's burial, Roger scarcely knew what he did or -whom he saw. His boys and girls went back to school and college; Maud -busied herself in reconnoitring for a home, some place not too expensive -to keep up, where the children might come in school holidays, where -Roger might find rest, isolation, the healing power of country life when -he was wearied with towns and travel. She designed to acquire for him -and her the old Vicarage at Farleigh Wallop. The Vicar who had -succeeded their father, instead of being an archaeologist, to whom -present-day life was a wearisome fact that must obtrude itself as little -as possible on his studies, liked to reside where the population was -thickest. Of the two villages, therefore, within his cure of souls he -chose Cliddesden for his residence as being the more populous, and let -the vicarage at Farleigh whenever he could find a tenant. This of course -was the old home of the Brenthams and the place where Maud had lived up -to the time of her father's death. She had no inquiries to make as to -drainage or water. She knew its charms and its weaknesses; and finding -it untenanted she soon concluded an agreement with the Vicar to take it -on a reasonable rent and with some security of tenure. To live there -once more would be for her and Roger--and for Maurice too, and Geoffrey -when he chose to come and see them--a pleasant linking-up of past with -present. - -Meantime, Roger returned from three weeks of aimless wanderings on a -bicycle or in a motor, and from visits to bankers, tailors, and the -Foreign Office in London, to spend a few days with Maurice at Englefield -Lodge. - -The first question he put to his brother was, "Where _on earth_ is -Sibyl?" - -_Maurice_: "I didn't like to tell you before, Sibyl is rather under the -weather, as Geoffrey would say. Silchester--Clithy, as she always will -call him--came of age last year, as you know. Sibyl seemed a bit off -colour then, and began really to look somewhere near her age--at last. -But she carried off things well. Gave fetes on all the different -properties and attended most of them.... Gave political dinner parties -in London to introduce her son to such great pots as she could get to -come to them, before he took his seat in the House of Lords. She was -present at the Trustees' meetings to give an account of her stewardship. -They congratulated her--and me--and you, in retrospect--on the way in -which the Estate had been managed during the long minority; and told -Master Clithy he was remarkably lucky to have such a mother and such -Agents. He took it all with a certain amount of pompous -acquiescence.... He has grown into an awful prig, you will find, and -thinks a tremendous lot of himself. Whether I shall stay on with him I -hardly know. I've saved a bit, haven't spent any of my share in Dad's -money, and I could always go back to the Bar. P'raps if you returned to -Africa I'd go with you if you'd let me? I'm rather fed up with England -and office work.... - -"However, about Sib.... She came down here last summer and _didn't_ -have a house party. Lived quite alone with your kids. They've come to -look upon Engledene as quite their home. Of course, when she couldn't -put 'em up I had them here. Well, as I say, she seemed 'under the -weather.' Once or twice when I rather bounced in on Estate business, I -thought she'd been crying. Wasn't my business to ask what for. She -wasn't an easy person to question and could lay you out with her tongue -if you seemed to be meddling with what didn't concern you. Then all at -once last October I had a note from her to say that she had gone into a -nursing home to have an operation, that I wasn't to fuss about it or -come to inquire, that if she was away at Christmas time your children -were to come here from school just the same and I was to represent her -as host...." - -_Roger_: "What was the operation for? All this is news to me." - -_Maurice_: "So I guessed. She made me promise not to write and tell you -or Lucy ... said it would be all over, long before you were back, and -turn out to be a fuss about nothing. As to what it _was_, why I suppose -she had reached a certain stage in life when most women have -complications and ten per cent. of 'em are operated on--glands, cysts, -tumours.... - -"The operation took place--she was jolly careful to keep it out of the -papers--I doubt if even Clithy knew anything till it was well over. He -was travelling in Russia to study the Russian theatres and their -arrangements about scenery.... After she recovered the doctors sent her -to Aix and then to St. Tropez on the Riviera.... Clithy joined her -there. I sent her the telegram about ... about ... Lucy's death. I -dare say you noticed the perfectly magnificent wreaths they both sent -for the funeral. Clithy's came down from some place in Regent Street -and had a card on it 'To my dear Aunt Lucy.' ... Only human touch about -him ... awfully fond of your wife ... always said he liked her much more -than his mother.... But he needn't have said it so often, though Sibyl -only used to laugh. Her wreath was made here from the very best things -we had got in the hot-houses ... only because Sibyl wrote that Lucy so -loved to walk in these houses and fancy she was back in Africa.... -However, I had a letter from her three days ago...." (Takes it out and -reads: "Tell Roger not to dream of coming out here, because I am just -going away. I am writing him in a few days.") "There! Now she'll soon -tell you everything about herself...." - -"What about _you_? Have you made any plans as yet?" - -_Roger_: "Lucy's death has cut my life in two; I shall have to alter all -the programme we used, to plan out together, she and I and Maud. Of -course there are the children to think about.... Where are the matches? -I'll light a pipe and tell you my ideas...." (A silence ... puffs ...) -... "I've not done badly out of this Happy Valley Concession. I've sold -my shares in it--all but five hundred, kept _them_ just to retain an -interest, don't you know, get the Company's reports from time to -time--I've sold my shares at two pounds a share to the Schraeders' -group. That brings me in close upon L75,000. I haven't saved much -besides ... purposely lived well out there and entertained a good deal, -and gave ... Lucy ... and Maud all they wanted, and had to pay for the -little 'uns' schooling at home. However, there I am at this moment with -about L75,000 at my bank on deposit and twelve hundred or so outstanding -to my current account.... I'm going first of all to give ten thousand -pounds _down_ to Maud. I consider she has _earned_ it. - -"And then I must make a new will ... and I want to ask you, old chap, to -be one of the executors. Will you? And p'raps Geoff the other. After -all, it isn't Geoff we dislike, it's that confounded, pious doe-rabbit -of a wife of his. However.... - -"Well then, about my plans. I suppose I ought to stay at home at -Farleigh--I shall look out for a decent flat in London--and get to know -my children. Somehow it's _that_ I can't take to. They have grown up so -outside all my thoughts and schemes and interests. They don't care a -hang about Africa. John has been making a young fool of himself at -Sandhurst ... been betting and borrowing and getting into debt. I'm -glad his mother didn't know.... Well, I shall square up all that, but I -shall insist on his going in for the Indian Army--Staff Corps--same as I -did.... A man if he's got ability couldn't have a better education.... -He's a good-looking boy, John--I expect he thinks me an old fogey from -the backwoods.... India's the school for him. And as to Ambrose, he -must go to Cambridge, when he leaves Harrow, and I shall try and get him -a nomination for the Consular Service.... That's the other good school -for a British citizen. You'll think me jolly conceited, just because -those are the two careers _I've_ followed. But..." (smokes and puffs). - -"Well then, there are the two girls. Fat Maud--she was furious because -I revived the old name--says long ago 'Aunt Sibyl' agreed it should be -compromised by her being called Fatima.... Fatima, I gather, is -eighteen, and young Sibyl is fourteen.... For the present Maud will look -after them, and I shall have 'em up to London every now and then for a -few weeks. In course of time I suppose they'll want to be presented. -Dare say old Sibyl will do that, or if she's away, Lady Dewburn. By the -bye, _she_ wrote me an awfully sweet letter about Lucy..." (ponders and -smokes). - -"In due time the girls'll marry, and if they pick up the right kind of -husband I shall give 'em each a portion of my ill-gotten wealth. There! -That's what I've planned out, and I dare say it 'ud ha' been quite -different if my darling Luce had lived. I should have been reconciled -then to settling down at home. As it is--I shall travel a bit--Go to -Germany and try to find out what the Germans are up to.... Go back to -Africa p'raps ... _I_ don't know...." - - -A few days after this conversation, Roger received a letter from Sibyl: - - -Villa les Pins, - Grimaud, pres St. Tropez, - Var, June 12, 1909. - -DEAR ROGER,-- - -Maurice will have given you all the news there is about me, except what -I am going to add in this letter. - -I am not going to attempt any sympathy at present over your loss. -Maud's telegram from Naples was forwarded on to me here and it gave me a -horrid turn. I often used to tease Lucy: I am cat-scratchy to every one, -I fear. Why? _I_ don't know: something to do with my internal organs, -I dare say. But I became sincerely fond of her, after being perfectly -horrid to her when we first met. She seemed to grow on one. I should -have liked her always to stay at Englefield. - -Heigh ho! I am very much inclined to whimper about myself. I have, -been through a _ghastly_ time.... Some day, if I live, I will tell you. -Meantime, though I am _aching_ to see you I am going to postpone that -happiness, and instead am going round the world with Vicky Masham. - -The doctors seem to think--I dare say it is only because they have -nothing else to suggest--that if I went on a long sea voyage for about a -year--I mean, kept constantly travelling on the sea--I should get quite -strong again. Perhaps I shall. I want to give myself every chance--it -seems _so stupid_ to die before you're seventy. Also it occurred to me -the other day that for a woman to have raved for twenty years about the -British Empire and yet never to have seen any part of it outside Great -Britain, except Cape Town and Stellenbosch, and once when we went to -Jersey from Dinant--was rather silly. So Vicky and I are starting from -Marseilles next Sunday in a P. and O., bound for Ceylon, and after that -Japan. Not that Japan is British--I believe--but of course we aren't -going to be pedantic. Then I suppose we shall "do" Australia and New -Zealand--only I'm afraid New Zealand is rather muttony, isn't it? -Excessively worthy and all that, but lives chiefly on mutton and stewed -tea. However, there are geysers and pink terraces, if you look for them. -Then there will be a lovely cruise across the Pacific, and beach-combers -and impossibly large oysters that would dine a family of six, and brown -people with no morals and beautiful sinuous forms, and finally San -Francisco and California. After that--however, sufficient for the day -is the evil thereof. Vicky or I will bombard you with picture post-cards -recording our progress, and when--and when I'm _quite_ well and look -less like a doomed woman--I will let you know, and, dearest Roger, we -will pass the rest of our lives together, or at least not far away from -one another. Your children shall be the children of my old age.... - -Clithy is here, but as soon as I leave for Marseilles he is off again to -Russia. He has promised me to look you up when he returns. You will -find him now definitely fixed as to appearance. People of his stamp are -like that. Between nineteen and twenty-one, they quite quickly assume -the figure, face, style by which they are ever after going to be known. -He will remind you most of Lord R----, though I assure you there is no -innuendo in this. I dare say the L----'s are distant cousins of the -Mallards. But Clithy is essentially the aristocratic young peer who may -be a fount of wisdom or a hollow fraud with nothing inside an -irreproachable exterior. He is a mystery to me. And I am of little -interest to him. The only woman I ever heard him mention with anything -like a kind look in his eyes was Lucy. The Anne of Denmark nose is -still there, undulating and with a bump in the middle; but the rest of -the face has grown up more and his hair is a nice dark chestnut -brown.--Well, you will see him later, so why waste time in describing -him? - -As to Vicky Masham.... Of course you want to know why, etc. - -Well: Vicky, at the death of her patron saint, Victoria the Good, was -left with little more than her pension of L500 a year. She ought to -have had ten thousand pounds of her own, but--I dare say you saw the -scandal in the papers? She and her sisters gave up much of their means -to save their shockingly bad brother from going to prison over some -swindle that ... Again why waste words? Maurice could tell you all -about it. Well, when I came to the South of France after Aix, last -December, I was _dreadfully_ hipped, fighting a certain Terror--a much -_worse_ terror than the one you used to write to me about who lived in a -Red Crater (rather a distinguished address: "The Red Crater, Iraku"), -and who went to Hell by the direct route. I came to Monte Carlo amongst -other places and thought if I kept on a veil and wore blue glasses no -one would recognize me. In the Rooms I saw Victoria Masham, looking -very melancholy--and oh, so old--and quite alone. My heart was touched, -I spoke to her and we went to sit on the terrace. I told her my -troubles and she told me hers. Result: I struck a bargain. She is to -live with me till we have our first quarrel; I am to board her, lodge -her, wash her, pay all possible expenses, and give her a little pocket -money, over and above. And d'you know, I think it's going to be quite a -success! We haven't had a quarrel yet! I've had her teeth beautifully -done by an American dentist at Cannes, so my nickname only applies a -little--he was too clever not to give the new set a soupcon of -horsiness. And I've made her buy a quite wonderful -"transformation"--chez Nicole--reddish-brown, streaked with grey.--You'd -never guess. She has plumped out a good deal, for although I've a -wretched appetite myself I keep a good table, and upon my word when we -get to the Colonies I shouldn't wonder if she had shoals of proposals. -She never talks about anything but Queen Victoria, but I find -that--somehow--awfully soothing--takes me back to the happy old time -when I was a care-free girl, proud of my secret engagement to you. - - * * * * * - -_Dear_ Roger. I have lost _all_ my good looks. That's why I don't want -you to see me till I recover them--a little. Meantime, dearest of -friends and cousins, if you believe in _Anything_ with a power to -save--alas! _I_ don't--pray to it to save me from this terror that hangs -over me--especially in the silent watches of the night--and bring me -back safe from my world-tour, with at least another ten years of life -before me. - -Whilst I am away, remember Engledene is entirely at your children's -disposal. I have written to the head gardener to see that fresh flowers -are sent every now and again to Lucy's grave. You will tell him when? -Lucy was a _real good sort_ and I think she came to understand me and -forgive.... - -Ever yours, - SIBYL. - - -Roger spent the remainder of 1909 as he had planned: looking after his -boys and girls to some extent, trying to get interested in his children. -The girls bored him with their chatter of surface things: school -quarrels and rivalries, school friendships, school mistresses; their -individual tastes in chocolate creams and caramels; their school sports; -the actors whom they adored--at a distance--and whose photographs they -collected; their disdain for those silly asses the Suffragettes--_they_ -themselves would _never_ want a vote! The two boys were not much less -shallow with their Sandhurst and school-boy slang--"top-hole, sir," -"ripping," "ruddy," "rotters," "we rotted 'em a bit"--their school-boy -games of such vast importance; their dislike of anything sincere, -original, warm-hearted; their rash criticisms of great writers, frantic -admiration for great sportsmen, religious reverence for cut and colour, -style and form; enthusiasm in general for things that did not matter and -contempt for things that did. - -Was he like that at their age? Had Sibyl the elder at sixteen been such -a goose as Sibyl the younger? Was it the hollow falsity of a classical -education, the dreary sham of School Christianity which had made his -boys so cynical, so coarse in their tastes? His children were good to -look at, handsome, healthy, physically well-bred. But weren't -they--weren't their contemporaries a bit heartless? These in particular -had forgotten their mother completely. Yet surely they might have -remembered Lucy's unceasing tenderness and the many sacrifices of health -and convenience she had made for them? - -In the press of that day and in the books and plays most in vogue you -were supposed to make everything give way to the pleasures, needs, -caprices, expectations of the young, of the coming generation. But why -had no author the courage to point out the lack of interest which youth -under twenty-one possessed for most persons of matured mind? Girls of -eighteen wrote novels entirely without experience and direct observation -of life, merely based on their wishy-washy recollections of books -written by "grown-ups"; boys of eighteen published sardonic poems and -green-cheese essays for which they ought to have been birched, not -boomed. How infinitely preferable to Roger, when he put his secret -thoughts into words, was the society of middle-aged friends and -relations of his own period in life, who really had brain convolutions -moulded by sad and joyous, sharp and unusual experience. - -Aunt Maud said there was something evidently very wrong with his liver, -and his sons and daughters in an interchange of eye-glances gave a tacit -assent. They had felt (though they had never dared to say so in his -hearing) a tiny bit ashamed of their ineffective mother. Wasn't it -rather _infra dig._ to have been a school-teacher and a missionary? But -of their father they all stood in awe, because he was considered in his -time a handsome man, was now of distinguished appearance, and was -respected in the best circles as an explorer, a big-game shot, a -naturalist, and a man who had made some part of Africa pay. But if he -stooped to their level and attempted to justify this eminence by talking -technically on African subjects or on home problems they soon showed -they thought him a bore. - -Aunt Sibyl they spoke of warmly, and wailed over the illness which kept -her absent from their circle. She was their ideal of a modern great -lady. Her cynical speeches appealed to their own lack of convictions; -there was nothing "soppy" about Aunt Sibyl. - -So Roger escaped whenever he could from his home circle and travelled in -Germany, France, Holland, Italy, in order to study the game of foreign -politics, find out why in most people's light-hearted opinion a great -war was "inevitable" as a solution of conflicting ambitions, and whether -it might not be possible to avert it completely if only Britain, -Germany, the United States and France could form a League for the -maintenance of peace. - -The Schraeders made much of him in Germany. Rather timidly they stood up -against Potsdam, tried to create an opinion in the South German -States--their Alsatian origin carried them in that direction--favourable -to a Naval and Colonial understanding with Britain. At their -instigation Roger gave a series of addresses in western and southern -Germany in 1910 which were deemed a great success, though they were -rather frowned on in Berlin. He promised to renew his visit and his -lectures in the autumn of 1911. - -Meanwhile, Sibyl had returned to London in the early autumn of 1910. It -was of course the dead season, but it gradually dawned on Society that -she intended to entertain no more. She was probably going to write a -book about the British Empire; she had turned quite serious, others -said, and was going in for religion. She had evidently lost her health -and--no doubt--her appearance. - -Roger had hastened to greet her in the much shut-up house in Carlton -House Terrace. Here she sat, generally with her back to the light. He -was prepared to find her greatly altered. What struck him most was the -pathetic thinness of face and hands, and the shapelessness of the -figure. The new fashions in dress--straight up and down, no waist, one -of the greatest revolutions of our age--helped her here, but at the -expense of womanly charm. For Roger had the old-fashioned man-mind -which has for some twenty thousand years--did it not begin in -Aurignacian times?--admired the incurve below the well-furnished female -bust and the outcurve from waist to hip. - -"I'm glad you came so promptly," said Sibyl, "because I'm turning out of -this gloomy mansion and surrendering it to Clithy. I simply can't -afford to keep it up _and_ Engledene too, and although he says of course -he will pay for everything and I can have my own suite of rooms, I -somehow fancy a cosy little flat which I could share with Maud, or Vicky -Masham when she comes back from the States.... Yes, I left her at -Washington, going to stay at the White House. I came back alone from -there, but I had sulky Sophie to look after me. One thing that makes me -think, Roger, that I am _really_ ill, really doomed, is that Sophie no -longer gives me notice whenever any whim of mine displeases her. I am -sure she is saying to herself now, 'The poor old gal won't be with us -much longer: better hang on with her and then she may leave me -something.' But about Vicky, for it really is a good story.... Only -first I'm going to--or you might--ring for tea. Of course you'll stay? -You couldn't in decency refuse.--Do you know, we haven't set eyes on one -another for ... for ... _three years_? We are both swallowing pungent -things we might say about one another's appearance, and both resolving -to bite our tongues off rather than say them." ... (To servant: "Tea -please; and ask Miss Mills to make the sandwiches, _my_ sandwiches, I -mean.") ... "I have to take these frame-foods in the form of sandwiches, -and Sophie has learnt the art of making them so seductive that I get -them down without any difficulty.... - -"About Vicky.--Do draw up your chair; you needn't be so frigid with a -moribund friend. Directly it became known in California that Vicky had -been a maid of honour to the late Queen Victoria, my dear, the Americans -nearly killed us with kindness! Our roles were reversed. _She_ was the -lady of distinction and _I_ was her travelling companion. You know the -Americans, especially in the west and east, have a _culte_ for Queen -Victoria, and Vicky's stories of her home life held them spell-bound. -She felt in her position it wouldn't be right to _lecture publicly_ on -her late mistress, but the difficulty was got over.--D'you still drink -tea without sugar? I'm told I _ought_ to take it--got over by -drawing-room meetings, tickets subscribed for, and no charge at the -door, a sumptuous tea--supposed to be modelled on the kind of tea the -Queen took at Osborne--served in the middle of Vicky's talk. She refused -to take any direct payment, so they sent her _thumping_ cheques for her -travelling expenses. And now she's going to put her talks on Queen -Victoria as Mother, Wife and Queen into a book.--One way and another, -she'll make five or six thousand pounds out of the whole business. And -I'm _jolly_ glad. It'll be some provision for her real old age, after -I'm gone--for I shan't have much to leave, and most of that I must give -to my sisters in the Colonies and to your Sibyl, and some of my -servants.... - -"Now: you've got _endless_ things to tell _me_. Indeed I really can't -see why we should be separated, now, except when we are put to bed. You -must be a mental wreck, and I am a physical one.... I got frightfully -tired in the States--it spoilt much of the good I derived from the long -steamer voyages.... We are simply two imprisoned souls in very battered -cages. All the gilding is off mine." - - -Roger saw as much of Lady Silchester as he could during the last months -of 1910. He and Maud assisted her to find just the right sort of flat, -where she would have no household worries, where, in fact, she need only -keep Sophie to look after her. They all spent a reasonably merry -Christmas at Engledene, where Lord Silchester joined them, and where -Fatima--Maud junior--expressed and perhaps felt such an intense interest -in his Keltic operas and reforms in stage scenery that a glint of the -match-maker's eagerness came into Sibyl's tired eyes; she pressed -Roger's hand and murmured, "_Wouldn't_ it be _too_ delightful...?" - -During the first half of 1911 the Intelligence Division of the War -Office discovered Major Brentham as a really great authority on African -geography and African campaigns, and he worked there over maps, and gave -them in addition much other information. As some return he was gazetted -Colonel, and again there was talk of utilizing such an administrative -capacity in our own dominions. - -In June, 1911, Sibyl's physician and surgeon were not altogether -satisfied as to her progress towards recovery, and suggested she might -derive great benefit from the waters of Villette, a thermal station in -the east of France near the Vosges. So she said to Roger: "_You look_ -quite as ill as I _feel_. It's malaria. You never quite got rid of -that blackwater fever. Come to Villette later on. Maud and the girls -and Clithy could join us too. I'll have a month first of all, alone -except for Vicky. I'll give the closest attention to the cure, and then -perhaps when you arrive I may be able to sit up and take notice and even -do a little motoring...." - - -Accordingly the scene of this dwindling story changes in -Villette-es-Vosges, a _Ville d'eaux_ in eastern France, in the month of -August and September, 1911. Germany has spoilt the summer for all -statesmen, soldiers and sailors by challenging the French protectorate -of Morocco at Agadir. It is supposed by the middle of August, after Mr. -Lloyd George's speech in the City, and after a succession of "kraches" -in German banking firms, that the Kaiser's Government is hesitating to -go the full length of War: but Germany is growling horribly because she -is realizing that her financial arrangements for a war of great -dimensions are imperfect, and that she is unprepared with aircraft to -cope with the French aeroplanes. - -So she is consenting to _pourparlers_ for the purpose of ascertaining -the terms on which she may be bought off, persuaded to leave Agadir, and -withdraw a portion of the army she is crowding into Alsace-Lorraine. - -Villette-es-Vosges is well suited for the work of the old diplomacy. It -is, to begin with, a _Ville d'eaux_; and in the eighteenth, nineteenth, -and early twentieth centuries, statesmen who were negotiating treaties -and alliances or resolving problems which threatened war, usually met at -some gay place near their frontiers where they could, under the guise of -"taking the waters," carry on their conversations with one another and -draft protocols of conspiracy or of agreement. Consequently, in late -August and early September, 1911, Villette was unusually thronged: not -only by its accustomed clientele of middle-aged invalids trying to -combat all manner of diseases for which its springs were efficacious, -but also by their _demoiselles-a-marier_, their gawky boys and -bread-and-butter, pigtailed girls, playing tennis, croquet, and crowding -into the cinemas while their parents sip and bathe and undergo _massage -sous l'eau_; by wicked gamblers, obvious adventurers, demure cocottes -(needing a month's repose and a reduction of their figures); and by -European statesmen trying to look like tourists. The German -diplomatists have dressed and hatted themselves to resemble the -Frenchman of caricature; the French ministers and ex-ministers are -out-doing the average English gentleman in bluff "sports" costumes; and -there are Russians and Austrians too quaint for words, _a pouffer de -rire_, as Sibyl says; with such weeping whiskers, such forked beards, -such frock-coats in the early morning and such tall hats as you never -saw, except in pictures of Society in Paris under the Second Empire. - -These diplomatists foregather in the theatrically beautiful park with -its swan-pools, its canalized river, its groves and bosquets, pavilions, -tea-houses, summer-houses, chalets, kiosques of newspapers and salacious -novels, open-air orchestras, croquet-lawns, and tennis-courts. Or if -the problem is very grave, and excited speech should not be audible nor -gesticulations visible to prowling journalists, they stroll away to the -race-course, to the golf links. - -It is the glorious summer of 1911, when there was little rain between -the beginning of June and the end of September. Nevertheless, if you -should weary of the heat or if there should be a sudden shower you have -a long cool arcade of tempting shops, a Grand Guignol, and the necessary -retreats--on a large scale--for those who are summarily affected by the -cathartic action of the waters, especially that very potent _Source -Salee_, which is never mentioned without respect, except where it is the -foundation of Rabelaisian stories. The medicinal springs are housed in -temples of great architectural beauty. The town of pleasure, with its -eight or nine hotels, rises in terraces that survey the park--not long -ago a forest in which wolves roamed in winter time. New Villette -contains a theatre, a _Club des Etrangers_ with gambling rooms, a _Salle -de lecture_, a Concert Hall, an _Eglise Anglicane_, and a Catholic -church, a post-office, doctors' houses and laboratories, and the -necessary _usines_ and _garages_. A mile away is the real Villette, a -common-place Lorraine town of purely agricultural interests, turning its -back, so to speak, on the adjoining health resort which has made its -name famous. - -In the arcade is a large black notice-board, whereon besides local -notices are pinned the _Havas_ telegrams. Hither, during one critical -week, comes a throng of anxious readers. _Is it to be peace or War_? -Will Germany be satisfied with French Congo and give up Morocco? Should -we pack to-night and leave before Mother has completed her cure, _in -case_ mobilization upsets the trains? Will my husband be called up? -_What_ will happen to my boy? - -Sibyl, lying on her comfortably-sloped invalid chair in the verandah of -the Pavilion des Dejeuners, opines the Germans must be _perfect beasts_ -to upset every one like this, and all over some place on the Sahara -coast where there are just a few verminous Moors. She is not in favour -of anarchism, but she really _does_ wish some one would assassinate the -Kaiser.... - -Roger looks grave and essays the hopeless task of defending Germany. -"It is all this mania for 'Empires across the Seas.' Germany gets mad -when our Empire, the French Empire, the Russian Empire each year get -bigger, while she is prevented everywhere from expanding----, etc., -etc." - -_Victoria Masham_ hazards the conjecture: "_If only_ the dear Queen were -alive! She would soon...." - -_Sibyl_ interrupts: "My dear Vicky, you must look facts in the face. -Queen Victoria would now be 92. She would not be of much use at that age -... See! There is obviously our Foreign Minister ... disguised with -smoked glasses, but you can't mistake his nose. I think he's _so_ -good-looking.... And there is young Hawk of the F.O. He's just been -sent to Brussels. I hear the Villierses are expected to-morrow. That -man in the straw hat and the cricketing flannels is Monsieur Viviani, -and the handsome old lion with the grey mane is Leon Bourgeois. The -tight-trousered man you'd take for a 'booky' is Count Palastro--and -there's no mistaking that stuffed figure of the last century, in a -stove-pipe hat, a buttoned-up frock-coat, and pointed whiskers: that's -Polanoff of the Russian Foreign Office. We saw him when we were in -Japan.... 'Whithersoever the carcass is, there are the eagles gathered -together.'" - -_Roger_: "I suppose the carcass is the unhappy peoples of Europe?" - -_Sibyl_: "I suppose so. Vicky, dear. Go and have breakfast at the -hotel this morning. D'you mind? Maud has taken off the two girls to -some violent sports' competition, and Clithy has motored over to -Domremy." (To Roger): "He is studying local colour for the libretto of -an opera on Joan of Arc. His great _clou_--if he can only bring it -off--is the last scene. Joan of Arc, while bound to the stake and -encircled with flames, sings a scena of the fireworks kind. Clithy says -it would be natural under the circumstances. He thinks if they can -devise some kind of asbestos shift for the prima donna and the usual -chemical flames that don't burn much it could be arranged...." (To -Vicky): "I want Roger all to myself this morning. We are going to have -our breakfast together, here, in case events call him to sterner -duties...." (Vicky acquiesces with a good grace--in her new -transformation to which a _little_ more grey has been added, she looks -surprisingly well, and younger than Sibyl, though she is ten years -older). - -A pause. The waiter lays the table between them for Roger's dejeuner a -la fourchette. He is accustomed to preparing Sibyl's special dietary -and arranges for that also. He is a pleasant-faced man, deeply -deploring "le peu de progres que fait M'ame la Baronne...." - -_Sibyl_: "What a scene for a dying woman to be looking at!" - -_Roger_: "Sibyl! _Don't_ be so lugubrious...." - -_Sibyl_: "Why? Do you suppose I don't pretty well know my own -condition? I am dying slowly of cancer, what the doctors call 'un lent -deperissement.' I expect this is what Mother died of later in life. -The doctors would be ready enough to operate again if there was any -chance.... As it is, they know it is more merciful to let me linger out -my few remaining weeks or months than submit me to the shock of an -operation which might kill me at once. I _may_ live to October, Dr. -Perigord thinks. Or he puts it more pleasantly: 'Vers le mois d'Octobre -nous saurons oui ou non, si la guerison de M'ame la Baronne -s'effectuera. Les eaux de Villette operent parfois des miracles: -esperons toujours.' ... And so on.... I don't suffer much pain--as yet. -When it comes on they'll put me under morphia. I shall stay here till -this political crisis is over or the fine weather begins to break. Then -Clithy will motor me to Calais and from Dover to Engledene. Engledene -will be the best place to die at. And, of course, _remember_, I want to -be buried at Aldermaston, near Lucy--and near where you'll be laid some -day--unless you marry again, which I should hardly think you'll do. I -shall have a perfect right to occupy a small space in Aldermaston -churchyard, because I'm a parishioner. I bought the farm that father so -ridiculously mismanaged and that you made so prosperous. I've left it -in my will to my brother Gerry, as some compensation for having taken no -notice of him since I got married.... But, as I said before, _what_ a -scene! Not even your beloved Happy Valley could better those flowers in -the urns and vases and borders and parterres--those scarlet geraniums, -scarlet cannas, scarlet salvias, and scarlety-crimson Lobelia -cardinalis. We grow them at Engledene, but they're nothing like these. -_And_ the heliotrope, and ageratum ... and those blue salvias and orange -calceolarias. I know it's rather vulgar, but the whole effect is -superbly staged; don't you think so?.... - -"And the women's dresses. Many of them, of course, are mannequins, just -showing off for the Paris shops. And then to see pass by all the -celebrated if over-rated people you've heard so much about, just as -though they were well-made-up supers on the stage. And the music of -those alternate orchestras... and such African sunlight ... and ... -_you_ next to me...." - -_Roger_: "Look here, if you talk so much I shan't wonder you get weaker -instead of stronger. Eat up your breakfast and drink your milk." - -_Sibyl_: "I will. But I _must_ talk to you. I shall soon be silenced -for ever...." - -_Roger_: "So shall _I_, when my time comes. So will every one. You -don't give yourself a chance, talking in this morbid way. The doctors -are often wrong. Remember the case of Lady Waterford?" - -_Sibyl_: "Blanchie?" - -_Roger_: "Yes.... A good soaking in Villette water may get rid of all -your trouble and some day you may be weeping over me as I lie dying of -Bright's disease." - -_Sibyl_ (not paying much attention): "Roger! Do you think there is -going to be War?" - -_Roger_: "Not this time. Look there! D'you see those _gardes -champetres_ in that green uniform?" - -_Sibyl_: "That nice-looking man, with the blond moustaches?" - -_Roger_: "Yes, and that ugly-looking fellow with the red nose. Well: a -week ago they mysteriously vanished, and I asked what had become of -them. I was told they had joined up ... the Reserve, you know. Now -they're back again. _That_ shows the Germans and French have come to -terms. The War is _partie remise_--this year--but it's certain to come, -unless Germany can be squared. Remains to be seen what she wants and -what we can afford to give...." - -A pause. Sibyl eats a little food and sips her milk. Roger finishes his -breakfast and lights a cigarette. - -_Sibyl_: "Do you think there can be _any_ survival after death?" - -_Roger_: "How can _I_ tell? Who knows _anything_ about it? Not even -Edison or Marconi. And they come nearest..." - -_Sibyl_: "I mean, of course, our minds, our intelligence, our love. Our -poor diseased bodies simply dissolve and are redistributed and worked up -again. But the _personality_ we have created in our brains?"... (takes -a cigarette from Roger and smokes it). "Talking of personality, isn't it -_extraordinary_ how _that_ can be affected through our stomachs; -chemically, so to speak? You saw that woman in the dark green dress, -who waved to me just now? Recognize her?" (Roger shakes his head)... -"_That_ is Cecilia Bosworth, the Marchioness of Bosworth, quite the -proudest woman in the Three kingdoms--enough in herself to provoke a -middle-class revolution. Her husband's remote ancestor was a by-blow of -the Plantagenets, a natural son of 'false fleeting Clarence.' He went -over to that usurper--I've always spoken up for Richard the Third--that -_usurper_, Henry the Seventh, at the battle of Bosworth, and so was -created Earl of Bosworth, and afterwards Elizabeth made his grandson a -marquis. Well, even you, as an African hermit, _must_ have heard of -that woman's insolence in Society? She even mocked at the Royal Family -and said her husband--a perfect oaf--was more Plantadge than they were -and the rightful king.... She wanted Prince Eddy to marry her daughter -and make things come right." (A pause ... smokes)... - -"Well, when she came here six weeks ago, nobody was good enough to mix -with her; she went round blighting us all. My doctor said it was all -due to liver and he'd soon cure her. He put her on to _La Source -Salee_--and a slice of melon afterwards. And, _my dear_, she went -through _agonies_, I believe. I used to hear her _shrieking_ as she -passed along the corridor.... - -"But it's cured her. See what a pleasant nod she gave me just now? And -there she is, talking to those very pretty girls--and their father's -only a Leeds manufacturer. - -"Well, how do you work _that_ problem out?" - -_Roger_: "Give it up! ... But by the look in your eyes, I should say -_you've_ got the beginning of a temperature. Let me wheel you back to -the Hotel and call for Sophie. Then if you are good and obedient and -get an after-breakfast nap, I will come at three and take you and Vicky -out for a very gentle motor drive...." - -Sibyl submits. The waiter assists with the chair till it is out of the -intricacies of the approach to the Breakfast Pavilion. Roger draws it -through the gay throng. The church bells of all denominations are -clanging in carillons, either because it is Sunday or because -Peace--this time--has been definitely assured by an exchange of -signatures. A few people raise their hats or wave hands to Sibyl, -though she is semi-disguised in smoked glasses and a diaphanous veil; -and numerous men nod to Colonel Brentham: who, panting, draws the -wheeled chair up to the perron of the hotel. - -Here there is a pause while Sophie is sent for. Then the -disentanglement of the sick woman from the chair and from shawls, and -her slow walk, supported by Roger and her maid, to the ground floor -rooms where a white-capped nurse receives her. - - -Roger went to Germany at the end of September, when Sibyl was being -taken back to England by her son. He spent six weeks lecturing the -Germans on the advisability of joining Britain and France in a -world-wide understanding. His lectures were politely forbidden on -Prussian territory, which made South Germany all the more eager to hear -him. And when he left for England at the beginning of November, it was -with the assurance that a German representative deputation would come to -England in the spring of 1912 to promote an Anglo-German understanding. - -On reaching London, however, he learnt that Sibyl had died two days -previously, at Engledene. In the last weeks of her agony she had been -much under morphia. Before she reached that stage she had insisted with -Maud and Vicky that Roger was _not_ to be bothered by bad reports of her -condition, as he was engaged in doing what he believed to be the right -thing. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIV* - - *ALL ENDS IN THE HAPPY VALLEY* - - -Colonel Brentham's anticipations of the Millennium to be achieved by the -adjustment of colonial ambitions were not to be realized. On the 28th -of June, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated -in the Bosnian capital. Maurice Brentham, meeting his brother the same -day outside the Travellers' Club, asked what he thought of this bolt -from the blue........ - -"I think very badly of it," Roger replied. "Whether or not the plot was -engineered in Servia, it is clear from the sayings and antics of the -Russian minister in Belgrade that Russia is egging on Servia against -Austria and using her as a mask under which Russia may place herself -athwart German-Austrian ambitions in the Balkan peninsula, and bar the -way to Constantinople. She is, in fact, challenging directly the -substantial results of our agreements.... - -"Well and if she does, what will happen then?" - -"The Great War we have been striving to avert." - - -When War was declared on August 4th, Brentham found himself in the -dilemma of many of his able-bodied, disengaged fellow-countrymen: what -service could he render to the British Empire at this crisis of its -fate? Like most of us he had a strong predilection as to the kind of -service he might best render. In his case it was to proceed as quickly -as possible to East Africa and watch over the fortunes of the Happy -Valley. John was already in India with his regiment; Ambrose had best -remain at Cambridge unless there was anything like Universal service; -Maud would take up hospital work and her nieces could help her. - -He therefore proceeded to offer his services to the Secretary of State -for the Colonies. If Africa could not be kept out of the War area--as -he had at first hoped--then, if we did not occupy German East Africa, -the Germans would soon proceed to invade our adjacent possessions: in -short, a terrible struggle was about to take place for supremacy in the -Dark Continent between Britain, France, and Belgium on the one side and -Germany on the other. In such a struggle, surely his qualities as -geographer, linguist, and a person of great local influence ought to be -of value in the East African campaign? - -The Colonial Office replied coldly that it had handed over the whole -question of attack and defence in East Africa to the War Office. To the -War Office he therefore repaired one very warm day at the end of August. -With the greatest difficulty he obtained access to the Secretary of -State for War, then the most powerful person in the kingdom. He faced -those "desert eyes" like the optics of a harpy eagle, and made a -stammering, voluble proffer of his services, which gradually slackened -under the stare and the silence. When he paused to invite a reply, the -great man interjected: "How old are you?" - -"Fifty-six, Sir." - -"_Much_ too old.... Couldn't stand ... strain of campaign.... Besides -... all arranged with Indian War Department.... They mightn't like -their Intelligence Division ... interfered with.... No doubt contingency -long foreseen ... plan of campaign cut-and-dried.... Sorry.... We must -make use of you elsewhere.... Send you America ... or recruiting, -p'raps.... Scotland, Ireland, Canada. Let you know later.... Good -morning...." - -Roger, fearful of being caught in the machine as some little wheel or -cog of no importance, lay low, considered, inquired and made his plans, -thinking of nothing but how to reach and save the Happy Valley. -Passports and visas were still matters of trifling importance. The -direct route to East Africa was closed to him; fighting had already -begun, rather disastrously for the British. But the Belgians were -preparing for a great war-effort against German East Africa. Roger -made, his way to Antwerp ... saw the Belgian Minister for the Congo, saw -the grave and courteous young King ... was given permission to accompany -the Belgian forces assembling on Tanganyika.... - -Then: picture him having reached the mouth of the Congo, late on in 1914 -... a little rusty for this adventure in Equatorial Africa. No one with -him as assistant, servant, valet. His son John had been as far back as -the preceding July marked down for service with the first Indian -contingent which would in case of war be dispatched across the Indian -Ocean to take part in the mismanaged attack on Tanga. Can you picture -Brentham in those dreary weeks of waiting at Boma, the Congo -capital--hothouse heat, mosquitoes, sand, dense forest, rancid smell of -palm oil--unutterably lonely, asking himself torturingly "whether he had -done the right thing"? Ought he not to have stayed at home, fought in -Flanders? Looked after Ambrose, waited for orders from Lord Kitchener? -Was he absolutely single-minded in his attachment to the Happy Valley? -Had he chosen the right way to get there quickest? - -At last they were off up-river to take the train to Stanley Pool. The -Belgian officers with whom he travelled were one and all nice fellows, -_bons compagnons_, intelligent, respectful of this grave English -colonel's knowledge of Africa; but a little puzzled _quand meme_ at his -Quixotry, a little reserved. "Il parait qu'il a vecu longtemps avec les -Boches," he overheard one of them saying in the mess, as he was -sauntering in. It seemed to convey a doubt as to his good faith.... At -Leopoldville, he encountered a stately-looking Negro in a familiar -costume--long white _kanzu_, small white open-work skull-cap--speaking -in Swahili. With what joy he recognized that once familiar tongue can -only be appreciated by those who have known the nostalgia of East -Africa. He addressed the man in Kiswahili and was greeted with respect -and interest. A bargain was struck with his employer, and the man, -Omari bin Brahimu, originally a boy recruit for Stanley, entered -Brentham's service, to accompany him to East Africa. Half the misery of -the adventure was now over. Here was a potential nurse in sickness, an -efficient valet, a packer, steward, if-need-be cook, gun-bearer, -counsellor, interpreter, and ever present help in trouble.... - -Colonel Brentham soon showed the Belgians he was not there as an -encumbrance, as a tiresome elderly guest. His knowledge of Bantu -tongues enabled him to pick up a smattering of Bangala, the _lingua -franca_ of the Congolese soldiery. He worked in his shirtsleeves and in -football shorts at every emergency, knew something about steamer -engines, shot for the pot, drilled recruits, and evidently knew the -Germans' position and resources thoroughly. By the time the swelling -contingent of reinforcements had reached Stanley Falls he, was voted the -nicest Englishman--_point de morgue, simple et instruit, ban garcon -jusqu'au bout des angles_--they had ever met. Between Stanley Falls and -Tanganyika he was very ill and nearly died of black-water fever; but -pulled through, thanks to Omari's nursing, and reached Ujiji a yellow -spectre, after the Belgians had in several actions on the lake and on -shore gained possession of Tanganyika. They had been marvellously -helped by a naval contingent sent out by the British Admiralty through -Nyasaland. It was a joy which conduced to Brentham's recovery to meet -the brave, jolly, resourceful British naval officers and picked seamen. -In some way it righted his own position. He felt less a lonely Don -Quixote, a solitary specimen of the British allies of Belgium. - -The year 1915 had been the nadir of his life. Cut off from all news--he -was not to know for another year that his sons were both dead, John, -shot through the head in a maize plantation outside Tanga, and Ambrose, -who had enlisted a month after his father's departure, blown to pieces -by a shell at Ypres; not to know how his sister and his daughters were -faring; whether the British Empire still stood firm, and what people -said or thought about his own disappearance. He was often sick, tired, -lonely, with little to read, and his thoughts a torture to him; for they -dwelt on the remembering of happier things. He wished at times he might -have in humdrum daily life the delusions that came to him in dreams or -in attacks of fever; that Lucy was once more by his side, that Sibyl had -sat by him, that Maud or Maurice or Mrs. Stott had come into his -wretched palm-leaf hut. - - -From Ujiji to Tabora he fought alongside the Belgian Negro army, feeling -every step he took eastward more and more at home. He nearly cried with -joy at finding himself once more among the Wanyamwezi and actually -recognizing among those who came forward to offer their services against -the Germans a few of the men who had been his soldier-porters in bygone -days. - -At Tabora he heard disquieting news about the Happy Valley. It was -reported that the British-Boer army under General Smuts, which had -already taken the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro from the Germans, was -about to start--had started, in fact--on a bold diversion. Led by one -or two English sportsmen, they were evidently making for Lake Manyara -and the Happy Valley, with the intention of cutting the Tanganyika -railway in Ugogo and outflanking the German forces in the coast-belt. -It was a bold scheme that only a great general would have thought of. -The story, he thought, must be true. The stroke was imposed on our -strategy by the geography of the country..... - -After days and nights of meditation and many discussions with Wanyamwezi -headmen, guides, and disarmed Askari (who had transferred their -allegiance from the Germans to the Allies with the greatest -willingness), Brentham sought the general commanding the Belgian forces -at Tabora and expounded his plan and the reasons for his plan. - -Sanction was obtained. Duly furnished with papers establishing his -identity and his position as an intelligence officer serving with the -Belgian forces, Roger started at the head of a hundred picked -Wanyamwezi, with as little baggage as possible. He felt now primed for -any hardship, any privation, when a certain number of days' marching -would bring him back "home," as he instinctively framed it in his mind. -Nevertheless, in case strength should give out he purchased two donkeys -for himself and Omari, who now chiefly filled the role of cook, and -therefore must not be walked off his legs. - -Then they plunged into the untracked wilderness, the least known part of -German East Africa, between northern Unyamwezi and the crater region at -the head of Lake Manyara, where the British forces would probably -impinge on the Happy Valley. Oh, that he might arrive there in time to -prevent the accidental or needless destruction of priceless experimental -machinery, and the outcome of researches undertaken in the general -interests of the world; and intervene possibly between the harmless, -bewildered natives and a soldiery which might not understand them! At -first his caravan travelled thirty miles a day in a swinging stride -through a cultivated country, a country of good roads, rest-houses and -ordered prosperity. Thence it passed north-east and east into a -trackless, little-populated region, a no-man's land, illimitable plains -and tablelands of thin grass, dotted at rare intervals with granite -boulders, blocks and upright _menhirs_ of naked stone, as yet the -undeciphered hieroglyphics of a chapter in African geology. The dry -watercourses sheltered clumps of ragged, lank, thin-stemmed Hyphame -palms, and strange-looking euphorbias. The open country swarmed with -game--countless zebras, herds of yellow hartebeest, red-brown impala, -black-belted, golden-yellow, white-bellied Grant's gazelle, family -parties of twenty or thirty black-and-white and grey ostriches, -blue-grey, black-maned gnus (almost as numerous as the zebras), and -troops of blotched giraffes like run-away telegraph poles as they fled -with uniform trot before his expedition. Rhinoceroses, larger than any -Roger had ever beheld, charged his caravan, but more as an idle sport -than with malign intent.... "What a pity," thought Roger, after -successful evasions of these snorting bulks, "we could not domesticate -these monsters and turn their strength to account in warfare? A rhino -cavalry regiment would carry away all the enemy's wire entanglements and -prove as useful as armoured cars." - -Only stopping an hour here and an hour there to secure meat for his -caravan or incidentally to give some too persistent rhino its quietus, -he pressed on til his expedition entered country covered by his -recollections--the basin of a former vast sheet of water, ancillary, -perhaps, to the Victoria Nyanza, now reduced to the furrowed courses of -half-dry rivers and a long salt lake, its shores and portions of its -surface sparkling with salt crystals in the sunshine, and its surcharged -waters of salts and sodas in solution, a milky blue. There were people -in this wilderness of broad valleys and abrupt escarpments, tribes -already known to Roger, primitive Bushman-like folk, speaking languages -full of clicks, going stark naked, without domestic animals or -agriculture, nomad hunters with bows and arrows, straying from the -culture of fifty thousand years ago into awakened Africa: where white -nations were fighting for predominance with gas and steel, aeroplane and -armoured car. - -At last he sighted familiar ridges and entered remembered ravines and -noble forests, and followed streams of fresh, cold water. There were -now visible many signs of the handiwork, the energy of civilized man. At -the same time they encountered the first fugitives fleeing from Iraku -before the coming of a war so terrible that there was nothing like it in -the black man's legends or imagination: flying rafts in the air hurling -bombs, the bursting of shells, the leaden hail of machine-gunfire. - -Brentham's arrival on the scene coincided with some suspension of -hostilities; at any rate, as he hurried forward through the bungalows, -factories, and gardens of Wilhelmshoehe, he heard no artillery; nothing -more war-like than the occasional popping of a rifle and a few shouts. -The roads, however, were thronged with fugitives making for the woods, -some of whom greeted him rapturously as the _Bwana-mkubwa_ returning to -his kingdom, a god emerging from a machine who would set everything -right. Many of these stopped in their flight, turned back and followed -his men. They even ran alongside his peevish donkey, regardless of its -kicks, strove to kiss a disengaged hand, called him by his native names. -The pace of the irritated ass became a trot, a canter, now they were on -well-made roads. Roger glanced from side to side, saw old buildings he -remembered, and new bungalows and factories he had never seen before. -Several were burning. Negro soldiers in British khaki uniforms were -either attempting to stay the flames or were frankly pillaging the -houses. Several glanced up at him, irresolute. He seemed a British -officer of high rank, but not of their regiment; a few saluted; a -question put here and there elicited the fact that they understood -Swahili. - -From them he gathered that a very large British force had reached Lake -Manyara from the north-east, from the big snow mountains, guided by -several Englishmen, one of whom was called the "Little Terror" (Kicho -kidogo), who had a small army of his own, very fierce men, not in -uniform, "washenzi wabaya."[#] That the German men of the Happy Valley -had fled before the English to some great German stronghold in the -south; but that the "Little Terror" had been told off to search and -occupy the country west of the line of march, and he was now engaged in -giving the "washenzi" punishment. - - -[#] Wicked savages. - - -Roger, scarcely halting more than a minute here or a minute there to -glean this information, rode eastward as rapidly as his tired donkey -could be urged to go. The absolutely familiar scenery was not much -altered for the lapse of seven years. The roads were even smoother and -neater, the hedges of dracaena and scarlet-flowered Erythrina more -luxuriant. There were brilliant flower-gardens round the bungalows. -There was the Stotts' former Mission station and school. Beside it was a -new chapel of florid Gothic architecture. - -Dr. Wiese's house and laboratory. He paused, got off the donkey, and -entered the front garden. There, to greet him, was Dr. Wiese himself, -lying on his back on a bed of scarlet geraniums, dead, in a pool of -congealing blood, with a swarm of flies buzzing about his shattered -face. He could see a smashed door, a broken verandah post, and strewn -papers, glass bottles, odds and ends of things remaining over from a -looting of the house. This was too serious an episode to be passed by -without investigation. Omari had by this time come up. And not far -behind him were the returning refugees and his caravan of -soldier-porters. He strode up to the dead man. Yes, it was Wiese, the -physician-friend of many years, who had striven so hard to save Lucy -from an insidious disease.... Shocking ... to see him like this after -seven years! If _only_ he had arrived yesterday it might not have -happened. He took the shortest cut over flower-beds, past broken-into -aviaries, trampled botanic gardens with an infinitude of labels, to the -laboratory, whence came a shouting and quarrelling. - -In this building there were a few Nyasaland soldiers in khaki and a -number of sinister-looking Ruga-ruga, like those who had once been in -Stolzenberg's employ. Bottles were being smashed in the search for -brandy, strange fumes filled the air, irrevocable damage was doubtless -being done. Here and there, thrown on one side whilst they searched for -treasure, were heaps of slaughtered turkeys, peafowl, Crowned cranes and -guinea-fowl, which the looting soldiery had obtained from the poultry -yards and aviaries round about. - -Roger, possessed with a fury which transformed him at this stupid -destruction, shouted military commands to the men in khaki and in rags. -Mechanically they dropped their booty and were silent. Some of the -Ruga-ruga recognized him as the _Bwana-mkubwa_ who had once reigned -here, and had joined the "Wadachi"[#] in investigating the "Terror's" -death and disappearance. Cowed by his presence, they obeyed an order to -march out of the building and assemble with the soldiers in the public -square of Magara there to await further orders. Revolver in hand, and -well backed by his determined-looking Wanyamwezi, he said: "I will shoot -any man among you whom I catch looting or destroying." Sullenly they -slunk away. - - -[#] Germans. - - -Another mile's ride and here he was before his former home, his mouth -and throat dry with apprehension. The formal garden in front of the -house was beautifully neat, gay with flowers in better order even than -in his days. Up the pebbled path which led to the verandah and the -stone steps he walked with a beating heart. Oh, that he should be -seeing it all again; and oh, that Lucy might come out through the French -windows with her graceful, rather languid walk, to throw her arms around -his neck and say: "Dearest; dear, _dear_ Roger; back at last!" Or that -even trusty sister, Maud-- How was Maud faring? He had heard nothing of -her since a letter reached him at Stanley Pool, nearly two years ago ... -those terrible years of silence whilst he traversed Central Africa.... - -But at the rumour of his approach it was neither his living sister nor -the wraith of his dead wife that emerged from the open doorway: it was -the sinister figure of Willowby Patterne: like himself in khaki: -thinner, yellower, greyer, wickeder-looking than he had seen him ten or -twelve years ago. - -"Had a presentiment we should meet here," said Patterne, trying with a -hand that shook to fix an insolent eyeglass in a bloodshot eye. "Though -no one knew what had become of you since you bolted from England when -the war started. No! ..." (as Roger makes to advance) "... Stay where -you are or I shall have you arrested at once you ... you ... German ... -_spy_!" (Roger takes his revolver out of its leather case and sees that -it is loaded and ready.) - -"Oh? I've got a revolver, too. If you make the slightest movement till -I tell you to go, and where to go, I shall shoot." - -At this threat, the general purport of which he understands, Omari bin -Brahimu steps in front of his master and produces _his_ revolver. -Seeing this, Willowby Patterne calls in a rather quavering voice, -"Njooni, watu wangu, upesi; yupo adui! Upesi!"[#] Two men come from -the back premises, look from the white devil pacing up and down on the -verandah to the figures of Roger and Omari; and then, with a shout of -joy, fling themselves on Roger--not to arrest him as Willowby first -supposes, and so hesitates to shoot, but to kiss his hand, kneel at his -feet, utter incoherent cries of joy, the while Omari keeps his pistol -steadily aimed at the "Little Terror." They are two of Brentham's -Somali gun-bearers of seven years back, Yusuf Ali and Ashuro. - - -[#] "Come, my men, quick! Here is the enemy, quick!" - - -Willowby, longing to shoot and kill, yet letting I dare not wait upon I -would, disquieted that none of his Ruga-ruga obey his frantic whistling, -decides to make a bolt of it and rally them and the Nyasaland soldiers, -and so make a prompt end of Roger and the Somali traitors. (These men -had arrived at his station in Namanga, hangers-on of the large and -heterogeneous British force which was seeking a way across the -little-known region between Meru and the Happy Valley. They told -Patterne they had once been employed in Iraku on the Concession and -offered to help him to show the way. Believing they might be useful for -his own purposes in laying hands on the things he sought for, he had -taken them on; and here they were, saluting his rival and enemy like a -demi-god ... If he only got a chance to get hold of them! _He'd_ cut -the life out of them with a kiboko!....) - -Whilst he hesitated whether to walk down the steps in a dignified way or -jump from the rails of the verandah into the flower-beds, his indecision -was terminated abruptly. Behind him a woman shrieked, and he felt -himself propelled by a vigorous push of stout arms down the stone steps -and almost on to the group of Roger, Omari and the two Somalis. These -might have laid hold of him, but a German lady, Frau Hildebrandt, -impeded their action. She unceremoniously pushed Patterne into a -parterre of petunias, whilst she too clasped Roger's hands in a frenzied -appeal, a rapturous greeting. "It is Herr Brentham! Ach lieber Gott! -Er wird verstehen. He will be our salvation. Ach mein Mann! Ach meine -kinder! Hilf! Hilf!" - -Patterne rose to his feet, ran over flower-beds, through or over -dracaena hedges (since Roger's men blocked the garden gate), out of a -tangle of gardens and outhouses, across the green, to the public square -and market-place. Here he found groups of bewildered, sulky King's -African Rifles, and his own Ruga-ruga. He had been given an escort of -fifty Negro riflemen when, three days before, he had been detailed--at -his own request, having finished his job as guide--to "clear up" Iraku -and the European settlement of Wilhelmshoehe, professing to know every -inch of the ground. He had been told, of course, that unless resistance -was offered there was to be no looting; that any German women or -children were to be allowed to remain in their homes until they could be -officially dealt with, and all German men surrendering to be treated -humanely as prisoners of war, and marched under escort to the nearest -British camp. These instructions he had chosen to interpret in his own -way by killing Dr. Wiese and terrorizing Frau Hildebrandt into finding -him the information of which he was in search. He intended, of course, -to make himself master of the Concession, in the hope that he might be -recognized as owner after the War. There would certainly be several -years of confusion in which he might rule here and perhaps acquire all -the wealth he wanted..... - -But the arrival--the resurrection almost--of Roger Brentham had so -queered his plans that he saw red. He would assemble all the men he -could get hold of and make a sudden rush on Magara House, and shoot, -shoot, shoot before Roger's party could put themselves in a position of -defence. He would declare Roger to be a traitor and a German Spy. -Provided he killed him, the _fait accompli_ would not be followed with -much of an inquiry at this very critical time.... - -But his Ruga-ruga were slow to respond, having recognized Roger as a -redoubtable warrior. And the Nyasaland regulars flatly refused to march -to the attack. Patterne was not one of their regular officers, and they -insisted that an English Colonel having taken possession of this country -they should all rejoin the main army and lay the case before their -commanding officer. So Patterne, gathered his loads together, awoke his -weary porters (who had taken advantage of the halt to gorge themselves -with food after their severe privations) and departed down the Valley in -the direction of the rapidly advancing armies. He felt he could not -halt or eat or sleep till he had taken vengeance on the man who had so -persistently baulked him; he would denounce him as a spy, as a traitor -... perhaps--oh joy!--get him court-martialled and shot; at any rate, -collared and marched out of East Africa. - -But he never even reached the head-quarters of the army now entering -Irangi. Roger, anticipating his intentions, had rapidly written an -account of his actions in turning Patterne out of Magara House, had -explained who he was, the route he had followed, and his intention to -remain in charge of the Concession till he was ordered to leave it by -the proper authority. The Somalis travelling twice as quickly as -Patterne's _safari_, and travelling with as much secrecy as speed, -delivered the letter to the nearest British officer in high command. -Some say that on the return journey they took a pot shot at Patterne as -he was halting to whip some of his laggard porters; others that Patterne -was speared in Ufiome by Masai camp-followers of the main army, who had -suffered by some of his raids in the past, or who transferred to the -"Little Terror" the vendetta they had carried on with his ally, the Big -Terror of the Red Crater. In any case, "he perished miserably," as they -used to write in pre-Wells histories. He never was heard of again, -after he left the Happy Valley. His escort of Nyasaland soldiers quietly -rejoined their regiment, then in the thick of fighting at Kondoa-Irangi; -and no one cared enough about Sir Willowby Patterne to put any -questions. His Ruga-ruga dispersed as plunderers on their own account, -till they were rounded up sharply and a few of them shot for looting. -The "Little Terror" ceased all at once to terrify, and the baronetcy, -after a year's delay and presumption of death, passed to a distant -relative, who was the reverend headmaster of a public school. - - -Roger, meantime, gradually restored the Happy Valley to something of its -former peace and quietness. He harboured the Catholic missionaries and -the German women and children there till provision could be made for -their withdrawal. His proceedings were approved and sanctioned by a -Boer General commanding a wing of the British invading army, who by one -of those coincidences so common in this incredible war, not only played -a great part in conquering German East Africa for the Empire he himself -had steadily fought against for three years, but turned out to be the -very identical van Rensselaer who had picked up Roger as a prisoner and -saved his life in 1900. - -As soon as the Happy Valley was brought into telegraphic communication -with the coast and with England, Roger cabled to his sister his -whereabouts and his intentions to remain in the Happy Valley till its -political fate was decided. In return he learnt of the death of his two -sons, and the fact that his two daughters had felt impelled to -marry--Maud ("Fatima"), Lord Silchester, and Sibyl ("Goosey") a wounded -officer--without waiting to hear from a father presumably lost in -Central Africa. - - -So Colonel Roger Brentham at the end of the war decided that the England -of the Armistice and the Peace and the Reconstruction period was no -country for him to live in, with its coal strikes, railway strikes, -engineer strikes, police strikes, taxi-drivers' strikes, dockers' -strikes, bakers' strikes, stage-hands' strikes and electricians' -strikes; its Irish atrocities and reprisals; its futurist art; its -paper-strewn highways and byways and beauty-spots; its bottle-throwing -chars-a-bancs; man-slaughtering motors; Albert Hall Victory Balls; jazz -dances; betting scandals; high prices; and low standards of political -morality. Preferable, far, was the Happy Valley, where relations -between black, white, and brown were well adjusted, where great wealth -was being quietly produced to the proportionate profit of all concerned -in the production; where protection was not only accorded to all human -beings, but also to all beasts and birds not directly harmful to human -interests. - -So, after regularizing his position with the Colonial Office and the -"enemy" shareholders, he asked his sister Maud to join him, and replaced -the Stotts and Ann Anderson in their industrial mission stations. - -And in the Happy Valley he may remain another ten years yet, till he -becomes a walking compendium of information on the past and present of -East Africa. - -When he is 72 and Maud is 74--a wonder as regards resistance to African -germ diseases---it is just possible they may not wish to leave their -bones in an African grave. They may take passages in an Aerobus to -Hendon and thence slip down to Aldermaston by motor and up to Farleigh; -and after glancing round at a rejuvenated England and a pacified -Ireland, after appraising the intelligence and beauty of Roger's -grand-children--especially the son and heir of Lord Silchester--may -finally retire in some season of abnormal cold and unconquerable -influenza to cedar-shaded Aldermaston churchyard, where the vestiges of -Lucy and Sibyl await them. - - - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN WHO DID THE RIGHT THING -*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45451 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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