Adventure Magazine Cover, December 18, 1919 — page 71: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

_ The Shehu Wants an Armorer him, as they had bedded often on the trail, This time Issou set a watch over his friend, who sank into the deep sleep of utter exhaustion. Sad vigil Issou kept. It was not the shehu’s rage he feared; he could escape that. His.own words revealed his heaviness as he told the story to Tim when the latter’ s eyes fluttered open on that haunt- ing look of pained incredulity and abused trust. This look,, however, passed into wonder as memory dawned and he re- sabes Issou stepping from the hill to aid im. « =o Serene White Man Learned in the (Magic of Metals,” cadenced the trouba- dour, “I bow my turban before thee; I put dust on my head, for I wronged thee.” “You played a of a joke on me, Issou,” interjected Tim, falling into English. Seeing no response in the crinkled old eyes above him, he turned to the dialect. “You tried to put a slave’s yoke on me; you tricked me into chasing images.” Issou bowed his head in remorse, Then, presently, he began to tell of the ereat dream he had sacrificed, how when he had seen the “iron road” over the Niger and witnessed the wonder of the white man’s work in metals, he had thought to lure a white metal-worker to N’dele to teach the smiths there the mys- _teries. 57 greatness and N’dele become— “The Pittsburg of Negroland,” said Tim, but Issou‘did not understand. He talked on, expounding his patriotic dream, and Tim, looking up into the wrinkled face, listening to the story of Issou’s. struggle between patriotism and friendship and his final surrender to the latter, swallowed in his throat. It was all a pipe dream—a “funny little guy’ bug stuff.’ He couldn’t quite catch the thing and found himself strug- gling with.a sentiment bigger than words. He reached out and grasped Issou’s small, bony, black hand and crushed it, trying to soften the sacrifice, lessen the disappointment. : “My , Issou,” he gulped, tricked by his emotion into his mother tongue, “if you‘had said you wanted me to teach your smiths a thing or two I'd been will- ing. Cripes! I’m open to dicker with your shehu. There’sa heap of scrap-iron down by the Niger going for the asking that would be a fortune up, here. Maybe we could arrange carriers and He pulled up, seeing Issou’s blank look, and had to say it all over laboriously in Kanuri. He made himself understood, Thus would the Kanuri come to ~ however, for, the old eyes above him began to shine again, and when Tim had finished Issou- promised him wealth and honors—yea, the shehw should swear it on the Koran. (©) oo) (E@) + 4. : Eee s ON 4 ‘ ) . a ae Le ; Roast he SA aritl if rire SAAS i} a Pe be el ’ ar ee 4h)