Adventure Magazine Cover — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

22 _ “Hakkim,” repeated Gillette decidedly, gesturing down the trail to the west. They marched on through some forest country until half an hour before sundown, when they came upon a small village. As before he was given a hut, and very cour- teously a mess of native food was sent to him. But he had enough of that to last a lifetime. Then he discovered that Dorkin had omitted to put a can-opener with the pro- visions. However, after half an hour’s hard work he succeeded in opening a por- tion and scraping out some beef. La at dawn, and except for a short rest at noon marched all day through dense forest, winding and turning until Dorsay had lost all sense of direction. For three more days the route was continued, never leaving fairly dense forest save for small glades which did not give the inex- perienced Dorsay much chance to orientate. On the fourth day he began to become fidgety and nervous, for he reckoned. that by now they should be approaching the camp where the Somalis had attacked them. He could not recollect such continuous thick timber on the journey from that spot; yet that, he argued, did not necessarily mean they were not making in that direc- tion. There might very well be many other trails. But the observation made him more uneasy, and he noticed that the under- growth was growing less dense and the ground more rocky. Several times he ex- postulated, pointing and saying— “Hakkim?” But each time Gillette talked amiably and repeated the word as if he quite understood what was meant. . That evening they. camped in the open in a zaveba which the slaves made. During the night he was very much conscious of cold, and at dawn when he sat up he re- marked with a shock that the blanket was stiff and the grass white with hoar-frost. “My Lordy!” he muttered, rubbing his blue hands: ‘This is like the climate at the doctor’s place, El Bergon.” He stared blankly at the group of natives squatting around their fire and added— “Good Heavens, we must be half-way up Mount Elgon!” The inference startled him. He had been deceived. They had been traveling in the opposite direction from the last camp: of THE following day they were off Adventure s the doctor, where Dorkin had promised they should guide him.. Even, instead of travel- ing west parallel to the mountain, as he had once suspected, evidently they had, under cover of the forest, made straight north for the mountain. Why, why had he trusted the word of that blackguard? He had known that he was a shameless liar—should have known that he had been lying all the time. Where were his captors leading him? He started to his feet in momentary panic, his hand upon his revolver. He was determined to be understood and obeyed. Then he paused. What could he do? He could not communicate one word. Flourishing a gun wouldn’t do any good; might scare them into reprisals, And again, how was he to know where the doctor was? Perhaps he might be around. Perhaps, after all, they were conducting him to the doctor, who would not have stopped in camp forever. Doubt and the realization of his im- potence made him wish to cry or swear with rage; he didn’t care which. Soberly he decided that the best thing to do was to wait and see what was going to happen. With his faculties of observation sharp- ened by anxiety, he remarked that the sun rose above the forest at twenty past six. Allowing for the fact that they were very nearly on the equator he estimated from the approximate height of the trees that they must be on the northeastern slope of the mountain. As they started on the trail again, he demanded perfunctorily of Gillette— “Hakkim?” In the eyes of Tanka seemed to lurk a subtle sense of amusement as he politely re- peated the word. “Good Lord,” reflected Dorsay with mis- giving, “I wonder whether he does under- stand, or whether he thinks the word is some sort of magic or a white man’s greet- ing? Heaven knows the way these minds work.” For lack of any other feasible plan, he followed docilely. Half an hour farther on they passed an abandoned zareba, by the dead fire of which Dorsay caught the gleam of an empty sardine-can. The sight cheered him. Perhaps the doctor had _ passed. Anywayga white man had camped there. The aspect of the country changed. The forest thinned; granite boulders and COPMICLOOOKS i (C@)