Adventure, February 20, 1922 — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

— . , a , he. KS tata . m 1 th A ae wri iN cf ~ vie 7 ya LI ~ Zee the smoke of my village. —_ am 5 pressed, might suddenly break from cover and tear down upon the tracker. Mr. Duclos was present on such occa- sions, riding an Australian cattle-pony, and his mean voice followed the men every- where, bullying, commanding, cursing. Among the hills the next day Chandar Roy found himself thrown with a native called Mbawani, a cheerful six-foot savage, with an enormous head of fuzzy black hair, accentuated by the hibiscus flower he always - wore over the right ear. They paused behind a thick clump of # _ bushes, momentarily out of sight of the ~ plusteringy Duclos. “Qver there,” said Mbawani, pointing ~ towards the high hills, “lies my village,” - —and his eyes were thoughtful. Said Chandar Roy, using the local dia- ~“lect— -~ “Mbawani, how far is the aoe of your ancestors?” “Beyond that peak and that kis across the valley of Boporo where the ghosts wan- ._. der at night; then up that mountain with the flat top, and there—see—on the slope We could be there in three or four days.” “Cut off that cow!’ came Duclos’ voice as he swerved into sight—and the conversa- tion ceased abruptly. But that night two shadows crept away from the fire. They stopped by the blan- _keted form of Duclos, laying at his feet the broken shell of a coco-nut containing the tail of a small rat (which gift brings bad luck to all men in New Caledonia), and then drifted away into the night. Mbawani and Chandar Roy were struck off the pay-roll of the Duclos Plantation, and the babu’s name went down the coast to the nearest gendarmerie, as a deserter to be apprehended and returned as soon as the au- - thorities:consideredjhim sufficiently punished. Four days later they reached the village of Pouho, and the feast and dance which __ followed amply rewarded Chandar Roy fer his sufferings. He slept in the men’s house, a vast round hut with a pointed conical roof and, though he slept on the bare mud floor, his dreams were sweet and pleasant. Mbawani had sung his praises at the dance, extolling his wisdom, his cunning, and his valor. The wild people crouching _ about had nodded their assent, emphasizing each of the speaker’s telling sentences with _» the long-drawn “Ha—aa” of approval. a ~ et Te. - er Or a= _ vain @ ~ - ~ me - ~ - Adventure Now, among the people of Pouho and their neighboring tribes, there is a tradition, handed down from the beginning of time, that a god in the guise of a man would come from the land beyond the sea and would lead his chosen people to the conquest of the whole island. No white man could qualify for such a post, for all ghosts are known by their pallor, and there is a gulf between a ghost and a god-like spirit. While Chandar Roy ate and rested, grow- ing fat and sleek again, the elders held meetings in the communal cooking house, meetings from which women and children ~ were debarred while the highest ranking man in the Ngami society conversed with the spirits of the dead and ascertained their commands. The babu stumbled upon the enlightening information by the merest hazard. A chief of the Vohlu tribe came to visit his daughter, married to a man of Pouho. He brought with him a bottle of trade-gin which he shared with his son-in-law’s father. When Chandar Roy chanced upon them, both were very drunk, and he listened politely while they told of the great things expected of him. In fact, their speech be- tokened the most complete submission, and just before sleep gained the upper hand, the chief, in hushed tones, begged to be ‘told when Chandar Roy’s divine origin would be revealed. In the dust before the cooking house, the next day at noon, Chandar Roy went into a trance as he had seen done by the Yogis of India during the Parvati festival. The trance was highly successful and the people of Pouho watched. in awe as the words came flowing ee the mouth of the prostrate form. “OQ Ngoro, Chief af Pouho,” he chanted, “TY come from the land of gods. You have not prayed in vain to your ancestors, for I am the Kwat you have called for. Mba- wani was wise and led me to you that I might find my own people. Great harvests lie ahead, and great victories when the clubs of Pouho shall rule the land, and every chief of every tribe shall be a man of Pouho!”’ And when he arose from the dust he no longer was a traitor fleeing from justice, nor an indentured laborer escaping from his master, but a God-sent creature among the people he was to lead to victory. 7 —~¢om ~-teel hene = 3. 7. sae Fath, Sn ne Ett a —— _ cbhooks:com