Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 1, 1922 — page 87: what you’re looking at

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

THE JU-JU MAN. lips. The graceless ruffian sat in a silence that pretended to be sympathetic, and for five minutes no sound was heard in the tent except the choking sobs of the girl. Then she managed to regain her self-control, the ‘life-long training she had received in the hard school of Africa enabling her to meet with some courage a blow that might have crushed a weaker woman. She raised her tear-stained face. “Tell me!” she commanded. “‘ Smale suggested that we go to the Bolo- los and persuade them to help us get the Batateke gold. We went to Gama, and ‘everything was going smoothly until your father attacked us with a war party of sav- ages. By that time I had seen you, and I would have given my right arm to save your father’s life, but these devilish Bolo- los got out of hand and I was powerless to check them. There was some desperate fighting, but the Batatekes were outnym- ‘-bered and never had a chance. When it was over they told me that your father -had fought bravely to the last.” “There was another white man with him,” said Celia, her heart torn by a fresh fear. ‘“‘ What became of him?” “Oh, he got away!” answered Burk blandly. ‘‘ The fastest Bololo couldn’t catch him.” The girl straightened with a quick in- take of her breath. “Do you mean he—ran?” “ Like an ostrich!” said Burk with relish. Celia Holden averted her face so that he should not see the sudden light that ‘Showed in her eyes. She was no fool, and in that instant her woman’s intuition di- vined the liar. Burk had gone too far! She realized then, if she never had be- fore, that she loved Fred Rushton and trusted him. She knew with tremendous certainty that his courage was beyond ques- tion and that he never could have been guilty of the cowardice with which this man charged him. On the heels of this re-. flection a great hope stirred her breast that if Burke’s story was false in one particular it might be false in all! He, on the contrary, was amazingly well pleased with the narrative he was concoct- ing. He continued calmly. 877 “Nothing would satisfy the Bololos but to follow up their success with an attack on your father’s factory on their way to the Pallaballa Mountains. I couldn’t stop them, so I came along to make sure that no injury happened to you. I never thought you would put up such a stiff fight, much less that your mother would fire the fac- tory with such a splendid and reckless spirit. When we finally rushed the building and I shot the revolver from your hand, it was to save you from death, or worse, at the hands of these blacks. I carried you from the burning house and then saved you from their vengeance in the only way possible— by claiming you for my own and swearing to protect you with my life.” This Celia knew to be a lie, since she had only feigned unconsciousness while Burk ‘was directing her removal from the factory. Her heart leaped at this additional indica- tion that he was not telling her the whole truth. She faced him coolly. “And what do you propose to do now?” she demanded abruptly. “You're an honest woman,” he respond- ed slowly, ‘and I’m an honest man—be- tween times. What else should I do but offer you the heart and hand and name of Dan Burk? I tell you again that you are safe from these Bololos only while you are under my protection. But once we reach the Pallaballa Mountains and find the gold, the devil himself can’t say what his children will do. Lombo wilt be through with us then, and I’ve got a pretty good idea of what Lombe does with people that he’s through with. As for you—vwell, there’s an Arab slaver cruises about these parts and he’d pay a fancy price to Lombo for a young white woman! “T have no mind to fight off this whole crowd single-handed, or even with the help of Piet Smale, with your liberty hanging in the balance as well as my own life.” He paused thoughtfully. “‘ Then what is your idea?” “That you and I slip out of camp to- morrow night. We'll be near the Congo then, and if we can reach it we will put fifty miles of it between us and Lombo be- fore dawn. But you must remember that comicloool C©