Adventure Magazine Cover — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

8 Adventure ‘“‘_ queer, that’s wot it is,” said Dor- kin. “But it ain’t worth tiking up, Jack. Good luck to yer, mister.” “Thanks,” said. Dorsay, wondering vaguely why such a decent chap as Simp- son seemed should be partners with such a shifty-looking specimen. At 9:45 he boarded the down train, and by the evening he was back in the Travelers’ Club. Macnamara had said the Turkana dis- trict, which was nominally British, was not under administration and had scarcely ever been explored, and moreover was forbidden territory to any save Government-organized expeditions. Therefore it behooved him to be careful how he approached any one. He obtained surveyors’ section maps of the country to the south and west of Mount Elgon, which he found to be about ten thousand feet high but with very long slopes. The western side was in the Uganda Protectorate and the eastern and southern in British East Africa, mainly dis- tinguished by the large blank spaces. He began to hunt about for some old set- tler from whom he would extract informa- tion on which to base the nominal reason for his trip. In the meanwhile he would quietly get together provisions and seek a re- liable interpreter. He already had a big- game license, so that there was nothing sus- picious in these maneuvers. Four days after he had been back, a farmer named Ferney, whom he had met before and who had been in the country for some ten years or more, came into town. Dorsay had rather liked him before, and in him he decided to confide. On the veranda after lunch Ferney listened attentively to the little that Dorsay had to relate and interestedly examined the message. “You say the Wondorobo you bought this from said he took it-from an enemy killed in battle? Well, all that sounds pretty plaus- ible. The enemy might have been one of the Turkana or allied tribes. They would make a charm out of. this sort of thing. “But I’m afraid you’re on a wild-goose chase, my lad. The fellow who wrote this is probably dead, and what’s the use of it? There’s no clue at all. Elgon! My ; you might as well say East Africa and finish with it. If you’ll take my advice forget all about it. Besides the Turkana country is closed by the Government.” “Darn the Government” muttered Dor- say to himself. “All these darn English- men seem scared to their eye teeth of the government.” He retired feeling somewhat damped but , nevertheless doggedly determined. He had ' succeeded in securing a cook, a Moham- medan, a reputable shikari, and an interpre- ter whose villainous face he did not like at all. However there was nothing to be done but to go straight ahead. He had another man in mind whom he determined to try later. “There must be something to it,” he pon- dered sleepily. When the light was pouring in at the win- dow he thought he was still dreaming for a familiar voice was saying: “T say, wake up young man—Beffert!”’ Beside his bed stood the little doctor, grin- ning at him. “Hullo, doctor,” said Dorsay drowsily. “You’ve come down?” “Yes, ’m coming in with you if you’re still game.” “What! You will! That’s great! why >] “Oh that ruddy mill bores me,” returned the doctor, “‘so I decided to come on. Any- way,” he added, ‘‘you’d never get through yourself; and I owe your uncle——” “Cut that out, please!’ exclaimed Dor- say, bridling. “If I can’t run se “That’s all right, my boy. Have it any way you like. Get your bath and we’ll talk plans over. You haven’t been yapping all over the town [ hope?” But THE doctor’s explanation of why he had changed his mind never was satisfactorily explained—unless it be by his actions before and since; for times out of number had he solemnly declared to the countryside at large that he had given up the trail for good, was now to be de- pended upon as a practising physician, a farmer, a storekeeper, a lumberman—al- ways with the result that, if some one didn’t tempt him back, he took care to tempt himself. However, under his experienced control the safari was quickly got together. The quickest approach to the Elgon coun- try was to go up to Kisumu on the lake and start from there, but the doctor, who pre- ferred to travel with donkeys as being easier to control and feed than porters, proposed to visit property he had in the northern Wakikuyu country, which was almost on the trail from Nairobi, where the animals could be obtained. Besides a shooting-party at Gomichbooks (E©)