Adventure Magazine, December 10, 1924 — page 33: what you’re looking at

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

The Blond Spiders if that dumb guy’s going to pull that stuff it would be better if we pretended to fall for it. You and Plessons go on and we'll loiter along the trail behind. As soon as you strike anything you can send a message by one of the boys and say what seems good. Do you mind?” “All right,” said Tony curtly. He had spotted the ‘‘we” as well as a quick glance between the two of them. “There is something on,” he said to him- self, “but what the can it be?” So it was arranged. Tony and Plessons were to take the green tent as it was lighter. By a little after eight they were under weigh with the agreement that Bodiker and Sawyer were to trek the next morning so that they would always, wate permitting, be a short trek behind. Tony hadn’t realized the relief it would be to get out of that atmosphere of subter- ranean, nagging antagonism; even forgot after the first hour to speculate on what the real motives were; content to put it all down to the simple fact that both men were towners pining for the bright lights. Lift- ing up his voice, he again began, to howl his naturally cheerful soul to the winds of Africa; and Plessons grinned, for he was a wise old bird. When they were halted at noon to give the porters a rest during the heat the Australian commented suddenly: ‘What I like abaht them blokes is they’re good maites. Maybe kinder funny nah and then, but they’d stick to yer through thick and thin.” “D’you think they would!” exclaimed Tony, and was surprized at the unconscious thought revealed. “Nah, Mr. Westlaike, yer oughter know I’m a bloke what allus says what he means.” Tony caught the twinkle in the sharp eyes buried in the thatches of the eyebrows and laughed. “Oh I don’t think that——” He recalled Bodiker’s face when Sawyer got rough. “Well, anyway they wouldn’t try to put it over a pal,’’ conceded Plessons. “Just what d’you mean by that, Ples- sons?’ demanded Tony. “J dunno meself, gov’nor. don’t. Wish I did!” “Well, what made you say that?” “Them two went orf last night to have a little shaurz on their own.”’ ’Struth I 11 “Ves, Iknow. I saw them go. Bodiker was trying to get Sawyer to behave himself, and I think that’s why he apologized this morning.” “Was you bottle or breast fed, Mr. Westlaike?”’ “Bottle or breast! What on earth——” “Kinder fort you’d remember, as it couldn’t have been so long ago.” Tony looked at him inquiringly and then laughed. “Yer see, I’m a curious bloke, I am; and last night I kinder wondered what them. two was up to, so I does a bit of black-fella business.” “Trailed ’em?” “Vus. The bruiser bloke wus grousing something awful for what you’d done to him last night. But t’other bloke he choked him orf saying as how he’d pretty nigh busted the gaime. Says as if anything happened naow they’d say as he done it ’cos that —that’s me, gov’nor—would have seen it, and that the big cove ain’t got no more brains than a turtle. ‘And ’sides,’ says he, ‘they ain’t got the di’monds yet.’ Then the big fella says as that’s right, and they goes on talking quieter so’s I couldn’t hear no more what they says.” Tony gazed very thoughtfully at Plessons. “But I can’t see what advantage they would gain if—as that apparently infers— they could get rid of me.” “Well, I dunno, gov’nor. That’s what they said. If we’d had the di’monds a baiby could see what they was arter.”’ Although several times Plessons and Tony tried out the mutilated Swahili they utterly failed to get any further inkling of what he meant by the circle and the pebbles —except that he always chose pebbles when available, which seemed to bear out the diamond hypothesis. OH TWO days passed during which Tony naturally pondered on Ples- sons’ account of the Bodiker-Sawyer conference; but the more the anger and irri- tation caused by the episode died away the less he attached any serious significance. After all what had they said? Merely that if Sawyer in his mad drunkenness had killed Tony he could not escape because Plessons would have seen the deed—implying, it was true, that Bodiker would have been willing to keep his mouth shut. That afternoon just as they broke out of the timber the dumb man suddenly evinced CoMmichoool< Wh) © 5}