THE SUNDAY FICTION : MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 20, 1916.
Maim
T WAS In a swampy
village on the lagoon
river behind the Tur
ner ' Peninsula t h a t
Pollock's first encoun
ter with the Porroh
man occurred. The
women of that coun
try are .famous for their good looks they
are Gallinas with a dash of European
blood. that dates from
'the days of Vasco da
( Q&ma 'and the Eng
lish - slave traders,
By H. G. Wells
Illustrated, by Barry Ramsey.
over his shoulder at intervals. But the
Porroh man had vanished. Pollock
clutched his revolver nervously in bis
band. " '
One of bis men came to meet him, and
as he came, pointed to the. bushes behind
him to awake. About bdn were scattered
the pots and weapons Water house bad
collected from the Mendi people, and
which he bad been repacking for the
canoe voyage to Sulyma.
Presently Water house woke up, and
after Judicial stretching, decided be was
all right again.. Pollock got him some tea.
Over the tea the incidents of the after
noon were described by Pollock, after
some preliminary beating about the bush,.
Waterhouse took the matter even more
seriously than Pollock bad anticipated.'
He did not simply disapprove, be scolded,
be insulted. - " ? ' .-' .
"Tou're one of those infernal fools who
think a 'black man isn't a human being,"
he said. tl can't be ill a day without you
must get Into some dirty scrape or other.
This is the third time In a month that you
have jiome crossways-on with a native,
and this time you're in for it with a venge
ance. Porroh, too! r They're down upon
you enough as it is, about that Idol you
wrote your stlly name on. And they're the
most vindictive devils on earth! - Tou
make a man' ashamed of civilisation. To
think you come of a-decent family! If
ever I cumber myself up with a vicious,
with you, and see you safe aboard
"Tou needn't," said Pollock. ""I can" go
alone.. From hert , J; . '
."Not far," said Waterhouse. "Too
don't understand this Porroh business."
"How should I know she belonged to a
Porroh nianr said Pollock, bitterly,
"Well, she did." said Waterhouse; "and
you can't undo the thing. Go alone, in
deed!, I wonder what they'd do to you,
Tou don't seem to understand that this
Porroh hokey-pokey rules this country, Is
its law, religion, con
stitution, m e d 1 cine
.magic They , ap
point the chiefs. The
inquisition, at its best,
couldn't hold a candle
will probably set Awa
Jale,' the - chief here,
onto us. It's lucky
our porters are Mehdis. We shall have to
shift this little settlement of ours
Confound you. Pollock! And, of course,
you must go and miss him."
He thought, and. his thoughts: seemed
disagreeable. Presently he stood op and
took his rifled, "I'd keep close for a bit, if
I were you," be said, over bis shoulder, as
he went out. "I'm going out to see what
I can And out about it."
: Pollock ' remained , sitting In the tent,
meditating.. "I was meant for a civilized
life," be said to himself, regretfully, as
he filled his pipe. "The sooner I get back
and the Porroh man, too,
was possibly inspired by
a . faint Caucasian taint
in his composition. (It's
a curious thing to think
that some of us may have
distant cousins eating men on Sherboro
Island or raiding with the Sofas.) At any
rate, the Porroh man stabbed the woman
to the heart as though he had been a
mere low-class Italian, and very narrow
ly missed Pollock. But Pollock, using his
revolver to parry the lightning stab which
was aimed at his deltoid muscle, sent the
:- iron dagger flying, and, firing, hit the
- man in the band. -
. He fired again and missed, knocking a
" sudden window out of the wall of the but.
TTi Porroh man stooned.ln the doorwav.
glancing under his -arm at Pollock. Pol
' lock caught a glimpse of his inverted face
In the sunlight, and then the Englishman
:: iu a1-n iriclc And trnmblinr - with the'
excitement of the affair, in the twilight of
the" place. It had all happened in less
'time than It takes to read about it.
, The woman was quite dead, and hav
"tng ascertained this. Pollock went to the
entrance of the hut and looked' out.
- nam. ' ' A M ' ' t a ' fW M
" a dozen of the porters of the expedition
w ere standing up - in a group near the
. green huts - they occupied, , and staring
; toward him, wondering what th shots
1 might signify. Behind the little group of
men was. the Droad stretch of black fetid
A mud by the river, a green carpet of rafts.
of papyrus and water-grass, and then the
-leaden water. The mangroves beyond the
stream loomed indistinctly through the
, blue haae. There were no signs of excite
ment In the squat vtllaKc'iwhose fence
was Just visible above the cane-grass. ? :
- Pollock came out of the hut. cautiously
and , walked . toward the " river, looking .
a . The last stage was reached. His 'sense
r - " -1' -' uajacwcS-S
J, 1 1 .ZX. .
the hut In which
the Porroh man
had disappeared.
Pollock bad an irritating "per
suasion of having made an .ab
solute fool of himself; . he felt -bitter,
savage, at the turn things had
taken. At the same time, he would
have to tell . Waterhouse the moral,
exemplary, cautious Waterhouse who
would inevitably take the matter seri
ously. Pollock cursed bitterly at his
luck, at Waterhouse, and especially at
the .west coast of Africa. He felt con
summately sick of the expedition. And
in the back of his mind all the time
was a speculative doubt where precise
ly within Jhe visible horizon the Ppr
roh man mi girt "be.
It Is perhaps rather shocking, but
he was' hot at all upset by the murder
that had Just happened.' He had seen so
much brutality during . the last . three
months, so many , dead : womeo,: burned
hutst " drying skeletons, up the Kittam
River in the wake of . the Sofa cavalry,
that his senses were blunted. What dis
turbed him was the persuasion that this
business was only beginning, . r. :
He swore savagely at the black, who
ventured to ask a question, and went on
Into the tent under the orange trees where
Waterhouse was lying, feeling exasperat
ingly like a boy going into the head mas
ter's study, - - - - -v
; i Waterhouse was still sleeping off the
effects of his last dose of chlorodyne, and
Pollock sat down on a packing-case beside
him, and, 'lighting bis pipe, waited for
stupid young lout like you agaln- t .
. "Steady on now," snarled Pollock, in
the tone that always exasperated .Water
house; "steady on." ? , f
At that Waterhouse became speechless.
He jumped to his feet,
- "Look here, Pollock." he said, after a
.struggle to control hls breath. "Tou must
go home, s I won't have you any . longer.
I'm 111 enough as it is through you
"Keep your " hair on." said Pollock,
staring in front of him. "I'm ready enough
to go."
."Waterhouse became calmer again. He
sat down on the camp-stool. "Very well,"
be . said.""" "I don't want- a row, Pollock,
you know; but it's confoundedly . annoy
ing to have one's plans put out by this
kind of thing:. I'll come" to Sulyma
to London or Paris the
better for me."
His eye fell on the
sealed "case In ' Which
Waterhouse bad put the featherless poi
soned . arrows they bad ' bought in the
.Mendi country. "I wish I bad bit the
beggar, somewhere vital." said Pollock,
viciously.
Waterhouse came back after a long in
terval. He was .not - communicative,
though , Pollock -asked him , questions
enough. ' The Porroh man,' it seems, was
a prominent member of that mystical so
ciety. The village was interested, but not
threatening. No doubt the witch doctor
had gone into the bush. He was a great
: witch doctor. "Of course, he's up to
something,", said Waterhouse, and became
silent..--'- -
, "But what canhe dor asked Pcfllock,
unheeded. . " - "
"I must get you out of thia There's
something brewing, or things would not
be so quiet,"; said Waterhouse, after ! ;
gap of silence. ' Pollock wanted to know
what the brew might" be. "Dancing- in a
. circle of skulls,", said Waterhouse; "brew
ing a stink In a copper , poL" ; Pollock;
wanted 'particulars. . Waterhouse ; was
vague. Pollock pressing. At last Water-