The Jet Visitor (Jet, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 12, 1920 Page: 2 of 10
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THE JET VISITOR
WHITE
MAN
By -I': -'
GEORGE AGNEW
CHAMBERLAIN
Author of "Home" "Through Stained Glass" "John Bogardus" Etc
(Copyright nit by Bobbs-MerrUl Co) -
WHITE MAN 18 80ME PERSONAGE "
Andrea Pallor handsome daughter of Lord Pellor impecunious aristocrat
to doomed to marrjr an IllltaraU but wealthy middle-aged diamond mine owner
She disconsolately wanders from bar botel In Bouth Africa and discovert an
aviator about to fly from the beech Impulsively of course Imagining that the
trip will be merely a pleasant excursion and a welcome relief from thoughts
of ber loveless marries she begs to be taken for a flight although she does
not know him He somewhat unwillingly agrees and they start When she
realises her unknown aviator la not going back Andrea In desperation tries to
choke him with one of ber stockings He thwarts her and they sail on Into
the very heart of Africa
CHAPTER II— Continued
— 2—
The engine missed lira— once twice
Andrea would scarcely have noticed
the fact bad It not been for Its ex-
traordinary effect on the man All bis
pose dropped from him He became
galvanized Into nervous life and did
several things rapidly with twitching
fingers The engine missed again and
be half rose In bis seat craned bis
neck turned his face to one side and
looked down In the glimpse she
caught she saw that the lines around
his mouth had suddenly deepened In-
credibly His eyes seemed to lis with
a certain relief on spot clearing
far ahead He settled back tensely
and made for It The engine back-
fired with the rippling report of a get-
ting gun coughed and stopped The
man gripped the steering gear tightly
and tipped the machine's nose down
for a long reaching volplane On the
backs of his bands Andrea saw little
gleaming bulbs of sweat Swerving
to escape the crest of a tree he made
reasonably successful landing In
spite of bis agitation The airplane
took the ground In the wide beaten
circle of a Dative craal shot across It
and then came to a violent stop with
wings burled In the mud-plastered
walls of two separate huts
The shock cast Andrea forward in-
stinctively she threw ber arms around
the man's neck - She felt the quiver-
ing of his whole body as though it
were shaking with an ague To ber
astonishment he became for an In-
stant almost pitiable But only for
an Instant then he nerved himself
climbed out of the machine and helped
her down She gave a long sigh of
relief and looked up at him with a
half smile on ber face He had taken
off bis goggles His eyes were gray
and large They stared at without
seeing her and In them was a visible
trouble as of some deep and bidden
struggle
Andrea gazed at him ber Hps parted
In wonder At last he felt ber eyes
upon blm and a deep flush mounted
from his neck and swept upward
lighting the tan of his face with a
subdued glow
' "If that happened to me" thought
Andrea Td be as red as a field of
popples"
- "I — I beg your pardon" stammered
the man and started walking up and
down with quick strides Andrea
knew Instinctively that he was warm-
ing up muscles that bad been sud-
denly frozen steadying shaking knees
and shaky heart
She turned ber eyes from him and
gazed around to 'get ber first glimpse
of the real Africa From the very
start If left ber puzzled She stood
at the far side of a great circular
court beaten hard and swept clean
as a floor Within Its bounds were
two acacia trees thickly fronded
wide-spreading Around the court
thirty high-peaked huts stood like sen-
tinels Behind the nuts other but far
smaller structures swarmed— chicken
bouses strongly wlthed granaries on
four stilts pigeon cotes a stockaded
catte craal and a smaller goat fold
But what puzzled her were the Af-
ricans themselves A flying machine
bad dropped In -their midst and dis-
charged two fair If not exceptional
specimens of a white and dominant
race yet the blacks continued their
various occupations and dlsoccupa-
Hons apparently unperturbed What-
ever their occupation they made no
sudden move of variation even their
tongues kept still
In the shade of one of the vast
acacias there was a veritable con-
course of men They sat for the most
part on their heels smoking white
low-burning cheroots Two only
could be said to be working They
were very old and sat with their backs
against the trunk of the tree their
legs stretched straight out before
them and at their sides neat bundle
of stripped palm leaves They were
weaving baskets The men at least
were not tongue-tied They seemed to
be going through some oral ceremony
First one and then another would
take the cheroot from his lips and
make a single remark then the rest
would all grunt In unison and with
a deep-chested expelling of all the
breath In their bodies that gave al-
most the effect of an explosion
It annoyed Andrea that ber com-
panion seemed to share the stole calm
of the natives In what to ber mind
ought to have been on occasion of
much excitement and chatter It never
occurred to her that he was unmoved
because be could understand what the
men were saying and was merely
bored
At the moment the wheels of the
flying machine had struck the ground
the apparently Interminable and to
Andrea meaningless chant bad been
started by the native chief a wizened
figure distinguished In dress from bis
companions only by the ebony-black
ring of polished wax that be wore like
a halo of darkness on his close-
cropped and grizzled bead
The white man threw up his head
and clapped - his bands once The
chief grunted silence fell He spat
to one side and spoke deliberately
"Let us arise to greet the master"
They came forward and stood In a
long file The chief took one step In
advance raised bis right band and
fastened bis gaze on the white man's
face His own seemed to be working
In a sudden excitement "Bai-ye-tei"
he roared and there followed so
quickly that It seemed but another syl-
lable of the salutation a mighty grunt
from the depths of thirty chests
"Huh!"
In a moment the whole scene under
went a startling transformation The
file broke and became garrulous Chil-
dren stopped their play and ran to
Join In the rabble Tbe men dropped
tneir work and crowded Into a com-
pact group from which came suddenly
a cry that startled Andrea and Jerked
her around to fare It as though she
bad been yanked by a string
The cry was shrill high continuous
It was produced by rounding the
open mouth and working the tongue
laterally In a vibration as rapid as
that of a serpent's It was ghastly to
watch Incredible In tbe rapidity of the
ululatlon but once beard unforget-
able It lasted much longer than
Andrea could have held her breath let
alone used It and ceased as suddenly
as It had begun
"All very Interesting" said Andrea
turning to her companion "but why
didn't they do It before V
He looked at her absently There
la a ceremonial" be said "a dignity
about the African that Is absurd till
you've known It for years"
"For years?" repeated Andrea "It-
Is this your home?"
He shook bis head "No Africa—
this sort of thing— Is never borne to
a white man It's a place where he
goes to forget his sins I've been
using It — whenever life has gives me
a chance — as a sun bath for the soul"
Andrea ' stared at him a puzzled
frown on her brow She wondered
why his bluntness did not offend ber
wondered If it would ever fall to her
lot to hear him say a senseless thing
or laugh aloud While she still won-
dered he turned from her and began
calling out meaningless words "Shil-
ling I Flvel Tin hat I Bathtub I
Overcoat 1"
At each name fornames they were
a native stepped forward They were
all bright-faced youngsters fourteen
or fifteen years of age and their garb
made up of a clean cloth bound tightly
around slim hips and falling to the
knees and a red fes with tassel In-
tact marked them as houseboya —
trusted pickaninnies who alone had
the right to enter the white man's
quarters and were collectively bis rec-
ognized mouthpieces In conveying or-
ders "Bathtub I" repeated the white man
A youngster quickly saluted and
stepped out of the line grinning from
ear to ear at being distinguished even
for a moment above his fellows :
With a Jerk of bia head toward An-
drea the white man began to talk rap-
Idly Bathtub's eye rolled from his
face to Andrea's and back again They
widened they narrowed and each of
the three times the white man said
"Klboco" with peculiar emphasis
they seemed to wince
Andrea interrupted "What does
'Kiboco' mean pleaseT
"It means a whip of raw rhino
bide" said tbe man "An Implement
that draws blood with a whisper"
Andrea went white her eyes blazed
"So you whip your servantsr she
aid with curled lips
"I have whipped a boy once" an-
swered the man coolly "They have
never forgotten" He turned to her
"This boy Bathtub Is yours If be
ever falls you I shall thrash blm with-
in an Inch of his nine lives" He dis-
missed the boy with a nod
Bathtub stepped before his mis-
tress saluted grinned tbe broadest
most fnenaiy grin Andrea bad ever
seen and without waiting for the
smiling answer of her eyes was off
like an arrow
So taken up was Andrea with watch-
ing the white man as be issued a rapid
Ore of orders to bis remaining lieu-
tenants that when Bathtub returned
saluted and led ber beneath the les-
ser of the acacia trees she could not
believe her eyes for they showed ber
a canvas wash basin on stilts a clean
towel laid over the back of a chair an-
other chair before a camp table laid
with a clean cloth and burdened with
two sizzling fried eggs hot toast mar-
malade a pot of tea and an absurd
squat bottle with the stems of wild
flowers rammed down Its throat
She took off her cloak and Bathtub
promptly hung It to air over a low
branch of the tree then while she
bathed her face and hands he stood
by with the towel and when she was
through with that he drew ber chair
for her and poured ber tea Children
began crowding around He drove
them back and dragging his toe
marked a wide circle on tbe ground
with the table as center
Up to that mark and no farther
came the children and squatted In a
staring but silent ring Andrea sat
down and gazVd-over their heads at
the kraal In general and at the white
man In particular for from him ra-
diated an activity Incredible In com-
parison with the languor that had pre
ceded It Her eyes fell to the table
and she realized two things: she wns
unusually marvelously hungry and
the table was set for one
"Doesn't your master eat!" she
asked of Bathtub
"My master makes ready cala for
missis"
"What Is -caiaf"
Bathtub frowned In 'an effort to
catch up with a word that was on the
verge of escaping from bis meager
vocabulary "House I" be suddenly ex-
ploded and grinned with satisfaction
Andrea lowered the fork that was
half way to her mouth "Makes ready
a bouse — for meT Her eyes nar-
rowed "I will not need a bouse Tell
him"
Bathtub's grin broadened "Sorry
Missis" he said "law Uke that ev-
ery Missis one but every hut one tax"
Andrea stared at blm open-mouthed
and then blushed furiously "I mean
that I will not stay here" she ex-
plained angrily "Tell your master I
wish to speak with blm— at once
Walt a minute You call blm M'sungo
What does that meanT"
"White man" said Bathtub and de-
parted to call bis master
The wblte man gave a last order
and then obeyed Andrea's summons
As he stepped Into the shade of tbe
acacia he took off his hat and mopped
his wet brow "Too bad we can't keep
cool like tbe morning" be said
"I didn't send for you to talk about
the weather" said Andrea "You have
been raining orders now let me give
Just one You are to get that machine
In shape and take me back now —
today"
The" man's eyes met her gaze stead-
ily but gradually his body began' to
tremble He put one hand out to the
spare chair as though to steady him-
self "I want yon to believe me" he
said In a low voice "when I tell yon
that what you ask Is Impossible"
He turned as though to leave ber
"Wait" cried Andrea There was
something In the way he spoke that
even went beyond persuasion and
robbed ber of her mainstay— her an-
ger against him "But—" she- stam-
mered and stopped "Oh what Is to
become of met"
"If I could take you back 1 would—
now" said the man dully "When yon
asked to come with me I knew of
course that yon were unaware of the
fact that I was not returning An Im-
pulse drove me to grant your request
on the grounds that It Is really of very
little consequence what happens to
any given Individual' Impulses pass
but decisions are often Irretrievable)
this was one of them"
"Wbyr asked Andrea earnestly
and then repeated more urgently
wny is itr
The man's eves wandered toward
the airplane but be did not answer
ner insistent question "No real harm
will come to you" be said Instead
"but even so I am snrrv Lnirlo la a
treacherous thing" he added absently
-wnen applied to humanity I told
you (bat I didn't deal In personalities
I Ilea There Is something about the
warmth of an Individual person that
melts cold reason"
He left her abmntlv and dlmn-
peered within a near-by but She
waicnea aim go with a feeling of par-
tial desertion that gradually waa ab-
sorbed by a sensation that was new
to heir — a consciousness that when this
extraordinary man spoke be left his
words behind him not aa tmrmlpntu
but as permanent guests of tbe mind
mere was something stark about bit
rrauKness as though It had been
CaUKht In some whirlwind nf llfo and
been stripped of conventional clothes
in me way of meaningless phrases
but for all its nakedness It Insnlred
not fear but a rebellious trust
CHAPTER III
I
Andrea swallowed a lump In her
throat "I won't— I will not cry" she
said aloud "I shall never cry again
I'm really having a g— good time I've
always been bored and I'm certainly
not bored now and only a fool would
cry over that" She settled down to
her breakfast In earnest forgot that
he detested eggs fried ate every scrap
of tbe toast most of the marmalade
end drank three cups of tea Then
she sat back and let her eyes amuse
uer '
The craal's activity bad centered
about the newest and smartest of the
huts Around It many men were work-
ing some digging trenches others cut
ting an extra door In Us side Pres-1
ently still others began to arrive In a
seemingly endless procession bearing
posts stripped of their bark and cut
to uniform length and great bundles
of withes and thatch grass
She watched them work with a won
der at what they were doing that
grew vaguer and vaguer until she
drowsed and Anally dropped sound
asleep In ber chair She awoke two
hours later to find the wblte man
standing before ber clean shaven
clear eyed smelling of soap and look
ing almost dapper In khaki helmet
shirt breeches and puttees
"Well Mr White Manr said An-
drea He smiled a alow smile of relief as
though he had been dreading her first
words "WU1 yon come nowr be
asked
She arose started to follow him and
stopped with a gasp "Why I" she ex-
claimed her eyes fastened on tbe but
that had been the scene of labor It
was transformed Before It now
stood a veranda with a thatched roof
Inclosing the veranda the hut and a
tiny garden at Its back was a mighty
stockade each post of which was
sharpened to a needle point From
the extra door ran a covered way as
strongly Duut as tbe stockade and
which connected the but with Its
neighbor— that Into which the wblte
man had disappeared
"Will you comer repeated the man
Andrea followed blm only to stop
again when she reached the veranda
It was carpeted with a long grass
mat or vivid colors and on the mat
stood chairs and a table On the
table was a band sewing machine and
from corner-to-corner post swung a
hammock She had to stoop very low
to enter the but Itself and once within
had to wait a long time for ber sun-
filled eyes to accustom themselves to
tbe kindly gloom The man grew Im-
patient and struck a match By Its
light Andrea saw a vision of comfort
Tbe room was circular and nncelled
so that one could look up and up Into
the very depths of Its tapering peak
From that height dangled a wire and
on Its end hung a lantern The man
lit It and showed ber bow It could be
carried to any desired point oa the
circumference of the room and hooked
there
On one side stood a cot already
made np beside It a small camp chair
On the other side was a long hammock
chair and close to It stood a carved
tabouret piled high with books Over
a small table hung a foolish little
mirror - Tbe walls were wainscoted
with a woven mat of golden reed
The place smelted clean was clean
Andrea had come Into tbe room ob
sessed by a single Idea and that was
to determine the why and wherefore
of the covered passage leading to the
next but She failed to discover Its
entrance until her companion drew ber
attention to a door wnlnsitel like
the walls hut crossed by a -xtiinly bar
pivoted at oue end the oilier sinking
Into a deep socket
"It occurred to me" sold His man
"that perhaps you would be nfrrld at
night unless you were sure or help
Listen" He raised the bar and aa
be did so the hidden door (lew open
and a gong sounded In the next but
"The bar cannot be lifted from mj
side of course" he added
Then ha lori hor Ant thmilffh the
veranda Into her private garden and
pointed to a quite new and tiny hut
'Your bath and washroom" he said
"You must bare no water In the but
you live In not only because Its floor
Is of mud but principally on account
of the mosquitoes" i
"Liver said Andrea "My dear
White Man you are mad I'm not
going to live here no matter how hor-
rlblv I'm temnted hv nil this thought-
fulness of yours and — care"
He looked questionlngly nt her face
Will you dine with me" he ventured
'at half past five? It's the best hour
on account of daylight and only two -
meals a day Will yut? After that
we'll talk It out"
Andrea nodded and dismissed htm
with "Till half after five then"
Things bad moved so fast through
tbe day that she had had no time to
mark more than their general course
T W1 1 J L 1ML- l —
now sue seiueu uuwu iu a uvuueraiv
survey She went back In ber mind
to Aunty Owen to her brothers and
to the public at large as represented
by the colony dance She Imagined
their consternation at her disappear
ance visualized the efforts that even
at this moment were being made to
trace her and the full force of their
Inevitable futility
The searchers would hare nothing
to go on There was only one chance
as far as she knew and that was a
slim one In tbe general excitement
the native whom the white iiuin had
left behind might chatter his way Into
sufficient prominence to get himself
railed as a witness But she set
small hope on such a sol u I Inn for the
last few hours had tn tight her that
tbe author of all her troubles was
more than White Man to those under
him— be was master
Then ber thoughts turned to the
man she was to hove married Of
awna nwA whntMra hiitillonAI fmm
now on that — deal— was off She
puckered ber brow puzzled that such
a conclusion brought no great shock
with It Last of all she thought of
herself What was the meaning of
this day to Andrea Pellor to that girl
whom she had curiously watched
studied and dreamed over during very
nearly a quarter of a century? Un-
consciously she faced the problem
from the standpoint tyo - which she
had been bred alone— measured i by
tbe cold rule of convention and so-
ciety usage
"I'm done for" sold Andrea to her-
self "Yesterday I was a pearl of
great price In the marriage market
and now everything In the way of cash
that offers will come from the music
halls 1 Your last day Pellor" she
added aloud giving a deep significance
to the use of the old family name
alone Her llpa curled and ber eyes
hardened rebelllously as she added a
final murmur "But It's been a hum-
mer!" "Scoff ready Missis"
She Jumped erect with a startled
cry
"Plenty hungry ehr said Bathtub
with bis usual grin of pride at bia
powers of deduction
Andrea wants to go back
Does she go?
(TO BE CONTINUED)
— — —
Phonograph Repeats Record
When the needle comes to the end
of Its travel and the music ceases the
owner of a phonograph equipped with
a new attachment says Popular
Mechanics magazine takes no heed
and a moment later the machine Is
playing the same air over again
This Interesting result Is achieved by
means of a metal arm pivoted at a
point outside the turntable Its Inner
end resting upon the projecting tip of
the spindle At the end of the record
the traveling sound box engages a
trigger which actuates a vertical
screw and the metal arm rises lift-
ing the needle from the record The
sound box slides back along the In-
clined arm to Its starting position
the descending arm replaces the needle
accurately In tbe outer groove and the
music goes on
Unstylish Duds
"Do yon know how to make a pan
dowdy r asked her husband
It was too good an opportunity to
let go by
"Certainly" she replied "All I have
to do la to dress the pan In the kind
of clothes yon make me wear"
Only Thing to Do
Doctor— Yon are all run down Ton
ought to quit business entirely
Patient— If Tin run down I suppose
m have to wind up
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Harris, George A. The Jet Visitor (Jet, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 12, 1920, newspaper, February 12, 1920; Jet, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1713564/m1/2/: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.