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"Bones": Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country cover

"Bones": Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country

Chapter 39: TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
By Edgar Wallace
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About This Book

A sequence of linked episodes set in an African colonial district follows Commissioner Sanders, his deputy Hamilton, the enigmatic former convict Bosambo, and the resourceful figure Bones as they confront local disputes, disappearances, and frontier mysteries. Through palavers, patrols, and investigations the narrative mixes adventure, procedural problem‑solving, and dry humor while portraying the practicalities of colonial administration, local customs, and moral ambiguities of power. Short chapters shift focus between raids, rites, and individual confrontations, emphasizing character interplay and the uneasy balance between imposed law and indigenous authority. The tone alternates between suspense and comic observation, delivering brisk storytelling grounded in local color and procedural detail.

Lieutenant Tibbetts stumbled to his feet glaring and grimacing wildly.

"Parade all correct, sir," he said, "the mail boat has just come in, an' there's a jolly old salmon for supper."

"Wake up, you dreaming devil," said Hamilton.

Bones looked around. In the bright moonlight he saw the Zaire moored to the shelving beach, saw Hamilton, and turned his head to the empty cairn.

"Good Lord!" he gasped.

"O Sleepless One!" said Hamilton softly, "O bright eyes!"

Bones went blundering to the cairn, made a closer inspection, and came slowly back.

"There's only one thing for me to do, sir," he said, saluting. "As an officer an' a gentleman, I must blow my brains out."

"Brains!" said Hamilton scornfully.

"As a matter of fact I sent Bosambo to collect the ivory which I shall divide amongst the three chiefs—it's perished ivory, anyhow; and he had my written authority to take it, but being a born thief he preferred to steal it; you'll find it stacked in your cabin, Bones."

"In my cabin, sir!" said an indignant Bones; "there isn't room in my cabin, sir. How the dickens am I going to sleep?"

THE END

FOOTNOTES

[1] Allamandi—German territory.

[2] That which I call the Akasava proper is the very small, dominant clan of a tribe which is loosely called "Akasava," but is really Bowongo.

[3] "Book" means any written thing. A "Note" is a book.

[4] The stone breaker, the native name for the Congo Government.

[5] Probably a corruption of the word "English."

[6] The territories are invariably named after the principal city, which is sometimes, perhaps, a little misleading.—E. W.

[7] See "The Right of Way."

[8] Palaver.

[9] The motor-launch.

[10] Chronicles II., ix. 29.

[11] Numbers xxi. 17.

[12] "Lilongo" is from the noun "balongo"—blood, and means literally "he-who-breaks-blood-friendships."—E. W.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Every effort has been made to remain true to the original text; minor changes have been made to regularize spelling and hyphenation within the book.