CHAPTER XXI.
DIVERSE MATTERS.
The blow Van had given the Utopian was such a heavy one that the fellow was dazed for a few seconds, and staggered about blindly after he had risen to his feet.
The girl had promptly flown to Van for protection, saying in fair English as he did so:
"Save me from that man! He is a villain, and I hate him."
"All right, miss," replied our hero. "I'll guarantee he shan't harm you while I am around."
Meanwhile the man, who was a big, burly fellow, had recovered himself and now stood glaring at Van like an enraged lion.
He drew a long knife from beneath the coatlike garment he wore, and made a move toward the boy.
Crack! It was our hero's revolver that spoke, and the knife dropped to the ground with a ring, leaving the fellow's arm hanging limp at his side.
The report of the revolver could but attract a crowd, and the next minute over a score of people were on the spot, among them being Poppet and Van's companions.
The cowardly villain watched his opportunity to sneak off, his wounded arm dangling at his side.
"Tell these people what has happened," said Van, addressing the girl.
She obeyed him promptly enough, and when she had concluded a cheer went up from the crowd.
"Thank you," said she, turning to her champion and shaking him warmly by the hand. "Call and see me this evening; my papa will be home then. Don't fail!"
The next moment she left the crowd and entered the house.
"By Jove! Van, you are a dandy, and no mistake!" exclaimed Jack Howard. "Here I have been all over this city, and haven't had an opportunity of being of service to an old woman, let alone a pretty girl like that. You are a lucky fellow, anyhow."
"Why," observed Joe, turning his large eyes upon those of the young Englishman, "do you like pretty girls so much?"
"I like all girls, whether pretty or not," replied Jack, "but in all my travels I never met but one girl whom I liked enough to take for a wife; and I was not with her long enough to learn much about her."
"Where was it you met her, may I ask?"
"Oh, it was here in this beastly African country. It was just after we started on our trip—some days before we came across you. She had a very pretty name, too. Masie Langford, I believe it was."
All at once Joe began to act very strange. He reeled about like a drunken man, and would have fallen to the ground had not Jack caught him.
"Why, what's the matter, my boy?" asked he, in surprise.
"Nothing—nothing. I had a faintness come over me, that's all. You know I am subject to fainting."
"That's so, little fellow. Well, never mind, we'll get back to the house and you can lay down. Here, take my arm, I'll help you walk along."
All hands now left the spot and started with Poppet for his house.
On the way Poppet explained to Van that the girl he had championed was the prettiest in the entire city and that she had suitors by the score.
She was the daughter of one of the city officers, and the same girl who had been insulted by Doc Clancy.
The fellow Van had knocked down was also a city officer, and Poppet was afraid there might be trouble on account of what had happened.
"In such a place as this there should never be any trouble," said Van.
"There has been very little heretofore," was the reply, "but ere long a great trouble will overtake the good people of the African Utopia. I have felt it in the air for months past."
"What is the matter? Is there a sort of split between the people?"
"That's just it exactly. Our good president leads what I consider a loyal faction, and the man you knocked down a few minutes ago is the leader of the opposite side."
"You think there will be a fight, then?"
"It is liable to happen at any time."
"Well, let it happen. We will take a hand in it. I guess we have enough cartridges left to kill off a hundred or two."
"I suppose you favor the president," said Poppet.
"I should say so. He is my father."
"What!" gasped the astonished Utopian. "Your father?"
"Yes, sir, he is."
"Come off, Van. What do you mean?" spoke up Jack Howard, who was listening to the conversation.
Van then related the result of his interview with the president.
Of course all hands were more than astonished. Their whole trip had been a regular romance, but Van finding his father topped it off completely.
But they had arrived at the house by this time, and nothing more was said on the subject.
That evening Van was more than particular in making his toilet.
He was going to call upon the pretty girl as he had promised.
He learned that her name was Metha Arundel before he set out.
He intended to make his call but a short one, as he had promised his father to be at the council meeting which was called to determine the manner of death Doc Clancy was to die.
Van had scarcely rapped upon the door of the house where the fair one lived when it was opened.
A servant ushered him into a brilliantly lighted room, where the girl and her father were awaiting him.
Both had learned by this time that Van was the son of the president, and they greeted him accordingly.
The old gentleman could converse very well in English, and when half an hour had been pleasantly spent he arose and took his departure for the council meeting, stating that he was going to make a charge against the man who had insulted his daughter.
Van soon forgot all about the fact that he intended to go to the council meeting.
Metha's company was so charming that it was quite late when he arose to go.
Though the couple had but met that day, both were badly smitten.
Now that Van had chased Doc Clancy to his doom, and found his father in such an unexpected manner, he felt that he could turn a little of his attention to love.
From the little he knew of Metha she just suited him; and vice versa.
It was too late to go to the council meeting when he left the girl, so he went direct to his father's house.
He found his friends all there with very ample accommodations assigned to them.
From them he learned that Doc Clancy was to be hanged the next morning at sunrise.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE EXECUTION AND WHAT FOLLOWED.
Our friends were up and on hand before sunrise the next morning.
A vast crowd had already assembled about the spot where the execution of Doc Clancy was to take place.
Van and his companions took up a position in the rear of the crowd.
Though none of them were desirous of seeing the execution, they could not resist the temptation to be present.
It was now generally known throughout the city that Van was the son of the president of the board of officers, and many were the looks that were cast upon the boy by the city's inhabitants.
Just as the sun arose, Doc Clancy was led to the rudely constructed gallows that had been erected solely for his execution.
Before he stepped upon the drop, Van's father came forward and faced him.
When the villain saw the man he had abandoned in the African wilds to die, a look of terror came over his face.
"Wha-a-t!" he gasped. "Are you alive?"
"I guess I am, John Moreland. So you were not satisfied when you thought you had left me to die; you made up your mind to find your way back home, after a number of years of your villainy, and murder my brother! But a Nemesis got upon your track, John Moreland! My son, Van, had pluck enough to chase you clear to this spot, which is entirely unknown to the outside world. Now, you vile hound! you have but a few minutes to live! Have you got anything to say?"
During the recital of the president's words the face of Doc Clancy turned the color of ashes, and when he had finished, the wretch uttered a horror-stricken groan and fell to the ground in a faint.
Van's father then spoke a few words to the executioner, and then walked to the spot where our friends were standing.
"Come," said he. "When I let my handkerchief fall the drop will go down. I have no desire to see the execution."
Together the party walked slowly from the place.
A few yards from the crowd the handkerchief was dropped.
The next instant a dull thud was heard, followed by a howl from the excited crowd.
Van glanced back for an instant, and saw the form of Doc Clancy dangling in the air.
The career of the villain who had been chased to the heart of the Dark Continent was ended.
A sigh of relief escaped the lips of our hero.
"Now, if it is possible for us to get back home again, and take father along with us, I will consider my journey to Central Africa the most important event of my whole life," he thought.
As his father was compelled to use a crutch on account of his missing leg, the walk to their headquarters was a slow one.
On the way Van met Metha Arundel, who invited him to call again that evening.
He promised to do so, and a joyous look came into the beautiful girl's eyes.
As soon as the house of the president was reached our hero's father called him in his private office.
"My son," said he, "there is going to be trouble in this hitherto peaceful city before many hours."
"What do you mean, father?" asked Van in surprise.
"I mean just this: the man you struck yesterday for interfering with that girl—who, by the way, has fallen in love with you—has a vast influence among the people of this place. It was for that reason that the council did not indict him last night. I understand by good authority that he has sworn to kill you and all your friends. Now, I want to ask you what you think is the best thing to do."
"As soon as we see it is getting too hot for us we had better leave," was Van's reply.
"That's it exactly. Since you came here I have had a very strong desire to get back to our own country once more. I have long known a way to go, but could not go alone. You and your friends will just make the party large enough, and I think we had better start this very day."
"Let us wait till to-morrow, father. I have an appointment to-night, you know."
"Do you care anything for the pretty Metha Arundel, Van?"
"Why?"
"Well, if you don't I wouldn't get up any foolish flirtation with her, if I were you. Her father told me this morning that she had resolved to have no other man for a husband but you, and when a girl once says a thing like that in this country you may rest assured that she means it."
"I think I will ask her to go along with us," said Van, after a moment's thought.
Contrary to his expectations, his father seemed pleased.
"I know her father would go," said he, quickly. "Her mother is dead, and they two comprise the entire family."
"Very well," returned our hero. "You might as well speak to her father."
The elder Vincent now produced a roughly drawn chart of the African Utopia.
He showed Van a river which flowed near the eastern wall of the city and thence in a southerly direction until it emptied into Lake Tanganyika.
"This map was drawn by a man who came to this place by that route," said he. "If we once reach that lake we will be all right."
"We ought to have a large flat-bottomed boat," replied our hero, in a thoughtful manner. "We could then take our horses with us."
"We have the boat already," Mr. Vincent hastened to reply. "It is a large one, and is used to transport blocks of stone from the quarry about ten miles above the city."
"That settles it, then," said our hero, in a matter-of-fact way.
The interview now being at an end, Van sought his companions and told them of the plan for leaving the place and the African wilds forever.
All seemed much elated over it save Joe. The boy only shook his head in a wistful manner and said:
"I am glad you are going to leave and hope you will have the best of luck, and finally reach your own country. As for me, I am satisfied that I will never leave Africa."
"What, Joe? Aren't you going with us?" asked Jack Howard, in surprise.
"Oh, yes—that is, I will make the start with you. To tell the truth, I feel as—as though I am not going to live long."
"Nonsense!" cried all hands in a breath.
"I have a presentiment that way, and I know it will come true," persisted the boy.
Joe's words were spoken in such an earnest manner that a grave feeling came over all hands in spite of themselves.
During the day they walked about the city a good deal, and toward evening Joe was as happy as any of them.
Van noticed that a large number of the population had congregated to the western portion of the walled-in place.
Presently he saw the man whom he had knocked down among them, and he began to grow suspicious.
"They are getting ready to start a riot," he thought. "I must see my father and get him to start the first thing in the morning."
Our friends were on their way back to the house of the president when Van caught a glimpse of this man.
The villain—for such he was—cast a look of intense hate at the boy, and then, before his intention could be designed, he sprang forward and flung his knife full at our hero's breast.
Van made a nimble dodge and escaped the blade, but a cry of anguish behind him told him that it had struck some one else.
Turning quickly, he beheld Joe reeling backward with the knife sticking in his breast.
Jack Howard caught the wounded boy in his arms, and then, quick as a flash, Van turned and leveled his rifle at the cowardly murderer.
Crack! As the report rang out, the man threw up his arms and fell dead to the ground.
CHAPTER XXIII.
UTOPIA IS LEFT BEHIND.
As soon as Van saw that his shot had not been wasted he hurried to the side of Joe, who was now lying on the ground, with his head resting on Jack Howard's arm.
The wounded boy was breathing heavily, and a single glance told our hero that he had but a few minutes to live.
"Loosen his shirt collar and give him some air," said Dr. Pestle. "The knife has touched a vital spot, and it is only a question of a very few minutes before the little fellow will die."
Jack at once unbuttoned Joe's shirt.
As he did so he turned as pale as death and a strange cry came from his lips.
"What is the matter?" exclaimed the doctor, springing to his side.
"Joe is a girl!" came from Jack's pallid lips.
His startling words seemed to bring the wounded one to consciousness, for at that moment the large eyes opened.
"Yes, I am a girl," came from the feeble lips, which were fast turning blue. "Mr. Howard, promise me that you will not hate me for following you in this guise when you think of me in after life! I followed you because I was left alone in the world, and because I—I—I loved you!"
"Great God!" exclaimed Jack. "Surely you are not Masie Langford, the girl we met almost at the commencement of our trip?"
"I am, Mr. Howard. I—I——"
Jack Howard's companions were forced to turn their heads.
The emotion the young Englishman displayed was something awful.
He had frequently spoken of Masie Langford as the only girl he had ever met who would suit him for a wife, and now she lay, dying in his arms.
What Howard whispered to the dying girl will never be known, but whatever it was it caused her face to light up with a heavenly smile, then the lips of the two met, and Masie Langford, alias Joe, fell back dead.
The discharge of Van's rifle had caused a large crowd to gather, and when the city officer's friends saw him lying dead upon the ground murmurs of rage went up from their lips.
But as no assault was made upon them, our friends did not notice them much.
Poppet, who had been with the party since they started out to examine the city, and who was an eye-witness of all that had taken place in the past few minutes, dispatched a couple of men for a litter.
The necessary article was procured in a very few minutes, and the body of the slain girl being placed on it, the party set out for the president's house.
But few words were exchanged on the way, and when they reached the house, a gloom seemed to have settled upon all hands.
As soon as Van's father learned of what had taken place, he was for leaving the city at once.
"There is yet an hour before darkness," said he, "and I will have it announced that the friends of the murdered girl—or rather boy, as they think—desire the body to be buried outside the wall. Then those who are going to leave can take to the boat and leave the city behind them forever."
"That is true," returned Van; "but I have not seen Metha Arundel yet."
"I have, if you have not. Her father says they are ready to go at ten minutes' notice."
"Very well, then. I will go after them at once."
The distance to the house of the Arundels was not great, and Van soon reached it, finding what his father had said to be true.
Arundel was an Englishman, and as he was a sworn friend of Vincent's, he was ready to stick to him in anything he undertook.
His daughter had really fallen in love with Van, and, of course, she was only too glad to go.
The father and daughter mounted their horses, taking what few things they could carry, and then Van led them to the door of his father's house, where the funeral procession had already formed.
When the elder Vincent saw that all were on hand he gave the order to start.
About fifty of the Utopians accompanied them to witness the burial.
There was a gate at the eastern wall similar to the other one, and when our friends passed through this they saw a broad river in front of them.
A large, flat-bottomed boat was moored to the shore not over a hundred yards away.
A number of the Utopians promptly set to work to dig a grave in the spot selected by Jack Howard.
When it was ready Prof. Drearland repeated a short prayer, and the body of the brave girl, who had shared the dangers and hardships of the explorers, was tenderly laid to rest.
Jack was the last to leave the grave, and, when he did so, he noticed that his friends had already gathered upon the boat.
The Utopians who came with them to witness and assist in the burial of the girl, were standing at the gate waiting for them, thinking that the strangers were merely examining the boat.
It was fast growing dark, and casting a last look at the grave of Masie Langford, Jack Howard led his horse down to the water's edge and boarded the scowlike craft.
He had scarcely done so when he felt the boat moving.
There was ample cause for this, since all hands had seized poles and were pushing with all their might.
Five minutes later the boat was in the middle of the stream, while the Utopians, who had been left standing at the gate, were running up and down the river bank in a state of wild excitement.
But darkness and the swift current of the river soon lost them to view.
Van's father, though his left leg was missing from the knee down, was quite spry, and he insisted that he should have charge of the boat during the night.
He was allowed to have his own way, and when the sun arose the next morning they were nearly a hundred miles from the African Utopia.
The current of the river was swift and steady, and when two days had slipped by the boat entered a large body of water, which the elder Vincent said was Lake Tanganyika.
We will not dwell on the voyage down the lake, but suffice it to say that it was really the body of water they supposed it to be, and in due time they arrived at the town of Ujiji, which was the nearest to anything like civilization they had seen since they started on their journey, barring the African Utopia, of course.
They were lucky enough to meet a party of Englishmen at this place, who were just about to start for Zanzibar.
One of them happened to be an acquaintance of Jack Howard's, and that made things satisfactory between the two parties, so they formed into one and set out for the coast.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CONCLUSION.
It was nearly two months after our friends left the hidden city of Utopia before they arrived at Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa.
At the request of Prof. Drearland they had kept all their wonderful discoveries to themselves.
Long before they reached the seacoast, Van and Metha Arundel had come to an understanding, and it was known to all their friends that they were engaged to be married when they reached a suitable age.
After a week's stay in Zanzibar—which, by the way, is not the nicest place in the world in which to sojourn—they embarked aboard a ship bound for London.
At the end of a rather tedious voyage they stepped on the docks of the famous British city.
It was here that the party became split.
Jack Howard, Dr. Pestle and Prof. Drearland had reached their home, and here they concluded to remain for the present.
A couple of weeks later Van Vincent, his father, Lank Edwards and Arundel and his daughter, Metha, embarked for New York.
They did not tarry long in this city after their arrival, but at once set out for the homestead of the Vincents in the quiet little country village.
Almost everybody in the village knew our hero, and when he stepped from the train with the handsome Metha by his side, the simple country folk were much mystified.
Before he had walked a hundred yards from the depot Van learned from one of his old friends that the house he had lived in so long was in the hands of the lawyer who had always done his uncle's business.
Our hero led the way to the best hotel in the village, and here the party put up.
Through the agency of his former employer Van got a good lawyer to take his case, and in his hands he placed the confession of Doc Clancy.
About a week later the village was agog with excitement over the arrest of Lawyer ——, who was one of the richest and most influential men in the county.
But when it became known that he was implicated in the murder that had caused so much excitement several months before, the excitement reached a fever heat.
Well, the next thing to take place was a trial, which was a long and tedious one, as such trials usually are.
When it did finally come to an end, it resulted in complete victory for Van Vincent.
The rascally lawyer received a sentence of twenty years in the State prison for the part he had played in the murder and fraud.
He is now serving out the sentence; but the last we heard of him he was not likely to live until it expired, as his health was very poor.
A few of the old villagers recognized Van's father, and he was given a royal welcome back to his native place.
Arundel, who was an Englishman by birth, concluded to remain in America the rest of his life.
Four years later Jack Howard, Dr. Pestle and Prof. Drearland made a trip to America.
They not only came to see the best country on the face of the globe, but to attend a wedding as well.
The reader will of course guess the happy couple.
They were our hero, Van Vincent, and the pretty Metha Arundel, who had been born and reared in the African Utopia.
Van asked the professor about his book, but the learned man claimed that he had not yet finished it to his taste.
However, he gave him a copy of the title page, which read as follows:
"Across the Dark Continent. Being the remarkable adventures and discoveries of an exploring party of six, with biographical sketches and portraits. By Prof. Drearland, the Greatest of Modern Explorers."
If this book ever gets in print I would advise the reader to peruse it carefully, as it contains many details and minor discoveries that we have been compelled to leave out of this story.
We have just learned at this point of our writing that Jack Howard is making preparations to lead a party to the wonderful African Utopia.
Since the death of Masie Langford, Jack has never been exactly himself, and the poor fellow, no doubt, wants to get back to the balmy African clime and visit the grave of the girl who loved him, and who, for the sake of being at his side, traveled in the guise of a boy until she met her death at the hands of a cruel assassin.
And now we have reached the end of our story, which would never have been written had it not been for Van Vincent's vow.
THE END.
The region of the Rockies and the district of Poison Gulch have yielded many interesting mining stories, but none more thrilling than that which is to appear in Brave and Bold, No. 110, next week, entitled "Barr, the Detective; or, The Peril of Lucy Graves." In this story all the mystery and terror that can be evolved out of lonely glens and desperate border characters is brilliantly set forth, and the reader is carried on as in a maze of enthusiasm and interest. You should not fail to read it. It is one of the few detective stories that really hold the interest. Out next week!
| Are You Reading | "Ayesha" |
H. RIDER HAGGARD'S
Famous Companion Story to "SHE"?
If not, the following comprehensive synopsis will enable you to continue the story in the February number (now ready) of
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Leo Vincey and Horace Holly make their way back to England after their terrible adventures in Kor (as described in "She"), but the spirit of unrest is in them, and Leo yearns to see his lost love once more—for, be it remembered, when Ayesha perished in the flames of the Pillar of Life she called to her lover that she would come again and would once more be beautiful. Finally, tortured by uncertainty, Leo is on the verge of taking his life when a vision comes to him in which he sees Ayesha and is guided by her to where she may be found. The place seems to be in Asia, and the distinguishing feature is a towering, loop-shaped mountain peak supported by a lava stem hundreds of feet high. Through it shines a fire which rises from the crater of a volcano just beyond. The two men go in search of this mountain peak, and finally reach a lamasery in Thibet, where they hear of a woman who answers the description of "She" and who seems to possess some of her power. They learn that this mysterious woman may be found on the further side of a well-nigh impassable mountain range. Leo and Holly, after frightful hardships, reach the land of Kaloon, where they are hospitably received by the Khania or queen. They learn that on the fire-crowned mountain which they are in search of, and which is not far away, is a mysterious priestess who is always veiled. The inhabitants of Kaloon and the people of the mountain have long been on unfriendly terms, but there is now a sort of armed truce. By some means the veiled priestess has learned of the coming of the two strangers across the mountain, and has sent word to that effect to the Khania, together with the demand that they be sent to her. Atene, the Khania, falls in love with Leo and resolves to wed him, even though this will necessitate doing away with her present husband. Atene sends the veiled priestess word that the strangers have arrived, but that they are both very old and so physically worn that they will be unable to obey her behest to come at once to her domains. Holly soon discovers the true condition of affairs, but he barely has time to warn Leo when they are confronted with the most frightful peril of their journey—the peril of "the Hounds of Death!"
THE POPULAR MAGAZINE for February, now on sale, contains the second instalment of this marvelously interesting story.
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Transcriber's Notes:
This story was previously serialized in a longer form in the Golden Hours story paper under the title "Van Vincent's Vow; or, Chased to the Heart of the Dark Continent."
Added table of contents.
Images may be clicked to see larger versions.
Some inconsistent hyphenation retained from the original.
Page 3, changed "that he man" to "that the man."
Page 4, changed "overheard" to "overhead" and added missing quote after "shipped to sea?"
Page 7, added missing quote before "Two of ther villains."
Page 14, fixed double semi-colon.
Page 25, changed "breathed if" to "breathed it."