Tarzan Triumphant

'Oh, yes; but there are so many Thompson's—I didn't know to which one you referred.'

'Do you have to get next to King George to get to England ?' demanded Danny, and something in the earnestness of his tone assured Smith that the young man had not been kidding him.

'No,' he replied. 'You see London is the capital of England . When you are in London you are, of course, in England .'

'Geeze!' exclaimed Danny. 'I sure was all wet, wasn't I; but you see,' he added confidentially, 'I ain't never been out of America before.'

'Are you making a protracted stay in England ?'

'A what?'

'Are you going to remain in England for some time?'

'I'll see how I like it,' replied Danny.

'I think you'll like London ,' Smith told him.

'I don't have to stay there,' Danny confided; 'I can go where I please. Where are you goin'?'

'To Africa .'

'What sort of a burgh is it? I don't think I'd like bein' bossed by a lot of savages, though a lot of 'em is regular, at that. I knew some negro cops in Chi that never looked to frame a guy.'

'You wouldn't be bothered by any policeman where I'm going,' Smith assured him; 'there are none.'

'Geezel you don't say? But get me right, mister, I ain't worried about no cops—they ain't got nothin' on me. Though I sure would like to go somewhere where I wouldn't never see none of their ugly mugs. You know, mister,' he added confidentially, 'I just can't like a cop.'

This young man puzzled Lafayette Smith the while he amused him. Being a scholar, and having pursued scholarly ways in a quiet university town, Smith was only aware of the strange underworld of America 's great cities to such a sketchy extent as might result from a cursory and disinterested perusal of the daily press. He could not catalog his new acquaintance by any first hand knowledge. He had never talked with exactly such a type before. Outwardly, the young man might be the undergraduate son of a cultured family, but when he spoke one had to revise this first impression.

'Say,' exclaimed Danny, after a short silence; 'I know about this here Africa , now. I seen a moving pitcher once—lions and elephants and a lot of foolish lookin' deer with funny monickers. So that's where you're goin'? Huntin', I suppose?'

'Not for animals, but for rocks,' explained Smith.

'Geeze! Who ain't huntin' for rocks?' demanded Danny, 'I know guys would croak their best friends for a rock.'

'Not the sort I'm going to look for,' Smith assured him.

'You don't mean diamonds then?'

'No, just rock formations that will teach me more about the structure of the earth.'

'And you can't cash in on them after you find them?'

'Geeze, that's a funny racket. You know a lot about this here Africa , don't you?'

'Only what I've read in books,' replied Smith.

'I had a book once,' said Danny, with almost a verbal swagger.

'Yes?' said Smith politely. 'Was it about Africa ?'

'I don't know. I never read it. Say, I been thinkin',' he added. 'Why don't I go to this here Africa ? That pitcher I seen looked like they wasn't many people there, and I sure would like to get away from people for a while—I'm fed up on 'em. How big a place is Africa ?'

'Almost four times as large as the United States .'

'Geeze! An' no cops?'

'Not where I'm going, nor very many people. Perhaps I shall see no one but the members of my safari for weeks at a time.'

'Safari?'

'My people—porters, soldiers, servants.'

'Oh, your mob.'

'It may be.'

'What say I go with you, mister? I don't understand your racket and I don't want to, but I won't demand no cut-in whatever it is. Like the old dame that attended the funeral, I just want to go along for the ride—only I'll pay my way.'

Lafayette Smith wondered. There was something about this young man he liked, and he certainly found him interesting as a type. Then, too, there was an indefinable something in his manner and in those cold, blue eyes that suggested he might be a good companion in an emergency. Furthermore, Lafayette Smith had recently been thinking that long weeks in the interior without the companionship of another white man might prove intolerable. Yet he hesitated. He knew nothing about the man. He might be a fugitive from justice. He might be anything. Well, what of it? He had about made up his mind.

'If it's expenses that's worrying you,' said Danny, noting the other's hesitation, 'forget 'em. I'll pay my share and then some, if you say so.'

'I wasn't thinking of that, though the trip will be expensive—not much more for two, though, than for one.'

'How much?'

'Frankly, I don't know, but I have been assuming that five thousand dollars should cover everything, though I may be wrong.'

Danny Patrick reached into his trousers' pocket and brought forth a great roll of bills—50's and 100's. He counted out three thousand dollars. 'Here's three G. to bind the bargain,' he said, 'and there's more where that came from. I ain't no piker. I'll pay my share and part of yours, too.'

'No,' said Smith, motioning the proffered bills aside. 'It is not that. You see we don't know anything about each other. We might not get along together.'

'You know as much about me as I do about you,' replied Danny, 'and I'm game to take a chance. Maybe the less we know the better. Anyhow, I'm goin' to this here Africa , and if you're goin' too, we might as well go together. It'll cut down expenses, and two white fellows is got a better chanct than one alone. Do we stick or do we split?'

Lafayette Smith laughed. Here, perhaps, was the making of an adventure, and in his scholarly heart he had long held the secret hope that some day he might go adventuring. 'We stick,' he said.

'Gimme five!' exclaimed 'Gunner' Patrick, extending his hand.

'Five what?' asked Lafayette Smith, A.M., Ph.D., Sc.D.

Chapter 4 Gathering the Strands

Weeks rolled by. Trains rattled and chugged. Steamships plowed. Black feet padded well worn trails. Three safaris, headed by white men from far separated parts of the earth, moved slowly along different trails that led toward the wild fastnesses of the Ghenzis. None knew of the presence of the others, nor were their missions in any way related.

From the West came Lafayette Smith and 'Gunner' Patrick; from the South, an English big game hunter, Lord Passmore; from the East, Leon Stabutch.

The Russian had been having trouble with his men. They had enlisted with enthusiasm, but their eagerness to proceed had waned as they penetrated more deeply into strange and unknown country. Recently they had talked with men of a vifiage beside which they had camped, and these men had told them terrifying tales of the great band of shiftas, led by a white man, that was terrorizing the country toward which they were marching, killing and raping as they collected slaves to be sold in the north.

Stabutch had halted for the noonday rest upon the southern slopes of the foothills of the Ghenzis. To the north rose the lofty peaks of the main range; to the south, below them, they could see forest and jungle stretching