Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1890 — ALLAN QUATERMAIN. [ARTICLE]

ALLAN QUATERMAIN.

CHAPTER XXlV—Continued. As regards his jealousy, a single instance which I give in justice to myaelf and Nyieptha will suffice. The reader will, perhaps, recollect that in one or two places he speaks as though Nyieptha monopolized me, and he was left by both of us rather out in the cold. Now, Nyieptha is not perfect, any more than any other woman is, and she may be a little exigeante at times, but as regards Quatermain, the whole thing is pure imagination. Thus when he complains about my not coming to see him when he was ill, the fact was, that in spite of my entreaties the doctor positively forbade it. Those little remarks of his pained me very much when 1 read them, for I loved Quatermain as dearly as though he were my own father, and should never have dreamed of allowing ray marriage to interfere with that affection. But let it pass; it is, after all. but one little weakness, which makes no great show among so many and such lovable virtues. Well, he died, and Good read the burial service over him in the presence of Nyieptha and myself, and his remains were, in deference io the popular clamor, accorded a great public funeral, or rather cremation. I could not help Ahinking, however, aS I marched in that long and splendid procession up to the temple, how he would have hated in the whole thing to have seen it, for he had a horror of ostentation. And so, a few minutes before sunset, 6n the third night after his death, they laid him on the brazen flooring before ■ the altar, and waited for the last ray of the setting sun to fall upon his face. Presently it came, and struck him like a.golden arrow, crowning the pale brOws with glory, and then the trumpets blew, and the flooring revolved, and all that remained of our beloved friend fell into the furnace below. We shall never see his like again if we live a hundred years. He was the ablest man, the truest gentleman, the firmest friend, the finest sportsman, and I believe the best shot in all Africa. And so ended the very remarkable and adventurous life of Hunter Quatermain. ******

Since then things have gone very well with us. Good has been, and still is, busily employed in the construction of a navy on Lake Mitosis, and another of the large lakes, by means of which we hope to be able to increase trade and commerce, and also to overcome some very troublesome and war-like sections of the population who live upon their borders. Poor fellov! He is getting over the sad death of that misguided but attractive woman, Sorais, but it is a sad blow to him, for he was deeply attached to her. I hope, however, that he will in time make a suitable marriage and get that unhappy business out of his head. Nyieptha has one or two young ladies in view, especially a a daughter of Nasta’s (who was a widower), a very fine, imperial-looking girl, but with too much of her father’s intriguing, and yet haughty spirit, to suit my taste. As for myself, I should scarcely know where to begin if I set to work to describe my doings, so I had best leave them undescribed, and content myself with saying that, on the whole, I am getting on very well in my curious position of king-consort, better, Indeed, than I had any right to expect. But. of course, it is no t all plain sailing, and I find the responsibilities very heavy- StilL I hope to to do some good in my time, and I intend to devote myself to two great ends—namely, to the consolidation of the various clans which make up the Zuvendi people, under one strong central government, and to the sapping of the priesthood. The first of these reforms will, if it can be carried out, put an end to the disastrous civil wars that have for centuries devastated this country; and the second, besides removing a source of political danger, will pave the road for the introduction of true religion in the place of this senseless sun worship. I yet hope to see the shadow of the Cross of Christ lying on the golden dome of the Flower Temple; or, if Ido not, that my successors may.

There is one more thing that I intend to devote myself to, and that is the total exclusion of all foreigners from Zuvendis. Not, indeed, that any more are ever likely to get here, but if they do, I warn them fairly that they will be shown the shortest way out of the country. Ido not say this from any sense of inhospitality, but because I am convinced of the sacred duty that rests upon me of preserving to this, on the whole, upright and generous-hearted people the blessings of comparative barbarism. Where would, all my brave army be if some enterprising rascal were to attack us with field-guns and MartiniHenry’s? I can not see that gunpowder, telegraph, steam, daily newspapers, universal suffrage, etc., etc.; have made mankind one whit the happier than they used to be, and I am certain that they have brought many evils in their train. I have no fancy for handing over this beautiful country to be torn and fought for by speculators, tourists, politicians and teachers, whose voice is as the voice of Bpbel, just as those horrible creatures in the valley of the underground river tore pnd fought for the body of the wild ewan; nor will I Cndow it with the greed, drunkenness, new diseases, gunpowder and general demoralization which chiefly mavk the progress of civilization amofigst unsophisticated peoples. If in due course it pleases Providence to throw Zu-Vendis open to the world, that is another matter; but of myself I will not take the responsibility, and I may add that Good

entirely approves of my decision. Farewell. Henry Curtis. December 15, 18—..... P. S.—l quite forgot to say that about nine months ago Nyieptha (who is very well, and, in my eyes, at any rate, more beautiful than ever) presented me with a son and heir. He is a regular curly-haired, blue-eyed young Englishman in looks, and though he is destined, if he lives, to inherit the throne of Zu-vendis, I hope I may be able to bring him up to become what an English gentleman should be and generally is—which is to my mind even a prouder and a finer thing than being born heir apparent to the great House of the Stairway, and, indeed, the highest rank that a man can reach upon the earth. Henry CurtiS; author’s acknowledgments I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Thompson’s (?) admirable history of travel “Through Masai Land” for much information as to the habits and customs of the tribes inhabiting that portion of the East Coast. Also to my brother, John G. Haggard, R. N., H. B. M.’s consul at Madagas-, car, and formerly consul at Tama, for many details furfiished by him of the mode of life and war of those engaging people, .the Masai. Also to my sister-in-law, Mrs. John Haggard. Also to an extract from some book of travel, of which I can not recollect the name, to which I owe the idea of the great crabs in the valley of the subterranean riven But-df -L rememberright, the crabs in the book, when irritated, projected their eyes quite out of their heads. I regret that I was not able to “plagiarise” this effect,but I felt that although crabs may, anddoubtless do, behave thus in real life, in romance they will not do so. There is an underground river in “Peter Wilkins,” but at time of writing the foregoing pages I had not read that quaint but entertaining work. It has been pointed out to me that there exists a similarity between the scene of Umslopogaas frightening Alphonse with his ax and a scene in ‘ ‘Far from the Madding Crowd. ” I regret this coincidence, and believe that the talented author of that work will not be inclined to accuse me of literary immorality on its account. Finally, I may say that Mr. Quatermain’s little Frenchman appears to belong to the same class of beings as those young English ladies who with long yellow teeth and feet of enormous size excite our hearty amusement in the pages of the illustrated Gallic press. The Writer ok “Allan Quatermain”

NOTES BY GEORGE CURTIS, ESQ. The MS. of .this history, addressed to me in the handwriting of my dear brother, Henry Curtis, whom we had given up for dead and bearing the Aden postmark,reached me on December 20th, 18—, or a little more than two years after it left his hands in the far center of Africa, and I "hasten to give the astonishing story it contains to the world. Speaking for myself, I have read it with very mixed feelings; for though it is a great relief to know that he and Good are alive and strangely prosperous, I can not feel but that for me and for all their friends they might as well be dead, since we can never hope to see them more. ... . : -

They have cut themselves off from old England, and from their homes and their relations forever, and perhaps, under the circumstances, they were right and wise to do so. How the MS. came to be posted I have been quite unable to discover - but I presume, from the fact of its being posted at all, that the little Frenchman, Alphonse, accomplished his hazardous journey in safety. I have, however, advertised for him, and caused various inquiries to be made in Marseilles and elsewhere with a view of discovering his whereabouts, but so far without the slightest success. Possibly he is dead, and the packet was posted by another hand, or possibly he is now happily wedded to his Annette, but still fears the vengeance of the law, and prefers to remain incognito. I can not say. I have not yet abandoned my hopes of finding him but I am bound to say that they grow fainter day by day, and one great obstacle to my search is that nowhere in the whole history does Mr. Quatermain mention his surname. He is always spoken of as “Alphonse,” and there are so many Alphonses. The letters which my brother Henry says he is sending with the packet of manuscript have never arrived, so I presume that they are lost or destroyed. George Curtis. THE END.