In Search of the Okapi | Page 4

them out of calm yellowish eyes as if he were
studying them.
"We should," they said eagerly.
"Think it will turn out a picnic--a glorified sort of camping-out, with

black fellows to wait on you, and a lot of shooting and fishing? Is that
your idea?"
"We were talking about that this morning," said Compton, "and we
came to the conclusion that exploring was hard work. We are prepared
for rough living."
"That's right. And you tell me that you are free to go without giving
anxiety to relatives, eh?"
"We neither of us have near relatives."
Mr. Hume stood up and felt each one over in turn, making them draw
deep breaths.
"Seem sound," he mused, "in wind and limb. But there is one thing.
The great danger in Central Africa is from fever--not from animals or
blacks." Here he took down a bottle of white powder, and placed a
large pinch in a wine-glass of water. "Quinine is the traveler's stand-by,
but there are some who cannot take quinine, It has no effect on them,
and such people have no business to set foot in fever districts. Drink
this?"
Compton emptied the glass with a wry face, and Venning, when his
turn came, shuddered; but they got the dose down, and smiled.
"Now," said Mr. Hume, "you both of you give me references to the
headmaster of your school, and I will give you one in return. I will
make inquiries about you, and I would advise you to make inquiries
about me. You can come back here to-morrow afternoon, and if we are
mutually satisfied, we will then fix up a contract."
"I don't think we require a reference," said Venning.
"Why not?" said Mr. Hume, sharply.
"Because," blurted out Venning, turning red--"because you have lived
among animals."

Mr. Hume laughed heartily with a deep rumbling laugh.
"Animals are tricky, boy; and yet," he added, "there may be a meaning
in what you say. They have a dignity in death that is grand. Go and
make your inquiries, lads. I am Dave Hume, the hunter, and my life has
been passed in wild lands, but there are some in London who know
me."
He rose up to open the door, and Venning overtopped him by inches,
yet he did not look either small or unwieldy. His step was springy, and
his head, poised on a massive neck, was well set, with the chin raised.
He was a man, evidently, who had always looked the world straight in
the face. His eyes had a yellowish tinge, and in their colour and their
calm they reminded Venning somehow of a lion, an impression
heightened by the tawny hue of a long beard.
The next day, the references having been satisfactorily followed up, the
contract was entered upon, and the two boys paid over the sum of
Pounds 50 each to David Hume, who in his turn agreed to let them
share in any profits which the expedition might make, from any source
whatever.
"Profits, Mr. Hume?" they asked.
"Profits from hunting, from trading, or from discovery. I don't say that
we shall make anything. The chances are, of course, that we may lose
all before we are a month out, but it is always well to be business-like.
There is gold in Central Africa. We may discover a gold reef. There are
new animals in the forest. We may catch an okapi, and if we could land
it in England it would fetch a large sum. We might snare a live gorilla,
and there is not a gorilla in the zoological gardens of Europe."
"A gorilla!" said Venning, thinking of a picture he had seen of an erect
man-ape bending a rifle-barrel into an arch as if it were a cane.
"A gorilla!" said Compton. "I should like to find the Garden of Rest."
"You have heard his story, Mr. Venning?" said the hunter, nodding his

head at Compton.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, it was because of that story that I have taken you two into my
expedition; otherwise I should have been obliged to decline your
services on account of your youth. But the story interested me, and I
will do my best to help Compton in his search."
"Thank you," said Compton, quietly.
"The Garden of Rest!" mused the hunter. "That, I take it, would be an
Arabian phrase; for such a term would not occur to a native, who is too
often idle to attach much value to a state of rest. It sounds peaceful; but
I have it in my mind that if we ever reach the place, it will be only after
much hard work, much suffering, and danger. You understand that this
is no pleasure excursion?"
"We do, sir," said Compton; "yet we expect to get much