Nancy took a piece of candy from her handbag and held it in the palm of her hand. The baboon looked at it, then turned back to the wig and began pulling the hair from it.
Nancy laid the candy on the railing and waited. Quick as a flash the baboon ran toward it, grabbed it in his mouth, and ran off without dropping the wig. The next moment he jumped toward a tree and started downward.
CHAPTER X
A Doubtful Robbery
NANCY could reach neither the baboon nor the wig. All she could do was try some strategy.
“Nice boy!” she called to him in a soft voice. “I shan’t hurt you. Come on over here.”
The animal eyed her without flinching and did not move. Then, as if trying to tease her, he reached up and hung the wig on a high branch of the tree.
At that moment a waiter came up the stairs carrying a tray of pineapple slices, cookies, and teacups. He was followed by a man with the tea service. Behind him walked the White Hunter with his rifle. He stationed himself at the far end of the roof, while the waiters set the food down on a long table.
“Tea, miss?” one of the waiters asked Nancy.
“Not now, thank you,” she replied, “but is it against the rule to feed the baboons?”
“Oh no.”
“Then may I have a couple of cookies for my friend up there in the tree?”
A waiter handed some to her and she walked over to the railing. Nancy called to the baboon, “Cookies in exchange for the wig!”
The animal did not comply. He jumped to the railing and put out a hand for a cookie.
“First go get that wig,” she said, holding back.
The baboon had other ideas. With a quick swoop of his arm, he took the cookie out of her hand and jumped back to the tree.
Guests began to troop up the stairway. Bess and George appeared first, then the three boys.
“Where’s the wig?” Bess asked.
Nancy pointed and said, “I have half a mind to jump over to that branch myself and get it.”
The boys said that if anyone was going to get the wig, one of them would. Again the baboon outwitted them. Grabbing the hair piece in his hand, he scooted down the tree and out of sight.
George spoke up. “Who’d want to wear that now anyway?” she asked. “It’s ruined and probably full of fleas!”
The others nodded but Bess said sympathetically, “I feel sorry for Gwen. That wig meant a lot to her.”
“Too much,” said George crisply.
“Someone will have to tell her,” Nancy remarked. “As soon as I have a piece of this delicious-looking pineapple, I’ll go do it.”
“Please let me,” Bess begged. “I have an idea what to say to her.”
As soon as Bess had eaten, she excused herself and hurried off. She found Gwen in her room. It was evident she had been crying. Bess went up and put an arm about the distressed girl.
“Gwen, don’t let an old baboon get you down. You know something?”
“What?” Gwen asked.
“It’s foolish of you to let a hair piece spoil your whole safari. Gwen, you have beautiful dark hair and just between you and me it’s a lot more becoming to the color of your eyes and skin than blond hair is. Tell you what! Let me shampoo and set your hair. I’ll bet you’ll love it—and Hal too.”
Gwen looked at Bess for several seconds before she said, “I’ve been so horrible on this trip I don’t see how anybody would want to bother with me.”
Bess hugged her. “Don’t be a silly, Gwen. You just be yourself and everybody will love you.”
“You mean it?”
“Sure. I’ll go for some shampoo I brought and we’ll get to work.”
Gwen smiled at her new-found friend. “Okay,” she agreed. “You’re a darling, Bess.”
Up on the roof, Ned suddenly called out, “Here come the rhinos!”
“I can’t say they’re beautiful,” George remarked.
Nancy laughed. “Unless you make yourself believe that everything in the world is beautiful.”
The two-tusked, beady-eyed animals sauntered in and at once took charge. The White Hunter walked over and told the group that next to the lion, the rhinos are the most feared animal in the jungle.
“They’re very powerful and mean,” he said. “They’ve been known to turn over a bus!”
Nancy noticed that the rhinos seemed to stay in a family group. As they approached the water hole, all the warthogs, gazelles, wild pigs, and water buffalo left.
Presently Nancy detected a disturbance among the rhinos. A husband and wife seemed to be having an argument. Mama Rhino began to hiss and snort at him. He put up no resistance. Instead, he turned and walked toward the inn. There he began to cry piteously.
George chuckled. “The big sissy!”
Nancy grinned. “That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. A great big fat dangerous rhino crying like a baby!”
Papa remained in the spot until Mama came for him. She chucked him in the neck with the longer of her two tusks. As if he had had sufficient punishment, she led the way back to the water hole. He followed meekly.
Hal Harper came to join the group. “Have any of you seen Gwen?” he asked. “She’s been gone for ages.”
Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “She’ll be here presently. Bess has her in tow.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.”
Suddenly a pleasant voice behind them said, “Hello, everybody! Here’s a new Gwen! Done over by a big baboon and a girl named Bess Mar vin.”
The others turned and looked in astonishment. The old Gwen Taylor was gone. Here stood a beautiful, smiling girl with dark wavy hair becom ingly arranged in a modern hairdo.
“Gwen!” Hal cried out and dashed forward. “You’re absolutely stunning!” He gave her an affectionate hug. Gwen blushed, and as other compliments came her way, looked happily at the group.
George more than anyone else was taken aback by the transformation. She whispered to Nancy, “Gwen’s positively ravishing.”
Supper was announced and everyone went into the attractive rustic dining room with its long tables. In the center of each was a deep groove into which trays of food could be inserted and passed along. The Emerson boys and their friends became a bit noisy and Mr. Zucker was forced to ask for silence.
“We’re hoping that elephants will come to the water hole tonight,” he said. “But if you make too much noise, they may jolly well be discouraged.”
The young people ate the delicious roast beef meal almost in silence.
After supper Nancy talked with Mrs. Zucker, the wife of the White Hunter. She in turn introduced the girl to two men guests.
“Miss Drew, I should like you to meet Messrs. Ramon and Sharma. They come from Mombasa. Miss Drew is from the States.”
“Charmed to meet you,” Ramon said, and Sharma added, “I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”
Both men wore English-type sports clothes, but Ramon had a large, beautiful ruby ring on the first finger of his right hand.
He caught Nancy looking at it admiringly and said, “We Indians like precious stones. This ring has been in my family for many generations.”
“It is handsome,” said Nancy.
Sharma spoke up. “If you admire fine, precious gems, you ought to see the fabulous spider sapphire. But unfortunately it has disappeared.”
“I’ve heard about it,” Nancy replied. “I understand it was stolen.”
The two Indians exchanged glances, then Ramon said, “Perhaps, but I doubt it.”
Nancy asked what made him think this.
Ramon smiled and said, “Oh, just personal reasons. But, Miss Drew, please do not put any credence in my-what you Americans call hunch.”
She merely smiled. It was an amazing coincidence that she herself had had the same hunch, but she did not mention this to the Indian.
The conversation ended when the White Hunter came to announce that elephants were arriving at the water hole. All the guests h
urried to the porches. The large lumbering beasts appeared from the woods and lined up in front of Treetops.
“Why don’t they go to the water hole?” Nancy whispered to Mr. Zucker, who was standing next to her.
“They are afraid of the rhinos. They will stand here and wait patiently until the other animals go away.”
The interested watchers seated on the porch chairs did not mind the wait. It gave them a chance to take flashlight pictures of the great animals.
After a while George became restless. She got up and began pacing back and forth behind the chairs. As George reached the far end of the porch, she became fascinated by a dark shape climbing up the side of the building.
“It looks like a baboon,” George said to herself. “But they’re not usually out at night.”
She went near the railing and watched, fascinated. Yes, it was a huge baboon. Perhaps she should return to her chair.
Before George could back away, the beast grabbed her and pulled her onto the railing! George was in a panic. Did he intend to drop her to the ground? She could be seriously injured—perhaps killed!
George struggled to free herself, but the baboon’s grip was like iron. Was this the same animal which had taken the wig? Was he just being playful?
George decided not. She tried to cry out for help but a great paw was clamped over her mouth.
The helpless girl was swung from the railing and quickly taken to the ground. The baboon ran off with her toward the woods!
CHAPTER XI
Jungle Clue
“WHERE’S George?” asked Burt, walking up to Nancy and Ned. He had gone inside the inn to get more film.
“Why, I don’t know,” Nancy replied, looking along the dark porch. “Last I noticed she was walking up and down.”
The group continued to watch the elephants. The rhinos had left and now the big beasts went to the water hole to suck up the saline water through their trunks.
“Aren’t their babies cute?” said Bess, shooting a flash-bulb picture of two who had waded into the hole with their mother and were spraying water over their backs,
Presently Nancy became uneasy over George, Quietly she left her chair and searched throughout the inn for her friend. George was not in sight.
“Is it possible she disobeyed the White Hunter’s orders, went down the steps, and onto the ground?” Nancy thought worriedly, She came back and mentioned it to her friends.
Bess spoke up in defense of her cousin. “George wouldn’t do such a foolish thing,” she said.
Her friends agreed but wondered why she had disappeared. Nancy decided they had better tell the White Hunter. They found him talking to his wife.
“This is serious,” he said. “I will go downstairs and take a look.” Swinging his rifle over a shoulder, he hurried off.
Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he met George coming up. The White Hunter said sternly:
“It is the rule here that no one leave these premises.”
“Please, Mr. Zucker,” George pleaded, “I didn’t go of my own will. Let me tell my story.”
She went into the lounge, and when everyone was seated, related how the baboon had carried her over the railing and down to the ground. “Then he ran off with me.”
Bess gave a cry of dismay. “That’s horrible! How did you get away?”
George said that when they were a little distance from Treetops, suddenly the baboon had begun to talk.
“I couldn’t understand him, but I knew then that he was a man in disguise and not a baboon.”
Burt’s face was livid. He declared that he was going out and “find that human beast and give him what he deserves.”
Mr. Zucker put a stop to this idea at once. “It would be extremely dangerous,” he said. “The jungle is alive at night with preying animals. You might easily be a victim.”
George looked at Burt. “Thanks a lot. But since I’m safe, let’s call it quits.”
“Tell us how you got loose,” Nancy begged.
George said that as soon as she realized the baboon was a man in disguise, an idea came to her. If the headpiece were twisted, he would not be able to see.
“So I gave it a sudden yank sideways. He was so surprised, he let go of me. I ran back here as fast as I could.”
“Thank goodness you are safe,” Mrs. Zucker said. “George, can you remember any of the words the man said to you?”
“I don’t think he was talking to me,” George replied. “He seemed to be muttering to himself.” She thought a moment, then repeated a few of the words she could remember.
“That’s Swahili,” Mrs. Zucker said. “‘Glw a heri’ means good-by.”
The White Hunter said to his wife, “Do you remember that man from Mombasa who was a combination strong man and acrobat in the traveling circus?”
Mrs. Zucker nodded. “You mean the one they called Swahili Joe?”
Nancy and her friends were startled when they heard the name. If the man in baboon disguise had been Swahili Joe, then he had followed the young people to Treetops and intended to harm them.
“Tell us more about him,” Nancy requested.
Mr. Zucker said that Swahili Joe had been a fine person and an excellent performer. “Unfortunately he had a bad fall and it was reported he was not well coordinated after that and had to leave the circus.”
Nancy thought, “Then he’d take orders from Jahan and Dhan, not realizing what harm he’s doing.”
“I wish I had seen this baboon fellow,” said Ned. “He and I would have recognized each other.”
Professor and Mrs. Stanley had heard rumors of George’s absence and now came to learn more about it. They were thunderstruck and alarmed by the story.
“I had no idea,” said Aunt Millie, “that this trip would involve any of you in so much danger.”
“I know it’s all my fault,” Nancy spoke up. “I’m dreadfully sorry.”
George came to Nancy’s defense. “You had nothing to do with that baboon man coming here and carting me off.”
Nancy was unconvinced. She had felt for some time that to hunt for her enemies would not be necessary because they would come after her.
“Maybe I should take the initiative,” she thought, but did not express this idea aloud for fear of alarming the others.
Bess could see that Nancy was upset. To dispel the tenseness of the situation, she said, “O to be an elephant, with no worries!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Professor Stanley told her. “Did you ever hear what happens to the ex-leaders of herds?”
Bess shook her head. The professor went on, “When a bull elephant becomes old, and a young buck wants to become the leader, he fights his way to the top and forces the old fellow out. No one in the herd dares come to his defense. It seems to be the law and nobody breaks it.”
“What happens to the poor old elephant that’s out of a job?” Bess asked.
Professor Stanley said that he had to become a lone wanderer. “They often grieve so much that they don’t eat and starve to death.”
“Oh!” Bess exclaimed. “That whole system is very cruel.”
“Nature,” said the professor, “often does seem cruel. But we must remember the natural laws which bring about a balance of life on this earth. If there weren’t such a thing, the whole world would be in chaos.”
He stopped speaking as a horrible, screaming laugh from somewhere in the jungle reached their ears.
“What’s that?” Bess queried.
“A hyena,” the White Hunter replied.
He and his wife looked at each other. Nancy was sure they were wondering how Swahili Joe had fared. Had some wild beast got the man’s scent and come for him?
Although Nancy disliked Swahili Joe intensely, the thought of such a horrible death for him made her shiver. Then, thinking of what he had been guilty of, she began to reflect who was more cruel and cunning—the wild animals or man?
Ned interrupted her train of thought and said, “Let’s
go watch the elephants some more. I want to take a few more pictures.”
They returned to the porch and watched. It seemed to the young people as if the elephants would never get enough water to drink. They moved around very little and only once in a while did they trumpet. This happened when one of them was annoyed by another elephant.
Although Nancy enjoyed the mystical scene in front of her, lighted only by the dim yellow glow of subdued searchlights, her mind kept reverting to the spider sapphire mystery. Here she was in the middle of the jungle and yet the mystery had pursued her on two occasions. First she had been told by one of the Indian guests that he believed there was a fraud in connection with the reported theft of the gem. Then the man believed to be Swahili Joe had suddenly appeared.
“It’s all very weird,” she thought.
The following morning Nancy and the rest of the Emerson group were up early. At breakfast they recounted the various activities of the animals which they had seen. Nancy hardly took part in the conversation. Her mind was still on the mystery. Now she was going back to Nairobi to hear the strange story of Tizam’s disappearance.
That afternoon Nancy and her friends went to have tea with Mrs. Munger. Their hostess proved to be a charming woman who was very well informed on the subjects of African history and jun gle lore.
After tea had been served, she began her story. The guide Tizam had been an unusually intelligent and helpful one. Her safari had reached a rest camp and Tizam had gone off by himself.
“Unfortunately he never returned,” Mrs. Mun ger said. “We felt very sad about it. After we waited a couple of days for him, we interviewed some other guides and then moved on with one of them, named Butubu.”
The new guide had told of seeing a native defending himself against a lioness. From a description of him, she was sure he was Tizam.
Butubu had screamed and beat on trees to distract the beast’s attention. This had given him a chance to throw his spear and kill the lioness.
“Butubu himself was nearly set upon by another lioness, so he ran off to safety. Later he and his friends returned to the spot. The man was not there and they found no trace of him. Apparently he had not been killed because there was no evidence of this.”
The Spider Sapphire Mystery Page 6