‘Oh, don’t let’s think of those things now. I want your kisses. Come on—kiss me again—that’s better. Oh, Patricia. You’re just as bad as I am—and you know it.’
As Patricia and Michael lay enlaced in a big arm-chair in the darkened writing-room, Wisdon was leaning over the table in the palm court towards his two companions. ‘We’ve got to take them along in the party,’ he insisted with a drunken leer, ‘because that clever old devil made me hand over the necklace of monkey’s skulls and the knobkerrie—and they’re sticking to both like glue. But if the old boy doesn’t come back who’s ever to know about it? There’s Bushmen, leopards, fever, thirst, a hundred reasons why he should peter out—as for the girl I’ll tackle her.’
13
Armistice and Treachery
Five hours later Michael, his dark hair tumbled and his brown eyes still heavy with sleep, sat perched on the end of George’s bed. ‘Surely it is the sensible thing to do,’ he pleaded.
‘Well, if you’re so set on it,’ George replied a little reluctantly, ‘but after the way the old hypocrite lied to us about not meaning to come at all I’m anything but keen to join up with him. He’ll only try and play some dirty trick on us if we do.’
‘But look at the advantages!’ Michael stood up drawing his dressing-gown tighter round him. ‘We’ve still got to find this witch doctor, and two clues will be more useful than one, besides the larger the party the less risk there will be when we have to cross that infernal desert.’
George sat up in bed brushing back imaginary hair from his almost bald scalp with one plump hand. ‘Maybe you’re right—anyhow let’s hear what Ernie thinks about it,’ he added, as his brother came out of the bathroom which the Bennetts shared.
Michael advanced his arguments again and Ernest, fingering his prominent Adam’s apple, gave George a knowing wink.
‘I’ll lay there’s quite a different reason, that he hasn’t mentioned, in our Michael’s head—Ask him what time he got to bed last night!’
‘Oh, shut up!’ Michael grinned a little sheepishly. ‘Honestly, as the Longs have come out here after all we should be idiots not to join forces with them if Uncle Henry will consent.’
‘Two heads are better than one I always do say,’ Ernest agreed. ‘Or eight than three for that matter, though I didn’t much like the looks of those fellows that he’s taken on to do the hunting.’
Michael shrugged. ‘Yes, they’re a tough looking couple and the fellow he brought out from England doesn’t look much better, but you can hardly expect them to be anything else if they’ve been roughing it on the outskirts of civilisation most of their lives. All the same, if Uncle Henry trusts them, I don’t see why we shouldn’t, and if we do go with them we shall be saving ourselves all sorts of bother.’
‘I’m not over keen but I’ll admit its the common-sense thing to do, so as far as I’m concerned you can have a shot at fixing it if George is willing.’
This grudging assent from the two brothers was quite sufficient for Michael so, having dressed, he went downstairs and was fortunate enough to find his uncle in the dining-room alone at breakfast.
He was a little frightened of Henry’s steady unsmiling grey eyes and tight-lipped mouth but quite determined to press every argument which he could think of, to bring about an alliance between the two parties. The thought of Patricia a week’s march from civilisation with only her elderly father between her and Wisdon made the skin under his curly hair prickle. By hook or by crook he had got to arrange a sinking of the differences between Henry Long and the Bennetts so that they might all travel together.
His uncle listened to all he had to say with a non-committal expression. Then, after twenty minutes, when Michael asked him frankly how he viewed the suggestion Henry replied:
‘I refused to accompany your half-brothers in the first place for a number of reasons. To start with this is an illegal business and the fewer people that I am concerned with in such an affair the happier I shall be. Buite frankly, I hoped to get out here well ahead of you, and gather all the necessary information before you arrived. If I had reached the Valley before you it is most improbable that you would ever have known if I had succeeded or failed in actually securing and marketing any illicit diamonds.’
‘I quite understand that,’ Michael conceded, ‘but it hasn’t come off, so what is there against our joining forces now?’
‘Only personal prejudice,’ Henry said gravely. ‘I have no objection to you, my boy, but your half-brothers are such a talkative couple that by some indiscretion I fear they may give the entire game away at any moment, and it would annoy me intensely to be arrested because the Bennetts do not know when to hold their tongues.’
‘I think you’re doing them rather an injustice,’ Michael protested. ‘They know the risk as well as any of us and I’ve found them close as oysters about the reason of our visit to South Africa whenever we’ve been talking to strangers. Besides, even if what you say is correct, the more of us there are in the party the more chance of our intervening if George or Ernest are tempted at any time to be a little indiscreet.’
Henry nodded: ‘There may be something in what you say but, although I hardly like to mention it, there is a further reason why I have avoided being mixed up with them. This does not apply to Ernest and, if you were not pressing me so much I would not rake up old skeletons at all; but I happen to know that when George first started in business he was mixed up in one or two very shady transactions, and so you can understand that in a matter of this kind I would far rather not be associated with him.’
‘Have you any proof of that?’ asked Michael with a flash of spirit.
‘None.’ A dry smile lit Henry’s face for a moment. ‘You can believe it or not as you like, but I am quite satisfied in my own mind that what I have said is true.’
‘I see.’ Michael’s eyes fell to his uncle’s coffee-cup and for a moment he rubbed his short, almost snub, nose with a thoughtful forefinger. Then he lifted his head and looked Henry straight in the eyes. ‘Still, I think you’ll agree that quite a number of successful people have done some rather doubtful things at the beginning of their careers and then gone perfectly straight afterwards.’
‘That is so and I confess that I have heard nothing against George for many years now.’
‘Then why not forget it and come in with us?’ Michael pushed this small concession home. ‘We shall stand a far better chance of pulling this thing off if we all go together.’
‘Yes, there is something in that,’ Henry agreed slowly, ‘but I must talk it over with Philip—Philip Wisdon, you know, whom I brought out from England to help me—before I give you any definite answer,’
‘Splendid!’ A broad smile spread over Michael’s freckled face. ‘Could we meet later on in the morning, then?’
‘He has gone out already and I don’t think he will be back before lunch time but, if he agrees, we could all meet for a discussion this afternoon.’
‘But I thought you were leaving Johannesburg to-day?’
‘That was our arrangement, as I suppose Patricia told you, because naturally we do not wish to waste any time. If we did come to an understanding could your party be ready to leave with us?’
Michael shook his head. ‘I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible. You see George and Ernest only got the draft balancesheet of their Company by air mail yesterday, and it may be the last chance they will have to communicate with London for several weeks to come. They are devoting at least a couple of days to analysing the figures in it in order to draw up a report for their partners to present to the Shareholders at the Annual General Meeting.’
‘Well, the main question of our joining up at all has yet to be settled and I will meet you in the lounge here at 2.30 if Wisdon agrees. If not, I will leave a note for you with the hall porter.’ Henry pushed back his chair and stood up, thinking, as he did so, that he must consult Philbeach at once as to how they could best take advantage of this new situation. With t
his Michael had to be content and returned upstairs to report the result of his conversation to the Bennetts.
Afterwards, by the house telephone from his own room, he got through to Patricia and asked her if she could spend the morning with him but, to his disappointment, she told him that it was the only chance she had to get her hair done decently and even the fun of spending a couple of hours with him could not reconcile her to setting off into the wilds looking like a ghoul. In addition, she had both her father’s and her own packing to see to.
He consoled himself with the thought that if his negotiations were successful he would soon be spending, long days with her and urged her to do everything that she possibly could to get her father to agree to his proposals.
The Bennetts having settled themselves to their figures in the writing-room, he spent the morning walking round the principal streets of the city and afterwards took a taxi to the Zoo. Then, by a quarter past one, he was back at the Rand Club where he had been invited to lunch by his medical friend.
At any other time he would have been impressed by the enormous bar—said to be the largest in the world after the Long Bar in Shanghai—where at least a hundred big business and professional men were standing about drinking the famous Iceberg’ Cocktail of the Club; but his thoughts were focused upon the all-important meeting which he hoped would take place that afternoon.
By the fine double staircase he went up to the spacious panelled dining-room which, but for the blazing sunshine glimpsed between the shades over the tall windows, might well have been situated in Pall Mall. He did scant justice to an excellent lunch and, having been weighed in the famous chair and signed the book, he bolted his coffee and excused himself to his host, in order to get back to the Carlton by half-past two.
To his joy no note had been left with the hall porter for him so, collecting the Bennetts, he went at once to the palm court where he found his uncle, Patricia, Wisdon and the two strangers whom he had seen the night before, already assembled.
After a few preliminary remarks, principally between Henry and George, Philbeach’s two companions were introduced.
‘This is “Darkie” Rickhartz,’ the big man announced, waving his plump hand towards a short, swarthy, bullnecked individual whose quick grin, as he nodded towards the newcomers without troubling to stand up, displayed a row of gold-filled teeth. ‘And this is “Ginger” Plettenberg.’
Darkie might have been so named from his swarthy complexion and the short, close-cropped hair which grew square cut in a bristling fringe on his forehead, but he was obviously of pure European origin. Ginger Plettenberg, however, undoubtedly had negroid blood somewhere in his ancestry, despite his fair complexion and sandy curls. The grinning mouth, the long, loose-knit body and the shape of the skull all proclaimed it.
As they settled down, Philbeach announced cheerfully: ‘Nothing like the cup of kindness to drown any little differences we may have had, eh boys?’ Then he called loudly for a waiter, and when they had given their orders, he immediately launched into particulars of their plans.
His own party was leaving Johannesburg that afternoon for De Aar which they would reach the following evening and, changing trains at the junction, should be in Upington by the second night. Being all packed up and ready he was loath to put off their departure, and suggested that the Bennetts should abandon their business in order that they might all leave together.
George, however, would not hear of this and Ernest supported him. Both of them had spent too many years in the routine of business life to risk endangering their position in London for the sake of a couple of days’ delay even if there was the possibility of a fortune round the corner.
For the moment it looked as if they had reached an impasse but Patricia saved the conference by reminding them that when they reached Zwart Modder they still had the problem before them of finding the witch doctor to whom the necklace of monkey skulls had belonged, and that even before that a certain time would have to be occupied in Upington, by the purchase of ox wagons and other necessities for their journey.
‘Why,’ she asked, ‘should not the one party leave that afternoon as arranged and get on with the job while the other follow as soon as they are able?’
‘That’s true.’ Philbeach flickered an eyelid at Darkie Rickhartz. The suggestion fitted in exactly with the plans that he had made with Henry that morning. ‘We’ll be lucky if we’re ready to start out from Upington under a week.’
‘Sure,’ agreed Darkie with a flash of golden teeth.
With a swift smile Michael thanked Patricia for her suggestion and, on seeing the Bennetts nod, voiced his agreement on their behalf and his own.
Matters having been arranged thus, after a short discussion between George and Philbeach about the cost of oxen and necessities while the others exchanged notes of trains and timetables, the Bennetts left the group to return to their figures.
Michael remained and, when the time came to depart, accompanied the Long party to the station, where he procured flowers, books and chocolates for Patricia, but to his intense annoyance found that Philbeach had forestalled him in the purchase of all these things.
At length the train drew out of the station and, as he watched it go, Michael felt a shade of disappointment that he had not suggested accompanying them. Unlike the Bennetts he had no urgent business to detain him in Johannesburg but his medical friend had already introduced him to half a dozen people, all of whom offered, most hospitably, to entertain him in various ways during his short stay. In addition he felt that, having come out with the Bennetts it would hardly be fair to desert them at this juncture, particularly as he would be seeing Patricia again for certain now in four or five days’ time; so he reconciled himself to her departure by the thought of the jolly parties and motor trips which he had already accepted to fill the following days.
From that Friday evening right over the week-end, up to Sunday night, while the Bennett brothers laboriously concocted their Company’s annual report, Michael had little time to think of the problem which had brought him out to Africa. He was rushed from cocktail party to cocktail party where new friends, to whom he was continually introduced, pressed fresh invitations upon him. He danced at big private houses, bathed in the swimming pools of their lovely gardens, dined at one, supped at another, played golf and squash and watched the polo, and was taken to see a native war dance on Sunday morning; his five days in Johannesburg had fled all too soon.
The Bennetts, having completed their business, planned to leave Johannesburg on Monday for Upington via De Aar but, when Michael returned to his hotel from a party in the early hours of Monday morning, the night porter handed him a telegram which read:
Have found guides for hunting expedition. Informed by them better to purchase wagons and start from Postmasburg Griqualand West proceed there and will join you West End Hotel. Love Patricia.
Michael thrilled at the last words in the telegram and then turned his attention to any alteration in their plans which might be necessitated by the wire.
The night porter produced a railway map and Michael saw that Postmasburg was a small town on the extreme southern edge of the Kalahari, at the termination of a branch line running from Kimberley. It appeared to be about a hundred miles east of Upington but no railway joined the two so evidently a stretch of desert lay between. However, the journey was considerably shorter than to Upington since they would not have to go all the way round by De Aar, and if Patricia had left Upington that day it looked as if she would be in Postmasburg on Tuesday night to meet them.
Immediately Michael woke in the morning he hastened in to the Bennetts’ room to tell them of the wire, and when he informed them that the same express going south would suit their purpose as far as Kimberley they allowed their arrangements to stand—leaving Johannesburg by it shortly after breakfast.
All through the morning and the long, hot hours of the afternoon the train carried them southward once more across the barren, rocky waste of the Karroo whe
re the sky-line was only broken by the appearance of an occasional kopje. In the evening they drew into Kimberley but they already knew that there was no prospect of being able to continue their journey that day, as no train left for Postmasburg until the following afternoon. They spent a comfortable night at the hotel and listened in the morning to the sad story of the manager who reported the ever increasing depression of the town owing to the fact that the Diamond Mines had been closed down for so many months. World recovery was not sufficiently advanced, he said, to absorb anything like the quantity of diamonds already lying in the companies’ safes, without glutting the market, so there did not seem to be even a hope of reopening the mines for, perhaps, years to come.
Having ample time before their train was due to start, they walked out to see the giant crater of the principal mine which constitutes the deepest man-made hole in the world. Three thousand feet below them a line of abandoned trucks looked no larger than a string of peas, and all three felt a little excited at their first sight of the strange bluish soil from which the precious stones that held so deep an interest for them were secured. Even the two Bennetts, usually so talkative, maintained a thoughtful silence as they returned afterwards to the hotel.
Their journey in the afternoon was tedious in the extreme. For the most part the landscape was dull and naked while the same red dust which had plagued them so on the previous day, and on their way up from the Cape to Johannesburg, made them tired and irritable.
Arrived at Postmasburg they discovered the place to be a tiny dorp possessed of only one tin-roofed hotel, and, to Michael’s disappointment, the Longs had not arrived nor was there any telegram to announce their coming.
On Wednesday Michael endeavoured to restrain his impatience. He had consulted the time-tables, and, if Patricia had left Upington shortly after she sent the telegram, she certainly should have arrived at Postmasburg on the previous day. The Bennetts, with their natural interest in commerce of any description, diverted themselves by long discussions with the landlord regarding the prospects of manganese which was the principal industry of the place.
The Fabulous Valley Page 11