San Ramon Valley High School - Kernel Yearbook (Danville, CA)

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57 W upon herself to question Stipog a long tongue weary- ing and unsuccessful process. A One evening, several months later, we were abrupt ly aroused by the muffled beat of the tom-tom and the piercing wails of human voices in the distance. It was Alice who again enlightened me. Stipo had made her understnad in his few English words, that this was the brief interval when all of savage Africa laid aside its barbarous hunting habits to worship at the feet of its many gods. Hours seemed heaped on hours before the monotonous rhythm of their dance brought them nearer our hut. With their coming we became aware of the sickening odor of burning flesh which came in nauseating waves through the thin walls of the hut. Feeling strangely ill we sought refuge on the beaten mud and thatch square before the hut. But it was heavier there. At last as though drugged we dropped to the ground to sit huddled in an agony of nausea from which there was no escape. A Some hours later we arose to go inside. The air was clearer and the odor less noticeable. As we neared the doorway something new issued forth, causing a stinging sensation in our nostrils. The odor was entirely different, as was the giddy feeling that it produced. Something was wrong! I lit a match to discover that the whole room had been thoroughly ransacked. In one corner I stumbled over a small object, and upon a closer investigation, I identified it as an incense burner from hence - curled a smoke, the fumes of which filled the room. Quickly extinguishing it, I opened the small case on a box near by which so far had enclosed the golden box. It was gone: There was a slight draft then which caused the tiny flare of the match to waver and go out, leaving us in total blackness. I fumbled for another match, and upon lighting it touched it to the wick of the small oil lamp which was near-by. Alice screamed and pointed to- ward the opposite corner. There lay the crumpled figure of a man, the smooth, dark skin across his chest stained with blood. In horror I recognized the smooth and bronze face that had been reflected in the clock dail. Stipo had disappeared! From one of the servants that remained we

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J .VY Yi My alarm, however, was unappreciated for Hall said, WHad you noticed the bronze statue before the window over there? It is Cand he named a famous heroj a very life-like statue. It has a fear provoking trick of reflecting itself in the face of that mantel clock if the drapes blow back. Several months later with unconcern we read of Hall's death in the obituary column of the London Times. Our unconcern soon turned to be- wilderment because within a short time we were requested to be present at the reading of his will. At this reading the fact came that the deceased had been a very ill man for the past year and had known for four months that the end was very near. His physician verified this statement and delivered a lengthy discourse as to the nature of his ailment The discovery was also made that we were the heirs to the golden box. My wife was delighted with it and valued it above any of our other unique poss- essions, seeming to connect some good luck charms with our inheritance of the box. My only concern was an eternal, WWhy?H ' ' So it was five months later when we talked of touring Africa she insisted on taking it with us. She would listen to no arguments. She had made up her mind and nothing could ever change it. My wife is like that.--So the box went with us. In our attempt to get as far away from civil- ization as possible we procured a miserable native hut within the boundaries of the jungle. The neces sary articles were packed in on the backs of natives, and within a month or so, we were comfortable es- tablished, Cespecially for Africab. Our househald equipment consisted of two cots, two soap boxes, two sauce pans, a skillet, a comb, a staff of five big black natives and one golden box. From the very first we had trouble with the servants. No sooner had we unpacked and arranged our few possessions than the first staff deserted, with the exception of one, and he, too, seemed to be uneasy. He seemed more intelligent than the others and spoke a few words of English. He was a great favorite with my wife who called him Stipo. He seemed to fit unquestionably at the head of each new staff of servants. After repeated disruptions in our household by constant change of servants, Alice took it

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V ' -- Y -f ---- 1- , -1 - I.-7 -.,. ' ! I z tifi ff N learned that the golden box which we valued so highly, had been stolen from a certain African tribe and was destined to bring death to whom- ever it belonged unless returned to the tribe. We began to understand the queer antics of the natives. We shivered at the thought of that twisted mind that had nursed a school grudge to become this vengeance. He, of course, had known the shadow that hung over this rarity and on learning the doetor's prediction had searched for an enemy to inherit this death warrant. The bitter ache of his school fe1low's taunts was still raw in his heart and the one most scornful of the fellows had been I. . Two days later Stipo returned. We found him cleaning a bird he had trapped for our dinner. He made no explanations and when Alice questioned him about the incident of the murder, his stolid unintelligence was clearly a guilc. Stipofre- dicted every native disturbance, learned every scrap of jungle news within a hundred mile radius but he was strangely uninformed as to the murder of the man who came to steal the golden box. ?rize Story Dorothy White