"Hold on." "You've got yours." "What are they doing?" "They're trying to lift him up and carry him off." "Gallant fools." "I missed mine." "You wounded yours. lt took off." "We'll go after it later." "We have to get rid of these others." "Look out." "You stay here." "Come on." "I'll bet the big fellow of mine breaks a record." "What do you think, Quatermain?" "Well, they're all right." "You don't seem to have much zest for hunting." "My job's to find you the game and let you do the shooting." "Don't tell me your respect for animals has turned into sentiment." "There are times that I prefer them to humans." "Very sorry Qually died." "Bad hunters?" "No worse than usual." "It's bad luck, that's all." "Speak to his wife." "I'll see her in the morning." "Hello, Lulu." "How's my girl, huh?" "Hello, Allan." "Oh, hello, Eric." "Come on, sit down." "Bad trip?" "No. I was paid." "I hear you lost Qually." "He was a good man." "Yes, the best. I'll miss him." "He was with me eight years." "Want to take on another party?" "Had an inquiry today." "No, not this time, Eric." "These people seem pretty decent." "And willing to pay almost anything." "No, not anymore." "I've had enough. I think I'm through." "Perhaps I'll do this house up and send for my son." "Bring the boy out here?" "It's no life for a child." "How old is he now?" "He's almost 7." "I can understand your wanting to see him, but isn't he better off where he is?" "English schools, all that." "Perhaps I'll go back to England." "l've thought of that too." "What would you do there?" "Become a shopkeeper?" "This is a mood, Allan." "I've seen it growing on you the past few months." "You've been alone too much." "England's no place for you." "You've built a career here." "Don't toss it away." "The happiest, finest fate a man can have in this world is to be the best at something." "You may not realize it, but your reputation's spread to England." "Have another drink." "l mean it." "Today, that pair who were looking for a guide, they knew your name." "Ever meet a man called Curtis?" "Henry Curtis?" "No." "Curtis." "Yes." "A fellow about 1 8 months ago." "An Englishman." "Tried to get me to go into unexplored country." "Had some crazy notion about a lost diamond mine." "That's him." "Yeah, well l turned him down." "It sounded like romantic foolishness." "He wants to go hunting now?" "No." "l got a letter from him months ago" "No." "No, it was asking about him." "lt didn't make any sense." "lt was his wife, Mrs. Curtis..." "...who tried to engage you today." "A woman?" "A woman on safari?" "No, thank you." "She seemed very" "Any woman who wants to traipse through jungle must have something the matter with her." "Besides, I really am fed up." "I'll tell her so." "If you're serious about England, stop in at the office." "Perhaps I can be of service." "Get some sleep." "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't" "Come in, Allan." "l dropped by to talk." "John Good, Allan Quatermain." "Hello." "How do you do?" "Mr. Good insisted on waiting." "I said it was useless." "I refuse to give up." "I've come from England." "I thought you could give me information, at least." "I see. I thought you said it was a woman." "There are two of us." "My sister and I." "Two years ago, her husband, Henry Curtis, left England." "His last letter came from here." "He was headed west into unknown territory." "We never heard from him again." "We wanna find him." "I can't give you any information other than he asked me to go with him, and I declined." "He was tracking down some queer legend about a diamond mine far into the interior." "Such stories are constantly cropping up in Africa." "No, Curtis' project was too thick for me." "I advised against it." "Why?" "Nobody's ever been in that region before..." "...and lived to tell about it." "You mean returned to tell about it." "As far as anyone can say, he may still be alive." "Well, perhaps as a captive, but the chances are very slim." "My sister feels as long as there's a chance, she must pursue it." "She's had a bad time lately." "Can't sleep nights." "Wakes up screaming." "Dreams about him wandering in the jungle." "Surely you must have made other inquiries." "I was able to establish that he headed north and west toward the Kaluana country." "The Kaluana country." "Well, there you have it." "How would you proceed?" "The Kaluana country lies there." "You'd have difficulty getting that far." "Then where would you go?" "Thousands of miles where no white man has been." "Even natives are afraid." "ln which direction would you begin?" "We have a map." "A map?" "Henry's last letter was addressed to me." "He enclosed a copy of the map he intended to follow." "There are no maps." "There isn't a village or a river recorded beyond the Kaluana region." "This sort of thing is peddled to greenhorns from Timbuktu to Johannesburg." "You may be right." "Henry said he bought the map to King Solomon's Mines from an Arab trader who claimed it was 400 years old." "Kaluana Village, desert, water, White Twins King Solomon's Mines." "The Flying Dutchman." "Captain Kidd's treasure." "All right." "Perhaps there is no diamond mine." "But this tells us where to look for Henry because he followed it." "So will we." "With your help." "This safari is not child's play, Mr. Good, especially with a" "Well, shall we say an overwrought woman?" "Elizabeth knows that." "So do I." "You have absolutely no idea of the dangers." "Neither have I." "But I can guess." "Allan knows the country..." "...better than anyone else, you see." "But that's exactly why we want him." "That, and because I can see you'd be fair and honest with us." "Well, thank you, but...." "I'm sorry I can't undertake it." "My advice is to take your sister back to England and both of you pray that eventually her husband turns up." "It's nice to have met you." "Bye, Eric." "Bye, Allan." "Sorry I couldn't have been more help to you." "Mrs. Curtis, I believe." "Won't you come in?" "Oh, excuse me." "Now, this is Lulu." "Lulu, this is Mrs. Curtis." "Oh, she's enchanting." "She's a charmer." "She knows it." "And she makes use of it." "Lulu and I enjoy having visitors, but I ought to warn you..." "...you've come on a hopeless errand." "My brother told me your reasons." "There's one argument he neglected to use." "Oh, what was that?" "Money." "That's a very good argument." "I'm willing to pay anything." "Beyond reason, of course." "Why are you so determined?" "I understand planning before you knew its dangers, but your brother must've told you." "Are you sure you aren't exaggerating the dangers?" "With proper equipment and your services, we should manage." "l'm not afraid." "Your courage does you no credit." "It's the result of ignorance." "What is your usual fee for a safari, Mr. Quatermain?" "Two hundred pounds and all expenses." "I wouldn't undertake this one for 500." "Would you for 5000?" "That's a great deal of money." "l mean it." "More than I could save in a lifetime." "Would you pay, win or lose?" "Of course." "Even if you back out..." "...before we've gone a tenth of the way?" "Yes." "You expect me to back out, don't you?" "Frankly, yes." "I'll pay the 5000 in advance and a bonus of 500 at the end, whether I back out or not." "You're weakening, aren't you?" "You half-decided to go." "Oh, I've fully decided to go." "And my reasons are entirely mercenary." "Nobody's been in the region beyond the Kaluanas before but I'm willing to try for cold, hard cash." "Apparently you're not certain after all that we'd never return." "l'm just as certain as ever." "And yet you'd go?" "Mrs. Curtis, the average life of a man in my profession is approximately eight years." "Now, I've been at it for 1 5." "So you see I'm living on borrowed time." "My wife died here six years ago." "Sooner or later, an animal or an unfriendly native or a tropical disease will get me." "I have a son in England but there'll be very little money for him if anything should happen to me." "The money you're offering would provide for him until he can take care of himself." "l see." "So I'll take on your safari." "But before we leave, I'd like to send the 5000 to London." "You can pay me the bonus when we return." "You mean if we return." "From now on we'll say ""when.""" "What I privately think mustn't color the mood of this fine safari." "It isn't just the danger of the undertaking that's making you so antagonistic." "There's something else." "What is it, Mr. Quatermain?" "I don't understand your motives." "You mean you don't believe them." "Well, frankly, I don't." "Why?" "Well, it's wiser if we don't discuss this." "Why?" "Well, because on a safari, it's better to travel with people one likes." "You better tell me now and give me time to recover." "What about my motives?" "Very well." "Since your husband's body was never found you can't inherit his money until you prove that he's dead." "That could be the reason for this visit." "One of the reasons my husband went looking for that mine was the possibly foolish hope of finding a fortune of his own." "You see, I hold all the wealth there is in the family." "Well, then I still don't understand." "What?" "That I'd be willing to risk my life for my husband?" "That you're proposing to throw it away." "It's not normal. lt smells of sickness." "I happen to love my husband." "Perhaps that's an emotion..." "...you are incapable of understanding." "Perhaps." "Perhaps you've never known a woman in love." "Perhaps." "But I have known people who make elaborate sacrifices for reasons they don't understand." "Sometimes it's to expiate guilt." "Sometimes, it's-- lf l were you, I'd examine my own motives." "A man who doesn't care whether he lives or dies is not exactly a wholesome specimen." "I'm risking my life for a man I love." "You're doing it for money." "Mrs." "No, no, no, not your son." "There are things you can do for him other than toss your life away." "What's your sickness, Mr. Quatermain?" "Nothing to live for?" "I'll meet you in Eric Masters' office in the morning." "I haven't thanked you for taking on this safari." "What made you change your mind?" "I didn't know Elizabeth was that persuasive." "There's something very persuasive about 5000 pounds." "She's quite a nice girl, really." "Of course, she has ideas of her own about certain things." "Those clothes, for example." "I gather from the way you looked at them, you don't approve." "l don't." "Why didn't you tell her so?" "No need." "She'll find out." "What's wrong?" "Mrs." "Curtis is sick." "What's the matter?" "l think I'd like to walk for a while." "You all right, Beth?" "This old wagon. it's not very comfortable. lt rocks." "She's seasick." "l'm perfectly all right." "Let's go on." "Now, just a moment." "What are you doing?" "Out here, perspiration needs to be given time to evaporate, or you won't last two hours and you're sealed up like a tin of pears." "Khiva, get that box!" "This may be the costume for shooting pheasant in Sussex but it won't do here." "Go behind the bushes change." "Take off those corsets." "lmpertinent, wretched man." "To think I would just" " Terrible." "Unbearable behavior." "Really." "That's a very becoming outfit, Beth." "l hate it!" "If you'll keep absolutely still...." "Don't shoot." "Stand still." "That was a close call." "Not really." "They're not dangerous unless hungry." "How do you know when they're hungry?" "Well, if they eat you, they're hungry." "Seriously, how did you know?" "Look." "Why didn't you shoot?" "Why, you want a trophy?" "lt might have killed us." "Well, if it had tried, I'd have shot it." "Otherwise, there's not much point." "I didn't tell you to run!" "A man's heart can stand still, so can you." "How far have we gone?" "Well, we started here." "Now we're somewhere about here." "That took us seven days?" "We have to head for the Kaluana Village there." "Curtis' map starts where the large map ends, at the village." "That in itself is a long trip." "We know where the Kaluana tribe is but little else except that they're said to be dangerous." "You've never been among them?" "l'm not an explorer." "In fact, to my knowledge, no white man has been near the Kaluanas for five years." "They're feared as much by natives as they are by whites." "We'll have trouble getting our boys that far." "We can't be sure that Henry got that far." "No." "We'll inquire of other tribes, of course, but we've got to go to the Kaluana." "It is the only place we know Curtis was trying to reach." "How long will it take?" "Weeks." "Months, perhaps." "I don't know. I've never taken a woman on safari with me before." "Have I been a handicap?" "Why, no, Mrs. Curtis, but the fun hasn't started yet." "When it does, I'm sure we'll all enjoy it." "What do they sing about?" "Oh, all sorts of things." "About their work." "The money they're gonna earn on this job." "About wives and sweethearts, everything they're gonna do when they get home." "What are they singing about now?" "Now they're singing about Mrs. Curtis." "They call her:" "That means ""the lady with the flaming hair.""" "What else?" "They say you're very fortunate because Bwana Allani will protect you from lions, leopards, elephants, all the terrors of the jungle." "What are they saying now?" "Well, they say that I'm very fortunate too." "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it." "It was one of those-- lt was a dream again." "I'm sorry, truly I am." "Where are they going?" "They're going back." "I wondered how we were gonna get over that." "From now on, we do without luxuries." "Oh, by the way, did you hear anything last night?" "I thought I heard a scream." "A human scream, as a matter of fact." "I didn't hear anything." "You must have been dreaming." "Come on, let's get going." "Beth." "You sure you don't wanna go with them?" "Lovely, isn't it?" "It has a sort of majesty." "A feeling of forever." "Forever's quite correct." "Looks completely peaceful." "lt isn't." "It's been tearing its own thread for a million years." "In this one small area here, there are 1 000 creatures living, killing, being killed, eating, being eaten." "There's not an inch that doesn't have war if you look for it." "Look." "And look there." "l don't see anything." "Now, wait a minute. lt will move." "That's a mamba." "One nip from that, and you stay here." "Much of the forest lives up there." "The vines keep reaching to the sun." "They make that layer thicker until they shut out the sun so completely nothing green will ever grow down here." "Look." "There's a sight." "Oh, look!" "Yeah, a scavenger." "Everybody knows about vultures, but there are others in the forest that keep it clean." "Hey, careful!" "Safari ants." "They attack in thousands." "Give them half the chance, they'll eat you too." "Anteater." "Eating and being eaten." "There isn't a creature in the forest that isn't hunted." "Except the elephant." "They're afraid of him." "He's king." "The elephant, not the lion?" "No, not the lion." "Not in Africa." "Not brave or clever enough." "Elephant's the king." "And man?" "Just meat like everything else." "No souls in the jungle, little justice and no ethics." "In the end, you accept it all." "You watch things hunting and being hunted." "Reproducing, killing and dying." "It's all endless and pointless." "Except, in the end, one small pattern emerges from it all." "The only certainty." "One is born, lives for a time and dies." "That's all." "All the rest is yeey saba." "What's that?" "Yeey saba?" "Oh, it's a game the natives play." "It doesn't make sense. lt's quite pointless." "A chases B, B chases C, C chases A." "Then they go the other way and make a fuss trying to get things from each other." "Bits of nothing." "Twigs and leaves." "It's quite senseless." "Except that the fellow here has satisfied his desire to be over there everybody's had fun running after something everybody's grabbed a handful of stuff they wanted because everybody else wanted them." "And, well, it's endless." "It's quite pointless." "It's a silly game, yeey saba." "I'm sorry." "Sorry?" "You are sick of life, aren't you." "What are you talking about, Elizabeth?" "Motives." "You're being confoundedly enigmatic." "No, she's not." "She's making very good sense." "Look." "Meat for the Zavonbardes." "l saw a face in the bushes, watching us." "That's right." "Look, there's another." "What do they want?" "Are they surrounding us?" "No." "Why don't they say something?" "Nothing to say." "They know who I am." "They're just checking." "Did you see those fellows?" "They're acquaintances of Mr. Quatermain's with nothing to say." "Just checking." "Where are they?" "What happened to them?" "Get the meat and the salt." "l have the feeling they're about somewhere." "They're about, all right." "Go ahead." "I thought it was always beads." "A bag of salt is worth 1 00 times its weight in beads." "They're not stupid, you know." "What happens next?" "l'll bargain with them for use of their boats." "The Zavonbarde River lies beyond." "We've got to cross it." "How can you bargain with people you can't see?" "I can see them." "Khiva..." "...how long will this take?" "Not long." "Maybe two hours, six hours." "Not know." "Do they seem friendly to you?" "I've got the oddest feeling we'll get cooked in that pot." "They don't seem to be getting on." "Khiva, what are they saying?" "Seven boat go over river." "ls that all?" "Yes." "Only got seven boats." "He says he's seen dozens of hunters in the last two years but he claims to remember Henry Curtis." "He had an odd bearer with him." "A chap with one eye and a scar on his cheek. I hope so." "Why?" "Because I know that fellow." "A first-class bearer, tough, knows the country." "Curtis was in good hands." "l wonder what that is?" "l don't care. I'm famished." "Better get her out of the sun if we're gonna stop here." "We're not going to stop." "Beth?" "Yes, Jack?" "Beth, I've been thinking." "What would you say if--?" "One thing that bothers me more than anything is centipedes." "I've counted 40 varieties." "Have you noticed the one that leaves a slimy trail?" "It's that long." "I'll have one stuffed and mounted." "A far more interesting trophy than lions and panthers." "I've seen them." "I'll take a panther any day." "Or Allan Quatermain." "He's not a bad sort, Beth." "What's wrong between you two?" "Something seem wrong?" "You keep watching each other." "Each of you seems to be hoping the other will fall on his face." "Beth, I've made a decision." "I think we should turn back." "I've talked with Quatermain." "He's willing if you are." "Quatermain would like nothing better than to see me give up." "He took us through that swamp intentionally." "That's not true." "He had asked me if you were up to it." "You're being unfair." "We made a poor choice selecting a guide." "His heart's not in it." "I wonder." "I've lost all my hairpins, and my hair seems to be a trap for every fly, every mosquito, every ant in the forest and they" "And they bite." "Why don't you try pigtails?" "I remember when you wore them, and attractive they were." "I'm a grown woman, Jack." "Sometimes, I wonder about that too." "I think you owe that man an apology." "And some gesture of friendliness." "What happened?" "There was a large animal!" "Where, in here?" "No, there." "Outside!" "What is it?" "Nothing." "She's been dreaming again." "It was not a dream." "The animal tried to get into my tent." "I said not to shoot unless it was necessary." "Do you mean I'm lying?" "It dug its claws right through the tent." "Look at it!" "I don't think you hit it." "The bullet holes are too high." "Oh, so there was an animal." "You turn in. I'll keep watch." "Next time, call me." "I did call you." "You go to bed!" "Good night, Beth." "Oh, he's a dreadful man." "Quick, get behind there." "What is it?" "Go on!" "Never mind." "Get behind there!" "What are they running for?" "Bush fire." "They're stampeding." "Look." "That's what started it." "All right, good." "Keep on firing." "Scatter them." "Hey, come back!" "What a waste of time, and equipment and lives." "This ridiculous safari." "I hope the lady enjoyed it." "Wait here." "Come on." "Calecapesa." "Calecapesa?" "He apparently said the Kaluanas are that way." "Far that way." "What does ""calecapesa"" mean?" "It means unpleasant." "Come on." "Who cut your hair?" "What?" "What happened to your hair?" "Oh, I cut it." "What?" "I cut it." "Oh, good idea." "What?" "Good idea." "Lunch is ready." "Lunch." "Oh, look." "There's our lunch." "is it an ostrich egg?" "Well, not exactly." "Look." "Watch. it's hatching." "See?" "It's a crocodile." "What a strange-looking man." "Who the devil is that?" "I don't know." "He wants to talk." "He's must be 7 feet tall." "That face and hair...." "l've never seen a native like that." "Nor have I, in all my years here." "What's he saying?" "He wants to join our safari and will act as bearer..." "...if we take him along." "How'd he get here alone?" "I don't know." "He needs our guns to get through the dark country." "Why would he want to go into the dark country?" "l don't like him." "Why?" "His form of dress." "He's too elegant by half." "He says he didn't ask us our reasons." "You've grown accustomed to subservience." "I like him." "Gonna turn him down?" "No." "I'd rather have him with us than tracking us." "Are you sure he said he wanted to go to the dark region?" "Maybe he meant he was willing." "He said he wanted to go." "I don't know why." "What was all that about?" "Oh, it was nothing." "I've given you Umbopa as your gun bearer." "You look after the rear and keep your eye out for deserters." "Right." "Will I go with you?" "You're coming with me." "Why were they so frightened?" "They claim that that's a Kaluana rattle." "They decided it's time to go home." "What about you?" "They're singing as usual." "They don't seem to be frightened." "They're singing to keep their spirits up." "They're scared to death." "Four of them left already." "Cleared off without pay." "Took some of our supplies." "It doesn't matter." "With fewer boys, we couldn't carry it all anyway." "I'd like to know what's on that fellow's mind." "He often stands alone, brooding like that." "He never joins the others." "They like him, and he likes them." "Have you found out any more?" "Where's he from?" "He's from the Karabda Village, miles from where we met." "Doesn't say he was born there." "Just that he lived there until his mother died." "I've had several talks with him, but all I've found out is a vague connection between her death and his determination to visit the dark area." "He made her a promise or something of the sort." "Have you ever noticed the shape of his eyes?" "Strange, aren't they?" "The only other place I saw eyes like that was in a museum." "He's like the ghost of an ancient Egyptian king." "What's up?" "Check the supplies." "See what they've taken." "Check the ammunition." "Well, the boys have gone, cleared off." "All except Umbopa and Khiva." "We can take only the medicine, rifle and ammunition and the bare essentials." "The rest must stay here." "We have a decision to make." "Shall we go on?" "I don't know." "What do you think?" "l'm being paid. I haven't finished my job." "That's scarcely the right answer." "It's no time for an outburst." "We must weigh our chances." "From here, travel conditions are the same..." "...if we go on or return, right?" "To begin, yes." "But if we turn back now, we may pick up new bearers." "And if we go ahead?" "We may get them from the Kaluanas." "l don't know." "We're close to them now?" "Yes." "We've come all this way to get to the Kaluanas." "You said that among the Kaluanas we might get the first believable news of Henry, good or bad." "How about you?" "We haven't done so badly so far." "No one likes to give up before he's beaten." "All right." "We'll have to remake the packs, Khiva." "Take that, and that and the medicine chest." "Come on." "I pray that we're doing the right thing." "None of us want to turn back now, Beth." "Not even Allan, though he hasn't said so." "Thank you, Jack." "Did you ever dream that you were crying out that you were in dreadful trouble and crying for help?" "And people were going by, and nobody heard, and nobody cared." "That's how I think about Henry." "Alive somewhere, hoping help will come, but forsaken." "That last year, before he left for Africa I used to feel very sorry for him sometimes." "Sorry for him?" "Whatever for?" "Someday I'll tell you." "Or perhaps, someday you'll tell me." "I'd better help Allan." "Stay here." "Keep quiet." "The Kaluana Village is ahead." "Well, this is it." "She says a white man's living in the Kaluana Village." "Speak English?" "l speak English." "My name's Allan Quatermain." "This is Mrs. Curtis, and this is John Good." "This your entire party?" "Yeah, for the moment, yes." "Lost your bearers, huh?" "Come in." "Khiva." "I haven't seen a white face for five years." "You've been here five years, Mr...?" "Smith." "Yes, for five years and more." "I like it here." "What are you doing in these parts?" "Looking for trouble?" "No." "We're looking for a man called Curtis." "Henry Curtis." "He was here?" "About a year ago, with only one bearer." "A fellow with one eye and a scarred face." "Where is Curtis now?" "I haven't anything better to offer." "This is poka. lt's a vile drink." "Do you know where he is?" "Please tell us." "You don't have anything better than this, do you?" "Oh, yes. I've got a bottle of brandy outside." "Brandy!" "I haven't tasted brandy in years." "Give me the brandy." "That fellow Quatermain. I've heard of him." "He's...." "Where is Curtis?" "He stayed with me for a day and left." "Had a notion there was a desert in the northwest." "His bones are probably moldering in the jungle." "is there a desert to the northwest?" "I don't know." "Nobody ever goes that far." "Why?" "Taboo." "Legends." "About what?" "Monsters, gods, terrible animals." "Not about desert?" "No." "Not even about diamond mines." "I know." "That's what that Curtis fellow was after." "The fool." "I knew he couldn't last long in there, so I let him go." "You let Curtis go because you were sure he'd die?" "lt wasn't my business!" "That's not what you said!" "You've been here five years." "You must know these fellows well." "Are the stories of murder true?" "They're naturally warlike." "You heard any rumors about Curtis after he left?" "Nothing." "Unless you believe what One-Eye said when he came back." "Came back?" "Yes." "Alone, after about three weeks." "What did he say?" "Tell us about One-Eye." "He came back here." "Staggered back." "He was dying, lasted about four hours." "Died right here." "We buried him." "I think we buried him." "I won't guarantee that my people didn't...." "They're very short of meat here." "There's not much game in this region." "What there is, we can't get without ammunition." "What did One-Eye say before he died?" "He was out of his head." "Rambled on about burning sun and burning earth, repeatedly." "He say anything about Curtis?" "l gathered he deserted him and came back." "Have another drink." "Now you'll get us out of here." "What do you think you're doing?" "You weren't going to let us leave alive." "Your name's Van Brun." "I had your description." "He's wanted for murder in Nairobi." "He can't let anyone get away knowing his whereabouts." "He let Henry go because he was sure to die." "You're not so sure about us, are you?" "Get out." "Go away." "You're gonna get us out before those fellows outside start carrying out your orders." "l'm not sure I can control them now." "We'll soon find out." "Stay close behind me." "All right." "Go on." "Stop." "Keep up here with me." "I can't keep up. I just can't." "Khiva." "Keep him covered." "Come on, you must try." "Khiva." "Good, give me a hand here, will you?" "Let's get out of here." "is he coming?" "I told him to leave a false trail." "We're going up." "Good, get up that tree." "Keep lookout for us." "You're coming with me." "l can't." "Yes, you can." "Now, wake up." "Give me your hand." "All right, come on." "Hold on to there." "Yes." "All right." "I got you." "I got you." "All right." "Now, there's the desert." "The map was right." "Yeah." "We'll stay here until dark and go on by night." "It'll be too hot to travel by day." "There may be a mine out there." "The map had the desert. it may be right about the mine." "I'll be happier if it's right about the water hole." "That fellow's probably heard about the mines." "That would explain him." "He has a long way to go to get to them." "Then there's the problem of getting back." "We could sprout wings and fly to England." "You're awfully cheerful about it." "I don't care." "I wanna see what's out there." "The map is correct so far, and I have a feeling that when the mists clear we'll see the mountains marked on that map." "One-Eye babbled about burning earth and sun." "That means Curtis reached this desert." "If the water was where it's marked on the map, he may have reached that too." "There they are, the mountains." "The White Twins." "You see them, those two peaks?" "Now, if we head straight for them, we should see the water indicated on the map." "I'll take a bearing while I can see them." "What does a water hole look like?" "Well, it can look like an oasis, or it can look like that." "I should think it'll take us about five days to get to the mountains." "Now, two swallows, no more." "We'll rest here until the sun goes down." "Get some sleep." "lt's like English countryside." "Temperate country in the heart of Africa." "That's because of the plateau." "It must be thousands of feet higher than the jungle or the desert." "Some natives bury their dead that way." "It's Curtis' ." "Got a message on it." """Ammunition gone, heading northwest, inform Elizabeth Curtis 73 Grosvenor Square, London." "Henry Curtis.""" "He's alive." "Out there, somewhere." "You said someday you'd tell me." "You said you'd tell me." "You weren't in love with Henry, and you treated him badly." "That's why he ran off to Africa." "That's about it." "Hasn't this trip been penance enough?" "More than enough. ln more ways than you can guess, Jack." "I'm not blind." "The human heart's a strange thing." "When I started on this trip, I was very confused." "I thought my motives were so noble." "But Allan guessed the truth the first time I met him." "It was guilt." "I know it now, and I'm better for knowing it." "The nightmares are over." "But another sort of nightmare seems to be beginning." "What are we to do?" "Can't we face that when we come to it?" "All right, let's go." "Come on." "Look." "That's the first game we've seen in weeks." "Dare we invest a bullet in some fresh meat?" "l have exactly three shots left." "Let's vote on it." "l'm awfully hungry." "All right." "Don't miss." "Allan." "What are they saying?" "l don't understand it." "lt's a dialect I've never heard." "This explains Umbopa." "He's come home." "These are his people." "He says there was a white man here." "Could've been Curtis. lt's almost a certainty." "Why?" "Because they've never seen a gun before." "And Curtis had no gun." "Your magic frightened that one." "My guess is he's gone ahead to warn the others." "lt appears we've been traveling with a king." "A what?" "A king in rags, returning home to claim a kingdom stolen from him." "He says it's the mark of a king." "When a king is born, they carve that snake on him." "They belong to a tribe called the Watussi." "They offered to lead us there." "The present king's Umbopa's cousin, called Twala." "They say he's not a nice fellow." "Bad king, cruel." "King Twala won't be happy at the sight of that snake." "They do seem to be traveling with a cargo of dynamite." "It promises to be exciting." "Exciting?" "I'm sorry." "He says there's a lot of discontent." "Kafa, the other boy, and some of the others are fed up with the present king." "There's a civil war brewing." "With Umbopa returning, it may come to a head." "l've seem them before." "Where?" "On the walls of Egyptian tombs, exactly such cattle." "The old man said the Watussi came here from the north." "The north could be Egypt." "Umbopa's gone." "It's unlike him to have deserted us." "Do you suppose those two were in league with the king?" "Our reception committee." "So Blue-Stripes did announce our arrival." "You'd better shove your ammunition up the spout." "How do we behave?" "Friendly, but aloof and dignified." "They've heard about the magic of our weapons, so show your guns." "I don't know what you're talking about, but lead on." "That's either a speech of welcome, or an announcement of our imminent death." "I wasn't very successful." "They don't understand the usual dialects." "Have you seen white man?" "White man?" "Curtis?" "Wait a minute." "This is the place." "This is it." "Look on the king's forehead." "You know what that is?" "That's an uncut diamond." "The old witch doctor's wearing one too." "If we're ever gonna find Henry Curtis, this is the place." "Good shot." "We know their intentions." "They know our guns." "They don't know we only have one bullet." "Curtis." "Curtis?" "Curtis." "Curtis." "l hope that means he'll take us to Curtis." "That's a chance we'll have to take." "King Solomon's Mines." "Come on, get back!" "It's hopeless." "We'll never dig our way out of here." "The only end of this is suffocation." "Torches." "We've been in here for ages." "The torches should be dying for lack of air." "Well, there's some air coming in here somewhere." "It's here." "Hold this." "Come on, pull." "Take a deep breath, all right?" "The drums of the Watussi." "Celebrating our death." "Elizabeth, can you go on?" "The sooner we leave here, the better." "Poor Umbopa." "He was very nearly a king." "Quick." "It's Umbopa." "The insurrection has started." "These are the rebels." "We were expecting a civil war, weren't we?" "Umbopa says by the customs of his people two claimants to the throne settle it by hand-to-hand combat." "It saves war and bloodshed." "Do we go along?" "lt'll be safer with them." "Here, take this. lt's not loaded, but nobody'll know." "Come on." "This is where the fun begins." "Look out!" "It's all right now. lt's all over." "It seems we're gonna live." "Done by:" "Shady  TheKha"