A young man whom he had not before noticed among the passengers came and sat down in the chair next to his. He looked over at Danny and smiled. "Good morning," he said. "Lovely weather we're having."
Danny's cold, blue eyes surveyed the stranger. "Are we?" he replied in a tone as cold as his gaze; then he resumed his previous occupation of staring out across the rail at the illimitable expanse of rolling sea.
Lafayette Smith smiled, opened a book, settled himself more comfortably in his chair and proceeded to forget all about his discourteous neighbor.
Later that day Danny saw the young man at the swimming pool and was impressed by one of the few things that Danny could really understand—proficiency in a physical sport. The young man far outshone the other passengers both in swimming and diving, and his sun bronzed body evidenced long hours in a bathing suit.
The following morning when Danny came on deck he found that the young man had preceded him. "Good morn ing," said Danny pleasantly as he dropped into his chair. "Nice morning."
The young man looked up from his book. "Is it?" he asked and let his eyes fall again to the printed page.
Danny laughed. "Right back at me, eh?" he exclaimed. "You see I thought youse was one of them high hat guys. Then I seen you in the tank. You sure can dive, buddy."
Lafayette Smith, A.M., Ph.D., Sc.D., let his book drop slowly to his lap as he turned to survey his neighbor. Presently a smile stole across his face—a good natured, friendly smile. "Thanks," he said. "You see it is because I like it so well. A fellow who's spent as much time at it as I have ever since I was a little shaver would have to be an awful dub not to be fairly proficient."
"Yeah," agreed Danny. "It's your racket, I suppose."
Lafayette Smith looked about the deck around his chair. He thought, at first, that Danny was referring to a tennis racquet, as that would be the thing that the word would connote to the mind of so ardent a tennis enthusiast as he. Then he caught the intended meaning and smiled. "I am not a professional swimmer, if that is what you mean," he said.
"Pleasure trip?" inquired Danny.
"Well, I hope it will be," replied the other, "but it is largely what might be called a business trip, too. Scientific investigation. I am a geologist."
"Yeah? I never heard of that racket before."
"It is not exactly a racket," said Smith. "There is not enough money in it to raise it to the importance and dignity of a racket."
"Oh, well, I know a lot of little rackets that pay good—especially if a fellow goes it alone and doesn't have to split with a mob. Going to England ?"
"I shall be in London a couple of days only," replied Smith.
"I thought maybe you was goin' to England ."
Lafayette Smith looked puzzled. "I am," he said.
"Oh, you're goin' there from London ?"
Was the young man trying to kid him? Very good! "Yes," he said, "if I can get permission from King George to do so I shall visit England while I am in London ."
"Say, does that guy live in England ? He's the fellow Big Bill was goin' to punch in the snout. Geeze, but there is one big bag of hot wind."
"Who, King George?"
"No, I don't know him—I mean Thompson."
"I don't know either of them," admitted Smith; "but I've heard of King George."
"You ain't never heard of Big Bill Thompson, mayor of Chicago ?"
"Oh, yes; but there are so many Thompson's—I didn't know to which one you referred."
"Do you have to get next to King George to get to England ?" demanded Danny, and something in the earnestness of his tone assured Smith that the young man had not been kidding him.
"No," he replied. "You see London is the capital of England . When you are in London you are, of course, in England ."
"Geeze!" exclaimed Danny. "I sure was all wet, wasn't I; but you see," he added confidentially, "I ain't never been out of America before."
"Are you making a protracted stay in England ?"
"A what?"
"Are you going to remain in England for some time?"
"I'll see how I like it," replied Danny.
"I think you'll like London ," Smith told him.
"I don't have to stay there," Danny confided; "I can go where I please. Where are you goin'?"
"To Africa ."
"What sort of a burgh is it? I don't think I'd like bein' bossed by a lot of savages, though a lot of 'em is regular, at that. I knew some negro cops in Chi that never looked to frame a guy."
"You wouldn't be bothered by any policeman where I'm going," Smith assured him; "there are none."
"Geezel you don't say? But get me right, mister, I ain't worried about no cops—they ain't got nothin' on me. Though I sure would like to go somewhere where I wouldn't never see none of their ugly mugs. You know, mister," he added confidentially, "I just can't like a cop."
This young man puzzled Lafayette Smith the while he amused him. Being a scholar, and having pursued scholarly ways in a quiet university town, Smith was only aware of the strange underworld of America 's great cities to such a sketchy extent as might result from a cursory and disinterested perusal of the daily press. He could not catalog his new acquaintance by any first hand knowledge. He had never talked with exactly such a type before. Outwardly, the young man might be the undergraduate son of a cultured family, but when he spoke one had to revise this first impression.
"Say," exclaimed Danny, after a short silence; "I know about this here Africa , now. I seen a moving pitcher once—lions and elephants and a lot of foolish lookin' deer with funny monickers. So that's where you're goin'? Huntin', I suppose?"
"Not for animals, but for rocks," explained Smith.
"Geeze! Who ain't huntin' for rocks?" demanded Danny, "I know guys would croak their best friends for a rock."
"Not the sort I'm going to look for," Smith assured him.
"You don't mean diamonds then?"
"No, just rock formations that will teach me more about the structure of the earth."
"And you can't cash in on them after you find them?"
"Geeze, that's a funny racket. You know a lot about this here Africa , don't you?"
"Only what I've read in books," replied Smith.
"I had a book once," said Danny, with almost a verbal swagger.
"Yes?" said Smith politely. "Was it about Africa ?"
"I don't know. I never read it. Say, I been thinkin'," he added. "Why don't I go to this here Africa ? That pitcher I seen looked like they wasn't many people there, and I sure would like to get away from people for a while—I'm fed up on 'em. How big a place is Africa ?"
"Almost four times as large as the United States ."
"Geeze! An' no cops?"
"Not where I'm going, nor very many people. Perhaps I shall see no one but the members of my safari for weeks at a time."
"Safari?"
"My people—porters, soldiers, servants."
"Oh, your mob."
"It may be."
"What say I go with you, mister? I don't understand your racket and I don't want to, but I won't demand no cut-in whatever it is. Like the old dame that attended the funeral, I just want to go along for the ride—only I'll pay my way."
Lafayette Smith wondered. There was something about this young man he liked, and he certainly found him interesting as a type. Then, too, there was an indefinable something in his manner and in those cold, blue eyes that suggested he might be a good companion in an emergency. Furthermore, Lafayette Smith had recently been thinking that long weeks in the interior without the companionship of another white man might prove intolerable. Yet he hesitated. He knew nothing about the man. He might be a fugitive from justice. He might be anything. Well, what of it? He had about made up his mind.