The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harley Greenoak's Charge, by Bertram Mitford

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Title: Harley Greenoak's Charge

Author: Bertram Mitford

Release Date: June 20, 2010 [EBook #32931]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARLEY GREENOAK'S CHARGE ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Harley Greenoak's Charge, by Bertram Mitford.

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HARLEY GREENOAK'S CHARGE, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE OPENING OF THE COMPACT.

"You will look after him, won't you?"

"Certainly. You can rely upon me absolutely."

Thus two men on the deck of a ship. One was silver-haired, elderly,
spare and very refined looking. The other, of medium height, broadly
built, and middle-aged, was, in his way, of striking appearance. His
strong face, lined and sun-tanned, was half hidden in a full, iron-grey
beard, and the keen blue eyes with their straight glance, were of that
kind which would be deadly looking at you from behind the sights of a
rifle. His hands, rough and hard, were like his face, burnt almost to a
mahogany brown, the result of forty-five years' exposure--man and boy--
to the varying climates of the southern section of the African
continent. And the first speaker was Sir Anson Selmes, Bart., and the
second was Harley Greenoak, hunter, prospector, native trader, native
fighter, stock farmer, transport rider, and other things--all in turn.
And as he plays an important part in some strange adventures which are
to befall, we have dwelt somewhat at length upon his personal aspect.
His character you shall discover for yourself.

"Rely upon you? I'm sure I can," went on Sir Anson, heartily. "And
Dick has a boundless capacity for getting into scrapes of one kind or
another. There's no vice in him, but he simply can't help it. You'll
find him no sinecure, I'm afraid."

"Oh, as to that," answered Greenoak, easily, "we shall pull all right.
You see, I've already been sizing him up to my own satisfaction or I
wouldn't have undertaken to look after h