The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ivory Trail, by Talbot Mundy

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Title: The Ivory Trail

Author: Talbot Mundy

Posting Date: October 2, 2010 [EBook #5194]
Release Date: February, 2004
First Posted: June 2, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IVORY TRAIL ***

Produced by Jake Jaqua

THE IVORY TRAIL

By Talbot Mundy

Author of
King--of the Khyber Rifles
The Winds of the World
Hira Singh
etc.

Chapter One

THE NJO HAPA* SONG

Green, ah greener than emeralds are, tree-tops beckon the
dhows to land,
White, oh whiter than diamonds are, blue waves burst on the
amber sand,
And nothing is fairer than Zanzibar from the Isles o' the West
to the Marquesand.

I was old when the world was wild with youth
(All love was lawless then!)
Since 'Venture's birth from ends of earth
I ha' called the sons of men,
And their women have wept the ages out
In travail sore to know
What lure of opiate art can leach
Along bare seas from reef to beach
Until from port and river reach
The fever'd captains go.

Red, oh redder than red lips are, my flowers nod in the blazing
noon,
Blue, oh bluer than maidens' eyes, are the breasts o' my waves
in the young monsoon,
And there are cloves to smell, and musk, and lemon trees, and
cinnamon.

---------
*The words "Njo hapa" in the Kiswahili tongue are the equivalent of
"come hither!"
---------

Estimates of ease and affluence vary with the point of view. While his
older brother lived, Monty had continued in his element, a cavalry
officer, his combined income and pay ample for all that the Bombay side
of India might require of an English gentleman. They say that a finer
polo player, a steadier shot on foot at a tiger, or a bolder squadron
leader never lived.

But to Monty's infinite disgust his brother died childless. It is
divulging no secret that the income that passed with the title varied
between five and seven thousand pounds a year, according as coal was
high, and te