“Well, something ought to. He murdered Mrs. Cunningham and Henry Stratlemyer. I should hope he would get something more than a reprimand, no matter who his father is.”
“He didn’t actually murder them. She died of natural causes, and he got too close to a leopard. So, the verdict on that one will probably be that the foolish tourists killed themselves.”
“Well, of all the…”
“No laws against foolishness. Nature does a pretty good job of dealing with that all by itself. Now”—he reached for his hat and stuffed it back into the pocket of his vest. “Let’s excuse ourselves, shall we?” Then he flashed a delighted smile, his eyes fairly dancing with some new secret he wanted to share. “Come out to the gardens with me, priss. There’s something I want to ask you.”
But before she could answer, the harried steward came hurrying down the steps with fresh coffee and the loud announcement, “All these companies want too much! More coffee! More tea! And that missie’s husband” —he cast Meg an accusing glare. “Him still hollering for ham and eggs in bed!”
Meg gasped at the inference. “Why…Gilbert’s not my husband,” she declared. “Tom is!”
Which caused such a startled silence to come over everyone at the table that she suddenly felt the heat of color coming to her face when all their eyes turned toward her. Well, that wasn’t what she meant…what would they think? Oh, of all things! How could she even begin to…
“Is that a proposal, Meg?” Tom pulled her close and gave her a reassuring kiss. “I accept.”
****
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11
Author’s Note
Mary Kingsley
(1862-1900)
Born into an unusual situation, during a time when single women had few choices open to them, Mary Kingsley spent all but the last few years of her life taking care of domestic duties for her invalid mother. She never went to school as a child. But her father, a physician who traveled for months (and sometimes years) with wealthy aristocrats, kept an extensive personal library of science and adventure. These many volumes were Mary’s only connection with the world beyond her London home. And it was enough.
Because, at the age of thirty-two, after her parents died suddenly and within six weeks of each other, she finally set off on an adventure of her own. It wasn’t easy. Besides the fact that she didn’t have enough money to accomplish such a thing, everyone kept telling her she was foolish to travel to West Africa. It was almost certain death, nicknamed the “White man’s Grave.” So few travelers ever came back from there that the shipping lines refused to sell anything but one-way tickets to that destination. But Mary was more than determined. She came up with a unique plan to partially finance herself by collecting specimens of unusual fish and insects for a certain Dr. Gunther of the world famous British Museum, who would supply all the needed equipment, as well as a small fee for her services. Later on, she also supplemented her travels by becoming a local trader. Mostly because traders had greater freedom to travel and were looked upon with a bit more enthusiasm than other foreigners. But only a bit.
In spite of the many ominous drawbacks, Mary loved Africa and sometimes explained it like this: “The charm of West Africa…calling you…nearer to you than the voices of the people round, nearer than the roar of the city traffic…[is] the cry of parrots passing over the mangrove swamps in the evening time; or the sweet, long, mellow whistle of the plantain warblers calling up the dawn. Everything that is round you grows poor and thin in the face of the vision, and you want to go back, saying, as the African says to the departing soul of his dying friend, “Come back, come back, this is your home.”
Her scientific studies added a great deal to European knowledge of African culture and wildlife. She brought back one previously unknown species of fish, six unnamed subspecies, an unknown snake, and eight new insects. She walked or canoed through many uncharted swamps and dense rain forests, and was the first European explorer to climb Mount Cameroon. Mary was well-known by her black Victorian traveling clothes, and greatly respected by her African friends, who even extended to various cannibal tribes. Her courage, wit, and wisdom became legendary. Her book, Travels in West Africa, became a bestseller, and she was widely popular on the lecture circuit.
Some controversy arose when she criticized certain missionaries for treating the natives disrespectfully, and most books written about her today tend to paint her as a liberal born out of time who went to Africa to escape such constraints. The truth about that comes out best in her own words, where readers will find that she is more than capable of speaking for herself. And if it is true that anyone who does anything new or different from current trends of society invariably risks criticisms, it is also true that actions speak louder than words.
After a lifetime of devotion to family and the ultimate fulfillment of a desire to contribute something of lasting importance to the scientific world, Mary finally volunteered to nurse soldiers and prisoners who were dying, by the thousands, of enteric fever during the Second Boer War in South Africa. Once again, she defied all warnings of almost certain death and went to offer her assistance in spite of it. She died a few months later after contracting the fever, herself.
She was only thirty-seven years old.
Yet, the debate and speculation over her brief life continues even today, stirring up the old arguments, “Was she a Christian, or wasn’t she?” Mary says she was. As a writer, I thoroughly enjoyed my research into her life and times, and feel the entire controversy can be settled best by looking at God’s perspective on that topic. Jesus says:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Travels in West Africa is now in the public domain and available for free on www.gutenberg.org. I greatly encourage everyone to get to know this wonderful and inspiring lady for themselves.
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May God’s glory shine through
this inspirational work of fiction.
AMDG
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