The Adventures of Dick Maitland: A Tale of Unknown AfricaCollingwood, Harry
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The Adventures of Dick Maitland: A Tale of Unknown Africa
Collingwood, Harry
Adventure stories; Africa -- Juvenile fiction
As he stepped into the swift-sailing cutter which was to convey him
across to the mainland, where the wagon, already inspanned, was awaiting
him, a letter was handed to him by one of two men who had just carefully
deposited in the boat a well-filled leather portmanteau bearing
Grosvenor's initials. The letter ran thus:
"Dear old Chap,--
"The portmanteau which accompanies this note contains Myra's and my
own parting gift to you, in the shape of the finest diamonds which a
gang of twenty men have been able to extract from the newly discovered
mine during the last month. They are quite valueless to us, it is
true, but in the dear old country to which you are bound they ought,
even apart from the rubies which you are taking back, to make you one
of the most wealthy men in the world. May God grant you health and
long life to enjoy that wealth, and to employ it--as we know you
will--in ameliorating the lot of those who are worse off than
yourself! We confidently look forward to your return to Izreel in the
course of the next year or two; but should unkind fortune forbid that
return, think of us occasionally, and remember that in the far
interior of Africa there are two hearts in which your memory will be
cherished so long as life shall last.
"Yours, in undying friendship,--
"Phil."
My story is told. It only remains to add that, some six months later,
Dick Maitland arrived safely in England, with all his treasure intact,
just in time to rescue his mother from the grip of destitution that was
on the point of closing relentlessly upon her, and to place her in a
position of such absolute safety and luxury that it was months before
the dear old lady could persuade herself it was not all a tantalising
dream, from which she would sooner or later awake to again find herself
face to face with the ever-recurring, harassing, heart-breaking problem
of ways and means, and the even more painful state of anxiety and
uncertainty concerning the whereabouts of her son that had so worried
and distressed her during the past year.
As for Doctor Julian Humphreys, Dick nearly drove the good man crazy
with delight by placing to his credit at the bank a sum so stupendous
that he might have spent the rest of his days in riotous luxury, had he
so chosen. But that was not Humphreys' way at all; his heart was set
upon the relief of those who suffered the keen pangs of poverty through
no fault of their own; and he thenceforth enjoyed the pleasure of doing
good to the top of his bent, retaining his modest establishment at 19
Paradise Street, but greatly enlarging his surgery, stocking it
abundantly with every drug, instrument, and appliance that could
possibly ameliorate pain or heal disease, and continuing
enthusiastically to practise medicine and surgery among the poor,
without fee or reward of any sort, save an occasional expression of
gratitude from some more than usually appreciative patient.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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