He was speedily recognized as Captain Waller, and he told a strange story of his adventures.
Mombagolo, the burman, who, in company with the captain and the Hindoos, had been taken into slavery by a tribe of Gallas who dwelt far to the west, had been chosen chief of this tribe on the death of its king, probably on account of his stature and strength.
His first royal act was to effect the deliverance of Captain Waller by sending him to the coast. The Hindoos had chosen to remain where they were. Captain Waller eventually returned to England, and Forbes was deeply grieved to learn that he would never see Momba again, though it was some consolation to know that, instead of a slave, he was an African monarch.
Guy reached England barely in time to see his brother before he died. As Sir Lucius Chutney was unmarried, Guy succeeded to the titles and estates.
As a landed proprietor, his duties very plainly lay at home, so he resigned his commission and settled down on the Hampshire estate.
He spends much of his time in London. He and Sir Arthur Ashby are members of the same club, and the two baronets invariably dine together.
“Chutney,” Sir Arthur said one day, as he lit his cigar after dinner, “have you ever felt any desire to leave England and resume an adventurous life?”
Chutney puffed a moment in silence.
“Sometimes,” he said finally. “Sometimes I feel as though I should enjoy laying aside home comforts, and, gun in hand, enter the trackless forests once more. Somehow civilization palls on a man after years of campaigning. Don’t you find it so, Ashby?”
“That,” replied Sir Arthur, “is just what I was getting at. Generally I feel a placid contentment with things in general, but once in a while a sort of fever stirs my blood, and I long to get out and rough it somewhere. I tell you, a wild life has a certain charm about it that dies out reluctantly when the fever once gets into a man’s blood. Some day I really believe I’ll return to Africa, or some other wild land, for big game. I should enjoy it.”