The Project Gutenberg EBook of Zero the Slaver, by Lawrence Fletcher

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Title: Zero the Slaver
A Romance of Equatorial Africa

Author: Lawrence Fletcher

Release Date: June 20, 2010 [EBook #32909]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ZERO THE SLAVER ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Zero the Slaver, by Lawrence Fletcher.

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ZERO THE SLAVER, BY LAWRENCE FLETCHER.

CHAPTER ONE.

MISSING.

1,000 Pound Reward.

The above-named Sum will be paid to any person giving information which
will lead to the discovery of the whereabouts of a young Englishman
named Richard Grenville, who was last seen at Durban on 15th December,
1877.

Apply to Masterton and Driffield, Advocates, Port Natal.

Facing this striking announcement, and with his back to the Standard
Bank of South Africa, in Durban, stood, one morning in July, 1880, a
wiry-looking, clean-shaved man of about five- or six-and-thirty, dressed
in a rough grey homespun suit.

Man after man paused, read, marked, learned, and, no doubt, inwardly
digested, the contents of the advertisement, then passed on his way
without giving the matter a second thought--beyond, perhaps, half
wishing, in a lazy sort of way, that he knew something about this man
who seemingly was so much wanted by his own people. But our grey-coated
friend still stood there, and appeared to be literally devouring the
announcement.

At length he turned sharply away with a muttered "Hum! It's a big pile.
Five thousand dollars--now, I wonder if--" But here his keen eye noted
the stoppage of another person--a fashionably-dressed man--before the
advertisement, which seemed of considerable personal interest to him,
judging from the way he stared at it, and from the fact that his cigar
dropped from his lips, which mechanically opened with an involuntary
exclamation the moment the wording caught his eye. Quickly recovering
himself, the man glanced keenly at grey-coat, who was, however,
diligently charging his pipe,