Stories by English Authors: Africa (Selected by Scribners)

A weary narrator, once a law student, recounts his early days in the Cape Colony with his fellow Englishman Tom Donahue, who earned the nickname “Lucky Tom” despite a string of misfortunes. The pair arrive penniless, take odd jobs on the frontier, and endure the harsh, isolated bush where farms are fortified against local unrest. Their friendship and determination keep them going as they navigate a landscape both beautiful and unforgiving.

One storm‑laden night a drenched trader named Dick Wharton bursts into their hut, breathless and visibly shaken. He speaks of a stray herd that disappeared in the dreaded Sasassa Valley, a place locals avoid after dark because of an unsettling legend. The men exchange skeptical jokes, yet Dick’s uneasy demeanor hints that something far stranger than ordinary danger lurks there. This opening sets the stage for a tale of chance encounters, eerie folklore, and the thin line between luck and peril in the wild heart of Africa.