Free The Spider Sapphire Mystery by Carolyn G. Keene

she realized the baboon was a man in disguise, an idea came to her. If the headpiece were twisted, he would not be able to see.
    “So I gave it a sudden yank sideways. He was so surprised, he let go of me. I ran back here as fast as I could.”
    “Thank goodness you are safe,” Mrs. Zucker said. “George, can you remember any of the words the man said to you?”
    “I don’t think he was talking to me,” George replied. “He seemed to be muttering to himself.” She thought a moment, then repeated a few of the words she could remember.
    “That’s Swahili,” Mrs. Zucker said. “‘Glw a heri’ means good-by.”
    The White Hunter said to his wife, “Do you remember that man from Mombasa who was a combination strong man and acrobat in the traveling circus?”
    Mrs. Zucker nodded. “You mean the one they called Swahili Joe?”
    Nancy and her friends were startled when they heard the name. If the man in baboon disguise had been Swahili Joe, then he had followed the young people to Treetops and intended to harm them.
    “Tell us more about him,” Nancy requested.
    Mr. Zucker said that Swahili Joe had been a fine person and an excellent performer. “Unfortunately he had a bad fall and it was reported he was not well coordinated after that and had to leave the circus.”
    Nancy thought, “Then he’d take orders from Jahan and Dhan, not realizing what harm he’s doing.”
    “I wish I had seen this baboon fellow,” said Ned. “He and I would have recognized each other.”
    Professor and Mrs. Stanley had heard rumors of George’s absence and now came to learn more about it. They were thunderstruck and alarmed by the story.
    “I had no idea,” said Aunt Millie, “that this trip would involve any of you in so much danger.”
    “I know it’s all my fault,” Nancy spoke up. “I’m dreadfully sorry.”
    George came to Nancy’s defense. “You had nothing to do with that baboon man coming here and carting me off.”
    Nancy was unconvinced. She had felt for some time that to hunt for her enemies would not be necessary because they would come after her.
    “Maybe I should take the initiative,” she thought, but did not express this idea aloud for fear of alarming the others.
    Bess could see that Nancy was upset. To dispel the tenseness of the situation, she said, “O to be an elephant, with no worries!”
    “That’s where you’re wrong,” Professor Stanley told her. “Did you ever hear what happens to the ex-leaders of herds?”
    Bess shook her head. The professor went on, “When a bull elephant becomes old, and a young buck wants to become the leader, he fights his way to the top and forces the old fellow out. No one in the herd dares come to his defense. It seems to be the law and nobody breaks it.”
    “What happens to the poor old elephant that’s out of a job?” Bess asked.
    Professor Stanley said that he had to become a lone wanderer. “They often grieve so much that they don’t eat and starve to death.”
    “Oh!” Bess exclaimed. “That whole system is very cruel.”
    “Nature,” said the professor, “often does seem cruel. But we must remember the natural laws which bring about a balance of life on this earth. If there weren’t such a thing, the whole world would be in chaos.”
    He stopped speaking as a horrible, screaming laugh from somewhere in the jungle reached their ears.
    “What’s that?” Bess queried.
    “A hyena,” the White Hunter replied.
    He and his wife looked at each other. Nancy was sure they were wondering how Swahili Joe had fared. Had some wild beast got the man’s scent and come for him?
    Although Nancy disliked Swahili Joe intensely, the thought of such a horrible death for him made her shiver. Then, thinking of what he had been guilty of, she began to reflect who was more cruel and cunning—the wild animals or man?
    Ned interrupted her train of thought and said, “Let’s go watch the elephants some more. I want to take a few more pictures.”
    They returned