WORRALS IN THE WILDS
First Published in November 1947 - 192 pages
This story was first published when it
was serialised in the Girls Own Paper in ten monthly parts between November
1945 and August 1946
The original first edition dust jacket
showing the original book price of 6 shillings.
WORRALS IN THE WILDS
CHAPTERS
Click on any chapter for a summary of the events in that chapter or
see the general story summary below
XVII DEATH STRIKES AT IMPALA
Bill
Ashton comes to visit Worrals and Frecks and hints at asking for Worrals' hand
in marriage. His suggestion is declined and he then explains that he is going
to fly out to Darkest Africa to work for his Uncle Richard Ashton, known as
Uncle Dick. Uncle Dick is working with his partner, Andrew Mackintosh, in South
West Africa, at a place called Magube Drift on the
fringe of the Kalahari Desert. They have a gold mine. Bill says he will write
every fortnight but after time passes and only one letter is received, Worrals
begins to get worried. She and Frecks decide to fly out and look for him.
Flying out in a silver-winged cabin monoplane known as a Kingfisher, Worrals
and Frecks eventually land at Impala and are met with hostility. They are
refused fuel and have to leave in a hurry when shots are fired at them. Landing
nearby, Worrals knows she must get fuel at Impala, as she does not have enough
fuel to get to any other aerodrome. Sneaking back at night, Worrals and Frecks
steal fuel and also hide some for future use. Frecks trips in a hole being dug
by a hyena and nearly gives the game away. Flying on to Magube
Drift, Worrals and Frecks meet Uncle Dick and his
partner. Bill has been missing some time and it is assumed that he must have
had a forced landing. Suddenly, a plane arrives. It is Shardwell
and Gronk, the two villains from Impala who gave Worrals and Frecks such a hard
time. Shardwell and Gronk want to buy out Dick and
Andrew's claim. Worrals sees them off at gunpoint. Frecks thinks about the
Government man who should have been at Impala and remembers tripping in the
hole dug by the hyena. She suspects that there may be a body buried there.
Flying back to Impala, this time with Uncle Dick, our heroes are pleased to see
that Shardwell and Gronk have gone. A body is found
as Frecks suspected. A spear thrust to the back had murdered the man. Worrals
remembers seeing a native called Wongorobo previously
at Impala and suspects that he may have been responsible. All the fuel at
Impala has "gone" but Worrals discovers where it is hidden and
refuels her aircraft. She then refills the empty petrol cans with salt water. Worrals flies to Keetmannshoop
and drops Frecks and Uncle Dick off to get supplies.
She then flies on to Cape Town to find out some information. Arriving at Cape
Town, she gets a phone call from Frecks telling her that Uncle Dick has been
arrested for illicit diamond buying. Worrals goes to see the Cape Town police
and spins them a yarn in order to get Uncle Dick freed. Worrals then flies back
to pick up Dick and Frecks and then on to Impala. Here they discover the buried
body has gone. Flying around, they see Wongorobo and
some other Ovambo natives with something slung on a
pole. Worrals and Frecks fly up to Shardwell's claim
at Hansvelt in order to search for Bill but find
nothing. They do meet some Herero natives lead by Ingoona,
a man known to Dick. The natives are hunting a man-eating lion and our heroes
help them out. They then fly on to Nakula, where Wongorobo has his kraal or village, again with a
view to looking for Bill. Here, they discover Bill's wrecked Dragon aircraft.
Worrals uses it to create a diversion and Dick and Worrals then search for Bill
and find him unconscious in a hut. Caught by Shardwell
and Gronk, Worrals and Dick have to rely on Frecks
for help. She flies back to Hansvelt to find Ingoona and his warriors. Ooma, a
witch doctor, is keeping Bill unconscious. He plans to do the same to Worrals
and Dick but Worrals turns the tables on him. Frecks returns with help to effect a rescue. The race is then on to get back to Hansvelt where both sides have their aircraft. Worrals goes
on ahead with a native called N'swena only to find
that she had lost the race, her plane has been burnt and N'swena
is murdered. Another plane arrives, containing the District Commissioner and
the Inspector from Cape Town that Worrals tricked. Worrals is to be arrested
but she escapes in their plane, taking the District Commissioner, called Major
Wilson, with her as an unwelcome passenger. Worrals is in a rush to get back
and save her comrades. On the journey, she tells Major Wilson the story. Frecks, Bill, Dick, Ingoona and
the rest of the Herero natives are fighting the Ovambo
natives. The arrival of Worrals with the District Commissioner ends the battle.
Flying on to Impala, they see Shardwell and Gronk
escaping by flying off after having just refuelled. However, unbeknown to them,
they have refuelled with the salt water and crash and are killed. Shortly
afterwards, a man called Dayne arrives. He is the employer of Shardwell and Gronk and is shocked and horrified to hear of
their methods. He agrees to compensate people for their losses, as he is a very
rich businessman. On Shardwell's body is found an
assayer's report relating to a sample that Shardwell
had secretly taken from Dick and Andrew's claim. It is worth a fortune. Dayne
joins up with Bill, Dick and Andrew to form the Magube
Drift Mining Company.
Click here to see the story illustrations from this book
French
edition AU DESSUS DE LA FORET VIERGE (ABOVE THE VIRGIN FOREST) - there were no illustrations in this edition
Frontispiece
Click on
the picture below to see it in more detail
Worrals in the Wilds
Subtitle - The First Post-war Worrals Story.
Publication Details - published by Hodder and Stoughton