Page 1 (1/2)

July 25, 1909

Durban, South Africa

They were driving into a void, or so it seemed to Chief Inspector Robert Swan of the Durban Police Department

On a ht, beneath a sky as dark as India ink, Swan rode shotgun in the cab of a motortruck as it rumbled down a dusty track in the countryside north of Durban The headlights of the big Packard cast yellow beahten the path ahead As he stared into the gloom, Swan could see no more than forty yards of the rutted path at any one time

“How far to this far toward a thin, wiry ed in next to the driver

Morris checked his watch, leaned toward the driver, and checked the odolanced down at the map he held “We should be there soon, Inspector No o, I’d say”

The chief inspector nodded and grabbed the doorsill as the bumpy ride continued The Packard was known as a Three Ton, the latest from America and one of the first motor vehicles to be owned by the Durban Police Department It had come off the boat with the custo workmen from the newly formed motor pool had built a frah no one had done anything to make it more comfortable

As the truck bounced and lurched over the rutted buggy trail, Swan decided he would rather be on horseback But what the big rig lost in co power In addition to Swan, Morris, and the driver, eight constables rode in back

Swan leaned on the doorsill and turned to look behind hihts followed Three cars and another Packard All told, Swan had nearly a quarter of the Durban police force riding with him

“Are you sure we need all these men?” Morris asked

Perhaps it was a bit much, Sw

an thought Then again, the criroup known in the papers as the Klaar River Gang—had numbers of their own Ru on whom one believed

Though they’d begun as co those who tried to rownand violent in the last six months Farmhouses of those who refused to pay protection round Miners and travelers were disappearing without a trace The truth ca to rob a bank They were brought back to Durban for interrogation only to be rescued in a brazen attack that left three policemen dead and four others wounded

It was a line that Sould not allow theht,” he explained “Need I reo?”