Scudamore Jarvis (1879-1953) was born today, July 20.

And no, I’m not making this up. If I were going to do something like that, I would pick a more conventional name, such as, say, Carolynn Catherine O’Shea or something along those lines. With a name like that, I couldn’t pass up writing a post about him.

Claude Scudamore Jarvis was a member of the British colonial governor in the Middle East. He wrote a number of works of naturual history, history, and farming. As far as I know, “The Tomtom Clue” was his only work of fiction. This story was cowritten with Cecil Morgan. I haven’t been able to find out anything about him.

The story is rather simple. The narrator, who is called Jim, receives a visit from an old classmate, Jack. The father of  Jack’s fiance has just broken off their engagement because he has learned that Jack’s father was hanged twenty years ago in Africa for murder. The murder occurred on a prospecting trip in the interior.

Jack goes to Africa to try and prove his father’s innocence. Jim, who spent time in Africa,, goes along to act as a translator. Jim had met Jack’s father while they were at school and had been impressed with his tattoos.

At first, they have no luck. Few remember the case, and those who do never met Jack’s father. They have the same luck when they go into the interior. On their way back, they stop at a native village and share and Eland they shot earlier that day. The locals share some potent beer with them.

One old man begins playing a tomtom. Jim spills beer on it. When he wipes it off, he sees the tattoo that had been on Jack’s father’s chest.

You can probably guess what happened. The other man killed Jack’s father and took his identity. The natives, out of respect for Jack’s father, whom they liked, used his skin on the drum.

“The Tomtom Clue” is a short little story. It was originally published in a collection of ghost stories, although there are no supernatural elements in this story. It is currently available in The Uncanny Stories Megapack.

The story was first published in 1916. It’s written in a style that is a bit outdated, but I enjoyed it. It’s short and only takes a few minutesx to read. I wish Jarvis and Morgan had written more fiction. If they did, the ISFDB doesn’t list any.