Rejtő, Jenő: The three musketeers in Africa; Q 19045

7 thick and thin. They are

: Buster Fowle r

f who has such a high opinion of himself as a writer /but who reveals baffling deficiencies in his knowledge of literature as well as general education/; Hick Hopkins, a thickset chap with formidable shoulders and short but brawny arms . /"He is a man of mettle, and no mistake; but he was once reprimanded with the bumper of a truck that left his nose looking stubby and red like a pickled peperone

."/ He is irascible, but possesses several good qualities. For example, he has a distaste for long fights, preferring to be the first to knock adversaries over their heads or land them a whopping sock on the jaw that lays them out cold. And when it comes to making things disappear with lightning speed, he absolutely stands alone — a peerless purloiner of virtually anything under the blazing African sun. Alphonse Nobody, the cool-headed, good-looking Spaniard, is a man of few words who, when not busy knocking people senseless, deports himself like a gentleman /and who seems to know more about literature than our "widely read" Buster does/. They are stationed in Hanson, a small stronghold that is the key fort on the eastern slope of the Atlas Mountains where the climate is not bad and the duties not very exerting. Their battalion was posted there as a reward for the successful completion, due in no small measure to the trio, of an